demoncat

Not everyone needs the speed of Callaghan to have an outside impact What I love about Langford is his IQ and spacing - he just seems to know how to find space and time to give a handball or nail a kick I just see Baby Bont every time I see him play

No wonder if felt like we were back in 2014 🤣

It’s a testament to him that he looked our most composed and skilful player on the weekend while also having the highest pressure rating Unfortunately it’s also equally as damning that our 10+ year veterans don’t seem to have the skill and polish of a two gamer Anyway, he’s going to be an absolute gun for us, so who cares that the Bombers have our first round pick!

God it was an impressive flag from Brisbane wasn’t it? Have to tip your hat to them

A raft of issues this week that I’m sure will be spoken about at length, but one thing in particular I’d like to hear the panels thoughts on is the move of Ed Langdon to a CBA midfielder To me it’s an absolute disasterclass in tactics to move one of the most reliable wingman in the comp to the midfield at almost 30 years of age Ed was routinely out positioned and unable to effect contests, and any benefit his aerobic capacity might bring is lost when he constantly sat back and allowed North’s mids to get three or four steps on him (although he wasn’t alone in that regard) The slap in the face is that we have Trent Rivers (a player who played in there for half of last year and trained there all summer) and Harvey Langford (a genuine mid already racking them up at Casey) ready and able to step into that role without using bandaid solutions like bringing in Langdon I know Goody has strengths as a coach, but his personnel and positioning decisions are baffling at times, and it doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence going forward

How’s he looked @adonski?

Anyone able to tell me what role Langford is playing?

Disappointed for Langford - would have thought this was a good game to start him on field and give him some genuine midfield minutes Not convinced by Taj yet but there’s a role there for him with Windsor out

A good debut from Jeffo who was our most effective forward in difficult conditions While I do agree you need competitiveness to make it in the AFL, I think we tend to misinterpret what it looks like and needlessly put a line through players when they don’t show ‘aggression’ or ‘mongrel’ Jeffo actually had a solid pressure rating and consistently brought the ball to ground and corralled his defender, while also positioning himself to score on a few instances Yes he’ll never be as physical as a JVR or AJ, but I’d argue he’s more skilled and has better forward craft than either Let’s let him play to his strengths because God knows we need as many high skilled players as we can get

[censored] it I’m getting his badge

I feel like we’ve heard this one before…

Super impressed by Lindsay I don’t know if this makes sense but I said to a fellow supporter that he just looks like an MCG player - using the width of the ground and his sublime kicking skills to open up the play and set us up And 22 touches and a stack of tackles! I reckon we got him for an absolute steal at pick 11

I like Disco but he had two practice matches to forget Perhaps Jefferson has trained better since then and the FD is happy to roll the dice?

Boy oh boy wowee I don’t think anyone saw all six playing It essentially means three others already named won’t play Billings and TMac were on the extended bench so I’m guessing they didn’t make the cut Perhaps Turner too? or JVR a late out? Probably the only way bringing in both AJ and Jefferson makes sense Either way super exciting!

I don’t think it’s likely that the trade happens BUT just remember Jackson was ‘happy’ at Melbourne too before requesting a trade, just as Kozzy is ‘happy’ at Melbourne despite his interest in going home Two things can be true at once and it wouldn’t surprise me that if push comes to shove at the end of the season a trade is explored by both clubs It’s the only way they’re getting Kozzy, just as it’s the only way we’d give him up (short of Freo miraculously conjuring up three quality first round picks)

Finally a word from Cal 👀 where there’s smoke there’s fire

I wouldn’t think they would change, primarily because they still have a highly touted ruckman (Darcy) and a serviceable back up (Reidy) on their list I would think that if Jackson wanted out and if Freo agreed to trade him, it would be a tacit admission that their two ruck strategy was/is a failure

Praying the Dogga rumours are true so we don’t get absolutely fleeced when he requests a trade this off season 🙏

100% agree The Fremantle practice match saw our 2022-23 strengths on display (winning CP, more inside 50s, territory etc.) but also our 2022-23 weaknesses (getting scored against on transition going back the other way, poor conversion) Improvement in 2025 will mean better conversion when we’re winning territory (partly by getting higher quality shots on goal) while minimising the opposition’s ability to run the ball down the field (more fwd 50 and around the ground pressure) GWS is almost the perfect litmus test for us - I can’t wait

Annnnnnd the Hawks are into him: Not sure why we never seem to be linked to these players… let’s hope it’s because Lamb operates in silence

I think this year is the year we need to go hard in trade or FA for an established key forward to partner with JVR I said it earlier in the thread but unfortunately I don’t think Turner, AJ or Jefferson will be able to hold down that role in the years ahead (although I think all three could become serviceable third talls) If I was the FD I’d be getting in Oscar Allan’s ear - I know he’s a Perth local but the sense I’ve gotten from Eagles supporters is that he may not be committed long term (purely speculation) And as a FA we wouldn’t need to spend any draft capital

I think the answer is we need both 😅

The stuff of nightmares

I won’t lie I’ve had the same thought considering he and Clarry are good mates Of course you’d have to do your due diligence and there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge (JUH’s contracted for two more years and it’s only March), but if it was a possibility you’d be negligent not to ask Especially as I think we really need to get JVR a partner in crime and I’m not convinced that any of Turner, AJ or Jefferson will be that (although there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge there too) One to watch

This thread is primed for a @Chook in Perth or @goodwindees contribution I reckon 👀