BW511

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!

Hope some of our big fellas can track down ‘turns’ and let him/her know it’s not on

Seems very strange that North would want to get rid of Ben Brown, yet bring T-Mac in? Surely Brown is a better bet for guaranteed goals? Must be a reason

I’m with you there. Fritsch and Weid have probably combined for the same amount of goals as Gunston this year. We still need to find another 30-40 goal forward to add onto what ever Fritsch and Weid contribute, here he is. He’s capable on the deck too, his roving goal on the weekend was a beauty for someone 193cm. Also, the additional contests created means more opportunities for Kossie to get involved. Above all else, he can be the general for the forward half and give our guys some on field directive for positioning, timing and technique

I think Zach Merret would be a nice compliment to Trac and Oliver, he’s a very different player and could play that traditional centre man role, ala Craig Bradley.

Agree, he would compete and it’s not like Max has given us any great advantage in 2020

He’s definitely somewhere between a KPF and a flanker, just happens to have a big body to go with his incredible tank. If Fritsch could kick he’d be a 40+ and he’s not even close to a KPF, so goals don’t necessarily dictate position