Fat Tony

Can we take him under the flora son rule?

As an addendum, this recruiter was not as complimentary about our picks when we drafted Jefferson.

Had a chat to the head recruiter at another club today and he really liked our picks. They didn’t have an early pick and didn’t put a lot of thought into the top of the draft but he had Langford and Smith as his top picks. He also liked Lindsay and thinks he has a good head on his shoulders.

Windsor has excellent hands and decision making in tight. I think he will be an excellent midfielder once he gets the body strength. I much prefer having left footed and right footed wingmen, because it allows us to move the ball more quickly around the boundary. Langdon, Sharp, Winsor and Lindsay give us a few options for the wing.

The season will be determined by the form of our best players (Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, Picket, May and Lever). Max and May will be 33 next year and are obviously still key players for us. If they can maintain their current level and Petracca and Oliver give us better production, we will be one of the better sides.

I thought Rivers ball use was better when at half back than in the midfield.

This assumes Petty does not play in the forward line. (I know he is training back at the moment.) But if TMac is able to hold his spot and Petty regains power in his legs after a decent preseason, Petty could still be used as a forward. I also think Rivers is more likely to start at half back if Viney, Petracca and Oliver are all playing.

I look at our best 23 from last year and we have essentially lost ANB and gained Langford (and maybe Lindsay) into the side. With ANB gone, we lost a lot of transition running and pressure acts, but with Langford arriving we potentially added a better kick and better mark in the forward line. So the ANB replacement will be Langford. I don't see Rivers holding a full time spot in the midfield if Petracca, Oliver and Viney are all playing (and I prefer Rivers at half back anyway). Pickett needs to have minutes in the middle as well because he is elite in centre clearance. So I am not sure Langford will get that much time playing as an inside mid. That all said, we need to find a way to replace ANB's transition running and pressure acts. While Langford should be good in these areas of the game, ANB was one of the best in the AFL and had completed 10 AFL preseasons. I think the best solution is to play one less forward target (Fritsch and only two of Petty, Turner and JVR). Petracca and Langford (and maybe Melksham) can play minutes as another hybrid tall target/small.

I think we might play with a smaller forward line next year. Last season we had Petty, JVR, Turner and Fritsch and I could see us going with only three targets. I could also see Langdon and or Sharp playing half forward roles at times if Lindsay is up to AFL level.

Lindsay looks to play a bit like Andrew Gaff, who was small and was good at everything (but not great at anything). He looks strongly left sided with his kicking, so I can see him being used mostly as a left winger.

I see a bit of Marc Murphy in the highlights of Smith.

Are Saturday night games on free to air next year? I thought they were all on pay TV?

Kings birthday and ANZAC eave are home games this year, so that helps the financial situation. Plus, we will probably pick up some night games later in the year if we are still in finals contention.

Windsor will be like that.

I think the second bye is an advantage, but playing an away game in the humid Northern states in March is the biggest problem with being in Opening Round.