Lord Travis

I'd hope our coaches instruct our players to do this in that scenario. Giving away a professional free kick to clog up space is a viable tactic. It would also highlight to the AFL and rules committee how stupid the rule is that it can be deliberately taken advantage of to the detriment of the team being rewarded a free kick. We're lucky however that the 6-6-6 rule advantages us more than most other teams, as we have a dominant ruckmen and dominant ball winners. 2019 is going to be huge for us!

Will likely receive a bid anywhere from 30 onwards, which we would then match. We wouldn't match a bid higher than that and will use both our picks in the 20s to draft others. While Bedford has some good qualities, he doesn't have great output. Across 4 matches in the champs, he averaged 12 touches a game and didn't register a single score whilst playing as a small forward. The potential is there though, so I think he'd be a good addition to the list with a late pick. Definitely better than say Dion Johnstone. If he can build his tank to get to more contests he could have more impact, as he is competitive, loves to tackle and uses his agility to work through traffic well. Will need to start hitting the scoreboard though.

Pretty much bang on IMO. Our team looks well balanced. Williams would be a good long term tall option. Bedford could become a decent small forward who can push up the ground. A bit of more pace through the midfield and front half with the other picks such as O'Halloran, Sturt etc and we're sorted for options of all kinds all across the ground. I can't remember a better Melbourne list in my lifetime. The list we had in the early-mid 90s had stars such as Schwarz and Lyon, but weren't as well-rounded as this current list. Exciting times!

O'Halloran and Duursma would be good options. Haven't seen enough of Foley or Butters to make judgement, but from what I've read Butters will likely go in the teens before our pick. Turner looks average. There's a number of quality quick aggressive midfielders who are likely to be available at our picks, but they're all very short at 177cms or less. While I don't mind a short player if they can play (such as Viney or Spargo), we can't have too many of them in the team at once, so I hope we don't pick multiple short players. Williams should be taken at 23 if he's there. Fils our greatest need and has serious potential. Agreed on Williams. He fills our greatest need and has very unique and exciting attributes for a tall. With the quality and competitiveness of our list now, we can afford to risk drafting these types instead of going for more 'competitive' ball winning mids. Williams could develop into a very hard tall to match up on. Think Ben Brown with the leap of Joe Daniher. Whether he can reach the potential is the issue, as he hasn't been consistent and would be taken at the top end of the draft if he had. Bedford will come to us at a later pick, and looks a great option. He's quick, agile, hard working, does the team things with blocking and releasing teammates by hand etc. Could be a good small forward capable of pushing up the ground for patches. Reminds me a bit of Daniel Rioli, but slightly more mongrel and less magic. To say he's more impressive than Rankine though is a stretch. Rankine is a ridiculous talent who kicks bags of goals or sets them up. He's got elite pace, elite agility, elite skills, elite decision making, x-factor, you name it. Going by statistics, he should be the number 1 pick this year AND would've been number 1 pick last year as a 17 year old in that draft if eligible. He's the total package.

Still reckon Bugg offers more than a few others remaining on our list. I’d be happy if we brought him back, though I don’t think that’s going to happen. He’s got great work ethic and competitive attitude, on top of being flexible. He’s the perfect depth player IMO. Surely Carlton would pick him up. He’d be in their best 10-15 players.

We get two cracks at them next season and I’m expecting to beat them at least once.

Not sure what you mean? As steak knives to the May trade, this is as good as it gets. Former pick 5 who has already proved himself to be a good player at AFL level. Get him past the concussion/neck issues and we've got another Brayshaw on our hands (in terms of possible impact). KK's skillset and physical attributes make him a potential elite footballer. I hope he can realise his potential and pick up his early career form where he finished second only to Ablett in their BnF (ahead of Lynch, May and other very good footballers). We're crying out for a good wingman to compliment our tough inside midfielders, and he could be the perfect option there. Looks good in the red and blue!

Hopefully Knightmares draft comes to fruition and we land Bailey Williams with our first pick. He's got serious potential and fills the greatest need on our list.

Agreed. He might not be starring now, but Tyson played some quality football for us and has played over 100 games. In 2014 he finished second in the BnF to Jones in his first year with us at age 20-21. He was a bees [censored] away from winning it off Jones, and would have been a worthy winner after a stellar season. Knee injury 2015. Finished fourth in our BnF in 2016 against some quality players in a team playing well for patches and just missing the 8. 2017 he was limited by a knee injury. 2018 he struggled. The way he's been spoken about and criticised on here this year has been unwarranted IMO. I wish him well at North, as he's a good bloke who played some good footy for us and chose to come when we were basket case. Here's a bit of a discussion point; Tyson was better than Petracca at the same age! Regarding DFAs, doesn't seem like we'll pick anyone up. I'm a bit surprised we moved so many players, as our list appears like it will come short? Perhaps we will re-rookie some like Bugg?

Haven’t read the article yet, but this kid will go top 5-10 and is the most rounded midfielder in this draft. He’ll be a gun midfielder in time. He’s got amazing balance, recovery, clean hands and turn of pace. I’d kill to have him in red and blue but he’s well out of our reach. Alas, maybe we can lure him in a few years time!

Wouldn’t think we’d bother personally. He was poor as a forward and average at best as a defender. Better to move him on and get fresh talent coming through. Not everyone is Neville Jetta. He was the exception, not the standard.

I posted in the other ladder predictor thread, but I also had Richmond and Melbourne going 1 and 2. Did not have the Cats that high however! Adelaide will likely jump into the 8, possibly as high as 4th, due to their very easy draw. Very similar to Pies this year, they'll get to bank 6-7 wins against the bottom 4 teams alone unless there are drastic improvements from those lowly teams. Even with our tough draw, I still had us finishing second. If we're consistent, then there is no limit to high we can climb. This group is ready, and 2019 might be our year!

