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I have been having a detailed look at our list and, as we all know, the structure and depth is very good. A few seasons ago I noted that the way the drafting and trading was going we were looking to bolster the defence with a view to restricting the opposition scoring and then launching from the back half/defensive 50. This coupled with great levels of fitness and stressing of the importance of hard running both ways has built a list of players that work in the team system that has been developed to understand how to cover any weaknesses that may develop as the play unfolds. I have decided to look at the list with an eye to the future rather than just accepting we are the Premiers at the moment and therefore should perform better than the rest of the teams. Besides, we are top of the heap, it is off-season and there are not a lot of training reports or much to complain about and we need something to talk about….so, why not? DEFENCE: As I stated above this area of the ground is the cornerstone of our structure. We have an excellent mix of not only key position players and running, skilful link players but also a great mix of experience and developing players. Established key position players include the likes of May, Lever, Tomlinson and Petty with the first three of those traded for and brought in from other clubs. Between these four there is a good deal of variety and flexibility in the way they play their positions. They all have the ability to intercept in the air and I have been amazed when watching the games to note in a few of them the key defenders had all taken intercept marks by the end of the first quarter. Developing/Support key position defenders I have as Turner and J. Smith. Smith is a very good depth player and I think he could more than fill in if required for longer periods if there is injury to others. Turner has the opportunity to develop as required through a very well-established system. When looking at the runners out of defence we have a really exciting group of proven performers with Salem, Rivers, Hunt and Bowey. Within this group there is also a good mix of experience and youth with Salem and Hunt both in their peak years turning 27 this year and Rivers and Bowey 21 and 20 this year. A good mix of skills there as well with Salem and Bowey elite ball users and Hunt, while I do not put him the same ball using club as those two, has speed and a willingness to run and carry that gives the team a lot. Rivers is a mix of the two, with good ball distribution as well as good run. D. Smith at 20yo is waiting for his opportunity and I look forward to seeing him slot in at some stage. Hibberd at 32yo might find himself in a similar position to Nev last year. We also have a few versatile players that can drop back there for cover. Gawn has done it a few times when the backs are under pressure, and I was very impressed last season in the way that midfielders and even forwards flooded back as needed to assist. It was not just that they got back there at times, but the fact that when they did, they were effective and did not look to get in the way of the defensive structure. Next year I could see us looking to add to our key position defensive stocks with a draft pick to develop. You never know JVR might end up back there for a time. MIDFIELD: It is in this area of the round that we look to be scary good. Mature, strong players just entering their prime with good solid young players developing well as support/depth. Petracca, Oliver, Viney, ANB and Harmes are all in the prime years of their playing days with experience, strength and hardness. Their strengths complement each other as they play through the middle. Any combination of those players in the middle at Gawn or Jackson’s feet will give you confidence. Additionally, we have added another mature body in Dunstan, I have not watched a lot of him and will be interested to see what he brings. Sparrow and Jordon are players that can rotate through there. Both are good young solid players that have enjoyed development over the last season. When they step into the team there are no questions about their ability to perform. I expect both of them to be better again this year. Langdon and Brayshaw on the wings own their positions and I get the feeling that Gus might have a bit more to offer there with the experience he has now gathered over the last season. Langdon is a freak and if he continues to play at his present level for a few more years, I will be well satisfied. Baker as depth is adequate but I think we need to find and develop at least one other player along with Rosman to cover this position. It might be one of the young guys already on the list. Laurie? Moniz-Wakefield? Both of these kids along with draftees Woewodin and McVee are presently classed and ‘midfielders’. We shall see. Leading the midfield is Captain Max and Luke in the ruck. The Master and his apprentice …. Best ruck in the comp and a 20yo that has incredible natural talent and could be anything. Backing them up in the ruck depth is Daw. He is able to hold his own in that position on a good day and is versatile as he can also fill in in other parts of the ground. I would say that next season we need to look for another young ruck to develop. A good time to do it as they usually take time to grown into their bodies and learn the task. We have some excellent examples for them to follow. FORWARDS: We have got some opportunities and potential here with a group that was successful last season almost in spite of itself. I find this group the most difficult to analyse. For a large part of last season they chopped and changed and managed to get winning scores on the board most weeks. At times they suffered from inaccuracy that was troubling, but, having said that, they did a great job when they had to. B. Brown, Mc Donald and Fritsch were the key forwards at the end of the season with Brown and Fristch the main goal kickers. Mc Donald held up his end and always presented a running option. To me it was a strange mix but it worked. Weideman, Daw and Mitch Brown are there as support. Brown will be used in emergencies and Weid will get a few opportunities to show if he has developed or not. I will not be holding my breath but will be hoping. Daw looks to be emergency cover to my mind. Draftees Van Rooyen and Howes are being developed as forwards (I hope). I think in the next year or two we will need talls ready to go. Melksham is a medium forward that might be running out of legs and opportunity, but I can see him a excellent cover if required. Pickett and Spargo are our present first choice small forwards and they work very well together in both attack and defence. If they stay fit and their form hold up it will be hard for others to get a look in. The others are Chandler and Bedford, both very capable players to have in support. Moniz-Wakefield might get developed as a small forward as well. From reports he has pace, agility and a presence on the field. ANB is a player that roams into the forward 50 very effectively along with our resting ruck duo. Overall, as we know, a good well-structured list that should be competing at the pointy end of the competition for the next few years. For me the fascinating thing will be to see how we work to bring in and develop new players. In the next couple of years we need to get key defenders and a or two forward in to develop so they can slot in a players get older. They are the positions that take time to fill and I do not think we will be in the draft position to trade for quality players for those positions. We might be able to pick up a player or two through free agency, but I do not see that as a durable solution. I will be interested in comments.

