ArtificialWisdom

Kent and Salem? They are both in my 22 quite safely.

Yeah I was refering to both the automated meter and the fact it looks and feels outdated. But as for content the club would have control to a point, it depends on how the contract and website work. There would likely be some facility for the club to add content as they please but I would suspect there may be some instances where they have to put in support requests to the contractor. Of course this is all just guessing based my limited experiances in the industry, only thing I know for sure is that the AFL contracted telstra years ago to host their site(s) and the AFL app as well maintain them. Being telstra, they are not interested in actually spending any significant time and effort maintaining anything they passed the work on. The app was outsourced to Outware in 2011 but as of 2017 Hawkeye is taking over that and I'm not sure who they outsourced the website to.

The site is [censored] but it's not the clubs problem, Its contracted to (then outsourced by) Telstra.

In this day and age it should be automated. Unless there is a specific reason they want to hide the live value

Was really hoping for "They can try, but they won't keep up"

To hazard a guess, I would say its because Hogan was in his first session back from perth and because CP5 has really troubles aerobically. His effort is undeniable but it seems like he is forever stuggling to get his fitness up. May take a few years. I wouldnt be too conserned though, he's so competitive that every effort is fantastic even when he is tired, just means we'll have to be patient waiting for the Gawn, Viney, Oliver, Petracca centre square lineup. But when it comes, they are going to be hard to beat.

As BA alluded to above, Roo will most likely be on the wing so its not really a defender issue I suspect he wont be tagged to start but if he does get out of hand I would send Vince onto the wing with him. As for the rest, I think our zone will have improved since the last time we played them so we should do better. And as we know they pressue will have to come from the mids/forwards or the defenders will be left in the cold. The lineup at a centre bounce is tough, McCartin is their most talented forward but at his age he may not be the most dangerous... Id probably start by having TMac - Membrey, OMac - McCartin, Frost - Bruce. Reality is you could just about put their names in a hat and have the defenders pull them at random. St Kildas biggest advantage is they take turns being the number 1 man. Maybe ask again after the pre-season comp after we see who is in form for them.

I Think CP5 has a tendency to try to kick it too hard. Which means he sprays the occasional one or even kick a bit of a straight floater. But as a whole I agree he is a good kick. Bright side is that tendency is easily trained out with experience.

100% People keep saying you don't have to be quick to be good and i think most of us who have doubts over Jack agree. But the reality is we have those players by the truckload. Jones, Tyson, Viney, Oliver, CP5, Lewis, Vince, Brayshaw. None of those players are "fast" by any means. But unfortunaly for Jack those players are all capable of playing without looking like they are too slow. Through the use of a side step, muscle or a burst off the mark. When Jack plays with time and space he looks as good or better than any of them, proven by his VFL form but at AFL level without that time he just doesnt look as dangerous. He might be able to play on the opposite wing to Stretch, using his skill and endurance on the wide open spaces of the G. But personaly I believe someone like Salem, Lewis, Brayshaw or Melksham would be better suited to that role.

Can't agree more. The best forwardline won't win you flags. But the best Midfield will. Name the last Grand finalist to have a midfield outside the top 4 for that year. You can easily name ones with a weaker forwardline... Both 2016 Grand finalists for a start.

First line of ours is spot on: A young, exciting forward line that oozes class, it could become one of the game's best in a few years. "young" "exciting" and "in a few years." St Kilda's forward line is a year or 2, possibly more, ahead of ours in development. I dont know why people are so bothered by that, their midfield and backline both lack depth compared to ours anyway doesnt matter how good your forwardline is if you cant get it there. I dont really have a problem with any of the teams listed above us. We have a young forwardline with only Garlett having played at a high level in enough years to be rated highly and last year wasnt fantastic. Watts showed 1 good year, he should follow up. If Kent and Hogan can find some consistancy this year I think you will notice us climb the rankings a little. Not many expectations on Tracc or Weid couple of good games each but not much more. Patience, I like what we have for the future of our forwardline but its not going to be what propels us up the ladder. I'm not sure our forward line will ever be the league's best but that doesnt mean it wont be good. I have more faith our midfield will be right up among the best in 2-4 years time.

Much more usefull article thanks.

I would like them to actually reveal the apparently revealing statistics. Being told by Sam Maclure that I'm wrong without any actual evidence doesnt really sway my view. If there was something that said 60% of ball ups with a 3rd man up result in a repeat stopage then yeah sure I get that. But just saying "In terms of clearance rates and scores from stoppages it doesn't provide the benefit for the game that people thought it did " doesnt tell me anything. The stats could be whatever they want and they could say that. Reality is I dont hate the rule entierly but im very skeptical of the idea that 3rd man doesnt help.

