BDA

You sound like your speaking from experience ?

Only played the 2 games and looked lightweight. He needs to play a run of games to find out if he has it or not. No point taking up a list spot and not giving him a proper run. Ditto Baker.

Recruitment is an inexact science SONS. No need to defend your honour. We’ll all get our fair share of calls wrong. Thanks for posting all the great information on draft prospects. Keep it coming!

Noted and agreed. Let's move on.

Agree except for the father son rule. I like the romance of generations of the same family playing for a club.

The AFL sold its soul a long time ago OD. Way before Gil came along. The fans are rusted on and they know it. The best type of customer.

Fair enough. I’ll take your point on board. From this post onwards no more politics from me. I do wonder though. There have been numerous comments about Trump supporters on the footy forum that are allowed to pass without comment. Would posts about Biden supporters be let slide in the same way?

If it wasn’t for the broadcast money in 2020 the AFL would be in dire straits. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

Oh dear! Just as well the recruitment decisions are made by the professionals. Although LJ is only 12 months into his career so they could be proven right yet ?

Lifted from the AFL website this morning. I reckon its about right except for Harmes on the wing. I'd throw Baker in from the get go to see whats he's made of. Use Harmes off the inter-change and AVB as an emergency. "The addition of Ben Brown from North will give Melbourne's forward line a different look, particularly if Luke Jackson can build on the promising start to his career. That leaves 2018 breakout star Tom McDonald in limbo after the club tried – and failed – to find him a new home. Adam Tomlinson looks best suited to a key role in defence, leaving a wing spot open that can be filled by James Harmes after he failed to fire in the backline in 2020. With speed and skill set to be a priority, Jayden Hunt adds pace on an attacking flank, while Charlie Spargo provides forward nous and pressure. Look for athletic wingman Oskar Baker to push into the side early in the season, but much-loved warriors Nathan Jones and Neville Jetta seem best suited to providing squad depth these days. Harry Petty and Marty Hore will add competition for places in defence, assuming their return to fitness after injury-ruined seasons. B: Jake Lever, Steven May, Michael Hibberd HB: Trent Rivers, Adam Tomlinson, Christian Salem C: James Harmes, Angus Brayshaw, Ed Langdon HF: Jayden Hunt, Sam Weideman, Christian Petracca F: Kozzy Pickett, Ben Brown, Bayley Fritsch R: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney I/C: Luke Jackson, Charlie Spargo, Aaron vandenBerg, Jake Melksham Emerg: Oskar Baker, Jay Lockhart, Nathan Jones, Tom Sparrow

If he kicks on in development I saw the long term replacement for Melksham.

I was about to hit like on your post until I read the final sentence. Have a pop at Trump by all means but can we please leave the voters out of it. You’ll never unite if you disparage the other side. They had very good reasons for not voting Biden. And there's zero relevance/comparison between Treloar and Collingwood and Trump voters as if half of America voting republican is some sort of big surprise! Plus I thought the footy forums were supposed to be apolitical anyways?

You always rise to the bait Nev. Every. Single. Time.

Look what happened to Jesse Hogan!

There are some good small forward options here that are worth a punt. Ebinger at Williamstown and James Rowe in SANFL. Pity list sizes probably rule them out as an option as I’d like to see the club take a chance on one of them with a later pick perhaps.

We’ve tried the square peg, round hole option. He’s just not that versatile. I get we have to try different pieces in different places but Harmesy, like most players, has a best position/role. That’s patently obvious now. Play him through the middle to negate the oppositions best player, resting forward.

A warrior and great servant to the club. Not sure about the extra year but if anyone deserves a contract for sentimental reasons then its Jonesy. He’ll have to earn the right to play next season though. 6 games is too much to gift anyone. If he does reach the 300 game milestone i'll be delighted for him.

Superb season. Unlucky to miss out on AA selection. Never beaten by direct opponent. Defensive lynchpin. Genuine heartfelt B&F speech. A leader. I love this bloke.

I know I’m a heretic but I preferred the shorter quarters. Some games were interminable under the normal format the result known long before the final siren.

You're a hard marker! Agree his goal kicking was much improved this year.

I think the opposite is true. What’s the point in locking in a full fixture when it can change at the drop of a hat? We’ve seen what happened in Adelaide this week. If that happens in season any fixtures with SA teams and their opponents are up in the air and need to be re-scheduled etc. throwing the remaining fixture into disarray. I think a full fixture at this point is a waste of time.

I would normally agree except I got caught out last year booking flights and accommodation to the Gold Coast for an early season game. I have a credit with the airline which I’ll use again but trying to get the accommodation refund was a pain. Even If a full fixture was released now I certainly wouldn’t be making any firm plans. It’ll be a late decision for me this year (hoping we’re playing in Adelaide this year on a Fri night or Sat. haven’t seen Adelaide oval yet).

Personally, I loved having games on every night of the week. I've never seen more footy than i did last season. The pandemic has another 12-18 months to go yet (until vaccine production can be scaled up and rolled out) and as we’ve seen in Adelaide sudden lockdowns are a distinct possibility. I think it should be kept as an option but would not be a preference if it could be avoided. Creates too many advantages and imbalances.

I'll elaborate. I consider personal actions as disparaging someone's character unfairly. The comments on this thread are in the main in relation to performance and capability.

Who’s taking cheap shots? I think comments have been fair and balanced overall. There will always be outliers. What do you want us to do? Suspend our critical faculties because he’s been delisted. We are allowed to criticise (as long as it’s not personal or abusive). It's not like we're speaking ill of the dead!