Bonkers

Seems to be that way. Probably needs to work on his tank to get to more contests. At his size he's not going to be able to win as much of his own ball in tight so probably needs to work a bit harder on the outside to get a bit more involved and impact the game.

6, 40(Tomlinson), 59,60,80 & 94. They're probably looking at getting pick 30 for Patton from Hawthorn.

I was reading earlier on the AFL website that if Jacobs nominates GWS as a free agent their Tomlinson compo will slide back to the 3rd round from the 2nd round. Alternatively they'd have to agree to a trade with Adelaide. Will this impact what they are capable of allocating to makeup the difference to pick up Green?

They've lost the plot. Nothing new there I guess.

Let's just wait and see if Elliot can play the majority of games this year. He has been injured more often than not so I wouldn't be that keen unless his injury issues are proven to be a thing of the past.

Good post. My worry is our game plan is purely contested footy. There's no balance. If hacking the ball forward with no structure, leading patterns or skill / efficiency is our game plan and brand then there's a reason we are getting pumped. I've been concerned about the forward 50 efficiency for over a year now. It's dumb football to put a whole heap of effort into getting the ball inside 50 only for it to come straight back out again or without a hope of hitting up a target. Our forward 50 entries are bomb and hope, that's amateurish at a professional level. Our scoring opportunities are easy to defend against and Geelong just sat behind the ball and counter attacked us last night. We conceded 14 goals from turnovers against Geelong. The other worry is that a team like Hawthorn is moving away from a contested brand of footy and trying to utilise space and skill to setup more efficient opportunities at goal. We have drafted players that are predominantly ball winners but without much polish. We are going to keep getting found out against teams who are willing to sit back and soak up pressure and who have clean skills and speed going the other way. The games being won on the counter attack from turnovers and we don't have wings or forwards to implement that ball movement at the moment or to use the space on the ground to cut a team up and utilise easy scoring opportunities.

Playing as a half forward flank can be a difficult position at times. You're not around the ball for the whole game and you're not the focal point of attacks either. Maybe I am being too forgiving of Petracca but I don't think he's being played to his strengths. It's going to be difficult to rack up 25 touches a week in that position. I think where DeGoey has thrived is being made the focal point or target of Collingwoods forward movements. He knows his role and if he only gets 10 stats in a game but kicks 3 goals he's had a good day. This has come through necessity for Collingwood as they didn't have anyone else to play full forward at the time when he started playing there. A year or so ago DeGoey was still an inconsistent unproven player. People are quick to jump on the bandwagon and forget he's had way more issues than Petracca. This time last year he was caught drink driving, 12 months before that he lied about how he'd broken his hand? So yeh it looks great for him at the moment but Petracca is ahead of him in terms of his overall output upto date in my opinion. In terms of going forward I think the coaching staff could play Petracca more as the deepest forward a lot more often. He creates a hard match up for defenders as they won't have his strength at the same height. With the new 6-6-6 rules we are going to see more one on one match ups & I'd like to see the coaching staff try take advantage of this and isolate Petracca on his defender a lot more and see what he can do.

Jones, Lewis and Vince need replacing so I'd be looking at free agents who can add some pace/skill on the wings and play through the midfield as their replacements. Jordan, Sparrow and Nietschke are most likely a couple of years off playing decent consistent footy if they even get to that stage. A decent small forward would be good as well. Are there any of those types of players available via free agency that wouldn't unbalance our pay structure? Could be difficult but not impossible.

Petty is injured and correct me if I'm wrong but Keilty has not played a game of senior AFL footy? Selecting him would mean we have 3 MFC debutants in our back 6 at Geelong and 4 MFC debutants in the team. Whilst it could pay off to play Keilty, Frost did play some decent footy last year. All defenders can look ordinary when the ball is coming in 60 times a game so I'm prepared to give him some slack based off last week. The midfield is where we lost the game last week. I'm prepared to accept Frost as limited footballer in terms of his skills and awareness, but a player with great speed, strength and leap who can play a defensive role given the right protection in front of him. In time he's not a first 22 player but at the moment he's what we have got. Yes May can take Hawkins, but then if you drop Frost Ratugolea can potentially get a hold of Oscar in that match up. Oscar has improved a lot over time but he is still a weak point in our side physically which opposing teams can isolate and target 1 on 1.

