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I've now watched the replay and the pile on was right. I was wrong. Kossie threw a baby half elbow that barely brushed mansell's chin, and then Mansell reacted by wrestling koz to the ground. And Kozzie post-goal was much less taunting than I originally thought. Thanks for calling me out all I particularly enjoyed Bolton saying 'come on, come on' to Viney - like he would last 3 seconds in that fight. He then went and decked Oliver for the 2nd free. How good!

Glad to hear Goodwin was having a word. Mentioned in his presser too that Kossie needs to deal with the attention better. More or less vindicates my concern so I'm not sure why it's hyperbole. I haven't seen the incident in full in replay but from what I could see, Kossie somewhat instigated it. Agree with what you're saying though - passionate young kid who will mature in time. Just need to watch he doesn't overstep it in the meantime as I said, because the media narrative can quickly turn on him and like it or not, that can impact performance and careers. If a Richmond player had done this, we would be baying for blood and calling him a sniper. People were already calling Mansell a thug and sniper and he barely did anything.

I actually don't disagree with many of their observations. Many dees fans around me were embarrassing with their gloating - was a fantastic win and no one knows what it's like to have been a dees fan, but you'd expect some humility given all we have gone through. It is only April. I don't agree that Tigers fans weren't like this in 2017 though. I recall they were, led by Riewoldt on field. I might be the only one but I didn't enjoy Kozzie's actions in the 4th. Mansell had held him well all day (with some sniping/rough stuff but par for the course) and Kozzie was sick of it. Elbowed Mansell in the head and then held his knee on his throat....and somehow received the free kick. Then kicks the goal, goes back to the 3rd gamer for more and taunts him and points to the scoreboard (against the reigning premier no less). Think he lost a few fans tonight. I generally love his aggression but I hope the coaching staff can knock this on the head and ensure he stays humble. It's not the first time I've seen him do this either - he's dumped people off the ball before and gets away with it because he's small and exciting (check his snap against Geelong - was only free to run at the ball because he'd dumped someone). Maybe I shouldn't care...Michael Long was a career long sniper and is remembered for all the other reasons

I'm so sick of this narrative. The idea that a professional sporting team, which is by design playing at its maximum potential if the coaching staff and players perform their roles, can 'lift' for an occasion and suddenly become 10/20/50% better than they otherwise would have been is just pure nonsense. It implies that collectively they have been leaving something in the tank in other 'non occasion' games. Or that they are lacking motivation to perform in the absence of a milestone. Inevitably, the team that performs better on the day/night in terms of executing their roles, strategy and football skills will win the game. It's as simple as that. The media love these stories as they are sentimental and easy to understand, but it's just not a concept that holds any water. In this example I'm not sure how the passing of a club great would cause 22 unrelated men to collectively raise their output. In all likelihood, the Lions were just the better team on the day. As we were in Spud's game.

For those jumping on me for knocking him, yes I did watch him on the weekend. I've watched him since he joined the list, at training, in intraclubs and generally in every game he's played. I agree he was fantastic on the weekend and his pressure and aggression alone will be enough to get him games given the MO of our forward line this year....Spargo wouldn't want to have a few quiet weeks in a row. For me he was BOG ahead of Weid. I maintain though, and this is evident if you watch the weekends game without bias, that his disposal is his significant weakness. Short kicking could not be further from A1 if it tried - honestly can't believe someone has said that. He's got very little control (and the speed at which he moves Is no doubt part of the problem - see Treloar for years), overkicks significantly the majority of the time. He's in some respects the polar opposite of Spargo - he's got speed, agility, bounce and power, but far less skill and guile. Charlie lacks in explosiveness and speed and tricks, but his kicking and weighting of the ball IS A1. (The combination of the two is basically Kozzie). Chandler is another who has a higher natural skill level and is a touch cleaner particularly on the deck, but doesn't quite have Toby's explosiveness. Absolutely not writing him off - he has improved significantly with the benefit of a couple of pre-seasons and his strong attributes are indeed high level. Natural skill/feel for kicking is hard to mask though and may put a ceiling on his potential. More than happy for him to prove me wrong - he wouldn't be the first player to improve his skill level (Jobe Watson, Nathan Jones, Tom McDonald all good examples) Seems many aren't capable of nuance - he's got tricks, and deficiencies. If he didn't he'd already be in the side....

