stevethemanjordan

You're right, there aren't a lot. Doesn't only have to be FA however, they can be coming out of contract or even still have a year running. Liam Duggan and Darcy Tucker are two I'd be looking at. Robbie Gray is a restricted FA 2018. Maybe we have someone in mind in this years draft. Let's see.

Depends on who you ask.

I'm not thatttt bad am I...?

Yes, he was easily this good in his best year at Essendon. It's upsetting that you don't know this. It only confirms my concerns that so many supporters on here are one-eyed. There are good footballers out there everyone. Outside the walls of the MFC. There are some really good players. Paging @Satyriconhome

Oscar takes an intercept mark. Was thinking posters would be straight on to me about it. Alas. He misses a 15 meter target under no pressure yet again that nearly results in a shot on goal if not for Hibberd's calmness.

Lol. Today we have both Steven May and Oscar McDonald playing. I hope posters can now see that we need a player like May. Once again, I wonder what on earth anyone can see in Oscar McDonald.

You watching today's game? And you reckon asking for players with strong ball using ability is asking for Utopia? And no our greatest concern is not in inefficient conversion from good entries going inside 50. We have an innibility to use the ball efficiently from all areas of the ground. Whether from the backline, midfield, going inside 50 and even converting shots on goal as you said. The quality of our entries going inside 50 are actually incredibly underwhelming so I disagree with you on that.

We are the third or fourth worst ball-movement side in the AFL. Jones has many admirable attributes but ball use at this stage isn't one. There's no way in the world the club would give a first rounder for him. That's a Richmond-like move. I'm far more interested in players who will boost our ball use through the midfield. Run and carry is all well and good if it ends up in a scoring opportunity. I mean, Hunt's ability to break lines is great but he still butchers it or struggles to finish his work when he fails to kick to the advantage of our forwards. He is inconsistent with his finishing. And Jones is in that category. We need a serious injection of skill and class through our midfield imo and there are others we should be targeting for that reason.

Of course it reflects well on him! Apparently he is in our top three most important players... I still think the poster that thinks the fact that Oscar plays 92% game time must rank him in the top 30% for endurance takes the cake. I mean, they're both ridiculous stats. But I'm having a good time reading them.

^ You're totally right. I have no idea where Freo would be without Ethan Hughes.

Yeh, I challenged posters to give me a strong attribute that Oscar possesses. And I got two stats. One which I already rebutted because of how misleading it is and the other I didn't even bother with because of how nonsensical it was. A poster measuring Oscar's endurance against other players, based on the minutes he plays on ground ?! Even though he is a key defender. That is not a thing. It's a nonsensical correlation. I maintain that at this level, Oscar doesn't possess one strong and consistent attribute. Frost for example is really fast. That is his strong attribute. Hibberd is a strong user of the footy and strong intercept player. D'you see? Maybe we have a different idea of what difines a strong attribute, because it seems you're telling me what I meant by it. Strong attribute = strength. I'm happy to leave it there.

You're talking about a certain group of posters who are like that on this forum. Many of us knew that last week's game was a response win and the following game against North was going to be just as important, if not more so. If you were to go and look up what acts are included in the "one-percenter" stat, you will find that it's ridiculous and doesn't give a true indication of a player's worth. There are four actions that count toward a one-percenter: Knock-ons, spoils, smothers and shepherds. Now I can say right now that rarely have I seen Oscar smother the ball from someones kick or shepherd. Which leaves two actions left. Now if you go and look at what constitutes a 'spoil' in a marking contest as well as a 'knock-on', you will see how ridiculous these isolated stats are and what indeed is counted as both a spoil and a knock-on. A spoil that is recorded on a stats sheet is extremely limited in that it doesn't take into account things like who's advantage the ball is kicked to, whether or not the forward fumbled a mark, whether the defender fumbled a mark, how effective the spoil was etc etc. I'm talking about real, identifiable attributes. Not wildly inconsistent isolated stats that rarely take into account the wider context of the unfolding play. You might think all those other qualities that you've listed are his 'strong points'. I would say they are minimum requirements for a defender playing at this level. The top level. AFL. Maybe you're part of the soft Melbourne supporter group who are really easily pleased by bare minimums due to the fact that we've been below par for the last decade in nearly every facet of the club. It's not surprising that some supporters get excited by individual play that would otherwise be considered bare-minimum by any decent club's standard. This is not the amateurs. It's the elite. And if we want to compete in this environment, you simply can't be happy with bare-minimum.

It's all relevant. The reason we're talking about going after a player like Steven May is in part because of Oscar's incompetence as a key defender. d'you see?

Worth persisting with because of his age. But not at AFL level for at least two years.

Please go away with your pointless stats. Watch the game. Not the stats sheet.

