What a story the Melbourne Demons have been this season.
First-year coach Steven King is firmly entrenched in Coach of the Year debates, such is the magic he's worked at Casey Fields.
Max Gawn, the ageless wonder, continues to go from strength to strength. Kysaiah Pickett has established himself as a match-winner on a more regular basis than ever before, and "moneyball" acquisitions of years gone by (Harry Sharp, for example) are really strutting their stuff for a Demons side playing a brand of attacking football as intoxicating as it is potent.
King has touched on the club's preparedness to deal its first-round picks, for the right player/s, but just who are the players that could make the jump to the red and the blue this off-season?
King ruled his club out of the Zak Butters sweepstakes, but there are plenty of other fish in the sea, as they say.
James Tunstill
James Tunstill did sign another one-year contract with the Lions in July, so he would shape as a player far from gettable, but if the Demons came knocking with the promise of regular first-team opportunity in their every-improving midfield, could the Lions begrudge him for making the move?
Tunstill has managed just 23 games in five seasons, and is so often the first name in and subsequently, the first name out, when Chris Fagan looks to shake up his side.
Now 23, time is running out for the West Australian to build a lasting career for himself. A move south could expedite that process.
