Deeko2

I'm really surprised at the love for Gawny today. Obviously he had some great moments but the couple of kicking clangers really were very poor and hurt a lot. Also, I thought that Cameron had more impact around the ground linking for the pies and got into more score involvements. May. Back to his best the last fortnight and an absolute wall and intercepting well. Langdon. Wonderful shut down role on someone who sadly is a hell of a ball user - although he's a seagull. Yes we lost Lingers run and carry but it was worth it to stop Daicos who's stats were inflated by some very suspicious decisions going his way and an ordinary 50m penalty. Kozzy. Three amazing goals and took his chances when he needed to. Probably sometimes tried to hard and got stuck in traffic but I'd rather him doing this then bombing it to no on. Oliver. He really really really just wants the ball more than the next bloke and one some incredibly one on ones. Good hands at times but still lets us down with the dump kicks occasionally. Turner. Just good hands, good decisions and tough nut of a player. A lot to love about him Bowey. Don't recall much damage from the pies smalls and this guy just keeps on negating and rebounding really well. Has been great all year. Special mention to Sparrow today as I saw him really going hard at Houston in a defensive role. Not sure if he was on him all game but I just noticed him with him a lot and can't recall Houston rebounding much today which was surprising with our ordinary delivery.

I don't even think the Geelong supporters pretend anymore and just get on with it knowing that their club is doing better at the shady deals in comparison to others. I've neve been sold on the rumours about the 'dollar farms' concept. It would be pretty easy to trace the flow of funds by completing some searches that show COS signed amounts etc. One thing I have seen from there players (actively on socials over the years) was the constant change/upgrade of vehicles. I always wondered if one or two were gifted to the players annually and they just sell the old ones. Additionally, adding a player or two in a syndicate for a land development would be pretty easy which looks to have been completed over the journey for a lucky few and previous premiership coach. The challenge that all Vic clubs have with the cats however is that they do market themselves well to players around a lifestyle point of view. Its something that we just can't compete with. One of my best mates brothers played there for 10 years over the 07-11 successes and they basically had the entire playing group at there house mid week for a BBQ, couple beers and backyard cricket with everyone living within 20 mins of each other at the time. Other than a very few (Chapmans apparently a horrid human and Bartel a diva) they were all incredibly close. They also stay connected with every country Vic lad who comes through the Pioneers, Bushrangers or Falcons programs just waiting for an opportunity to bring them back to the country lifestyle. I can't stand the club and love seeing them get done (equally with the filth, blues & bombers) but have to admit, its purely from jealousy. They continually seem to push the boundaries, they do it well and get away it. So kudos to them and I hope we're just as ruthless towards winning.

Thanks Ghosty, appreciate the response. Really enjoyed reading the above. I just wondered from not seeing or hearing anything about him for a number of weeks whether he was just having a spell away from everything football related. Happy to hear that he's committing to other training methods.

Hey Ghosty, thanks for keeping the training threads going along. Really appreciate it. Hey can you tell me if McAdam has been back around the group? I thought he would have been more visible around the indigenous rounds but I don't recall seeing him. Does he still get around the lads much or are they getting around him still?

On AJ, it's a sad state of affairs that he is the best we have right now in this role until JVR starts clunking them again but I agree that his efforts are admirable and I have no doubt watching him that he is a selfless player and will always commit. In all fairness however, its a pretty low bar for him. We're talking up his scrapping and physicality when really this should be the minimum commitment for every player ever to pull on the red and blue. A knock on here and there is yes, a positive. But to me this was offset by a couple missed handball turnovers along with a shocking chest mark he spilt about 20m straight in front. If this was JVR (as we have higher expectations) then we'd all be spitting out our frothies in disgust. Instead, being an older aged rookie we all desperately cling to his positives no mattter what they are and try to look past the mistakes. I actually think give him another couple games to see if he gets more used to the speed of the game and see if improves further. If not, we really can't keep him in. Petty would offer the same in the ruck (bugger all) and has more skill around the grounds. I'm confident he'll be able to replace Aidan's 4 hit outs, two tackles and no marks over the last fortnight. Then its either JVR as a permanent forward (when he's ready) or Disco back up forward and TMAC in down back where he was doing very nicely.

I think he'll play plenty more than 300. He is an absolute professional in how he clearly looks after his body around his training and recovery. He's also talented enough as a player to spend more and more time up forward where he'll still provide an impact for the team and reduce his midfield minutes as he ages. Putting aside some emotive thoughts we all might have during his challenging period with the club and his recovery from a horrific injury, the bloke has been an incredible footballer and go down as a Demons great if he finishes his career with us. If I was able to get there Sunday I'd be cheering him with every possession and will always reflect with great love in his 2021 GF efforts. Congratulations Trac

Jeepers this is intriguing. If there is anyway to keep Kozzi and get Jacko, add in another decent mid (maybe a free agent) then we could be back in the hunt for the next 2 years whilst we still have Max and May. Sadly I don't know how it gets done without Kozzi being involved as there is no way that Freo would want draft picks as the team and age group they have should really seeing them push for a top 4-6 spot - especially with such a home ground advantage. I really rate Jacko but I think goal kicking mids (high half forwards) with skill and speed to burn right now are the most important part of the game. We have issues kicking goals already and losing Kozzi I think hurts us more than gaining Jacko. The other thing is that Freo have a couple players similar to Kozz so other than him being a gun, is he really a need for them? Hoping we can do everything we can to get him in for draft and future draft picks - like they did to us. Again - doubt they'd accept with him being contracted.

