4 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

Baffling isn't it. We identified an issue, didn't land the player we targeted, so we'll bury our head in the sand and pretend the issue has disappeared. Brilliant stuff!

And at a time that at least Pies North and a couple of other lists are in disarray and Fire sales  are Bigger than Covid figures in all States.

if we lose Pruess  and Tommy Mac to GWS and Pies at least a medium/high 3rd rounder for each should get a Phillips Polec or Narkle across the line with a 4th rounder Or future 4 going back!

2 hours ago, A F said:

He does have a record of playing a very straight bat. And almost always, we have something on the go in the background.

This.

While I don't think we'll be 'big' players this year as we have been in the past (I don't see Brown as big of an acquisition as someone like May, even if I think it's a good move for the club), I have no doubt that they know we can get better and that we'll have an eye on a few players.  No need to show our hand just in case these other ones don't come off.  People want to sink the boots in a little but I doubt we put all our eggs in the Smith basket re: adding further run if the right opportunity presents itself.

Sounds like we’ve made an offer and don’t want to budge.  I hope anyway, we need some dash and crumbs.

so if ben brown suffers an injury or is as bad as he was last season then our list is no better than last season which means we're going to slide. If you're not going forward, you're going backwards. 

So many people were pleased that we didn't get Isaac Smith and saved ourselves some money, but are now exasperated that we aren't declaring a new wing target? Guess what, you can't click your fingers and a winger just appears out of the blue. Who knows where Phillips or Polecs intentions lay and how much it would cost you in picks/money. That 3rd year of Smith's contract offer doesn't look so bad now does it, given how close we were rumoured to getting him.

Edited November 3, 20204 yr by John Demonic

Just now, John Demonic said:

So many people were pleased that we didn't get Isaac Smith and saved ourselves some money, but are now exasperated that we aren't declaring a new wing target? Guess what, you can't click your fingers and a winger just appears out of the blue. Who knows where Phillips or Polecs intentions lay and how much it would cost you in picks. That 3rd year of Smith's contract doesn't look so bad now does it?

Glad we didn't get Smith, especially on a 3 year deal.

4 hours ago, DemonOX said:

Why would we come out in the media and lay down our cards for getting players. Its doesnt make any sense. Trade period hasnt even started yet.

In saying that if we dont get anymore players (for wing etc) then JM is an [censored].

Because they are trying to appease a frustrated supporter base. 
Melbournes 1 wood is marketing and Mahoney is out of his depth. 

8 minutes ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

Glad we didn't get Smith, especially on a 3 year deal.

Yeah, Money doesn't grow on Treeloars

After a few seasons of Facebook being cluttered with 'when are we getting a key forward' - if we can land Brown for a second rounder, I'm happy.  Anything surplus to that is an absolute bonus.

It doesn't look like we are going for Philips I think we will go for wingman and a small forward in the draft. So this is my rolling team for 21.

B: SALEM, MAY, LEVER

HB: RIVERS, TOMLINSON, HIBBERD

C : LANGDON, PETRACCA, BAKER

HF: FRITSCH, JACKSON, MELKSHAM

F: PICKETT, B.BROWN, WEIDEMAN

FOLL: GAWN, OLIVER, VINEY

IC: BRAYSHAW, JONES, HUNT, HORE

EMERG: HARMES, VANDENBERG, M.BROWN, SPARGO

i dont understand their thinking...

1) we need a wingman so target smith, that falls through then nothing? harmes/tomlinson/hunt have all been trialled there unsuccessfully in the past so what? baker is going to play all 22 games next year cmon we dont even know if he's got what it takes consistently. even if we want to move salem up the ground or whatever we're thinking, why haven't we asked the question of witherden or try and unsettle someone like other clubs try to do

they say their being ruthless... hunt will be a 9yr servant when his new deal is done, let that sink in. 9 years and i've never seen 3 consecutive afl standard performances and he's been given a chance in every possible position... unless they think he's going to usurp maxy!

