2 hours ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

I’ve always thought that Petty was a better forward than backman. If it was up to me, should have traded him when Adelaide were going to throw the world at him.

I think he struggles anywhere on the field and really needs to hit the gym. He’s always being out muscled.

Never been a huge fan of Petty.

He lacks the intensity and physicality to lock down a spot at either end of the ground. His fitness level has always been sub-standard and his disposal and decision making are not that great either.

I would love for him to make a fool of me, but this is his 9th year of football and he has only ever shown rare glimpses. Agree we should’ve traded him when the Crows were all over him like a rash.

3 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I reluctantly re-watched the first 5 games of last year to see where it all went wrong and two things I picked up that were relevant to your post.

1) Jeffo showed some sneaky great signs in the GWS round 1 game. A goal in the first 20 seconds of the game, a beautiful gather near the boundary that set up a goal to Henderson, and a classic full forward lead and subsequent goal (from a crisp Windsor pass) that appeared to seal the game at the time.

2) Petty ain't a defender either if the first 5 games were an indication. Our defence overall was a complete circus during that period but he was hopeless one-on-one, and far too slow for a modern day key defender. There's a probably a reason he was swung forward for the balance of the year.

I think the idea of Petty playing as a defender (and May and TMac playing VFL) will make us worse.

Goodwin was no mug when it came to building a system that worked to our team's strengths. We just have a very inflexible list of players.

23 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

Never been a huge fan of Petty.

He lacks the intensity and physicality to lock down a spot at either end of the ground. His fitness level has always been sub-standard and his disposal and decision making are not that great either.

I would love for him to make a fool of me, but this is his 9th year of football and he has only ever shown rare glimpses. Agree we should’ve traded him when the Crows were all over him like a rash.

It’s not a popular opinion but fully agree. I think he’s a seconds player at best. I’d prefer any of our other defenders before him.

The main issue I have with shifting Langford into the middle is that we already have Steele, Viney (if fit) and maybe Culley in there. That will be too slow in the midfield.

I was a bit sceptical last season with Langford on the wing initially, but we discovered he has good pace once he gets moving and that he can completely open the game up when he plays on the right wing because of his kicking and being able to bring the ball inside. I think if he plays in the middle this season he will get less kicks and more handballs, which is not what we want. I also think he needs to be allowed to cheat forward and take marks. It is not about putting in a role to get the ball as much as possible, but it is about positioning him to get more kicks and take more overhead marks inside 50.

1 hour ago, Demon Disciple said:

...

Agree we should’ve traded him when the Crows were all over him like a rash.

The Crows were certainly all over him but I can't see any report of them offering two first round picks. There is a report of us being offered pick 14 and McAdam, and maybe us asking for a pick in the 30's other than McAdam, which the Crows knocked back.

My knock on Harrison is that too often he 'gets to where the ball ain't' as Jack Dyer would say. In defence he too easily loses his man.

So basically Harrison Petty has been written off as neither a Fwd nor Defender, I am a bit quizzical as to what Steven King and his coaching fraternity do with Petty, May and Lever. Will we see our 2021 much vaunted Backline all playing down at Casey.😁👍

hate this time of year, bush fires, heat causing swampass, no footy, no cricket. BORING.

Is training back at Gosch's now the tennis is over?

As I understand it, there was no training on Friday(?), but what is the go today? No training or, being at Casey(?), just no track watchers?

36 minutes ago, M_9 said:

The Crows were certainly all over him but I can't see any report of them offering two first round picks. There is a report of us being offered pick 14 and McAdam, and maybe us asking for a pick in the 30's other than McAdam, which the Crows knocked back.

My knock on Harrison is that too often he 'gets to where the ball ain't' as Jack Dyer would say. In defence he too easily loses his man.

Correct, the whole we were offered two first rounders for Petty thing is fantasy, Kane Cornes loves it but he’s wrong. The offer was pretty close to what you described, Mcadam and 14 or something like that,l. Take a look at the players taken around that mark in the draft in 2023 and we did not miss out on much! Weak year, that pick 14 would’ve blown out as well

Just now, hardtack said:

As I understand it, there was no training on Friday(?), but what is the go today? No training or, being at Casey(?), just no track watchers?

