Wiseblood

Seconded. Informative, well written and absent of any bias. Love it.

If they have had off season surgery, then it's an interrupted pre-season. Fact.

Having 6 inside the Top 100, with plenty who could stake a claim of being in there as well, is so much better than not having any at all like previous years. I'll take that every day of the week!

We still have so much improvement to make as well. Guys like Viney, Harmes and Brayshaw will be in there by this time next year. We have others, like Christian Salem, Michael Hibberd, Nev Jetta, Sam Weideman and so forth who could also push their case for a spot in there next year. Not to mention Jake Lever and Steven May, who are fantastic players in their own right. It's all good stuff.

I don't think we really wanted him doing this, though. It came out of necessity when Lever got injured. I think there was a stat showing that after Lever went down we had Max spending more time helping out in the defensive 50, rather than getting a chop out inside our own. Hopefully when Lever returns, and with the addition of May, that we can have both Max and Preuss causing headaches at stoppages and deep in our forward 50.

I'd like to think we'll be fine, as I would rather the players get themselves right for the season ahead than rush back and collapse in a heap by about Round 17. Having said that, we do have plenty of players who are in the rehab group and that's never a good thing. Maybe it's simply the price we pay for getting deep into the finals, when before the players had an extra month or so up their sleeve to get themselves right?

Don't peak too early @binman. It's only December!

That's a banable offence.

You would be a brave soul heading down to training today. Not exactly perfect conditions for it.

Did Goodwin say he was best 22?

I don't think the discussion comes from bitterness. I think it comes from supporters understanding the value Jeffy can bring to the side when he's in form, but also lamenting the fact that he hasn't gotten near it for a while now. His form at VFL level was poor and he didn't even look like getting a recall, even though we were screaming out for someone to sit at the feet of our tall forwards. I'd love to see him get back to his 40 goal a season form, but as ProDee mentioned earlier, there is no room in our side for soft small forwards who don't chase and don't work hard enough. If Jeff wants to survive past 2019 then he'll have to change.

True Andy. If Bedford is good enough, and shows enough, then he'll be rewarded with senior footy. I feel as though he's a different player to Spargo, but time will tell!

Agree. Predicting how he fits into our 22 is really only something that can be done based on his recent form, which we all know was pretty poor in the seniors. We can all see pretty clearly what Goodwin asks of his players, and Garlett just isn't up to it... right now. As you say, he needs to adjust to it to find a way back into the senior side on a regular basis. Not only does he have someone like Spargo to contend with, but you get the feeling that the FD rate Bedford highly as well (although you wouldn't expect him to play much senior footy in his first year). I'd love to see Jeffy back to his best, but I won't be holding my breath, and side stepping a few of his team mates at training won't change my mind either.

Of all the players/coaches/staff at our club, Goodwin is one I worry about the least. He is building something special here, and the Crows have come knocking before, which he said no to. I have no doubt he'll sign an extension before the pre-season footy really kicks off in February.

No idea to be honest. With what is seemingly a quick turn around, you would assume it wouldn't affect that timeline too much, if at all.

That's how I see it too, Steve. A bit frustrating but in the grand scheme of things it matters little. If he is back on the track by Monday then he really hasn't missed too much. That's a win for Jake and the club in my book.

I'd rather see him do that on game day than at a training session in December. I'm in the 'want him to return to form' camp but he'll need to do more than a few side steps for people not to write him off in 2019. He can be an asset to our side moving forward as he's a proven goal kicker who can put plenty of forward pressure on, but the modern game has almost seemed to pass him by in 2018. I'd love him to prove me wrong, but he's coming from a fair way back.

Classic pre-season interview - it's great to hear, but like pre-season training, means little until things really kick in. What I do like is that we have a very experienced person in the role who, aside from a tainted finish at the Pies, has runs on the board as doing some excellent work as a CEO. If he has learned from previous mistakes and helps us set up a much better facility for the club, then it's going to be a great appointment in my book.

The big one for me on that list is Weideman. While we are not privy to how he is feeling, I think the club has done a terrific job at developing him and getting him back to full fitness after the injuries he suffered as a junior. Hopefully he sees this and is keen to sign a long term contract with the club, as we are now putting plenty of faith in him with the loss of Hogan. You would be pretty confident in some of the other main players, like Melksham and Salem, that they will re-sign sometime during 2019, but Weideman is the key one for me.

I predict we finish in the Top 4. Not sure exactly where in the Top 4, but it will happen. I also predict that we'll have a mini slump during the season - now that we've made a Prelim, we'll be the hunted more than the hunters, and this might take a little to adjust to. It might be a few losses in a row or something like that, but I think it will be the making of us next season. Jake Lever will make a successful return from injury and slot into our backline alongside May superbly. Weideman and McDonald to combine to kick more than 80 goals between them. Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes and Viney to combine with Gawn to be the most effective midfield in the competition. Nev Jetta to finally be AA, where he belongs.

He's admitted numerous times that he trolls and baits posters as well. It works both ways.

I agree with the bolded part, Bob. It was silly to say that a kid in his first few training sessions won't make it, especially as he's been concentrating on other sports over the last few years. Bradkte is a project, one in which we may not see the results of for years to come yet. The club knows this, so writing him off now is off the mark. The rest? You should know better. He gives as good as he gets round these parts.

True, and it also highlights the fact that we see this as an area of need since our finals campaign ended. As Moonie mentioned above, Spargo battled on manfully, but having someone at the feet of our forwards who can buzz around, kick a few and put on some tackling pressure would have been super handy. Garlett can play this role but was horribly out of form, through either a lack of effort, unwillingness to work super hard for it or he was blanketed by some good defensive teams. Probably a combination of all three to be honest, although I think most would agree his efforts were pretty poor when he was in the senior side. Jeffy can still have a role to play, but he'll need to work super hard to get a chance at doing it.

Not to mention the addition of Toby Bedford to the list. Hopefully he is up to the challenge, but he will need to impress big time over the pre-season to earn a spot back in the side. Goody doesn't have time for blokes who don't chase and get involved in games enough.

I've always liked their ratings. They're never wrong. I mean, they've been wrong every other year, but this year seems spot on to me.