Suggest you watch more closely. Has some attributes but disposal is not one of them - has been demonstrated at both levels many times

It's three things: -The way he looks - not just a ranga but a rough sort with a shocking hair cut -General likeability impacted by a range of diving type incidents (in the west and then against Carlton at the G) and his lack of interest in any sort of public speaking that tows the line; and -his relatively messy style of play at times The first two being the most important in footys popularity stakes. If he looked like Heeney or Cripps they'd be all over him like a rash. Majority of fans and media still sleeping on him as a result - been an absolutely phenomenal player from day 1, has fronted up every week since and has a very rare combination of attributes not many in the league possess. There's no one I'd switch him out of our team for, with the exception of Bont and Dusty and if we're projecting forward, perhaps Bailey Smith. The comparison has always been with Cripps but Clarry wins ball with speed, nous and balance not pure muscle & size. Cripps is more effective forward as he has the frame of Wayne Carey; they're very different players. I know who I prefer.

Fritsch says hello

I would also add for those who were disappointed at the progression of sparrow, Jordon, Chandler, Baker etc. - they may not be good enough after all but don't forget for everyone other than the best 22 last year, it was a total write off. No VFL, barely any intraclub/practise games etc. They effectively had to waste a year of their career. So 3rd year players should really be thought of as 2nd and so on. Any wonder Rivers, who was exposed to a lot of senior footy last year, already looks more at the level (notwithstanding he may simply be a better footballer than the others)

Some concerning signs I agree but just a note on Gawn and why he "can't tap it down the throat of the mids" A ruck is no good on his own - requires a midfield group that know how to structure a stoppage, block for each other and create space around where the hitout is directed. Watching closely yesterday it was obvious that the 2nd string midfield A) haven't played a lot together absent clarry, viney B) were taught a lesson on stoppage craft. Libba (who destroys us even when we have the A team in) gave Sparrow an absolute spanking in this - pushed him deep underneath every centre bounce before finding the ball, riding two tackles and dishing off to one of the other mids that held their structure. Sparrow, Jordon, Anb/avb/harmes swarmed around the ball and carrier meaning if they won it, they had nowhere to go, and if they didn't win it, it became vitally important they stuck the tackle, which they didn't because they aren't senior bodies. It's a VFL way of playing footy in the midfield - see ball chase ball and the strongest wins - rather than what's required of AFL mids to block, create space, cycle structure around a stoppage, break a tackle to draw a man etc The names highlighted demonstrated almost no aspect of this in their midfield craft other than Harmes, who displayed a little but was inevitably gang tackled as he had no assistance. Gawn can 'tap it down their throats' all day long but without proper midfield setup, it counts for nothing. People rave about Gawn at centre bounces - driven by the ridiculous value that hitouts are given for fantasy scoring, which have for some reason elevated certain ruckman to being ranked alongside the games most influential mids, forwards and backs. It's pure nonsense. For me the value of Gawn is purely in his marking and structures he provides us everywhere else around the ground. Agree with the earlier post who said give me a Bont or Pendles over a dominant ruck anyday. To some extent I hate that we wanted a top 10 afl player on our list for so long, and when it came it was a bloody ruck. It's an argument many have had - I maintain that an elite ruck is nowhere near a requirement for a flag compared to an elite midfield, creative small forwards and dominant key forwards. I'd switch Max out for Sonny Walters or Liam Ryan anyday. The best teams in the league - Port, Geelong, Brisbane, St Kilda - have a mix of good, serviceable rucks and battlers who fill a 'tall' need (e.g Ladhams). But they're stacked everywhere else on the ground. This is not a potshot at Max but a point to posters who seem to think that he can, via hitouts, somehow make us win clearances regardless of the cattle at his feet. Footy is that simple at country level but it's far more complex at AFL level.

To me Tom looked the same last year physically, but had a crap year when he was regularly taking the best defender in a team that could barely move the ball. This year is different. Absolutely nothing to this other than gut feel and personal experience, but to me Tom has the look of a guy that's been thrown out of kilter a little by having a kid. The 'heavy' look of his middle/lower body, the general sluggishness, the lack of vibrancy....you could complain about many aspects of Tom's game over the years but you could never question his mental or physical preparation. His one wood. Interrupt that a little ...whether due to lack of sleep, shifting priorities or a dose of age/reality in a year of tremendous challenge for him and his new family...I wouldn't be surprised if it is a factor. Ditto Melksham to some degree. For all the blokes that claim it transforms their mindset (see Harley), I know personally and from friends that the new dad flat spot is a thing - not in a total inescapable postnatal depression kind of way - but in a 'life has changed and my routine is broken' kind of way. If so (and who knows really), I wouldn't be surprised if Tom return to some form in a year or two. I would hope that's with us, but let's be honest, for what we are paying and what he delivered he has to carry the can for a decent share of our forward-half challenges since 2018.