I don't have a suggestion right at this point. I'm completely aware that we have no other real options at present and imo it's the FD who are at question. Clearly, and I mean clearly, they were hoping that Oscar would show a lot more than what he's showing this year and perhaps they thought the same about Frost. I was of the opinion last year that we needed a mature key-defender in our side so that Frost/Oscar could develop at VFL level. Even if it was a slightly older head like Brown or McKenzie who are not the future but would at least be able to compete against bigger forwards and provide some depth. I still maintain we'd be better off this year if we took one.. The only reason Oscar is still running around is because the next bloke in line is a rookie named Declan Keilty. But if it were up to me, I'd be willing to see how he goes. You can't do a lot worse than what you saw yesterday.

If you watch the replay, you will see that Oscar's reaction time to some of Brown's leads were abysmal. Like, seriously abysmal. There is no doubting that it's easy to be completely caught out of position as a defender if there is a turnover up the field, but any defender with decent reaction time and some sort of pace would have at the very least been able to effect a spoil on a few of Brown's leads when the defender and forward were at arms reach of each other. Alex Rance would have done more because he's Alex Rance. For everyone out there who constantly whines about individuals being labelled "whipping boys", there's a reason why you twits. Whilst Dazzle likes to go the extreme with name calling and expletives etc, I would rather just say that they're not at the required level. Someone name me one strong attribute that Oscar has to his game. Anyone. I'll give you $10 if you can. Of course we didn't lose the game because of one or two key defenders yesterday, but again, I'd love posters to watch the replay of Oscars game and let me know how you think he is going. We are crying out for Steven May. Or any half-decent key defender that doesn't make more than two or three catastrophic errors a game.

Disagree majorly. Kelly is not soft in the slightest for a player of his profile which makes him even more valuable. He is a gun and would be a top three player in our side immediately. I reckon the footy department would have no qualms whatsoever about throwing $800k a year at him if he was keen on coming to us, that would be an absolute no-brainer. He is exactly what we're missing. However, I highly doubt he wants to leave GWS when they're on the brink of winning a flag, let-alone come to the AFL's most yoyo form side being the MFC.

That's not true. He is hit and miss, like many players on our list. I like many of Zak's qualities, but kicking is not one and if we're bringing in players next year, I want all of them to be able to use the footy. It's the most glaringly obvious weakness that we possess throughout our list.

Hibberd is clear as day evidence that kicking skills, decision making and general attack on the ball are all qualities you either have in spades or you're lacking. ie - the fact he missed most of the pre-season with the main group counts for nothing. He straightens us up to no end. I love the guy.

I'll please myself and bring it up in any thread that is of relevance. I don't mind that you disagree. But it's the basis of your disagreement that makes little sense to me. His pre-season was no more more interrupted than that of Hibberds. So how does your logic stack up? Fitness is one thing. Touch, decision making skills, disposal etc has little to do with having an interrupted pre-season. They have footballs in their hands nearly every day.

I'm sure he has curency, but I can't see us putting him up for trade. I just see him being overtaken really if he continues to perform the way he has been. FA and some trading of future picks would be the way to go now. Our core are still so young so I'm not fussed about draft picks this year, (depending on the depth of the draft). We need to target specific players now. We're ready for that.

Cousins?

I don't think we have that far to go. The way we play now is really exciting and as has been said an infinite amount of times, 'we play the way the game should be played'. If you consider how we played in that first quarter against Richmond, we really should have been up by many goals. Our midfield brigade are incredibly ferocious and attack the ball and man with an intent I haven't seen for years at the club and that's been the case since round 1. Where we fail miserably is in our execution and meaningful disposal both going inside 50 and from out of defence. And those two things can be easily fixed with the right additions to the side. Both of those additions must have composure because that's what we're sorely lacking in our defence and through our midfield. An ability to pick that right target and hit it. Hibberd is proof that some players have it and others don't. He's come in off the back of one Casey game and a limited pre-season and has put our entire side to shame with his ability to remain composed and hit the right targets at the right time in the wet, in front of 85,000 people.. I saw him get furious with a number of our defenders against Richmond. One more quality KP defender with foot-skills and composure and a two-way running midfielder with class and composure and we'll be laughing. This is where I see Tyson being pushed out. We have enough players who can win the ball just as well and as easily as he can now and who also offer a lot more to the team.

Look, I know you love stats. But do you watch the games without looking at them? Why do you give such credit to numbers for one? Tell me the percentage of those numbers that are gathered from short kicks without pressure etc. I'd say they would be half of his possessions. And no, the defensive pressure is not a myth at all. Defensive pressure consists of more than just the 'tackle stat'. He'll play this week because he needs to carry more of the load. We'll have about three to four players playing sore against Essendon if they're not rested. Jones, Viney and Petracca.