burnthefushias

Being an AFL captain should be earned, not given. Gawn remains the stand out leader in the playing group and until one of the younger players make an undeniable case for themselves, should remain as captain and likely will. Rivers does seem a prime choice for mine and Disco should be in the conversation too. Guys who were marked as future leaders under Goodwins tenure such as Sparrow and Chandler need to step up their on field contributions significantly to have a flicker of a chance. Langford and Lindsay were both captains of their U18 TAC Cup teams and are smokeys with a break out season but they're both still very young and are unlikely to be ready in 2-3 years time. Van Rooyen is another budding leader who is in the right age bracket to make a statement with his performances. Time will tell what happens, but I don't believe we're as lacking in the leadership department as some here seem to think we are. A lot of the guys I mentioned are still maturing at their own rate and could be closer to the mantle than any of us might think, Gawns shadow as one of the greatest captains in our clubs history is a large one after all.

3 first rounders for Trac when two guys in his age bracket in Steele and Oliver were just traded for peanuts is a great outcome. Barring any trades from here we'll have had 8 first round selections between 2023-2026.

In the space of 72 hours Oliver goes from dodging Cleary at the airport to giving the same news outlet Cleary works for a headline to round out the first day of the 2025 trade period. The man is predictably unpredictable.

Steven May and a future 4th. Take it or leave it.

Humphries is of course the ideal situation for Melbourne but that is contingent on him willing to move to Melbourne and Gold Coast being willing to move him on. If it does come down to picks, maybe something like 6, 7 and 13 for Petracca, 26 + Spargo compensation pick to help them match academy bids is something to think about. Experts say its a weak draft but they're not always right. There is very likely a few gems available. Even players that could eventually play an important role alongside our core group could be invaluable down the line. Whatever happens, Melbourne should play hard ball with Gold Coast who thanks to their academy exceptions are recruiting young talent more than any other club in the competition and are now serious contenders going forward. We need to use all the leverage we have.

I'm sure Lamb and Taylor will be eager to replace McVee with 4 WA boys in this years draft so nothing to see here. On a serious note, if Moniz-Wakefield recovers well from his injury he can make that position his own next season.

Where did you find this stat?

What's with Geelong key forwards who have never been captain being selected as captain of the All-Australian team?

6: Hanks 5: Harris 4: Hore 3: Fitzsimon 2: Zanker 1: Paxman

6: Clayton Oliver 5: Christian Salem 4: Max Gawn 3: Harvey Langford 2: Bayley Fritsch 1: Trent Rivers

6: Gawn 5: Salem 4: Rivers 3: Petty 2: Viney 1: Van Rooyen

2 turnovers from Sparrow in the space of 10 seconds

He's classified as a non free agent because to be a restricted free agent you need to have spent eight years at your first club and be in the top 25% earners on the playing list, but it's a similar deal in terms of how a player navigates getting to another team when they're out of contract. The first option is negotiating a trade and if that isn't agreed upon between clubs, the non free agent can choose his contract length and dollar amount before nominating for either draft. So if McVee wants West Coast, we don't have a tremendous amount of leverage given their position in the pre-season draft.

6: Gawn 5: Petty (surprised I'm the first to give him votes) 4: Rivers 3: Langford 2: Oliver 1: Bowey

6: Gawn 5: Viney 4: Fritsch 3: Oliver 2: Petracca 1: Petty