RedFox

Time to have an honest discussion about May. I want to preface that I still love everything he brings from a leadership perspective, and will go down as one of the best backmen to lace them up for us. However, his drop off has been stark this season. He's now getting beaten most weeks, looks completely irrelevant when the ball hits the deck, and in being frustrated with getting beaten is giving away stupid frees that are hurting us. He clearly won't be dropped but IMO we need to start thinking of the May contingency plan as the cracks in his game are getting bigger and bigger in 2025.

You have to wonder if Laurie will ever get another opportunity in the midfield rotation. JVR stiff.

The time has come for Fritsch. Been carrying him for far too long. Now that the goals and score involvements have dried up his lack of impact with or without the ball is being completely exposed. Other than that I am not as negative on our prospects this season as others seem to be. Arguably our three best ball users in Kozzie, Windsor and McVee being out is really obviously exacerbating our connection problems. When Kozzie and Judd in particular are back I feel as though our ball movement will improve quite a lot. Credit to Bowey, he had that one howler that cost us a goal but aside from that his kicking is quite reliable. The last thing I want to comment on is the lack of one percenters. We really don't work for one another and smother, shepherd, block for our forwards like this group was doing regularly when at their best. The 2021 physicality was on both sides of the footy. Angus was the best at it and celebrating those little things that are actually extremely important but often forgotten about. We are always under pressure when disposing of the footy cause nobody is even trying to block and buy their mate some more time. Need to get this mindset back ASAP.

He must have missed the McVee news if he's saying the defence is all healthy and stable. Big loss

Unsure how this will work with the announcement of Petty returning to D50. Seems too tall with all four of Lever, May, Petty + Tmac.

Normally I would agree but they look like a genuine contender next year - on paper at least. Guns everywhere

While Trac could probably have handled the PR a bit better by not being silent for ages, heaps of positive change has happened since. So maybe we should be looking at it through that lens. I'll still get around the bull, what a player!

Who do you propose takes Rivers spot when he becomes a permanent mid? Time to start trusting the people who do this for a living

Have heard his name pronounced as both laylor and lawlor, which one is it?

As a few others have mentioned this pick makes sense due to McVee and Rivers moving up the ground. Can anyone comment on his lockdown ability? Looks clean and quick which JT will love.

No

Is there a decent chance that Jagga Smith slides to 5? Tigers are into Lalor, North don't need a mid, Carlton into FOS, Adelaide...could do anything but might look at the local in Draper.

Only 4000 more posts until this amazing thread catches up to the Petracca one 🥳

They don't have two decent picks to offer. This years 1st Rounder will go to the Dogs for Smith, and a Future 1st will likely be a pick in the teens, an Future 2nd will likely be a pick in the 30s. There is no package of picks in their possession that will be sufficient.

Not sure why there isn't more talk of Josh Smillie at 5, he looks a bit of a unicorn no? Interviewed on SEN and said he models his game on Cripps - the similarities are uncanny.

Source?

Is anyone actually spending a single cent on having access to the frauds creating content at the Herald Sun?

Tauru looks awesome for sure. Strong hands and lovely kicking action. Probably why we are doing everything to get another top 10 pick, our midfield depth is in dire straits currently and is certainly the top priority at Pick 5 I suspect.

The thing that annoys me with this trade is Adelaide managed to extract this pick from us for McAdam who has achieved 5% of what ANB has in his career. Think we need to get more ruthless in these negotiations, perhaps ANB is worth Pick 28 but I'll be stuffed in McAdam was.

Sounds as though GC pick 13 will be heading to the Port via Pies as part of Noble & Houston deals. GC pick 6 looks to be heading to Tigers for Rioli. Unsure where else we can target a pick upgrade - all teams seem keen to head to the draft with a strong crop. Will be tricky to get back in at a reasonable spot IMO.

Premiership experience, sustained success, Geelong IP, midfield expertise, leadership, integrity, how to play wet weather football. To name a few.

Ok Giants, keep a non-best 22 player who doesn't want to be there against his will. We move on

Agree - he clearly wasn't anywhere near the level of fitness required for obvious reasons. Similarly, our midfield was so badly depleted that even at half fitness he was a more viable ball winner than anybody playing in the twos. In hindsight he should have been put on ice as soon as his hand injury was preventing him from performing the fundamentals.

From the outside looking in all I saw from Clayton this season was that of somebody who was doing all the team things. He was getting around all of his teammates on the park, revelling in celebrating milestones, re-signings, playing a key role in the Kozzy doco. If he is a nightmare to work with, it certainly didn't appear that way on game day or in the media content put out by the club. Even as recently in his podcast interview he spoke pretty well and seemed energised to attack this pre-season. Our skipper on radio this morning says he loves him as a player and even more as a person.

If that is the absolute best deal we can extract, a pick which will in all likelihood be pick 15-18 (before academy, f/s etc) then I would be pulling up stumps now. Salary dump aside, it's a terrible outcome for our prospects over the next few years & strengthening a team we will be competing with for success while weakening ourselves. People might say "But we can use that cash to chase another big name" - to which I would reply who in their right mind would want to play for us at the moment? Unless we offer almost double what any other clubs are to a big fish, all the clubs with stability off the field will land most of the best talent via trade and FA. I think we are stuck with Clarry now, and must look to get him back to his best to save face. FWIW I love Clarry and think he has it in him to hit his stride again.