11 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Howes is a fair way off impacting at AFL level.  Looks very promising but might take a bit longer to force his way in than JVR imv

I think he might surprise a few next year.

12 hours ago, adonski said:

The Anti-Goodwin High Risk, High Reward Best 22 of 23'

Sponsored by Werridee

FB: Tomlinson May Hunt
HB: Bowey Lever Salem
C: Langdon Brayshaw Howes
HF: Spargo JVR Petracca
FF: Fritsch Petty Pickett
INT: Harmes Rivers Jordon Bedford

• Moderate downgrade in the backline (Tomlinson in for Petty), to allow a massive upgrade in the forward line
• JVR in 
• Added outside speed & X-factor: Howes IN for Sparrow & Bedford IN for ANB
• Hibberd every chance to feature should he go on 
• Grundy (?) probably comes in for Rivers (Brayshaw can pinch hit as 7th defender)

So you don’t rate Clayton Oliver?

3 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

Keep Hibberd 

Won't get anything for Weid.

 

If Hibbo wants to go again he has earned it,  but not guaranteed B22(hopefully he is forced out due to Bowie/Rivers form)

Oh agree with weid,  but give him the option to look elsewhere if he wants,  might get a late 3rd for him if we are lucky

30 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

I think he might surprise a few next year.

I was of the view that Woewodin would be one of the first recruits to play afl, but certainly Howes has some quality about him, and would not surprise. A few sessions in the gym would not go astray though. 

Speaking of changes when should we expect to first lot of delisted players. 

4 minutes ago, Mr Steve said:

Speaking of changes when should we expect to first lot of delisted players. 

As the likely delists are eligible to play in the VFL GF it will probably be next week.

One change I want to see, us burying teams when we have them down. 

On 9/11/2022 at 10:21 AM, Lord Nev said:

Looooong way out, but I reckon our 22 could look something like this by about mid-year in 2023. JVR and Howes are big watches for me next year. I reckon Howes might make it as a winger eventually, so that would mean Gus rotates around more when Trac goes forward.

B: Lever, Petty, Rivers

HB: Bowey, May, Salem

C: Langdon, Petracca, Brayshaw

HF: Neal-Bullen, McDonald, Pickett

F: Fritsch, Grundy, van Rooyen

FOLL: Gawn, Oliver, Viney

IC: Spargo, Sparrow, Howes, Jordon

 

If Spargo, Neal Bullen, Rivers, Hunt and to a lesser extent Sparrow and Salem are anywhere in our best 22 we will be going Backwards

6 hours ago, rpfc said:

It’s a gameplan put together by the coaching staff obviously with Goodwin as the final say so. And I am sure they will try to adopt something closer to Sydney and be a bit more enterprising and expansive.

Im talking about a ball movement coach specifically charged with implementing it. Went to a coaching conference about 10 years ago and had a presentation from the Bombers ball movement coach and he described his role as the person responsible to be able to talk to any player and talk them through how their role would complement. 

Also would be good to get some fresh ideas.

Yeah and the Bombers have well done well with it, if a coach comes up with a method of playing and cannot explain it to the players and coaches then we are in trouble, I might add then what is Chocco there for then, I will say this, a ball movement coach what a load of crap you are only coaching 40 odd players.  

But it is only my opinion and we all know what they are in the long run.

 

45 minutes ago, picket fence said:

If Spargo, Neal Bullen, Rivers, Hunt and to a lesser extent Sparrow and Salem are anywhere in our best 22 we will be going Backwards

Idiotic. If we’re replacing 5 premiership players with unproven kids and spare parts picks up then we will absolutely be going backwards.

If we got the finals performances from Lever, Salem, Petracca and a couple of half decent key forwards we’d be in the grand final with all those role players.

51 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

Yeah and the Bombers have well done well with it, if a coach comes up with a method of playing and cannot explain it to the players and coaches then we are in trouble, I might add then what is Chocco there for then, I will say this, a ball movement coach what a load of crap you are only coaching 40 odd players.  

But it is only my opinion and we all know what they are in the long run.

 

Thanks

1 hour ago, picket fence said:

If Spargo, Neal Bullen, Rivers, Hunt and to a lesser extent Sparrow and Salem are anywhere in our best 22 we will be going Backwards

Nah.

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

Idiotic. If we’re replacing 5 premiership players with unproven kids and spare parts picks up then we will absolutely be going backwards.

If we got the finals performances from Lever, Salem, Petracca and a couple of half decent key forwards we’d be in the grand final with all those role players.

Take a leaf outa Collingwoods book!

look how many young players might just cut the mustard in a few weeks. So you agree wirh Salem then? Lever has done it all year, and Tracc was on one leg! GIVE ME A BREAK!

