Fat Tony

Bolton is not in our price range. He is already on a large, long-term contract and the WA clubs are all over him. It is fanciful.

I think we also played a bit differently in terms of our method. Without Max we added an extra player to the stoppages, which increased our pressure around the ball. And, as good as Gawn and Petracca are, they are not favoured by the wet. Petracca can fumble and it takes away Gawn's biggest advantage, in his marking.

I don't know if I would call it a re-build because that implies that we have cut the list and we are giving young players a chance ahead of time. But our recruiting was good again last year and we have picked up some good AFL level talent with later picks in recent years. Windsor, Pickett, Rivers, JVR and McVee are clearly going to be or are already excellent players. Bowey is a good AFL player. Tholstrup and Turner look extremely promising and I would bet they make it. AMW, Howes, Woewodin and Brown have also shown they are chances to make it. And Sparrow, Chandler and Petty are only 24.

They're not much chop.

We finished the 1998 season in fourth with a 14-8 record and a percentage of just 102.7%.

I think Turner is a more capable player around the ground than Fullarton and Petty/JVR will compete harder in the centre bounces than Fullarton. It is not that odd. Goodwin and the coaches would have considered the pros and cons. Fullarton has not shown himself to be an AFL standard player and has never played an AFL game as a first ruckman.

I would have selected Petty and agree with the idea of rucking Petty, JVR and Turner. I think Petty will primarily take the centre bounces and then Turner will mostly play as a follower ruckman. From VFL watching, Fullarton looks to me to be capable player around the ground, but he is not a dominate centre bounce ruckman. I think Petty, JVR and Turner are better or just as good in the centre bounces. (We are still at a disadvantage at centre clearance though.) In terms of our defensive structure, we can't replace what Max gives us. He stifles the opposition ball movement just by his positioning and our plan is to force the opposition to kick down the line to a contest with Max on a slow play. In around the ground stoppages, we will need to play with at least equal numbers this week, which could expose our defence. (Salem will need to push up to the stoppage, as I don't think we can play a man down with an inferior ruckman.) Going forward, we lose Max's marking threat as a deep forward, but we gain a bit more pace and unpredictability. I don't think we want it to rain because our midfielders are better in the dry. And I think we will want to play a more expansive game style (a bit like last week against the Eagles and not down the line like against the Lions and Roos.)

I have always loved the small forward pockets. Ricky Jackson, Wizard, Davey, Jurrah and now Pickett are some of my all time favourites. (I even loved Smoker, Armstrong and Heaver.)

That could be right, but that possibility needed to be considered in making the trade. And we could have aborted and found a live trade back to the previous year. The 'out' on the picks being poor after Laurie is only telling half the story.

We did pull forward our draft pick from the future to take Laurie, so that needs to be also considered.

I think the Bombers will only play one ruck. They are coming off their best win for years and won't drop Nate Caddy, who looks to play a bit like a young Charlie Curnow, or Harry Jones who is also showing a lot. Peter Wright played in the second ruck role for them and he will still give them an edge in the clearances against us.

The point you make is right. The ability to go through the stoppage at speed and with clean hands means you don't need to be a big bull in the centre square. This is especially now the case with the big ruck circle. Butters is another good example of a very good centre clearance player who is small. I like McVee, but I think Nick Daicos is at least one level above and he is a fair bit quicker and stronger. The other thing to note is how well Darcy Cameron is going in the centre bounces at directing his taps and the Pies are setting up for Daicos to run through the centre stoppage at speed. We have been trying to do this sometimes with Kossie, but you can only really afford to have one attacking player like this in the centre clearance. A great thing about Kossie in this role is that he is dual sided. I actually think Windsor is actually more likely to be an inside midfielder for us than McVee in time because he has elite pace off the mark and he has shown exceptional handball/decision making in tight.

Melksham looks like he got off without any penalty.

I am not sold on AMW and I think that some of the comments on here are a bit over the top. I like that he plays with AFL intensity but needs to be cleaner and more precise with his disposal and keep his feet on the ground balls. Some of his decision making shows his inexperience as well, but obviously that could improve with more games. I prefer what Howes offers at this stage because he is a better kick and better interceptor. I also think he plays to the defensive system better.

