Adam The God

I wouldn't be keen to give them one of our mids, so unless we could broker something else, then we wouldn't have the currency.

I think this is a feature of the modern game though. Very few forwards can impact the game unless it's kicked to them 'on a platter'. Some are better at pressuring the ground ball and making defenders panic if they don't mark it (Petracca has become increasingly good at this), but most of the time, defences are set up this way and the game style is about creating beautiful goals through hard running. Completely agree with all of this.

This is pretty much the go for a lot of teams though. I disagree on Tomlinson. He's no world beater, but he's solid enough for mine. Lockhart hasn't had an extended chance and I'd be playing Petty back and Tomlinson beside him. Meaning May, Lever, Petty, Tomlinson, Rivers and Salem. I've never had the biggest issue with Wagner and would keep him for depth, but it depends who we bring in. I'm not of the view that we need to inject Salem or Rivers into the midfield. I'll be perfectly happy if we play Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, Brayshaw, Viney and then throw in Bennell and Kozzie occasionally.

His kicking throughout 2017-2018 was vital to our ball movement. He even showed this at times this year, but Fritsch plays a very similar role and it's a non combative one that draws the footy and then connects play. I think you're underrated his previous output, but I'd agree he's been ordinary this year.

He's an intriguing player. A real enigma for mine. Would love to see him succeed off half back, but I can't see it. I hope I'm wrong, but despite a funny looking set-shot kicking style, it's very effective. It seems to me, a different way to how he kicks the ball around the ground.

Melksham may show leadership off the field, but he showed very little on it this year. I've been a fan, but he struggled this year and it looks like the game has passed him, which is worrying since he still has two years running on his contract.

Would be poor list strategy from the Blues IMO. Curnow is no certainty to get back to his early career form. Trading out another legitimate KPF would be stupid. So what do you think we'll have to give them? ;) I don't like the idea of helping the Blues midfield brigade.

Just on this. It'll be interesting to see if our list strategy changes at all if Mahoney moves on this year.

I rate McKay. Reckon he'll break out in a good side (ie next year or two). When you say expensive, do you mean contractually or trade-wise? Would love a forwardline of Weideman, McKay and Jackson.

I'd hold on to Petty, but would much prefer Brayshaw in the midfield over Sparrow.

He seemed a lot harder at the contest today. His intensity was through the roof. Provided some good run too. That's the level he has to play at.

So Petracca re-signed until the end of 2022. I'd be giving him a three year extension until 2025. Likewise, I'd be giving a four year extension to Oliver until 2026. Neither may want to sign contracts for that length of time, but getting these two guys signed up long term, not just mid term, is super important for our football club. Both are now legitimate stars. Petracca's hype has surpassed Oliver, but they're every bit as good as each other IMO. They bring different things elite traits to the table. I hope we're looking at this before we consider throwing big money at a Ben Brown or anyone else. Get these guys locked in and we can build our side around them. Particularly, as Harmes is signed up long term as well (and I believe he'll return to his 2018 form if played in the midfield).

Absolutely. I hear about how other players are getting bakes the whole time. Does Melksham? Fair dinks, his tackling efforts this year have been pathetic. I don't think he's going to work in midfield either. His time might almost be up unless he can reinvent himself.

I think the problem with our C graders is that without consistent 4 quarter efforts, they can all fluctuate from C grade to E grade. This to me is mostly a mixture of inexperience/maturity and poor coaching. I just haven't worked out which is greater to the equation yet. The coaching or the experience levels. I still believe we have 15-16 players that could form the basis of a top 4 side such is our top talent and where it falls on the ground. We just need to find/demand more consistent performance out of our bottom 4-6 players. Our defence is starting to look really solid. May and Lever have had that full consistent season together and will be only better again next year. Rivers and Salem slot in there nicely. Hibberd may need to be replaced soon, but had a good year. I think Lockhart could still make it here. I think Tomlinson is handy back there. Add another KPD or move Petty back (Hore isn't good enough IMO) and our backline is a-okay. The midfield certainly has the pieces to form a genuine powerhouse Brisbane-like midfield, but we can't seem to get enough consistency or cohesion from the group. Harmes and Brayshaw have to play in there. I think we have to play a stopper and two attacking mids at every stoppage. It sounds like Viney has re-signed, so we need to use him in the defensive spot if everyone is fit and rotated forward. Max needs to have a big pre season and I think needs to put on 5 kilos. A new midfield coach is a must. We need fresh eyes here. We need pace and goal-kicking ability up forward. Melksham shouldn't be a walk up start for mine next year. Weideman, Jackson and Petty can all compete for two KPF spots and I'd keep Brown on the list for an extra year too. I think he's done enough. Another pre season into Kozzie and Bennell, and there's some nice outside dash. Hunt may well make it as a small forward. Fritsch won't be traded and will play third tall. A new forward coach is a must too. Between 6th and 4th should be our aim next year. If we can add some pace off half back and potentially another tall target up forward who knows where the goals are, provided everyone has an uninterrupted season, nothing short of deep finals is acceptable.

