Bang Bang Bang

It’s only one quarter but Jeffo has a lot more presence than what was being advertised. Looks good.

Membrey would have been a good pick up for us. From memory the media linked us to him but Lamb shut it down pretty quick. Been doing a steady job up forward for years now.

So Fremantle are the GOAT when they play against us and completely useless every other week. Seems fair. Another year of Cats being good. Can’t wait.

Man, the nostalgia is real. He was the poster child of all the sunshine and rainbows of 2021 in all its glory. I would say he hasn’t quite lived up to his potential yet, he’s still a B+ player with glimpses of A+, but I’d be all over this. If nothing else for the nostalgia alone! But moreover because he fills a clear need and we have the collateral. Get it done Lamby boy!

He did some good things but he seems to have mastered the panicked dump kick turnover that can be so costly, as it was today. He didn’t have that in his game in the early days.

A lot to like. Trac immediately finding form along with no major injuries (I'm not counting back spasms) was the biggest +ive. Clarry is clearly back and Max still has it. Seeing those guys (and at times Viney) work together in harmony again was a joy to behold. But stoppage dominance, inside 50 dominance and 33 scoring shots for.... a loss. It's only pre season, but we've seen that movie before. Honestly not sure who cemented their spot based on that performance. I thought Jed Adams and Howes were good at times and sloppy at others. Langford was quiet but didn't do much wrong. Just a game from Lindsay and Sharp. Some will play Rd 1 but it is hard to say which ones. I'd probably play all of them except for an Adams/Petty swap.

Geez we look sloppy today. Yet another afternoon where Treacy and grandpa Walters do as they please. Not a big fan of the chip/mark game plan in defence. We don’t have the skill for that and it just feels pointless. Easy misses from Salem, Fritsch, Sharp, AJ and Billings hasn’t helped massage the scoreboard. Billings is so useless, looked defeated as soon as he marked it. Just a praccy match but definitely close to worst case scenario on what I didn’t want to see today.

I know this isn’t a real match but I’m intrigued why a bog-average team like Freo have had such an edge over us? There was the infamous game in 2022, Jackson’s grudge match in 2023, and the two shellackings last year. Who could forget them going 24-1 in clearances (or something like that) in the last outing? I hope we’re not embarrassed again on Sunday. I am curious to see who we’ve got earmarked as the main lockdown small defender in the absence of McVee and AMW. We are very light on in that area.

That AMW injury looked nasty. Honestly it took a lot of the gloss off what was otherwise a perfect performance for February. Clarry is 100% having a redemption arc in ‘25. Strap yourselves in. I also love the look of Kosi higher up the ground, he’s basically unstoppable in space and has brilliant foot skills and decision making. Our new recruits all looked really good. Langford in particular looks incredible and will play every week if fit. Lindsay was solid too. Sharp brilliant in the ANB role. Campbell showed us the value of having a proper ruckman in reserve while Aiden Johnson also showed us what having a legit backup option can bring to the side. Didn’t love Jefferson’s game personally. I want him to make it but he’s giving me Weid vibes. An “almost” game from him, similar to what Weid often gave us. But he also did some nice things. I feel like Ben Brown likes North more than us but I liked him in commentary. Loved his takedown of Hargreaves for the Jared Rivers comment. Hargreaves was actually good to listen to as well and clearly does his research. Don’t forget North are expected to be much better this year, it was close to full strength for them and nowhere near it for us, and we absolutely smashed them.

Always good content. Not quite as riveting as the 2019 one but getting JT's detailed analysis of why these two guys will be guns is music to the ears. It would be interesting to know where we rated Langford overall. The video is edited a bit. JT mentions Langford being "the next preferred midfielder" so I'm guessing he's referring to Ashcroft or maybe we had Jagga Smith or FOS ahead of him. Anyone else distracted by Goody's fried rice? Like FFS mate just eat it after the cameraman has gone. LOL

Pick 1: Scully - his career kind of came and went in a hurry, didn't it? Not sure why we had all those sleepless nights in 2011, as he became a bit of a nothing player. Not a complete bust, he was in the AA squad two times in ten years, and was OK outside of that, but overall he had a highly forgettable career IMO. Pick 2: Trengove - contrary to some beliefs I don't think he ever showed the potential of becoming one of the game's greats, but he was tracking pretty well in 2010-2011. Dusty was always miles ahead IMO. Then the captaincy and injuries came and sadly his highly anticipated 2016 comeback only showed he was nowhere near it anymore. Pick 11: Gysberts - A memorable first two games and he also played a couple of really good games in 2011 but his career nosedived at a spectacular rate. Turns out Neeld was onto something not rating this guy and trading him for Cam Pederson ended up being a win for us. This was the pick we received for Brock McLean who also didn't do a whole lot for Carlton after early promise for us. Pick 18 - Tapscott. Famously called out as "Luke.... Tapscott" given there was some murmurings we were going to take Luke Ball here (we probably should have). I remember this guy's debut against Sydney and first half against Hawthorn. He looked amazing. But then like so many others, that was it. Just a bit too slow and injury-prone to make a fist of it. Pick 34 - Gawn. Possibly our best ever player and premiership captain. Enough said. Pick 50 - Fitzpatrick. Not too bad for a player taken in this range. Had a bit of talent and hung around for a while but was a bit too uncoordinated to have a long career.