AFL site was down for me this morning so only just saw in the article that the protected area has also changed "Umpires looking at enforcing the area once the player in possession has moved back on their mark. " I love that change, no more 50s for a player running past right after a mark or a free, this should give the defending team a reasonable time to run back without encroaching on the area inadvertently.

hahaha yep. Its programed into us now, we see the words "rule change" and its instant repulsion

Third man up: As a Dees supporter I love the change with big Maxy it is great for us. We have a pretty good record with developing very good ruckman. But as a football fan I dont like it. The 3rd man up allowed teams to break a repeat stoppage. Now if you get 2 ruckman that are equally matched the ball is going to go up and down over and over untill the ump calls a free because his arms getting sore. High tackle: Rule just makes sense, ugly part of the game and it will be good to see it removed. I think we knew it was coming anyway. Side note on this: I dont have a problem with the Selwood style mainly because he doesnt so much duck as force the tackle up as he shrugs it. All the people here having a go at him might want to watch Jetta play once in a while. He does the same thing, it's just pure strength. Tackle them hard enough and it doesnt happen. Its the Matherson/Thomas style colapse and arm wrap that I have a problem with. Rushed: Makes sense to align it closer to the Didnt Keep it in Deliberate Out of Bounds rule. And I like the prior opportunity kind of spin they have on it. I really wish they would make it a point then a ball up at the top of the square in the event of a deliberate rushed behind. Same as if they stepped out of the square in a kick in. A free goal is faaaaaar to harsh of a punishment, particularly if they are as strict on it as they were on the out of bounds rule. Just wait until a ball is kicked or handpassed along the ground, bounces at right angles and goes through four a rushed behind and the other team gets a free goal out of it. It will happen, just hope it happens in our favor

Seen it, Loved it. Hans Zimmer music for it is fantastic also. But thats a story for another thread Yeah his conversion rate is good enough. he just seems to be a bit streaky, 7.1 one week then 1.4 another. thats 8.5 which is a good average but id like to see him kick 3.2 each week rather than vary wildly

Fact: Generally using the word generally in a fact makes the fact far too open to interpretation to be considered a useful fact. Fact: The point you were making is accurate. Fact: Frogs can't swallow with their eyes open.

I'd like to think the loss we have to have will come in round 20 when an undefeated Demons come up against an undefeated Giants. Then when we play them in the grand final we will hand them their only loss of the season

I think we have the capabiliy to stretch teams with size. Vandenberg is a midfielder but big enough to play as a key which is a huge asset. Playing him as a "4th" tall could cause all sorts of problems. He is mobile enough to play tall or small depending on the situation. Watts is quickish for his size and is capable of out running tall defenders or out marking small ones. With Kent and Garlett around we should have enough pace if they can be consistant with their pressure. T Smith is a natural footballer and I'd like to see him get a run at it early in the season but if he struggles to cement his spot then I think Pedo comes in. Kent, Tracc, Brayshaw, Salem and maybe Hannan can all rotate between mid and forward. Maybe we could see a forward lineup something like this? Unfortunatly that means Watts continues as ruck relief but I like Watts' skill around the ground when he plays the ruck role anyway. Watts, Lewis and Salem with Jones, Viney and Tyson is a pretty good mix of skill and grunt in and around the contest, but I digress. HF: Kent, Hogan, Watts F: Garlett, TSmith, Vandenberg Rotating with Kent: CP5, Brayshaw, Salem. Tyson? (Tyson's a bit of an after thought but he can kick a goal) Edit: Obviously this leaves out the Weid. While I like him and think he will be a star I still believe he should spend more time at Casey than in the seniors. He will get a go at some stage. Either form or injury above him will give him the chance but I wouldn't have him in the team come round 1. (A fantastic BLT or whatever its called series might change my mind)

Not the greatest news to start off.

Because if you were serious you would know Hogan has issues with his back not his knees

We should beat the Dogs. They never play a full side in the pre-season thats why we won the last 2 and now with their much shorter preseason I would expect the same. However... I will be interested, given our new found depth, to see if we play a full side for either of the first two games. I'd like to see us go out with a "seconds" side for one of the games give all the best 15-30 type players a chance to earn a spot. Like do Gawny, Viney, Jones, Lewis, Tyson Tmac, Hogan etc all need to have 3 games? we know they are in the 22 why noy give them the first week off. It could be like a VFL grand final rematch .

Kent wont have issues beating them for that spot. Tim is a completely different type of forward for one. Besides he has the attributes to be our best small forward. He just needs to find a way to consistantly have an impact when he isnt scoring. On a his day he's the best forward pressure we have (not that there's much competition for that crown). I like Jeffy but I suspect he will be out of the side quicker than Kent.

I'd play him round 1 but not playing him isnt that silly. Playing a similar number of games as he did this year is probably enough. We have the depth of midfield tallent to rotate the side a bit. Whether or not he plays round 1 is of little consequence to is development. He is best 22 on potential no doubt, but Im not sure he is on output at this stage (at least consistently). He will play throughout the year but I would hope is is managed again. 2018 we can talk about him being a lock, then we say its silly to leave him out.