The end is nigh

Hoping king and Flanders both publicly endorse a trade to us at the beginning of trade period and we hawthorn them down to unders. Pick 23 as a starting point and eventually roll our eyes late in the piece and give them a future third with it. I feel safe picturing Flanders locked into a high accumulation/distribution role off half back.

I’d be far happier to see us linked to Jed Walters, but can’t see us having a way to make it happen. Also on the amiss side of things, my biggest concern is that mcvee might be testing the waters and we need to have a reasonable play at getting something back.

I’m at a point where I’d like to see change. Given Scott is sounding like Melbourne last year huffing about contracts I don’t see Merrett moving. If the trades we got for moving on petracca and Tholstrop netted us back Flanders and amiss (and we held onto ANY first rounder for next year) I’d be very happy with our list management. Flanders is a prime ball mover, and has shown he has capacity to be a 30-40 touch player when white hot. He gets shunted out of position up at Gold Coast and if we had a Trac sized hole I think he would find that a clear opening to set himself up in. Amiss is an upgrade on any of our kpf and whilst I’d love kentfield jeffo and JVR to all be demanding spots round one next year with undeniable form, at this stage we still have petty being first picked out of the goal square, when I think most supporters (including me) would rather see him set up shop in mays neck of the woods.

I don’t think any would decline the b&f with bad blood, and also wouldn’t be surprised to see some do medicals or train on with another club given their ages, hoping to impress enough to fill a final list spot. Despite not making the cut at the highest level, I’d expect all these guys to still command a good wage at local/country level and to tear it up. Go well, former dees 🫡

Hopefully they’ve upped his offer to playing for Melbourne.

My two cents on possible list change, and direct structural correlation of the list: Hore out for Derksen (key def depth) Fullarton out for heath (ruck back up) Brown out for windhager (def running mid) Verrall out for white (project ruck) Billings out for Sinnema (outside user) Given moniz Wakefield and mcadam are back on the list, woey and Henderson drop off Spargo to try his luck at north? If not, year by year extensions. (If so, son of Walsh as a rookie pick up?) Sestan has shown some assets but needs a strong preseason to be considered for AFL opportunity. Hoping McVee and the new coach have a simple discussion and he signs for 2-4 years. All of the outs will net nothing in draft capital. And the ins likely cost us future picks (heath for future 3rd/4th swap?, derksen for future 4th?) as well as most of our hand this year (windhager-23, white 52, sinnema 59 🤞😈🤞) All of this amounts to a little rejuvenation and cleanout of some clogged spots which hopefully results in a few surprises. Feels a little bland, but hoping the coaching staff overhaul brings the excitement. If we are to improve next year, i think it’s on the back of Windsor Lindsay and Langford establishing and Trac and clarry doing Trac and clarry things again.

Was an academy pic (which it seems some clubs don’t waste time bidding on as it looks to devalue the guy they actually get somehow). But also, once the draft is done they’re rated va the pick on the table. Our second rounder seems reasonable, just hope we’ve done our kalani/sinnema homework.

Going forward I would like petty to be entrenched as a full back. Disco has stamped himself at centre half back. Lever when fit can play a floater 3rd man up intercepter role and tmac is cover/horses for courses. May is surplus to needs with his greatest asset being his vocal cords and pointing fingers. If a club can see a use for him, I wouldn’t care if it’s virtually for free. A packet of crisps would be fine (late pick upgrade?) Adams and derksen (and fullarton if still on the list too) as developing options who can break the door down to get in will be ample key defenders for a list. Kailani might spend year one in the vfl down there too.

Congrats to Langdon, deserving of being celebrated and I wish his milestone was given clearer air. Just as an aside, I sorely miss the Gus and Gawny podcast and the cheeky fun they’d have addressing Ed being a character. Don’t have to be a complete footy head to excel at the game, glad he came to us when he did and hopeful he plays on for some time yet. Also, glad he grew his locks back. #positivelingers #HappyE

Andy was right on the podcast, less than a 100 point win was unacceptable and the blackest mark since the day down in Geelong that saw dean bailey gone. But in a bit more seriousness, thanks for the flag Simon. Thanks for captaining Max and a whole lot of joyful memories throughout the journey. I had lots of learnings along the way.

