Fat Tony

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-02-13/pedersen-in-a-good-place-with-his-game Let's hope Pedo can pick up in 2018 where he left off last year. It certainly sounds like he has had a great preseason. I hope we at least trial a forward line of Hogan, TMac and Pedo in the preseason to see if we can get it to function.

It is pretty poor of the AFL to be poaching staff off the clubs IMO.

Is there an intraclub match?

Round 1 is the worst time to play them.

I don't like Max spending too much time forward. His defensive pressure is a liability and I don't really see it being much of a rest given how far the forwards have to push up the ground. IMO it is better to have him spend his petrol tickets in the ruck, where he is able to dominate.

I think Jones would be better going back in a similar role to Jarrad McVeigh than as a forward. He is not great overhead or super quick. I also don't see small forwards having a lighter load than midfielders these days given they push up the ground so far.

I would say Buddy plays as a 'small tall forward'.

Other titbits: Gawn lost 8kg prior to preseason and then has put back on 4kg since returning. His strength is still comparable to last year in the weights room. Petracca ran a PB by 35 seconds in his 2km time trial.

Weideman had ankle surgery in the break. I assume it is that.

While Richmond's flag will see team's look to go smaller in the forward line, a forward line including Hogan, TMac and Pederson could be very dangerous if they are all fit and in form.

30 goals would be a great effort. I also question if we can fit Hogan, TMac and Pedo in the same forward line as it hasn't worked in the past. In saying this, I am sure it would work fine if they were all in form together.

As remarkable as it sounds, Pedersen could be hitting his peak at 30/31.

Do we have a rookie draft pick on Monday?

And you get 30 seconds to take your kick.

Could be a great pick up IMO.

If he gets delisted, he can walk into the club of his choice.

I know we get salary cap relief, but in isolation I see Pick 31 is a poor outcome IMO. Here is the recent history of pick 31: Jordan Roughead Western Bulldogs North Ballarat U18 2008 Jason Tutt Western Bulldogs NSW-ACT U18 2009 Ariel Steinberg Essendon Bendigo U18 2010 Jackson Merrett Essendon Geelong U18 2011 Kamdyn McIntosh Richmond Peel Thunder 2012 Malcolm Karpany West Coast Woodville-West Torrens 2013 Daniel Howe Hawthorn Murray U18 2014 Ryan Clarke North Melbourne Eastern U18 2015 Joshua Begley Essendon Eastern U18 2016

I quite like the idea. With blind binding, the draft would become a bit like a big poker tournament.

Based on the points system, I have Lever valued at around Pick 5. This depends on a range of variables, including the discount rate on future picks, the quality of each draft, next year’s finishing position and compensation picks. The key variable is really where Melbourne finish in 2018. Pick 10 (1,395) + MEL R1 2018 (1,395) + MEL R4 2018 (100) - Pick 35 (460) - ADEL R2 2018 (550) = 1,880 = Lever So I see this as being still a decent trade for Melbourne and probably around fair market value. For example, I would rather the proven Lever over Noah Balta, who is 5th on Knightmare’s Power Rankings. (Not that I have seen Balta play.) It is a bad trade if we finish in the bottom 4.

I would pick up Wellingham over pick 100.

First time was the JLT but he played in Round 1. When he was dropped the 'second time' he played 2 VFL games and returned vs Collingwood.

Wishful thinking at the moment. But surely our coaches can see our need for an outside runner in the midfield.

We need some outside class and pace and Motlop provides that. It sounds like he has had osteitis pubis which has held him back this year, but then having a couple of weeks off have done him wonders. His last two finals were excellent. I would chase him pretty hard.

It sounds like he will leave for money not because he doesn't like living in Adelaide or has an issue with the Crows

Why would Adelaide let Lever go if salary didn't matter? Managing the cap well is one of the biggest keys to success in the AFL. That's also why Hawthorn let Lewis and Mitchell go. I'll be happy if we get him, but it is sensible enough to worry that we are overpaying a player based on potential and we then might lose other talent down the track.