Just now, picket fence said:

Take a leaf outa Collingwoods book!

look how many young players might just cut the mustard in a few weeks. So you agree wirh Salem then? Lever has done it all year, and Tracc was on one leg! GIVE ME A BREAK!

Salem is a star player a mile below his best, the answer is getting him back to his best. Same with Lever. Same with Petracca. All impacted by injuries. 

Collingwood have 3 new young players in their side: Nick Daicos, McCreery, Ginnivan. We could do with a young gun like Daicos in the draft, but I’m happy with Spargo and Pickett over the pies small forwards.

Collingwood have got their stars healthy - namely Moore, Howe, De Goey and Jamie Elliot.

Otherwise they have a heap of role players like Mihocek, Murphy, Noble, Cox, Hoskin Elliot, Lipinski, Bianco all firing because the stars and team are firing. They aren’t suddenly good or bad players. 

Salem has never played well once his season gets interrupted with injury. Remember his start in round one before hurting his knee? He was on fire. 
anyway, he'll have a huge off-season and be good next year. I'd love for him to find consistency up the ground say on a wing but it's been tried and never quite works out...

I think a lockdown defender is critical. I think an upgrade on the non-Langdon wing is important too. Tmac + JVR will improve forward line. 
would love another spark in the forward line along with Kozi. for me that's Bedford. Happy for it to be someone else but I think Bedford has done an apprenticeship and deserves the spot. Liam Henry is intriguing here.

Need to move away from intercept marking defence. Yes it's a great strength but full ground pressure needs to be the first line. A slight shift in offensive ball movement and we'll be rolling.

 

 Don't forget for a second that Gawn, Oliver, Trac, Viney, Brayshaw is a dominant, brutal and damaging midfield. It's daylight between us and anyone else. A few tweaks to the game plan to capitalise and their contest work and we'll be laughing. 

3 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Salem is a star player a mile below his best, the answer is getting him back to his best. Same with Lever. Same with Petracca. All impacted by injuries. 

Collingwood have 3 new young players in their side: Nick Daicos, McCreery, Ginnivan. We could do with a young gun like Daicos in the draft, but I’m happy with Spargo and Pickett over the pies small forwards.

Collingwood have got their stars healthy - namely Moore, Howe, De Goey and Jamie Elliot.

Otherwise they have a heap of role players like Mihocek, Murphy, Noble, Cox, Hoskin Elliot, Lipinski, Bianco all firing because the stars and team are firing. They aren’t suddenly good or bad players. 

So Salem star player well below his best but still played last week, so Selectors have roled the Dice and not played Casey guys deserving of a game!? Hnm

Also OUR stars have fired for Ever but lesser lights struggle??? PLEASE EXPLAIN

51 minutes ago, picket fence said:

So Salem star player well below his best but still played last week, so Selectors have roled the Dice and not played Casey guys deserving of a game!? Hnm

Also OUR stars have fired for Ever but lesser lights struggle??? PLEASE EXPLAIN

The selectors clearly gambled on an underdone Salo and he didn’t deliver. They gambled that Salem’s cool head early in games was more important than his ability to run out of a full game.

Lever, Salem and Petracca after breaking his leg did not fire in the finals. Neither did Gawn, and whilst they aren’t stars but we obviously got very little from tall forwards. 

If we got 2021 Lever, Salem, Tracc, Gawn, Ben Brown then we we’re in the grand final and no one is complaining about Spargo, ANB or any other role player. 

 

20 hours ago, Mr Steve said:

One change I want to see, us burying teams when we have them down. 

The question then becomes is it about not taking our chances early or a mindset issue? Are we going into our shell too quickly to protect a lead or do we need to look at the mental side of it more? Much to get under the microscope for all involved.

On 9/11/2022 at 5:02 PM, titan_uranus said:

Impressive side, considering it’s 3 players short!

You forgot about our 2022 trades and recruits in Pendelbury, Lachie Neale, Cripps, Andrew Brayshaw and Touk Miller...

23 hours ago, Antioch said:

So you don’t rate Clayton Oliver?

He said it's high risk 🙃

CHANGES 2022 by The Oracle

Part 1: The year we stood still (or did we?). 

Premiership coach David Parkin who  coincidentally turned 80 yesterday, famously used to say that even a premiership team needs to bring at least five new players into the fold in order to advance from year to year and therefore, if this adage remains true, then the Melbourne Football Club really did stand still in 2022. 

Of the players recruited after the club’s premiership in September, 2021, only Luke Dunstan (5 games) managed to provide service at AFL level. In addition, defender Daniel Turner who was picked up in the Mid Season Draft in June 2021, saw action for less than a half before he was injured against Collingwood in the last Queens Birthday game for a while — the only genuine debutant in terms of AFL games for the year are concerned. 

