Lil_red_fire_engine

Jackson plays with an extra small in Weid’s place.

It appeared that AVB was precautionary (and fingers crossed) however he was bog ordinary prior to coming off and would not be playing round 1 for mine. He needs some good solid time at VFL to find touch. Great to see our fitness show through again and our defensive set up work well all game, Oscar, Lever and Lockhart in particular-layer above my expectations. I cant have Hibberd, he is a liability and I would much prefer to see Omac, May and Lever with a rotation of Harmes, Salem, Lockhart and Jetta (who also looks a touch off the pace). Forward set up leading into round 1 is the most intriguing.Fritsch is really an undersized full forward.With TMac playing higher and Weid not adding value when forward I would look to play Jackson as the second ruck, forward and take in an extra small. Particularly against fast sides on likely fast tracks in the first two rounds.

Saty nothing against Omac but look at the Hawks team and give me your view on who are the other two tall forwards Lever and May play on. I know May is versatile but I feel we will get chopped up at ground level.

Omac, May, Lever with Hibberd is one tall too many in my view. Kozzie’s absence really leaves the door open for Bedford to take his chance whilst its there. Was very good against North and could have easily kicked 4. Will be interesting to watch how we use the bench to manage minutes or whether we will play 22 and the other 4 are purely to sub on an as needs basis.

Looks great. You can never win with these things but surprised the warrior that is Jones 14 games shy of 300 does not make it yet May (8 games) and AVB (7 games in 3 years) make the cut. Maybe its 100 games gets your name on a locker and 50 games qualifies you for the Demonland banner

This is how its done. Sign now and get on with becoming the player you are destined to be.

Well we are certainly fit. Trac up a few levels and Lever back to the player we traded for.TMac and Brown complement each other well. It will be interesting to see what we do with the second ruck role. Kossie should play round 1 purely for the worry he puts into the opposition at throw ins and stoppages. Our kicking out of D50 not great and our defensive transition between was lazy at times but could not ask for much more in a first up hit out.

Jones much cleaner that quarter until injured. Better connection and run but we still appear lazy transitioning defensively between the arcs.

No true ruck is making a massive difference. Jones, Hibberd, ANB are still liabilities. The kids need to push them out of the side. Trac and Lever delivering to expectations of the preseason and some bright spots from Kossie and Lockhart in that quarter.

Leadership is all about connecting with a variety of people with different triggers to motivate them for their individual and collective best. Some people would be motivated by Viney’s bull at a gate and I suspect blunt ”do it like me” attitude. Most would be motivated by the attitude of Gawn on track, his inspiration on field and his every man persona. Whilst it should not matter, the value of “brand Max” to officially head us in media and sponsorship is a no brainer from a commercial view.

Whilst everyone likes a positive result I will be calling it a win if there are no injuries however other key themes I am looking for. Signs of return to form/fitness of the 2018 clan. Bright spots from our second and first years that show they will push claim. A more balanced game style that is strong at the contest but more so improved on the outside and defensively.

I would not be so certain over Collingwood, Geelong or Brisbane.

Double figure wins has Goodwin retain his job. Pass mark is finals. Expectation is finals +1, winning it all is not out of the realms of possibility. Where we land will be based on a combo of fitness, continuity of play with our best 16, level of pressure from our depth players in 17-27 range, an improved game style that defends the faster sides.

Frosts’ role is there for the taking is it not? If we want Lever to play the intercept then its Omac or Smith for the second tall defender. Smith offers more defensive flexibility I suggest.

MFC photos 21 and 22 from yesterdays training show Kossie training in the yellow vest.

I too attended yesterday, The only benefit of the lack of some of the senior boys being at Melksham’s wedding weekend was that it made it easier to focus on some of the lesser lights. As far as standouts, Jetta has his step and bounce back and is far from spent. Smith and Lever both looked great until they had to kick to a target (heart in mouth stuff). Dunkley did not appear about (unsure if I missed or anything in it) but of those pressing Sparrow was just fast and clean in everything he did and has a nice mix of inside and outside carry. ANB has the pressure forward spot sewn up unless we play two (not unlikely) and Petty would be my first choice to partner TMac (not that Weid or Brown were bad). Other than the above Salem and Viney were in everything and Fritsch and Petracca did things on a different level than the rest on show.

Reports of Martin on $900k in year one versus Bennell on a base rookie wage. Even if we had the salary space and he was open to coming I would not take him for that or anything close to it.

Pre-season its we choose him, he chooses us he can train in preparation and if both parties agree we pick him up directly. Mid season draft we would need to hope any team lower than us with a selection did you choose him. Unclear whether he would be allowed to train with us if we dont take him in March.

This was never going to a straight line to playing. You could keep him training and have a punt at him mid year if he gets going but then anyone else would get a shot at him first. It’s a base payment spend with our last spot on list for a player who pre injuries was on track to be a top 10 player in the league. If it is minor and would still see potential for him playing back half of the year then as long as his application and attitude has been top notch I would take the punt on him over an untried kid with a low likelihood of success and definitely unlikely to get any shot in 2020.

Same one I had the last two years who keeps denying it with injury. Joel Smith. Outside of my standard above, Dunkley to play most of the year.

All the writer had to do was check whose training where to take Harmes out of the equation.

A fit list throughout the year that can show where we truly sit in our development.

Early if we play a crumbing pressure type Bedford. Possibly Pickett by end of year.

Very similar to Rob for me. Top 4 a success with finals (rather than top 6 ) a pass. Anything less would want to come with significant impacts to our list. I am surprised that so many are concerned about us kicking a winning score. I think the big concern is at the other end. People do forget we were the highest scoring team in 2018 and a lot of that came without Hogan. Even last year we got the ball in there plenty but rarely had TMac, Fritsch or Melksham at the end of it or we kicked ourselves out of it. This year we should have all three plus at least one of an improved Weid or Petty. Our backline will be held together by two injury prone talls in May and Lever and two players of ageing quality in Jetta and Hibberd. Our ability to defend will be heavily weighted on 20+ games each out of the first two and a significant improvement in our midfields defensive attributes. Hopefully this comes with a strong preseason.

I too spent a nice morning perched on the Goschs fence trying to follow a lot of players and a lot of coaches in a lot of activity across the ground. Based on prior reports I was disappointed in the sessions intensity until I found out that they did the 3km time trial prior. Not much to add without repetition. I will say the three players who stood well above my expectations based on output and execution were Bedford, Dunkley and Weid. Special mention to Vanders who was in everything and moving at a fair tick, if he stays fit he will break some bodies in 2020.