Nice to see a balanced response. I agree. I think there is an expectation that the pace of games will go up with shortened quarters, placing less emphasis on the rucks and bigs. There was some evidence of this last night. Nonetheless, we rarely if ever went into games previously with 3 tall forwards, so I'm not sure why people are surprised. All they've done is taken Brown or Weideman. Fritsch and Melksham are both very capable in the air particularly in 1v1s. We are taking in many more small forwards than usual. I don't mind it, interested to see how it looks. If anything the backline looks short on depth to me... an injury down there and we don't have many to swing through. Lockhart on bench is just about it unless they plan on taking away our newfound strength with Tomlinson back there...

No coincidence that Lever plays like that when he is the 3rd tall. First time with May and Omac together in the side....

I believe the Flu has a death rate of something like 0.2% overall. This is sitting at around 2-3% as an average across age ranges. By no means a very 'deadly' illness, but yes, it is much more deadly and serious than the Flu, depending on which strain you get (there is a mild and a severe, most of the 'spread' cases outside of China are the mild version). The panicking is only ridiculous if you don't understand multiplicity. Yes, based on the infected/death rates we are seeing TODAY, panicking would appear a disproportionate reaction. However, if it takes off and follows an exponential path as any uncontained virus does, we reach significant numbers very quickly. It's that scenario a smart planner prepares for. An estimate of 50m infected globally is not unreasonable if that is to occur. The worry with Australia now is that it could very well be circulating, sitting dormant in many of us now in the general population, before the incubation period passes and all of a sudden we get a huge spike in diagnosed infections. That's what happened in Italy. In the time it was sitting and incubating, we've inadvertently passed it to others - and so on and so on. It's very reasonable to expect a mass quarantine of some form at some stage, if nothing else than to buy those in charge some extra time to respond. I expect the F1 will probably be cancelled (truthfully, it should be anyway but clearly they will do everything they can to keep it going) and some AFL games may be behind closed doors or cancelled entirely. Other public events may suffer a similar fate. Jaded it is very unfortunate that you have had family who cannot travel for your wedding but it is for good reason. I would be talking to your venue and other suppliers about what your options are in the event of cancellation and/or rescheduling. I'm one of the many who has lost money and had stuffed travel plans because of this - it sucks but I don't think the reactions we're seeing are unreasonable. The only thing I think is weird is the quantum of toilet paper being bought - I suspect 2 packets probably lasts most households through 2 weeks unless you have either a very large family or very sensitive guts. But instead, people are buying 4, 5, 10 packets like we are going to be in lockdown for 6 months. If that happens, we will have far bigger problems than toilet paper. Nonetheless, you don't respond and react to something like this based on how it looks today. You respond it based on how bad it could get. When it comes to public health, any other approach is negligent.

Agree 100%. Omac is very reliable with ball in hand and does not make 'semi regular uncontested skill errors'. He is a more effective kick than he is handball, but overall, he is not one to worry about when he has the ball. It's the one part of his game that doesn't really need much work. You're also correct in that his weaknesses are that he is reactive and can ball watch; and he is also quite slow with a poor turning circle, so he often misses the chance to impact either the footy or an opposing forward with speed. He is the polar opposite of Frost. Omac = Smart, Safe but slow and reactive Frost = Dumb, Risky with speed and high twitch So many fans watch Footy with blinkers on. They see Omac lose a 1v1 contest with a loose ball against a more nimble opponent, which means conceding a goal because of where he plays at full back, and therefore everything Omac does is no good. All of a sudden he can't kick, can't spoil or tie his own bootlaces. Another poster above suggested Bedford brings everything ANB brings re. endurance, but with better skills. ANB doesn't have amazing skills, but have you watched Bedford at all? Earlier in the game against North he missed 2 regulation set shots from exactly the same position, 25 out albeit with a breeze. Later on, he gathered the ball in midfield and tried a 5m kick that landed in the arms of the opposition. For a small player, he is not highly skilled and has an irregular ball drop. This is not a criticism as I think he has potential, but to suggest he's more skilled than ANB on the showing of one practise game with less than full-AFL intensity and pressure is just absurd. The poster who said ANB would have sprayed Bedford's running goal out on the full - ANB has kicked that exact goal for us, playing GC in Brisbane in 2018, coming off the back of the square. He's probably done it other times as well, in full AFL games. He's also topped the team in pressure acts, score assists and kicked over 20 goals as a roaming HFF in 2018, with regular possession counts over 20. On historical and exposed form he's so far ahead of Bedford it's not even funny. I am not some ANB fanatic and I think we can do better in his position as I question his decision making under pressure and think he lacks explosiveness, but he is continually undervalued. I understand when supporters of other teams make these observations, but you're right binman I just don't know how anyone can watch the Dees semi-regularly (or regularly enough to watch a practise game live stream!) as a supporter and fail to actually comprehend what is going on.

