Dee93

Fantastic pick up and gave his all. Awesome to watch especially in his B&F year. As many have said, a key driver behind our transformation from basket case to legit contender

Loves the sound of his voice (which ironically is freaking annoying) way too much. I’ve switched off. Kane Cornes is better and that’s a pretty low bar to set

Absolute gun. Plays like Dusty with his fend offs, toughness and kicking skills. Big reason for our improvement in recent times

Smart idea letting Lobb run around unopposed in F50. No one went near him for half a minute

It's probably not a popular idea, but I'd seriously consider including Hogan in a trade for Gaff (assuming WC matched any offer as a restricted free agent). Hogan is a jet who every club would love to have and I don't want to lose. But seeing us get chopped up by Hawthorn & Collingwood then losing to the bloody Saints at the 'G highlights our glaring, recurrent deficiencies on the outside. Even when we smashed the doggies at Etihad we were made to look slow and second rate in that area, which makes me slightly worried about this weekend (I still think we'll get up given they're pretty undermanned). It seems like currently we're relying on the below few to provide outside run and ball use: Neal-Bullen - tries harder than anyone but is really a B/C grader. His turnovers in the forward half can kill momentum Harmes (increasingly outside) - playing well, but still lacks a bit of polish. Do rate though Fritsch - classy, but more half forward Salem - classy, but more half back Stretch - played decently last week, but is he gonna make it? Our fortunes this year have proved that winning contested ball and relying on grunt/effort/"bullying" opposition around the ball isn't gonna get us to a flag. We still haven't made finals and look set to miss again, which is annoying because we have such a good list still. When we lose, we look absolutely nowhere near it in terms of speed and spread - any team is capable of showing us up in this area on their day. And the lack of quality ball use contributes to the horrendous going inside 50 efficiency seen this year. Our outside issues are always exacerbated at the G given its size; the "pinball" crash and bash style on a smaller ground suits us better now, and we're a serious team at Etihad. But we've gotta align our game plan and personnel to our home ground and the ground where finals are played, when we finally do make it. I think we really need to re-assess and restructure to move forward, it's not just "choking" or mental weakness that's holding us back at the moment. Given the above list consists mainly of fringe players or flankers, we surely need to prioritise either developing or getting in a quality player who can play 100%/majority of the game in the midfield. Gaff is probably one of the fittest players in the comp and racks up huge numbers on the wing. Don't know his efficiency stats, but seems to rarely turn it over. Type of player aside, he's a past best and fairest winner & All Australian, and on track to make it again this year, sitting equal 3rd in Brownlow betting @ $9 (with Gawn). He's out of contract, Victorian and a Dees supporter growing up (which probably counts for nothing). With Hogan there's always been the "go home" worry and currently he's only contracted for one more year (I think?). Right now he'd be at premium trade value - 23 and having his best season yet, until recently I reckon was on track for All Australian this year himself. With Kennedy nearing the end you'd think WC especially would be very keen. From our point of view, we'd have to back Tommy Mac to stay fit and Weidemann developing/Smith/someone else filling 2nd key forward post. Think this is less important than having the right midfield mix though, and less important in the game generally than it used to be anyway. Am I overplaying our weaknesses/should we persist with who we have? Is Gaff overrated? Polec would be another one who'd be great to get, but seeing as he's actually from Adelaide can't see him leaving Port. Gotta give up quality to get quality. If we traded Hogan and got Gaff + a lower pick/player it would be a win imo** **Just realised probably don't even need to trade players if restricted FA, so if so ignore Hogan comments! Regardless, crux of the post is I support getting Gaff!

I agree with the growing sentiment that the Lewis/Vince combination is coming to an end. I think there’s definitely only space for one of them moving forward. Lewis in my view has better skills, and potentially organises those around him a little better (experience). On the other hand, I think he’s becoming softer by the week (probably get shouted down for it, but I don’t reckon he puts his body on the line as much as he should anymore, and certainly not like he used to), while Vince’s physicality with a big bump here and there can lift the team. That said if I had to pick, it’d be Lewis, just. As for who would occupy Vince’s spot, I’m not sure if it’s been suggested elsewhere but to me Nathan Jones appears to be a great candidate. Why? - he still has his speed, and would have the ability to break the lines and actually provide some true dash/rebound off half back, something sorely lacking with both Lewis/Vince in the side and Hunt injured/at Casey - kicking skills are decent, probably not as capable as Vince as pulling off creative kicks that would open up the ground, but less susceptible to the goal conceding howler which seems to be a 1 per game occurrence with Vince this year - our midfield is stocked now with seriously good contested ball players - players have gone past him in the same role. If we’ve got Oliver, Viney and now Brayshaw dominating the contested ball inside, surely we can take resources from that part of the ground. Only gotta look at the Port game to realise that alone isn’t gonna win the game. I don’t see taking Jones out of there as upsetting the balance, whilst on the other hand really injecting some life off half back which has been recognised as an area of weakness even outside the club too - he’s now 30 (31 start of next year). He’s still going fairly strong but he’s not gonna be around forever. I see it as the perfect way to transition him into the twilight of his career and extend it a little longer than otherwise, if continuing to be played as a battering ram. He’s been remarkably durable over the journey but last year we saw him miss a large chunk, could become a more frequent occurrence I see him playing a Jared McVeigh type role, slightly different in that he’s a little less polished, but harder at it. And a little like Boyd (Matthew) with the dogs, long career in the middle, goes back to be a cool head in the backline while the new young bulls dominate the midfield. Granted there’d be a query on how well he could defend one on one, but I don’t see why he couldn’t learn, especially given how competitive he is.. And given the way defences work these days, probably wouldn’t find himself one on one very often anyway. Would love to hear thoughts on whether others would like to see this and whether they reckon Goodwin would ever consider it.