Probably broke even/slightly ahead of OMac in the ruck. The only thing I liked about his game was he seemed to create more spacing up forward. It looked like he was leading away from congestion a couple times creating more space of Petty and our mid sized forwards. A few other times I noticed him staying very deep in the square and not leading out - again allowing for more space and improving the likelihood of scoring. I was wondering if this was a game plan issue (which I like if so) or was it just himself not presenting and forcing mids to kick it to him (as the great forwards do). Hard to tell. Looking forward to seeing it for another week or 2 and see how it goes.

All fair concerns really and I share some similar thoughts there however I don't think the salary cap isn't going to be a concern in a couple years. My thoughts (nothing to back up this mind you) is that we extended Max and Vineys contracts last year to significantly front load some payments once we probably new we were out of the Houston chat. There last couple years I'm thinking will be fairly minimal and more on field coaches - although Gawn won't be shorter so he'll still be impacting. May and TMAC (may not be on much) will surely be gone freeing up some more $$$. We won't lose Melbourne born kids to another Melbourne based club unless we really [censored] the bed as a club IMO. I'm confident that Langford and XL will around for a long time. As mentioned above, I don't think that Trac and Clarrie will be around sadly. Surely we can turn these two into either a gun mid or two or some high quality drafting - plus so free agency.

Just having a look at our age profile with players 25 and under. It looks like we're already well into a re-build with so much youth coming through over the last 24 months. A little snapshot of the team over the next 7-10 years could be: FB: McVee 21 Petty 25 AMW 21 HB: Rivers 23 **** Bowey 22 C: Windsor 19 Langford 19 Lindsay 18 HF: Chandler 25 Van Rooyen 21 Tholstrup 19 FF: Kozzi 23 Jefferson 21 Disco 23 R: **** **** **** Depth: Spargo 25, Sparrow 24, Laurie 23, Sharp 22, Woey 22, Howes 21, Brown 20 I'm (sadly) of the opinion that Trac and Clarrie will go but desperately hope we hold Pickett. If we could turn Trac and Clarrie into say a Butters (24) and another young up and comer, we really shouldn't be bottoming out at all whilst turning over the list well.

Maybe Gawn isn't at 100%. They might want to play TC for a game here and there to reduce Gawns TOG or rest him up forward to keep him going throughout the year rather than just rest him all together. I actually don't mind him having a chop out here and there to prolong him further. Also, interestingly, TC averages more contested marks and more goals per game then Grundy. Obviously Grundy is the better ruckman when he's on, playing as a 4th midfielder. Still - as we all know, the cats will be walking the pill out of the backline with TC or Gawn attempting some defensive pressure.....

Agreed fully. We might be managing some payments down - who knows. He's been a wonderful player for us. Not an AFL great but a Demons great. He'll also be a wonderful on-field coach leader in time and drives a ferocious standard that I'm happy to have around the club to help develop and protect the young crop. Extending his contract (subject to it being for ridiculous coin) is not a concern of mine. What's interesting this year is seeing where he is touching the pill. He's usually roughly on parody between contested and uncontested ball. This season, his uncontested disposals are doubling that of his contested. Looks like a slight different in role/structure for Jack where he is getting more of it on outside. Bit of a worry for mine as he's never been an overly wonderful kick of the ball. Wouldn't mind him back in and under.

Who will he be playing for this year? Interested to keep some tabs and see how he is tracking along.

Agreed - the worst 'supporter' who I can think of. I still remember Jesse Hogan giving him a clip about using personal information gained whilst he worked for the club to get ahead in the world. I couldn't remember what exactly was said but I found this via good ol google. "Honest leech. Had a job at Melbourne football club that was private and used it and leaked private conversations to get a leg up," Hogan wrote. "Not involving me but genuine leech of a personality." Hogan went so far to call Morris a "fake media personality" before tagging his account at the end of the tead. Tom is a supporter of Tom only. I still can't believe he has a job in footy after his previous comments towards a female colleague as well. Absolute pig of a human. But, moving on from that rant, I actually think neither will be with us next year. We'll be loading up for a full re-build whilst holding on to some hard bodies as protection for the young ones coming through in May, Gawn and Viney. No way I'd let Kozzy go however.

Very very impressive highlights. A good leg and some excellent work with the hands in close. I was thrilled when we picked this kid. Looks as hard as cats scone with some impressive marking and kicking skills. The only thing I was slightly worried about was a lack of space but he clearly has no issues in the big time with a quick first step to create space for himself and excellent instincts to create space for his team mates. He's going to have some up and down moments this year as his young body fatigues during the long season but this kid looks a ripper and long term, will be fantastic MFC player. I have no doubts.

