Fat Tony

I hope you are correct, but I think Salem is past it. He has lost his drive, both in terms of acceleration and kicking penetration. There is no other position he can play either, because he is playing the easiest position on the ground. Bowey was better than you are giving him credit for this season. As much as kicking is important in that role for a slow play, I actually think we need someone with elite pace there. Someone like Saad or Hunt who can play on after a turnover and get a counterattack going.

Tom Fullarton averaged 10.2 kicks, 4.9 handballs, 4.5 marks, 4.6 hit outs, 1.6 tackles, 76 fantasy points from 18 VFL games. He kicked 30.22 for the year.

He plays tall, with long arms and big leap. I think he will be a good player.

I think Duursma has lot of talent. Fast, tall, long kicking wingman. He is only 22 and has suffered a lot of injuries.

Obviously likes playing under Brad Scott.

I am an eye witness!

I think the Dogs would pay half of Lobb's contract and offload him for a token pick.

Of course the club might know more. But Lynch fractured his foot on 8 April 2023 and is still in a moon boot. It is a bit of a red flag considering the cost would be $1m+ in salary cap space and a first round pick.

Tom Lynch is still in a moon boot. The better option might be neither.

We have one of the most talented lists in the AFL. If our cap isn't tight, then the player agents aren't doing their jobs. My read is that Petracca, Oliver and Brayshaw are on long, back ended deals and we just signed Pickett to another big contract. May, Gawn and Lever are all on good money but are playing for under market value now. The fact that we are losing Grundy and Harmes with not much expected to come back in indicates we are tight. I also think you are way overs on the salaries of McAdam and Hibberd.

Melbourne could swoop in and steal ruckman Matt Flynn from under West Coast’s noses. Flynn played well in the opening nine games of the season for the Giants when he averaged 12 disposals and 29 hit-outs. He fell behind Kieran Briggs and played the rest of the season in the VFL. Eagles coach Adam Simpson has publicly said that he eyes Bailey Williams as a forward-ruck in the long-term rather than the No.1 man in the middle. Greater Western Sydney football boss Jason McCartney said Flynn had yet to decide what he wanted to do before the free agency period opens on Friday. “We haven’t been in the position to offer Matt a contract, so him and (his manager) Scott Lucas have done the right thing and explored options,” McCartney told Trade Radio. “He’s looking for that opportunity to play more regular football. He did it earlier in the year with us but obviously, Kieran Briggs really stood up and shone through in the second half of the year." “It’s fair to say he’s probably weighing up options now between West Coast and Melbourne of what it looks like, but I don’t think he’s come to a final decision on what that looks like yet." “Those clubs will hear more soon as we will.”

You can read into that that our salary cap is pretty tight!

Isaac Smith is worth a phone call.

How many players in the AFL have elite decision making, elite skills and leg speed? You are basically advocating that we should trade in or draft Nick Daicos, Josh Kelly or Izak Rankine. I am keen to add some pace and class, but you need to be realistic. If Mark Blicavs, Dylan Grimes or Alex Rance are on the draft table, you take them.

Collingwood were actually very efficient given they had a lot o difficult shots at goal.

Peeved we didn’t chase Hill last year. He was the difference in two finals.

AFL clubs are full of short-term thinkers – with coaches, recruiters and list managers all wanting to win next year in order to keep their jobs. As a result, and because clubs fall often fall in love with the next year’s young talent and make moves to jump up the draft board, the interest rate for future AFL draft picks is over 20% p.a. and can be as high as 100% p.a. Typically the cost to buy a current first round pick is at least a current second round pick plus a future first round pick to. (The Suns swapped #27 for a future #11 as an example of how expensive it can be!) With the interest rate being so high (and the power of compound interest) I think it would be possible for an AFL club to delay first round picks for two consecutive years so as to build a bank of draft capital and then utilise two first round picks every year into perpetuity. That seems like a good investment for an AFL club, where the aim is to win as many flags as possible over the long run. (That’s what I want anyway.) It is also pretty clear that very few first year players are capable of playing in an AFL finals team. How many 19-year old draftees could you see playing in the grand final? (Not even the number 1 pick was selected for GWS in the preliminary final!) From the 2022 draft only Ashcroft, Sheezel, Fletcher and Phillipou would definitely get a game in a final and maybe Humphry and Wardlaw. That’s it, with only Ashcroft and Sheezel really being capable of making a difference in the result. Given our significant draft capital due to Jackson leaving and the fact that our current best 22 has very few holes going into 2024, I think we should be rotating most of our 2023 draft capital into 2024 picks. Look at the deal GCS are making for #4, which is mooted to be worth picks #10, #17 and a future first-rounder (with a third-rounder coming back to the Dogs from the Suns). This would be an incredible deal for the Suns and if we were to make similar deals, we could hold as many as four first round picks in 2024. With this in the bank, we would have the ability to spend two first round picks every year into perpetuity while maintaining our draft capital in future years. I call this the Macquarie model. I also believe that trades are usually the best use of draft capital, as they tend to favour the team receiving uncontracted players and because trades can better fill holes in the side. Essentially uncontracted players generally cost 80 cents on the dollar in terms of their value in picks. They also supply players who are ready to help win a final next year. This is even more so the case given the impact of free agency. The other thing is that the AFL draft is still quite inefficient (although recruiting has improved over the years). This is because you are selecting 18 year olds who have never played against men. Good recruiting teams, like Melbourne’s and Geelong’s, have proven they can find AFL talent with second/third/fourth round picks or rookie selections. While not using first round picks at the draft will impact the quality of a team’s young talent in the short term, I am no sure it really matters to winning next year.