Casey today, Gosh’s Wednesday

On 29/01/2026 at 08:33, dazzledavey36 said:

I have tipped us to finish bottom 3.

In fact i see us significantly dropping similar to how West Coast did whdn they had those aging stars still flopping around. Though i dont think we will be at the point of being barely VFL standard snd completely uncompetitive like they were.

We have had too many of our main senior players sitting in the sidelines all pre season which if anyone on here have played footy previously at a fairly strong standard, will know that not having a good base under your belt will completely hinder your preparation all year. You cannot simply make up for lost time. Sports science will say the same thing.

Development year with some pain along the way this year. All about getting as much games into the kids as we can.

I think we look closer to Richmond in 2024 than West Coast in 2022. Still poor but West Coast had 0 talent coming through when they fell off a cliff.

6 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

Never been a huge fan of Petty.

He lacks the intensity and physicality to lock down a spot at either end of the ground. His fitness level has always been sub-standard and his disposal and decision making are not that great either.

I would love for him to make a fool of me, but this is his 9th year of football and he has only ever shown rare glimpses. Agree we should’ve traded him when the Crows were all over him like a rash.

Agree with most of this

Not a huge fan and thought he was overrated for inconsistency in intensity and physicality,(use of his body) but I did think he was capable of bursts and should have been used off the bench as emergency as he could play forward or back successfully. He was also deceptive as coulsd make ground on opponents and was able to compete against both talls and smalls, (again inconsistence with efforts).

Like most of our forwards last season he often led to good spots only to be ignored with poor delivery, or led off opponents in defence only to be ignored (with our static clearance models),hence the running round like a chook with its head cut off, poor decision making appearance.

I too hope he can show more glimpses in a better team oriented game using rotations of players who can be used more flexibly in attack or defence.

On 28/01/2026 at 19:14, thirty-one said:

Bali, I believe. They are spewing, missing training three times in a row.

Yep, Bali. The most un-Bali person on the planet is in Bali. The pasty white Irish person who loves winter is in Bali because any opportunity to spend time with my baby granddaughter is gold.

Can’t wait to get back to Gosch’s ❤️💙

9 minutes ago, adonski said:

A lot more impressive than the Carlton clip someone posted on social media

Petty was never going to be the second coming of Neitz. Having just turned 26 last November he and Disco should be the two pillars of our back half for the foreseeable future.

1 hour ago, dpositive said:

Agree with most of this

Not a huge fan and thought he was overrated for inconsistency in intensity and physicality,(use of his body) but I did think he was capable of bursts and should have been used off the bench as emergency as he could play forward or back successfully. He was also deceptive as coulsd make ground on opponents and was able to compete against both talls and smalls, (again inconsistence with efforts).

Like most of our forwards last season he often led to good spots only to be ignored with poor delivery, or led off opponents in defence only to be ignored (with our static clearance models),hence the running round like a chook with its head cut off, poor decision making appearance.

I too hope he can show more glimpses in a better team oriented game using rotations of players who can be used more flexibly in attack or defence.

I sat in level 3 of the Ponsford Stand for our game against Richmond, round 20 2023 and marvelled at Petty’s performance, 6 goals straight! I walked away convinced we had found the solution to our forward problems that day. He was taking marks at will, leading to the right spots, often surprising Tiger backs who didn’t see him coming. And the Tigers were still very competitive. A week later against North he had 2 early before that gorilla McKay tackled and dropped all of his 100 plus kilograms on Petty’s ankles and that was it for our Premiership hopes I thought. Melk going down in the last round put the nail in our coffin. In the following 2 finals we totally dominated the I50’s but could not convert to loose the unloosable twice! But it’s OK I will get over it eventually with professional help.

I still believe Petty has potential up forward when the ball is delivered quickly to his advantage.

2 hours ago, damienjr said:

A lot more impressive than the Carlton clip someone posted on social media

2 hours ago, damienjr said:

A lot more impressive than the Carlton clip someone posted on social media

Honestly who knows? We didn't see blatantly poor mistakes. But that could even be the editing.

2 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Yep, Bali. The most un-Bali person on the planet is in Bali. The pasty white Irish person who loves winter is in Bali because any opportunity to spend time with my baby granddaughter is gold.

