demoncat

The way you posited your argument was that we’re uniquely reliant on certain players and that we’re at risk of struggling if those players slow down with age My point is that’s not unique to us at all and can be said about 17 other teams - particularly contending teams, most of whom rely on veterans So if you agree that’s the case, why bring it up if not to be unreasonably negative about that aspect of the club? It’s a null and void point until if and when those players can’t perform or retire You’re entitled to your perspective, but like a lot of others on this forum you seem to be taking the most negative view you can and then want to back track or find a technicality when someone calls you out on it And don’t try and claim you’re not being negative when you wrote a whole essay pointing out every supposed issue facing our club this season Are we a perfect team? No. Do we need to improve in certain areas to win? Yes. But I choose to look at the much longer list of positives from our club over the last few years and not overreact to a handful of issues and overblown media noise

The “our game relies on X player” argument is such a furphy Because guess what? EVERY team in the league has a handful of players who they rely on, and who, if you took out of their game plan, they’d struggle Where would Geelong have been in 2022 without Selwood and Hawkins? They wouldn’t have been Premiers that’s for sure and we saw the proof of that in 2023 How many games and moments did Pendlebury and Sidebottom win for the Pies this year? Again, they’re not Premiers if those two aren’t fit and firing, and it will be a close watch to see if they can continue at that level in 2024 Yes, if Gawn and May fall off a cliff next year it will affect us, but that isn’t unique to us and can be said about any other contending team The real issue is - as always - injury and availability of players, which I maintain has been our biggest issue these past two years and which can effect every team

Look I understand his broader point about the potential impacts that the off field issues could have on the energy and mentality of the group But I also think the media and some supporters have greatly exaggerated how much the behaviour of two players - out of 40 odd - has or will impact the rest of the group Personally I back Max, Viney, Trac, Lever, Gus, ANB and Salem to continue to be the exemplary leaders they have been, as well as our club for continuing to create an environment where a vast majority of our players want to be a part of (see all of our recent resignings and ability to bring in talent from other clubs) And to put us finishing 11th with no regard to the talent on our list that hasn’t seen us finish that low - outside of one horror injury riddled season - since 2016, and I’m not going to take him very seriously…

If Josh thinks we’re finishing 11th then lock us in for the flag - one of the worst footy ‘analysts’ going around at the moment

Thanks @whatwhat say what - do you know whether the money is the primary reason for his interest in moving to the Crows? Putting aside the go home factor, surely if he has a productive season up forward - and the likes of Brown, McDonald and/or Tomlinson retire or aren’t offered new contracts - we would have a big sum we could offer him?

Shh… you’re making too much sense for the media and the negative nancies on Demonland In all seriousness we have had mitigating circumstances the past two seasons - particularly 2023 - that have meant we haven’t been able to perform at anywhere near our best, particularly come finals time Clearly there are some coaching, gameplan and personnel weaknesses that have exacerbated this, but more than anything it has been bad luck with injuries that has crueled us And I reckon new recruits, fire in the belly and a bit of good luck will take us a long way in 2024

Laurie - from all reports he’s taken a significant step forward with his fitness (coming 3rd in the 2km time trial), which is what Judd credited for his breakthrough into the senior side last year We’ve been crying out for classier ball users and if Laurie can hold down a spot averaging 15-20 possessions a game (which an increased fitness base should allow him to do) it will go a long way to addressing one of our biggest areas of weakness

Thanks for the info @Pennant St Dee and others It all suggests to me that Adelaide did a really poor job meeting his needs and communicating with him He even said in his interview with us how good of a job Stafford does communicating exactly what he wants him to do and how much the club has done to make him feel at home I know not everything a player does is the club’s fault, but the above certainly aligns with a lot of the reports that have come out about Adelaide’s culture over the last few years, particularly in regard to their indigenous players…

I’ve been really disappointed with our club’s media program for a long time now - I don’t know if it’s under resourced or we just don’t have the right people in our media team, but our content really lags behind some of the other clubs and is frankly pretty boring at times GWS is currently setting the standard for what clubs socials can look like - they have in-depth coverage of their draft night, heaps of interaction with their players and content that’s entertaining and with the times I reckon we could learn a lot from them

Also assumes that we didn’t see him as best available - which, from everything JT has said, we did

What’s most clear to me is that we got two players we rated really highly - and that’s the most important thing I’ll take JT’s rankings over Fox Footy’s any day of the week

I’ll almost be disappointed if we don’t take him at this point!

Demonland posters - sook all year that we have slow contest players who butcher the ball Also Demonland posters when we have a chance to recruit a fast outside player with strong kicking skills - nup nup his contested to uncontested possesion ratio is too damn low!

Woops - mistype Edited now

It does seem like GWS’ willingness to trade pick 7 could shape a lot of the draft Could mean West Coast get the Reid-Curtin double if they trade their future first, or could see them miss out if GWS trade back with Adelaide I’d still love for them to trade pick 1 to us and pick Curtin themselves at 6 if they think he’ll slide to then (and it seems like he will) but from all reports they’re set on taking Reid - Curtin or no Curtin

Word is that Adelaide have been particularly keen to move to 7 to grab Curtin I reckon we’d be trying to move up but might be difficult to match Adelaide’s assets (10, 14 and 20)

Alright you’ve convinced me - trade 6, 11, 42 and a F1 to the Eagles for pick 1 Then take Windsor at 1

Would personally rather him over Curtin or Windsor with pick 6 - has 200+ gamer written all over him Would love Windsor to slide to 11 in that scenario but doesn’t seem likely unfortunately

Would 4, 11 and 42 really be better than 6, 11, 42 and a F1? Especially if Curtin would be available at 6 anyway? I suppose they could get 4 - pick another player like Watson - and still offer their future first if Curtin slipped, but not sure if that would tempt them at this stage

Interesting - following JT meeting him and his family? And who are we hot on then? 👀

It’s three year contracts from next year onwards - so it does give the Eagles a bit more insurance

I reckon Hawks will pass on Curtin and we’ll take him with 6 I reckon we’ll take Tholstrup at 11 even if Windsor is still on the board 42 will be traded for a future pick unless a top 25 prospect in JT’s eyes slips that far down the ladder

He screams ‘JT pick’ in the best way possible

We tried to get pick 1 and were knocked back, don’t have any more assets to increase our offer We’ll seriously consider Curtin if he falls to pick 6 We’ve also been linked to Leake and to a lesser extent Caddy, and will take Windsor with our second pick if he’s still there Honestly just sounds like more speculation and parroting what other sites have said 🤷‍♂️

Do you know how that works @DeeSpencer? Have we essentially only agreed to match if he doesn’t get bid on in the ND?