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Kick ball to player in space Do not kick ball to pack of 20

its not who we have down there but how they play. the leading patterns are horrribleeeee. no one leads at the ball carrier no one blocks to create separation so they can lead at the ball carrier unopposed... new coach will do wonders down there i hope

I think the bones are there to have a functioning forward line. JVR - for the love of god stop using him in the ruck… this decision has frustrated me no end. He will get 50+ goals next year if left at full forward. Turner - showed great signs, think they should persist with him at CHF. Think he could kick 20-25 goals in 2025 if fit. Fritsch - needs to get back to his very best next year and kick 40 goals Pickett - should be kicking 35-40 goals in 2025 Tholstrup - think he will run as a 60% fwd and 40% mid in 2025. Think 20 goals is not impossible for him. Chandler - hopefully keeps improving and can up his goal tally to 25-30 for 2025 Petracca - think he will play maybe 50% time up forward. Was on track for a 25 goal season before getting injured so think that’s the aim again. So tallying those up it gives us 225 goals between 7 players. Last year we kicked 259 for the whole team! So if we get additional goals from the mids we should be able to go way past that. My key concerns are: 1. Back up ruck - this just can’t be JVR anymore. He has to be our main forward target. If this means Fullarton plays then so be it, as I’d rather him rucking than Petty. 2. Additional mid/small - these players are so important in the modern game and with ANB gone we need someone to step up. Will be between Sharp, Spargo, Billings and Laurie I think. Unless we get someone in the draft who fits the bill.

Hope you are on the mend Deevs

Don't know ET I was fighting in Poland!

Have to agree about JVR, he needs to be allowed to play his position. He can ruck when its deep in the forward line if need be but his job is to contest and kick goals....simples.

Think that was Kostya.... 🤔

Yes (can't rule out recency bias here though). Jagga has Parish for agility and sheer accumulation (can't think of a more prolific ball winner in CTL/TAC Cup), probably slightly better at winning the ball in contest at the same age too. Parish was probably a better 'metres gained' player for more of his draft year.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/training-times AFL Gosch's Paddock AFL pre-season is set to commence in mid-November. Training dates will be confirmed shortly.

@old dee, what was the atmosphere like at the ground?

No offence to Bowser, but I’d want to draft someone with a lot more upside than him at pick 9 in an ostensible super draft

So received an email today from the club saying if I wanted a card or scarf I had to opt in. I guess that's okay. I click the button to opt in and it takes me to Ticketmaster. Terrible set up, but okay. I then follow the questions and answer them, thinking it's all sorted, and then it takes me back to the same questions again. Over and over again. Anyone had this problem? I feel like this club can't even get the very basics right off the field at the moment. Make it easy for your members FFS. I now have no idea whether it's logged my answers.

Agree wholeheartedly. it's only be a few weeks but it feels like Brad's doing a very good job rebuilding trust among the supporter/membership base

McAdam will need to be very match fit as well to have any chance.

Gee John I cant understand your reluctance to embrace Disco. His game vs Suns on Collins the very highly regarded FB was a real cameo in waiting of how he might develop. One on one and body contact plus his great pace and accurate kicking. If he fails forward he will still make a good interceptor down back. Hopefully he has put on 5/6 kg over the break to help his chances of marking against contested marking beasts down forward. I also like Disco’s attitude of commitment never give up and single minded determination plus his team ethos. A great teammate to have. Not sure but he could be a 30/40 goal kicker this season.

Just to throw in the other point of reference I mentioned, in his second season Jesse Hogan played 21 games, kicked 41 goals and took 149 marks in a side that was still rebuilding - what a beast. Still spewing we didn't get him back after his stint at Freo.

