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Dees are so lucky to have got such a wonderful footballer as a replacement for Luke, but honestly, there’s not a better person in any footy club than Brodie. Ben Brown is a beauty, but Brodie is something special. We had very influential people at Collingwood telling us all the time, that there was no better trainer at Collingwood than Brodie, and one of their Physios recently told me that in his seven years at the Club, as long as you didn’t want to talk footy, because he’s not a footy head, you couldn’t meet a more interesting and engaged person with whom to talk. Also said that he’s so good with the young blokes. I can also assure you all that there are no doubts at all about lingering effects of last seasons injuries, Brodie 100% fit and ready to go.

I feel it's time that Clayton Oliver lived up to expectations. 4 B&F's, 3 All Australians, 2 AFLCA Player of the Year Awards, 1 Premiership Medal. The guy has clearly been coasting throughout his career to date.

I'm not sure they divide the salary cap into areas of the ground, but one thing that is absolutely certain is that once a player is on a contract north of say $800 he’s in the spotlight. It’s often not easy to do, but a List Manager can quickly solve a lot of challenges by moving on one player on a million rather than 2 or 3 for that money, particularly, when that Player is a Ruckman, who as we know, are held in varying degrees of importance by different Coaches. This was an immaculate meeting of needs as the Dees were desperate to replace Jacko and Craig identified Brodie as the best way to solve multiple needs. When you combine what the Dees are paying Brodie, what they had to give up for Brodie, plus what they got for Jacko, in my opinion, this is a truly Golden Deal for the Dees.

Kade Chandler. Too good for VFL.

I'm not Kate Roffey if that's what you're inferring. My name is Katrina Oxley, I've been a member of the club for 37 years. Member of Redlegs since 1988, member of Demon Army, committee of Ruby Demons, foundation member of the women's team. I have nothing to hide. I also have a mind of my own. By the way, I got off my [censored] and turned up on Wednesday night. Did you?

I reckon Pick 13 will come straight in and have a strong year. He has a lot of potential and we were lucky he slid to us at 13. We got the man we wanted in the end

Grundy for me. He will shake off his injuries of this year and will have something to prove against Collingwood and show what they are missing when they showed him the door. My guess, he will be an All Australian twice out of the next three years!

Joel Smith with a season of health and full fitness at last.

I’d put this down as more of a rumour than strong mail but the latest I’ve heard is: - We have identified a target early in the draft. We’d absolutely love them to fall to 13 but given thats unlikely we’ll attempt to trade up for them. - But, as it stands it’s more likely we can’t get them and then we’ll trade down the order as it’s a pretty even crop later in the first round. No mail on how much we’d be willing to trade to get up the order but I’d expect we’d pay market value to get to a pick 6-9 range. Have to imagine a future first is involved Not sure how far we’d go backwards either, I think we’d want to stay top 25.

If you can't find 20 people to support your nomination amongst 66,000 perhaps you don't have much of a chance of getting elected. Just saying.

We're definitely putting some time and work into George from a due diligence point of view. From what I've been told from MB officials, clubs looking at George have assured him that the focus is on having a 10- 12 year career and not trying to impact from day 1 of pre season. Focus and expectations will be in getting his knee right and soaking up the education and professionalism of AFL football. I believe clubs like Sydney and Melbourne would be the perfect fit for George in this instance. He's Wangaratta lad who's a powerful footballer with enormous amount upside. Played majority forward this year and dominated with his power and strength. He doesn't win a lot of thr footy as of yet but he doesn't need to with his hurt factor and damage up forward. The goal for him would be to transition slowly into a midfield role like Petracca has dome over his career.

Disco Turner and Petty. Petty forward, Disco back with May and Lever, all saluting on the last day in September!

The safest bet would be Harrison Petty. Locks down the AA key defender spot and becomes the brick wall that returns us to the stingiest defence 'by a mile' again, so long as the mids and forwards are doing their jobs up the field. He's just about to turn 23, so there is massive scope for him to go to another few levels and be our May/McGovern for the next 5-10 years. The wacky bet would be Schache. He's our new Weid, a very 'unlikely' shot to fulfil his potential, but if he did then that really could unlock something different for us, and by virtue, likely have the biggest impact. I know versatile depth is the major hope we have at this stage, but stranger things have happened and there should be an opportunity if Brown and McDonald reach their end this year. And from the video, it sounds like he's going to work hard over the off-season to try and prove everyone wrong. Of course every interview contains similar fluff.

