Kit Walker

Gotch in his VFL player review said Dunn played basically 15-25 metres out from goal. And he kicked 8. Either you reward good performances and promote players in the positions they have played well in, or you don't. Easy decision for me. Not like we've got a dominant FF keeping him out of the position.....

With the number of midfielders who need to rotate through the centre these days, and the immaturity (body-wise) of our prospective inside midfielders, I think until about the end of 2013 he is pretty much a guaranteed first 18 player. After that it is too hard to tell because he hasn't been the most injury free player in his career and projecting further is a mug's game. As for the captaincy, on current form Junior is likely to go around again and would almost certainly retain the captaincy for next year. After that, Moloney is probably the most credible alternative at the moment. Anytime you hear about leadership in the off-field sense, players are always talking about either Junior or Moloney. I like Green, but it's not really practical to captain a side from the forward pocket where he'll be spending most of his time 2012 onwards.

That's fine, but we will always wear our main shirt when we play Collingwood, North, Geelong, Hawthorn, etc. Man Utd wear clash strips not just against team all or predominantly red (Liverpool & Arsenal), but also against Stoke and Sunderland (Red and white stripes) and you can be just about guaranteed they will when they travel up to Blackpool (tangerine) as well. The consequence of having a professional sport that relies upon television money is that you make adjustments where it is reasonable to do so. Once that's accepted, the only issue is one of aesthetics. The white one looks okay - I'd never buy it but it's probably more likely to sell than a red with blue yoke jumper. I hated the silver one so pretty much anything is an improvement on that (except black and white stripes obviously.....).

I agree that Morton is a better players, but I think Dunn has come in for a lot of criticism because he has been used as such a utility player. To be honest, the only change I would look at for next week (based on what I have read on the Casey reports) would be to bring in Watts for PJ and let Dunn have a run in the ruck against NikNat with the clear instruction to jump into him at every opportunity. A little undersized but he has the speed, strength and stamina to hurt him - both literally and in the counter-attacking sense.

I'd look closely at him, but only really if the FD thought he could play forward. His pace is a worry for me down back, but he is one of the best contested marks in the league.

I'll take a stab and suggest that he probably meant the trade for Xavier Clark, rather than Mitch Clarke. Don't really agree with that either, but it's a lot more understandable.

Can never have too many goalkicking midfielders, and they win premierships. Likewise, quality midfield/half-forwards make deep forwards look better. Perfect age (about 23) - think it would be a great fit.

No. It sounds like he would walk on a two year deal and quite rightly so. A four year deal could even have been considered as the last would have Flash on the veteran's list....

I don't think it's comparing apples with apples as Stanley is more AFL-size, but I don't know enough about him to take this any further. Any interest in Myles Sewell (brother of Brad) who won the Liston and will be playing for Nth Ballarat in the VFL GF tonight?

I haven't seen him play but I know a lot of Collingwood supporters were ropeable that Stanley wasn't getting a game while regularly getting 30+ (presumably good) possessions in a VFL side that made finals. Apparently nearly 40 touches in the first final, led clearances and kicked a couple of goals. I like the idea of getting a player who is ready to play with a later pick (50 possibly). Not sure whether Stanley is that player, but he would surely be considered.

Agreed, and I don't see the justification for the Alwyn Davey love on this board. A 25 year old small forward who kicks less than a goal a game and hasn't shown any inclination that he could make it as a midfielder. Backward step.

It is clearly a time of crisatunity.....

It's more to do with tax rates. The backend of a frontloaded contract is likely to still be at or above the highest income tax threshold otherwise it is a bad deal for the player. Financially, front loaded contracts are a much better deal for the player - provided they are not a muppet at managing their finances......

Touche

I reckon Tuck gets unfairly maligned. As others have said, I am surprised he is as old as he is. Will fail to find a new club (and particularly ours) because of that. Clearly a decent AFL standard clearance player though and a ball magnet. Fisher on the other hand would add nothing.

Absolutely. Quality goal-kicking outside (predominantly) midfielder with pace. A rich man's Andrew Lovett......

