Lord Travis

Tom McDonald with ongoing knee management. Hopefully he comes good this year. He's possibly the most important player on our list at the moment, as he's our only proven big goal kicker. https://www.afl.com.au/news/374096/big-demons-forward-joins-all-australian-ruckman-in-rehab-group

It’s not impossible, but going by data this century it’s a 1.6% chance of finals if we are 0-2. It’s a 0.5% chance of finals if we’re 0-3. Tough start to the season for us, but we just have to win.

We've been poor at developing talent. We've had more high draft picks than nearly all other clubs, yet have butchered the development of the top young talent coming in. Some say we drafted poorly, I don't (for the most part). I believe the talent was fine, the development was poor. If we weren't a basket case off-field and our development focus was stronger, young talent drafted like Watts, Scully, Trengove, Grimes, Morton, Blease would all still be in red and blue and would now be the core carrying this club to consistent finals now. Talents like Petracca would be superstars too. We've definitely gotten better, but guys like Petracca, Brayshaw, Weideman all show that there's decent improvement still to be had with our development of young talent. We've been poor at retaining talent too obviously, but I think if development was better, culture would be better, less players leave - it's all connected.

Only 3 teams in the last decade have made finals from a 0-2 start to the season. Those are tough odds to overcome. Those teams were Sydney in both 2014 and 2017, and Collingwood in 2018. Only one team has made finals from 0-3 or worse - Sydney 2017. If we, or any other team are 0-3, it’s basically game over.

Pass mark is finals. Anything less is unacceptable and heads should roll. Success would be winning finalS.

Gawn and Viney co-captains. Will be announced soon. Hoping that a fully fit Viney can get back to his 2015-2017 levels of impact and leadership. Gawn has shone the last few years and developed as a leader on field and off field. Excited to see him as captain and hope the knee injury doesn’t impact his year.

Luke Jackson, come on down!!!

Brown will play as a leading forward. With Preuss now injures, Jackson looks set to play number 1 ruck until Gawn returns!

How is the Giants midfield ranked 12th?! They just made the grand final off the back of a ridiculous midfield. Taranto, Kelly, Coniglio, Whitfield, Hopper, DeBoer, Ward, Williams, with youngsters Ash, Caldwell, Hately, Langdon, Hill all likely to push for game time also. It didn’t stand up on the day it counted, but their midfield is comfortably top 4, probably the best IMO. I’ve never been overly critical of champion data stuff in the past because I understand it’s all pure stats, but even so it seems they [censored] this up.

That looks f*cking horrendous. Nice one AFL!

There were obvious reasons why we moved him on for what seemed like unders. Such a shame his career seems to be turning out this way. He was genuinely one of the most exciting forward talents we’d seen in years. Hopefully he can work through his issues and have a healthy life in the end.

Thought I heard he had minor concussion concern and would be non-contact for a week or two. The new draftees have modified training loads to gradually build their bodies up, as Lord New linked above. No concerns with Kossie or any of the new draftees at this stage. Rivers in particular looks like he'll play seniors this year, probably running off half back. Looks a perfect replacement for the Hibberd role.

Predicting top 5 in our BnF next year. I really like him as a player and reckon he’s still underrated in the wider afl community. On output he’s very very similar to Brad Hill, but doesn’t get spoken about in the same way. The fact he’s still young and we got him for a second rounder will prove to be a big drafting success story for us. He’s going to own the MCG wing for years to come!

Most of his goals have been scored from in play. His set shot percentage is much lower, was around 30% at one point last year. It seems mental for him, as his set shot percentage back in 2017 when under less expectation was close to 70% and one of the best in the league. The two seasons since has seen it plummet to one of the worst in the league. He has the skill, he needs to build the mental resilience and consistency for his set shots. Trac sounds like he’s maturing this offseason and taking more ownership of not only his own form, but the teams form. Sounds like he might become a leader with time. Hopefully he has a great year and builds off a solid 2019... and then re-signs a new contract with us!

As we’re well stocked for inside midfielders, I’m hoping they develop him or Lockhart as a small defender to replace Jetta. Jetta and Hibberd look to be right near the end, so we need to groom more smaller defenders to replace them. Plenty of tall defender depth, but not so much on the small side.

Been in hell for decades now. We’ve never made it back. I’ve still got PTSD from 2017 when the club prematurely sent out finals marketing and ticket info before we had secured our spot. What an embarrassing disaster that was!

Smith not big enough for key position and can’t get on the park. Hore better on flank or back pocket also. Petty showed more up forward, but may be the right option at CHB. May at FB. Lever best as third tall. That leaves Oscar as the default option...

Brown the most proven so he got my vote. He's proven he’ll give us 20+ goals from that position. Weid should claim this spot easily, but is yet too do so. He’s the logical choice longer term assuming TMac and others are playing CHF in tandom. Petty showed promise and could claim it. Jackson is a fair way off it but is a big talent so could come on quickly and lay claim. They’ll use Brown or Weid depending who is fittest and had most time in training come end of preseason.

Voted Pickett because Hannan was not an option. It’s a clear weakness for us that we drafted Pickett to address longer term. Not sure how long he’ll take to come on though, as though as while he can do some magical stuff, he’s a long way off it consistency-wise and is very low production like Spargo. I think if fit that Hannan is the best proven option. Not a huge goal kicker, but chimes in, can provide a target and has decent pace too. C Wagner and Spargo are better in other positions and probably not best 22. Bedford and Chandler unknowns. ANB more a running HFF. Fritsch plays taller as a marking option. AVB better further up the ground around the ball.

Thanks all for reports for those of us that can’t make training. Sounds like some fresh drills today to be more patient and smart around our inside 50 connection. Exactly what we need!

Nathan Jones is the one they’ve been very tight lipped about. I assume it’s tied to his neck and back issues of the past two seasons so slow build up for him too due to his age.

Heard he has a small back issue and the club is being conservative as to not exacerbate it and make it a long term injury. Might just be a slightly slower build up for him heading into the season proper. No alarm bells yet.

Thanks everyone for the reports! I’ll back in Jordon for winner of goal kicking contest. He’s a lovely kick from what I’ve seen so far. Fritta would be the favorite as he’s usually a neat kick, but some days his radar loses the plot. Pruess probably the worst kick there but could surprise as he did kick a few last year!

There’s a position wide open for Pickett, so he’ll get a game before others due to that. Of the new draftees, Rivers is probably the most ready and versatile, so barring injury I expect him to crack a game playing hbf/midfield. Jackson appears a way off and needs to add more strength as he currently gets pushed around in most contests at training. People need to be patient with him as talls take longer and just because he’s a high draft pick, doesn’t mean he’ll crack a game and dominate. James Jordon was developing nicely late last year when moved into the midfield at VFL level, and it sounds as though he’s continued to develop over preseason. We’ll likely see him debut next season.

Boring fluff piece, but hopefully Richo brings more stability and success to our inexperienced coaching group.