Salem will not be traded. Time for Bowey and JvR to step up - have to make changes to a side bundled out 2 straight.

T MC Hopfully ok for all of next year. TMc together with JvR and Fritter will give us a different look.

Chuck in Gawny at times as well.

Apparently Liam Henry from Freo may be exploring other options after being left out of their finals side.  Was rated as the best small forward in Kozzie's draft and clearly others such as Kozzie and Weightman have gone past him.

In my view it seems like he hasn't shown the sort of aggression needed for that sort of role but has a lot of upside in terms of skills and athletic ability.  Potentially he may be more suited to a flank or wing role.

Is he a player of interest (potentially part of the Jackson deal)?

5 hours ago, Demon3 said:

I dont think everyone is piling on him, most have been defending him. I am piling on him a bit and i make no apologies for it. I hope he bounces back next year, but he was really poor this year, weaponless i reckon.

He missed half the year, losing much of his conditioning. If anything blame the coaches for playing him 

We don’t trade Salem. We get him right over Summer. Michael Hibberd is done at the elite level, so Salem is not on the table

Put a good Key Forward in this team and we would still be alive next Friday night

1 hour ago, deelusions from afar said:

Apparently Liam Henry from Freo may be exploring other options after being left out of their finals side.  Was rated as the best small forward in Kozzie's draft and clearly others such as Kozzie and Weightman have gone past him.

In my view it seems like he hasn't shown the sort of aggression needed for that sort of role but has a lot of upside in terms of skills and athletic ability.  Potentially he may be more suited to a flank or wing role.

Is he a player of interest (potentially part of the Jackson deal)?

He is very good mates with Kozzie as well, would want to make sure there is no go home factor before making the call. From a pure football perspective I love this, he would flourish in our system.

What a shock.  A Geelong boy wants to leave the Giants and go to the Cats. Bruhn was gutted when chosen by the Giants in the draft. 
 

GREATER Western Sydney youngster Tanner Bruhn has settled on Geelong as his preferred new home after weighing interest from several Victorian clubs. 

Bruhn had been considering his future at the Giants all season after rebuffing their two-year offer to remain at the club.

On 9/9/2022 at 3:11 PM, Fat Tony said:

I think you are cherry picking Spargo's best patch of football just looking at the end of last year. 18 goals in 25 games for the full season is not a lot in the best team.

Spargo is rated 36th in the AFL for Small Forwards (the filter is General Forwards but I removed mid size forwards like Fritsch) and rated 17th on the Demons list. This seems about right to me.

https://www.statsinsider.com.au/afl/player-ratings

All I am saying is that Spargo plays a role in our side but he is limited and we could add someone who is more dynamic and would make us better. (ANB, who ranks 15th at MFC, is definitely replaceable as well.)

I also think you can find good small forwards later in the draft or by trade. There are a bunch of small forwards rated above Spargo that were acquired very cheaply, including Moore, Papley, Stengle, Willie Rioli, McCarthy, Breust, Nick Martin, Higgins, Ryan, Switkowski, Close, Butler, Schultz, Ginnevan and Lambert. My view is this should be a focus for recruiting.

While we would love a gun key forward or forward/ruck this offseason, we are unlikely to be in a position to draft one with our later picks. (They probably would not fit our premiership window anyway.)

Our list is fine for key defenders, general defenders and midfielders. We could also add another true wingman, but we have not been able to draft one of those in eons.

 

 

Ah do I smell a Spargo conspiracy theory? Nar I would never say that.... its just that He aint that good and next year will prove it. BOOKMARK IT

Funny people mentioning Spargo and Salem - the two best field kickers in our team - as being underwhelming or trade bait. Like we are packed with dead eye kicks... 

I agree with the comments - Salem clearly was either injured or just out of form and yet we kept picking him. Kinda like Jacko. 

10 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Ah do I smell a Spargo conspiracy theory? Nar I would never say that.... its just that He aint that good and next year will prove it. BOOKMARK IT

I love Spargo because he makes good decisions with ball in hand and gets the most out of himself - he chases, runs hard both ways, tackles, drops the shoulder when tackled etc.  I've learnt that when he has the ball in hand we will usually score (probably moreso than anyone else in the team).

