Gator

I was there, but if there's a worse place to watch footy than Casey I haven't found it. There were 5 in the main rehab group, namely Gawn, Petracca, Fullarton, Woewodin and Lever. Laurie was running laps by himself, as was Jefferson. Chandler, as has been reported, had his arm in a sling. Lindsay did a bit of lap running later on. Some of the ''rehab 5'' participated in non contact drills and ball movement at the beginning of training, but when the more intense contest work started they retreated to the boundary and did short kicking to a player being hindered and bumped before they broke away for the short hitup. This was interspersed with lap running. The match sims mainly comprised of getting the ball out of D50 through either the wings, or a 45 kick through the middle. Generally the skills were pretty good, but no team would be training without the odd turnover. Once there was a turnover the forwards were spotted with passes or there were long kicks to advantage. Players swapped from white tops to red and back again. On multiple occasions. And with many wearing caps it's not easy to pick up every player all the time. The players I noticed the most were Viney, who stands out. But he was also very involved. Windsor is used a lot, moves fast and looks confident. He missed the odd target, but looks great and generally uses it well. I like Kynan Brown, but he did make a few poor decisions. But he does enough good stuff to not sweat a few errors. He's a second year player, after-all. And these errors were split seconds kicks in congestion, which was part of the drill. Billings got leather poisoning. He's good when he's dancing with his sister. Mentha surprised me. He looked better than I expected, but did cough it up under pressure. With small forwards it's AFL pressure that makes or breaks them. Too early to tell. Tom McDonald looks very good and dependable down back. Bowey got stacks of it and played in defence. May was the general and intercepted well. Rivers played midfield and looks assured. Oliver is definitely leaner and fitter. He still has his big physique, but it's much closer to normal. Was involved without being dominant. I love the look of Langford. He moves really nicely, marks well and just has that class most left footers possess. He and Rivers spent time on each other. He'll be fine competing against men from day one such is his strength and build. The only other player I wanted to mention was Salem. He was moving really nicely and looked like the 2021 version. He just looks fit and unhampered. Even when he played last year he didn't look right. May used him a lot as that first 20 metre outlet kick from deep defence along with Bowey. I didn't see Pickett and I didn't notice McVee, but he may have been there.

I'll be shocked if he doesn't play 50% plus games. There may be a lot of his type, but he'll be better than most.

These latest media posts smell of the Pickett camp conditioning the club and fans to do a deal at the end of this year.

I too think he'll end up in the West, but he'll do so on our terms. 2027 gives Melbourne the right sort of leverage to demand good compensation. If that's not possible at the end of 2025 then he stays and it can be revisited at the end of 2026. It's pretty simple.

Don't stress. Jellyfish get by. This comment might be too cryptic for some.

Might help.

A pretty common injury that won't effect round one. No biggie.

They say it's a mistake to meet your heroes. On this occasion it wasn't. I met Robbie the year he died (2014). It was during an MCC club function promoting the new coach (Roos). My Brother and I chatted with Rob for a good 10-15 minutes. I was taken aback by how friendly he was. Nearing the end of the night we mentioned we had to go and he also decided to leave and took the lift down to the car park with us, where we chatted further. It was a wonderful meeting for long suffering supporters who cherished the memories of watching him play. He was just so nice. He is also without question the greatest wingman to grace a footy field. There are many videos of Rob, but I like this short one.

Weddle was basically the next pick and looks like being a star. But who knows where we had him. I'm aware it's a [censored] draft after Jefferson and pretty weak all-round, save for a few at the top end. If every pick after Jefferson fails it's cold comfort. It's disappointing to have a national draft where the list isn't improved. Linament sniffers can talk up Jefferson all they like, but there's a reason plenty have doubts. Why do they think the coaches didn't debut him last year ? I don't see anywhere near the competitiveness required to succeed at AFL level. People talk about his body and how he's bigger. People constantly like to make excuses. He was big enough last year to put his body on the line. I know he has talent. I've seen it. Talent isn't his problem. AFL level is a different beast.