There’s still a month to go to the 2022 AFL National Draft and amid the speculation as to who Melbourne might take with its first selection (currently at 13) is a player who was edging towards a top ten placing but struggled with injury during the season and ultimately tore an ACL early in the game against the Sandringham Dragons on 27 August. Brayden George might well be one of the hard luck stories of this year’s draft but it’s not all gloom and doom for the talented forward - it’s still likely that he will be selected somewhere in the late teens or early 20s. George might quite well suit a club like Melbourne which has a surfeit of young players waiting for senior opportunity and can therefore afford to “warehouse” a player like him who will miss most, if not all, of 2023 recuperating from that knee injury. NAB League | Brayden George goes down with serious injury as Bushies’ season comes to a close Brayden George still a big AFL Draft prospect despite suffering serious knee injury Should Melbourne make a play for an injured but highly talented player with its pick 13 or possibly get involved in a trade of picks in a risky game to secure him a little later and improve its overall draft positioning?

I check in every now and again only to find out that the discussion has moved on to how good the new Fetid Putrescence album is or that the Necrophiliac Spawn are playing at Satan Fest next year. Fascinating stuff.

Looking at the off-season training pics Bowser is looking stronger. I'm going him for a breakout year and to be one of the best half backs in the comp.

I’ve seen them both in the same room. Many times. 😁 Most recently, I saw them chatting together at last week’s AFLW match. You know, the match which not nearly enough people attend. Oh, except for our “snobby” President. She deigns to attend our women’s and men’s matches and sits with us plebs. Crazy but true!

I suspect that the majority here would hope that JVR storms into the game like David Schwartz did. Of those who have already played I expect JJ will make a big jump and join the premium (and hopefully premiership) midfield on a regular basis.

In short, you’ve nailed it with both. As part of Craig M’s presentation for the job, he had a PPT slide that stated that he saw the Pies primary needs as a Key Position Swingman, a midfield extractor & a quick, goal kicking small that could rotate on the ball He presented the problems, so he also presented the solution. He told them that Collingwood has 1 great ruckman & 2 good ruckman taking $2 million out of TPP. He stated that “my game plan requires 2 good ruckman, I don’t need the great ruckman when he frees up $1 million to get me what I need. Graeme W went and got him the first two very quickly, particularly in the case of McStay and then the midfield extractor, Tom Mitchell luckily fell to them during the Trade Period.

Fritsch to kick 60+ and lock down an AA spot.

Realistically .......none Sparrow has the best chance perhaps

Thread seems to have run its course.

Agree. It occurred to me the other day just how lucky we are that Grundy happened to be available just when we needed him. Imagine what state we'd be in with Jackson gone and no Brodie Grundy. It's such a serendipitous gift.

can't believe people seriously have a problem with the need for 20 members for nomination other than to be just frivolous or vexatious

It’s Ginbey, but I understand Suns and Hawthorn have come into the picture for him, so now it isn’t just about getting in front of West Coast

I think the name of this thread will need to be changed. I don't think anyone has mentioned someone's username since page 2.

I’ve already heard rumours about Pick 13’s mum being a handful.

In terms of a breakout - ie shown potential but not put it together consistently - Tom Sparrow for mine. Has all the tools, needs a bit more composure and needs to nail his disposal more often. Does that and he becomes a bona fide weapon.

Lachie Hunter...back to his best with us.

You're welcome to scroll forward to read any of my posts and see what my point of view is. I have no objection to Peter communicating to members his point of view, and in the wonderful age of web 2.0, he has the means to communicate that message to members. The club issued him with mailing addresses, I'm not sure for what purpose he needed email addresses as well. That exercise of taking it to the supreme court achieved little other than costing Peter money, the club money, and a lot of angst amongst members who did not want their contact details distributed. How was that action going to get members to see Peter's point of view? And as I stated earlier, Peter had more opportunity than most members to get his point across to the board, he had several one on one meetings with David Rennick, he had mediation through Harold Lubanski, and yet he's communicating to members his proposals were ignored by the working party. No, they were not. Not all considerations from all members have to be considered. There are 66,000 members, it would be impossible for every suggestion from every member to be considered. Strange example you used of the training session roping off supporters at Gosche's Paddock. Hello, COVID. I have no doubt Peter's intentions are honourable, and I know he has a lot of passion for the club. I don't agree though that members, least of all Peter, are being treated unfairly.