Again, I care less about what Goodwin says in media conferences and more about how we play. He could dance naked in front of the mic for 7 minutes for all I care, as long as our team is getting the job done on field with Goodwin's adequate guidance.

I just don't rate him mate. As @titan_uranus rightly says, he's got no idea about zonal positioning. Given our defence relies entirely on zonal positioning, it's very dangerous to play someone who doesn't fit that system. Maybe some of this can be learnt, but he's been on the list since 2016. How long does it take to work out where to position yourself in the zone?

This is precisely why I wouldn't have him in my team. But in a 1v1, he actually won most of them. I can't find the stats as the AFL site hasn't updated the player stats, but I'd love to know how many spoils he had. I'd count 3 or 4 from memory. I don't want all my defenders to be damaging with the ball. If they're not penetrating kicks like May, or good kicks like Salem, or pacey line breakers like Rivers, I want them playing within their means and doing the simple stuff well. As I say, I wouldn't have him in the team, but we didn't come close to losing because of him. Yeah, his handball was pathetic and a crumble moment, but a lot of our guys had moments like that today. You could be right here. I haven't been happy with the team as a group for most of the year. Sure, we've had some standout performers (Petracca, May, Langdon and Oliver), but as a team we've been ordinary IMV. How much of that is down to the players and how much of it is down to coaching is the $64 million question.

I had the same problems with Jesse that I have with Fritsch. Neither tackle or work hard enough to be defensive, so probably not.

I think we've worked out who we want to play in the forward half if Goodwin remains coach and it's not Melksham. I'd certainly listen to offers on Fritsch, but I think we need to seriously look at how to improve our forwardline function. I know we didn't have Jackson for most of the year, but our forward half is somewhere between 9th and 14th. Get the forward line right and I think we'll become a much better team.

As I said, I wouldn't have him in my team, but I don't think it's fair to say he didn't do his job in the first three quarters. For the most part, he did.

Not quite true. I generally agree with @titan_uranus on Smith in that he's not a footballer, but he actually made a number of good spoils and rebounded off his man a number of times in the first three quarters. I wouldn't have him in my team, but he probably played his best defensive game ever today.

What an uninspiring end to the season. We don't deserve to play finals. Not only is there a mental fragility to this group, but Goodwin can't get them going. Fancy needing to play one good quarter of footy, going into three quarter time with a handy lead and then the running stops and we go safely down the line. If it's not the players naturally going into their shells, it's Goodwin's coaching. It was such a typical facile Melbourne performance. Petracca, Oliver, Langdon, May, Lever, Salem and Hunt were great. Fritsch struggled to finish off the good work up ahead of him and it almost cost us the game, until he finally finished off the goal from 10m out. Loved the few glimpses of Kozzie today. He just had a little bit more cleanness that was noticeable. Rivers is fast becoming one of my favourites. Not only does he show great composure for a guy who's played 9 games, but he brings the tackle pressure. That tackle at a crucial moment basically won us the game. Our outside run in combination with their lack of defensive set up was good for three quarters. Our tackle pressure in the first half was really good and then dropped away, as if we couldn't be bothered, and as if we know that the Dogs will win tomorrow. I think I've seen enough now. If the club wants to sack Goodwin, I'll back them. We have enough good players, but the team as a whole switches off and when it's not allowed to play the game on its own terms all of a sudden within games, our guys don't know what to do. We've managed to eventually get games on our terms that have started by not being on our terms, but if we lead a game and then the opposition makes changes, we don't know how to counter it by trusting our system. Max talked about 'maturity' at the end of the game. That wasn't maturity. We completely went away from trusting the system and almost lost the game. I think we need changes.

How easily did we break down then? No tackle effort from Viney at all, while Oliver never stopped.

Just kick it to Hunt or Petracca. Only two forwards that can kick straight at the moment.

How good was Oliver's second quarter? Sure, the Essendon midfield is laughable, but he is close to unstoppable when he takes the game on. Still my favourite player. Sorry Trac. ?