This is likely most realistic. It sounds pessimistic but is also suggesting we finish 8th, which is probably where we sit. I also think Tomlinson will end up in defence and agree with those most likely to be injured

That was my report and I would be very surprised if it was what caused it. As I recall Neita got up straight away and continued playing...tackles aren't known to cause ACLs generally

While I think the 'right' answer based on experience is ANB, On my limited viewing it would be Lockhart. Training with the backs, can go forward and can also play mid as shown at Casey, and was busy in the match sim. Many of the others aren't as prominent at this early stage and don't play multiple positions.

Agree with that. Can almost see it at etched on his face!

Absolutely agree with you Saty - apologies to you and the poster if I implied otherwise. I was sincere in my comment that I must have been looking elsewhere when he kicked well. I'm very bullish on him and if you check his welcome thread was ecstatic to get him as late as we did. While my report might be more critical than others - I hold this team to high standards. I watch a lot of senior and junior footy and am under no illusions that we came 17th. When Weideman consistently cannot beat any of Omac, a (talented) convert in J Smith and a recent addition in Hore in a marking drill, that opens him up to criticism. Would love him to prove me wrong. There was certainly some good in there too and hopefully that came through

I didn't watch every kick of his, so maybe I just missed the good ones!

Couldn't disagree more with your comment on Rivers . I wanted to see his kicking skills, part of the reason I went down to training and was thrilled to pick him up. But nothing about his kicking impressed me today at least. Nice style and kicks well to space I think, but doesn't have the punch or penetration that will allow him to put it in the tight spots at AFL level. Those who can't make it would be best to curb their enthusiasm (at least on his kicking) for now (my opinion)