None of this is necessarily a criticism of either the coaching or the recruiting people at the club. That’s how it happened in 2022 when the playing list was strong enough to finish second on the ladder in the wake of a particularly tough draw. It all broke down in the finals but, in the words of Jerry Seinfeld, “it is what it is” and there’s a silver lining there in that the club moves towards the next phase with a number of players who have yet to be tested at senior AFL level and can therefore be considered recruits for 2023. They are — 

•    Blake Howes Now here’s a player who is versatile; he can play as a tallish winger or as forward who wasn’t far off senior selection before he injured his foot early in the season. Will benefit from a full pre season.

•    Bailey Laurie He has now spent two seasons at the club and was also close to stepping up for senior selection, particularly after one outstanding 30+ possession game at GMHBA Stadium for Casey against the Cats. Hoping for a breakthrough in 2023.

•    Fraser Rosman Another two year player with height, pace, a good engine and versatility. Unlucky with injuries.

•    Jacob Van Rooyen  We’re all waiting with bated breath to see how this 194cm key forward with vice like marking grip, the strongest 18 year old Tom McDonald’s ever seen and boundless enthusiasm goes when he finally gets a senior call up.

•    Taj Woewodin Son of a club Brownlow Medallist and an emerging midfield talent.

•     Judd McVee Rookie from WA who spent most of his time in defence at Casey.

•    Deakyn Smith Another rookie with two seasons behind him, learning the back pocket ropes (mentored last year by Neville Jetta).

•    Daniel Turner I’m including him here because the dashing defender is virtually a recruit having spent not much more than half an hour in AFL ranks (and it was an impressive half hour).

•    Andy Moniz-Wakefield A Next Generation Academy player from the NT who the Demons managed to capture and who has plenty of flair and X Factor. Fingers crossed but he could be very, very good.

And there you have it!

Even before the club’s National Recruiting Manager Jason Taylor, List Manager Tim Lamb and their recruiting staff begin to roll up their sleeves and get to work, there are nine names who are in contention for new places in the team. Some won’t make it and, based on the percentages, it’s likely that the majority will not.

However, if three or four of them can become regular performers at the highest level, then it’s a bonus for the club. Which is just as well because at this point in time, Melbourne’s first pick in the November Draft is a late second rounder at number 34. 

Let’s take a step back to earlier in the year when the club sat out the Pre-season supplemental selection period and the Mid Season Draft. With all those untried players already at the club there was no need for further picks. Melbourne’s player list looked like this in early June:— 

PRIMARY LIST: —

Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Jake Bowey Angus Brayshaw Ben Brown Luke Dunstan Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn James Harmes Michael Hibberd Blake Howes Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson James Jordon Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Tom McDonald Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Fraser Rosman Christian Salem Joel Smith Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Jacob Van Rooyen Jack Viney Sam Weideman Taj Woewodin 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A 

Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Majak Daw Judd McVee Deakyn Smith Daniel Turner 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B  

Andy Moniz-Wakefield 

A few weeks later, there might have been some regrets about the inactivity when Majak Daw retired, leaving the club a little light on for ruckmen.

Things changed again today when Luke Jackson formally asked to be traded to his home state of Western Australia. This has already sparked speculation as to what Melbourne will ask in return for the former number 3 draft pick who became a premiership star for the club. And by way of a replacement, the Demons have already held talks with Magpie big man Brodie Grundy.

So folks, relax, sit down, get yourselves a big bag of popcorn at the ready and enjoy the hectic trade, free agency and draft period that awaits us.

On 9/9/2022 at 11:44 PM, Garbo said:

Hopefully this forces Goodwin to face some realities,

His refusal to play a 2nd tall once Tmac was injured and Weid didn’t work out was just stupid.

Our fitness is a major issue the fact we couldn’t run out games most of the year is a complete 180 on last year, Selwyn Griffith clearly not upto filling Burgess shoes some one new need to be brought in.

Our entires fwd are to predictable and slow. Percentage play they may be but when everyone know where it’s going it’s to easy to counter by the good sides.

One of our defensive smalls fwds need to make way for a more attacking player like Bedford or the like.

Not worried about loosing Jackson now, I don’t think he cuts it as a fwd and we have Gawn for now in the ruck where he belongs. Use the money to get a genuine tall fwd.

Yep, I far prefer Max staying outside the 50 and mopping up any exit kicks from the opposition rather than being the target inside 50.

Edited September 13, 20222 yr by Boots and all

21 minutes ago, Demonland said:

CHANGES 2022 by The Oracle

Part 1: The year we stood still (or did we?). 

Premiership coach David Parkin who  coincidentally turned 80 yesterday, famously used to say that even a premiership team needs to bring at least five new players into the fold in order to advance from year to year and therefore, if this adage remains true, then the Melbourne Football Club really did stand still in 2022. 

