Red and Blue realist

Same as the big leagues, if a draft was done on current players then I'd expect Cripps and Oliver would be right up there, whereas the reigning premiers probably wouldn't have a player taken in the top 10 (maybe McGovern). I like the idea of trading to get multiple good picks/players rather than going all out for 1 potential superstar.

Agree with this, plus we've been able to maintain our high inside 50 rate, so it's something we should be bale to turn around rather quickly. It started to look much better against Freo, looked alright in the first quarter and half against Brissy then fell away. I don't think Jeffy will go on next year, and we lost Kent and didn't really replace him, so we've still got holes with real energetic small forwards, but I think we're not as far away as most suggest.

I'd like us to get creative this year and maybe send our first rounder to GWS, they have a young kid Green coming through who'll get earlish bids on (top 5), which they'd have to match with one of their 1st rounders. I was thinking we could send our first and second/third round picks to them for a combination of their first pick (from Essendon) plus another high pick, they don't have a second round pick this so maybe next years - plus Patton and Bonar/Langdon. Result: MFC out: Picks 3 & 39 - GWS out: Pick 9, Patton & Bonar. We could then look at Serong/O'Neil/Stephens (I'm just going of draft boards, not an expert by any means). We'd end up with a good tall, depth plus high end talent.

Surely we want to play the same game plan no matter the team? So maybe there have been times where the coaches might have known the players aren't fit enough but completely changing the game plan would be much more detrimental, both to that game and long term?

Depends on Gawn's fitness, if he pulls up Ok, I still can't see him being 100%, so they might try and play him more forward, TMac's running has returned to close to what he can do so send him out to do the kind of role Melksham normally does. However, if they try and play Preuss as a 80% forward then I agree we would be too big with all 3.

He's played 1 good game this year, followed up by a terrible game. Given he's 28 and out of contract means he has to make every post a winner and he was really terrible yesterday. I'd prefer Preuss because we need to see what he can do, and I'd be leaving Weid in because he got a longer career with us.

Yeah Petty got done badly, but I'm glad Goody left him on Hipwood for so long, best way to learn. He'll go out this week because Carlton have lost Curnow so we won't need as many true talls. Lever in if fit. Hore looks like he needs a rest, but I'd love to see how he goes with Lever, I'd also be reluctant to take Hibberd out because we need to give our key backs as much time together as possible. For me it'd be: Lever, Preuss and JHK for Petty, T.Smith and Baker.

Just means he's doing all the right things and being exposed to as much higher level coaching/experience he can at his age. He's also been over with us as well. From what I understand the father-son and next gen have the same rules, so neither takes priority and it'll be up to him and his family to decide.

Spot on, it's the same as Pendles, they have a skill set the allows them to predict the next movement better than a real bang and crasher such as Viney or Jones, so it's not like he can't take contact it's that he's trying to think about what happens once he got the ball rather than just getting the ball. One thing long term he needs to get better at is learning to consistently use his body strength to help create those next opportunities, but that'll come. I see him as being more Robbie Gray than Dusty Martin which a lot want because of his size.

Get May to line him up like the Walters tackle in the first on Saturday, might have cost a free kick but I reckon it got under his skin for the rest of the game. Not sure Cameron would bite back as much, but would hopefully make him watch his steps.

ANB just returned from injury as well, and I thought he did what he's there for, run, chase, pressure and tackle. Hannan was down, but not sure that Dunkley is a direct replacement for what Hannan brings. I think they'll end up giving Dunkley another game or 2 at Casey before he gets a call up, but might have talked him up to keep his spirits nice and high. I'd like them to play Fritsch forward, along with ANB, Hannan and Lockhart and try and go back to a real mobile forward line, with the talls all mobile as well. The only change for mine would be Hibberd for Wagner, with Hore to try and play in front of Cameron and cut off any chances he gets.

Yes Salem is in there, but I think we'd go with the 6 true backmen, the 4 set plus 2 more, then have 2 or so mids/utilities such as Salem, Jones, Fritsch, Lewis, KK etc. roll through there as well. They are more suited to a mid/back role than say Oliver, Trac, Harmes who are more mid/forwards.

I was at the game and was very surprised when I looked at the stats the next day, he seemed to be much more involved, which is good that the coaches aren't blinding going off stats either.

