BW511

Could not agree with this more. Forget about Jackson as a permanent tall forward and let him be whatever the hell he wants/the coaches want on any given day. I really hope they keep him fairly lean and try and play him as a high half forward who has license to roam anywhere. He can take Melksham's spot and give Half Back Flankers nightmares for the next 2 years. This is why I am strongly in the get Brown/Gunston camp. Weid is starting to command a good defender, if we can get someone else who command the same, then Jacko as a 3rd tall is a dream setup for us

That trio or Rozee, Duursma and Butters are good to watch, they back themselves to take the game on and often it pays off

Power had too much intensity for the cats, they were overawed. Geelong seem to have the same issue as us with a whole lot of contested ball guys, yet not much polish

If anyone here has used GPS watches or computers for cycling or running, they are definitely not reliably accurate. Im not sold that Salem is our quickest for the year

Fogarty seems like a mini Tex, built like Tarzan and play like Jane.

Understand the role they are trying to give him, just don't see it in him. He was all but finished as a player at the end of 2019, so 2020 was a bonus.

Not quite sure how Jones managed that

I hope Clarko gives him a friendly nudge, the Hawks likely won't be winning many games over the next 2 years. If people don't believe he makes us infinitely better, I can't fathom that. Give me 10 quality touches from Smith over anything that wing has served up for the past 2 seasons, but we know he'll offer more than that.

As a very flimsy neutral supporter, I think it kills my interest in football. I am barely hanging in there even when Melbourne are playing. In terms of for the playing group, I think it probably helps the better sides more. The lower teams are often running on momentum into the last few weeks to scramble for positions.

Always very interesting seeing how people respond to trade targets. We’ve had how many players roll through the wing position in the last few years and still have one that is left empty. Smith would be a great addition for the role he can play, he’s been one of the best wingmen in the game for near on a decade. Ed Langdon has been talked about as one of the recruits of the year on here and has had an enormous impact on our game. Smith could take him to another level again with his knowledge and leadership. Fills a position with a much better option than what we currently have and will help Langdon/Baker become better players as well.Also keeps another one of our NQR blokes (Jones/Melksham/AVB/ANB etc) out of the side so our depth becomes better. I saw it mentioned elsewhere, but the way to improve our bottom 6 players is to keep recruiting guys that fit in our best 10-12. He ticks all the boxes.

Fair point, but it would be nice to have the luxury of one player that can go up a level

Just grabbed this from BigFooty for those who didn’t think he’s worth it: Would prefer to keep but would definitely be an astute trade for Collingwood. Obviously they'd be getting a classy, clever, versatile and consistent forward who has made the AA squad 5 times. However, they key thing from Collingwoods point of view is his performance in finals. Tall forwards typically struggle to impact finals but Gunston goes up a level. He has kicked 35 goals from 15 finals (12 of those in Grand Finals) and is pretty unlucky not to have a Norm Smith or 2. Compare him to the other forwards on the market... Jeremy Cameron has kicked 16 from 9. Ben Brown has kicked 9 from 7. He even outperforms the best forwards of their finals rivals... Hawkins has kicked 33 in 22 Riewoldt has kicked 25 in 11 Darling has kicked 30 in 16 Others (Lynch, Dixon, Hipwood, etc) are largely unproven with fewer than 4 finals. Kennedy is the only comparable one with 37 from 16 (but Gunston does a lot more around the ground).

I think the fact Bennell got on the park and AVB didn’t break down are glowing endorsements for Burgess. Those two have probably combined for 10 games in 5 years. He seems to have a great rapport with the guys too, I think he’s probably our most important recruit in many, many years

I’d spew if he played for a team I followed. Is going backwards at a rate of knots

I am fairly certain Ben Brown covers a lot more ground than the Weid too. He’s a 13-15km per game forward

Just had a look through your post @Axis of Bob, terrific analysis and it’s hard to argue with such thorough research. I am sure it’s been mentioned by others, but do we value his body work around stoppages so highly that you’d pay him upwards of $600k a year to do it? Of all the things that can be easily taught, getting body position at a stoppage has to be the most simple. For all of Jack’s great blocks you point out, we were still absolutely smashed around the contest when it mattered. I’m of the belief we could find a better balance with a combination of players other than Trac, Viney and Clarry. If Viney was to walk to Geelong, we’d have a good stash of cash to target a mid who’s a little more rounded in general play but could still start with the body at stoppages. Unless your skills are really elite, it’s a liability being so one sided in today’s game. His game is also very kamikaze and it would be hard to ignore a longer contract with the potential of his body failing

I think the state leagues are a big gamble this year, as none have played any football. The AFL blokes were lucky they could play and train, the others haven’t at all

Understandable, but he doesn’t seem quite so invested in himself as Lewis was. Long and accurate kick with a bit of pace - hard to argue against?

His Leadership will be more valuable than his output on the field, of which he will still offer a lot

Speed endurance. Langdon may not be the quickest over a certain distance, but he can keep doing it over and over again. Repeat 100-200’s would be his bread and butter. But as we agreed on with my other post, he had the desire to do it, which I don’t believe the rest of our guys do consistently enough

It’s funny how many Melbourne supporters are concerned with the image, rather than the result. If we can guarantee another 30+ from someone other than Fritta and Weid, we should be jumping at it. Weid gets the second best defender with Brown up there, that alone should net him another 10 goals for the year

Would not imagine any of the those guys, aside from Kossie, burning away from people on the run. Intent and decision making speed are probably more important

Understand all that, but when things are exactly on our terms, we can kick. Anything shy of that and we tend to be dumping it in long. Having said that, Kennedy can take big pack marks still, so it takes a lot of defending to contain him and Weid.

He’s still more than capable, however the service will be nothing like he gets from the WC mids. Would much prefer him to Brown/Daniher as he would offer a lot more leadership and direction on field.

If Trac continues on next year in similar form, he’d command enormous money. $10m over 6 is massive, lucky it didn’t come from a successful club or he’d be gone!