Lord Travis

Laughably back in the game!

Was great reading in the training thread this week that we didn’t practice goal kicking much. Wtf is wrong with the dumb [censored] running this club? I don’t care if we don’t have all the behind the scenes ins and outs, some things are just blatantly obvious and could be fixed by a [censored] retarded chimp at this point! How much longer do the coaches get to cruise and collect a pay cheque?

Weak rubbish from Preuss there.

Getting burnt on the outside just like every other week. We’re trying at least, but same issue as always. It could get very ugly today.

Hurn late out. Debutant Franky Watson in. Quick rebounding indigenous half back. Eagles with 6 indigenous players out there today.

It's precisely why Gold Coast will take him with pick 1 - he's a 9/10 chance of being a solid AFL midfielder. They need that high chance of success, even if it's not superstar level success. If we are lucky/unlucky enough to wind up with pick 2, Noah Anderson is exactly what we need now and in the future. Snagging him would be the only positive for this awful season we've had! More in the news today about Ed Langdon coming back to Victoria, with us leading the hunt. He'd be a good get to add run to our midfield if he didn't cost anything more than a second rounder.

Outside of Rowell, Anderson, Kemp, the other mooted too options are Serong, Ash, Young. Serong was good as a small forward last year, then good playing midfield this year. He’s similar in play style and attributes to Robbie Gray and looks a safe prospect. He seems very driven which I like. Ash I’ve spoken about. His pace is elite, his kicking long and short is elite, but he has really low contested number compared to all other potential high picks and that worries me. Historically players with low contested counts at lower level don’t make the grade at afl level. Young is one that insiders say is climbing the rankings potentially as high as pick 2-3. He plays alongside Ash and they form a decent pairing. He’s just good at most parts of the game, though his pace is a level down from Ash’s. His long kicking is elite. His ability to move into midfield and play inside was decent, and in my mind that puts him ahead of Ash. Still hoping for Anderson!

Liam Duggan is a half back flanker. Are you confusing him with Liam Ryan? Duggan was trailed through the midfield without much success, but he’s a good baldness back flanker with a nice long kick. I see Ash as very similar. His low contested numbers worry me, and his midfield potential is unknown as he too struggled when playing there, but dominated off half back. I’ve been pretty vocal on here that if I had the choice I’d pick Anderson. He looks to be the whole package. Tall prototype midfield, wins ball inside and outside, great run, great agility and evasive skills, great kicking skills, hits the scoreboard (regularly kicks 2-4 goals), and stands up in pressure situations like champion footballers do. Immediate future, either him and Kemp would suit us. Either could provide a forward option or attacking outside midfield option. Long term, Anderson is the pick of the bunch. He’s Bontempelli Mach 2! Rowell is a safe bet. I don’t think he’ll ever be a superstar or a top line inside midfielder. He’ll be Jacob Hopper level IMO. I would rather take other options that have a higher ceiling and suit our needs also. He’s the safest bet though, along with Serong.

Thanks for the report kev! DNIMD, that was my exact response when reading the report! Surely we should focus more on a key issue we’ve had all year...

In terms of potential, Kemp would be likened to Dangerfield. He’s a powerful athlete who has size and bursts from stoppages when in midfield, but is a marking option who hits the scoreboard when up forward. He’s probably got the highest ceiling, but less chance of reaching it. Anderson would be likened to Bontempelli. He’s a tall midfielder who can win it inside and be super damaging outside with his evasion and kicking skills. He also rests up forward and hits the scoreboard. His performances are the best and most consistent of the potential high picks. He’s the pick of the bunch to become a star of the AFL IMO. Rowell... I see him as a Jacob Hopper/Marc Murphy. Smaller midfielder, more inside than out, decent enough pace, doesn’t hit the scoreboard much or stray from the middle. I’d be disappointed if we ended up with him, as he’s a safe bet to be a solid inside midfielder, but doesn’t have stand out attributes like other potential high picks. Other potential high picks are Serong - Robbie Gray with less consistency Ash - Liam Duggan with more pace Young - a more versatile Nick Haynes

Attached screenshot from my phone. Has the quote I copy pasted as well as stating Kobe is part of Freos next gen academy. Looks very unlikely he’ll go anywhere but Freo if he’s good enough to make an afl list.