These are all good points, which is why I am in favour of us going for a forward/ruck like Chol or Casboult, who could play as second ruck or fill in if Gawn gets injured.

Van Rooyen, Petty and TMac all have the ability to take the ruck minutes when Max is off. But the main issue is finding a decent backup if he gets injured. I think this will be hard to find because no decent ruckman wants to sit in the VFL. At least using an option like Casboult or Chol in that role means they could also be selected as a ruck/forward.

Summary of Ralph's article: Hawthorn has shown the most interest in Mabior Chol ahead of North Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. Chol’s contract is around $425,000 a season for two more years and clubs might have to offer him three or even four seasons. He would likely be available for a future second-rounder. The Hawks are after a key position forward who can play ruck after Jacob Koschitzke nominated Richmond. The Suns will Nick Malceski as a development coach. ---- The AFL would need to check off any St Kilda-Essendon free agency-trade swap involving Jade Gresham and Dylan Shiel. Clubs cannot trade a selection in one deal then trade it back with another. St Kilda would not be allowed to top up Gresham’s salary to ensure they secured first-round compensation, but Essendon would be allowed to pay some of Shiel’s deal. --- Western Bulldogs are leading the race to secure pick 4 from the Suns. The Dogs are offering picks 10, 17 and a future first-rounder — and would likely secure a third-rounder back from the Suns — which adds up to around 3500 draft points if the Dogs finished eighth next year. At this stage North Melbourne’s suite of end-of-first-round picks are not enough to get pick 4. Even if the Roos offered up their current pick 14 and two of those end-of-first-round picks their trade package would only come up to 3000 points. Adelaide and Melbourne will then be keen to secure pick 10 in the event of Suns-Dogs trade, with both the Crows and Demons have multiple second-rounders. (Adelaide has picks 21 and 24 to the Demons’ 25 and 33.) --- Sydney has no recourse to dock co-captain Callum Mills’ salary after the Mad Monday incident that saw him tear his rotator cuff. The Swans could cite him under the code of conduct but the maximum fine under AFLPA rules is $5000. Mills is on a six-year $800,000 per year deal to 2029. Richmond has an official minder with a group of players who have been on an informal footy trip in Thailand. Coach Adem Yze strongly defended the practice over the weekend, saying he made some of his strongest bonds with teammates on footy trips. ---- Andrew Mackie confirmed that all of Tom Hawkins, Rhys Stanley, Gary Rohan and Zach Tuohy will play on at Geelong. Brandon Parfitt decided not to explore rival interest. The Cats are playing hard ball on Esava Ratugolea. --- Clubs looking at Shaun Mannagh, who kicked six goals and had 27 possessions for Werribee in the loss to Gold Coast in the VFL Grand Final. The former Ovens and Murray league star is 26 and in his 21 games this year he averaged 25 possessions and 1.9 goals a game, including four goals and 40 possessions against Southport and seven goals from 25 possessions against Sandringham. Clubs believe he could play as a pressuring forward who wins his own ball at AFL level.

There are no perfect footballers. Obviously we need better decision makers in our team. But we also need players with speed, height, toughness, strength and endurance. I would prefer Mark Blicavs than Greg Williams in today's game because transition running is so important. With Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Gawn on our list, forward connection will always be an issue for us and so the territory game is really the best plan for us to win. (We could make some minor tweaks to the way we play but Goodwin's system is mostly correct.) So we need to recruit players to compliment our midfield, which generates quantity more than quality entries. That means better wingers and forwards who can win one-on-one contests and convert from tough distance/angles.

I see a bit of Nathan Jones in the way Sanders plays. Sanders and Reid are probably the most likely to have an impact at AFL level next season.

Blind Freddie could tell you why we were treated differently Redleg.

No competent developed ruckman wants to be a back up though. We either get a D grade ruckman like Naismith or a B/C grade ruck forward like Chol or Casboult (or both).