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Am I the only one who does not want to give away draft picks? 

We know full well what happened when we were down the bottom when GC and GWS came into the competition - it killed us. 

If we can get 6-8 quality draft picks in the next 2 years we will be very well set age demographic wise when Tassie come into the comp, and set us up for sustained success. Now is the time to draft in my view.

Trac likely leaving, plus ANB, should give us the equivalent of 3 top 12 picks, and a few second rounders perhaps (over the next few years).

We need talent - speed, skill and toughness.  

Trac has screwed the chances of attracting other players potentially - if that's the case let Jason Taylor and team do what they do best. 

I still think we could get a Luke Parker type in addition to this, to cover some depth in the midfield and another great leader and coach to nurture our younger players. 

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2 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Brandan Parfitt - any interest ? 

26yo  inside/outside mid  

Always seemed to be very good when I saw the Cats. Not sure if it’s injury or poor form that meant he was on the outer at Cattery. 
 

 

If he has no contract infront of him, then we could nab him as a delisted free agent, so no draft picks required in a trade. I'd be all for that. He'd be a midfield depth upgrade at worst, and lord knows we need to replenish our midfield depth big time. He's played some good footy in years gone by too and has a bit of pace and smarts about him.

On our midfield, it's gone from our biggest strength to our biggest weakness. We need both stars and depth at this point. Our midfield from our 2021 premiership team is in a sad state a few years on:
Gawn - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Jackson - Gone
Oliver - Contracted, shadow of what he was and hopefully returns to his best next season onwards
Petracca - Gone?
Viney - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Brayshaw - Gone
Neal-Bullen - Gone
Langdon - Contracted, performing his wing role
Harmes - Gone
Sparrow - Contracted, hasn't come on and is depth
Jordon - Gone

Currently on our list we've added Windsor, Laurie, Billings, Hunter, Woewodin and no AFL level rucks to the midfield since. Pretty sharp drop off considering you'd ideally be an attractive destination to play for when you're successful...

Edited by Lord Travis
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Just now, Lord Travis said:

If he has no contract infront of him, then we could nab him as a delisted free agent, so no draft picks required in a trade. I'd be all for that. He'd be a midfield depth upgrade at worst, and lord knows we need to replenish our midfield depth big time. He's played some good footy in years gone by too and has a bit of pace and smarts about him.

On our midfield, it's gone from our biggest strength to our biggest weakness. We need both stars and depth at this point. Our midfield from our 2021 premiership team is in a sad state a few years on:
Gawn - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Jackson - Gone
Oliver - Contracted, shadow of what he was and hopefully returns to his best next season onwards
Petracca - Gone?
Viney - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Brayshaw - Gone
Langdon - Contracted, performing his wing role
Harmes - Gone
Sparrow - Contracted, hasn't come on and is depth
Jordon - Gone

Currently on our list we've added Windsor, Billings, Hunter, Woewodin and no AFL level rucks to the midfield since. Pretty sharp drop off considering you'd ideally be an attractive destination to play for when you're successful...

gawn on the decline? huh??

viney the same...

probably two of the top - and most consistent - performers in 2024

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2 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

gawn on the decline? huh??

viney the same...

probably two of the top - and most consistent - performers in 2024

Gawn's 33 next season. His body is breaking down with more injuries now and his impact on games is diminishing.

Viney just had his worst season in about 6-7 years and is 31 next season. Had a few good games this year, but he's rapidly in decline. No way to argue that. The fact he was one of our most consistent performers in 2024 is a reason we finished 14th this year.

We just don't have the cattle in the midfield to be competitive. 12th for clearances. 9th for contested possessions. 16th for ball movement. Our midfield is below AFL average in every single stat. 

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30 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

If he has no contract infront of him, then we could nab him as a delisted free agent, so no draft picks required in a trade. I'd be all for that. He'd be a midfield depth upgrade at worst, and lord knows we need to replenish our midfield depth big time. He's played some good footy in years gone by too and has a bit of pace and smarts about him.