Of the players recruited after the club’s premiership in September, 2021, only Luke Dunstan (5 games) managed to provide service at AFL level. In addition, defender Daniel Turner who was picked up in the Mid Season Draft in June 2021, saw action for less than a half before he was injured against Collingwood in the last Queens Birthday game for a while — the only genuine debutant in terms of AFL games for the year are concerned. 

None of this is necessarily a criticism of either the coaching or the recruiting people at the club. That’s how it happened in 2022 when the playing list was strong enough to finish second on the ladder in the wake of a particularly tough draw. It all broke down in the finals but, in the words of Jerry Seinfeld, “it is what it is” and there’s a silver lining there in that the club moves towards the next phase with a number of players who have yet to be tested at senior AFL level and can therefore be considered recruits for 2023. They are — 

•    Blake Howes Now here’s a player who is versatile; he can play as a tallish winger or as forward who wasn’t far off senior selection before he injured his foot early in the season. Will benefit from a full pre season.

•    Bailey Laurie He has now spent two seasons at the club and was also close to stepping up for senior selection, particularly after one outstanding 30+ possession game at GMHBA Stadium for Casey against the Cats. Hoping for a breakthrough in 2023.

•    Fraser Rosman Another two year player with height, pace, a good engine and versatility. Unlucky with injuries.

•    Jacob Van Rooyen  We’re all waiting with bated breath to see how this 194cm key forward with vice like marking grip, the strongest 18 year old Tom McDonald’s ever seen and boundless enthusiasm goes when he finally gets a senior call up.

•    Taj Woewodin Son of a club Brownlow Medallist and an emerging midfield talent.

•     Judd McVee Rookie from WA who spent most of his time in defence at Casey.

•    Deakyn Smith Another rookie with two seasons behind him, learning the back pocket ropes (mentored last year by Neville Jetta).

•    Daniel Turner I’m including him here because the dashing defender is virtually a recruit having spent not much more than half an hour in AFL ranks (and it was an impressive half hour).

•    Andy Moniz-Wakefield A Next Generation Academy player from the NT who the Demons managed to capture and who has plenty of flair and X Factor. Fingers crossed but he could be very, very good.

And there you have it!

Even before the club’s National Recruiting Manager Jason Taylor, List Manager Tim Lamb and their recruiting staff begin to roll up their sleeves and get to work, there are nine names who are in contention for new places in the team. Some won’t make it and, based on the percentages, it’s likely that the majority will not.

However, if three or four of them can become regular performers at the highest level, then it’s a bonus for the club. Which is just as well because at this point in time, Melbourne’s first pick in the November Draft is a late second rounder at number 34. 

Let’s take a step back to earlier in the year when the club sat out the Pre-season supplemental selection period and the Mid Season Draft. With all those untried players already at the club there was no need for further picks. Melbourne’s player list looked like this in early June:— 

PRIMARY LIST: —

Oskar Baker Toby Bedford Jake Bowey Angus Brayshaw Ben Brown Luke Dunstan Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn James Harmes Michael Hibberd Blake Howes Jayden Hunt Luke Jackson James Jordon Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Tom McDonald Steven May Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Fraser Rosman Christian Salem Joel Smith Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Adam Tomlinson Jacob Van Rooyen Jack Viney Sam Weideman Taj Woewodin 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A 

Mitch Brown Kade Chandler Majak Daw Judd McVee Deakyn Smith Daniel Turner 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B  

Andy Moniz-Wakefield 

A few weeks later, there might have been some regrets about the inactivity when Majak Daw retired, leaving the club a little light on for ruckmen.

Things changed again today when Luke Jackson formally asked to be traded to his home state of Western Australia. This has already sparked speculation as to what Melbourne will ask in return for the former number 3 draft pick who became a premiership star for the club. And by way of a replacement, the Demons have already held talks with Magpie big man Brodie Grundy.

So folks, relax, sit down, get yourselves a big bag of popcorn at the ready and enjoy the hectic trade, free agency and draft period that awaits us.

Thanks for a great read. I think we can expect 8 out of those 9 young players (Rosman out with concussion) to take part in the VFL Grand Final on Sunday. A great experience for them and may it hold them in good stead for the future.

Edited September 13, 20222 yr by Freddy Fuschia

Grundy
JVR
Howes
Woewodin
Laurie
Bedford
Chandler
Disco

Not to mention picks 1 through 5, Andrew Brayshaw, Hayden Young & Aaron Naughton

There's a fair few fresh faces that should impact to some extent next year to refresh the best 22

Edited September 13, 20222 yr by adonski

On 9/10/2022 at 12:09 PM, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Should we bring in Stephen Hill, Hunter Clarke and Ben Long from Linton Street @Anti Saint?

Hill - yeah/nah/yeah; Clarke - nah; Long - yeah - you have good intel down there at Linton St which is a dump of an area, I know I grew up next door! @Queanbeyan Demon