If he’s there at 23 then surely we take him. Hasn’t put it together consistently yet, but he’s got all the attributes to be a damaging and dominant player. Does anyone have the jumping test results from draft combine? This guys got the best leap I’ve seen in years.

I did a run through and here's how it turned out. 1. Richmond 2. Melbourne 3. Eagles 4. Adelaide 5. Bombers 6. Pies 7. Swans 8. Cats 9. Hawks 10. North 11. Brisbane 12. GWS 13. Port 14. Bulldogs 15. Freo 16. Saints 17. Carlton 18. Gold Coast Despite a hard draw we finish second. I gave us one win one loss against the other top 4 teams. If we are consistent, we will make top 4. Hawks and Giants to drop out of the 8. Adelaide and Essendon to rise into the 8. Gold Coast clear last. They play Carlton at home in the early rounds, and if they don't win that I struggle to see what match they will actually win. Probability says they'll win at least a game or two, but it's really hard to see where. Their current list is the worst of any club in my lifetime. Comfortably worse than all of Fitzroy, us and Blues at their lowest.

We've got a plethora of small and mid sized players as needed, but look at the talls. Other clubs might only play one or two, but they have others on their list that are either developing or are depth. We have no depth in this position. None. Zilch. Our list is one of the best in the league, but this is a thread about analysing our needs, and I'd have thought tall forwards were the obvious place to start. Tall forwards on list of approximately 40: TMac, Weid That balance is way off, and I'm hoping we can land a decent one come draft time.

The fact that Frost and Mac would be considered our tall forward depth options speaks volumes of the current state of our list. Our midfield is strong with decent depth, our backline is now chocked full of talent and proven proven performers, but our forward line is now severely lacking. We need more tall forwards on the list to develop.

We need tall forward depth. Simple. Having just lost Hogan and Pedo, we now have Tmac and Weid and that's it. If either or both get injured then we're in for a world of pain and would have to send Frost or May forward, which would be disasterous. There's no guarantee Weid will even perform consistently yet in the short term, though I do rate him and believe he will be a good player for us longer term. This is the most glaring need on our list now. Bailey Williams is the perfect draft option for us if he makes it to our pick 23, which I suspect he won't. He'd be depth for the tall forward and ruck spots. He's got a great leap, strong body, and if he can tidy up a few aspects of his game he could be perfect long term for us. I hope like hell he slides to us and we take him. All the other options look to be average midfielders who won't add much to an already strong midfield group IMO.

The players hold too much power. Only free agents should be able to nominate a club of choice. Contracted players should be forced to play their contract or be traded somewhere else of the clubs choosing. Free agency changed the landscape for the worse, and now the balance is just spiralling further out of control. You've now got clubs delisting contracted players and other clubs picking them up for free post-trade period. Lyons should only have moved in a trade scenario. Not only is the trade period too long as it is, now you've got players moving outside of it anyway. It's rubbish.

I'll be laying the same bet then! They've got a few skilled flankers, and Jack Martin is a talent, but their midfield is the worst in living memory. Miller, Swallow and... Rischitelli? They can't even field a midfield at this point! They're worse than us at our lowest. Miller is average, Swallow is average and can't stay on the park, Rischi may as well have retired. After further movements this off-season, I struggle to see more than 5 players who would get a game at other AFL clubs. I actually can't see how they can survive. They're proper cooked! Doesn't look look we'll be picking up any delisted players. If we did have any interest in any, nothing has leaked. The club is in good hands these days

Gold Coast are in for a world of pain next season. They may be the first team in decades to go winless. It's a realistic possibility IMO.

Financially it's the best fixture we've had in a long long time. We're on the up on-field, we've been on the up off-field for years now, and this will only drive us further up off-field. We're going to make a lot of money next year and start becoming a powerhouse again if we can be competitive for years to come and maintain this sort of draw and sustained success. In terms of exposure in prime time night games and free to air tv, it's the best fixture we've had in 15-20 years. This fixture is brilliant for supporters. We get to see a number of quality games in prime time, and more games on free to air than we've had in bloody forever. Neutrals are going to see more of us and our hard attacking brand and we're going to get more positive hype, media and exposure as a result. In terms of difficulty... it's rough. Really rough. We're a top 4 team now, and we'll be made to earn it. If we make top 4 again based on this fixture, we'll win the flag. We've got one of the hardest fixtures by a mile, but if we show up each week then we'll be fine. This will be a good test for the youngsters to see if they're maturing properly of if there's still a ways to go.

Why the hell was he cut from the Suns? Legitimately would've been one of their top 5-10 players at this point I would've thought! "Lyons averaged almost 25 disposals a game last season and was ranked equal-third in the AFL for clearances (7.3) and ninth for contested possessions (13.6)". We were keen on him a few years ago. He'd be good depth and is a proven performer. Definitely the pick of the bunch as far as delisted players goes.

We've got a large number of spots to fill on our list and Townsend would be a much better option than pick 107 or whatever it will be. Being that we've lost a bit of depth this off-season, he'd give us immediate quality depth and would be well worth signing up IMO. We'll get injuries, and he would help drive competition for spots and a competitive attitude at the club.

Is this for real? Horrible news if true. RIP Colin. Far too young a life to be lost.

That's their main problem. If Hawkins doesn't mark it, it's coming straight back out with little to no pressure. If we want someone to kick 40+ goals a year and give inconsistent pressure, we already have them - Jeff Garlett. Garlett kicks 40+ a year every year if he is played. He's inconsistent and made a scape goat for lack of pressure at times, but he kicks 40+ guaranteed, which is more than most of our other forwards getting game. No need to bring in Menzel when we have Jeffy in the reserves who can already provide the same output if not better.