Lord Travis

We look alright when we get the ball moving, but contest is a concern. Very much in this game right now though. Some good moments from our kids already.

For those without Foxtel

He never nominated us. He never requested a trade. He met with four Victorian clubs in a hastily pushed trade exploration back to Victoria. We were the only ones with currency to potentially get a deal done quickly. It didn’t work out and now we’ve likely missed our chance as other clubs with more to offer now have time to put into courting him.

Mostly irrelevant if he nominates them. That said, probably first this year, first next year, and a player like Cam McKenzie.

Had a hot start with a few gimme goals last night. Was largely unsighted as the game went on. He’s still a work in progress with consistency and proving he could become a midfielder. Paying for potential. Regardless, he’ll be at the Hawks next year from what I’ve heard.

Can we poach the Suns skills coach? Clearly doing a good job with the players up there!

Raffle between the Suns, Lions, and Swans for the flag this year. All three have incredible lists.

3 votes, C Petracca. Superstar. What a joy he is to watch. Sucks it’s not in red and blue anymore. Still for the best to move him on, but jeez it sucks.

Some weird views and hatred on here. He rightfully called out our poor culture and poor standards. I hold no grudge towards him. He’s still a gun. People here want to downplay him to make themselves feel better. Fact is he was our best player until he went down injured halfway through 2024. He was still amongst the top few players in the league at that point, and had been for years. Anyone claiming otherwise is outright lying. Last year was not his best as he returned from a very serious injury. It’s his only season this decade that hasn’t been elite. Even still, he was second in our BnF. It’s not surprising to see him fitter, healthier, and dominating like the star he is. Even knowing all that, he’s 30 years old, so what we got for him was good compensation. Multiple first rounders helps us get more high end talent in to drive our rebuild.

He’s probably right. Likely to be 1-5 or 2-4. Anything more than that and we’re flying and will be giving finals a shake.

Excellent news. Future superstar. Great to lock him away out of Tassies reach. Looking forward to watching him continue to grow this year!

Leon Cameron was the GWS coach tearing strips off the players. That clip was enough to know he was a terrible coach and would waste an extremely talented list with no success. Coniglio was already having form and confidence issues at the time, so Cameron ripping him apart publicly was basically the end of his senior coaching career. It showed man with no empathy, no emotional control, no awareness and no vision. Pathetic. On Kingy, he seems very positive so far. Be interesting to see how he handles the group when the pressure comes and the whips are cracking. Seems a good choice on limited exposure thus far though. Pretty happy with how he seems to have got the group enjoying footy and playing with freedom again!

Probably the best tall defender I’ve ever seen in red and blue. For a few years there he was the best full back in the whole league. That 2022 final against the Swans playing on Buddy was the best defensive game I’ve ever seen by any player ever. It was super human watching it live. Congrats on a brilliant career Maysie. We’ll miss you!

My understanding is technology and software is included in the soft cap. That said, AI is extremely cheap in those terms. The highest tier ChatGPT license is $300 a month. That's a couple of grand a year to have unlimited AI use where you could train bots with opposition analysis from videos, descriptions etc. At those sorts of costs, any club not using AI is being negligent.

Already looks good in this practice match and well ahead of some of our talls. Would’ve been worth a punt for sure. Looks like a rare miss by our recruiters.

Two minutes into this practice game he has come off hurt or injured after contact on a contest! Good player but he can barely get on the park. Eight years is an eternity for someone who’s body doesn’t let them play.

If it wasn't a midfielders award before, it definitely is now. Votes will essentially go to whoever topped the stats sheet for disposals. N Daicos is a pretty safe bet to win the award this year now.

Roo has trimmed down to add more running power. He's been training more as a lead up CHF and looking a lot better. Mihocheck and Jeffo the stay at home talls.

My preseason prediction of Steele winning our BnF looks like safe bet. He's very good and with a healthy body and fresh start he'll be seriously important for us this year onfield as a player and a leader.

Great to hear. I reckon we've found our Gawn replacement here for peanuts. Moose is big, competes well and seems to have strong hands in marking contests too. With further development under Gawn and exposure at the top level, I reckon he'll become our number one ruckman in about two years time as Gawn retires. Kalani looks good up forward, so hopefully can develop to be the tall forward/second ruck clubs love.

Any updates on how the boys are going? Keen to hear about Windsor, Latrelle, Kolt, and other kids.

One decent quarter lined up on Jed Adams in a low intensity intraclub match at Casey is not proving anyone wrong. If he’s lucky, he’ll get a spot on an afl list from a mid season draft. Doubtful that eventuates though, and even more doubtful he ever makes it at AFL level. His only attribute is he’s a big lump of a lad. He lacks aerobic ability required for AFL, footy iq, defensive ability, and has average skills. There’s a reason he’s not on an AFL list, even as a rookie. There are better prospects to use list spots on.

Saw most of Q2 and Windsor looked very good. Excited for his development as he's got the attributes to be a super damaging attacking midfielder. What a waste last year was rotting in the backline. Hopefully he learnt something at least as part of his development there.

I actually think it’s the opposite with your point. The Hawks didn’t win it because they didn’t have a star midfielder and won’t win it this year because they lack one. Day could be that player, but his body broke down yet again. They went after Merrett because they needed a star midfielder. Brisbane have been the dominant team for three seasons now. They had a dual Brownlow medalist in their midfield and multiple other midfield stars in Mcluggage, Ashcroft, and Bailey. This year I’ll eat my hat if Gold Coast, Brisbane or Sydney don’t win the flag. Their midfields are stacked with stars and brand of footy is irrelevant. I find all the talk of the “modern game” and speed humorous at times. Fact is when the whips are cracking in finals, contest is king. Fancy quick game styles might get you to finals, but when the intensity lifts it becomes chaos and a contest. Brisbane just won a grand final in romping fashion by controlling clearances and contest. I believe we made the right choice moving on the players we did and to change the way we play, but contest is still king and we won’t be competitive until we develop or acquire our next contested midfield superstar. I believe it’s Langford, but still years away.

I expect to see some flashes of exciting attacking footy from us this year, but ultimately it's a rebuild year and I don't think we'll be overly competitive. I feel people will be disappointed if they have any greater expectations and think we'll be playing finals. This year is about two keys things; Pumping games into our young core such as Langford, Windsor, Lindsey, Pickett, Tholstrup, Taylor. Giving more responsibility to maturing players e.g. Rivers into midfield, leadership role for Turner. My predictions: Finishing position: 15th Best & Fairest: Jack Steele Best young player: Latrelle Pickett Leading goal kicker: Bailey Fritsch Most disposals: Jack Steele Most marks: Ed Langdon Most tackles: Jack Steele Breakout year: Caleb Windsor