Don't count me as one of the doubters, but I think impatience goes at least part of the way to explaining my own feelings on the Roo. We got absolutely spoilt by Jessy Hogan being a contested marking beast and better than your average mature KPP from pretty much day dot and Jackson was similar. We have also had a significant No. of somewhat overhyped false dawns with key position forwards like Watts and Weid. Can definitely see the potential in Jacob to dominate games and give us a great focal point up forward. His set shot goal kicking is already elite. Personally I just want him to deliver on that potential right now, while realising that's a somewhat unrealistic expectation and that statistically he's already actually maturing at a rate that is up there with the best of some of the recent elites of the league. Can't wait to hear more and even louder cries of ROOOOOOOO echo throughout the G in coming seasons.

Number 3…

Losing Gus and Nibbler was a huge blow to the leadership stocks.

My wife noticed the auto renewal on our statement and asked, "What do you get out of your membership?" "Heartache!" 😒

Makes sense. Lost a real leader with Hunter's retirement.

I remember reading somewhere that all clubs use Ticketmaster for their membership. If that is true, then I suspect it is an AFL thing rather than the clubs choice.

I've watched all his highlights in YouTube to try to get myself hyped in case we do go him.. Obviously in JT I trust... But, this kid has bad hands. He can get himself at the drop of the ball but barely one-grabs it, in fact drops more than he marks (keeping in mind these are highlights). It really doesn't fill me with confidence. Just for a point of reference I rewatched Jeffos highlights. He looks a far superior mark, and based on highlights a far superior package whom is in need of the preseasons he's currently getting to bulk up. I'd rather us find another defender as we have McDonald, May, Salem in their golden years and Rivers moving into the midfield, conversely we've got Jeffo in waiting and making something out of Turner.

Yeah had the same issue. Must of done the "replay" a couple of times then just went bye bye. If the membership pack don't come next year will ring up the club to complain.

Yep, and I feel I already opted in about a month ago. So go figure

Downtrade 9 for 15 and 16 with GWS if the players we really rate at 9 are gone and there's a talent cliff that runs beyond 16 to the next one. Downtrade 9 for 12 and 26 with WC if we believe the player we rate at 9 will still be there at 12. They're both perfectly reasonable strategies. Very keen to hear an argument against them.

I know Brad, and he has had every treatment known to man on that knee. In his own words, the knee is no good (he did use a different adjective, but you get the idea). He triggered a clause for another year on his contract, which is why he may be moved to the rookie list, but his playing career is under extreme doubt.

I've got confidence in Chaplin. Very excited by what he can provide the forwardline in 2025.

And if there is no space, kick to the forwards advantage - not on his head or as is often the case, his opponents advantage. Does my head in.

Agree, 17.7 is very poor indeed. Needs to be 7.17 if he wants to have a long career at the Dees.

As I have said across a number of different threads since 2022 - it is less about ‘the big tall forward’ and more about how we have moved the ball in transition from the backline. We just have to continue to move in the bold and daring direction. There are variants but in today’s game of disciplined athletes executing team defence - moving it quickly and directly to players with decent forward craft is key. When they come back for pre-season training - Chaplin has to continue what McQualter reignited and push our best players out of their baser instincts; May demanding the ball and slowing down play, Gawn requesting dump footy and waiting for him to get into the forward 50, CP5 and CO13 running 5m and dumping it indiscriminately forward - run further and get it over the defensive setup or use forward handballs but our best players are so predictable it makes their dominance moot. So, yes, would love a dominant forward but they would be wasted until we fix these issues and get the ball moving.

If I were Tom Campbell I'd be absolutely frothing at the mouth to get into 2025. He doesn't even need to suddenly deliver his best ever football. the poor guy never got a run at it, always either stuck behind a clear 1st ruck or at a club which simply didn't care much about the ruckman. The only two seasons (2017 and 2021) where he got any kind of run at it he did fine - not spectacular, but fine. He's not an answer to our forward issues except that he can be out on the ground as a supporting ruck, is a proper big lump who can take the impacts as well as contest overhead, and clearly has the humility and experience to work with a clear first ruck. Campbell isn't a star but if he is doing his job well it lets Van Rooyen, Fritsch and so on do the job they are actually best at, and that could make a very big difference.

I view him as depth for Fritsch. I don’t think you can play both of them in the one forward line, but happy to be proven wrong.