Forget making them all away games. We had to play home games interstate. So can they.

That's adventurous. They've just named the 2021 Grand Final team.

Great post - I thought Howes was regarded as a Wing option?

I was at a luncheon prior to Christmas, a medical person that was involved at high level sport spoke and one point he made was the unknown effect covid may have on Athlete's lungs and how each will recover differently. As you say they might not clog up hospitals but if it helps players avoid any long term effects, more so wiping out your entire clubs list for weeks, the mandate has a bit of merit.

Hunt played all 22 games for the team that finished top of the ladder before getting injured. Would start in any other side round 1 and maybe even ours.

20th? You've got a lot of catching up to do.

@Its Time for Back to Back was speaking with Membership department, and they said we had just passed 40,000 for season 2022. Plenty ahead of anything previously and well on the way to Perty's 65K!!

He looks fitter Turner. He's a fitter Turner

Getting on to 4 months since that fateful day. Time to watch the replay again.

No never DZ This is a potential Mile Long category A list with multiple options for all positions which we must be extremely grateful to JT and his team over the last 5/7 years. CHF has not missed much in his excellent summary but I think the following is also possible with the current and developing footballers.! Tmac can also be used in defence on a given match day period or moved into as more permanent if required due to injury or form issues. Petty can be a KP Forward on the same exchange basis as Tmac as a back. JVR is a great prospect also for KPF or KPB. Blake Howes has been recruited as a winger as has Fraser Rosman but both as CHF indicated can play up forwardalso if need be. ANB I still regard as a forward but by gee his GF best ever game showed how good he can be as an outside mid. He also (as Spargo does ) marked in defence in Q3 when we were under surge from constant Bulldog attacks. Any of our small mediums and new recruits could be versatile as HB or HF or if they develop wheels and tank on ballers. Riv is one and Kossie is another of our established stars. Salo can play on wing and on ball I reckon but why move him when he is elite ! Same with Bowser. Laurie may have unlimited potential also got great versatility I suspect. Also I believe Maxy is a genuine back or forward resting Ruck now who had the Dogs defenders attracted like a moth to a flame from the 3rd quarter halfway snd all our attackers just cashed in as a result. Down back is not much different. Dogga is a star wherever he plays on the field and no one minds him!! Such are our moving parts we have many options to utilise in the next half decade and beyond .