Mid season draftees get to put the contract length in before the draft, either 6 or 18 months. Derksen obviously went the latter. Out of contract, I expect gws to make it easy this time round. Will need a token 4th thrown their way. We don’t play hardball and unlikely we need to.

Mitch Hardie on a rookie contract couldn’t hurt either

Very clean hands for jeffo with hands up high

In protest I would suggest at the game at the one minute mark (in reference to his jumper) that we all stand and turn our backs for a minute per week he cops. However I’m sure the media will interpret it wrong and call for Goodwin to be sacked as it indicates he has lost support of the fans

Curiosity, if players are planning a fancy dinner out this week, does May get an invite? I hope whatever the tribunal hands down, he follows doctors orders this time

We need to respect our opposition and Curtis as a small forward had 22 and kicked 3.2 against us earlier this year. That’s kossie numbers. Mcvee is our best lock down for this size player and I’m over hearing the thought process that we need to satisfy players so they don’t leave. Judd is playing afl week in week out and is a lock in our 22 as a back pocket. I agree that he has attacking skills from there but we don’t need to turn everybody into mids. Especially when our midfield is either freshly drafted or entrenched stars on long contracts already.

No larkey and no LDU, the odds are justified. If we see kentfield for fritsch, I’m happy enough. If jeffo is playing sneaky pocket leads I hope he drills the shots. I’m content with Windsor having a stint in the vfl to work on his centre square craft. His speed in the guts is a 2026 asset, not ready yet. Melksham chandler and sparrow will have a task to keep Daniel and mckercher from having impact. Sheezel and Simpkin are quality players but so are our mids. Gawn v xerri will be fun. Mcvee to take Curtis. Yes, Rankine gave him a bath, but this is his job and he’s the right man for it.

Keen to see how our mids hold up, their centre square looks above this level. Kentfield up forward with other big bodies, will be interesting to see who handles the pack marks best.

Like the idea of grabbing Walsh(hopefully late/cheap), from all the chatter this years draft crop won’t be as good generally so good to have our picks protected to a degree. Hope we straighten out our draft hand for 2026 and let JT loose to mine the 2nd and 3rd round gems. If there’s any chance to bolster our hand next year because we know we don’t need to cover points matching (admittedly risky), would be good to trade picks to the teams scrambling to make up points. ie if we can trade our second rounder this year to a later second rounder and upgrade next years fourth to a teams third, might not seem much but could make a world of difference to both sides. That said we need to make sure we can pay for kalani sinnema and Walsh as necessary so hope they have a good read on where bids will come

I hope May gets dropped. Going Gawn after the siren for his missed kick. That’s not the love Melbourne plays with. Bring back TMac.

Whilst he is playing some really enjoyable footy and a great role of contribution, I have to nitpick and reminisce that this is not the best footy of his career as stated in OP. Jake has had a fantastic career with a prime that shouldn’t be glossed over. This final stanza is a great footnote of determination, but his career has had some real peaks along the way too.

Casey losing the services of Caleb Lewis. Best of luck to him. With Melbourne/caseys ample tall forward stocks, didn’t really get to see much action.

Feel like most have written him off but happy for Laurie to get first crack. He’s next man up regularly in this area for good reason. He’s got good skills and imo has been very consistent at Casey. Been hitting the scoreboard a little last few weeks too. Would like to see him get a full crack at it (or 3 quarters at least). Don’t want to see him asked to play Spargos role though. I feel we are doing a great job in recent times of letting players use their strengths and Laurie does better higher up, linking in the mids. I can see spargos spot on field being filled rotationally between Langford chandler and Laurie.

Will we benefit from playing AJ up north? Are we in a position to rest anyone/ develop others? Should we be pushing our best team each week to try recover percentage lost in the early season and if so, are we about to see the most exciting dees since 2021?

Listening to cal twomey, this draft is pretty weak. Last week he came out and said the top 5 in not only last year but the year before would be a clear number one this year. Sounds like we did very well to trade out of it and bring in XL