On our midfield, it's gone from our biggest strength to our biggest weakness. We need both stars and depth at this point. Our midfield from our 2021 premiership team is in a sad state a few years on:
Gawn - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Jackson - Gone
Oliver - Contracted, shadow of what he was and hopefully returns to his best next season onwards
Petracca - Gone?
Viney - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Brayshaw - Gone
Neal-Bullen - Gone
Langdon - Contracted, performing his wing role
Harmes - Gone
Sparrow - Contracted, hasn't come on and is depth
Jordon - Gone

Currently on our list we've added Windsor, Laurie, Billings, Hunter, Woewodin and no AFL level rucks to the midfield since. Pretty sharp drop off considering you'd ideally be an attractive destination to play for when you're successful...

I'd say we've added Rivers, Tholthrop and potentially McVee to our midfield stocks this year... 

Darkest before the dawn i say :)

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1 hour ago, WiseDeeMan said:

Am I the only one who does not want to give away draft picks? 

We know full well what happened when we were down the bottom when GC and GWS came into the competition - it killed us. 

If we can get 6-8 quality draft picks in the next 2 years we will be very well set age demographic wise when Tassie come into the comp, and set us up for sustained success. Now is the time to draft in my view.

Trac likely leaving, plus ANB, should give us the equivalent of 3 top 12 picks, and a few second rounders perhaps (over the next few years).

We need talent - speed, skill and toughness.  

Trac has screwed the chances of attracting other players potentially - if that's the case let Jason Taylor and team do what they do best. 

I still think we could get a Luke Parker type in addition to this, to cover some depth in the midfield and another great leader and coach to nurture our younger players. 

Totally agree. Trade Tracc, he wants out. Now is the time to load up on first round draft picks. Get 3 quality midfielders this year. We need leg speed and kicking skills. Maybe use our later picks for some recycled players, especially a ruckman. The worry is Richo saying we would be wrong to go young, they still think the P Window is open. Maybe losing Tracc will change the hierarchy’s thinking? 

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26 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

Gawn's 33 next season. His body is breaking down with more injuries now and his impact on games is diminishing.

Viney just had his worst season in about 6-7 years and is 31 next season. Had a few good games this year, but he's rapidly in decline. No way to argue that. The fact he was one of our most consistent performers in 2024 is a reason we finished 14th this year.

We just don't have the cattle in the midfield to be competitive. 12th for clearances. 9th for contested possessions. 16th for ball movement. Our midfield is below AFL average in every single stat. 

gawn had two injuries this year, from memory - both impact injuries

he was, by some margin, the best ruckman in the league

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7 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

Totally agree. Trade Tracc, he wants out. Now is the time to load up on first round draft picks. Get 3 quality midfielders this year. We need leg speed and kicking skills. Maybe use our later picks for some recycled players, especially a ruckman. The worry is Richo saying we would be wrong to go young, they still think the P Window is open. Maybe losing Tracc will change the hierarchy’s thinking? 

I am somewhat in this camp if Trac is hellbent on leaving and something can get done, it could help us fix our biggest issue which is footskills and leg speed. Trac’s foot skills are poor and he’s not overly quick, so if we swapped him out for players who are and keep Clarry and Viney as the bulls it could workout. We can also bank some salary to go hard at Harley Reid as well.

Edited by DistrACTION Jackson
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I hope we are having a good look at Jack Lukosius! 

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7 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

I hope we are having a good look at Jack Lukosius! 

Jack Watts with a bit more courage.  Not a lot, just a bit.

Edited by Gator
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3 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

Gawn's 33 next season. His body is breaking down with more injuries now and his impact on games is diminishing.

Viney just had his worst season in about 6-7 years and is 31 next season. Had a few good games this year, but he's rapidly in decline. No way to argue that. The fact he was one of our most consistent performers in 2024 is a reason we finished 14th this year.

We just don't have the cattle in the midfield to be competitive. 12th for clearances. 9th for contested possessions. 16th for ball movement. Our midfield is below AFL average in every single stat. 

