stinga

Can;t believe some of the rubbish on here. Just got home from the game. That was one of the best contested games of footy I've seen up to 3/4 time and we were flogging them. Huge advantage in inside 50s in the first half and despite being 3 or 4 players down (2 playing injured so we at least had some bench). We were bigger than them and knocking them aside til the two bigger guys went down. We probably should have been 7 or 8 in front at 3/4 time. The last quarter was inevitable that we ran out of legs. I was just hoping we could hold on. How good were hibberd, hunt and clarrie!!

It's fantastic we've got nearly 30K. Last pre season for some reason we only got 3000 members for the two months Jan/Feb. If we maintain our current momentum for those two months (good interest from the girls matches could do it) then we could reach the high 40's.

Couldn't agree more. Hogan,Smith and VDB give us the hardness we've been crying out for in the f50. And then CP5 to rotate through we lose none of that hardness. A real Weagles feel about that line up.

The thing I'm looking forward to is whether our centre bounce strategy changes. For many years we haven't had the midfield so the ball would be knocked down or backwards by Gawn to Jones etc. But now our midfiled is so much better and more options, Goodwin seems to be going for a more attacking quick moving play. I think we will see Gawn knocking the ball forward, which means midfielders hitting the ball running and gaining momentum in our direction (maybe not even taking possession but just movement forward. So we need heavy hitters Jones Viney VDB Oliver to do that. Then it is so important that Lewis and Salem and Vince are on the end of that initial burst to hit targets - not sure if that means they come from a wing or midfield. I think Tyson, Harmes and Brayshaw will do more midfield work around the ground at boundary stoppages.

A 10k membership increase is worth $2m and you can probably add on the same in sponsorship/merchandising appropriate to the increase. Bye debt.

Isn't it great that we might have some competition for 2 key forwards vying for one spot. You are right about Smith and Etihad.

I agree wholeheartedly. If Smith can do what I expect in the pre season games, he will give our forward line that grunt it is calling out for and be CHF in round 1. He is the most likely person on our rookie list to be upgraded for H. Weiderman will be a star but still needs time to develop. All the other selections are as everyone else has picked - it just depends on which 6 you leave out for form and injury reasons. and balance.

I hope so

From the finance report TOTAL NON CURRENT LIABILITIES 4,724,772 (2016) 5,209,703 (2015). So our debt is still $4.7 m. The revenue generated from membership related areas is about $8m or ($200 per member) and sponsorship a similar amount - $8m. So if we increased our membership by 10K and Sponsorship matched that, we would be out of debt.

I'm also upbeat about Smith, especially as he has obviously built up so much from last year. Last year he didn't seem to have the bulk to compete inside and maybe that's one of the reasons his possession count was down. No-one has answered the question yet regarding Smith's tank. How does he compare with others in endurance at training this year?

There seem to be quite a few 192 cm key defenders in the 40 - 60 group. I'd like to see us take one who can run and kick, then keep him at Casey for a year or two and turn him into the tall mid we are crying out for. Our second pick is probably going to be a project anyway.

Thanks for the reports guys

Yeah I don't get my new AFL membership package til next year, but I wouldn't be surprised if AFL Melbourne members were included in the numbers shown.

Nic Natanui - Nick as in to cut, Gnat as in a flying insect . Anuy is a river in Russia that eventually goes to the ocean

In a choice between Selection 84 and Barrett I'd take him everytime. Though I agree we might be lucky to attract him. He's related to Breust and has a number of relatives playing NRL (he was the player with the highest tackle count in the NEAFL last year so I guess that's where he gets it from). A guy with good bloodlines, 184 and 80kgs and can run with high possession count. I don't see the downside although there's nothing said on the website what his disposal is like.

https://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us?language=en

Sort of on topic as it affects injury recuperation. I was watching a technology ted talk where synthesised red blood cells are being tested on animals and they claim you could run 15 olympic sprints in one breath or sit on the bottom of the pool for 4 hours. It would be easy to pick up on a blood test to police, but what if you required it for medical reasons. mind boggling.

I get what you mean, the picks don't go out in number, but a better selection is not available as the player has already gone Say North bids for an academy player at 11 and GWS use picks after 47 to cover it. Then North use 11 on another player and all the following picks maintain their number, but a lesser player is available at 12 where that academy player would have slotted in. Whereas the pick numbers come in, where clubs are forced to use multiple picks prior to yours. Thanks.

I don't see how your picks can go out unless you have academy/Father son picks yourself. If a club uses an early pick for a player the pick is gone no matter whether an ordinary pick or academy/Father son. The following picks do not lose their order. It's only when they have to use multiple picks for one player to make up the required points, then the places come in one or two places. I have been listening to the commentary and just assumed that picks could go out, but looking at it I don't see how. Tell me if i'm wrong, or explain where I am missing the point as to how the picks can go out. An example would be good.

Maybe maybe not Brown. But maybe an academy pick that would sit around 11. A similar result would occur.

The way I understand it is - Say North Melbourne bids 11th pick on Collingwood.s father son pick Callum Brown. Pick 11 is worth 1329 points so collingwood have to come up with those points. So they use pick 28 @ 667, Pick44 #362, Pick51 @ 259 and pick 62 @ 123 to match the points. Once you get past pick 60 the points are not worth much. On that pick alone our 47 becomes 46 , 69 becomes 66 and 84 becomes 81. If there are another say 5 similar bids on players, I think we could be closer to 40.50 and 70.

WJ That makes 34 players to be drafted for which the relative clubs have to put up points to cover them. In some cases they will use multiple lower picks to make up the required points, but they'll be used up pretty quickly. Then they will have to use high picks to cover the amount of points required. This will greatly affect the position of the other clubs picks. For instance pick 50 might become pick 30 or pick 70. Do you have any idea how our picks might finish up?

I'm rapt he is upgraded. I rate him higher than Salem at half back because he is a hard nut, gets to contests and gets off the ground to spoil, whereas Salem does not. However Salem is more value up the ground simply because of his delivery.

To me AVB is the most important. We have lots of small middle men - Jones Viney, even Lewis and Vince are not big. Brayshaw and Oliver give us a bit of height, but for me the strength and height of VDB gives the greatest possibility for improvement. He can become our (swans) Kennedy.

To be a top contender your have to own the middle of the ground. If you go wide it means you have to over possess the ball and more chances of a turnover. Whilst some of our play last year when we broke out of the back half and ran forward was great to see, we usually couldn't match the strength of other sides, to do it often enough. As an example, I love Salem, but he is usually forced to run sideways, and it's only his good disposal that compensates for it. As he and many of the other younger members of the team improve their strength and bulk, together with the three new mature bodies (Melkshan, Hibberd and Lewis), we should overcome that. At either end we only have TMac and Hogan who can physically hold their ground in key positions. If Weideman and Oscar can bulk up a bit then that helps and I hope that they cause the biggest improvement on the ground. I can see how we will make finals, but I wouldn't put much hope into going further into finals as the young bodies, will need another season.