Lord Travis

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.

We'll likely see him for 10 games or so barring injury, but I think people need to temper their expectations with him. Just because he's a pick 3, doesn't mean he'll play and dominate immediately. Tall players take longer to develop, and going by the few bits I've seen from training Jacko appears a long way off it. He's brilliant with ground ball for a bloke his size, but he really struggles with contested marking and was getting schooled by Omac last time I saw him. All his best moments I've seen at training have been using his smarts to avoid a contest - floating across a pack to take an uncontested mark or not going up with a pack and gathering the ball like a crumber when it's not marked. He's got potential, but fans need to have patience with him. Most development required for genuine best 22 candidates in my view are Weid and Baker. Weid has shown he can play well at the level, but needs to cement himself and play his role consistently at AFL level. He needs to stay on the park, kick a goal a game, provide a marking target and repeat leads. If he stays fit, works hard, and his teammates honour his leads, then he'll come on in a hurry. Baker has some great traits and his pace could be a godsend for us, but he needs to learn how to use it at the right time eg. running to create space, running away from content, when to slow run to make sure his kicking is effective etc. Still not convinced he'll make it, but I hope he does.

Tomlinson is durable and proven. He’s a decent player, quite versatile, but he’s no star and is a role player type. KK has a higher ceiling but it’s been years since he’s been fit. in his walker years he was a gun and finished high in Gold Coast BnF with the likes of Gary Ablett, Steven May and Tom Lynch. If both were fully fit I’d wager KK would be the better player, but it’s basically impossible to answer. Tomlinson will play wing for us next year, whereas KK may never play for us again.

What’s your point? One if us is providing facts and their opinion on a subject. The other is personally attacking an opinion. Bringing the thread back on topic... Max seems the best choice for captain in 2020. He’s clearly the leader of the boy’s out there and also has star potential to lead and drag others with him.

Also correctly posted 13 of the top 15 based on what a source at the club advised we and other clubs were doing. The leaks are an unfortunate fact now. A shame, but it doesn’t impact our onfield performance, and onfield is what matters. Regarding Jackson and Kossie, I still think both were the wrong choice at their respective picks, but they’re in red and blue now so they have my support.

People keep saying the club is great at preventing leaks. That was true when Jackson was CEO, but since he left we’ve been leaking again. I was able to get draft and trade info weeks in advance with minimal effort (and posted in draft thread as proof). We are nowhere near as tight as we were 2-3 years ago. The leaks have returned, let’s just hope our good form returns too!

2019 was a pretty average season from Viney despite him playing the most games in a season yet. He barely had an impact in any games and had his worst statical season in 5-6 years. Hopefully with more time on the park over the coming years we can see a return of the 2016-2017 Viney that won more ball, laid more tackles, kicked a few more goals and made all his teammates walk taller. He was pushing towards elite across those seasons and was having a huge impact on games. The game away against West Coast in 2017 was a prime example of him bringing full intensity, notching up 39 disposals (despite missing a quarter with injury) and laying out their captain with a huge hit. Same in the Hawthorn game where he got 30+ disposals, but more importantly 15 tackles to set the tone and setup the win. If we see more of that 2017 Viney, it'll help immensely with our poor infield leadership and to help our midfield become dominant again.

Dunkley already played a few games last year, so with a full pre-season he might be able to establish himself. Personally I saw nothing to suggest he'll make the grade, but the coaches obviously rated him. Rivers I can see pushing for a spot early. He's got all the tools to make it as an AFL player, starting off half back as a rebounding player and then potentially pushing into the midfield over time. He's got good pace, good aggression, good kicking skills, good decision making, good intercepter too. He'll likely be the best of our three 2019 draftees early in their careers. He'll make it IMO.

Interesting we were trying to trade up to get Robertson but didn’t have any currency to get it done. We also thought Rivers would be gone too. It was always going to be Jackson and Kozzie with our first picks it seems!

Good riddance. He's a rubbish bloke who consistently got away with dirty tactics, yet was lauded for being a fair player. He was a good footballer, but very overrated by media and clueless football pundits. He's nowhere near the best defenders like Scarlett, Fletcher etc. He's not even the best defender in his team - Grimes takes that honor. Good luck to him door-knocking for the sky wizard.

Horrible news for the kid. Best of luck to him for his recovery.