McVee is too light and lacks the power to play in the centre bounces IMO.

We played a more expansive game yesterday than against the Lions, where our forwards marked down the line. Petty needs to fix his goal kicking 4.13 from 21 shots is a terrible return. His poor kicking cost us against Brisbane at the GABBA and against Carlton.

Our connection between the midfield and forward line was much improved and was the key to our big win. We also played with a great balance of down the line and switching. Our centre bounces were hopeless again, losing 8-18. Viney’s delivery inside 50 was poor and, on a slow play, it would be better if he lays it off and lets someone else take the money kick. Oliver was really pants in the centre clearances. He could not hold his tackles and gave dinky handballs which hit the deck. He is liability this year and I would be starting him outside the centre bounce. Gawn started well, hitting the ball forward, but lost influence. Lever had a dog day as well, missing a number of easy high balls which he would usually kill. Rivers has been a revelation for us. Kossie is in fantastic form. Chandler played well also. JVR was great but dropped two chest marks and missed two easy set shots. Good games by Winsor and Langdon on the wings. TMac was fantastic. May had a good game. Tholstrup had a very good game and is clearly a good pick. He does everything well without being outstanding at any aspect of the game. Kicking, marking, endurance, speed and tackling are all AFL standard. I think he is left handed, which is probably an advantage for a right footer. Melksham returned back to 2023 form immediately. He makes the other players in our forward half better and his kicking is so powerful on both sides. Woewodin played with good intensity when he came on. AMW looks a liability out there. I like his intensity and while he is trying to take the safe option, he made quite a few skill errors. I think we look better with Howes in the role. Bowey and Salem both played good games. It will be interesting how we get Petty back into the side. Disco is playing well enough to keep his spot. I like the balance of the side yesterday with two talls (JVR and Disco) and two hybrid forwards (Melk and Fritsch).

I would prefer to prioritise winning every game. If the young players aren’t going better than Shiel, they can develop in the VFL.

If he was 28 he would cost $800k and a late first round pick. At 31 he will cost only $275k and no pick. He is a better option than Laurie. Getting cheap veterans has been one of the Cats keys to staying at the top for the last decade.

I thought he panicked with the ball under pressure and was not clean enough. He also should have blocked Rainer prior to taking that specky. I know every player makes mistakes. I just view him as being too vanilla to play half back. Ideally it requires elite pace and long, accurate kicking and he has neither of those traits.

He was fantastic against Carlton as the sub. That needs to be his baseline. I don't really like him at half back and looks much better as a high half forward. He needs to be clean and take the first option and compete better in one on ones.

I think Woewodin will be lucky to hold his spot. He needs to go harder and be cleaner if he is going to make it. Tomlinson may only hold his spot if TMac goes forward. (Champion Data had TMac's game last week as exceptional but I doubt we really want a backline with all of Lever, Tomlinson, May and TMac.) Melksham could be the sub.

I expect the points system will also be fixed so that the value of late picks is reduced.

The mooted changes are that all NGA players would be able to be taken by their respective club regardless of where they are drafted. This would mean that players like Mac Andrew (who was drafted inside the top 40) would be able to be matched. We could benefit IF AFL can take hold in the African communities in Dandenong because our game is clearly suited to some of the athletic traits of Africans. (The Sudanese especially seem to have the speed, height and endurance.) There is nine South Sudanese players on NBL rosters, which is incredible given the South Sudanese population in Australia is around 13,000. South Sudan made the Olympics, so they are pretty good.

Sure, but Blakey was in the Swans academy, which has different rules. The NGA academies should be for players who have not played junior football to under 15s or year 9. The idea of the NGAs should be to attract new players to the game. Basing it off non-Australian backgrounds makes no sense given 48% of the population has at least one parent born overseas. It completely screws the draft and the number of kids in each club's zone is not equal. That all said, MFC have been given Casey and Dandenong as our NGA zones. Given the young African population in Dandenong and the growth in Casey, there is a chance to get the system to work in our favour to some extent.