BW511

Ultimate Essendon, have a bloke wanting to come over and the coach can't even find the time

Would be a perfect fit for us, would love to be in the running. Life would be a lot easier for TT with our mids around him

Another good reminder that success (flags) isn't the most important thing to players. It's not like Harmes walks into Essendon's midfield and becomes a frontline mid - he'd still be behind Merrett, Shiel and Parish in the pecking order with Caldwell and others on his level too.

Harmes has always struck me as a bit of a prima donna, even if he did grow up supporting the dees. Interesting period coming up if we lose Tomlinson, Hunt, Bedford & Harmes. That’s 4 blokes from the top 24. Decent hit to depth

Agree. At the end of the day, if there was nothing to the story it would all disappear and Clarkson/Fagan/Burt/HFC would have nothing to worry about. Their combined reactions and wording suggest otherwise, in my opinion

If we had JVR, Georgiades and Fritta we’d have a very dynamic trio. All similar height but each a very different style of player. Paired with either of BB & T-Mac, that would be a quality setup. Would also help to keep all of the above honest and put pressure on for game time

I like the idea of throwing some magnets around, although this seems a little top heavy for me. Turner, Smith, May & Lever in particular. I'd play Bowey on the wing over Salem, my feeling is Salem is a little lacking for leg speed. I'm just really hopeful that JVR has a ripping pre-season and we can stop wondering about whether he should be picked. Also think Grundy will be instrumental around clearances, he can shift bodies at will and Trac and Clarry should have a field day getting out of stoppages.

A Stevie J type would be absolutely perfect for us, if that's who he is being compared to, let's get it done.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2022/09/29/de-goey-poised-to-make-big-decision-in-coming-days-as-st-kilda-confirms/ This says he isn't signed yet - posted 3 hours ago

Can culture hit targets by foot?

Daniher, Hipwood, Gunston, Cameron, Rayner, McCarthy & Bailey are all very capable goal kickers, plus Zorko will be parked there too. There's a bit to manage in that forward line from an opposition point of view

Think a few people are underselling the 2023 version of Brisbane here. Gunston has averaged 2 goals a game this year coming off an entire year off. (32 from 16) Dunkley has just won the dogs BnF. He's also very capable defensively. Ashcroft has been the number 1 pick from miles out, he's been getting it done in every game he has played, including VFL against bigger bodies. Adding 3 best 10-15 players over one off season is enormous, particularly when two of them would comfortably be between 1-5 on the list.

Reckon this is how the Geelong dream is sold. They have a lot of positions which will be vacant through age, we have positions which will be vacant only through form. Work harder or work smarter?

I am not sure it's as simple as Bowey or Hunt fighting for one spot. I would have banked on Hunt and Bowza both being in the round 1 side, more likely at the expense of Hibbo. I would think our future is better served by having Hunt available to play 20 games a year than Joel Smith being well rounded but injured.

I can see why Smith is more beneficial for the list but I'd take Hunt's 40 actual games over Smith's flexibility