Part of the Grundy trade. Swap of late 4ths and some back office staff

The Weid to finally fulfil the promise he showed in the 2018 finals series…………..oh wait. Honestly though, we need a second/third tier player to break out to really improve us. It would really benefit the team if a Bowey, Rivers, Jordan, Laurie, Sparrow or Chandler were to elevate their game. Of those, I’m tipping Rivers.

Bowser, if he can add a couple of kg's to the frame, could take his game to another level

I’ll get the thread back on track. My username is inspired by Melbourne wingman Ed Langdon.

And it's about time that Viney went and got his own friggen ball.

I too hope that Schacke will show the ability he must have to go as pick number 2 in the draft. Would be a true bonus.

lol, i've just finished reading a number of stuart macbride books and starting to understand scottish people, and now i am having to understand black metal! I'm seeing a lot of similarities, lol

My choice is also a fit and stronger Tom Sparrow who will demand greater midfield minutes, however I will not be surprised if any or all of Jordon, Rivers, Bowey, JVR and Howes step up significantly. My take is that Kozzie and Petty have already broken out and will continue to cement themselves into our first 23.

I'd already consider Petty as "broken out", but he's the obvious one who could have an even bigger impact if he's tried up forward and is successful there. Otherwise he could be an AA level KPD on his current trajectory. The other I'd put forward is Rivers. His first two seasons were very good for a youngster, but he struggled with managing a knee injury and lacking preseason fitness in 2022. If he's fully fit and gets a full prison, he could very well have a big impact in defense next year. We need to replace Hibberd in the short term, and Rivers looks to have both the defensive and rebounding side to his game to be effective there. Love his booming kick too, which suits our game style transition forward with both Gawn and Grundy as tall marking targets on the wings in transition.

I’m with you on not having to trade up in this draft in the absence of some special circumstances but I’m not sure about trading out pick 13 for a future first round pick. We are under an obligation to use three selections in the draft (currently our first three are 13, 37 and 90), albeit that we can upgrade rookies with our selections if we choose to do so. As it stands at the moment, we’ve signaled that #90 will be used to upgrade Kade Chandler to the primary list so if we trade 13 for a future first as you suggest, we would either place ourselves in a position of needing to upgrade another rookie or using our last pick on a very late selection - and it’s possible that neither option would suit. I think we either stick with our existing selections or do something creative such as the example I suggested elsewhere and Little Goffy did above - swap 13 and 37 for West Coast's 20 and 26 to possibly give us a preferable outcome. Of course, the good thing with the club these days are that there are less leaks so that we don’t know about the thinking of our recruiters.

It is also that only 50% of their (females in senior or coaching positions) salaries are included in the soft cap. This is to encourage recruitment of females into the otherwise male domain. This also impacts Daisy when she goes to Geelong in a coaching role next year.

Jeez no one is saying Pert or for that matter Kate Roffe are perfect but they as a team have turned our ship around despite innuendo and criticism at most announcements / changes. We are no longer that club that was on our hands and knees wishing that we could be up there with the successful clubs. It’s time to stop and smell the roses, enjoy our current success and put our personal grievances aside.!!

Pass

Cooption is permitted if not enough candidates stand for election and there are vacancies. If you want to avoid cooption, stand for election.

Dogga!

We should be able to charge a fair premium for pick 13 that would see us receive a 2nd rounder this year on top of a future first. An example might be West Coast keen on adding 13 to go with 8 and 12 which might see them take 3 of Ginbey, Busslinger, Allen, Hewett if they stick with WA talent. Eagles don't usually stay down the bottom for long and having 11 home games should see them avoid bottom 4 and perhaps more willing to trade out futures. Pick 13 out for West Coast future 1st and pick 20 or 26 would be a great option if we don't have a player we are particularly keen on available at our first selection. Don't think they'll go for it though.

Scarily similar to Watts' second efforts at this same point which is too much of a warning sign imo. Looks neat, moves well but I can't see that competitive streak that we desperately need in a key forward. Especially given we have Brown, Fritsch and now Schache who all lack that defensive appetite and those strong defensive habits. It's a no from me.

Pretty slight. He looks 2 years away from being 2 years away…