As a key defender, he would be my fourth choice behind Warnock, Frawley and Garland but ahead of Martin, Miller, etc. As a third tall (for want of a better term the "Nick Maxwell role"), I think he is the best we have. As for criticism of his kicking, I haven't seen that. Likewise, his disposal efficiency stats don't seem to back that up either. I thought he should have been dropped mid-season as he seemed woefully out of form in reading the game which is normally his great strength. However, he was very good in the latter part of the season playing in a non-favoured role (ie. on one of the two key talls). Speed is a major issue, strength is a minor one but he is still a very valuable player. Given this, and the query on his fitness, I don't think you could knock back a top 10 draft pick, and serious consideration would have to be made for a top 20 offer. Anything above that though simply doesn't provide any value, particularly when we still have a very inexperienced backline.

Have to agree with that. Cornes is an elite defensive midfielder - teams like Carlton and Collingwood who have a plethora of attacking midfielders would be mad not to consider him with their first pick. May be just outside the top ten given their final positions though. On a general note though, Port would be very brave to trade a player with the surname Cornes or Ebert......

Looked a good player a couple of years ago but has gone backward since then (injuries/curse of TW?) Needs an outstanding season at second tier level to even be considered for re-drafting if he doesn't stay at the tigers or be traded this year. Wouldn't think that anything under pick 50 would be offered. In terms of Melbourne, I can't see why we would trade for yet another half back flanker.

Possibly may only play if he signs a release for the club. I seem to remember a similar situation with Jeff White and Adem Yze last year because of the collective bargaining clause that deals with payment in the year after a player finishes if they suffer a serious injury.

It doesn't because Robbo will be replaced on the veteran's list by Bruce, and there is no-one else eligible. McDonald could only be replaced by a final rookie pick. Six weeks ago, I thought he was gone. I've changed my mind over that period based on his performances. I would be very surprised if he spent much, if any, time in the middle next year but his work ethic is a valuable one in a developing side. I certainly could see him filling a pocket (either forward or back) similar to the role Lockyer has played with Collingwood over the last couple of years. I tend to think that it also gives the coaching staff another year to see if a standout appears for the captaincy role. My view is that there is not one at the moment.

My rankings are for the players in their career as forwards, rather than their overall career. This pushes Grant and Neitz a bit down the list. Lloyd Richo Tredrea Lucas Grant C Hall Neitz Robbo O'Loughlin Rocca A If it related to their overall careers, Grant would be alongside Lloyd, and Neitz would be in the group with Richo, Tredrea and Lucas.

Trading for high draft picks is always going to be a risk. It has to be about where a club's list is at any given time. For instance, if Fremantle could get Hawthorn's first two picks for Sandilands, it would be speculative on the part of the dockers, but an offer they probably should accept given the state of their list. It may also given them more flexibility in looking at trades for their 2nd - 4th picks, all of which would be in the top 25. Ditto Matthew Pavlich. We don't have any players of that caliber, much less so ones who are in the last 4-5 years of their career, and it looks like we will have picks 1 & 2, so the opportunity and incentive for Melbourne to do it is much less.

Very mischievous Nasher... From a pure footballing perspective, I would trade Davey for pick 6 in a heartbeat. However, from an overall club perspective, I don't think we can or should. He is one of the few players in that mid age bracket (26) and his importance and leadership have certainly seemed to improve this year. Nowhere near captain material in my view, but probably in the 2010 leadership group.

I don't think forward structures have changed that much. The emphasis on forward pressure has certainly increased, but great forwards like Dunstall, Ablett and Lockett always got the majority of their goals from the lead. Teams do need a target though, particularly when the pressure increases. The query over Geelong and the dogs is their lack of this - form in the case of Geelong and anyone in the case of the WB. If anything, it emphasises just how important a fit and in-form Cameron Mooney is to Geelong. It isn't a matter of it being the only option, but it needs to be an option otherwise you have to rely on precision kicking which is exceptionally difficult under finals pressure. The player doesn't even have to be a star, they just have to be capable of forcing a contest and being a target. Quinten Lynch is no star (although he has gone up in my estimation this year), but he played this role very well for the eagles in their premiership year. Most of the other premiership teams, at least over the last decade, have had at least one star key forward.