jnrmac

You remind me of someone who used to post on this site..... Hmmmm

I have Laurie down as the smokie that will surprise many this year. Uses the ball well, has some evasive skills and is getting more comfortable at this level. It's been a long time coming but its now or never for him.

Put a fork in them. Carr will take over by round 10

Why wait for free agency? If we identify a need we chase the player. Every other club seems to be happy targeting in contract players.

HAWTHORN are an interesting case in point. They have traded in 2 key defenders. One fairly average and one good IMO but it was a clear need. They got Battle who was a free agent for not much but paid handsomely for Barass - The Hawks gave up their 2025 first-, second- and third-round selections to West Coast in order to secure Tom Barrass, while receiving a fourth-round pick in return. We'll watch 2025 with interest. They aren't the quality we got in Lever and May but I doubt anyone argues against our trade that netted us a flag.

You know there's a trade off with recruiting high priced players from other clubs.... Not only does it mess your salary cap relativity, you essentially give up draft picks and have to go fishing for talent at the bottom end of the draft. The adage that you recruit for needs and draft for talent is pretty apt. Aside from our fwd line what need do we have that hasn't been filled? I say fwd line because it has obviously been a touchstone issue. But then look at what has been available and what astronomical cost it would have come at. Then look at what we would have missed out on had we tried to recruit a key fwd like say McKay. You have too give up a lot to get something I'm interested because punters seem to think you draft/trade freely and there is no real cost to doing so. But the costs are huge.

In 21 we were restricting most teams to less than 60 points through fierce and co-ordinated defending. Last year we had more 100pt oppo scores than we have had since 2019. We had more than the previous 4 years combined! from 2020 to 2023 we had only 3 x 100pt scores against us and we even won 1 of those games. So last year was a disaster for our 'brand'.

Not a fan of Jefferson yet but his kicking action looks very good indeed. Kozzie is a cut above

Thats commitment!

Thanks for your comprehensive report. Howes got shown up when he was turned inside out by Harley Reid in that horrible loss in Perth. He wasn't the only one BTW My recollection is that he was dropped after that match and when he did make it back in the side looked mostly nervous. Did he look like he was playing with any confidence?

Yeah a proven gun with 2 x 40g yrs (under 21 years of age) and we'd give him away for 2 speculative picks. Laughable.

Sort of IG were going to leave after 2021 but we won the flag - so they stayed for another few years.

I think thats way off. He's kicked 40 g twice before he was 21. Cyril only did it twice in 11 seasons

We were 22 to 1 back then We're now 26 to 1 We have a real chance of being 6-2 or 7-1 given our draw. If that was to pass we'd be in to 12s or 8s Juicy

Maybe. There have been players we've lost for a variety of reasons like Hogan or Bedford, Howe, Grundy, and LJ as you say. It just seems to me that our leading players seem to be targeted more than any other club bar say GWS and Gold Coast. Is it because they think our leaders are gettable? I know some other clubs think Melbourne has a weak culture and therefore players might be vulnerable to leaving. You're right in that we haven't lost too many of our 'guns' but it does seem they are vulnerable every year....

Why are all our top picks subject to raids from other clubs? What is it about our club that allows this? Strong clubs rarely lose top players

Last year we didn't play the way we trained in pre-season. Pre-season was lots of fast ball movements, cutting back to the corridor and playing on at all costs. Come the regular season this disappeared. I called this out numerous times because I was flummoxed by it. This pre season we are doing the same. Curious. We are still way to Max focused IMO. Easy to coach against with no dare, verve or ingenuity. Will be watching with interest our first 8 weeks where we should be 6-2 or 7-1 given the draw.

Making up things a normal part of your repertoire? Nice self-own. Feel free to let me know where that was said by me..... Not your greatest post 58er

Well he has been known to gift people games ie McAdam

Maybe Kozzie doesn't like travel.....

Kozzie loves it here, He's not going anywhere. Close thread.

Having Langdon and Sharp play further towards our defence will help our defensive efforts no - given their excellent endurance running power.

Port has lost Todd Marshall for the year with an achilles. No Marshall, Dixon retiring and Houston leaving looks like they could easily succumb to pressure after the first 6 or 7 games. They're my tip to slide the most this year.

They said "we wont win a flag with Frost and OMac as our two key defenders" hence they went and got May to add to a young Lever

We lost 4 games against top 8 sides by a kick. We aren't that far away. And that is with just about everything going wrong for us in 2024. The question was "Is this fixable in 1 off season or are we delusional thinking we can make the 8 with aging stars ?" The answer is of course it is fixable. Getting our key players back on the park play their best footy is the first key. The second is adjusting the game plan which is never as difficult as people seem to think. Thirdly we have a pretty easy draw that should see us 6-2 or 7-1. That momentum should see us make the 8 easily. We only play one 2024 top side twice and supposedly have the second easiest draw. If you look at which players improved or maintained excellence in 2024 (excl 1st year players) it is a very small list; Viney, Rivers, TMac, Langdon, Gawn and maybe McVee. There is a lot of upside for many of our players. That we are 14th in flag betting at 26 to 1 is ridiculous. we should be very optimistic about our chances in 2025