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I don't see JKH competing with Garlett - he's there to be an outside run player moving up thru the midfield more than Jeff's more forward arc role

Last wild stab in the dark before the preseason begins... B: Jetta - T McDonald - Frost HB: Hunt - O McDonald - Hibberd C: Salem - Jones - Vince HF: Petracca - Hogan - Brayshaw F: Watts - Weideman - Garlett Foll: Gawn - Lewis - Viney I/C: Oliver - Stretch - vandenBerg - Kennedy-Harris Emerg: Trengove - Melksham - Spencer Injured: Tyson, Kent

Round 1 is the epitome of an '8 point game'. They match up so well against us and - like others - I rate them very highly and can definitely understand why they're a near-consensus pick to make the finals this year; classic slow build approach by Richardson and their coaching dept.

Would take reduction to 16 on field over zones any day.

when you look at those numbers, the biggest differential is the 18 months age gap that tyson has on kelly. also interesting that whilst dom makes 1 more 'clanger' per game, his actual de% is higher, and obviously as an inside player dom's clearances are slightly higher and kelly's i50s are slightly higher. both are very, very good players - easy to argue that kelly's ceiling is higher, but i think the trade in and of itself is a classic win-win.

Classic Col Sylvia move.

I am Sparta. wait, I think I'm doing this wrong...

what's the general vibe in terms of the backline make-up - the 2 macs, frost, and then the rotating runners, or just two of the mac bros and frost?

he always reminded me a bit of luke hodge - he just leads the way, no matter the position he's in.

I think 5-15 is going to be the most competitive it's been for some time. Even those presumed to be down the bottom could bounce up and bother ostensibly 'good' sides.

for mine, he definitely slowed down when he was carrying the injury

couldn't agree more.

don't forget paul prymke. alongside neitz, prymke was set to take over from sean wight as our key position defenders.

for mine, i don't think trengove was any noticeably slower across the park in 2016 than any other of our inside mid players. he certainly looked to have more toe than he did prior to the injury being diagnosed. what he lacks - possibly due to missing so much football - is smarts to make quick decisions. he looked slow and tentative in his decision-making in 2016, so i'm hoping it's something that comes back to him by dint of playing competitive football, but it remains to be seen whether or not it will.

i just keep remembering his under 18 and under 16 year and thinking 'he could still be anything'.

It's funny - when Burgan is transcribing McCartney's views on the likes of Salem, Oliver, Hogan and Brayshaw you can feel the excitement of the potential oozing off the page.

seeing as vince signed a new deal last year, i can't see him retiring at the end of 2017. the obvious candidates of players who may look for further opportunity would include trengove (one year deal), garland (will struggle to get offers, you'd think, with a two year deal remaining), jkh (injuries have hurt his ability to press for a spot in the senior side), hulett (big blokes take time but he may see more opportunities at a side calling out for a tall forward), anb (looks good enough for afl), kennedy (in / out of two afl sides now, i think he's good enough personally but will have to fight for a spot in our side), vandenberg (may see more opportunity elsewhere), spencer (1 year deal, is a free agent, ruckmen are always in demand). what i like about our list profile is that - with a couple of exceptions - we've got players who will be pushing for a spot in the side every week.

Tyson will be coming from a long way back as a result of this, which is a big blow as his second half of 2016 was as good as any mid we had I thought. Saying that, as others have said, it opens an opportunity for other mids to step up - be it Brayshaw, Oliver, Salem, Trengove, or a surprise kid coming through. Tyson is a goal kicker, and we will miss the way he's able to impact the scoreboard if he's not up to full fitness by the start of the season.

macca's notes basically put a line through garland as anything other than depth.

only started following football 84ish or so, when i was about 5.

B: Whelan - Wight - Prymke HB: S Febey - Neitz - B Lovett C: Tingay - G Lovett - Flower HF: Wilson - Schwarz - Davey F: Lyon - Jakovich - Farmer Foll: Stynes - T Viney - J McDonald I/C: N Jones - A Johnson - Yze - White Emerg: Yeats - Woewodin - Jurrah

my 'bigs' best 22: B: Jetta - T. McDonald - Frost HB: Hunt - O. McDonald - Hibberd C: Tyson - Jones - Vince HF: Petracca - Watts - Kent F: Weideman - Hogan - Garlett Foll: Gawn - Lewis - Viney I/C: Salem - Brayshaw - Oliver - Pedersen Emerg: Melksham - Stretch - vandenBerg my 'smalls' best 22: B: Jetta - T. McDonald - Hibberd HB: Hunt - O. McDonald - Vince C: Tyson - Jones - Salem HF: Petracca - Hogan - Kent F: Watts - Weideman - Garlett Foll: Gawn - Lewis - Viney I/C: Brayshaw - Oliver - Stretch - Frost Emerg: Melksham - vandenBerg - Harmes for round 1 i presume we'll go smaller, but i guess it'll come down to form etc.

pendlebury had busted ribs for the rest third of the season. his back half of the year was top notch. brayshaw i still have queries on. his inability to hit short range kicks - which should be a doddle for someone as skilled as he clearly is - are about the biggest q's on him at the moment, and i think it should be super easy for him to clean that up and hit those short passes. he's got a head for football.

Hopefully he's ready to crack 50 but in a lot of ways I expect him to play further up the ground - it's not about one, it's about the team

he's not overly tall, i'm guessing he was a point guard in basketball? if he's training with some backs he's with some pretty tall guys now too - so perhaps it's that our depth of taller players has increased? at 191 (6 foot 2 in the old) he'd be smaller than both mcdonalds, frost, kielty, and the same height as garland. interestingly, in looking that up, vandenberg is listed at 191. i'm sure he looks more like the same size as tra, who is listed at 186.