whatwhat say what

here you go: https://sen.com.au/news/2024/11/21/his-knee-has-degenerated-worrying-health-reports-emerge-about-eagles-skipper

this is the second time he's trained with the group this summer?

fritsch has been, arguably, the best mid-sized target forward over the last five years; he should be at the peak of his powers van rooyen looms as one of the tall key forwards of his generation petracca should, with a bit of luck, return the mid / fwd hybrid role where he can impact centre and forward, both from a scoring and a link in the chain pickett is, similarly, on the precipice of being the best small forward of the current era, and his cameos on ball over the last few years have been so exciting to see i have faith that we will have the pieces to place around them to maximise our scoring opportunities; my one concern is the lack of defensive forwards from both a 'big' and 'small' perspective, particularly if kozi is rolling through the midfield more - that up and down gut running that anb executed will definitely be missed

big call out for mine is that this is the first time they've come on board as a sponsor within the afl industry i'm almost 100% they were on board with the smjfl a few years back but getting a company that's not previously invested in the big end of the industry? that's some fantastic off-field work

i think it's been pretty well established that he's transitioning into a half back rebounder in 2025 think max holmes

that has been introduced, i believe, at the end of this year? if he goes, he goes - it's not like we won't get something in return, as he's under contract for a significant amount of time

much deserved

and the presumption is he'll take it?

i prefer 'retires following our history-making four premierships in a row and immediately has the new caulfield facility, due to be opened january, 2029, commission a statue to go out the front

unless something goes horribly wrong, max won't be retiring at the end of 2025 happy for him to be holding up the premiership cup bit of this narrative to happen tho

as others have said, start with the nadir - the first year jackson / roos being on board

they said that last year about flagmantle as well in terms of how could a deal get done? at the end of the this season, or next, or the one after - he's under contract so it's not something to comtemplate at this stage... ...that said, look at the bolton deal - koz is years younger, under contract, and arguably better at the same age

the west really does love to clutch at straws

i think he's one of our most important players

if he does, i expect he'll be in the rd 1 team by my reckoning for the most part, goodwin likes to play a settled side in the pre-season

do you really think it's a reportable story?

the west remains trash, i see https://www.reddit.com/r/AFL/comments/1i8rjhp/west_australian_melbourne_forward_kysaiah_pickett/

oh how could i forget POSITIVE LINGERS! i'm literally WEARING THE SHIRT i holler it every time he touches it

i know it's wrong to get excited based on 4 mins of edited highlights but i'm going FULL BIG KEV

fwiw he may still have 'director' as his title at gemba but it would seem to be in name only, according to those who should know i maintain this story of "hird to pick dees' ceo" is clickbait nonsense classic jay clark; strange that paul amy has a byline on it

the scum are just using hird's name to drive clicks it's gemba that we've engaged

No quotes from Melbourne, no quotes from Hird, no mention that it’s Gemba-related… powder puff article

half back rebounder for mine going forward our own lachie whitfield

quality, thanks @Ghostwriter nicknames that i and my friendly cohort have and will continue to use in much love and affection: mcvee = chris spargo = dj shtiboi melksham = milkshake mcdonald = plugger mentha = jake woewodin = woey 2.0 and whenever milkshake has a shot on goal...

it's where the game is ultimately won or lost - if your midfield has ascendancy then generally speaking you're in a good position to be the team in control of the game we have three players who will go down as three of the greatest mfc players of any era - gawn, petracca, oliver gawn is the greatest ruckman the game has ever seen and shows no signs of not being so petracca is built as the prototype mid-fwd, albeit without the exquisite kicking skills of dustin martin; he's more alike to patrick dangerfield in terms of his ball usage, but i'd argue is more of a 'game changer' than the latter, more akin to the former oliver is the best pure mid i've ever seen at the dees; if he gets back to full fitness and capability, more aflca awards - as far as i'm concerned, the pinnacle modern award - await in his future the way i see it the next tier down is either wily veterans, players at the peak of their powers, or emerging talent i think viney can be like travis boak and play deep into his mid-30s; he's never been quick so there's no fear of him slowing down in his dotage langdon is the perfect modern wingman, running hard both ways all day for 99% game time; aerobic beast the big gap we have is in the mid-tier age players - billings, laurie are classique 'too good for vfl; not good enough for afl' players (which is not meant as a knock per se; it's meant to indicate that they'll be in / out of the senior side and only ever bit-part contributors, not even really role players as per how neal-bullen was for us for five or so years once his fitness base was elite), although personally i think billings will only be better in 2025 for having been part of our system in 2024 rivers i think has the capacity to be petracca-alike - the move into the middle in 2024 showed that he can impact around stoppage and on the scoreboard, which is what you want to see from an emerging player of his era, with 5 years in the system my only concern with pickett moving into the midfield is that it's robbing peter to pay paul; ideally you want him in both locations as the small pressure forward is, arguably, the #1 most important 'role player' in the game in these modern times as they are expected to stop the oppo transitioning out of defence with ease AND impact the scoreboard, and arguably koz is one of the best in the business at doing so i have high hopes for the likes of tholstrup, langford, lindsay as i'm sure we all do - first round picks should be yr best players, and there's an expectation that they're ready to go in 2025 to be a part of the senior side sharp, woey 2.0, pup brown, sestan - let's wait and see if they can grow into afl roles; i look at how long it took anb to establish himself as a key player as a fwd-mid at afl level or for langdon to be an elite wingman from 2021 onwards, and i have hopes that at least one of these trio can be part of a senior side moving forward as they continue to develop we are short on quality ruck stocks, but i don't think that's too surprising given that gawn is a freak; no player - other than reg for a loaner for a year - will want to be a second fiddle to the great man when they think that they are afl-ready; campbell will compete for us if required, but it's a case 'who knows' with the likes of verrall or fullarton, the latter of whom looks to me to be more a forward than a ruck per se