Gawndy the Great

When a butterfly flaps it’s wings… we lose out on Reid. FMD

100%. Pies are falling off the face of a cliff. THey will have no backline on Friday night and the Bombers, well they have to respond to the mauling... They lose, we then must win.

Its a strong HB line. Daicos deserves the merits but Hayden Young hasn't had his best year. Sheezel has been a stand out, but is that more because he is playing in a team of duds? Rivers has been a standout in a team of stars... that has to say something to the selectors.

GCS pick 4, which we take through a pick swap of our 2nd rounders and pick 15. Should give the GCS a net 400 minimum depending on what we put up. They’ll need to find at least 1000 pts somehow if they want all 3 academy players.

Play some hardball I reckon. Sydney’s 2nd round pick (from Hawthorn) which will end up being a 23 ish. Which I think is fair. I think we definitely try to secure GCS pick and then split our pick 5 with GWS for 7 and 11. Going into the draft with 4, 7 and 11 into the draft will be fantastic and can set us up for another 10 years.

Whately was rather animated last night re goal line tech. It does happen. I suspect it won’t get much of a mention but you can only hope.

Absolutely 100% disgraceful. Hope the media go to town on this decision.

Honestly, can’t see Port wanting to part ways with him. Dixon on one leg will likely retire, Finlayson and Marshall is not the best forward line. Maybe Lord gives them an edge but he is no Georgiadies. If we are chasing this they’ll likely want additional picks and part of Grundys contract paid. Good thing is we have Sydney as a suitor so will like get a reasonable deal.

What happened to mccreary? Media has been awfully quiet on the matter.

The lad has a body readymade for AFL. They say he requires time to develop, but already has the tank by all accounts. After all NGA's I don't think he is still there at current our 2nd pick. A good option to replace May in a few years time. Given we are now likely to miss out on Curtin, we need to snare a KPD and allow him to develop under May's tutelage. Perhaps we can organize a 3-way trade with Suns and GWS, which is just the Sun Pick 4/5 scenario then split with GWS's 7 and 11. It would look something like: GWS get Pick 5, F1 (min 2900) and give 7,11 (2923)... Benefit: GWS Jump 2 spots up in the draft and get another pick in 2024 in Round 1 at really no loss to them. Worst case is if we finish 1st, then they lose the equivalent of 40 odd points. Melbourne get 4,7,11 (5007) and give 5, F1 (GWS - min 2900) 15, 23, 33 (Suns) (2490). .. Benefit 3 1st round picks - yes its a pipe dream, but we are giving up more than we are gaining. May need to use some of the incoming pics to get for the potential loss of Tommo and Grundy and others to sweeten the deal with GWS. Suns get 15,23,33 (2490) and give Pick 4 (2023) Benefit. They get an extra 400 pts to be used on academy players taking their tally to approx 4800 pts. We then have picks 4,7,11 and try to take 3 of McKercher, Watson, Duursma & O'Sullivan. We would probably need to do some additional trading to get enough points to also secure Brown, but maybe the Grundy / Tommo F2 and F3 respectively will be sufficient for Kynan.

1. Let JJ go, unless he is prepared to take unders and expect to be depth only 2. Give Melksham and Hibbo 1 year extensions if they come asking. Hibbo probably retires in all honesty as his body is deteriorating.

That's a big call. I think they compliment each other in one has dash, agility and strength and the other has poise and flair. Ultimately i can see Riv move into the midfield as a starting member and McVee being used as a weapon off half back much in the way Salem plays today.

I think with all the permutations in the draft, Hawks will use their first pick for him. They are pretty talented in the middle already. We maybe able to split their pick but that is only if we are after a specific player. The other factor is what we would do with the likes of Chandler, ANB, Kozzy and Spargo. I don’t think any of those can play in another part of the ground. Perhaps you develop him in the mould of Rankine. Ie midfield / forward split?

Rivers is definitely a steel. Definitely has some room to grow as well. He is a good size, has good speed and lovely kick. Hopefully he can further develop his play making to go hand-in-hand with his kicking to really explode off half back. I said in another thread that he needs a partner in crime down back. Pig is getting on in age and will probably retire this year. Bowey and Salo just falling short atm. If either one of them can find some of their best form, then we will have a very strong HB line.

He has sublime skills and will rarely miss an opportunity when given one. However i find that his positioning just isnt great. He isn't able to read the game to the point where he is putting himself in the right areas often enough. Sometimes it is about our method and delivery inside 50. Hopefully it was just a temp virus going around. We need him firing for finals.

Out of Duursma and Caddy, who has the ability to bust open packs, has a good leap and is a good technical kick?

2 very handy picks if we get the Suns pick 4/5. That’ll give an immediate boost to our list. Need two athletes with speed and skill that’ll help with ball movement and transition in the coming years.

Assuming we finish 4th and play Pies , If we win at the G, are we guaranteed a home PF?

There was just a few moments from Laurie which made me notice the hard attack on the ball - pity we are carrying so many small forward / midfield types. No guarantees in 2024, but give him another few games - looks like he just needs a few more senior games to get the pace of it.

Unfortunately it’s all too common now in big games.

Is someone told me one team was 4th and the other 16th without telling me which team was which … I’m not sure I could tell

Why is anyone surprised? I could have told you this is always a danger game.

Insipid , complacent and straight set bound with this [censored].

Alarm bells.

I thought every goal was reviewed despite what goal umpire said? The AFL is a shambles.