demoncat

This was it Ralphy essentially saying that the key to Freo keeping him is allowing him to play the #1 ruck role (although blind Freddy could tell you that’s how you get the most out of him)

I’d take that deal too While trading future picks is always a gamble, I feel we really need to start supplementing the middle age bracket of our list instead of drafting more young players or trading in older players We’ve got young guns and old guns, now we really need some (middle?) guns in that 23-27 age range that we’re really lacking in - Dogga fits the bill

I agree It wasn’t a position I envisioned for him at the start of the year but I think it’s been a master stroke by the coaching staff Allows him to use his size and strength against undersized wingers, as well as his skills, smarts and positioning to get the ball on the outside It also means he can naturally drift forward to take fwd 50 marks like he did last weekend He’ll be an inside bull one day but for now it’s a great position to allow him to impact games while still developing his body/tank

Agreed FWIW Rhino is a good journo, so I don’t doubt he’s genuinely reporting what he’s heard from his sources But you’d be naive to think this is anything but an attempt to appease the club and kick the can down the road Houston said he wasn’t leaving and we know how that ended up… where there’s smoke there’s fire

While I agree it would be difficult, I would point to the Houston trade as an example of where a club has had to take unders because the market for that player was small Houston ruling out us and North, and Carlton focusing on the draft, essentially meant that only Collingwood was in a position to trade for him So while they did end up trading a future first and a couple of players (although in a four team deal), they ultimately were able to land Houston for far less than what he was worth, and Port had to choose between holding him to his contract or taking what they could get and run So while I think ultimately Kozzy for Jackson would be the likely deal, there is definitely a scenario where Kozzy stays, we get creative with future picks and player movements, and Freo ultimately has to decide whether they want to force a player to be unhappy with them or play ball

I love the West Australian now

I don’t want to lose Kozzy and would much rather keep him than bring in Jackson (if the two are mutually exclusive) BUT if the club is resigned to losing him at the end of his contract I’d much rather bring in a known quantity in an elite player like Jackson than be forced to take a couple of middling first round picks If both story lines continue to develop it could be very interesting come trade time

Was quietly confident until I saw Viney and Melksham out - reckon those two have been super important to our resurgence over the past three weeks Still, Hawks aren’t in great form either and Port have shown the blueprint of how to beat them - pressure, pressure, pressure Bring the pressure we’ve brought over the past few weeks and I reckon we’ve got them

Come on Luke, you know you want to

I love the ambition but you’re dreaming if you think we’re getting a high first round pick for Fritsch Unless he returns to his 21/22 form I can’t see him netting us any more than an early second rounder at this stage Jake Stringer kicked 40+ goals for Essendon last year and he was traded to the Giants for pick 40-something The reason being was his conditioning and lack of defensive efforts And while I don’t think Fritsch has the same conditioning issues as Stringer, clubs simply aren’t putting a premium on small/medium forwards who don’t run, chase and tackle, even if they are hitting the scoreboard

We’ve just had a CEO leave after being too involved in the football department Perhaps it’s better to bring in someone who won’t think they know better when it comes to football-related decisions

All I’ll say is that if it were Collingwood players getting nominated for Rising Star nominations, their fans wouldn’t be questioning how good they actually are… Seriously, just enjoy the fact that we have some quality young talent coming through

100% this As bad as it seems I actually think our list is more akin to Collingwood 2021 and GWS 2022 than one that is ready for a full blown rebuild Scott Pendlebury, Toby Greene etc. didn’t just magically forget how to be good footballers in those years, but it was clear that the coaches, game-plan, messaging etc had run the course with those players and they needed a new voice to reset and reinvigorate them I genuinely believe a new coach - one with tactical nous and an ability to bring the players together - could see us have a similar bounce back But we need to act by the mid point of this season so we can begin that transition as soon as possible If we let Goodwin and co. roll on for another 12 months we will end up like West Coast - they waited far too long to move on Simmo and reset and are now paying heavily for it

The current rumour is that those talks have resumed / are continuing and that if he accepts Bartel will take over from Richardson While Goodwin is rightly copping most of the attention from the media and supporters, I think Richardson has been as bad if not worse at creating / perpetuating the problems that are effecting the club The off season review essentially admitted that Richardson needed babysitting to learn how to communicate with the players and others within the organisation - hardly a ringing endorsement So while Goody definitely needs to go sooner rather than later, replacing Richardson with someone who has the experience and respect of his peers like Bartel could go a long way to ensuring that we bring the right people into the club going forward, including our next senior coach

10 goals in three games - how many have JVR and Fritsch kicked? I understand that stability is good for a team, but not when your players are horribly out of form and there are options presenting at VFL level

Irrelevant when he’s now been our best forward at VFL level for the past month and can’t get a look in Selection is absolutely cooked when we don’t reward players who are in strong form - especially when we don’t have a single forward who is in any type of form

Annnnnnnd there it is - only Lindsay in for Turner

No Tom Fullarton club debut announcement yet? Going to go out on a limb and guess he’s not been named this week I don’t know what he did to Goody but his papers seem to be absolutely marked (happy to be proven wrong at 6:20 though)

It’s a yes from me if we somehow someway end up losing another midfielder or two this offseason 👀

I agree, but the irony is that it’s exactly these types of players that we have lost over the past few years Hindsight is 20/20 but it’s an indictment on the coaching staff that they couldn’t find a way to play to the strengths of players like Jordan and Bedford who are now thriving at contending clubs Yes they didn’t set the world on fire at the Dees but perhaps we didn’t provide them the right opportunities to do so and clearly we didn’t consider playing them in the roles they’re now playing at their respective clubs Anyway, let’s go and get Aleer, he looks a gun!

Steve Smith can’t start as President soon enough…

My first thought as well 🤔

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!