KingDingAling

I think it was smart by our boys to cancel our camp. They obviously had their concerns and voiced up. Goodwin came from a club (Essendon) were the coaching staff put the players at risk - for a bigger cause (success). Keeping that in mind, I have no problem with the players cancelling the camp, and that fact (that Goodwin had previously been a part of a club that compromised the health of players) seems to of escaped those in the media, who just wanted to run down MFC. To Goodwin's credit, he handled the cancellation of the camp like a pro, and has gone on to surpass all expectations of himself as a coach. Goodwin had to earn the players trust and it looks as though he has more than achieved that throughout this year.

I would bring Vince in and get him to tag Shuey. Let Harmes run this week. If we can lock down Shuey and cut off his momentum at stoppages, that leaves Yeo, and as an inexperienced midfielder, Yeo isn't really an inside mid. By using Vince to tag Shuey we could have Harmes, Oliver, Viney, Jones and Brayshaw all rotating at full speed - giving everything they have to push the momentum our way, knowing we have locked down Shuey, and Yeo isn't an inside mid, and Sheed is a touch slow. Sheed is like Tyson. That is the beauty of Gaff been out. We should be able to really do a number on Dom Sheed this week.

He would be a good fit for Carlton - especially if they snare Shiel. The addition of Tyson and Shiel would improve Carlton greatly, it would allow Dow to develop at his own pace and also take the pressure off of Cripps.

David King is right, even if it comes from a place of hurt. King is hurting right now - big time. He is a North Melbourne supporter, and he has had to watch Melbourne collect a raft of quality draft picks (something North didn't do) and march into the finals. But its more than that, he knows we have a dynasty list. This is hurting King really badly at moment. I can see it in his write ups with the little "if Hawthorn had Birchall and co we will be telling a different story". Well David, what about Hogan and Lever? What are they chopped liver? That been said, King is right. I thought we were pretty ordinary in the first half, and we still have a lot of work to do. Thankfully Hawthorn were as bad as we usually are at converting opportunities to results.

6. Viney 5. Hibberd 4. TMAC 3. Gawn 2. Jetta 1. Oliver

The way we played at times last week, and the way Hawthorn were outworked by Richmond. I would expect us to win this week. it doesn't always pan out that way, but going by the form - we are the side to beat tonight. On top of that, I think there is more improvement in us than there is in Hawthorn. Perfect night for football.

We will need to free up a mid to get a clean run at Gawn's taps. I suspect Oliver will be heavily tagged. If we also use Harmes to tag Mitchell it probably leaves Viney as the go to mid this week. I expect he will have a big game. If O'Meara is his man then there is no point tagging O'Meara as he will be forced to go to Viney anyway. We hold all the cards because we have the best tap ruck in the league. Eventually people will come to realise good ruckman are actually very important (looking at you Leigh Matthews).

Yep. Best suggestion yet. Whitfield fills our biggest need. I don't think Shiel will leave them either, so they will remain in cap trouble. We don't have the picks though. The only plausible scenario is if Hogan is on the table. That would seem unlikely. Hogan seems settled in at MFC according to the media.

Probably a no. I wouldn't rule it out solely because of how he left. I would lean towards not taking in Scully because he isn't a great kick, and the last thing we need is another wasteful midfielder. We need midfielders who can hit targets, lower their eyes, and make good decisions. We have a problem disposing the ball effectively into our forward 50. Scully isn't going to help that one iota.

We will smash Hawthorn this week. We are trending upwards in a big way. It seems things are starting to come together. We should be peaking come grand final day.

His physicality is a real weapon for us. Having Vandenberg and Viney around contests is huge for us. It would be scary playing against those guys. That alone puts doubt in the mind of the opposition.

I would trade Hogan if he wanted to go back to Perth. It would be worth asking the question. We are perfectly placed to cover him, and he would currently hold great trade value, so if he wanted to leave then its a no brainer. Outside of that I would be cautious of trading a player that didn't want to be traded as it might upset the group, and could be more destructive as a whole then any value we may see for one single trade (even if it was going to result in a top 5 pick).

6. Harmes 5. Brayshaw 4. Weideman 3. Jetta 2. McDonald 1. Salem

So long as Harmes stays fit we have a show at winning it this year.

I don't pity Neeld in the slightest. Appointing two young captains was ridiculous at the time. Neeld set this club back a long way. Thankfully Roos came in and rectified that error, appointed Jones as captain, and turned this ship around.

There is not a hope in hell Fremantle are giving up picks 4 and 5 (if they get both) for Jesse Hogan. That would be a ridiculous trade on their part. Unrealistic and of course we would entertain it. Sounds like Lynch is off to Richmond. They will be hard to beat. But beatable all the same.

Anything is possible but realistically I think we needed to finish top 4.

Hype merchants were saying the same about Boyd, McCartin, Patton, Weitering, Francis, and many others I am sure (that is only in the past 5-6 years). There is two things here. Firstly, are talls taken early in the draft going to be better than an already proven quality tall? I would say its unlikely. I would take McGovern ahead of all players I mentioned above. Secondly, are talls taken early more likely to be more value than midfielders taken early? I would again argue that they wouldn't. Over the years there are far more examples of midfielders proving to be of better worth when taken early - as opposed to talls. Carlton would be made not to the pull the trigger on McGovern and a pick downgrade.

Carlton are in a good position because more than likely McGovern alone will end up better than a tall they would select with their pick 1. So by trading pick 1 for a slightly worse off pick, and perhaps taking a midfielder with it, will just be a bonus, and history says it will more than likely result in a better outcome than a tall anyway. If I were Carlton I would jump at trading away pick 1. They still have Weitering developing down back, and they have both Curnow and McKay up forward. They are going to need to give Cripps some help in the coming years or he might pull the pin himself. Get in McGovern, get a young mid, have a tilt at another mid next year during FA, and get more development into McKay and Curnow - Carlton will be set up.

Should have made it last year as well. He would be stiff to get overlooked considering he is a young player who has backed up consecutive years of AA level football. Simply has to get a gig.

Worth a rookie slot. We are in a position to take a punt. Lively type. Injury prone, but definite talent. We could do worse than to rookie Freeman.

Small setback for Toumpas, but if he truly wants it then I hope he sticks at it. Some players get better as they get older. Toumpas might be one of them. Good luck to him. There is no need to go down the road of Wines vs Toumpas, because if we had of taken Ollie Wines we probably wouldn't have the list we have now, and I believe we have the best list in the competition.

If we go by his body language that may be the case. But we don't know if his body language is often bad because he doesn't want to be here, or because he just has high standards of himself, and it shows when he doesn't meet those standards. But either way, that negative body language could have an effect on the rest of the playing group. It may be partly why we have been better without him in our side. And would his body language remain the same if we moved him down back? These are things we need to investigate. At present, he has bad body language, and at present, we are playing better without him.

He attacks the ball with intent and tackles ferociously. He just needs to take his marks. He is going to be a really good player. Just needed time, he got that. He will still need more time, but should have a really good 2019.

I would drop Spargo. He isn't up to AFL level at present. Was disgraceful last week and made some silly errors again today. He simply shouldn't be playing at present, but we are winning even with him.