Fat Tony

Mark Blicavs from Geelong should be a key target IMO. He is being played out of position at the moment due to Scott favouring both Simpson and McIntosh in the ruck. With his fitness he should be able to play a full game in the ruck and would benefit from any changes to the rules to open up the game. I am also not sure if he is skilful enough to make it in any other position than ruck. I am of the Leigh Matthews school of thought and don’t place much importance on hit outs, so I favour a mobile ruckman. His position in the Geelong side is questionable and could be even more so when Vardy returns next year. Lachie Plowman and Jonothan O’Rourke are out of contract and we should be going hard with a big money PSD offer. Colin Sylvia for pick 60ish wouldn’t be the worst trade. (And would make things entertaining around here.)

I am not a massive Grimes fan but he would be picked ahead of Evans, Jetta, Spencer, Terlich, McKenzie, Pederson, Georgiou, Watts, JKH, Bail and M Jones.

Jetta, Terlich, Evans, McKenzie and Watts were all substandard on Sunday and are known quantities without the credits in the bank. We need to make changes. If ever there was a time to bring in a young player coming off a BOG VFL game this is it. Salem may be better in a few weeks’ time, but we are crying out for a bit of pace and skill at the moment. He will probably struggle, but how many first game players are up with the intensity of AFL? The fastest way to get up to speed is to play at the level.

How about we just pick our best 22. Salem must give us more than Jetta, Terlich, McKenzie, Evans, M Jones etc.

Are we allowed to do this?

Changes: Salem for Evans Clisby for Jetta Jamar for Spencer (must be injured) Garland for Terlich Kent (if fit) for McKenzie Pederson (Tippett/Second Ruck), McDonald (Buddy), Georgiou Vince, Garland, Grimes Viney, Cross, Watts Dunn, Frawley, Howe JKH, Dawes, Bail Jamar, N Jones, Tyson Salem, Kent, Clisby Sub: M Jones First Emergency: McKenzie Notes: • Sydney will have a pretty big forward line, so we are going to be forced to carry four key defenders. I would also be reluctant to drop Georgiou with Garland coming in given he has shown so much this year. He also allows us to play Dunn forward. • I would love to see Roos start Frawley in the centre bounces. He would give us some pace and strength around the contest. • Salem has to come in given we lack both pace and skill. His age should be seen as a reason to pick him, not held against him. • Terlich probably lacks the required polish and is out of form. • Watts was poor on the weekend but we have to stick with him because the alternatives are all not skilled enough. Over the summer he needs to put on size more than improve his running IMO. • Pederson should run with Tippett all day because he will also be Sydney’s second ruckman. • Jetta was a bit unlucky at times on the weekend defensively but lacks the rebound we need out of defence. Vince is out of form in the midfield and should be freed up a bit. I would try him in the backline for much of the night.

Why was Spencer off the ground for so long in the third quarter and then went forward?

Stokes is taller and much better in the air than JKH, but he could be more like Jarryd Blair from Collingwood IMO. Statistically Blair is the best defensive forward in the game and, like JKH, he is not the quickest small forward in the game.

There was a breakdown of JKH's athletic abilities in the preseason game against the Tigers and he was ranked around average for most categories. My take is that he isn't super quick but uses his pace reasonably well.

I want to see Toumpas given a chance to develop as an AFL small defender. I don’t think he is quick enough or tough enough to play as an outside mid and his lack of pace and marking ability mean he isn’t that effective as a forward. While rjay is correct that Toumpas will probably cost us goals due to his lack of pace and average ability in the air, with McDonald and Georgiou in the back half, we need some better distributors off half back. I also think that Toumpas’s aerial weakness and lack of pace can be camouflaged to some extent by good team defence around him. It also helps that, as a defender, he only has to neutralise the marking contests.

At the very least a small forward still has to be able to get the ball to ground in a one on one versus his direct opponent. The game has changed with the press and Byrnes and JKH have been found wanting in marking contests many times this year. JKH may improve this area of his game but as yet IMO we would be better off going with the bigger Salem.

JKH is 173cm and 68kg. Salem is 183cm and 81kg. And where did I mention young and inexperienced?

