Fat Tony

3 minutes ago, binman said:

I muddled up my stats shows - the comment about sharp was on the espn footy pod (which is pretty good)

Sharp has been a big beneficiary of the sub rule change and the change in coach and game plan.

Hopefully Melky gets up and we make a big deal of it to make sure we dont have a let down.

Amartey is having a good season and is a good player. I would definitely be interested.

I think Kentfield would need to play in defence initially if he is going to crack a senior game. JVR, Mihocek, Melksham/Fritsch is working. Langford and Culley also give us more marking power. If Fritsch and Melksham are fit, we are likely going to have to go taller this week anyway.

I would like to see Rivers come into the side in defence. Laurie, Culley, Tholstrup, TMac and Petty are the players most on the edge. But no one really deserves to be dropped.

I think the new ruck rule in the centre bounce is a huge advantage for us. It has resulted in hit outs being longer and a more open clearance.

Gawn has played against four of the best rucks in the competition in the first four weeks and we have been able to dominate the centre bounce. Gawn is able to get first hands on the ball and hit it to Kossie on the move and he is so strong, quick and skillful that we can often score.

It has also meant that we have not missed Oliver and Viney, who are good in the contest but ordinary when the ball is in transition.

I have been calling for Rivers to be pushed back. I don't think he's quick enough off the mark to be an A grade midfielder, but he is an A grade half back flanker and we are a team without many A graders. Pretty ordinary selection i reckon.

I don't see Tholstrup being explosive enough to play as a midfielder at AFL level. I still think his best chance is as a high half forward. I think tagging makes sense for clearance players at the stoppages and for players who can drift forward and kick a goal, but I don't think a hard tag at all times makes sense.

CJ did a silly play where he ran too far but was solid otherwise I thought.

I think we are a better side with Melksham in it if he is fit.

I wouldn’t pick Heath. We should only play one ruck.

Latrelle needs to practice running at the goal and kicking a drop punt from 45m. You can’t plan to walk it in every time.

I want Rivers to play back and Lindsay on a wing.

12 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

The fact that we had a number of players who were down is a positive IMO. 120 points with Koz kicking 1 goal, for example. Personally I think Lever was fine and nowhere near as bad as he’s copping on here, other than the two awful kick turnovers (he has to learn to stop trying those kicks, he routinely misses them).

Agree re Latrelle. How many times did he find himself in space and with the ability to impact? He was behind the pace of AFL level, and not fit or strong enough, but the sign is there IMO that he can be damaging once he adjusts.

12 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Lever gave away a free to Ryan when he had the advantage and did a two fist spoil when he had the sit in the second quarter. He needs to be better and King should suspend his licence for kicks in the corridor.

Personally i think TMac is better than both Petty and Lever (but I can also see why he is going for younger players). Melksham and TMac are being held back for injury and are both in our best side.

I thought our team selection was good.

The decision to play with Petty as the second ruck gave us an extra runner and Max's amazing effort in the last quarter won us the game.

Apart from JVR, I thought our better players had mixed games. Kossie was great in the centre bounce but fairly well held around the ground. Max fumbled a bit early on. Lever made poor decisions.

I am still not sold on Rivers in the midfield long term. He is a weapon off half back and just average in the midfield.

Lindsay is not a great defender but Bowey is still months off returning, so we will need to persever.

I thought CJ was pretty good. Not sure why he is geeting criticism.

JVR looked fantastic being 4kg lighter. He is a fantastic set shot and just needs to keep holding his marks.

Culley playing as a forward was a good move.

Good start for Latrelle. I think he is going to be in and out of the side this year and he is probably not in our best side, but he showed enough signs and kicked a great goal. Good effort to go from SANFL seconds to the AFL.

Langford had a quiet day. We need to feed his left foot more.

Mihocek looks the same as he did at the Pies.

Waverley will be a better option than Caulfield anyway. Dingley, Tullamarine and Casey are all terrible training facilities due to the wind and Caulfield will be the same because it is so open.

AFL players need to train in good conditions because they play in protected stadiums and a lot of what they are training is ball movement and team defence, which requires learned running patterns.

Having the whole club together is not essential. Admin is a very seperate job to playing. The AFLW is at a different time of year (and they all have jobs). And the VFL is semi-professional as well.

I would start Kossie in the midfield and Langdon forward and then push Langdon to NMW and let Kossie cheat forward.