Agree with both the above. It's going to be an amazing upgrade to the area and the community will get a lot more benefits than what they're getting there. I have actually read a few comments from people against it on social media and following a couple pages out of interest. Some of the straw clutching and rhetoric shared is just fear mongering and silly. The comments remain so far off the mark advising that a football club is just going to completely take the area over and there will no access. It is clearly not true as we all know that even on the 17 hours a week we're using the ovals - the community will still have access to the rest of the entire area which will see massive improvements. It's such a common sense project IMO and will have amazing outcomes for the recreation community using it. I say this without my red and blue coloured glasses on.

Cripps/Green are the best comparisons - he doesn't have the explosive power of Petracca (as very very few do). I was super excited we were able to get him draft night. Strikes me as one of those lads who's just been born tough and will have no issue meeting the expectations of his hard nosed team mates. Very much a no-nonsense type and just a bloody good footballer with good skills from what I have seen. I think he'll start on the HFF as his marking prowess looks the goods with some solid sessions in the midfield.

Obviously all of these things impact but its rare that any player is ever 100% - or even close to it. One of the best senior coaches I have ever had mentioned a saying which has always stuck true in that, "you'll always find an excuse if you look for one." I'm possibly Claytons biggest fan. But truth be told, injured or not injured, he was very poor last year. Unfortunately, there was no one really kicking the door down in the twos who would have been better. Just like last year year, he started this preseason looking a lot heavier. I was very worried thinking he may only be a niggle or slight injury set back which could see another poor season in which he wouldn't be able to catch up aerobically to impact on games. We're very fortunate he's gotten through nearly ever session so far and gets solid 2 months of hard training completed, he's going to be exciting to watch come round 1.

Its marked pretty clearly within our feasibility study that the land we're interested in for our base isn't the freehold land. Feasibility study complete | Creating our home You can wander down to the image of the layout and you will see the freehold land the school has purchased. Definitely doesn't impact us.

Thanks GW - appreciate the response. I'm so fascinated by what he's been doing and what his needs are to continually see him on a tailored training session and still not assimilating into the main group. Obviously I don't expect (or want) you to pry. The couple games I remember him at Adelaide I was so impressed with his speed and chase down tackling and opportunistic scores. I really rate him but do worry if he'll be able to get his body right again for that to happen. Anyways, apologies to all about de-railing the Roy George thread. Is Roy on the track again today?

I really rate this kid as a high quality role player in the back half. Can lock down well whilst showing he has excellent rebounding skills with his sharp pace, good decision making and efficient kicking. Not a fan of seeing him in the midfield. Don't mind they gave it a crack late in the year with nothing to lose to see how he'd go, but he's far more valuable as an asset down back. I'd be amazed if West Coast and Fremantle weren't fair dinkum having a crack at this kid. That's just the price you pay for having good players at your club. Just like I'd be amazed if we weren't continually talking to every Victorian kid with talent who plays in SA, NSW, QLD or WA. I'm not a believer of him being a future All-Australian or anything like that - primarily as he's a defender who defends instead of zoning off getting 25 touches - but there is no reason he won't be a 200-250 gamer for the club and finish multiple Melbourne B&Fs in the top 10.

I'm a believer in Shane's skillset and think at his best he's a best 22 player. The question marks I have are how much more time do you give a bloke who unfortunately has a body that doesn't seem to stand up to AFL footy consistently? The fact he isn't in the main group and still effectively only completing 'run-throughs' is also a worry to me. I have no idea why and would be very curious to know why when his last game was mid August. Did he need any off season surgery? Or if its fitness based, why wouldn't he have kept up his training regime to ensure preseason day 1 that he's good to go with the main group? Is there any chance 'Ghostwriter' you could maybe get some details how he is tracking?

Petty is too good of a player to not be in our best 22. I actually rated him as a forward when he started - I think we all did. He had sticky mits, kicked straight and applied decent pressure. In hindsight, we did him no favours rushing him back with little training/fitness last year. Doesn't help playing the hardest spot on the ground against multiple defenders. He looked a completely differently unit and it was hard to watch. The only way we can play the 'Big 4' together is TMac and Petty taking the tall forwards, Lever back to an intercept/third tall defender whilst Stevey takes the medium/small forwards. May has completed some amazing jobs on quick smalls in the past but that was a few years back now when he would have had a little more spring in his step but playing him on a medium forward would be hell of them.

His dad seems to basically be his player manager it seems and will be doing everything he can to promote him and ensure he gets on a list. Can a club basically draft someone with the intention of immediately increasing their contract (in terms of length and dollars) to try and win their favour? Obviously if gets drafted say late first round, he'd be on a 3 year deal at the generic $X amount. What would happen if there is a hand shake agreement from GCS or us to say 'Agree to us and we'll lock you in for another 2 years and bring the back ended payments to year 1' Are things like this discussed when kids have multiple options?

I have no doubt the heart condition was one thing but I'm not sure he was doing that well transitioning to the full time commitment. Note - that's just my opinion and I don't really have anything to back that up other then seeing him as a chilled out kid who didn't quite have the drive. It's interesting that he has still been playing since and still going wonderfully showing off his talents. I believe he is the nephew of everyone's favourite back pocket Neville Jetta.