Managed to get down for my first session of this off season. Stayed from the start until about 10:30 when I had to duck off. I'll give a rundown of the session I saw and then go through each player at the end (it will be the only way for me to remember what I thought about them all!) Rehab: Tomlinson - walking laps, Baker - walking/jogging laps, and a grouping of Jones, KK, Hannan and Bradtke. Jones does look grumpy about being in this group. None appeared overly encumbered. Hannan perhaps a little but he has an odd gait. Tom Mac no show, though he did appear later before I left. Spargo & Bennell unsighted. A few extremely looking fit umpires running the boundary - more on that later. Started with warm ups and run throughs - nothing much to comment on here other than to say I enjoyed the work of the trainer (not sure it was Burgess). Loud, clear and funny too, had the boys in good spirits to start the session. We seemed to have a couple of random players training with us - not sure of names, background etc. Lockhart seems to struggle with the warm ups and exercises. Think he is far from a natural athlete. They then moved on to some kick to kick, but in groups of 4. 2 pairs kicking to each other, with the aforementioned training balls with the yellow line down the middle. One player marks and hands off left or right to the player who immediately hits up the target with a short kick. I know some of you will love this - but there was an emphasis on kicking with the wrong foot every 2nd kick or so. Fair to say there were some average skills here from all and sundry. Reports of Rivers' kicking appear far overstated - he is a long way off Fritsch levels to whoever said that. Pickett too, is not as natural on his wrong foot as previous reports led me to believe. Jackson on the other hand has very neat skills on his preferred right in particular. There is something there that reminds me of a little less polished Bont (at least in kicking style/elbows/etc). Some of the poorest wrong foot kicking came from Bedford, Sparrow (although his preferred has improved from last year) and Dunkley, all of whom were grouped together hence particularly noticeable. I was too far away from the other groupings to comment other than the draftees who I specifically looked for. They then broke into groups - Key position players down one end, with the wings occupied by the mids/flankers/pocket players. I was closest to the Key position guys so will start there. This drill involved a coaching member kicking out from the pocket to a 2v1 situation on the HFF - 2 defenders vs 1 forward. Forwards included Fritsch, Weideman, Petty, a train-with player, and Brown. Backs included OMac, Lever, May, Joel Smith, Hore. The first 2v1 situation seemed to be about one defender engaging while another went third man up. An umpire was on hand calling holding the man if the engaging defender held on too much, which was a good idea (even though the players didn't seem to notice or care when a free kick was called as the drill was moving too fast). The 2nd defender would then drop off and the forward and remaining defender ran into the 50, pivoted on a cone with the forward leading to the coach on the HFF. If the defender didn't check his man closely enough, the kick would be delivered to the leading forward. This only happened once. If there was not enough separation on the lead, the forward would double back around to receive a high kick at the point of the goal-square, with the defender trying to body and ultimately spoil/outmark. The 2nd umpire was on hand to watch these contests for holding too, and called a couple. In general, there were two stand-out players in this drill - being 1) May and 2) Joel Smith. May is just an absolute brute - he is strong, physical and intense, and with a running jump can fly as well as 3rd man up. Joel Smith is a very impressive athlete - as big (if not bigger) as most of these boys, but also faster and with more spring, reads the flight of the ball well too. He has sure hands and outpointed more or less every forward on every occasion, either punching or marking in a 1v1 vs the forward. Weideman was disappointing - to me he just doesn't have the required intensity to body up and shake clear of his opponent. He always seems to want to take a running jump or simply reach over the top, which didn't work in particular against Smith who just rises too high. I have been prepared to give him time but I have my doubts. The concern for him is that he shows no more than Petty, who is a couple years his junior but appears to have more of the intensity required. If Sam fails to perform this year, I think the coaching staff might just run out of patience. Fritsch was undersized in this drill so didn't star, but he's a fantastic overhead mark as we know, times his leap exceptionally well and positions himself to protect the dropzone. Brown is a funny one - appears much more comfortable with the ball on the deck than he is in the air. Can't jump particularly high. Lever isn't an especially impressive player in 1v1 situations, but won his share of contests purely by getting front position and drawing a free kick. Hore went OK, OMac is just too sluggish (I like him, but this may be his downfall) and the train-with player was a nice athlete too with a good burst of speed. Would have liked to have seen Luke Jackson in this drill though I imagine he would have been rag-dolled. I then moved to the wing where a group of mids/flankers/pockets were doing some kind of transition drill from end to end involving a player marking the ball from a kick, selling a dummy around the man on the mark and handballing out to a free player, who looked to be trying to deliver kicks clearing a pack of players that I imagine is supposed to represent the 'body' of players in the middle of the ground as we transition out of the 50. i.e. aiming to clear the centre circle ish and go arc to arc. There was some average kicking here from a few - Brayshaw (who was wearing #43 oddly), Langdon, Dunkley in particular. Langdon's kicking isnt great, very high ball drop. Dunkley likewise doesnt appear to have a particularly low or controllable kicking action - struggles to kick with any penetration by my eye. Brayshaw's issue was more of sloppiness than action. Jetta & Oliver looked good in this drill, didn't mind little Chandler either who is neat enough by foot. They then moved into a sort of semi-full ground match simulation. There was only one scoring end, teams split into training tops vs hi-vis vests. Fair to say the hi-vis team, who were not the scoring team, struggled, although there may have been a deliberate outnumber in certain parts of the ground, it was hard to tell. Due to the vests it was also a little more difficult to tell who was who in this drill. There appeared to be an emphasis on kicking out, then going back i50 and switching to the free side with speed. This wasn't always particularly well done and quite a few poor kicks were intercepted i50 by the attacking team leading to set shots on goal. In particular, one turnover to Weideman's lap who does have a good set shot kick and drilled it. Couldn't see who the culprit was. The absolute