Jjrogan

I agree. Imho, he has identified the parts of our game and personnel that were weaknesses and is immediately addressing them. He's worked under the best coach in the game so he understands the assisgnment one feels. About time there was a Chris Scott coaching tree, eh. If Gawn and Pickett stay fit, and Rivers and Langford can regularly influence games our midfield will be competitve. (These two are the most likely to have 25 touch, 7 score involvement, brownlown vote and match winning games). Steele/Viney to play defensive roles to stop other midfields getting off the chain. Need to bring them down to our level a fraction. Backline is a wait and see. On paper the names were elite once but I sense watching May, Lever and Petty together will be like observing 3 aircraft carriers perform naval drills. Turner came along at exactly the right time. Up forward is still a big worry. 2 injury riddled guys over 33 years old? Yeah, nah. Dreaming if we think this is an AFL forward line in 2026. Very positive JVR has trimmed up but i still have my doubts he has the natural forward instincts. Okay to give him half a season but if its not working there really needs to be some 'learnings' in the coaches box. Kentfield appears to have great timing and deserves a chance on bigger grounds and space. Other minor worry is we will replace the "defence and contest" dogma with "we want to play an attractive brand of football". Winning is the most attractive brand and I hope this doesnt get trotted out too often. Ask Ange about this. (Bris)Vegas has set our over under wins for next year at 6.5. I think thats too low by 2 games. Go Dees

Yup. Its actually a quickish dynamic midfield for the modern rules. Us and carlton led contested possesion differences last year. Did nothing. Syd and st kilda were top 4 for clearances. Did nothing. Yes, Lions way out in front on that one, but their midfield is quite a special case. More a family tree than anything else. Also we cant forget Max who is a huge part of creating turnovers and intercepts. I think he's got another 3 to 4 years in him easy if he wants it.

I think our midfield is going to surprise next year. One metric to assess midfield 'strength' is inside 50s differential. To me, forget the names, the stronger midfields are the ones that drive the ball forward but also limit opposition entries either through winning stoppages or creating turnovers. Last year lions, gc, geelong bris were the top 4 and a lot of pundits would have them the best midfiellds (arguably not geelong). In 2021, it was doggies, melb, geel, bris. Last year we were actually 7th on this metric, and our relative win loss was the result of being quite poor at either end of the ground. (We were simply not athletic enough for a faster ball movement game). With draftees Pickett and Taylor I think we are looking to address this. Petracca is the big loss, but I still have hope his output can be replicated in part by Pickett, Rivers, Langford, Windsor playing more significant minutes thru the middle.

I agree with you. There is a lot of belief that our ball movement is slow and for 22, 23 and 24 Id say it was and it showed in the numbers. But this year our ball movement was actually above average in more than a few ways. Eg. Our transition to score and defensive half to score was all in the top half of the comp. Obviously it can be better, but thats not where our gap to the rest of the comp was. Our marks inside 50 per entry was 2nd last (only freo worse). And our smaller forwards in melksham, chandler, pickett fritsch all had close to career highs for marks inside 50 per game as a result of the ball movement. So theres more than enough evidence to suggest yes, our key forwards set up isnt right either in personnel or instruction. The good news is i dont think King is as stubborn in the 'process' as Goodwin was so if we dont get forward half impact he'll switch things around a bit.

He doesnt mind playing in front, eh. Great result

Not to argue with your point, as you still always need a competent midfield but if we are looking at GF, of the last 15 GFs, the premiership team has won the clearances 8 times. For these games, the 'stat' that best correlates with winning is marks inside 50 (10.5/15). Again, not to downplay your point but if there was one stat I could win in any game, it would be marks inside 50. Its the stat most correlated with winning percentage. The upshot is, statistically speaking, what you do with it is a bit more important than getting it (which has been our problem for a number of years)..

This would be elite shenanigans from WCE, effectively making Carlton burn an extra first round pick to match the bid for Dean (compared to if he fell to our pick)

He correctly picked the final 8 teams last season in March .... but broken clock and all

I think you are spot on. The departure of oliver and trac gives runway to pickett, langford, lindsay, windsor and rivers, guys Id pencil in to be above average or elite in future years. Meanwhile our key forwards output is below average or whatever the opposite of elite is. Folks talk about ball movement, but the numbers from this year simply dont show that. We were unable to take kpf marks in our forward 50 (our smaller players and medium mids had no such problem with ball movement) . Additionally, where we were terrible (league worst) was letting opppnents mark inside 50 per inside 50. May isnt getting better, Mcvee was off a pace, and without Lever we were often lost on transition. We have more problems at either end of the ground than people think. We need forwards who are atheletic and can beat their opponents consistently. Petty and Jvr and Mihocek can all have their days, but will go missing week in week out.

