Fat Tony

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.

I don't really put much blame on Pert for the club's recent issues but a key part of the role is to be the fall guy when things go pear shaped. That said, he is obviously a spin merchant and has not been successful in managing the various crises engulfing the club. The facilities are really an issue because our history being tied to the MCG and because there is no key votes in government support for us. I think the Caulfield plan is going to be hard to get over the line given the cost and the state government's deficit, but hopefully it comes through. The problems with Oliver have been 99% Clarrie's fault, but the way he was shopped around by the club was messy both times and Pert and the club were naive to think we could trade him for anywhere near to what we believe is fair value. Petracca's issues have been mostly unlucky. I don't think the CEO is really to blame. I don't place any fault on Pert for the drug issues. Pert is not responsible for us going out in straight sets in 2022 and 2023.

Prove me wrong please Marty.

An issue we have is that Fritsch really only plays well when he is our deepest forward. He gets lazy with his pressure up the field and isn't as efficient as he should be when kicking inside 50. This means he really plays best as a key forward. Petty and Turner have both shown the ability to play forward and back, which gives us flexibility. Does Armstrong offer a huge point of difference to Turner, Fritsch and Jefferson? I am all for picking him if he can become Jeremy Cameron.

Armstrong looks to be very naturally skilled and coordinated, but he has an ordinary ground game and, with his light frame, there would have to be some doubts on his ability to get strong enough to out body AFL defenders. I think if we go this way, it is a bad sign on how we view Jefferson's prospects.

This thread would be better if it was merged with the Pick 9 thread given they are so close together and there is so much uncertainty about the top order of the draft. The strategy we adopt might also depend on who we expect to go at #6, #7 and #8.

Petracca really white anted the club in more ways than one this offseason. Some other problems we have at the moment are that Connors has too much power and that we are viewed as lepers. We need to discreetly lobby the AFL to introduce anti-concentration measures in the player agencies, while doing everything we can to improve our relationship with Connors and co.

I think they changed the system so players can be Rookie listed ahead of the Rookie draft, so long as they were not bid on in the National Draft.

I never like the strategy in these trades. We are paying credit card interest and next year we will hear about how good the top end of the draft is.

Alix Tauru’s highlights look as good as any prospect in the draft. If recruiters think he will develop into a midfielder, he looks to be the full package. Tauru and Smith might be the players with the fewest weaknesses.

Viney is not much of a forward IMO. Given our list construct, with Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Pickett as good centre square players (assuming Oliver's hand heals) the perfect draftee for us would be a player who can play 2025 in a periphery role but can develop into a centre midfielder in future years. The Dogs drafted Rylie Sanders, who looks a centre midfield only, and they got limited value out of him this year as he wasn't able to play another role. By contrast, Windsor was able to play as a wing (or probably half back or half forward) and was more valuable this year. I think the bigger centre circle and the 6,6,6 rule has made a difference in what types of midfielders do well at centre bounces and that skill and speed has become more important than grunt.

Longmire has zero in the last decade.

I have come to realise how lucky we are to have Goodwin. One of our superstars has ADHD and addictive tendencies. And another is self centred. And neither of them can regularly hit a target inside 50. The whole playing group could have easily fractured and turned on each other with a poorer coach.

Surely the better strategy is to bring in a ready made replacement when Max is done, rather than take the risk of drafting a ruckman.

We might have also been able to get Tholstrup with our original pick. The whole concept of pushing up the draft is very expensive but it can be justified because we have been doing it to improve our team while we have Petracca, Gawn and Oliver in their prime. I am not sure that it holds anymore and, rather than paying credit card interest rates, I think we should be more willing to receive it.

AFL footy is a 24/7 job, not just what happens on match day.

It might look a bad deal to you, but you don't know the full story and have to work with Oliver every day.