Adam The God

Why don't you do us up a best 22 then mate? You don't have to include Oscar.

You have absolutely no idea what our club negotiated with the AFL Commission a few weeks ago. Be a little more logical and have a think about why we might have gone quiet RE: GCS' priority pick.

Eh? How is Newnes a fall back for Elliott?

And struggled on a forward flank or in a pocket early in his career. Was good off half back in his first year mind you. Don't get me wrong. I love Gus, but I'm wondering how we can diversify our engine room.

And just like Brayshaw I'm afraid. Which is exactly why I don't think we should be afraid of trading one or two of our mids until we get more balance and versitility. The only untradeable for me is Oliver, who is so clearly the best talent at Melbourne in 30+ years. If it's Viney, Oliver and Harmes, then Gus probably has to go. Harmes offers goals and accountability. Anyway, let's wait and see. It's pretty obvious the club won't try anything too bold like trading Jack or Gus regardless.

Gee, you can tell BP was doing his scouting based on Demonland. Scary.

Yep, this is the thing that worries me most about next year. I like that we've pulled the trigger on Richo though. Hopefully a different approach to the same message of work rate. Even simply changing a few coaches could get us a result, given that it may feel like a new approach and game style, despite it coming from essentially the same place (Goodwin). What else were they going to say? You didn't really expect the club to come out and say, 'nope, we're stuffed for this year and we won't turn it around. Oh and don't bother coming to games, members'. No club would say anything different. I do agree that Goodwin has a very short time to right this ship though. If we're thereabouts for 2020, he'll last the year and it'll be touch and go whether we look elsewhere for 2021. But we'd have to make finals and probably win one for Goodwin to be absolutely safe.

He'll come to us.

You'd think so, but without knowing the absolute in and out of it all, it's a bit futile to speculate.

His closest relationships were seemingly with the likes of Petracca and Oliver, so I don't think that plays. I had heard from a few people that he was pushing the players really hard in 2019 and the impression I got was that it was actually the older players who weren't as receptive to that.

Where would you play him next year mate? He's ordinary by foot, which you can get away with in the midfield, but like much of our midfield is an inconsistent two-way-runner and an ordinary decision maker. If Viney is playing in the midfield, that either means Oliver or Gus isn't. It's too offensive with no defensive accountability. Jack might be able to play a run-with role like Harmes has managed in the past, but the good games Viney has played as a run-with has seen him completely sacrifice disposal count and clearances, unlike Harmes, who has a really good ability to restrict his opponent and also get the ball, as well as kick the odd goal. I believe our midfield completely lacks balance and if we're going to take the next step and seriously challenge for the top 4, we need more diversity in there. I'm not convinced he has a position going forward, outside of a tagger or a defensive forward with occasional stints in the midfield. Viney's best comes when he's in the midfield though (West Coast 2017 and Hawthorn 2018 SF). But each to their own.

The modern game is all about systems, so he's on the right track. Not only is the modern AFL game about systems, but modern sport. This is what worries me about 2020. Having demanded for the entirety of 2019 that players perform their roles, only for them to ignore those instructions, how do you go about changing these attitudes in a single off season? If the players weren't listening to the coaches, that's an indictment on the players, but also the senior coach.

We're not offering him a contract mate. We can't then demand a second rounder for him. We'll take a third or a fourth rounder and move on. I'm excited that we can now play a solid system with everyone on board. If Oscar had come on, Frost would have been traded/delisted a year or two ago. With Petty coming in and the side's success based on an ability to play a cohesive defensive game, Frost was always going to be first one out the door. If we can get something back for our investment/development of him, great, but either way Melbourne's defensive set up is far more important than a rogue agent failing to adhere to the game plan. One of my mates is on the Hawthorn coaching staff. Clarkson won't let Frost go rogue and he therefore won't last more than one contract with them. Bookmark it. If he does, Hawthorn is in trouble.

If we can't land a gun, I'm not convinced we should recruit stop gaps. Just build your system around what you have. Richmond and Collingwood have shown the way in this respect.

Cerra, @Pennant St Dee?

I'll put my neck out there and say we've got him over the line. Along with Tomlinson and Langdon. No sources, I just don't think Mahoney would have said anything if they weren't already over the line.

It just means we've got those guys over the line. We don't tend to come out and say something and then have it fall over. I hope we've got more up our sleeve as well.

Yep,we'll probably look at him even though I don't rate him at all.

Yeah, you know him well, mate.

There will legitimately be a silver lining if he doesn't come, which is that we force a competitor to pay overs to keep one of theirs. I would suggest we'll pull the trigger pretty quickly on an inferior, but workable option if we don't land him.

Come on, mate. You'd get a go at the local comedy show with this material. First Frost was a superstar, now he's the equivalent of two players? Are you trolling or just using a bit of good old fashioned Demonland hyperbole?

I reckon we'll land him. If what Barrett is saying is true RE: Collingwood's cap, they won't be able to compete with our offer.

Looks like Collingwood went for broke with the salary cap over the last 2-3 years in the hope of snagging a flag and then a core of players recommitting based on that success. If you don't get that success, you're in trouble. And Demonlanders bang on about our cap. I wonder what Collingwood supporters think (yeah, I know, not much).

You mean like Lepp and Hardwick at Richmond? I think it's pretty clear it works well and is pretty industry standard.

Looks great in a Melbourne polo.