BW511

What a monumental [censored] up. Keep the coach so they can try and recruit DeGoey then sack him the day after trade period so no players can try and escape. There is absolutely no reason to become an AFL coach now, it's a hiding to nothing

Our improvement will come from having available players. If T-Mac can play 75% of the year, particularly in the back half, we should be primed for a tilt. 2021 was a charmed run with injury, 2022 was a horror show. If we are somewhere inbetween we are top 4 at a minimum

I have been pretty big on our depth not being good enough, however when you look at this we have 6 blokes from our finals side (including Jordon) playing 2's and it would be hard to argue against it. I'd like to see whether we can get a little bit more of a dynamic HFF setup with some goal kicking emphasis. Also think Gawn, Fritta, JVR & T-Mac may be a bit too top heavy. Would rather see if we can get Chandler or Laurie to add some zing

Shiels retired too

Hopefully Naughton was a cover for Schache, then when that started gaining legs Naughton actually considered the Dees and wants to make it happen

Will be interesting to see how he falls into line with a game plan that isn't all out attack. Hopefully we can find some ways to utilise his skillset

Imagine the team meetings with teams that run a single ruckman. 'At one end you have Max and when it leaves his zone you get Grundy - Good luck today son, you'll need it'

Now that it’s been said to be made up, it still makes sense for both parties. Bruce is better at AFL level than Weid, Mitch Brown & Joel Smith (Forward). He’d arguably be the same, if not better, output than BB with our current game plan. All that’s left is Fritta and Kossie and he’s not taking their roles. He’ll also be dropping down the pecking order at the dogs with Naughton, Ugle-Hagan & Lobb fighting for the big-man roles. I’m not including Darcy, who could also be down there. He can be 1st or 2nd forward with us or 3rd or 4th forward with the dogs - no brainer for Bruce

I reckon Bruce is a better forward than Lobb and we have Grundy coming in for ruck duties

Surely this means T-Mac & Brown are properly cooked? I think they were both going in for surgery post season

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