Garbo

Was straight after a saints goal which came as a result of Longer winning the hitout and the saints winning the clearnace. Not sure why that hit out of all of them fired Oliver up

Officially he has had 9 goal assists, that is defined as the next possession resulting in a goal, for comparison Petracca has had 16, ANB 15, Oliver 14

How is McCarthy responsible for Watts form this year, he has been below par in all but a few games this season. When a player can come in from the VFL in Hannan and out perform Watts in the debut year it makes all the time we have put into him look stupid by comparison.

Jack Watts should be embarrassed that at over 150 games and 9 years at the club he still can't hold down his spot. He has shown that he has the talent which makes it all the more disappointing. If he gets traded by Melbourne he will be delisted within 2 years by whoever he goes too, no other team would give a player this many chances to make it.

So based on that the emergency should be out of Wagner, Weideman and Brayshaw and the others will be playing. My guess would be Brayshaw and Weideman in and Wagner emergency. Based on a like for like in out

Well Riewoldt out is a bonus

Not bad, id keep Weideman out and leave ANB in. Play a shorter more mobile fwd line with Petracca up forward full time.

We played our home game against them at Etihad last year so make that only 2 times

Can't speak for the past teams but it is a fact we go out almost every week as the younger more inexperienced team even with players like Lewis and Vince coming in to help with this. You can only defy gravity for so long, at some point you will come crashing back down and that is exactly what is happening now. Gravity in this case been experience and age

Agree with all of that, just wanted to add that we are still one of the youngest teams going round and were always going to tire in the 2nd half of the year just as we did last season. The disappointing thing is we should have been a few wins better off which would have allowed for this drop off and to still play finals. Also I'm concerned for Viney it has become clear that he wasn't ready for the captaincy, although he has had some great games this year they have been out numbered by the poor games, he should have been concentrating on getting his game to an elite level before worrying about captaining the team. Sometimes a player needs to be held back for there own good.

Nothing in the short term, him or frost would be dropped against some teams, if tmac goes back again then both could be out at stages. Long term you would keep one as back up and trade the other, At this stage I rate them both fairly equally but I think omac has more upside so u keep him

In the afl era, Melbourne has never had a midfield star but we have had some damm good players, Cam Bruce, Yze, Viney and Tingay, Jones would be at the top of my list. Oliver could go past them but hasn't done so by a long way yet, as a pure mid I haven't see a better start to a career so much so it is easy overlook how exceptional he has been for a 19 yo 30 something game player, his average games are better than his peers best games so far.

The difference is Lever wants out and is out of contract, if he nominates dees the crows either take what we offer or they get nothing. Its a balancing act as you want to keep a good relationship with other team in case the shoe is ever on the other foot and if he nominated for the draft we would need to use a first round pick anyway, so that becomes the starting point. Ideally you find a player on our list who is looking for more opportunity and we can afford to lose, a number of our inside mids fill this criteria (ANB the obvious choice, Tyson doesn't as clearly unless you think he is on the way out.) Then add a pick on top and deal done, depending on the quality of the player going with it this would vary but any best 22 player shouldn't need to be paired with a with a round 1

Beggars can't be choosers, if he nominates us then we would be Crazy to give up a 1st 2nd and a best 22 up and coming player. I wouldn't be at all surprised if ANB took a similar trajectory to what matt crouch has this year next year. This trade doesn't have to be a win-win, the time of dees fighting for scraps from other teams needs to end and part of been a destination club is bending the other teams over the proverbial barrel at trade time. It's also important in the long run we keep our first round picks so as we can continue draft high quality players, we are still a long way from the top and more than 1 player from been a flag contender, selling the farm is not the smart way forward at this point

Don't think the price will be that steep, something like ANB (from SA out of contract) and our 2nd rounder would get the deal done.

I think Weideman and Pedersen should come in for Hogan and Watts, Vince and Jones come in for Hannan and Trengove. Tmac also may need to help out down back on the weekend so even if Watts stays in an extra tall might be required.

Its not what he said its what he didn't say. The normal response would be that they love it at club x and want to play on there next year but just need to work out the details. What he said was "I'm pretty happy here and I'm working through that each week, its good to be working through that, I think I've to to focus more on my football and executing each week" not a huge difference but we can hope.

On years where it's there home game and we only play them once we get an extra game at the g compaired to now, not a bad trade off and presumably a reason why they gave up the home game in the first place

I honestly don't get all the hoopla around Lever, Sure he's a good player but the way most here are talking and what you are willing to give up you must be expecting him to be one of the best players in the entire league which is simply not and will not be the case. Outside of Silvagni when has this ever been the case with a backman. KP backs are the one position where you can get away with NQR players as they offer most of the benifits at a fraction of the cost, you want to put your picks/money into mids and fwds. For comparison, not saying Oscar is better but not that far off either

Would Jasper Pittard be worth picking up, he is a free agent and wouldn't cost much salary wise, and he would certainly add more depth to the list, I wouldn't expect him to play many unless we have injures but would be handy as a just in case type

I don't mean they take 4 to 5 years to show anything but I think most here would agree that JKH has at times shown something at AFL level it just not consistently enough, if he can find that consistently and build from there he will have a place in the team. Which is hugely different to say what Toumpas showed in his time which was basically nothing

That may well be the case but so long as he shows something I can see him getting another contract after this. He is only a year older than Stretch who everyone (including myself) want to given as many chances as possible, It seems certain players always fall afoul quicker than others, ANB was another one people kept wanting to write off at 21 and look at him now. Most players unless they are an out and out gun take until there 4th or 5th year to really start showing something.

I think people are way too quick to write off JKH, hes 22 and just started playing some regular football again this year, he still has improvement to come as his body matures, if he's still at this level in another 2 years then we can start talking.

If Jetta is out Wagner comes straight back in and Pedo for Gawn if he doesn't get up. No other changes unless Jones is ready. Did any one see Oliver at training if so how was he looking?

Was ok, but only 1 contested possession is a worry, him and jkh are out when vince and jones are back, probably sits behind bugg to. But good on him a lesser person would have given up and retired already