3 hours ago, Smokey said:

We'd be officially drowning if any of several key position players went down after Weed and BB, and some here are saying no to a life raft. Very strange.

Can't really think of a better option to address our recent need for KP backup. Good move. 

Agree Smokey.  Many on here must think these final three positions we fill are going to catapult us to a flag.  

3 minutes ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Good summation Brother.  

Thanks Cuz :)

it seems a wise enough decision to have Majak train with us. he can provide cover in a number of positions if needed, and that's what you want from a depth player. he might also help protect Jackson from being over worked a bit during the year as well.

and maybe even like our last ex Roo boy back up ruckman we can then trade him to GWS at the end of the year in return for a second round pick! 

Invited at the last minute to come train with the club after we just lost two players of his type for some of the early season when he is also versatile and able to provide support for another role we lack depth in... clearly we have wildly overplayed our hand here.

Worth a closer look, and that is all what the club is doing at this point.

Personally, I'm surprisingly unconcerned about our forward line. 

I'd rather give Kaine Baldwin a try on our list just in case the athletic package comes together again after the repeat injuries.  What happened to his drafting?  He was a 'big thing' before the injuries.  Does anyone know if he is simply cooked?

 

4 hours ago, Smokey said:

We'd be officially drowning if any of several key position players went down after Weed and BB, and some here are saying no to a life raft. Very strange.

Can't really think of a better option to address our recent need for KP backup. Good move. 

It’s more like a log than a raft but I’ll happily take that log if we’re drowning in the seas of misfortune.

Another point I raised to keep an eye out for recently that was scoffed at.

Was always in our radar, solid thinking given current injuries and would provide cover for 3 departments.

I like this as a possible makeshift option up forward.

We are up [censored] creek and the club is trying to find a paddle and some of you are like ‘nah, I will wait for a better paddle... meanwhile, have you tasted the chocolate water?! It’s a bit nutty...’

Don’t know why so many posters here are negative about this idea. 
 

The more I’ve thought about it, the more it makes sense. Majak’s key strength is taking contest marks from long high balls into packs. That’s the Goodwin game plan. It’s been our our weakness for years. We don’t have a big bloke at FF capable of taking pack grabs. Isn’t that what we’ve been asking for? That’s essentially Daw’s bread and butter. Unlike BBB, who is nailed to the train tracks and is a true lead up forward.

WIth the likes of Viney and Brayshaw and Oliver bursting out of the middle and with an inability to lower eyes and hit a lead up forward, we can bomb long to a bloke who is tough to match up on, reads the ball well in flight and clunks big marks in packs. It just makes sense to me.
 

All this works on the presumption tht he is dedicated enough to meet the demands of AFL, has a clear mind and avoids injury. However, he has some serious upside and suits our game plan of the last 5 years.

 

This  highlights package shows his skill set pretty well

 

 

 

He really is an absolute unit, perhaps a little bit of creativity from Mark Williams and Yze will be able to unlock his full potential. I always look at these guys as a free hit, if they come off then brilliant and if they don’t then we’ve lost very little. 

I think the point here is that if we need cover,  he has the AFL experience to just come in and play. He mightn't play brilliantly, but if he can hold down a position reasonably well, it'll be enough.

It also means that if we lose another key position player (lord forbid), we won't have to rob Peter to pay Paul by shuffling existing KP's.

13 hours ago, Nudge said:

Another point I raised to keep an eye out for recently that was scoffed at.

Was always in our radar, solid thinking given current injuries and would provide cover for 3 departments.

You also mentioned Matt Scharenberg which I'd hoped we'd have a look at. Too good a talent to be out of the AFL system.

Although he probably wouldn't help our injury issues right now.

So is the plan to have T Mac and Jackson as our stay at home key forwards while Daw rotates between forward, second ruck and bench?

While Mitch Brown is back up if any of the above gets injured.

I'd personally have Brown ahead of Daw (with Jackson being the second ruck) as he has a few more runs on the board since 2019.

17 hours ago, joeboy said:

Absolutely NOTHING to lose by offering MD a chance!

