I wouldn't be surprised to see Lumbumba retire. Spencer could nominate for pre season draft along with ANB.,if they want to get a better opportunity to play seniors. 

I would be happy with that and he could be paid out and not worry anymore about further concussion issues.

It is logical to me and more so with the two Bombers now ahead of him.

 

We've lost 6 (Grimes,Terlich,Jones, Dunne,Dawes and Newton) from our primary list and brought in 3.  If we upgrade both Smith and Wagner that means we are one short for a full list.  I think they'll go for just one in the draft and then go for more options at rookie level.  I wouldn't be surprised if they delist White as well.

Don't think they will upgrade Smith and Wagner yet, but wait for any long term injuries, or allowance under rules,  to upgrade at later time.

Pick 120 is just too valuable to waste.

 

I would be happy with that and he could be paid out and not worry anymore about further concussion issues.

It is logical to me and more so with the two Bombers now ahead of him.

I'm keen to give HL a chance.  There's a question over his competitiveness but if he can overcome that then his positive attributes - size, run and experience are valuable and fill a big need we have.  I'd like to see him on the wing rather than HB, where as you say we are well served.

I note that I was bullish about Chris Heffernan and Chris Johnson every summer too. Let's just say I haven't written HL off yet.

 

So, our full list of players 26 or older is - 

Lewis, Vince, Lumumba, Pederson, N. Jones, Garland, Garlett, Jetta, Spencer.

Just 9 players. 5 of them reliably in our best 22, a couple of fringe/mature depth, and an crisis-only ruckman.

Of the entire rest of the list, every player is either able to contribute at AFL level, or a kid worth monitoring their progress. Oh, plus Trengove on a one-year contract to see how he comes back from injury after finally doing a pre-season.

 

How did this happen, we have become a club with basically close to no dead wood, no list clogging waste of salary cap players.

Some clubs have almost nothing but dead wood!

I can only see 4.

 

So, our full list of players 26 or older is - 

Lewis, Vince, Lumumba, Pederson, N. Jones, Garland, Garlett, Jetta, Spencer.

Just 9 players. 5 of them reliably in our best 22, a couple of fringe/mature depth, and an crisis-only ruckman.

I'm guessing Garlett is your 5th.  His best is very good and he plays the most difficult position, but he needs to raise the standard of his off days which have been very poor.

 

So, our full list of players 26 or older is - 

Lewis, Vince, Lumumba, Pederson, N. Jones, Garland, Garlett, Jetta, Spencer.

Just 9 players. 5 of them reliably in our best 22, a couple of fringe/mature depth, and an crisis-only ruckman.

Of the entire rest of the list, every player is either able to contribute at AFL level, or a kid worth monitoring their progress. Oh, plus Trengove on a one-year contract to see how he comes back from injury after finally doing a pre-season.

 

How did this happen, we have become a club with basically close to no dead wood, no list clogging waste of salary cap players.

Some clubs have almost nothing but dead wood!

And that is why we have struggled. Remove Lewis and put a question mark against Pederson and you are down to three (only two of which were drafted by MFC)....

so in six -10 years or so of drafting we came up with 2 long term players..... (wonder if any other club was that bad)

Luckily the 25 and under group look a little stronger (fingers crossed)

 

I can only see 4.

 

 

I'm guessing Garlett is your 5th.  His best is very good and he plays the most difficult position, but he needs to raise the standard of his off days which have been very poor.

Yeah, fair call, 'reliably' was probably the wrong word for including Garlett. 

The guys in the gun over the next two years are:

Lumumba, Trengove, Garland, Kennedy-Harris, Bugg, Kennedy, Vandenberg, Spencer and Harmes. It'll be interesting to see how Vince and Jetta go over the next two years too. I'd say out of those first nine players, six of them are capable role players on their day, but will never have the tools to be best 22 in the future or even now.

I've got to say I'm excited by how close we are to having a list of 30 players that could make your 22. In the age of an 18-team competition that is about as good as you'll get. I reckon at this stage we've got 24 players from: Hogan, Jones, Salem, Watts, Petracca, Viney, Brayshaw, Gawn, Tyson, Oliver, Stretch, Kent, Frost, Melksham, Pedersen, Vince, T McDonald, Weideman, O McDonald, Hunt, Garlett, Jetta, Hibberd, Lewis. Guys like Wagner, White and Hulett could also feature too. Wagner's got some nice poise IMO. Not sold on White and Hulett hasn't played at AFL level yet, so tough to tell. Joel Smith may also be thereabouts if Demonland hype is anything to go by (I'll wait on that one).

