On 22/07/2024 at 17:06, JJJ said:

Watched the Kangas vs Blues 2nd half.

LDU is exactly what we need. Wins his own ball, kicks well on both feet and grits his teeth and explodes from the contest.

I would give up a lot for him but I’m pretty sure he’s said recently that he wants to stay.

Agree with you completely. LDU is incredible, agility of Trac (without the same raw power and flair) and Pendle's presence of mind in traffic. Would LOVE him with us but I think it would be a very poor move to leave North. Will be as competitive as any soon. Jonesy gave a speech to them a few months ago and I reckon he got in LDU's ear about the value of loyalty. 

It's a shame Finn Callaghan and LDU are not out of contract til 2025. I doubt we could jag either out a year early (if at all)  but they are exactly the type of size, polish and pace we need to add to our midfield mix. 

Isaac Cumming as a free agent.  I’d throw a 5 year deal at him.  
 

Keep the draft picks.  It’s a very strong draft this year.  

43 minutes ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

It's a shame Finn Callaghan and LDU are not out of contract til 2025. I doubt we could jag either out a year early (if at all)  but they are exactly the type of size, polish and pace we need to add to our midfield mix. 

Get Blake Howes on the phone to Finn stat - they were best mates apparently

We need to replace, at the very least,

BBB, Gus, Smith,   And probably/ perhaps 

Tomlinson, Tmac, Hunter, Billings, and one or two others NQR in their attitude or abilities.  So that’s 6 or 7 changes. 
4 or 5 from the draft, we might get 2 who can play in 2026 and recruit who ever we can. 

Personally I believe that we need to free up 5-6 spots on the list at a minimum, we have to accomodate McVee, AMW and possibly Verrall .

We need:-

1. Ruckman

2. Biggish, fast midfielder

3. Med/ tall utility

Use freed up Rookies spots for best available

No pressure Jason Taylor & Tim Lamb just don’t let us down. Lol!!!

We have to improve our midfield. It’s the main priority. A good quick big bodied mid will bring us back into contention very quickly if Trac and Clarry return to their best. 

17 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

We have to improve our midfield. It’s the main priority. A good quick big bodied mid will bring us back into contention very quickly if Trac and Clarry return to their best. 

I think we need two, so there’s genuine pressure on Clarry and Viney for their spots. 
 

Both can be great, no doubt, but if we go into next year heavily relying on Gawn, Trac, Clarry and Viney again, we may as well pull up stumps before it begins.

They are not dynamic enough to compete with the best midfields every week

12 minutes ago, BW511 said:

I think we need two, so there’s genuine pressure on Clarry and Viney for their spots. 
 

Both can be great, no doubt, but if we go into next year heavily relying on Gawn, Trac, Clarry and Viney again, we may as well pull up stumps before it begins.

They are not dynamic enough to compete with the best midfields every week

If we can get someone like Houston to replace Rivers permanently at half back, then I think we will gain another gun midfielder. 
Rivers is clearly a capable inside mid, but he needs a full pre season to build his fitness to play that role. It’s vastly different to playing half back.  

Given we are likely to have a top 10 pick this year I hope we don’t use it on Houston. We can get a gun mid for that pick. I’d be hopefully taking Cummings as a free agent instead. 

Guessing we will also look at a decent back up ruck option. Reidy from Freo. Bryan from bombers. Anyone else a potential option?

Any chance we get both Cummings and Perryman as free agents?

Perryman being offered 800k per year by previous articles.

We have the salary relief from Brayshaw plus some older players coming out of big contracts. Probably wishful thinking on my part.

James Peatling out of contract. Giants Nm 20 who has 28 possies on Saturday night.

7 minutes ago, demoniac said:

James Peatling out of contract. Giants Nm 20 who has 28 possies on Saturday night.

Here I was asking on Saturday night who the hell was this Peatling guy tearing our mids apart..

Played a ripping game and was dominant in the clearences. 

On a slightly different note the Dees have the equal 4th in debutants since 2023 which surprised me.

Ignore the picture of Brad Scott as it relates the Essendon having the least.

Edited July 29, 2024Jul 29 by Jibroni

27 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Here I was asking on Saturday night who the hell was this Peatling guy tearing our mids apart..

Second cousin of Cameron Ling?

17 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

On a slightly different note the Dees have the equal 4th in debutants since 2023 which surprised me.

Ignore the picture of Brad Scott as it relates the Essendon having the least.

Essendon really has the worst profile of all teams. Ageing list with close to zero talent coming through the VFL ranks. 

They'll have to wait at least 4 more years to win a final. @WalkingCivilWar must be elated 😆

21 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

On a slightly different note the Dees have the equal 4th in debutants since 2023 which surprised me.

Ignore the picture of Brad Scott as it relates the Essendon having the least.