Perhaps that's the reason why Frost hasn't been signed up yet? Not making a judgement call on any of them, but both OMac and Petty are in contract for 2020. We'd also get the most value for Frost at the moment, given the massive strides he's made this year. Realistically if everyone was fit our backline would be Lever, May, Jetta, Hibberd plus 2 of Hore, Frost, Petty and Omac, with a mid thrown into the mix as well (include Fritsch in that).

I think we need a little more quality depth, our front-line best 30 is still pretty good, we've just not had anywhere near out best 30 available to choose from for most of the year. If we had the chance to go from pick say 6 to swapping with GWS for picks 9/17, I'd be happy with that. They are the only team at this stage with 2 first round picks, besides the Gold Coast who will finish below us.

Massively underrated for what he does really well, too many on here (as they always do) highlight a players limitations rather than look at what he brings to the team. No one else in the forward line chases, tackles, pressures as well as what ANB does, even his manic running to man the mark is a massive plus. When you've got a team with such a dominance in clearances who do sometimes bomb it into the forward line you need to lock it in as much as possible or if the opposition get it slow their movement out of the back 50. While he might not be as clean as some other small forwards, he does that better than just about anyone in the comp (when fully fit).

We all want them to go out and just do it and win each week, but I've been talking about how we should be setting up to maximise the chance of wins in the long term. For instance should we be playing Jordy Lewis each game because he gives us a better chance of winning than say Lockhart/hore or do we give those guys a run and hope they become very important players for the future. We're not in a position to 'play the kids' because we're a young team anyway but looking at integrating personnel so they play better together for the future should hold a lot of weight.

Yes but they don't just happen because we say we want a winning culture, it happens because we play the right way as a team. Just wanting it won't make it happen

We won lots of games last year but still couldn't get to the big dance, I don't just want wins for the sake of it, I want a team that's capable of going all the way. I know what you mean by not accepting honourable losses but I see the bigger picture, being a premiership, as more important.

Honestly do you think we'll go into the 2020 season with more confidence because we win 5 games instead of 4? We'll go in with more confidence if the team is more trusting of each other and have better knowledge of each others games, which is why I want to see the backline together. We've got lots of guys there that have barely played together.

Never said I wanted them to lose. A winning culture of course is good, but did we get more out of the gold coast game this year or the West coast game? Great to get a win but when we can't make finals it's more important to get the team playing the right way together, wins will then come because of that.

Big yes to Hill, sign his brother up as a free agent as well if that's what's needed. Freo paid pick 23 for him 3 years ago and he's still got 2 years on his contract to go so he'll be around the same price again I'd say. Let's hope he was mates with Jordy so he can get in his ear, if the rumor is true, coming from Denham though it probably a crook of siht.

I'd say we've lost more games this year because the forwards haven't been functioning as compared to the backline not performing. What I want to see is the backline with Lever, May, Jetta, Hibberd, Hore, Frost, OMac, Petty etc. all functioning well together more so than winning games. Yes winning is great but for the future, them knowing each others games and building trust is more important. I think that group could be the best backline in the comp but need to learn to play together since we haven't had them all to choose from so far this year. The forwards and mid-forward connection is something that can be improved upon quickly, from last year only Hogan is really missing, so there hasn't been a big change in personnel. Down back we've now got Lever, May and Hore to fully integrate.

We did just lose Lever and Hibberd to injury who are best 22 when everyone is fit, plus Garlett who would be on the fringe of that. We only replaced them with younger guys and ANB who are all (when everyone is fit) fringe players. I'm more interested in seeing the backline working together and forming strong partnerships, especially when Lever, Hibberd and Jetta are back and the forward line becoming more productive including better ball movement to them. I don;t really care now if we win 3/4/5/6/7 games on the way home, more about the functionality of the team and ensuring we have minimal delayed starts to the pre-season.

Unfortunately on these type of internet forums supporters want all players to be superstars from game 1 otherwise they turn very quickly. Not all players will make it (actually a lot don't) and some might play 50-100 games as pure role players but they are vital to the team, others take years to develop then become very good players. However along the way a lot of those that take time to come good get bagged out at every opportunity, at the moment we've got Harmes, Gawn, Frost, Jones, Hunt, ANB and TMac (just from this weeks team) who've at one stage or another been called a spud, called to be delisted or traded or 'never to play again' on this forum alone. Gets very tiresome