stand-out in this drill was Fritsch. He honestly made it look easy - either presenting up at the ball as a forward, or intercepting the hi-vis team's exit from the back 50 and just strolling into goal. An exceptionally skilled and smart player who has the scope to do very special things in the forward line I think. Other strong contributors in this drill were May, who took one very good pack mark when he had no right to, and I liked Lockhart's work as a small defender. He's tenacious, has good agility, is elusive, and creative by hand and foot. He shares many attributes with Jetta and I can see why they might have him in mind for that role. Because we know he can go forward, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a few 22's during the year as he could be handy to move up forward when we need a goal at the end of games. LJ struggled up forward to be frank - hands to a lot of balls but couldn't quite bring them down. Being matched up on Lever and May is a steep learning curve. Individual Player observations: Pickett - Applied decent forward pressure in the match simulation, without ever laying too many tackles or getting much of the ball. Couldn't bring down Viney, managed to bring down Gus on the wing. Early days but I had hoped to see him with ball in hand a little more. Next time hopefully. Didn't seem lightning quick but there wasn't a lot of space to show this off. Rivers - a very good size that would allow him to play early if good enough. Didn't get overly involved in match simulation but I will repeat that his kicking is perhaps not as good as it has been touted. Kicked twice into the man on the mark. If he's to transition to a mid, will need to improve his speed of thought / hand in contested situations, but like Kossie, early days and he is getting used to the tempo. Jackson - Very interesting player. I can see why they think he might be a mid long term as he's good below his knees, makes good decisions by hand and is neat by foot. As above, struggled as a forward against the bigger bodies. If he plays early in the fwd line, I wouldn't be expecting much aside from the odd cameo. Tomlinson - Absolutely massive unit. Would have to be the biggest 'winger' of all time. Walking laps. Langdon - Does have good running patterns as has been touted, finds pockets of space to receive the ball and got a fair bit of it in the match sim as a result. I like the timing of his late runs into the 50 behind the forwards/backs, was found by Fritsch in the goal square with a particularly raking kick on one occasion. May - Discussed above - I will only add that he is absolutely crucial to this team. There is no other defender like him on the list and you can see he makes them all walk taller. Very vocal and a leader. My only criticism is that he does everything with so much gusto, he has a tendency to over commit to contests that he has very little chance of winning, and can sometimes leave his man free as a result when he misses the ball or something. Jones - Rehab, looked grumpy. A lovely left foot kick, was teaching Bradtke to drop the ball lower. Seemed fine and probably not far off. Salem - Looked his usual self, nothing of note. Skinny legs! Harmes - Watching him in the Match Sim, I think he is the Hibberd replacement. Similiar players - speed, can shrug a tackle, not easily beaten. A good player who has become a consistent trainer. Petracca - Other than wearing a funny hat, I did not think he was particularly noticeable. Didn't get a lot of the ball, though had good burst speed when he did. Needs to continue working on making faster decisions when he receives the ball as his indecision allows defensive numbers to get back. Viney - Looked good overall other than some loopy kicking. But strong in the contest, shrugging off would-be tacklers, and generally involved. Moving well. Lever - As above, a strange player who isn't overly strong, fast or athletic. Very vocal and a leader though; we are paying him for his brain rather than his body. Prone to erroroneous kicking out of D50. Spargo - Absent Brayshaw - One observation above, but not too noticeable otherwise. Just travelling along it seems. Brought down by Kossie when he should not have been. Gawn - The quietest session I have seen from him. Barely noticed. Good in the contest when called upon. Bedford - Got a little bit of the ball; he's got spunk which I like. His kicking can let him down though, quite loose action and tends to overhit his passes. Good height for a small forward. Oliver - Our best player. Good things happen when he gets the ball. Just understands where to kick it, when to run, and how to position himself and his team mates. No particularly outstanding moments but just consistently makes smarter decisions than the rest of the list. Hibberd - I thought he looked a little more like his 2018 self, industrious coming out of D50 and strong in the contest. A very important player still. KK - in rehab, barely resembles a footballer anymore in size. Honestly looks like one of the volunteers/trainers running around. I hold little hope. Melksham - With Fritsch, the most dangerous forward on the ground in the Match sim. Such a good user of his body when the ball is in the air and had quite a few set shots as a result. Hannan - in rehab. Weird gait, weird player. Can't help but think his days might be numbered if Fritsch continues to star and Melksham holds the other HFF. But injuries, declines or other circumstances can provide his opportunity if he can get fit. Preuss - Does appear leaner, though lost a little of his imposing presence as a result. Didn't get a lot of ball in the match sim. In no man's land in my opinion; neither a forward, doesn't look like a 1st ruck anymore and doesn't strike me as anything else. I liked his game against Carlton last year though when he was our 1st ruck. AVB - Our most physical player. Bashed and crashed his way around, including bringing down the non-contact Neitschke. Love having him back. Generally very involved; a full year of him on the park will make us so much better, as we all saw during our 18 finals run. Jordon - Can't say I noticed him too much but suspect he was playing for the hi-vis team and therefore absent a number. Has no particularly noticeable style, height, hair or hat so he is a tricky one! Tmac - As above, no show at the start though arrived later in runners. Not sure what the issue is. Weideman - Some commentary above, in short I have concerns. If he has put on strength/size, it doesn't show in terms of how he uses it. More intensity required. Nietschke - First I have seen of him and agree with others that he appears to naturally find space and the ball. Not a particularly great user but could have a role one day. Appears diligent if his form during the warm ups / exercises is anything to go by (much more than some other players). Omac - Some discussion above - I like his kicking skills and like his genuine size, I think he is effective on the gorilla forwards if they don't have much speed. Put space around him though and he's all at sea; if I was coaching the opposition I would be taking him deep to isolate at every opportunity. Got called for quite a few holding