whatwhat say what

to be honest match-ups are irrelevant, more or less, in the modern game. the good teams play their own game first and foremost.

thinking the swans, and like everyone looking very forward to the showdown.

menegola is a mature age ball magnet; think barlow when he emerged at the dockers but probably not as noticeably impactful. ruggles is a classic lock-down defender; i actually really like him as a player. murdoch has played nearly 70 games now, has developed into a handy third tall. mccarthy doesn't get much of it but he can play lock down defender or small forward, potentially pushing up the ground. think bugg. stewart is a mature ager, midsized but good in the air. thurlow was an under 18 representative in his draft year about 5 years ago but has had a rotten run of injury - has talent tho. parfitt is a zippy youngster, really talented looking kid. i rate him highly; was part of the national academy squad last year.

The vfl season set up is ridiculous

bit different to the way nfl players in full body armour lead with the head and the sacrosanct nature that the head is treated in afl. mccartin has had it far worse than gus thus far in their short careers.

The vfl season set up is ridiculous

and menegola the same as guthrie. they're very reliant upon their key players influencing the game - dangerwood, hawkins, taylor, duncan and motlop remain their keys.

he's been dropped, not listed as injured. he'll have a run around at vfl level and get his hands on the pill and no doubt work on his ball use in order to force his way back in.

no, no surprise he's out...

completely agree. looks like the sort of player who can have an impact be it behind the ball, on the ball, or drifting forward. they're pretty rare and pretty exciting to have.

joel garner better come off the long run!

nup. not calling for brayshaw's trading either; just that as a clearly highly-rated player he may have value.

Just as well it's at Docklands and not Kardinia Park this week then eh

actually, i did.

i really hope so. he's stopped developing at this stage imo.

no, i don't "want" anyone delisted - i want them all to succeed. but i'm cognizant of the fact that, at the moment, brayshaw is tracking no better than toumpas as a player. i would love it if he could become a valuable contributor to the side, but at the moment is averaging less than 15 disposals a game at 68% efficiency across 33 games. it's not good enough, just as toumpas' average of less than 15 disposals a game at 74% efficiency across 35 games is similarly not good enough for a modern footballer be they a midfielder or a push-up half forward. if brayshaw was what we had to give up to get a lever in, i'd do the deal in a heartbeat.

Our backline is thin tho and lacking in skill - at the moment Lumumba and Garland are 'gone' for their career and 2017 respectfully, Frost cannot maintain fitness, and Hibberd has come to the club and immediately broken down at the age of 26, 27. Lever's skills are miles higher than the two Macs - and I'm a big fan of both those boys, but they lack the natural ability of Lever. Midfielders can always be found - there's an expectation that Petracca will go into the midfield, Stretch is getting better all the time, and ANB has started 2017 in much the same form as Brayshaw (middling, at best). It's always "easier" to find mids than quality ball-using key defenders.

But that's the things @TickleMeTyson - you've got to give to get. Brayshaw's ceiling is high; so too is Lever's. I'd argue that the latter has more scope for improvement and greater natural ability than Brayshaw. Both are highly rated, and if we have to give to get, Brayshaw could be a possibility - he's definitely rated higher than ANB for instance, and Stretch (who I'd argue has more impact on a game-to-game basis than Brayshaw).

I just don't rate Brayshaw. He can't get the ball and when he does get it he turns it over. Either he improves massively in 2017 or he's trade bait for mine.

Lever has had a far superior start to his career than Brayshaw - he can hit a target by foot which helps. Brayshaw to Carlton, Gibbs to Adelaide, Lever to Melbourne plus a shuffle of draft picks. You've got to give something to get something, and Brayshaw could easily be the makeweight in any deal to get the likes of Lever in.

15 games, 19 years old...so far in 2017 averaging 35.5 possessions @ 84% efficiency, 15 contested, and 8 tackles a game. he's pretty spesh.

i think unlikely as it's too close to the eade model. they're more likely to go for a younger assistant coach.

as everyone says, someone will throw the sink, house, street, city at him to get him at some point. he was the 'whole of club' coach that we needed at the time.

if he fractured cripps' jaw, so be it. hogan was stupid, and so was lewis too. dumb things to do.

i absolutely would not see as being guaranteed a win against any side. we have been too poor for too long.