Whilst he isn't the most talented I'd rather him in the side over OMac at Geelong. OMac lost us the game in the space of 10-15 minutes when playing on Hawkins last year. Frost has some pace and size to negate Hawkins. May or Oscar can then zone off with one or the other to play on Ratugolea.

Trying to be respectful to Hogan and Croad here, I think you will find their 'issues' are very different.

I haven't been watching the game, what was the fracture of?

It's hard enough succeeding at AFL level whilst remaining uninjured let alone starting off your career with an ACL injury. Wishing him a successful rehab and full recovery.

As others have mentioned in other threads the key forward depth is pretty thin. I'll be interested to see who actually does play forward this year for Casey and also what the drafting and trading strategy will be in the coming seasons.

I have no idea if he was catholic or Protestant but I have Catholic friends who are from Glasgow with Irish heritage. They identify with being both Scottish and Irish.

First of all I'm not having a go at you here, but have the reports been verified by anyone? Further to that does the AFL need to be consulted? Why would internal staff know who is being selected if it is a board decision as far as I'm concerned they have nothing to do with the process unless they're on a selection panel? There were reports this was less a board decision and more a Bartlett decision? How is that even possible, there would be a selection panel and surely through that process the applicants are assessed by more than just Bartlett. I'm assuming the applicants also needed to be assessed and voted upon by the selection panel and then supported by each board member ? The club has come a long way and I really struggle to see the club letting one man appoint a CEO, perhaps that is the reason Caro was arsed from her speaking duties recently?

There's a good bit?

The prelim showed some weaknesses in our list which may or may not be addressed in this trade/draft period. I think the game style is fine more so the composition of our list is still coming together. Going into the trade period I saw the following weaknesses: - second ruck - key position defence - wing x 2 - half forward flank / forward pocket speed and skill Bringing in May & Preuss goes halfway to addressing the weaknesses. The jury is out on KK, he may become a good wing player, I have my doubts whether he can slot into the midfield. I think he'll end up on the HBF. Gaff would have been ideal but it wasn't meant to be. So we are left with two areas of weakness IMO. 2 wings that can also play in the midfield rotation and cover good ground, as well as a skilled small forward type player with speed. Perhaps Stretch can become one of the wings but he's no gaurantee. It will be interesting to see who Taylor drafts with the picks they have as I'm not sure we have the players internally to fill those roles. Jones and Tyson filled the role at the end of the year however they are both not suited to it IMO and teams will look to exploit this. It's been mentioned elsewhere on D'Land, I'm of the opinion that the Hogan trade needed to get us more in return than what it did to strengthen the list. May will be a good player but what happens with KK and 23 is anyone's guess. Easy to be critical from the cheap seats I guess.

Anyone got an idea of how many Km's KK covers/runs in an average game? Or should I say how many he is capable of covering.

My understanding is that he has elite small forward traits, however like you said he doesn't get enough of the ball or hit the scoreboard often enough. If he did then he'd probably be in the first or second round of the draft not the 3rd. His short comings can be worked on and developed. If his attack on the footy is good then it's just a matter of getting to the ball more often. I'd back the development staff at the club to help elevate his game, he could be a rough diamond. I think his ability is superior to Dion Johnstone by the way.

Scully might be lucky to play consistent minutes again so his worth is diminished. Who knows how banged up his ankle is and if he will ever reach his peak form again. Shiel is worth a first and second rounder I'd say, good luck to the Giants in trying to swindle the Dons.

On current form I would agree. I watched him in the VFL GF closely. He had a lack of awareness assessing his options down the field. Pretty much every disposal out of the backline was terrible and the wrong option. When he first burst onto the scene as a senior player he was our only line breaking defender. His attack on the man and ball was pretty inspiring footy to watch. I'm hoping that he's been out of form due to injury and confidence rather than ability. However his disposal has always been somewhat tunnel visioned.

Right at this time it's hard to have any respect at all for Fremantle. The Age has reported that Fremantle assured Hogan's manager that pick 6 would be included in a deal for him and that was then promised to Melbourne. MFC may not have even entered into discussions if this was not promised. If this is the case they have gone back on their word to Jesse, they have stuffed everyone around. I find it hard to respect anyone like that.

Mahoney has stated earlier today that if we don't get currency for Hogan we can't trade for May.

Barrett called Rosich and Bell novices and out of their depth. Operating in positions they are not familiar with and wasting everyones time (AFL community).