the man free kicks in the key position drill because once they get separation, he can't keep up and so holds on. At this point I think we may have seen close to his best in 2018. If May were to go down, he's a serviceable replacement but barely adequate. One thing I did notice is that he is perhaps too 'smart' for his own good - in the key position drill I described above he often wouldn't bother sticking too close to the forward on the first lead because most of the time the leads weren't being honoured; a quirk of the drill given they were trying to practise 1v1 contested marking. He began to double back almost immediately knowing that that's where the drill would very likely end up. Again, in my view this shows his lack of intensity. Nonetheless, he's not the worst depth in the world but not convinced he will ever be a best 22 full back, at least not in a very successful team. Hunt - I liked what I saw from him today. Seemed to be picking the ball up in the back half and looking a little like his 2017/2018 self running it out of the back half, but pleasingly lowering his eyes. One to watch, could be a quiet improver. ANB - Not too noticeable, as usual buzzing around the contest to receive exit handballs. Knows his role, has limitations but there is a place for him in the 22 when on song. Brings more energy albeit less skill than the nearest competition for an endurance small flanker (C Wagner). Fritsch - See above. A beautiful player who made quite a few look silly. Judging by the quality of his forward half intercepting (very prevalent in the time I watched), the time down back may have actually done him some good in this area. Appeared to read the ball coming out very well. Sparrow - I like his size, speed and power, but he needs a touch more guile or it will all go to waste. When he receives the ball in traffic he doesn't have a heap of composure in deciding how to get rid of it, and bombs it away quite often as a result. As I noted above, in the drills his kicking seemed slightly improved from his first year. He could be something but it's going to take some work; he's one who I think would benefit from consistent AFL exposure with its high tempo. VFL will help too, but won't exactly accelerate his development in his problematic area given you have more time at that level. Baker - jogging laps. Good size. I am hopeful for him as he showed a bit particularly against GWS at the G last year. Hore - a very non-fuss player and valuable depth. Bit of a 'tweener but does everything well without ever excelling. Not sure of his future. Petty - Moves like a big key forward should. He's imposing & heavy. Decent skills during the kicking drills, but barely touched it (that I saw) in the match sim. Chandler - Busy little player who I don't mind; has a sidestep and can work his way out of trouble. May be too small to make the grade given he doesn't possess the elite skills or pace that supposedly Pickett does. But he's a goer and will give himself every chance of making it you sense. Jetta - Looked good, free and running well after I have had concerns on his age/body/decline. Early days with a full season of knocks and bruises to come but a very composed leader. Rarely makes mistakes. C Wagner - Can get the ball on the outside and has OK skills and pace. Looks a million bucks at VFL level but can't match it with the big AFL mids I fear. May one day have a role as a flanker but it's not something he's especially natural at in my opinion. Reminds me of ANB. Lockhart - As above I liked his work today. Has genuine footy smarts and elusiveness in a way that many on our list do not. Not a natural athlete at all but knows his game. Will play games this year IMO. J Wagner - Same old. May have been responsible for a couple of turnovers but not sure it was him (hi-vis). Squeezed a lovely kick around the corner to Pickett down the other end. An error-prone player who is depth at best & I think knows he's potentially on his last chance. In his favour is that he seems durable and does not get injured. Growing his hair. Joel Smith - See above. Loved what I saw in the aerial drill. A bit of a clunky kick but when you watch him in training up close he's an absolute specimen. Would love his groins to stay trouble free and see what he can do with a bit of time in the 1s. Not sure it's the time for that given our ambitions, but he could be a very good player I think. Has a rare athletic profile that many would kill to have. Bradtke - Rehab. Beanpole. Working on set shots, hit them OK. Stafford working with him on his kicking as he seems incapable of hitting any kind of a low spearing pass (similiar to gawn though). Seems athletic, long way to go. Dunkley - I watched with interest as I find him difficult to judge. He's a relatively smooth mover over the ground but it kind of translates to his kicking in that his steps/run up don't change when kicking. That sounds good but it's not; it means he kicks in full stride rather than steadying himself with minor adjustments like some of the best do innately. This results in overhit, long kicks (we know he can hit long kicks from his set shot kicking last year). Does seem to be able to find the footy. A weird one, not sure on his future. Those who would draw comparisons to his similarly 'agricultural' brother when drafted would be missing that KDunk does not have Josh's explosiveness. Maybe he can develop it though? Brown - A few things mentioned above - he's alright. Decent depth. Not a lot of overhead presence but I like his searching leads. Notwithstanding he may all of a sudden become important, I'd like to think he's been signed to force Weideman to step up. Not sure it will work, but I like that idea. My overall impression was that training was fine. Not amazing, not bad, just training. I remain concerned about our key forward stocks as neither of Weideman or Brown showed much, and Petty is promising but still young and inexperienced at the craft. It's not a particularly strong group though. This was relatively glaring in my view particularly given the absence of TMac, and I think you'll find we still rely on him quite a lot this year at least if he is fit. If he's not, it might be struggle town again. The positive for the forward line was that Fritsch and Melksham looked absolutely terrific and would give many half back flankers a good bit of trouble. Nothing I saw convinced me that we've 'solved' the forward pocket role, but it's Kossie's 2nd or 3rd week and the drills weren't particularly conducive to small forward play, with the most contested forward 50 ever in the match sim. Our other small forwards are mostly 2nd/3rd year players. Personally, 2018 Spargo is still the best of the lot if he can rediscover his form. His footy IQ was very important to us that year. Backline looked strong with May, Joel Smith and Lever an interesting combination I haven't previously considered. If a team got picked from today, Joel Smith would be in it. Midfield is now stocked all through the depth chart, albeit with late / speculative draft choices, so let the best men win. But no one is touching Oliver. Not even close. That's actually turned out to be quite a long post....

