seventyfour

Laurie and Schache never again

Laurie is no good. Easy change for Pickett next week.

We SHOULD win clearance by a mile.

6 players from the 22 who played in the Carlton final: Kozzie, Spargo, Smith, Jordon, McDonald, Hunter. In comes Windsor, Howes, Billings, Laurie, Van Rooyen and Schache. I think most would agree that our ideal 2024 team will have Petty and McAdam playing, possibly Fullarton too. It's positive to see a different looking side, and room for further movement. At least we won't die wondering.

Some mock drafts had Howes going in the top 20, and almost all in the top 30 prior to his draft when we grabbed him at 39. So he has 'pedigree'. He was emergency in 2022 before his stress fracture. Could be our next Jordon type... second rounder who was had to mature and wait for a chance.

Love to see it. Sounds like it'll be the first 22 from the Carlton game with Oliver replacing Kozzie? FB: Tomlinson, May, Salem HB: McVee, Lever, Rivers C: Langdon, Viney, Neal-Bullen HF: Petracca, Fritsch, Laurie FF: Chandler, JVR, Schache F: Gawn, Sparrow, Windsor IC: Billings, Howes, Bowey, Oliver

That news about McAdam and Petty is very, very pleasing. If we can be 4-2 or better going into our round 6 bye, with the best of our forwards still to come... look out.

There was a lot of positive offseason commentary from the club around Laurie, and he was getting games last year even though he wasn't standout in the VFL. Does anyone else see it? He reminds me of Jordon, in that he is not bad, but there's no standout element sof his game. You've gotta have something. Be quick, tall, an elite ball user (smarts, decision making or skills), tough as nails, an elite endurance runner... I don't see any of that. Depth at best.

Blues laid 39 tackles for the night, very little pressure. Still only a practice game. Hope it eases last week's doomsayers though.

It is still stupidly hot outside. Why didn't they push back the start time when they saw the forecast? They moved the time of a Brisbane game.

Hmm. On paper that is not a forward line worthy of finals. Take Kozzy out for our opening game and it's bottom 6 stuff. I would hope we're gonna see some Petracca forward early in the season like we did for periods last year, but with Angus gone and Clarry out for now, we aren't deep at centre bounce or stoppages either. I'm trying to be positive, but there's definitely some worry for the first 5-10 rounds of the season. Positively, there's huge room for us to improve up forward if we can get the likes of Petty and McAdam fit. I really hope Woewodin is ready to play soon too.

Pretty sure the players got a break after the Richmond game?

For the Simpsons fans...

How do you know that we didn't do EVERYTHING we reasonably could to move up? We weren't there, so having these negative attitudes about something we can only guess about doesn't do favours for anyone. Sanders and Windsor have played one match sim each. Give both a chance to build a career before we judge. Rhys Palmer was taken at pick 7, won the Rising Star in his first year, then had a very average career. Luke Tapscott was a gun in his first game, Gysberts had 26 and 27 touches in his first two game, look how they panned out. Players who look good early don't always develop into stars.

Everything i've read said he was "ok without being outstanding" in Sydney's sim today. That is exactly how he played at Melbourne. We need to move on. Sparrow is entering his prime, RIvers is ready to go to another level, Woewodin could be anything, and Billings could be a great addition once he finds his groove. There are plenty of players available to fill the small shoes left by Jordon.

We can win it in 2024, and I can see it being a great story. A terrible off-season full of bad news and injuries. A tough start to the season. Strong competition and a lot of travel. Written off, supporters and media saying the era is over... But the club galvanizes. The players, the staff, and the fans. We make a run from outside the top 4 and ultimately win the bloody thing on the MCG. Sweeter than 2021.

We went 9-3 in preseason games 2016-2020. Not great years except for 18. We went 1-2 in preseason games 2021-2023. Great years. Richmond went 4-3 in their flag winning years. It's zero indicator of season performance. Relax.

Reminder to everyone that it's a scratch match. We lost comprehensively to the Bulldogs in the 2021 preseason game. Geelong lost to Gold Coast in 2022. Collingwood barely scraped past Hawthorn in 2023.

I can see us missing the top 4. There will be a lot of good teams this year. That's fine. It'll be frustrating during the year, but we can go under the radar, then win it from outside the top 4.

The talent and athleticism is there, no doubt, question is whether he can hold up physically. I mean this both in terms of playing out a full season without tiring, and being able to compete with established AFL players. It's rare for first-year draftees to play in a premiership. Bowey and Jack Graham the only ones I can recall in recent years?

Not now, but I don't mind the idea of him playing at Casey, with the option of a mid-season draft pickup. He has some elite traits - his agility testing at the WA Combine would've had him #1 in the country.

This is great to hear, been mixed reviews so far. Hopefully it's a sign that he's a quick learner?

We'll have three White's to fit in the ruck before that.

The was very hyped about getting Howes with pick 39. In the 2021 mock drafts, Cal Twomey had us drafting him with pick 19 (where we took Van Rooyen) and ESPN had him going at 15. He was also apparently very close to debut in 2022. A forgotten man, but could be the next James Jordon. He will be important to our depth, hopefully competing with the likes of Woewodin for spots.

Yes to Turner, no to the other two. Seen only flashes of Laurie but there's nothing in him that suggests he is anything more than depth. McAdam is clearly the Melksham replacement. Happy to give Jefferson a game but only if we're playing against a struggling side and need to rest the other talls.