Not sure why there is this rush into getting games into JVR. I'd be happy for him to play majority of the year at Casey (fingers crossed) until he absolutely bangs the door down like Bowey did. If he's able to sneak in some late games towards the back end of the year then I think it'll be a good outcome for JVR on a personal level and the club as well. But absolutely have no doubt the club would not be one bit fazed if he didn't debut this year. They'll just want to make sure he is developing well. What we do know is Mark Williams mantra of tearing your birth certificate up when you arrive at the club. Meaning there is no cap put on you when you are a young draftee. If you have strong consistent form in the 2's then you'll get a game.

You mean the 2021 PREMIERSHIP TEAM

That is ridiculous. If they have to hub then home and away games are played in a different state. There is no way they should be paid back home games later in the season because of this current stupidity.

I bumped into Daniel Turner at our local gym during the off season and had a good chat to him about his stint so far in the AFL system and the September experience. I was also blown away by how incredibly fit he was. He'd already lost all his puppy fat and looked as lean as I had seen. He said he got a reality check with just how professional you have to be off field including your diet. Stark different compared to his 'tradie diet' as an apprentice plumber prior to being drafted. He was doing his running program up here with Charlie Spargo who is an absolute pro when it comes to off field training standards. His older brother has recently signed at our footy club. Looking forward to getting some good updates off him. I hope he gets a game next year.

there's a difference between preventing, reducing or no effect vaxxing reduces transmission, not prevents and reduces viral payload (or so we are told)

If the vaccine doesn’t prevent transmission what’s the point of the mandate? Especially for very fit and healthy athletes who don’t get severe disease so won’t be clogging up our hospitals.

Key back: May, Lever, Petty, Tomlinson, J. Smith*, Turner Medium back: Hibberd, J. Smith*, Hunt, Rivers* Small back: Salem, Rivers*, Bowey, Hunt, D. Smith, McVee, AMW? On ball: Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Harmes, Sparrow, JJ*, Dunstan, Woey? Wing: Langdon, Brayshaw, JJ*, Baker, Howes, Rosman Ruck: Gawn, Jackson, Daw Key forward: Brown, McDonald, Weideman, M. Brown, JVR Medium forward: Fritsch, Petracca*, Melksham Small forward: ANB, Pickett, Spargo, Chandler, Bedford, Laurie 1. Tall depth. A ruck, a ruck/forward, and another key defender would all be ideal. 2. A specialist speed machine winger. We've added Rosman and kept Baker but we might have to go again. Howes is probably more as cover for Gus than for Langdon. James Jordon probably doesn't get enough credit as being a very serviceable wing option as well but he's more in between. 3. Half forwards with some size. One of the trickiest spots to fill on the ground. Need to run like an elite mid and chase and tackle like a small. But our small forwards are exactly that - small. Ideally we'd have another 185cm+ forward with some aerial ability to provide a match up concern to the opposition. 4. A mid sized stopping defender. We do have options but a gun defender with the right mix of size, speed, athleticism would be a nice addition to take over from Hibbo.

A "Covid crisis" according to 7 News. I think using the word "crisis" is way over the top given we are in the off season. I appreciate the writers like alliteration, but they haven't really left themselves anywhere to go should something actually serious happen They need to go back to the rules of commentary from Richie Benaud, particularly Rule 7

Thanks CHF that is a great summation of our current list, I agree that a young backup ruckman has to be a priority for us and as mentioned we have Howes, Rosman, JVR and Turner who have a mix of height, pace, skills and footy IQ to develop as needed. Have we ever had a better list.!!!!!!

Top post as per usual CHF. Glad to see Langdon get the praise he so richly deserves. Has dominated many games and one of the best recruits from another club for ages. My goodness things look exciting for this club and us proud supporters.

This is the problem - it will rip through Perth, the only way to avoid that is keeping the joint shut which appears to be his strategy. A lot of players through the league have already contracted the virus so the hope is by the time the season comes we don’t have the disruption that is happening in the nba. Perth opens up in March both Freo & WC will have had zero players get the virus so you can just see their seasons are going to be far more at risk than anyone else’s. Get them into VIC now I say.

I think i will just watch Tom play Football and BBQ the odd steak….

THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: L.Birch 9 G.Colvin 32 HB: S.Heath 30 S.Lampard 8 S.Goldrick 23 C: E.McNamara 22 T.Hanks 5 C.Sherriff 18 HF: T.Harris 7 K.Hore 10 J.Parry 19 F: D.Pearce - C 6 M.Fitzsimon 24 Foll: L.Pearce 15 E.Zanker 29 K.Paxman 4 I/C: B.Tarrant 20 M.Caris 21 E.West 11 A.Bannan 16 S.Scott 12 Emerg: L.Magee 26 A.Brown 28 IN Heath Lampard Scott Sherriff OUT Brown (omitted) Magee (omitted) Mithen (AFL Protocol) Petrevski (omitted) ST KILDA B: T.Lucas-Rodd 18 R.Ott 20 HB: B.Jakobsson 8 J.Van Dyk 36 H.Priest - C 14 C: M.McDonald 1 T.White 29 C.Phillips 35 HF: D.Guttridge 5 K.Shierlaw 12 R.Dillon 25 F: A.Richards 22 J.Vogt 10 Foll: L.Cutting 26 N.Xenos 27 T.Meyer 34 I/C: L.Burke 30 O.Vesely 23 A.Burke 3 R.Watt 7 I.Shannon 11 Emerg: R.Saulitis 13 E.Friend 16 IN: Meyer Richards Shannon Watt OUT: Exon (injured) Greiser (omitted) Saulitis (omitted) Woodward (omitted)

the WA teams could really mess things up (for themselves 😂) We may end up starting the season with most teams having 70-80% of players having caught and recovered from Covid, but they may have zero, they are the two clubs at most risk of being unable to field a team over a 2-3 week period

Great all round post CHF, I think there's one area that wasn't addressed and that's small lock-down defenders. You've covered off on the running backs and some of them play a hybrid role in that regard, but we've have Nev retire and moved on Lockhart. I know our style of play means we haven't had to rely on a small defender but this was one area that I thought we were struggling with - being vulnerable when the ball hit the ground in our defensive 50, especially in a 'chaos ball' way - this was until Bowey came into team, which gave us much quicker ground coverage. However, I don't think he's a lock-down defender and I'm not certain we'll need one all the time, but I'm wonder if this is one area teams might try and exploit us, of course that's easier said than done, but Collingwoods win over us was mainly due to a 'chaos ball' type approach into their Fwd50, low and hard in rather than deliberate and direct.

Maybe Jake Melksham might do revival like Tom McDonald or Alex Neal-Bullen in 2022?

We now want to go under the radar!!

Dunstan, Tomlinson, Hunt, J.Smith, Melksham What would any other team give for one of these proven AFL players, not for depth but as top 22. And we are fortunate to have a list that is so deep that they are classed as depth. If there was a gap due to injury or loss of form they could slide in seamlessly. That is the result of top quality drafting and top quality development. GO DEES

I think draft time provides a fascinating insight into where clubs perceive their lists to be. Last year, we had our sights set on Mac Andrew until the AFL changed the rules. He may have been a great replacement in three years for Max who is now 30. Our current back up for Gawn and Jackson is Majak Daw who is also 30 +. We delisted Bradke. We don't have anyone else capable of playing ruck. One of the other targets appeared to be Gibcus who we were prepared to trade up for, but couldn't get any takers/get a deal done. I think we ended up settling for JvR as the next best tall. This was identified because May, Brown, Brown and TMac are all 30 +. The other guy we had our sights on was Howes who we snapped up late (thankfully). Wing depth seemed to be a priority and reading between the lines there must be queries over whether they think Baker will make it.

Jackson, Rivers and Pickett all played in their 1st season. As did Bowey. If he's good enough, JVR will play. Age is irrelevant.

Star West Coast forward Jack Darling has been banned from club facilities and his future is up in the air after he did not meet a vaccination deadline for AFL players in Western Australia. Players in the state were to have had their first dose of COVID-19 vaccination by Friday, with the club saying the premiership forward had “not adhered” to the league protocols.

Wouldn't worry me, from up on the bridge.

Isn't it great to not need draftees to come in and play round 1?

