Look, I'm a "the answer must be within" guy. But I am not a "just grab from one basket guy". We get draft picks every year, and we need to maximise the return. That can be through someone like Phillipou falling, or trading into a better position.
While I think a select few on here are "show Battle the door" because of the possible return, most are "make the best of a bad situation". If Battle decides to leave there is nothing we can do about it at this stage. Sounds like he is truly conflicted. But if we took a Battle compensation pick and drafted the next Battle with it, we have rocks in our head. That would just be eight years of development down the drain. Everyone knows we need midfielders. What if Caleb Serong was available for pick 5+6? That's why I don't care for the ideologues around here - there is an established player in the league who would fill our needs who would be worth picks 5+6. Maybe not Serong but somebody. Bont? Cripps? Just saying.
Brisbane are flying and we set up poorly on the weekend, it got away from us and Brisbane got every break. But it's one game. We've been solid to good otherwise since the break.
My point: take every opportunity on its merits. Full youth leads to a decade of misery on field, which I think we are uniquely poorly positioned to weather in the current climate (and with a notoriously fickle fan base). There is enough talent at the club to build on, green shoots in terms of game style and we have some depth. Make decisions coolly and rationally.