My changes would be: Ins: Toumpas (small defender), Salem (forward) and Garland (sub if fit enough) Outs: Terlich, JKH and Evans (for Garland if fit enough) JKH is not ready yet IMO. And given his size, I wonder if he has sufficient pace, strength or marking ability to make it in the long term. (Not many will agree with me on Demonland.) His kicking also lacks a bit of penetration at the moment. That’s not to say there is no talent there and his game on the weekend included some clear highlights.

F/S nominations are before the trade period. We will likely be able to get Stretch with a third round pick at the earliest.

While I was sceptical of the Howe/Frawley switch initially, I am fully converted now. Chip was super impressive with his judgement in the air and his hands while playing in front (which were my key concerns). His mobility and strength makes him a very dangerous CHF in the modern game as he is good at both leading up at the ball carrier and can burn his man off running back to goal. He is also a bull when the ball is on the ground. Howe looks the goods down back also and Tom McDonald has stood up well as the main defender in the last two weeks. I also now see Georgiou as a lock in our back six, so it will be interesting to see how we match up when Garland and Hogan are fully fit. A key issue will be who plays as the second ruckman, because Pederson will likely make way for Garland in the back six despite a reasonable last couple of games. I would like to see Toumpas come in for Terlich and play down back. I would consider playing Garland as the sub next week. JKH isn’t quite ready yet and needs to put on some size. He needs to improve his ability in the air to become a decent AFL player. He isn’t in my best 22 and I would give Salem a go because Byrnes and Blease have the same issues. We played more direct footy on Saturday. I am sure Roos has been driving this and it gave our forwards a real chance. Dawes and Dunn are smart and experienced forwards and gave plenty of space to Chip. Playing Jones as a tagger/defender was a good move and it should be tried again in the future. (I think McKenzie to Ablett at the beginning makes more sense this week though.) Ins: Toumpas, Salem, Garland (sub) Outs: Terlich, JKH, Evans

I am sure this is true. Robinson would write about it if he wasn't such a hack. And Mark Evans is a really bad appointment for us and the game as he tends to pander to the mob on all issues.

We only got two priority picks. The first one we selected Blease (stuff up) and the second we selected Scully (who left for one of the expansion clubs for a bucket full of the AFL's cash). Our recent picks have been heavily diluted by the compromised drafts. The AFL is now more uneven than the EPL and promoting the game as 'Anything's Possible' should be investigated by the ACCC for misleading and deceptive advertising.

How about we offer them the PSD?

The club must play its best by the rules in front of it. That doesn't mean we have to like the rules.

The compo system is such that we shouldn't go near another free agent. We should target other uncontracted players instead.

We cannot let our previous bad drafting record undervalue our early picks and we shouldn't force a bad trade. Jason Taylor needn't be punished for the bad work of others.

If we finish last we would be much better off letting Frawley go. The compensation is sure to be overs and, as sad as it is, the only way out of our hole is through the draft. But we also need to be very aggressive in targeting an uncontracted non-free agent in the PSD with a well over the market offer. i.e. Fyfe (Freo), O’Rourke, Ploughman (GWS) or Mitchell (Swans). Adelaide will be getting nervous that Dangerfield will leave as a free agent for modest compensation (and want to make a play for Gibbs) and could entertain a trade. Convincing anyone to join us will be the hard part, even with a bucket full of cash.

There are three issues contributing to our lack of scoring. 1) is our poor midfield, which is not winning enough ball. 2) is that we are too slow to transition the ball forward. 3) is our poor forward line. The issues are separate but interrelated. The third issue (our poor forward line) is clearly a factor, but the key issue is the second one IMO. That is not to say we shouldn't change the forward line and Dunn should play forward this week and Pederson should go back to play on Giles or Patton. I would also persist with Howe forward and leave Watts on the wing.

Clubs aren't forced to offer players new contracts and discards should get a discounted weighting too. The only way the clubs suffer is that it disincentivises trades like the Woewodin deal. I say this would be a good thing.

If you waste your picks and don't develop players properly you will always be in trouble. The real issue going forward is to prevent poor clubs becoming feeder clubs. Rules to promote loyalty should be introduced for new draftees.