Great analysis CHF. We have great stocks across all lines as you have astutely pointed out, which makes up for a solid foundation. Reality is most teams (that are not in rebuild) will stack up quite similar. The attribute that distinguishes great teams from good teams will still be star talent. No matter how much you try to remove that dependency (football strategy / playing style etc), it will always be there and mostly in the form of a midfielder or two. And the way the draft has been designed, teams will have a window and then come back to the pack, so we have to make use of the current opportunity and win another premiership or three.

No obvious gaps or weaknesses for others to exploit. As good a start to a season as could be imagined. GO DEES

Friendly reminder to leave politics out of the discussion. Keep discussion on the situation and the ramifications for the AFL season.

I cannot see AFL footy being played in WA in the early part of the season. There's simply no way WA will allow potentially infected teams from the rest of Australia in nor allow their own teams to leave and return. WA teams will have to hub interstate.

Excellent summary CHF. As you say, we have good depth across the ground, and it needs to be, because we won’t always have the charmed run with injuries that we had in 2021, and who knows what impact Covid will have on team selections in 2022? Further, our depth should ensure that form is rewarded, and pressure is maintained on the ‘best 22’ to perform consistently at the top level. For me, the key intangibles for next season are the extent to which the influence of Burgo might be missed, and whether our culture will continue to hold up now that we have #13 in the bank. However, my last lingering symptoms of MFCSS were extinguished in September 2021, and I’m very confident that we are the team to beat in 2022, at least!

At some stage the residents of WA will start to crack it, you basically have lost your summer National/international sport and events. Now unless he back flips again your really are ruling out 6 months more of this. The Ashes WA fans can cop but losing home Football for a season going to be massive backlash. You would think that a Queensland relocation for the two WA clubs might be on the cards, it will really depend which state chips in some money to soften the blow for the AFL. Going to be some very upset players and fans in WA this morning. There is no question that the WA hospital system in no where ready for a large covid out break, he knows if this gets into his state he will go from hero to zero very quickly.

I think this year depth may be a key success factor, with ‘health and safety protocols’. Running deep on all lines may be vital to winning games this year. Hopefully we have a squad deep system, and even if we lose several front liners, the next group can step up and deliver high class efforts.

I don’t understand some of the comments in this thread about the non-family nature of the old grounds. From about 1963 on, I went to the football weekly, aged 10 in 1963, in a group consisting of a mother, often one of her female friends or sisters, and up to about 5 kids of my age or within a couple of years of it. We would arrive at about halftime in the reserves and would usually have seats on the fence or a row or so back (my memory is the most grounds had rings of two or three seats from the fence back). We didn’t have any problems. A couple of times a season there would be a fight between spectators somewhere in the ground, but these fights would be over very quickly and would be very limited. True, a lot of the toilets were pretty disgusting but apart from that, facilities were basic – as were the times – but we could enjoy the footy in peace.

Sylvia way too high. Wasted talent Johnstone was the same. May is better than both of them. It could be said he was the reason we one the Premiership. Never gets beaten. It's hard to rate Jakovich who was a gun but played so little, another wasted talent. If he didn't come back so over weight he still would have been on our list.

KM doesn't have a great track record. Watches a lot of footage/highlights, combines with stats and doesn't actually watch anyone off the ball live. Plus, I'm not convinced he understands what's important in the modern game. Qualifies most of his judgements and is generally just overly verbose, contradicts himself and....annoying. If you couldn't tell, I'm not a fan! He was first to the scene and works hard, but that's about it. ESPN threw him a bone to loss lead their AFL readership from Big Footy. Never liked Kossie, said you could get higher production out of a....Jack Mahony. Yep. My wife took one look at Kossie in the U18 SA game and knew. This kid looked at a stat sheet and saw he didn't kick enough goals Ignore everything the fool says Rant over

I love symmetry In the 1890 attempt at federation it was NZ in and WA out. Fast forward to the 1900 attempt and it was WA in and NZ out. Now we have both NZ and WA out !!

Johnstone was a centreman I believe rather than on a wing !

would think Yze would be in the top 20

I’d sooner go and watch the Ascot Vale under 13s… same standard of footy, but don’t need a ticket to attend. 😆

Don't tell @beelzebub