Read my post again. Did I say that ANB is as good as or better than Lambert? Did I compare their skills or stats? The only comparison I made is that Lambert, like ANB, is not particularly stylish or fashionable, yet, like ANB, is very effective for his team and their gamestyle. Ask any Richmond fan about Lambert - they don't have anyone else who can play his role. For that reason, he is crucial. That's my point, we have no other high hff/mid who is happy to run all day from contest to contest to tackle, but not necessarily win the ball. When ANB is missing or down on form, it is obvious to me that we miss the extra number at many contests between the arcs and also miss the implied pressure an extra number creates. I suspect the only things obvious to you are his turnovers, small stature and low draft pick. For what it's worth, I agree Lambert is a much better player than ANB. I'm not saying he's in our top 10 or top 5 players at all, just that his role is important and we have none other who can play it. On his day, he can play it well. Needs to be his day more often though.

Perhaps what you are missing is that he is a key part of the team being up and about. A cause, rather than a symptom. Like Lambert at Richmond, who is also far from the neatest or most skilled player. Our best performances in our best year in a long time had him kicking multiple goals, laying lots of tackles and getting low 20s in the possession count. Some goals he kicks are opportunistic but most result from hard running to create an option in space when no one else will. If Brayshaw had ANBs work ethic, he'd be a hall of famer. I can't help but think that if it was petracca or another more fashionable/likeable player putting up those numbers, many of you would be frothing over it. Sure, ANB can commit a terrible turnover, but he's not alone there. There is universal adoration for Bailey Fritsch but according to the official statistics, his turnovers are by far the most damaging of anyone in our side. As always, there is too much focus on what ANB can't do, or does poorly, as opposed to what he can do better than anyone else in our side.