Another Jeff Farmer quote from the article - “If he keeps ticking the boxes, and keeps the guys happy at the football club…. It won’t be too long before fingers crossed he’s wearing the number 33 at the Fremantle Footy Club.” He’s going to Freo. He already lives in WA and Freo have brought Jeff back to the club and started introducing Kobe to the club via training etc. It’s a shame we’ll miss out!

Why not Serong then? Accomplished as both a small forward and a midfielder. He’s got decent pace, skills and smarts, so he fits the bill as both. Top 5-10 talent who fills a need. I’d still love Anderson though! He looks like he’ll be a serious jet and would add a ton of class and X factor to our midfield and forward line.

We could win this but likely won’t. We’ve got way too many passengers out there. The likes of Hannan, Nibbler, Dunkley, Jetta, Brayshaw have all been subpar. Hopefully pick 2-3 this year is a ripper for us!

Would take him gladly if he was open to leaving. He’s the type of pacey small forward we need and a big upgrade on the likes of Spargo, Nibbler, Hanna etc

Eagles looking good tonight. Scary prospect that they’re getting key players back now too!

Fair point. His kicks are often cut off by the opposition when they're not shanks. That would go a fair way to explaining his poor ball use in the back half actually!

I love Ash's speed - it's elite and the best of this draft class. My concern with Ash is his balance of ball winning. His contested possessions are only at 20%, which is well below average. All other forecasted top 10-20 picks playing in similar positions are 40%-65%. There's been a clear trend of players with low contested possession numbers at underage levels failing to adjust at AFL level. Off the top of my head, first round picks that had low contested possession counts and haven't stepped up are Toumpas, Morton, Aish, Lang, Pickett, Ah Chee, Lovell, T Menzel, Mayes. For that reason I'd prefer others such as Serong or Kemp, but there's no doubting Ash's speed and kicking is enticing.

It should be noted that Fritsch is often the one with ball rebounding and will try to bite off harder kicks than others. For whatever reason though his kicking efficiency is way down in the defensive half. If you go through the AFL Pro stats stuff, his kicking efficiency forward half is 84%, but defensive half it's down at 53%. Mind boggling he isn't playing forward more considering our number 1 issue is connection in the front half! Salem, Jones and May are our most efficient coming out of defence, Lever and Jetta would both be up there as well had they played. We have enough kicking skill down there that Fritsch should no longer be forced down there anymore. Play him forward!

Our backline is stacked, our forward line is in tatters. Play him forward for the remainder of the year. He's been disappointing this year IMO His first season was very good, and I expected him to keep improving, but he seems to have gone backwards/stalled this year. It's probably been a result of being moved around and not settling into a position. I'm still not sure if this is good for his development or not yet. Long term I still see him as a forward/wing option. I think his best football was played early in his career as a forward, and his worst football has come down back where his lack of intensity and body strength has been exposed, case in point being dropped late last year. For whatever reason his goal kicking is generally accurate, his forward half kicking is generally accurate, but his field kicking in the back half has been a genuine liability this year.

Also made finals in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 if I’m not mistaken. But yes the last decade has been nothing short of pathetic.

We as a club and supporters have no right no whinge about other clubs getting priority picks. We received more than anyone about a decade ago and squandered them. The Suns clearly need one and are in their right to ask for one. Lets stop whinging and just demand the club get better instead of the pathetic effort it’s served up this year.

@Mods - Is it time to re-open the Draft and Trade board?

Trac just needs to fix his set shot goal kicking. Other than that, he's been playing some good footy the past month or two. This season he's averaged 18 disposals and one goal. He's missing most of his set shots though (set shot accuracy of 32%). If he nailed more of those, he'd already be a 18 touch 2-3 goal a game player. That's the difference between good and great for him - set shots. It's all in his head, as when he's playing on instinct he hits the goals nearly every time! I don't think he's ever going to a superstar of the competition like we first hoped, but if can lift his output to average 20 disposals and 2 goals a game for remainder of his career, he'd be deemed a gun half forward and very important part of our team.

This draft is packed full of midfielders and smaller types. Unfortunately there isn't much in the way of tall forwards, which is an area we are lacking in. Will be interesting to see who we wind up with in the top 5 and if we can land a small forward like Weightman with our second round pick (if we still have it heading into the draft). A classy skilled midfielder with pace and a quality small forward would be a good result.