rpfc

‘A top 36 pick’?? Yeah, the best players are always there...

The alternate reality to the Tyson/Salem/Hunt trade is not Kelly - it is Billings. Score one for the trade there... The alternate reality is not Kelly roaming the flanks in front of the MCC - it is watching Billings at Casey and moaning about another draft disaster without Salem on our HBF.

We sure do need a back up ruck. But he doesn't have to play much... Preuss, Hogan, McDonald, and Weideman will struggle to play together in the same forward line so if Hogan stays I expect to see Preuss/'whoever we get to help Gawn' to play a lot less with Weideman playing back up ruck minutes. If we were to play a dedicated 2nd ruck (Preuss) plus both Hogan and Weideman that is two talls to fit into our forward line alone. Don't see it happening... Gawn needs help but that doesn't mean reality shifts to make it happen.

Depends what Hogan does to some extent... If Hogan stays I can see us playing Weed as the 2nd ruck more in games and having a back up ruck give Gawn a break every 6-8 weeks. If Hogan leaves then we can resolve that problem to some degree by playing a dedicated ruck with a decent grab. Especially, if we are going to 6 6 6 next year.

What do you mean ‘compare Hogan to Vanders?’ One cannot go to the airport without a journalistic escort and the other isn’t recognised by Dees fans. There is no comparison to how they have handled their completely different circumstances.

Nathan no longer bombs it to the opposition. He now lowers his eyes and picks them out with precision...

Yeah, is this Tim May we are talking about? The off spinner? Don't want him. Couldn't turn a door handle that bloke...

Menzel isn’t a small forward. He doesn’t apply pressure and I would argue he is akin to Melksham and Hannan - who is a poor mans Melksham. I would think Garlett would still be closer than Menzel to the best 22...

Yeah, he is inside depth and that is it. He shouldn’t be in the best 22 next year. I don’t know what coin he is on but that will determine whether he is worthwhile depth.

Twice on every page!

He is usually so chatty...

What colour do you get when you mix red and blue?

@Clint Bizkit I agree with the ‘feeling’... I think it is because he never talked and teammates never talked about him. It’s hard to grow an attachment between player and club with no fuel to form that attachment. Brayshaw, Harmes, Oliver, and Petracca I can picture earnestly talking about the club or the coach or their teammates (or being talked about in CPs case). Hogan has always been aloof in that regard.

Let me stop you there...

Your first two priorities are the same - skills in the midfield. Your 3rd priority is now your second and it is to find a replacement for what Hibberd does. I don’t see the cause and effect that would come from that... Hibberd released more? Menzel and Breust were non-factors in the two finals we played against them. And that leads to the last priority - a tall defender. I would overspend in a trade for a skillful mid and I would overspend in a trade for a tall defender. Return on investment is measured in GFs and flags, not in what we get back commensurate to perceived player value.

@deanox what would say we should improve? Here is my perceived needs list in order: 1. Outside player with elite skills to driver into the forwards 2. Tall defender to allow Oscar to play on the ubiquitous 2nd ruck and Lever to play on the third tall 3. Natural small forward to play at the feet of Preuss/Gawn and Weideman None are glaring - we came fourth - but each have their own impacts should we successfully address them. We have a dominant midfield but we don’t kick the ball Inside 50 well, hence the number one priority. We then get sliced apart on the counter with a patchwork defence that contains a few NQR players amongst Lever, Hibberd, Jetta, and Salem. The third priority is somewhat ameliorated by the first but at the moment we have former midfielders playing a role that is unsuited to them (even though they are giving it a red hot show). So getting someone like May is second on my list for us to push for a flag. That is hard to argue against when discussing maximising the value we get from a trade. Does it matter if we get what we need?

I was enamoured with Hogan when he came because I saw a star when we had none. Now we have a little bit of a constellation emerging and I am comfortable with it. And I can see the opportunity to balance our list. We should play a second ruck to help Gawn. We have a midfield to win any game. We have no tall defender that can compete with the best forwards in the game. So I hope we can turn this unfortunate situation into something that makes us.

[Patronising tone] Our generational ruckman is not going to be bumped from being the number 1 ruck...

He ha been injured for the better part of two years... No, I don’t hold him accountable for the compensation Mahoney and co. can procure. The South Coast is generally more accessible from Sydney and I don’t think it is outrageous to relocate for the reasons he would relocate for. And that is all I will say, this is deflating; judging the motives of people based on so little and asking for the kind of loyalty you wouldn’t ask of a colleague or a friend.

He’s actually from the South Coast where his family is and where he lost his dad last year and moving to Sydney would make it much easier to visit the inherited business he is running. You don’t know him, you don’t know his situation and you need to show some empathy.

Meh, if we win a prelim and have a chance at a flag - would you ‘lose’ a trade? That’s rhetorical.

You have the same avatar as Chook in Perth and it misled me and my emotions just then...

You can capitalise words but it won’t make it reality. I hope for the best and have not been informed that that is the case. I have my eyes wide open after the last ten years, and if this admin and this president wants my trust - they have to earn it. The AFL got us Jackson and Roos and that intervention has come to an end and now we drive our own destiny from here - benefit of the doubt we should not give.

I have heard from multiple people (I have no idea of how many sources) that this was not the case and; 1. Bartlett didn't adequately inform the AFL, nor would they have recommended Pert 2. That the board were bit players in this and Bartlett drove this decision 3. That the existing people within the club vying for the spot were blind sided 4. That Eddie was not asked about Pert and that due diligence was not done on the club he spent his time in footy administration I am hardly a negative 'the sky is falling' poster and I don't want to be, I just hear this stuff from people around the club and it worries me that we are making similar mistakes that lead us into the wilderness and that as we find are way out, we will find ourselves slipping back in because of a board that has no practice in governance and have been inabsentia for half a decade now placed in charge of their own affairs by a league that has moved onto other problem children.

Frankly, his media presence is the least of the concerns. Goodwin needed to become more approachable and likeable and reveal more of his personality because his brilliance and ability to coach was evident - but he was robotic and stagnant in his media appearances. Bartlett doesn't have the luxury of evident brilliance and capability - he needs to demonstrate that. At the moment his accomplishments are 'existing' at the same time that Peter Jackson was at the club, making a eye-widening decision to go it alone on the decision around Jackson's replacement, and showing pettiness toward a journalist who did nothing more than point that out. Obviously this is just my opinion but Bartlett is nowhere right now. I don't know him, and I don't trust him.