TOPIC:

Tiger of old wrote:

Lobb and a second rounder for a contracted Brownlow medallist?
The thing about keeping a low draft pick or picks is you don’t know how they are going to turn out. If they trade they are getting Lachie Neale, it’s a gamble worth taking possibly if Freo truly believe they are going up the next few seasons

And Lachie Neale could sustain a serious injury at training or a pre season match. Does Brisbane want to keep an unhappy player who’s wife with a young child to raise is unhappy and desperate to come home to be close to family? Who blinks first?

I’d be saying to Brisbane, take it or leave it. Lachie is going to leave Brisbane one way or another.

It looks like Lachie is staying at the Lions now for 2022. What was that all about? Did he just want a cuddle or something from Brissy....f*ck him I say.

All talk no action. The media hear whispers and create a big story for nothing
and everybody jumps on board.

Ryan "Exclusive" Daniels will be onto this story in a few days with the "exclusive'!!!

Sounds like he's  staying.

Lachie Neale's apparent mind change can be laid directly at the feet of the FFC. From my understanding Neales management made a tentative initial approach to Fremantle to determine if they would be open to a trade. Somebody at the club must have leaked this information to the media. This breach of confidentiality created so much stress for Neale and his family.  I heard another rumour about Serong wanting to be traded to West Coast which emanated from the same journalist. I reckon that Neale would have had a look at all this and thought why would you leave a successful club in a premiership window in favour of returning to a rabble like the Dockers. Fremantle need to weed out the people who are breaching privacy and undermining the clubs culture and reputation, otherwise they will never be a club of choice for top players.

BC wrote:

It looks like Lachie is staying at the Lions now for 2022. What was that all about? Did he just want a cuddle or something from Brissy....f*ck him I say.

I’m relieved about that to be honest. Neale wanting to be traded back to the Dockers this trade period with only two picks in the draft, pick 8 and 27 then the compensation we get for Cerra, we don’t want to cough up for a player with maybe only 5 years left. We need to stack our club with local talent that will stand us in good stead for the next fifteen years, not five.

Fremantle can just now focus on getting the best local talent. Lachie next year maybe. I’d be having a serious think about drafting Bailey Rogers from Claremont with our second round pick.

Therein lies the key DD...Freo needs to stack up on local talent and not necessarily the best available at the draft as there's a real risk they'll go elsewhere at the first opportunity. Just look at Gold Coast and all the high draft picks they've received over the years and how many have moved on. Freo is not a destination club and never has been so it's only natural interstate recruits will look to head home at the first opportunity...not all..but quite a few. Take that risk away by recruiting locally to a large extent with a few interstaters thrown in.

mikeh wrote:

Lachie Neale's apparent mind change can be laid directly at the feet of the FFC. From my understanding Neales management made a tentative initial approach to Fremantle to determine if they would be open to a trade. Somebody at the club must have leaked this information to the media. This breach of confidentiality created so much stress for Neale and his family.  I heard another rumour about Serong wanting to be traded to West Coast which emanated from the same journalist. I reckon that Neale would have had a look at all this and thought why would you leave a successful club in a premiership window in favour of returning to a rabble like the Dockers. Fremantle need to weed out the people who are breaching privacy and undermining the clubs culture and reputation, otherwise they will never be a club of choice for top players.

Mike. Who’s to say the rumour about them wanting to or at least looking at the possibility of returning to WA didn’t stem from their camp or a friend of Lachies wife. And that Serong to West Coast was a photoshop and then did the rounds. Looks like it hooked a few people in. 

I suppose its possible Mr AFL but I'm not sure what would be the  benefit of one of Neales camp leaking this information. Its not as if he was trying to squeeze more money out of Brisbane as he is contracted for another 2 years. As it turned out he was harassed for 2 days by media and so it backfired on him if this is what happened.