The Taciturn Demon

He's going to be a lot of fun to watch - from March onwards, I suspect.

Languid and reluctant in the background waving eagerly, almost desperately.

Interesting. I had the impression any link to Reid might have dried up.

Goodness, I hope so. We need this so badly.

Interesting that Reid seems out of the picture if the most recent discussion around Tauru, Allan and Langford is accurate. I liked his highlights as well.

You thought you were a mischief-maker and it turned out you were a prophet. I hate it when that happens.

Monograms often look great. Fitzroy's jumper between 1940 and the early 1970s is probably my favourite footy jumper ever. Gold Coast's original logo looked like it was designed in MS Paint for a car leasing company.

Geeze, that would be lovely.

This is a great explanation. Thanks so much.

And she's never made the All Australian team. If you peruse stats to make your decisions, I can see how you wouldn't like Hanks. If you watch the actual games (and, as you said, play in them), you'd find it much harder to go past her. Give me 15 Tyla Hanks disposal over 35 of Ebony Marinoff's or 300 of Kirsty Lamb's.

I can't believe they've done this. The whole problem was a big corporate logo in the middle of the guernsey looks terrible. It's amateurish - like they never graduated from their Under 18 selves. The logo itself was hideous, and they've improved it - arguably not as much as well as they could have - but why keep it on on the jumper? McDonald's red and yellow aren't great colours to work with, but all colours can work if you go with any of the dozens of traditional Australian rules guernsey designs. Stripes, hoops, a V, a yoke, panels, a sash... there are so many options and variations. The logo is such a bad idea. The away strip is right up there with the worst jumper of the last 20 years.

Now that it seems Smith is fairly likely for us at Pick 5, it's been interesting to return to this thread. A really interesting, robust debate. I have zero experience watching junior football (I watched Jed Adams' highlights after we drafted him and thought we were getting Peter Knights). I also don't rate myself a good analyst of football, so this is all probably nonsense. I definitely see what DeeSpencer worries about. The term "nothing handball" is blunt and seems harsh, and yet it often seems to apply in the highlights I've seen. For me, a top five who's going to handball more than he kicks has to be crisp and decisive with this skill; they need to put teammates into space or at least make the game easier for them. I see a fair bit of slamming the footy into a teammate's midriff for the sake of not getting caught. What excites me is his centre bounce stuff. It seems like there's a creativity, dynamism and instinctive understanding of where the ball's going that could pretty quickly alleviate some of our clearance woes. One thing I feel has killed us for a long time is opponents winning multiple centre bounce clearances in a row - often very damaging ones. Smith seems like the sort of player who could give us a different set of skills and big advantage in this part of the ground (with luck, before Max retires). He seems to have a real desire to be part of strings of possession, which I like, although I'm not sure I've seen much to suggest we want him hitting the final kick. Parish comparisons worry me. I also see a bit of Scully, although it sounds like he's a much more... ahem.. mature person. I see the Neale likeness, as well, and I distinctly remember his disposal being questioned for years before he became a champion. Not sure if he improved it significantly or just learned to play (brilliantly) within his limitations. What I'd love to see some of is even a hint of Zach Merrett, because good disposal is so important in modern football. But I can't. I trust Taylor, and I love the fact that so many far better observers than me think this bloke is an out-and-out gun, so I'll stay optimistic when pessimism seems a natural default after the last three seasons.

Her non-selection is embarrassing, but McNamara missing is far worse.

What do you think of him, Chaser?

I regard Charlie Spargo as very much in this category - I don't think too many people have number 9 on their back (sorry, Charlie). And yet I spent a lot of this year wishing we could depend on two or three of his smart, 20- to 35-metre darts inside 50 every week. EDIT: Adonski already mentioned Spargo - sorry. Wasn't stealing your idea.

Pretty high. Because I really dislike the way we (generally) kick the ball to our forwards, and even though "Gryan Miers for pick 9" sounds unpalatable at least you're getting a really good inside 50 deliverer. Improving our ball movement ahead of centre is something I think we desperately need. Game plan changes may help it. But could very good decision makers help even more?

It's the kicks themselves, but also the time between getting the ball and making the decision. Beautiful.

I freely admit, I'm a poor judge of footballers and I'm sure I miss the nuances that determine whether a top-level player is (or will become) good, bad or just plod along for 150 games. But that to me that was a nine-minute catalogue of making the game easier for your teammates.

To the Demons? Is this common knowledge?

I can't help but feel this is true. I find the whispers along the lines of "the group feel they're ready to burst back into finals" optimistic.

I heard Stinear mention it in a press conference - maybe after their first win following the bad stretch. Players returning from injury helped, but changing the game plan was the big shift, I reckon.

Interesting. Could speed be a problem as a key defender? Speaking of mid-season picks, I like a lot in Turner's game. He's about to turn 23, so I think we can expect him to take another step this year. His kicking for goal is lovely, but he looks a natural intercept defender to me.

I was very strongly in the two midfielders camp until I stopped and realised that the lingering idea that we have key position players coming out of our ears is no longer really true. Brown, Schache and Tomlinson all gone. Smith played tall - also gone. McDonald had a wonderful year but this is almost certainly his last and I'd be worried if he was crucial this year in the same way he was last. Hore seems a bit of a stop gap. Press conference comments alone suggest Fullarton might not make it. Kentfield seems like a throw at the stumps. Adams still seems some way off. Jefferson seems promising, but no certainty. And then there's the question of whether Petty is still interested in returning to SA. I have no idea if Armstrong is a good enough footballer to warrant pick 9 in this draft, but I can see the rationale behind a mid and a KPP.

Please don't be self-deprecating. Your butterfly wing flap may have contributed to our next Flag.

That first four seems to be coming up again and again. I wonder if it's just about set... or are people just assuming Adelaide will go for the South Australian?