2023

McVee (44)

JVR (37)

Woewodin (18)

Laurie (10)

2024

Windsor (19)

Howes (12)

Tholstrup (6)

AMW (5)

Brown (2)

3 minutes ago, BAMF said:

2023

McVee (44)

JVR (37)

Woewodin (18)

Laurie (10)

2024

Windsor (19)

Howes (12)

Tholstrup (6)

AMW (5)

Brown (2)

We may yet add a couple more to the list before the end of the season.

1 hour ago, demoniac said:

James Peatling out of contract. Giants Nm 20 who has 28 possies on Saturday night.

My bulldogs supporting mate thinks this was their entire recruiting strategy for a few years, chase anyone that had one decent game against them (Hello, Tim O’Brien)

5 minutes ago, BW511 said:

My bulldogs supporting mate thinks this was their entire recruiting strategy for a few years, chase anyone that had one decent game against them (Hello, Tim O’Brien)

I'm sure we've had one or two of those. Paul Johnson (admittedly from yesteryear) springs to mind.

4 hours ago, Jibroni said:

On a slightly different note the Dees have the equal 4th in debutants since 2023 which surprised me.

Ignore the picture of Brad Scott as it relates the Essendon having the least.

I'll ignore the picture but I won't ignore how funny it is.

In my opinion we don't want to give up 2 firsts for Houston. We have done a great job at regenerating the list drafting consistently in the first round. Especially because our pick this year is looking likely to be a top 10 pick now, a singular pick would get it done. At the same time I wouldn't mind picking up the best midfield talent with that pick also.

I would target isaac cumming as an unrestricted free agent to be able to hold onto picks.

Cam Rayner as a game changer half forward/mid. He has wildly underperformed given his talent at the lions and if he has a pre season like trac did in 2020, it could be a great get. He would add another dimension to the forward line.

Target a genuine back up ruck for Max which has been an issue since Jackson left. Ned Moyle would be ideal but, he probably wants to play as the number 1 ruck. Could both of them play? Otherwise I'd be going for Toby Conway, Nick Bryan, Alex Mirkov, Max Knobel, Max Heath types.

We need to target quick and skilful mids. If we are unable to land houston I'd do everything possible to get Zak Butters into the club. Other options would be Sam Flanders, Finn Callaghan, Zac Bailey, Ed Richards, Justin Mcinerney. We haven't landed a big fish since May in 2018 and I think considering the amount of youth we have coming through, we could really do with targeting one of the first few I mentioned in this group. I think the midfield is currently our biggest problem, it needs some regeneration and spark.

Target other mids around the competition who were early picks and may not be getting the opportunity they want. A few examples include Neil Erasmus, Josh Ward, Ben Hobbs, Deven Robertson, Angus Sheldrick, Will Phillips, Braeden Campbell etc. This would not only add depth but, they would be relatively cheap with lot of upside. 

 

 

Take the top 10 pick to the draft

8 hours ago, Simon Port said:

In my opinion we don't want to give up 2 firsts for Houston. We have done a great job at regenerating the list drafting consistently in the first round. Especially because our pick this year is looking likely to be a top 10 pick now, a singular pick would get it done. At the same time I wouldn't mind picking up the best midfield talent with that pick also.

I would target isaac cumming as an unrestricted free agent to be able to hold onto picks.

Cam Rayner as a game changer half forward/mid. He has wildly underperformed given his talent at the lions and if he has a pre season like trac did in 2020, it could be a great get. He would add another dimension to the forward line.

Target a genuine back up ruck for Max which has been an issue since Jackson left. Ned Moyle would be ideal but, he probably wants to play as the number 1 ruck. Could both of them play? Otherwise I'd be going for Toby Conway, Nick Bryan, Alex Mirkov, Max Knobel, Max Heath types.

We need to target quick and skilful mids. If we are unable to land houston I'd do everything possible to get Zak Butters into the club. Other options would be Sam Flanders, Finn Callaghan, Zac Bailey, Ed Richards, Justin Mcinerney. We haven't landed a big fish since May in 2018 and I think considering the amount of youth we have coming through, we could really do with targeting one of the first few I mentioned in this group. I think the midfield is currently our biggest problem, it needs some regeneration and spark.

Target other mids around the competition who were early picks and may not be getting the opportunity they want. A few examples include Neil Erasmus, Josh Ward, Ben Hobbs, Deven Robertson, Angus Sheldrick, Will Phillips, Braeden Campbell etc. This would not only add depth but, they would be relatively cheap with lot of upside. 

 

 

Toby Conway would be the perfect Gawn replacement.

Has done his time at Geelong for a few years now. 205cm tall 22 year old who would be ready to step in when needed.

Watched a few of his games this year at AFL level and thought he handled himself pretty well.

12 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Toby Conway would be the perfect Gawn replacement.

Has done his time at Geelong for a few years now. 205cm tall 22 year old who would be ready to step in when needed.

Watched a few of his games this year at AFL level and thought he handled himself pretty well.

He would be the perfect replacement but he's a Geelong boy who wouldn't entertain leaving and is about to take over from Stanley.