Ollie fan

Very interesting. 24 players but 27 officials – a sign of things to come? The mentality of our administration just got worse and worse - most obviously with the infamous Norm Smith sacking. Thank heavens we are now have an administration which seems quite prepared to administer efficiently and quietly!

Good on them! Being sensible and trusting players is how you obtain loyalty, and this will certainly pay off in the long run – plus, it’s the right thing to do.

In his first year with us, I thought he looked like a really good player who could ultimately replace Neville Jetta. I wish him all the best at North.

That is pretty much what was in the interview on the MFC website. I suspect there is a bit of tactics in it – Taylor is warning other clubs that if they bid on him early, to try and provoke a matching bid from us, they might end up being stuck with him for an earlier draft pick than they would like.

Now we need to sign him up for 7 years like Trac. Imagine what clubs like Carlton will offer him in a year or so!

Watching the highlights reel, this was exactly what I thought. If he could work with Choco over summer on kicking the ball accurately at pace, he would become a true champion of the competition.

Totally agree

I thought he was a real dud, particularly in that game where he kicked into the man on the mark, and handballed into the man on the mark, in separate incidents. He proved me completely wrong in the grand final! I love his build (an absolute brick …house), a fantastic long kick, and a good mark. I think he might have real potential.

So Daisy has been accepted into the Women’s Coaching Academy - The only one of the seven selected who is an active player and not a current coach or assistant coach. I am a total fan of her as a commentator; I think she is by far the best analyst of them all. Let’s hope she can end up as a coach, perhaps even the senior coach of our men’s team in due course? Or at the very least, as a strategist/analyst.

In a team which has a number of X factor players, he is an X factor player! There are some games where he can’t find the ball but to my eyes, he is always trying. And when he is in form, how can another team match up on him? Fantastic in the air, clean on the ground, a beautiful kick, fast and agile. An excellent player.

That YouTube of Greg Parke - amazingly, he kicked some good goals from set shots. Generally, that was what let him down and stopped him being an all-time champion.

He was always one of my favourite players. Never shirked, gave everything he had, terrible luck with injuries.

I’ve heard similar. Going back watching the videos for the season, it reminds me how much teams target him, totally unfairly, usually just behind the play and like Maxy, he gets minimal protection from the umpires.

I certainly want him next year. Who else would you play on Toby greene, or dusty, or jake stringer? To my mind, he is our best option for each of those, at least until Tomlinson is back

More than interesting! Apart from anything else, he makes it plain that avoiding injuries is not luck, it was part of his method. It is so dreadful that we have lost this genius! We can only hope that he has been able to teach those with whom he worked.

Outstanding news!!!!!!

What we will find out now is whether these players have as good a character as Tom McDonald did.

Fair call.

I may be biased and one-eyed but I can’t think of one player in our premiership team that I would want to replace with a player from another club. To take a ridiculous example: if Dusty was available, who would we replace with him? Not Oliver or Petracca - they are as good as him or better. Sparrow? - Dusty is certainly a better player but Sparrow had a particular role as a blocker/pressure player which is a role Dusty could not play. Same with Viney, or Harmes, or any of them. Each player we have is perfect for the role they are asked to play. Yes, it is a ridiculous example. I am sure we would fit him in somewhere! But a lesser player like O’Meara -why bother?

Re-watching some of the games of the year, I watch how these two interact. Each time either of them gets the ball, they look for each other with an absolutely beautiful connection. To me, the only way to describe their connection is: love. There is obviously total trust between them, and why shouldn’t there be? They each know that the other one will respond with ability, cleanliness, determination, and overall brilliance. For decades to come, we will debate which is the better, but there is no true answer to that. We are just so lucky to have them both. it seems to me we have two other superb combinations. One is Lever and May in the backline, and I think the word for their relationship is: respect. We also have Langdon and Hunt and to me the word for that is: fun. Or perhaps: joy. And for us supporters, the three words together: love, respect and joy.

I couldn’t back against us for the premiership but, for the grand final, Essendon would be the smoky there!

I will look forward to that. I remember him very well as an outstandingly strong mark and an absolutely shocking kick.

That sets out the All Australian team and their draft selection. Only 1 no 1 pick. 5 picks over 40 including one rookie draftee. I have always thought the draft is overrated and I think a club is mad to trade a good player for a draft pick. A draft pick is the hope of a good player; a good player is an actual good player.

So many great possibilities. We already have the best captain in the league. In waiting: Petracca, Oliver, Lever, maybe Brayshaw and then the generation after includes Jackson and possibly Bowey (Mr Cool Head)!