Can’t wait to get back to Gosch’s ❤️💙

Sorry to be a Daryl Downer, but Bali always evokes sadness for me, as my good friend and train travel (to work) companion, Louiza Zervos was one of the victims of the bombing in 2002.

Edited Monday at 11:132 days by hardtack

37 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

Honestly who knows? We didn't see blatantly poor mistakes. But that could even be the editing.

Yes, and likewise, we didn’t get to see all of the good things at the Carlton training, just a selectively edited video of mistakes.

2 hours ago, hardtack said:

Yes, and likewise, we didn’t get to see all of the good things at the Carlton training, just a selectively edited video of mistakes.

The consensus is that Carlton will also be well outside the 8. I'm excited about this year ( even though I know it could easily a third season of "what happened, 'recent' premiers?"). But a lot of what Melbourne, Carlton etc do in these clips is the equivalent of a slide night rather than proof of what's to come.

BTW sorry to hear about your friend. That would have been terrible.

14 hours ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

I’ve always thought that Petty was a better forward than backman. If it was up to me, should have traded him when Adelaide were going to throw the world at him.

I think he struggles anywhere on the field and really needs to hit the gym. He’s always being out muscled.

Is this not just a myth created by Kane Cornes and repeated ad nauseum until it became accepted fact?

I've yet to see or hear anything about this supposed trade offer that doesn't eventually tie back to the original Cornes 'scoop'

1 hour ago, Go Ds said:

The consensus is that Carlton will also be well outside the 8. I'm excited about this year ( even though I know it could easily a third season of "what happened, 'recent' premiers?"). But a lot of what Melbourne, Carlton etc do in these clips is the equivalent of a slide night rather than proof of what's to come.

BTW sorry to hear about your friend. That would have been terrible.

Yes, I’m the same when it comes to being excited by the upcoming season, even though I’m resigned to a very likely bottom 4 finish… I just want to see how well the players adopt King’s game plan/style, and what kind of improvements we see if the players buy in; I’m particularly interested in seeing how Langford, Lindsay, Windsor, JVR and Jefferson have progressed if at all, and how well Latrelle and Xavier (Taylor) slot in. Ah bugger it, also AMW, Mentha, Jiaff, Mihocek and Steele.

And yes, she was a devastating loss. It is ironic that she should go in the way she did, as it was not long before her ill fated trip to Bali for a wedding party, that we had been talking about how terrible it was that people of Islamic faith in this country were being targeted because of the actions of ISIS and the Taliban fundamentalists… I’m certain that if there is an afterlife, she would still firmly hold that belief!

40 minutes ago, hardtack said:

Yes, I’m the same when it comes to being excited by the upcoming season, even though I’m resigned to a very likely bottom 4 finish… I just want to see how well the players adopt King’s game plan/style, and what kind of improvements we see if the players buy in; I’m particularly interested in seeing how Langford, Lindsay, Windsor, JVR and Jefferson have progressed if at all, and how well Latrelle and Xavier (Taylor) slot in. Ah bugger it, also AMW, Mentha, Jiaff, Mihocek and Steele.

And yes, she was a devastating loss. It is ironic that she should go in the way she did, as it was not long before her ill fated trip to Bali for a wedding party, that we had been talking about how terrible it was that people of Islamic faith in this country were being targeted because of the actions of ISIS and the Taliban fundamentalists… I’m certain that if there is an afterlife, she would still firmly hold that belief!

Some seasons I'm more excited to see where we're at. This is certainly one of them. It is a little weird because usually those seasons are where the general public think we might jump up to the final eight or final four.

There's always people that have it worse off or have worse luck. Obviously your friend had it worse than you and her close loved ones also would have suffered more. That said you'd have every right to feel upset as well. Even the little things such as enjoying the rides to and from work accompanied , and getting one's work annoyances and problems out into the ether and halving them would be missed.

It can also feel weird looking back in hindsight. My mum died just before Christmas. It wouldn't surprise me if it was only a few weeks earlier we had casually been discussing the less painful ways to die , including whether someone could die of a heart attack in their sleep and never know what hit them. She died of a heart attack on her couch; it's possible she just fell asleep and, like we theorized, perhaps she never woke up. (Of course she was 88 so there aren't really any complaints apart from her demise being so sudden.)

Anyway life goes on; hopefully there'll be extra joy this season.