DemonJack 14

Getting a late first rounder or early second rounder for Fritsch is not that appealing. It would get pushed back with academy bids and free agency compensation. Also it supposedly a weaker draft this year. So I don’t see how trading Fritsch makes us better next year. So unless we concede as a club we are rebuilding and just keen to bring it more young players or we have established goal kicking talent that we think we can attract through a trade, it doesn’t make sense too me. Even after a poor year he is still on track to kick 30 plus goals ! hard to replace those players.

Will be interesting what moves we make during the post season

3 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Did we get Jefferson and Tholstrupp with the picks received for Luke Jackson?

Jefferson and Windsor I think

1 minute ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Patrick Voss

key forward Bombers VFL to Freo SSP pre 2024 season after missing out on the draft for 3 years

Archer May

Key forward Sandringham Dragons 2023 premiership forward alongside Calser Dear, ignored in 2023 & 2024 drafts

Why is it that we are not identifying these types at the drafts ! low cost key forwards but are already having an impact as goal scoring threats

even Treacy was pick in the 40s or 50s for Freo , may have even been a rookie pick ?

How is it that Essendon pick up a kid in the mid season draft Archer May, who arguably has already shown more than of our Key forwards this season in 2 games ! Can we not identify key forward talent. Can we not develop key forwards.

Or do our kicking skills inside 50, decision making and possibly the game plan mean our key forwards are hamstrung and can’t impact like other clubs seem to ?

Absolutely fantastic Kozzy has signed long term ! So Important for the club

Listened to below link from AFL media this morning. Can’t believe there take ! More interested in talking about how this is going to make it hard for Kozzy to get of Melbourne now with this deal. Than actually comending Melbourne for providing him the support and security that he is happy to call Melbourne the club and city home for the rest of his career .

afl.com.au

Fantastic win, really didn’t see it coming. Obviously Melksham has been really integral with his own form but as a leader of the forward line, I am curious what the panel thinks our best forward mix is with regards to the rest of the season, ie what is the balance between key forwards and small /medium forwards . Or is it just a horses for courses decision with having flexible swing men like Turner and Petty play forward or back depending on the game/game situation ?

Indicates the quality of our key forward stocks and that the coaches don’t think there is one good enough to name to start on the field !

Our forward line is a real sad state of affairs

It was pretty weak draft and seems like we just wanted to take a key forward and took the best one available. Josh Weddle would have been handy.

I feel we have missed big on key position players in the draft. I know Windsor has been fantastic but I hope we don’t rue not taking Nate Caddy or Conor Sullivan in 2023

Today could be a day that really hits home that we should have drafted the two Victorian boys Hayden Young and Serong instead of two players that have wanted to go back home Pickett and Jackson in 2019 Freo mostly likely end up with all 4 which sucks really !

So depressing that we will most likely be bottom 4 and we won’t even have our natural 1st round draft pick. Least Lindsay and Langford look good.

But our method is broken and our talent forward of the ball is not good enough

Not a trade target , but why we didn’t select Logan Morris in the draft a couple of years back when we are screaming out for key forwards that can mark and kick goals, I have no idea !!

We absolutely have the least talent and goal kicking power in our forward line in the whole comp except for maybe Richmond. Our Key forward stocks while ok for numbers are really lacking in quality compared to most of the competition.

Hopefully JVR rediscovers his form ASAP.

We need to find out if guys like Turner, Fullerton and Jefferson and even Kentfield when fit, have what it takes. If Fullerton continues to bang down the door in the VFL we surely have to give him a go !

Our small forwards too, apart from Pickett who is now more a mid just don’t play like regular scoring threats either.

Hi Guys, really appreciate your efforts on the podcas. the analysis and thoughtful discussion helps us all makes sense of where we are at as a footy club at moment.

Question mainly for Binman but happy for any of the panel sharing their thoughts

How is that Geelong had so much more ease moving the ball from their back line in a slow play compared to us. We were forced so many more times having to kick down the line to a contest. We would gain a bit of territory with short chipping but then quite often had resort to kicking long as there there no other easy options to move the ball. In comparison they quite often moved the ball with so much more space , it didn’t alway lead to scores but it was alarming.

Is it a product of poor team defence and pressure from us or just skilled kicking and decision making by them. Conversely for us, was our stilted ball movement from not running hard enough to create options or just not having enough players skilled or brave enough to take riskier kicks to open up the ground. I’m guessing a combination of both. I get that the new game plan is going to take time but we must get better at this and recruit accordingly if we are going to get anywhere in the next few years.

In addition did Goodwin letting them have an intercepting marking player ( Henry and Stewart) as spare in their backline contribute to easy ball movement for them and harder ball movement for us. To give them so many uncontested marks absolutely killed us, surely that’s on coaching.

We did look a little better at times when we could generate a handball receive off a slow play and create some run that way.

