Fat Tony

I think the new game plan requires more skill and Bowey and Salem are losses, especially early on. Culley also a loss because of Viney being out. Looking at our list, Culley, Steele and Langford (and Sparrow) give us a few players who can drift forward and take a mark and kick a goal in a slow play. I can see us using a lot of pulled 40m kicks into a stacked forward line to these players who have a marking advantage. The main issue with our midfield is it is too slow (apart from Kossie and Windsor). And we have Kossie who can cheat forward on a fast play.

It sounds like Viney, Culley, Bowey and Salem are the most likely players doubtful for round 1 who would be selected. And May is very, very doubtful and Petty is unlikely. I can see issues implementing a new game style with so many personel issues.

Spoke to the head recruiter of another AFL team and they said they really liked Latrelle and he watched him play about 6 times last season.

The main issue I have with shifting Langford into the middle is that we already have Steele, Viney (if fit) and maybe Culley in there. That will be too slow in the midfield. I was a bit sceptical last season with Langford on the wing initially, but we discovered he has good pace once he gets moving and that he can completely open the game up when he plays on the right wing because of his kicking and being able to bring the ball inside. I think if he plays in the middle this season he will get less kicks and more handballs, which is not what we want. I also think he needs to be allowed to cheat forward and take marks. It is not about putting in a role to get the ball as much as possible, but it is about positioning him to get more kicks and take more overhead marks inside 50.

I think the idea of Petty playing as a defender (and May and TMac playing VFL) will make us worse. Goodwin was no mug when it came to building a system that worked to our team's strengths. We just have a very inflexible list of players.

I think we could go backwards because King will experiment with our side early in the year and we won't pick our best team. (i.e. Going for Adams over May.) That is not to say these are not the correct decisions from a long-term perspective. If Gawn and Kossie have good seasons we will be competitive.

Added to this Petty played some good games late in the year as a forward. I think Petty is too slow to play in defence. He has lost pace and the game has changed since 2021.

He looks slow for an AFL prospect so he will need to be good on the inside.

My critique was not complete dismissing him as an option. There are many examples of good players who didn't look elite at u18. But the point stands - he isnt quick or strong or tall.

I don't see a high level AFL athlete in the highlights.

I think it makes the season more interesting. There are a lot of dead rubber games at the end of the year.

I like all these rule changes. The last touch rule has been almost in effect anyway. The main challenge will be the ruck nomination and blocking the ruck.

Gold Coast has beaches and warm weather. Hardly the same as being sent to Tassie.

Sure but they will struggle to get through the banners.

Even with the proposed stadium, the Devils are doomed for failure. 18-year old kids flee Tassie for the mainland in droves every year. Imagine being a gune AFL player and it is cold and you get 20k to each game and there are no nightclubs. Then Collingwood comes knocking and says you can come home to Melbourne, play in front of 80k and earn almost as much and go to nightclubs. It is a dumb idea for romantics.

Your analysis is great. But Toumpas was not a 'great' kick. He would have been able to play a half back role at AFL level if he was - even though he was only average pace and soft. Looking at Lindsay's highlights, you see a player who reads the play well and finds loose ball but no contested ability. I think he looks a decent kick but his kicking does not have the speed of the elite kickers at AFL level. Grjl looks to have more of this. I would advocate trading out of this year's draft into the future if we could pick up a decent interest rate. There will be good players to come out of the draft but there are not many slam dunks.

I don't really see Petty working as a defender. He can still play as a forward if he takes big marks and kicks straight, which he did in the last month. All of May, Lever and Petty are getting caught out for speed in the modern game.

This looks a decent side on paper. But the forward line is top heavy and the backline depends on May getting speed back. It will be interesting how the extra man on the bench changes things. I don't see it being used as a ruckman because it is actually the best part of JVR's game. I think the biggest issues with our best 22 is the lack of another small forward and elite midfielders. Hopefully Windsor, Langford, Lindsay and Tholstrup can become high quality AFL mids. I hope Rivers plays back rather than midfield because he is an average midfielder and one of the best half backs in the game.

And Melksham!

I am not convinced either of May or Petty are fast enough to play as AFL defenders anymore. That said, May might have been injured at the back end of the year. We could play Turner, Lever, Howes and Rivers. Petty played well as a forward in the last month of the year. He was marking well and kicking straight.

I think Petty is a forward and is too slow in defence. The game has changed since 2021 and he will get found out for pace in defence.

I like Steele as a player. He’s super tough and can sneak forward and kick a goal. That said, he isn’t that well suited to the way the game is headed and I would have gone younger and looked for someone in the draft. I don’t think we can roll with two of Steele, Langford and Cullen in the same centre midfield.

Perhaps. But we would have been able to match the offer and force a trade. Collectively, the Oliver and Petracca trades have cost us $3.5 million in cap space for an extra pick. It is false economy. These long deals are bad for us.

I calculated the points (not sure if i was using the current system or the old one) as Petracca being worth around pick 2. I don't think it would have been THAT much different as long as we weren't dealing with the Eagles.

The benefit is having them contracted for next year. There is only liability thereafter.