If the coach has got eyes he would have said it. I assume he has eyes. I'll be mildly shocked if Jefferson makes it at AFL level. He simply doesn't have the physicality or contested ability required. Naturally, I hope I'm wrong, because wasting pick 15 makes me want to puke.

Kane is one of the worst appointments I can remember. Utterly hopeless.

Interesting. I find your post complete ''rubbish''.

Irrespective of Rivers, my guess is that Petracca plays more midfield and less forward than he did last year.

Round one is about 11 weeks away. That's half an AFL season. Lindsay has been touted as being ready to rejoin main training as soon as the players come back from the Christmas break. He has plenty of time to be ready for round one.

Bontempelli was drafted at 192cm, but was a November birth and played his entire year at 18, so had more time to grow than Langford, who plays all of 2025 at 19. Bontempelli is only 6 weeks older than Petracca, but seems to have been on the scene a lot longer (2014 debut year compared to 2016).

OK, so you've got a bench that probably looks like Bowey, Rivers, Langford and McDonald. We only differ in that I selected a running small/ball user in Lindsay and you've opted for the versatility of McDonald, who can play either end.

Interesting. I have 5 plus Gawn in the 22 I posted. I wouldn't be averse to 6 + in the 23 with perhaps a tall as the sub. What's your 22 ? Apologies if I've missed it. Btw, I reckon we played on average the shortest team in the competition in 2024. I don't mind being a bit taller !

As a half-back he has to mind small to medium size forwards. He'll be torched on ground balls. Notwithstanding your opinion, the balance just looks terrible to me. He can either get picked as a tall, or he can't. Up to him.

I wouldn't be worried by Sparrow's kicking. He just doesn't do enough of anything. Disposals, goals, etc.

The only other comment was that if they didn't get Houston they would have tried to facilitate a move up the draft for Lindsay. It's just how they rated him in this draft.

B: McVee, May, Lever HB: Windsor, Petty, Salem C: Langdon, Oliver, Sharp HF: Chandler, van Rooyen, Langford F: Fritsch, Turner, Pickett FOLL: Gawn, Petracca, Viney IC: Rivers, Bowey, Lindsay, Tholstrup Melksham/McDonald/Sparrow/Johnson/Brown/Howes/Moniz-Wakefield/Woewodin/Hore all thereabouts. Obviously not a round one team with the Pickett inclusion, just a preference for best. A 5th interchange would have been ideal to include a second ruck like Johnson as a chopout for Gawn. I'm OK with van Rooyen having short bursts, as he's good at it. With others such as McAdam, Spargo, Campbell and Sestan we have more depth this year (subject to injury). Casey should be a lot stronger. I'm hoping van Rooyen, soon to be 22, can have a break out in his 4th year on the list. It's the same year a 21 year old Jack Riewoldt showed what he'd become. I hope Langford and Lindsay show they're worthy of a round 1 berth. And at 22 Sharp should be ready to become a permanent AFL player. It's the same age Ed Langdon broke through at Freo. As a side note, a mate of my Brother is friends with the outgoing Collingwood recruiter Derek Hine. Hine considered Lindsay the slider of the draft. They rated him very highly and had him as a top 5 pick on their rankings. As a second side note, there are 7 left footers in the above team, which I very much like.

Harvey Langford will be a very good player in 2025. He plays the entire year as a 19 year old. Just as a comparison, Bontempelli played his entire first year as an 18 year old. With some of the positional changes, such as Windsor and Pickett, it's hard not to be excited for the season ahead. Thanks for the observations.

Yep, 6 premierships from 7 grand finals is a sound record when it matters most.

''Haters'' ? I doubt anyone hates another poster on this site. I don't personally warm to the style of said posts, or the content, or the banter, or the drama, or the excessive emotion. C'est la vie. You roll your eyes and move on. There's one thing though I'm certain of. Goodwin isn't picking, or guaranteeing, the round one team in December.

I'm not into nicknames and never use them, but that's very good. Probably shortened to Banger.