Why wouldn't you want a player that is clearly in a sides best 10 players, and not have to give up anything for in Casboult? Everyone else we would need to trade for. FA is a free hit and Casboult would walk into our side where as most of the fringe players being mentioned may not even be better than what we have already got.
Casboult isn't a great kick but this year has shown he can improve that. And his marking is as good as anyone else in the AFL. For me it's a no brainer.
Get rid of Griffiths, Batchelor and Maric and his wage is covered and we haven't lost anything that had even been used this year.
I agree with this line of thinking. Whether it is Casboult or a similar player, first and foremost we need instant impact from whoever we recruit as a second KPF. While I think we should be looking at younger guys in other teams, we need someone who can come in and play now. That doesn't mean we don't look to recruit a promising KPF if one is available.
But due to the age of our key players (Dusty excluded) we don't really have that luxury to recruit a kid who will return a dividend in say 2-3 years time. We are over reliant on the ability of 3 of our top 4 players (Rance, Cotchin and Riewoldt) and they are in their absolute prime age. In two years time, they will be 29, 29 and 30 years old respectively.
We have to roll the dice, but I think the big concern is that we have done this type of recruiting before and it hasn't gone well. Kent Kingsley and Paul Hudson anyone? We have clearly made the mistake previously of over-rating our list. But what is worse, over-rating your list or under-rating your list when you are a real chance to finish top 4?
The issue with Casboult is that as a free agent he will likely cost a bit of a premium. I think we will pay more than he is worth, and not sure how that will sit with the need to sign Dusty and our salary cap. The other issue is that there isn't much out there.
FWIW, I think Casboult is our best bet.
Sorry, forgot to add that Close from Brisbane being mentioned on other threads on here looks a likely type as well.