we know our NQR are just that so at the very least we should be flipping ours for someone elses to see if we can transform them. the fact we gave hunt a new deal AND offerered hannan 2yrs before he rejected means the club only really actively lost 2x wagners, dunkley and i guess 2x mcdonands NOTHING ruthless about that.

every clubs average list turnover every year is around 8-9 so you'd think if we were being serious we'd be above that threshold instead we look like doing sweet [censored] all and we get to not get excited by the same bottom 8 players doing bottom 8 player things week in week out next year ?.  mahoney is a joke, he tries to convince us the club is making progress as we watch everyone around us make big moves and we stagnate, stkilda, carlton, freo ✅✅✅

next thing we know Omac will be siging a 1yr deal 

 

Baker showed some stuff against GWS that had me thinking he was worth persisting with. I remember a time when Kamdyn McIntosh was ridiculed by Richmond fans and now he's a triple premiership player. Give him our confidence and a block of games to own the position and if after that he's still battling then I'm happy to look outside the club.

27 minutes ago, Turner said:

why haven't we asked the question of witherden or try and unsettle someone like other clubs try to do

Any evidence that we haven't?

1 hour ago, Turner said:

i dont understand their thinking...

1) we need a wingman so target smith, that falls through then nothing? harmes/tomlinson/hunt have all been trialled there unsuccessfully in the past so what? baker is going to play all 22 games next year cmon we dont even know if he's got what it takes consistently. even if we want to move salem up the ground or whatever we're thinking, why haven't we asked the question of witherden or try and unsettle someone like other clubs try to do

they say their being ruthless... hunt will be a 9yr servant when his new deal is done, let that sink in. 9 years and i've never seen 3 consecutive afl standard performances and he's been given a chance in every possible position... unless they think he's going to usurp maxy!

we know our NQR are just that so at the very least we should be flipping ours for someone elses to see if we can transform them. the fact we gave hunt a new deal AND offerered hannan 2yrs before he rejected means the club only really actively lost 2x wagners, dunkley and i guess 2x mcdonands NOTHING ruthless about that.

every clubs average list turnover every year is around 8-9 so you'd think if we were being serious we'd be above that threshold instead we look like doing sweet [censored] all and we get to not get excited by the same bottom 8 players doing bottom 8 player things week in week out next year ?.  mahoney is a joke, he tries to convince us the club is making progress as we watch everyone around us make big moves and we stagnate, stkilda, carlton, freo ✅✅✅

next thing we know Omac will be siging a 1yr deal 

 

Yep that’s right. In one year we recruit Jackson, Kosi, Rivers, Langdon and Tomlinson but you say Mahoney is a dud?

The other constraint he’s still working under is the fact that the AFL has yet to announce list sizes for 2021, yet the trade period opens tomorrow. This must be particularly frustrating to the various club recruiters and might prolong the time taken to finalize deals. For a club like Collingwood, which is clearly facing difficulties with salary cap issues this situation would be a nightmare.

7 hours ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

 

I'd rather give  current day Peter Matera a contract than go into 2021 relying on one of those four guys to be our other winger.

Could be another year of struggles on the MCG, which we absolutely cant afford.

I don't think there is a current day Peter Matera around....not that I can think of anyway.

Smith's been a very good player but he's no Matera.

Can anyone think of a current player that would go close?

I think the approach is right. We missed out on finals by a bees and we still have a youngish list. I think people get seduced by StK’s trading success last yr but 99% of the time blokes you trade in by exchanging a 3rd round pick don’t become all Australian. Phillips isn’t going to turn us into a instant-contender so we all just need to calm the farm on the desperate need to bring in a winger.

whilst I think the approach is right I’m not confident we will be successful - that is a coaching issue for mine though, not a player personnel issue

13 minutes ago, rjay said:

I don't think there is a current day Peter Matera around....not that I can think of anyway.

Smith's been a very good player but he's no Matera.

Can anyone think of a current player that would go close?

There's no one player around playing on a wing who has all his attributes

Acceleration 

Clean hands

Penetration in his kick

Good cruise speed

Modern day wingers tend to be endurance beasts working between the arcs, but Matera had that ability to burst off half back either with the ball or providing an outside option at full tilt.