Low risk move

(adhering to the 3-word analysis format)

i wonder how much of a pre season he's had?

might not be up to scratch for first 4 or so rounds

27 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

i wonder how much of a pre season he's had?

might not be up to scratch for first 4 or so rounds

Richardson explicitly stated that they chose him over other possible players because he would be ready to go early.  So presumably they have some idea of his fitness.

A clever decision by our brains trust, even if we have to wait a couple of weeks or so for him to be COVID isolated and approved to train.

He is a big athletic body and can play any of the tall positions but I am curious to see why he didn't quite make it at North - even in his second coming.

But above all else and regardless of whether he plays or not, the best benefit is that given he can be used as a ruckman, he enables Luke Jackson to be trialled as a forward in our scratch matches and ensures Gawny has a physically strong training partner apart from Dogga's athleticism to contend with.

And if he gets excited at his new environment, who knows, we may even see some of the Magic Majak he showed at North, albeit sporadically, in our senior team.

Yuck, smacks of desperation. 

Brissie will be licking their lips at the thought of our juicy R1 pick.

8 minutes ago, TheoX said:

Yuck, smacks of desperation. 

Brissie will be licking their lips at the thought of our juicy R1 pick.

Why Brissie ? We don't play them in Round 1 or early in the season.

Might be better to change name to X only if you keep making posts like this Theo!!!

I don’t understand why they would be looking at Daw as depth in the fwd line, a position he has never played. we would be better off playing another small for all he would offer.

As a ruck backup in case gawn went down I could see it but never a fwd 

16 hours ago, pinkshark said:

Agree Smokey.  Many on here must think these final three positions we fill are going to catapult us to a flag.  

There Not?????

50 minutes ago, sue said:

Richardson explicitly stated that they chose him over other possible players because he would be ready to go early.  So presumably they have some idea of his fitness.

Wonder how much they know about his fitness at this point to think he'd be ready to go early, as at best he would have some pre season training with Nth Heidelberg.  

13 minutes ago, Garbo said:

I don’t understand why they would be looking at Daw as depth in the fwd line, a position he has never played. we would be better off playing another small for all he would offer.

As a ruck backup in case gawn went down I could see it but never a fwd 

Have a look at this highlights reel. Has played forward. KIcked 6 goals in a game and towelled up Alir Alir last year playing forward. 

4 minutes ago, It's Time said:

Wonder how much they know about his fitness at this point to think he'd be ready to go early, as at best he would have some pre season training with Nth Heidelberg.  

Have a look at this highlights reel. Has played forward. KIcked 6 goals in a game and towelled up Alir Alir last year playing forward. 

North one of the better teams in the strongest Victorian league outside of the VFL coached by ex AFL player Jason Heatley. 

Just now, Grimes Times said:

North one of the better teams in the strongest Victorian league outside of the VFL coached by ex AFL player Jason Heatley. 

But at that level at best there would be a few semi professional players and a lot of amateur players right. So time for pre season training would be a lot less than full time AFL and a lot less strength and conditioning expertise. That's why I'm wondering what they know about his fitness that tells them he will be able to play early. I'm not making a statement that he isn't fit as I have no idea but just interested in the statement that they are planning on him playing early. I assume if necessary. 

32 minutes ago, Garbo said:

I don’t understand why they would be looking at Daw as depth in the fwd line, a position he has never played. we would be better off playing another small for all he would offer.

As a ruck backup in case gawn went down I could see it but never a fwd 

He played fwd a few times but showed he doesn’t have the craft to be a key fwd so they moved him back. Aside from that one game he has proved to be a poor fwd so hopefully we don’t have to go through this experiment for him to fail again. he reminds me a bit of Frost up fwd, lots of physical traits and a good mark but not much else. 

He is decent down back however. 
 

14 minutes ago, DubDee said:

He played fwd a few times but showed he doesn’t have the craft to be a key fwd so they moved him back. Aside from that one game he has proved to be a poor fwd so hopefully we don’t have to go through this experiment for him to fail again. he reminds me a bit of Frost up fwd, lots of physical traits and a good mark but not much else. 

He is decent down back however. 
 

In 2021 I would rather have him playing in the ruck than Bradtke.