So if we can pick up (via trading or free agency) another 2 or 3 best 22 players at the end of 2017, we'll be well positioned with depth to attack September/October in 2018.

 

The guys in the gun over the next two years are:

Lumumba, Trengove, Garland, Kennedy-Harris, Bugg, Kennedy, Vandenberg, Spencer and Harmes. It'll be interesting to see how Vince and Jetta go over the next two years too. I'd say out of those first nine players, six of them are capable role players on their day, but will never have the tools to be best 22 in the future or even now.

I've got to say I'm excited by how close we are to having a list of 30 players that could make your 22. In the age of an 18-team competition that is about as good as you'll get. I reckon at this stage we've got 24 players from: Hogan, Jones, Salem, Watts, Petracca, Viney, Brayshaw, Gawn, Tyson, Oliver, Stretch, Kent, Frost, Melksham, Pedersen, Vince, T McDonald, Weideman, O McDonald, Hunt, Garlett, Jetta, Hibberd, Lewis. Guys like Wagner, White and Hulett could also feature too. Wagner's got some nice poise IMO. Not sold on White and Hulett hasn't played at AFL level yet, so tough to tell. Joel Smith may also be thereabouts if Demonland hype is anything to go by (I'll wait on that one).

So if we can pick up (via trading or free agency) another 2 or 3 best 22 players at the end of 2017, we'll be well positioned with depth to attack September/October in 2018.

I think Harmes and Vandenberg belong in your 2nd group.  The FD clearly rates their competitiveness because they were consistently selected last year. 

 

I think Harmes and Vandenberg belong in your 2nd group.  The FD clearly rates their competitiveness because they were consistently selected last year. 

I guess I don't rate them. But let's say the FD continue to over the course of '17, that'll mean we have 26 players, which is pretty solid. I'd argue therefore that Bugg and Kennedy are also into that list, which ups it to 28. Taylor, Viney and Mahoney have done an amazing job.

I'm with Fifty-5. Vanders in the single pre-season game I attended last year vs. Port looked ready to absolutely tear it up. I think his entire season was pretty much derailed by injury and then being played out of position. And Harmes - there are the obvious shortcomings in comparing statistics, but he compares more than favourably to Brayshaw, Salem and Stretch from a similar number of games. He's still a kid, and we've seen a decent steady improvement. Bugg and Kennedy are probably what we'll get, but they could find some more consistency and become solid contributors. For me, Frost and Kent could find themselves sliding from the core group if they don't continue to improve in certain areas.

 

Yes Steve, I've also been wondering about this.

Its just no-name brand quotes,   Bradnames not justified, on most quotes at this time of season.  just ask Angolina.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lumbumba retire. Spencer could nominate for pre season draft along with ANB.,if they want to get a better opportunity to play seniors. 

?? For real?

 

I'm with Fifty-5. Vanders in the single pre-season game I attended last year vs. Port looked ready to absolutely tear it up. I think his entire season was pretty much derailed by injury and then being played out of position. And Harmes - there are the obvious shortcomings in comparing statistics, but he compares more than favourably to Brayshaw, Salem and Stretch from a similar number of games. He's still a kid, and we've seen a decent steady improvement. Bugg and Kennedy are probably what we'll get, but they could find some more consistency and become solid contributors. For me, Frost and Kent could find themselves sliding from the core group if they don't continue to improve in certain areas.

Garlett will also need to extract the digit 

 

I'm with Fifty-5. Vanders in the single pre-season game I attended last year vs. Port looked ready to absolutely tear it up. I think his entire season was pretty much derailed by injury and then being played out of position. And Harmes - there are the obvious shortcomings in comparing statistics, but he compares more than favourably to Brayshaw, Salem and Stretch from a similar number of games. He's still a kid, and we've seen a decent steady improvement. Bugg and Kennedy are probably what we'll get, but they could find some more consistency and become solid contributors. For me, Frost and Kent could find themselves sliding from the core group if they don't continue to improve in certain areas.

I re-watched the round 20 game against the Hawks yesterday (Fox have games highlighting brownlow performances so must have been for big Maxy) and it changed my perception of both Bugg and Harmes. Bugg fills a simple but important role within the team, he'll never be a star but if he was in the bottom 6 on game day then you'd back him in to do whatever job is assigned to him and do it with aggression. With Harmes, it was his first half that got my attention, I thought his run (both ways) plus his williness to complete were great. The only issue he had was he seemed to tire in the second half and his disposal then becomes questionable, given he's played less than 30 games I think he could really come on with some more miles in the legs over pre-season. 

Not saying either are round 1 best 22, but think both are or could be very much in the mix.