If I could have my pick of a current wingman it's Mcluggage

6 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

There's no one player around playing on a wing who has all his attributes

Acceleration 

Clean hands

Penetration in his kick

Good cruise speed

Modern day wingers tend to be endurance beasts working between the arcs, but Matera had that ability to burst off half back either with the ball or providing an outside option at full tilt.

If I could have my pick of a current wingman it's Mcluggage

He is not quick and a poor shot for goal, just saying.

7 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

There's no one player around playing on a wing who has all his attributes

Acceleration 

Clean hands

Penetration in his kick

Good cruise speed

Modern day wingers tend to be endurance beasts working between the arcs, but Matera had that ability to burst off half back either with the ball or providing an outside option at full tilt.

If I could have my pick of a current wingman it's Mcluggage

Matera was a special player...

Polec is probably the closest to him in style...of course not putting him in the same class.

I guess Gaff has been the consistent one year in year out, Smith pretty good...

The Saints spent up on Hill but he's hit or miss...his brother was a player before injury took its toll.

Our own new boy stacks up pretty well as that running machine, we're lucky to have him.

Thinking as I type, McCrae has been used more as a pure mid by the dogs but he is one of the better wingman in the game...if I had a free hit, he's the one I would take.

I can understand why we might not chase another this trade period unless someone falls in our lap.

I also think there are different wingers.

Gut run, link man wingers in the Langdon and Gaff moulds. Some kick more goals than others, but laregly they are outside mids who run all day.

Silky, lower possession but super damaging wingers. Often also plays a role from HBF or HFF, and are known for kicking goals or being the "playmaker from defense"

Defensive wings, often not your typical winger. Maybe doesn't have the goal kicking or link up as much, but holds structure and contributes defensively on the "far side" of the ground. Tomlinson played this style in 18/19 at GWS. I feel that most non-specialty wings try to plug this role if they aren't coming off a HBF.

Ben Brown is the priority clearly right now and with good reason, I think the comments made about not landing Smith is to prepare for the possibility of us not landing someone to fill that role. Almost all the players mentioned have been tried in that position and failed to make a regular impact. I’d love it to be Hunt that takes that position and makes it his own but he just doesn’t seem to have it in him.

I’m on the positive side with Oscar Baker, I think he hasn’t had much opportunity to show his worth yet and while one game is never enough of a sample size to get excited about he did show some good signs against GWS. 

That said I would personally be keener for us to trade in a mature player who has a proven record in that position, particularly if what Bartlett said was true that internally they want the club pushing into the top 4 next year. 

Might be a good draft to have some picks, so keep them, don’t trade them. Back in Baker and/or Hunt to learn a thing or two from Langdon. Brown up forward, in addition to further improvement from Weideman and Jackson could see Fritsch play more of a wing role.

21 minutes ago, KingDingAling said:

Might be a good draft to have some picks, so keep them, don’t trade them. Back in Baker and/or Hunt to learn a thing or two from Langdon. Brown up forward, in addition to further improvement from Weideman and Jackson could see Fritsch play more of a wing role.

Don't disagree but would love to bring someone else in as a winger and for Baker / Hunt or whoever to have to win it off them over the preseason.  Given Hunt and Baker have been on our list the last few years suggests they're not the answer - but would LOVE to be proven wrong.

 

I think Mahoney's comments are strange but it's easy for quotes to be taken out of context in print.  Clearly they don't have anything locked in but I'm sure they are seeking to bring players in if they improve our best 22.  Mahoney's hardly going to say "we're after wingers / outside midfielders" publicly as it puts him in a worse negotiating position with another club - e.g. they will know that Mahoney has promised something to the members so will do whatever it takes to keep the promise.

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

He is not quick and a poor shot for goal, just saying.

Not saying he's quick, just saying of the current crop he's the one I like the most.

Although I agree with Rjay that Mcrae could be a gun wingman if used there more often