Gawndy the Great

Don’t blame the Roos for asking. Would definitely be strange watching JV in other colours. Is he still untradable, heart and soul? Going on 31, might get 2nd rounder. Although 7 and JV for Pick 2 ain’t too bad. We can then split with Freos 8 and 13. 13 to PA for Houston. 8 to the draft.

Just general attitude problems, inconsistency etc. Kornes has really been the only one defending him in the public forum. If he had been a player at any other club, he would have been all over him. Case and point H.Reid and his comments around his fitness earlier this year.

For as much of [censored] Cornes can be wrt to his style of journalism, he does at least try to make no secret that he still loves his club and will use himself to push an agenda. The way JUH has escaped scrutiny is another example. I heard Lyon try real hard yesterday morning as to why Gawn shouldn't get a 7th AA jacket. I couldnt beleive it.

Here is more evidence of the overhype trade value placed on Houston. AFL 2024: Trade verdict on top players on market, free agents, trade state of play, Bailey Smith, Tim English, Josh Battle, Shai Bolton, analysis (foxsports.com.au) FoxFooty has done an explosive piece around the potential TOP 10 trades for the end of this year. Guess what, Dan couldn't even make the top 10, which had the likes of Perryman (who?) among others before him. I have consequently down valued my initial Future 2nd pick to now a bucket of chips.

Seriously should have gone after Goldstein instead of Grundy.

I thought we were trading Giddy as our version of Pendles?

So Lions get another #pick 1 prospect after Levi nominates the Lions today. Seriously this club cannot get more luck. To get 1 F/S as pick 1 prospect is 1 in 100 but to get 2 in 3 years is daylight robbery. They have essentially done a mini a-grade rebuild, whilst finishing top 4 in the last 5 years. This just doesn’t happen elsewhere. I’m all for F/S but this just isn’t right.

Hmmm. He is our best goal kicker - I can’t see us wanting to trade him. Is he defensively frustrating? Yes. Can he win us the game if his own boot. I’m not so sure. Is he replaceable ? I think so. Will he get us a first pick? Possibly. Where could he possibly go?

or Chandler? Sparrow could be lured on the basis of replacement prospect for Wines.

Is it possible there is a potential salary dump at play here? Think about it - Butters, Rozee, JHF are all entering prime and will demand big $$$. They probably paid overs for Thatcher and Ratugalea. Wines probably still on a large backended deal following brownlow year. I have no way of knowing but its possible. It is why perhaps we havent heard Port come out and blatantly refuse it. The 2 picks is all media speculation, so it has no merit.

Can you just imagine.... Martin, Curnow, Trac, Oliver, Gawn, May, JV in the same team.

Brayshaw maybe. No way you’d be letting Serong go though

If you were Freo, would you use pick 8,13,16 for Shai Bolton and Liam Baker? I don’t know how you pay them all - they are stacked with talent if they can attract these 2.

It’s fascinating how we have swung from one extreme to the other in 6 years. We have a fair chunk of the players still playing from that era. Player for player we are so much better than the 2018 side and yet we are half the team offensively. What ever Goody does it shouldnt be about negating the current method. We have to be more positive, more offensive without being vulnerable like Carlton. The team has built foundations in defence, they know what good looks like. They just need to be given more freedom offensively. It’ll unfortunately take time to develop the method.

Trac running again and at the gym, is a good sign. Should be up to decent loads by the time he hits pre season.

Goodwin will never have him back. I don’t think Hogan would actually want to come back. So it ain’t happening. But agree, the bloke is absolutely nailing it.

Fritta is a problem in a forward half territory game. Which wasn’t really a problem in the past. We generate enough turnovers , what we lack is the ability to chain together and spread in order to consistently turn turnover to score. This is part fitness, part trust, part learning/understanding but the biggest part is skill and execution. Id put Fritt in a HF next year, see how he goes as a link up player. He has great vision and skill.

And May wouldn’t have broken ribs.

We haven’t looked great since Round 11 2022. Even last year we were less convincing than usual. This year is a continued down trend. I suspect next year will be about the same.

All good things must come to an end at some point.

It certainly is. This is more than just personnel issues. This was the year we were supposed to answer the critics. Show them we had strong culture, get rid of the straight sets label. Well we missed that opportunity and now we are at a cross-roads. Which way will we go from here? Rebound or further in the abyss? Do you trust Goodwin, Richo, the assistant coaches and Lamb to get us out of this mess?

Sales departments get lots of budget allocated to get the experience right. If you really want to know what a company is like, measure them on their 'exit' process. Another pet hate of mine is when you 'accidentally' get billed for something and incur a charge immediately but then have to wait 14 days for a refund to be processed.

I respectfully disagree. However what concerns me is that this is the type of trade Tim Lamb will probably get done. Follows in the same style as Hunter, McAdam, Billings etc. One key criteria is a player that is playing more than 80% gametime in the AFL in 2024 and is < 28. Even its just for depth and role playing, this is an absolute must.

You still need at least 1 bull who can win you the ball. Port have Wines (a Brownlow medalist). We just happen to have 3-4 of them (Trac, JV, Oliver and arguably Sparrow), which is why we have been good at the contested game. I also think Trac just needs to accept that he is better for the team in a 60/40 forward/midfield role. He is one of the hardest matchups in that role, which creates a nightmare for just about any defensive system. We also need to find a new role for JV - it seems that time has caught up with him. Midfield to take us forward is: Oliver, Rivers, Windsor, McVee, #Pick 7. There is a lot of unknown in that mix but we have enough senior leaders around the club to aide in its development. Sparrow, Trac, Kozzy will all have some time running through it as well (JV can also contribute in the time that he remain playing).

I cannot see him leaving frankly, but if he did pack up and leave its not the end of the world.