Bizarro World

Since when did blockbuster player swap deals get discussed before round 8? And even more importantly since when were we the focus of them?

NEALE Daniher wasn't interested in talking about out-of-favour Brisbane Lion Jason Akermanis yesterday, but says the Demons will be playing among the "big boys" come trade time this year.

Daniher would not be drawn on comments from chairman Paul Gardner that the Demons would be interested if Akermanis was available at the end of the season.

But the Demons coach said the club's improved financial position meant it was able to chase high-priced players.

"I don't want to talk about Jason Akermanis. He is a contracted player with Brisbane," Daniher said. "I think the point we are making there is, in the past, we haven't been able to consider any players with our financial situation.

"Not so long ago we were having trouble finding $20,000-$30,000 to get money for Aaron Davey as a rookie.

"I don't necessarily want to talk about Jason, but the point we are making is that we're in amongst the big boys.

"There is no secret that we went after Lance (Whitnall) and we're very happy with Byron (Pickett).

"The context from the president is he has come to me in the past and said, 'Financially mate, don't even consider X, Y, Z, A, B, C, D, E, F, G'.

"What he is saying in the broader context is that our club has moved forward."

But do we want him? I'm not for blowing the budget on somebody who might be completely past it, but as the Pickett experiment has seemingly worked against all the odds it might not be such a bad idea. Personally if you're going to trade for old players I'd think about getting somebody in to play FF for a couple of years. Neitz is slowly ebbing away and even though Dunn looks promising in two games you can't guarantee anything. Finally our backline looks somewhat secure - though a bit more help would never hurt - so it's time to throw the cash at somebody who will kick a shitload of goals.

Your thoughts? Do we need talented but clearly nuts players at Melbourne? And where is all this money coming from?