But he has limitations - he's short and can get pushed off it easily, not quick (for a small forward) and can't kick more than 35m

We could be a better team if he was replaced with someone who doesn't have these limitations but I don't know of an obvious option:

- Bedford - is electric and has x-factor but his kicking / decision making lets him down.

- Chandler - yet to be given a proper go at senior level but wouldn't be much faster Spargo.  Better ball user than Bedford.

- AMW - developing nicely at Casey.  Not sure what his ultimate position is.  Regular Casey watchers would have a better idea.

- Bowey - played forward / wing as a junior.  He could be dangerous kicking to our forwards - but I still think he'll have similar limitations to Spargo due to his size.

1 hour ago, RedFox said:

He is very good mates with Kozzie as well, would want to make sure there is no go home factor before making the call. From a pure football perspective I love this, he would flourish in our system.

And while on the Freo topic, is Blake Acres someone we would look at.  After recruiting Langdon, we were going after Isaac Smith to have another genuine wingman.  Since then we've largely persisted with Brayshaw / Jordon and a little bit of Harmes and Spargo.  But I don't think the wing is the best position for any of these players.  Blake Howes is meant to be a winger but I wouldn't expect him to be playing regular senior footy next year.

The rumour is that Acres is going to Carlton.  Would he be of interest as well?

45 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

What a shock.  A Geelong boy wants to leave the Giants and go to the Cats. Bruhn was gutted when chosen by the Giants in the draft. 
 

GREATER Western Sydney youngster Tanner Bruhn has settled on Geelong as his preferred new home after weighing interest from several Victorian clubs. 

Bruhn had been considering his future at the Giants all season after rebuffing their two-year offer to remain at the club.

 

Edited September 12, 20222 yr by Nascent

3 hours ago, Travy14 said:

The 6 pages I have read are piling on him to the level of trading him,  which is crazy.

He played 12(13 but subbed of in 5min mark of rd1) games this season and in 6 of them went 20+ possessions at well over 75% efficiency and a few games of 117, 18 and 19 possessions.  It wasn't a really poor season.  Just we have very high expectations of him. 

He came back well after he hurt his knee then tapered off,  which maybe it started to flare up again which is why he missed the last round.

It was Salo's groin in the last round.

Gee we have some ill balanced and unbelievedly  harsh  judges in our midst both in D/L Anders and general supporters.

If you look at all our players out with injuries during the season most came back and either took a long time to get into form or the injury may well have been a reason for  below form issues .

in that regard There were:

Rivers played Round 1 with big bandages on Lee area  Form average played well near end of season but average to poor Finals games.

Salem  Injured in first 5 mins if the season  came back about 12/-3 rounds later and only been near last years form in patches or for quarters in games. 

Lever Missed games in patch's with leg problems. Played 2/3 Lever style games but others below his ability and composure.

Jacko After calf injury 2/3 of way through season was not the same with energy bounce and skills. Mobility seemed effected. 

Others not  in their best form over the year after injury have been BBB Langers Gawny ( carrying injury ) Trac really hasn't been same match winner with impact since he played Freo with illness. 

Others who have just have not played as well in 2022 as in 2021 are: Sparrow Spargo ANB  Bowser ( should have played Finals) and possibly Harmsey.

On the plus side Fritsch ( goals ) Kossie ( goals ) Clarry ( awards) all had pretty much same excellent standards in performances again like  2021.

Improvers were Angus ( brilliant in different positions HBF and on ball) and Jordan(  consistent and developed his game) until injury near Finals. 
Jayden H had improved season also in style of play and disposal and guarding small fast players. 

Tmac was missed at CHF as his marking, goals,and most importantly bullock ing and team play which assisted our smaller forwards. He stops defenders marking and provides a great ability for keeping the ball alive in our forward line.

I doesnt take much to be 5% off your game for all of the above reasons plus no new players really stamped themselves or were given opportunities to prosper in the AFL largely due to the negatively persistent selection policy. 