Who cares about how he looked on draft night? Dustin Martin hasn't smiled once in his life. Nerves, shyness, Ben Dixon being a total weirdo, all of the above. Very, very happy with this pick. Trac and Clarry will probably start winding down in 3-4 years just as Langford and Windsor are hitting their prime. Perfect.

We also bid on Isaac Heeney in 2014, one pick before Petracca, and Callum Mills in 2015, one pick before Clarry. Some useless trivia for you all.

In. JT. We. Trust.

JT kept talking about small forwards the other day so Berry wouldn’t surprise at all.

Yeah it seems a bit strange to me that we have no interest in Draper, but if we pass on him that means the other teams did too. Including hometown club Adelaide and maybe even Richmond twice! What does that say? Probably there’s something there most of us can’t see. Or maybe he interviews poorly, is a flight risk etc. I remember almost an identical discussion with Curtin this time last year. I was personally miffed we overlooked him for Windsor who was considered in the 12-20 range. Not anymore. That being said, I’ll still be a little miffed if we spend our prized pick on an intercept defender.

I’m still thinking Tauru is going to be our guy. Lalor to Richmond Carlton want Draper and Adelaide want Jagga Smith. North like FOS at 2, so surely if they slide back, they are still going to like him at 4 if he’s there (and he will be). Contrary to popular belief I don’t think a slide back from North means they are taking Tauru. It leaves Langford on the board but multiple sources seem to think we are in love with Tauru. I am not at all happy with this scenario but this is what I see happening. Tauru to the Dees!

Yes but if these guys from the Herald Sun are to be believed (and they usually are, let's be honest) we won't be letting Tauru slip past us. So, willingly choosing Tauru over Langford looks likely.

The Herald Sun leaks are concerning. Jagga Smith looks certain to be gone. Lalor at 1, FOS at 2, Draper at 3, J.Smith at 4. Leaves us with Tauru - nothing personal with him I'm sure he'll be OK but he's NOT what we need. GAHHHHHH. How frustrating.

Jagga Smith at 5, no doubt about that one. Low risk, plug-and-play midfielder who fills a need. Failing that, probably Langford. I'd be OK with Armstrong at 9 although would prefer a midfielder at both picks. A slider such as Smillie would be good. I am not super keen on Bo Allen due to the WA factor. I have a feeling JT will reach for someone random here a la Kosi and Windsor/Tholstrup.

This is exactly what St. Kilda did in 2014. They saw Tom Boyd get to the Bulldogs on a massive contract and eventually they started getting too cute and they ditched Trac for McCartin. I don't think we should be overthinking the pick. For mine JVR and Disco/Petty/Jefferson/Fritsch is more than enough to build a functional forward line for the future. Our midfield stocks on the other hand are super thin outside of Windsor. Even if Trac and Clarry recapture their best form, they aren't spring chickens anymore and nor is Viney. I am a big Jason Taylor fan but I would be pretty annoyed if we took Armstrong at 5 and he would have to be as good or better than someone like Jye Amiss to make up for it. JT's strike rate with talls over the years has been pretty average too compared to his smalls.

I have little doubt we would have buckled and handed over pick 5 and a F1 for this old man and maybe a F2. Count yourselves lucky Trac threw a tantrum when he did.

Turns 30 next year so basically this investment was for three years, and a third of that investment has been an utter failure. Just a terrible, terrible trade so far. Hopefully he can have a good season or two, or better yet, a winning moment in a final, but I won't hold my breath.

ANB is turning 29 soon so the Crows can expect to get 50-60 good quality, workmanlike games out of him. We should be expecting that if not a little more from the second round pick. Win-win trade and I'm glad we're not haggling over the exchange of future fourth round picks.

Takes way too long to get rid of it and has very little dare in his game. He’s reliable, and a hard worker, and he had a good moment or two in the qualifying final. But honestly he’s as vanilla as they come. Our decline had nothing to do with him.