Melksham is my favourite player and the best kick in the AFL, I'm def not writing him off! But he is 34 and wont play a full season. If things dont work early, keen to see the magnets be moved around.

This would be a dream forward line for Steven May the defender, even he could keep up with them. I think Jvr, Mihochek and Melksham all together are way too slow if we want forwards to lead at the ball carrier. Id love to see Kentfield play Round 1, we need athleticism ahead of the ball.

Essendon won trade week. Tradition matters.

It's what happened to the game. Same boat as Oliver and Mcrae.

Yep. 7 + 8 is basically the value of pick 1 -2. The value of the later pick swaps will be dependent on ladder placings. Based on this year's order, it's the equivalent of them having acquired an extra 3rd rounder, but if we both finish in the same neighbourhood its effectively a wash.

I was a NO unless he was being given away or the year was 2018. Well, its column A. This is ridiculously cheap, its great trading. The cap issue isnt a big deal as it will be gone by 2028 (and we have to spend a minimum) Anyone we want to sign next year still can be back loaded into 2029 and beyond. Btw, where can I get odds on a Casey flag for 26?

Clarrie admitted mid year he felt the game had gone past him. (He was trying to get it back obvi) If JS was being honest hed feel exactly the same way i reckon. This year 3 out of the top 4 contested teams didnt make the finals. (We were 3rd) 3 out of the top 5 clearance teams didnt make finals (we were 14th with pies hawls and gws for company) Games are won by scoring from turnovers and marks inside 50. Making the most of your oppoortunies with fast transition, correct decision and execution. A huge no unless he is being given away or the year is 2018.

That we as supporters clearly dont know all the facts. Having said that, clubs are way too precious about "bad influences" and "culture cancer" and " toxic behaviour". Its an industry of young men with lots of free time, people make mistakes and people can change. Is he an absolute unrecoverable disaster? I find that extremely hard to believe. Cause his footy is definitely not 3rd round pick material for the next 5 years.

I cant believe there isnt another club out there willing to out bid that offer , take him for 700k and give up a 2nd round draft pick. Serious miscalculations being made here for someone who is still, at the least, an above average afl midfielder. Bizarre.

As a defender his kicking efficiency is below average. Wasnt top 150 last year and other metrics such as disposals per turnover or clangers per turnover he wasnt in the top 100 either. At best he's inconsistent. But not everyone has to be elite in everything. He brings some athleticism and speed. Our defenders were too slow last year. Hawks dont want him so we should be bidding a late 3rd or 4th rounder. There's really no reason to be paying up if hes not guaranteed a game at the Hawls.

If the Suns need points THIS year if they give up 7 and 8, then we should be offering our 2nd rounders, but only if are getting back their future 1sts.

Bit harsh as he's been injured but therein lies the problem. Youre relying on a 33 yr old to recapture the mobility and agility of his 20s (with a foot injury). Its possible I guess. He's an upgrade cause his marking is decent and will have the odd good game mixed in with shockers. If he kicks 60 over his contract thats probably the pass mark.

All good !! You're totally right tho thats how rumours start or things get remembered differently. Even now there's a suggestion he liked the Pies facilities better than Melbourne but at that point he hadnt even seen them (or any point). More likely, he was just wearing his heart on his sleeve. I personally dont fault him for that.

Check the tapes. "Aaaah, like them better than melbourne, thats for sure" pretty clearly said. Moot point, but it was a reflection on his feelings, not an appraisal of the clubs. Having said that, both are probably true sadly.

For context and comparison. Pies gave up Adam Treloar and pick 26, 33 and 42 for 14 and a later 2nd rounder. Basically the pick points value evened themselves out. Pies were rumoured to be paying 1/3 of his 900k salary. He was most definitely a stronger midfielder than what Oliver is now. I could see a deal be pretty similar. Actually turned out alright for both clubs.

Yea, its better to say nothing than being honest eh. One minute he's contracted and then next minute he's being pretty aggressively pushed out the door. Of course hes going to like anyone better than Melbourne. He's upset, angry and yes, tried to be a smart alec. Just as childish to get triggered by an honest comment really. Im not a huge fan of his generally (he had many years to rectify his total lack of care with the football by foot) but I also get bemused by the hypocrisy around these parts who say mental health is a very important thing and how we all care about it but then takes the slightest comment to send folks into online rage at players. The guy is human and whilst not blameless doesnt deserve all of this nastiness. Seeing the same thing with Judd.