In 2023 at least half a dozen AFL level  players will need to be discovered with 1or 2 through trades in,  1 or 2 drafted and Tmac JVR Bowey Turner and the Bedfords  Chandlers and Dunstans stepping up. Tomlinson after a post ACL season will be a better player in depth.Sam W as  a Jacko replacement might succeed.Joel Smith  is a mystery but time to produce.
Draftees from 2020 and 2021 like Howes Bailey AMW and McPhee Rosman and Woewodin are all prospects that a proper pre season will provide further development potential to work with. 

X factors like selflessness trust confidence and team buy in etc. are in need of revisiting at 2021 standards. Changes at selection to keep all in the loop and not just a privileged 25 are necessary for improvement to keep all on their toes. 

Perhaps  the pressure of back to back at the G will be off and our ability which is undoubtedly there will flourish as a result. 

Tweaking  the game plan with more aggression and positive football ( not kicking to the pockets) and playing games out In the fourth term not just protecting leads, maybe fitness is a factor but our minds naturally are very important from now on. 

Fifth place is underwhelming and no Finals wins also but there are always reasons and most of the above are I M O relevant and need addressing in the coming pre season and beyond.

I believe our Club is up to it and has the desire to continue improving according to our Plan. 
 

 

 

Im desperate for some trade news - where is Grand New Flag now days?

No way we are trading Salem. One of our best ball users and people quickly forget he was one of our best in the grand final. Then injured his knee 5 mins into round one this year. 

9 hours ago, Demon3 said:

Agree,  and to be fair, i only said Salem could be put out to see if there are any nibbles, but what if in 3/4 years time, we have 2 young key fwds that are key pillars in our team and driving a 1-2 punch to the GF and keeps us at the top echelon of teams for ten years..  but we ignored it and went for Some tall fwd from the Gold coast who cant get a game.

Its all just conversation starters.

You can't just put players out and see what nibbles come back.

How do you think Salem will feel when he finds out? And he will sure as [censored[ find out.

It's destabilising.

12 hours ago, Norm Smith's Curse said:

Im desperate for some trade news - where is Grand New Flag now days?

Bad idea. 

13 hours ago, Nascent said:

 

One really annoying and IMO unfair thing is this AFL's draft system. Specially when I look at th NBA's or NFL's systems.

Like this example, top talent is drafted by a club and the only guarantee you have is the initial 2 year contract? That's a load of crap for mine! (just like what we are experiencing with Jackson)

What's the point of having good draft picks? 

Can't we have at least 5 years guaranteed for round 1 picks?

Meanwhile the Cats can poach talent from around the league as they please... 🤮🤮

Sam Edmund on SEN: Kozzy loves the Dees, but doesn't love Melbourne the city as much. Port coming hard for him. Kozzy not in a rush with extending his contract despite the Dees already putting offers to him.

 

2 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Sam Edmund on SEN: Kozzy loves the Dees, but doesn't love Melbourne the city as much. Port coming hard for him. Kozzy not in a rush with extending his contract despite the Dees already putting offers to him.

 

haha wow. If he leaves as well our amazing 2019 draft will be a distant memory.

2 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Sam Edmund on SEN: Kozzy loves the Dees, but doesn't love Melbourne the city as much. Port coming hard for him. Kozzy not in a rush with extending his contract despite the Dees already putting offers to him.

 

Would be on our untouchable list I would imagine. To even get us at the table for a contracted kozzie they would need to be offering up Georgiades or Butters + pick 8.

4 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Sam Edmund on SEN: Kozzy loves the Dees, but doesn't love Melbourne the city as much. Port coming hard for him. Kozzy not in a rush with extending his contract despite the Dees already putting offers to him.

 

I wonder how his partner feels about Melbourne. Hopefully she loves it. 

11 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

I wonder how his partner feels about Melbourne. Hopefully she loves it. 

I might send her a fruit basket.

36 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

I wonder how his partner feels about Melbourne. Hopefully she loves it. 

shes very well entrenched in Melbourne as a young community leader and with other family members living here too.

1 minute ago, IvanBartul13 said:

shes very well entrenched in Melbourne as a young community leader and with other family members living here too.

Why the hesitation from kozzie?