Am I missing something? Why is there a map of Cazalys Stadium, Cairns in the middle of this announcement regarding training at Gosch's Paddock?

I wouldn’t write off McAdam yet. His season was ruined by injury which ended up costing form. He’s a very good player at his best. That doesn’t just vanish forever. I hope

Body is letting him down. Needs to get back to full fitness to remain a weapon, though those days may have sadly passed. Played one hell of a 2021 and GF though. Was one of the many players to step up and help us win #13

I just learned about recency bias and it's my favourite thing ever.

So very high level, in their respective second seasons: Roo Ox AFL Games Played 21 22 Goals 30 20 Marks 81 112 Loved Schwartz as a player and distinctly remember some of those early break-out games he played, including that massive final against Carlton. Unfortunately, the below courtesy of Demonwiki pretty well summarises the fate of the Ox from his third season onwards (http://demonwiki.org/David+Schwarz): Schwarz's first injury trouble came in 1993, when persistent groin issues and a hernia restricted him to nine games. He bounced back to kick 60 goals in 1994, including a career-best nine in the last home and away game. That year he and took more marks than Wayne Carey in a season where he stamped himself as a future star of the competition. At the end of that year, he ended speculation of a switch to the new Fremantle side by signing a contract extension to the end of 1998. The AFL Media Guide for 1995 described Schwarz as "a genuine AFL star centre half-forward. High-leaping, aggressive and mobile", but he was soon struck down with a serious knee injury during an intra-club match. He returned just 16 weeks after surgery, in Round 9, 1995, but the knee collapsed under him in the first quarter of the next game, requiring another reconstruction. Returning in the 1996 pre-season he broke down again in a Reserves practice match and missed the entire year. Yes he certainly went on to play some solid footy after that, but I think those couple of seasons would be regarded as the most spectacular highs and lows of his career and my most vivid recollection of his playing days. If only players like him, Gary Lyon, Alan Jackovic and Sean Charles stayed uninjured and Martin Pike had kept his act together, I have little doubt we would have won multiple premierships in that era.

Teams often need a blend in the midfield. Inside contested bulls. Running skilled mids. Smart footy IQ decision makers. You can rotate various ways depending on opposition and your strengths. example. Lions. Neale. Ashcroft. Berry. McCluggage. Rayner. Dunkley. Fletcher. They all have various skills to compliment each other. Dees are loaded for inside bulls. JV7, Trac, Clarry, Sparrow. Need to add the class and running power. That’s why we grabbed Windsor. Thats why we are looking to convert Rivers. Hope we add two more guns to our midfield.

Always surprised to see him listed at 195cm as he moves much more dynamically / sharper / intensely than others of his height, and he therefore appears as though he’s a smaller player than he is. Get the ball into his hands more often and we’ll be better off. Lots to like. Keep building Disco.

Just hope they invest on forward craft teachings for him to work on, and hope the gameplan changes will help with that.

Needs to get fitter over summer and work on his explosiveness. Good mark, great kick.

Revelation

Billings was a x2 u18 AA player, highly rated, pick 3. I guess the point I'm making is that 60% kicking efficiency and 1.8 tackles at AFL level could well be Lindsay's ceiling too. It appears to me that the contest is not natural to Lindsay's game. Anyway, agree to disagree.

I think Disco - with more strength and confidence gained during the offseason - could well end up becoming our most improved player next season.

Get some extra forward training craft lessons in for Disco as he showed what he could against a very good AFL back vs Suns with 4 goals. Dont know who could assist perhaps Neita?

What % do you think the elite players are kicking at? McVee was at 75% in 2024 which is elite. Some caparisons: Bont 57% and Gulden 58%

To me Disco is a bit of a wild card plays back and seemingly forward equally well loved his game against Gold Coast, showed some flair and accuracy he certainly surprised Petty and The Suns backs. Hope he keeps on improving he has a strongish body that could take him far.

Can see him becoming the Hawkins style tank who just toses skinnier ruckman and snaps goals when he is older.