With 5 on the bench, i think TMac or Petty could play both forward and back at times. Rucks and key forwards usually play 80% and key defenders usually play 85-95% game time. Having a player that can be versatile and play both ends makes sense with the new rules.

I would play JVR as back up ruck. I think he competes in the ruck very well. I know there is a thought that it hurts his forward game, but I am not convinced he will ever really be an A-grade forward.

Fritch, JVR, Mihocek is plenty tall enough. Langford can pinch hit. Culley and Steele offer good options as well. We will likely have one key position player for depth on the bench out of 5.

Definately no two rucks. We had a season trying it and it failed with TWO ALL AUSTRALIANS.

Jackson was a different player.

8 minutes ago, AshTaafe said:

Max Heath should get the gong ;-) And Gawny has been listed with "hamstring awareness" so a genuine ruck option has to be the safe bet.

Gawn played last week and I haven't seen him on the latest injury list.

Regardless, we play only one ruck because Heath or Gawn would unbalance the forward line. The fact that Heath didn't play last week, means he won't play.

If both play, there will be 50% of game time with both on the ground at the same time. It didnt work with Grundy and Gawn, why does everyone think it will work with Heath?

5 hours ago, adonski said:

Really weird team by someone at AFL house who hasn't followed much of preseason

I think the only change to that 22 will be CJ for Taylor.

6 minutes ago, BangBnagBang said:

On a small base with heavy incentives for a (at the time) starting 18 player. Only thing that is amateur is your comment.

May was 32, looked nearly done and had another year left. The coach was under pressure and we weren't sure if we were still in contention. It was a horible contract which we tied to trade out of 12 months later. It cost us $700k and we got nothing.

We extended Viney because North offered him deal and because Petracca tried to leave and we unsuccesfully shopped Oliver. Now he has another 3 years including this one.

We recuited Mihocek because our forward line sucked but we brought him in three years late.

The decisions make no sense.

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

there's no such thing as 'significant cap room' in the afl

every club must pay at least a minimum 95% of their total cap, with an allowance request to dip down to 92.5% (afaik dogs are the only club to ask and receive this), and a tolerance to 105%, to a even keel over a period of time (i've heard recently it's 2 years, but i thought it was 5 year rolling period)

AFL clubs can front load and back load deals to create space and it compounds. Spending $700k on May this year and $3.5m on Oliver for the next 5 years shows how poor we have managed our list and cap space. We have a bottom 8 list and have lost some ability to bring in players over the next few years. The MFC needs to reset and work out what year we can win it again. Gawn, Mihocek, Steele, Viney and Lever are unlikely to be part of the next premiership team and they make up circa 30% of our cap space. And Oliver and May is another 4-5% each.

I am not saying we should have completely cleaned out the club but there needs to be a timeline and strategy here.

57 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Wasn't in March. Was reported in March, actual extension was some time in the 2024 season to prevent him running off to Carlton, despite being contracted for 2025. Which isn't all that much better.

Thanks. Still no reason to extend his deal. Stupid waste of money.

1 hour ago, Lucifers Hero said:

May's contract gone end of this year. End of 2027 Max will have retired or if he stays probably on much less $. Ditto end of 2028 for Steele, Viney, Mihocek. That should all add to quite a few dollars ... $3m? by end of 2028.

The club can move other contracts forward or back around the above known salary space.

Plus the ability to under/over spend the cap so smooth it over several years.

No need to worry. Sal cap is a bit smoke and mirrors!

The fact that we are not in contention and that we don't have significant cap room IS a reason to worry. Our club needs a timeline to win our next flag and our list management is not coherent.

The fact that we signed May in March last year for another year requires an investigation. Our list management is amateur.

3 hours ago, AshTaafe said:

Can we leave JVR to focus on being a forward. He's been under the pump for a while and hadn't been developing enough. This pre-season he hasn't been doing as much ruck craft and frankly is looking more like a dangerous forward than ever...

Someone has to be the second ruck. Mihocek needs to come back into the side and Kentfield will go out. The other option is bring in Mihocek and Heath but that completely unbalances the forward line.

I am not convinced Petty is quick enough to play as a key defender anymore. Seemed too slow for Tom Lynch.

How did Melksham play?

Think we would be much better playing JVR as second ruck than Heath. The new rules are anti-second ruckman (and we shouldnt play a second ruck with Gawn anyway).

Think Steel, Langford, Fritsch and Culley (if he plays) give us another forward marking threat. I also want to see Melksham in the side when he is AFL match fit. The side looks ok on paper but we could do with more pace. Bowey is a loss.