Lil_red_fire_engine

A great read. Thanks for the share.

Petty to debut. MFC site source. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-06-28/petty-pleased-with-debut-news

He needs to have his role simplified. He is a half forward trying to prove he is a midfielder. Now he is doing neither well. I suspect his mid year review would have been the most interesting fly on the wall convo. I will be interested to see any shift in where he spends his time or the way he approaches the role. Not unusual for a player 50 games in to have a lull. Not many players have a straight up trajectory, those wanting him on the trade table is laughable. He needs to be playing high half forward and get back to attacking the ball and man and setting up goals.

He followed it up with another absolute cracker into the middle of the ground from a similar spot 3-5 minutes later. Played on one leg but I reckon he was involved in a third of our goals.

We are now at a point where we have better inside mids. The problem is Tyson does not appear to have the versatility to play other roles unlike Salem or Harmes. His lack of speed on the spread and slowness of execution are shown up in a connecting role. The coach clearly does not see him in our inside mid plans as even without Petracca and Viney he showed a preference for Harmes and Brayshaw in the middle. I feel the only thing maintaining him a spot on a wing is we don't currently have an outside runner pushing for the spot on the wing so he is the next best option.

I have no inside info but his JLT was poor aside from a quality second half of JLT 2. We now have serious quality depth and he does not have runs on the board to be named without decent form or performance. I rate him highly but he needs to show more and I suspect if we hold him back to when he's cherry ripe and in hot form it will likely be the last time he is not a permanent first 22 player.

Could not agree more. Our absolute priority needs to be locking Petracca away on a long term deal. Sloane is a good mid who can't play a tag. You don't pay overs for that type and you will need to to get him.

I read somewhere that statistically those best placed for the flag usually have the highest % of list in the 25-29 bracket. I believe we currently sit 17th however we have in 2 years times a massive glut of players that will start to fall into that space to give us a serious window of time to have an extended assault at the flag.

Could not be happier. Hope he gets a good run at it and fulfills the promise he originally had.

that answers that then. its a no from me.

Not interested unless rookie. Looks like a human highlight reel with no defensive game. Maybe its just me but a small forward needs to have the ability to also actually play small. Its a no from me unless he's there for the rookie draft.

Jason Taylor has stated we will be looking over the draft/trade period to increase our midfield depth and possibly look for some small pressure forwards. I can't see how Fritsch fits the bill and in fact seems to fit a role we have depth in already. I doubt we would take him inside 40.

How is this a huge gamble? At worst you get the existing output of a 21 year old elite intercept defender as already seen. At best you get the expected incremental improvement of a 21 year old 196cm defender over his next 4 years of development into what should be his peak. Skys the limit. Anyone that thinks we paid overs over rates the draft. Even so I suspect we will use 27 and 35 to get back into the top 20 some how. Those that say let him walk to the draft, North have deep pockets and I suspect would have snapped him up before us. Similar to the Hawthorn, Sydney and Geelong models, pick your targets, be open with what you think is fair, get your player and move on.

Let me get this right. He was taken pick 14 (probably pick 3 on count back of that draft now). Now has 50 games investment in him, enough to be an AA squad member at 21 yet is not worth 10 and 20. What would you want for an out of contract Petracca? I am not saying we pay 10 and 20 but if thats what ends up being required it is fair value.

Fair few there you're over rating. i think it's assured he will finish top 10 in their B&F and probably top 5. Will be interesting to see. Also we are talking about a kid 5 years away from his best footy with 10 years probably left. Not exactly apples with apples.

How did the Cats tall forwards go tonight. 8 marks and 5 massive spoils to go with the best disposal efficiency on the ground in a pressure match. Not his best but I would suggest he would feature higher in the coaches votes than 16th or lower. Is a super player who is already statistically the best intercept mark in the comp which is fast becoming a crucial role in today's game.

You have noted they're 13 cms and 8 kilos in size difference yeah?

Likely if I asked most who the best 3 key position defenders are they would say Rance, Hurley and McGovern. Would be worth looking at how often any of them play on the main key forward or even the second one this year.

Lever went as a mid first round picked and if you re-ordered that draft now you would have him at worst 3rd behind Trac and Heeney. He is a player type that will only get better as his body matures. Our first pick is likely to be around about where he got picked that year (but not better) yet some think that and some steak knives will get the job done. It will take our first pick and some serious quality unless we put a deal forward that means we could walk him through the draft (unlikely). Whilst I am sure we wont entertain it unless he wanted out,the Hogan article aside from the emotion attached is not that far off logic. We have proven we can kick good scores without him and this was before we unearthed T-Mac as a forward option. We have proven we leak multiple goals against tall forwards and need to improve the quality of our transition from defence. A lot on here are unsure whether O-Mac and Frost are the answer. I assume some on here are worried whether we have already seen the best of Hogan. It could be argued Lever is more important to us having a tilt than Hogan. Granted you would want to keep both but if push came to shove........

Those stats are hard to argue with but the query is do we think developing the two kids that have 88 games between them is the answer or do we need more., Lever is a jet but as I have stated where is the examples of him playing on and beating number 1 forwards or even the second tall? He is played as an intercept and usually Adelaide leave Talia and Hartigan or Kelly to the two main jobs.

My biggest concern on Lever is he has limited exposed form on a first or even second key forward but everyone is guessing that's what he becomes. My view is he would have played a similar role to Smith or Wagner in our side on the weekend not that of Oscar or Frost. With lets assume Hogan and T-Mac forward this week he will likely play on neither and get Watts or Hannan/Trac. Even when Talia and Hartigan are playing they still prefer Kelly to play the third tall defender role to free Lever up. He is a jet at the role he plays and would love him at MFC I just don't think it is for either of the two key posts (granted he could play there if required particularly as he matures).

I doubt we will make it happen however, if we did everyone is assuming all interest in Lever is as a KPD. His skill set could also see him become a highly damaging midfielder in the Fyfe mould or maybe more so just as an attacking half back. I think this is more likely as there is not much exposed evidence of his ability playing against the best or even second best KPFs. With T-Mac showing current ability to play the forward/ruck role which will be hard to fill short term we may not be as stacked with a backline of O-Mac, Frost and Lever as we think. We are also assuming all stay fit and healthy and in form.

That cant be right, only 26 games experience, and has inconsistencies in his game that may get better with experience. Should be killing it every week like I am certain Rance and May did every week at that stage of their careers.

It would be great for those that watch Crows games to post who he plays on each week. I will do my best to do this. As I have stated you will find he rarely plays on the first or second forward making him hard to compare to O-Mac in particular. I dont disagree he would be starting 22 but I dont see him being as necessary as other positions we need to sort for a flag tilt.

On exposed form, playing on the third best forward most week's, Lever looks a jet. However can someone explain what our back 6 looks like next year with Lever? Also what they would be willing to trade. Then explain how that gets us closer to a flag. Find me a forward/ruck and quality ball carrying mids before we start throwing what we would have to to get a player that is a nice to have not must have.