Tough when your top midfielder doesn’t have a preseason and 2nd best doesn’t play for half the season. Not sure how many clubs would have done much better without their top 2 mids 

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3 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

Gawn's 33 next season. His body is breaking down with more injuries now and his impact on games is diminishing.

Viney just had his worst season in about 6-7 years and is 31 next season. Had a few good games this year, but he's rapidly in decline. No way to argue that. The fact he was one of our most consistent performers in 2024 is a reason we finished 14th this year.

We just don't have the cattle in the midfield to be competitive. 12th for clearances. 9th for contested possessions. 16th for ball movement. Our midfield is below AFL average in every single stat. 

Gawns year was phenomenal and contact injuries are just unlucky 

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4 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

If he has no contract infront of him, then we could nab him as a delisted free agent, so no draft picks required in a trade. I'd be all for that. He'd be a midfield depth upgrade at worst, and lord knows we need to replenish our midfield depth big time. He's played some good footy in years gone by too and has a bit of pace and smarts about him.

On our midfield, it's gone from our biggest strength to our biggest weakness. We need both stars and depth at this point. Our midfield from our 2021 premiership team is in a sad state a few years on:
Gawn - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Jackson - Gone
Oliver - Contracted, shadow of what he was and hopefully returns to his best next season onwards
Petracca - Gone?
Viney - Contracted, ageing and on the decline
Brayshaw - Gone
Neal-Bullen - Gone
Langdon - Contracted, performing his wing role
Harmes - Gone
Sparrow - Contracted, hasn't come on and is depth
Jordon - Gone

Currently on our list we've added Windsor, Laurie, Billings, Hunter, Woewodin and no AFL level rucks to the midfield since. Pretty sharp drop off considering you'd ideally be an attractive destination to play for when you're successful...

A bit tough to complain that we've lost Brayshaw, ANB and Petracca(?) when there hasn't been a trade and draft cycle providing any opportunity to replace them

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2 hours ago, ChaserJ said:

Jay Clark saying that we’ll chase Caleb Daniel if Bevo can’t guarantee he’s in Dogs plans going forward.

The Dan Houston alternative.

If @timlamb trues signs Daniel, he should be sacked. He’s another small player who was handy but had lost pace and is not best 22 anywhere !!! 

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46 minutes ago, Garbo said:

Hopefully Jeff whites son nominates dees but gotta think this last few week might sway him to goto Gold Coast 

Yes the Gold Coast is breaming with success having just won 11 games in a season for the first time ever. 

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9 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

as an inside mid he doesn't win enough contested football

as an outside mid he doesn't use it cleanly

he's too slow to play the nibbler role as a push-up half forward

i think there's a reason he's always on the outer at the puddy tatts - he's classique 'good, ordinary' and too good for vfl, not good enough for permanent afl

...yet he's available as an unrestricted free agent which obviously holds appeal...

Parfitt was a very good defensive inside mid for a fair period of time. Could really tackle and crash in hard.

But he's had a lot of injuries (hamstring and other leg problems) that have robbed him of that power and explosiveness.

When that happens with guys his age my initial suspicious is that aren't doing the work to get rock hard fit again and build back that explosive movement and fitness to repeat it all day.

I'd want him to train with us over summer and prove his body and work ethic are up to it.

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Some good comments.  With all this drama , saw this

In the off season we need to recruit culture makers as well as skilled players. The loss of Gus, ANB, BBB is huge for our culture: aside from Max and Viney, I don’t see too many others who will put the club on their shoulders and  say “Follow me”.

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Honestly and seriously given all that has happened this year. I CANT SEE HOW ANYONE would want to come to MFC. We are imploding and exploding at the same time!

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48 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Honestly and seriously given all that has happened this year. I CANT SEE HOW ANYONE would want to come to MFC. We are imploding and exploding at the same time!

Too many fire lighters in our ranks PF, the club isn’t exploding / imploding the supporters are.!!!!🔥🔥🔥

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