We've officially entered silly season mode as of this afternoon and that means it's time for one of our favourite off season pastimes - a rumours thread. In 2021 it was whispers from the esplanade, last year it was pleasantries from the plungie pool and this year it's gossip from Burleigh Hill. One of the biggest rumours related to our club was already confirmed earlier this week when Damien Hardwick was rolled out as our new head coach and that's just led to even more speculation and rumours so this off season should be a fun one. As always with these rumour thread, the rules are pretty clear - posters from other clubs who come in to troll will be not be tolerated and can expect to be immediately removed. There is really only one non-Gold Coast poster who will trusted and that is Jen2310. Our ITK is generally eppo67 so keep an eye out for his posts if you're looking for credible information. Let's have some good discussions and keep things clean/on track in this thread.
So let's get into it...
RUMOUR 1 - DUSTY
First up we have Dustin Martin potentially joining our club this off season. Dusty has been linked to our club in the past but the appointment of Dimma this week really pushed that rumour into overdrive. There seems to be mixed reports at the moment but I think we're going to find out more pretty soon considering Dusty could very well play his last game for Richmond tomorrow. A wait and see situation.
RUMOUR 2 - PRESTIA
This was an interesting one that came out this week. The rumour goes that Prestia has interest in returning to Queensland and naturally he's been linked more heavily to us being one of our former players. Not sure if we're interested in him but obviously Dimma would have a soft spot for meatballs after coaching him to three premierships over the last six years.
RUMOUR 3 - BUDDY
This one broke earlier this week as well. Recently retired Lance Franklin is about to move to the Gold Coast on a permanent basis. Hardwick and Evans, who both worked with Bud in their Hawthorn days, are keen to bring him into the club in some kind of mentoring role. Once Buddy finishes up his commitments to the Swans tomorrow, this one could move pretty quickly but I suspect they'll wait until Sydney's season is over to confirm it.
RUMOUR 4 - TRELOAR
Treloar has been linked to us previously and seems this one has popped up again. It was denied earlier today but we've seen that happen before and trade requests still come through.
RUMOUR 5 - KING TO RE-SIGN
Seems to be a strong rumour at the moment that Ben King is going to re-sign with us over the summer months.
RUMOUR 6 - FLANDERS TO SIGN FOUR-YEAR EXTENSION
Came out earlier this week that we have offered Flanders a four-year extension and the media seems to expect him to sign it.
RUMOUR 7 - DANNY DALY
This is one that made headlines about two weeks ago and the suggestion is that we're about to steal Brisbane's head of football Danny Daly to be Hardwick's right hand man. Daly is highly rated and worked with Dimma at Richmond so I wouldn't be surprised if this one is true.
RUMOUR 8 - PICK 4 TRADE
There seems to be a rumour at the moment that we're going to trade up the draft order to get a player before a bid comes for Jed Walter. Regardless, trading pick 4 seems like a near certainty at this point. It's just not clear whether that will be for pick/s or player/s.
That should be enough to get the ball rolling. So, what gossip have you heard from Burleigh Hill?
Gossip Hill
So let's get into it...
RUMOUR 1 - DUSTY
First up we have Dustin Martin potentially joining our club this off season. Dusty has been linked to our club in the past but the appointment of Dimma this week really pushed that rumour into overdrive. There seems to be mixed reports at the moment but I think we're going to find out more pretty soon considering Dusty could very well play his last game for Richmond tomorrow. A wait and see situation.
RUMOUR 2 - PRESTIA
This was an interesting one that came out this week. The rumour goes that Prestia has interest in returning to Queensland and naturally he's been linked more heavily to us being one of our former players. Not sure if we're interested in him but obviously Dimma would have a soft spot for meatballs after coaching him to three premierships over the last six years.
RUMOUR 3 - BUDDY
This one broke earlier this week as well. Recently retired Lance Franklin is about to move to the Gold Coast on a permanent basis. Hardwick and Evans, who both worked with Bud in their Hawthorn days, are keen to bring him into the club in some kind of mentoring role. Once Buddy finishes up his commitments to the Swans tomorrow, this one could move pretty quickly but I suspect they'll wait until Sydney's season is over to confirm it.
RUMOUR 4 - TRELOAR
Treloar has been linked to us previously and seems this one has popped up again. It was denied earlier today but we've seen that happen before and trade requests still come through.
RUMOUR 5 - KING TO RE-SIGN
Seems to be a strong rumour at the moment that Ben King is going to re-sign with us over the summer months.
RUMOUR 6 - FLANDERS TO SIGN FOUR-YEAR EXTENSION
Came out earlier this week that we have offered Flanders a four-year extension and the media seems to expect him to sign it.
RUMOUR 7 - DANNY DALY
This is one that made headlines about two weeks ago and the suggestion is that we're about to steal Brisbane's head of football Danny Daly to be Hardwick's right hand man. Daly is highly rated and worked with Dimma at Richmond so I wouldn't be surprised if this one is true.
RUMOUR 8 - PICK 4 TRADE
There seems to be a rumour at the moment that we're going to trade up the draft order to get a player before a bid comes for Jed Walter. Regardless, trading pick 4 seems like a near certainty at this point. It's just not clear whether that will be for pick/s or player/s.
That should be enough to get the ball rolling. So, what gossip have you heard from Burleigh Hill?
Gossip Hill