BW511

We haven’t been able to fully embrace this time for a few years, feels comfortable being back competing from October onwards.

There’s a very real possibility that North go past us next year, so I’d imagine Jack had a decent glance at what North threw at him.

I would agree with @adonski Would prefer to take an early second rounder to the draft (ANB)

The top 7 picks from 2023 have all played 13 games or more this year, kids can play and impact immediately now. Windsor is the most with 19 and he would have still been playing barring injury. 6 has to go to the draft in my opinion and a super agile/quick, skilled midfielder is the target.

I mean, if the clubs best player is out complaining to anyone who will listen (allegedly) then it would make anyone nervous. Don’t really see how this is any different

I would imagine this is the situation that’s actually played out, the club were happy with 12 or 13 and now that it’s considerably higher, we won’t deal it away

Proper plot twist if the leadership group walked him out

I hope it was some 4D chess from the club, leak some stuff to the media to cool Houston’s enthusiasm and avoid using pick 6 😄

That excites me more than you would imagine. A tall, skillful Half Forward and a bloke that can actually hit him from 50m away. Entire game transformed

Would love Nibbler out and Lukosius in. A modern day Jack Watts - which complements our huge group of contested only guys

Windsor is the most exciting player to walk into the club in a long time. He has bucked the trend of protecting skinny kids in the VFL and has had meaningful contributions for almost all of his games. With the sad news of Nibblers trade request, I think that could be the final nail in the coffin for this dour game plan. Nibbler was relied upon to cover for everyone. Without his defensive running power we will need a proper rethink and change is what we need

I watched Viney, yes. So North are probably speaking to Todd and Todd probably isn’t mentioning it to Jack? If we go into next year with Viney, Trac and Clarry as our starting mids, I’d say we are in grave danger. If Viney, Trac and Clarry have been told something along these lines, I suspect all three would be very, very [censored]. Next minute, Adelaide, North and knowing our luck, probably Collingwood, come banging down the door for those guys. As individuals they can all be brilliant, as a collective, they are on their last legs

I guess the players don’t really appreciate contest and defence as much as Goody. North would not be speaking with Jack Viney unless there was some small chance it could happen. Viney would have never dreamed of leaving Melbourne unless there was some smoke there, he’s too proud a man.

I am far from a Sparrow fan but the amount of times I’ve seen ‘Sparrow - great tagging game’ or similar would suggest you do think he can tag

Given we had him in front of us all night, I was particularly interested to see how he went. No doubting his kicking ability and he did more defensively than I expected. Just don’t see how his foot skills and run create the result we all want with our slow/safe game plan. Same with the Gulden/Daicos example. They need a system that backs them in to attack.

I think Lever’s leadership credentials are strong but I’m not sure his football, since our flag, matches it.

The dogs were significantly taller than us all over the ground

My favourite thing about Dusty is that he didn’t have to be dirty or disadvantage his opponent, he just beat them as honestly as you can, every time.

I wonder how Bailey would fare in a team that played to his strengths, I think he’d comfortably kick another 15-20 goals a year - his working day would certainly be a lot more enjoyable. I bet he’s had some very lucrative offers float his way in recent years

I’d be interested to know what the view on this is inside clubland versus fans versus AFL house. I believe the 5 day breaks have far too much of an influence on results and the league has gone too far in its quest for equalisation. Really hope crowd numbers and tv audience backs that up so the ship can be steadied for 2025

I’ve heard (from people that know) that Leppitsch is a real hot head, would be a pretty big cultural shift from the mentality of the current coaches.

I’m firmly in the camp that even two later first rounders is too much, given there seems to be plenty of talent. Of course we would love to land the next Trac or peak Clarry but I’d argue we only need to improve on Viney/Sparrow/ANB to significantly improve our mix. Interestingly, I saw a BigFooty draft contributor mention in his thread that he thought the draft was very even because he doesn’t think any/many become match winners at AFL level from this crop - noting i’m paraphrasing. Again, take it with a grain of salt. Perhaps there’s plenty of good honest players but a known elite quantity eclipses good honest toilers. If the club thinks we are an elite HBF away from being back in contention, then no amount of draft picks will help us.

There’s also ‘overtraining’ which may not have happened as a result of this year alone, however the cumulative effect of 3-4 years of the most taxing gameplan could certainly do it. I have been pretty convinced we have been going about things in a fashion that’s far more difficult than it needs to be.

Best thing about Bont is he does it every single week

I still think Sydney’s best is better than anyone else, so if they can sneak a few guys back over the next few weeks I’m on them. Otherwise, would love to see the dogs come from afar and snag one again. Mainly just because Bont deserves it