Thanks again

Jack

12 hours ago, Rednblueriseing said:

I'm in thanks 

I’m in too 👍

I’m signed up 👍

There was a poster on the Mcvee contract thread who said he had inside information that Mcvee wants to move back home West. Hope it isn’t true 

God I’m sick of hearing of players wanting to leave the club , I know players movement is more common these days and understand there are sometimes complicated genuine family reasons. But we have had Jackson, ANB , Petracca, Oliver, Pickett and now reportedly Mcvee too 

It’s not great ! Hopefully we have sorted some of the cultural issues out for this season , and it seems to be a more connected place this year. However we are constantly having places wanting to leave the last few seasons, with very few quality players wanting to come to us . It needs to change . Not sure if it’s culture or we just need to be more careful recruiting interstate players , but I’m sick of it 

Geez looks like a significant hammy. Maybe with the time on the sidelines, Judd can sign a new contract. Got a feeling WA clubs will come hard for him 

We will have multiple good options possibly available at pick 9 all sorts of different players available as well 

Midfielders - Smillie , Reid , Lindsay , Allen 

Talls - Armstrong , Tauru 

Small Fwd - Berry 

I wouldn’t mind us taking a risk on Taj Hotton ( was looking like a too 5 pick before his ACL earlier in the year ) 

Just now, KingDingAling said:

Oliver will be at the club in 2025.

Opinion or inside knowledge ? 

30 minutes ago, Mickey said:

My issue with the Clarry situation:

Geelong aren't courting him if they think he's cooked. They clearly believe, with the right support around him, he can return to at least 90-95% of the player he was, which is still one of the best in the comp.

Which means either a) we don't or b) we won't or can't put that same support around him. If it's a, fair enough. But it sounds more like b. And I have no interest in watching him get back to his best anywhere but Melbourne, simply because we won't put any more time or effort into it.

We don't go close to winning the flag without a fit and firing midfield, and a fit Clarry is still a key part of that. No draftee, short of a Daicos or Reid type (of which Ashcroft is the only one this year), will help fill that void. If we trade Clarry, we might as well admit we've given up on the next 2-3 years, which means on May, Gawn, Viney and probably Trac's time, and get started on a full rebuild.

It's time for the club to shut up, get its [censored] together (including at board and executive level) and knuckle down for a huge preseason.

This is exactly how I feel about the situation. If Geelong think he is worth pursuing, Why don’t we want to keep him ? Particularly when we will get severe unders and still probably have to pay some of his wage. You need an elite midfield to win a flag , without Oliver we don’t have that.

We don’t seem to be attracting anyone else of note to fill the void this post season. So where are we at then ? Are we saying we are rebuilding ? 
 

We all know that can take a lot of time and that’s if we get it right with recruiting the right kids. It’s a real concern if we can’t land anyone of note in this trade period, Its really hard to see how we are in a better list position next year compared to this year at the moment unfortunately. 
 

In the unlikely scenario we trade all of Petracca , Oliver and Viney. How do we go into 2025 with a competitive midfield , that already lacks depth ? 

Do we go into complete rebuild mode or do we look to bring in some midfielders from other clubs as well as use some high end draft picks ? 

Our midfield would lack established A grade talent unless we were able to pry a star midfielder out of another club. Or do we just rebuild around Rivers, Mcvee , Tholstrup and hope that Sparrow might improve his output ? 

Most likely we won’t trade all of them and maybe none of them. However, I don’t think you want players at your club that don’t want to be there no matter how good those players are. I am fascinated how we approach this trade and draft period. It’s so important that we get it right 

Thanks guys for fronting up to do the pod after an almost decade worst performance.

I would like to get the panel’s take on where they think our list is at and if a mini rebuild is necessary ? 

I know Binman says we have almost the best list in the competition. 3 years ago I would agree with him. Like many others I think our recruiting and list management decisions have been poor since our premiership win. 

I see holes everywhere in our list at the moment. Most concerning is no reliable key forwards apart from JVR. No adequate back up for Max. Our midfield is lacking speed , skill and depth.

I think there are obvious issues with the game plan as well, but I am very concerned  our list going forward and feel we need to make some smart decisions for the future before Tassie come into the comp and get given  a lot of first round draft picks like GC and GWS. 

8 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

We are no longer in the conversation for this years flag.

We’ve wasted our chances at winning a second premiership. Time to go down a mini/decent rebuild and get some list turnover.

Our list depth is either too old or not good enough. Unfortunately some of our trade decisions have come back and bitten us on the [censored].

New leadership is needed, on-field and off it. Max, god love him, is no longer able to put in his Herculean efforts like he used to. Too much is being needed to be done by our best players’, and when they have down games due to always being looked upon to lead, no one else is stepping up.

This has been coming for a couple of years, and despite our coach, pres & CEO continually saying they won’t be complacent, they have been left found wanting.

We desperately need fresh voices, and those that have been in charge have refused to acknowledge or even allow this with their iron fists.

Change is needed.

Absolutely spot on ! We need to really start turning over the list even if it means going backwards for a season or two. Especially with Tassie coming into the comp shortly , when the draft will be really compromised.

Are we concerned about Tholstrup’s low possession count for the last few VFL games ? I know he is young and seems to be made of the right stuff. I thought we might be seeing a bit more from a high draft pick who played against men in the WAFL last year ? 
 

Casey this year with lack of experienced midfielders is probably no the easiest situation for him at the moment. 

Jason Taylor doesn’t miss that much, but Darcy Wilson for the saints who went a few picks later than Kolt looks a special player. 

Hopefully we start to see him have a bit more impact and can push again for selection soon