Adam The God

That's not Judd's fault though. That's Carlton's, who have been worse at recruiting than us over the past two decades. If West Coast hadn't recruited Sheed, Shuey, Mastern, Gaff etc to build depth in their midfield, as well as recruit KPP players in Darling, McGovern, Barrass etc they could easily be in Carlton's position. If you remember, Carlton had an undersized Fevola as their KPF and not much else at either end. They were never going to win a flag with that list. But we'll agree to disagree, mate.

I think it was a win-win trade. Carlton's problem was they didn't go hard enough at trying to build their midfield to compliment Judd's recruitment, therefore during his time at Carlton, his class compensated for their lack of depth.

Which raises the question: does Hardwick only have the one gear?

Wednesday 12pm, as has been said multiple times across the last few pages.

He's a very good player, but player retention is the key to our future success, so he'd need to come across for under a million. I see us saying we'll pay you $850k and make you a better player in a team going places, but him ultimately taking the $1-1.2mill offered by another club. We then back in our current list to keep improving and snatch a flag or two between 2020-2025.

Fair enough. That's what I was asking. Clearly you were keen and therefore it's not a hindsight call. I certainly remember the likes of Barrett coming out and saying we'd stuffed another draft. Of course, you're right. We should have Kelly, but I love Cripps and would have loved him just as much. We made the safe call and haven't necessarily totally [censored] things up, especially if Salem ends up playing in a couple of flags off half back for us, ala Hodge.

Saying we should have taken Kelly at 2 is also in hindsight. I don't really see the difference. Were you advocating for us to take Kelly at the time? I don't recall.

It seemed to me at the time that we couldn't split the top 10, so we played it safe and took two players, instead of one. It turns out Kelly became a star, but plenty of top 2 picks have been relative busts. Still the right call at the time.

The Toumpas recruitment was a much larger blunder and even the very best recruiters get it wrong. Wells is roundly accepted as one of the best, but his 2013 year on paper was a shocker.

Daisy?

He clearly loves being 'important'.

Yep, exactly. If Hawthorn have a period of rebuild too, there's a chance they could dip to 55-60k members and we could catch them too. Win one flag and we can legitimately aim for 60k members. Win a second or more and have some sustained success, and 70k in 5 years is within reach.

I wonder if we were scared off Kelly by his frame and outside strength, given we had selected Toumpas in the mini draft year and had decided to prioritise what we hoped would be a generational KPF in Hogan? Then again, Billings was of a similar variety to Toumpas. I guess we just got it wrong. Having said that, Tyson served us well in 2014 and gave us depth in 2018 when we needed it during Viney's absence. Salem is a beautiful user and an improving defender that could (in time) also legitimately roll through the midfield, so even though GWS got an undoubted star, we got two good players for one. Where our list was positioned, IMO, we made the right calls on Hogan and the Tyson/Salem trades. The thing about Sheedy is he's so clearly blinded by his hatred of Melbourne that I wouldn't trust a word that came out of his mouth. He was also a representative of GWS at the time. I remember you writing this at the time, Ron and I remember saying a similar thing then.

A number of Carlton fans I know have just about given up footy. There's only so much longer that the AFL can justify Carlton as a 'big' crowd-drawing club. FWIW, if this rebuild fails for them, I reckon their membership will dip below ours.

I reckon we'll get 35k+ to this game, which means well and truly makes us money. Besides the end of the season, where finals are up for grabs, Round 1 is probably the best time to draw a crowd against an interstate side. We play this game in the middle of the year and I don't think we draw as many. But that is not to say I'm not disappointed by this fixture. A real opportunity missed to maximise gate return or merely crowd numbers against another Victorian club.

This. I can't understand the AFL's thinking here. Quite bizarre.

Saty. Other posters are actually allowed to have opinions too you know... Go shave that beard of yours.

Defensive pressure is not actually our issue, being one of the leading pressure teams in the comp. What we lack, Gaff would offer, which is accurate disposal and lots of them. Still, I hope KK can live up to his pick 5 selection in terms of talent and he'd end up being a much cheaper and younger option than Gaff. This highlights to me how overrated Kent is too.

Hmm, not sure about Corey. Apparently a lovely bloke, but I'm not convinced on his footballing abilities. His kicking in particular. But with Tyson going, he's a cheap back up, so smart decision by the FD.

Hogan isn't in the team anymore and unfortunately some players can get away with that on shear talent that they apply in other areas. But I'm glad that this paradox no longer exists in our team. I want Petracca to increase his tank too, because when he's on, his pressure is absolutely elite. And from here, he creates scoring chances.

I've long-wondered what the insurance policy is like for the game-break entertainment. When that guy fell on his head and not much was said, the following week it was called something else, it was conspicuous to say the least. Even the hamstring puller (he has to be a Demonlander, right?), did he charge someone for his injury? Or did he sign a release prior to running? Maybe I'm too used to dealing with finances in my business.

Please tell him to stay until we've at least won three flags. He seems like a bloody good footy boss.

That is what I said. I don't think he'd be amongst the centre mids unless two or more were injured. So he plays if there are injuries... He has been durable, absolutely. But the cliff comes quickly and there were certainly signs this year that he struggled to adapt to a new position. You're absolutely right that the FD clearly still rates him, because he's a consistent performer. The problem is our kids have gone past him and he's now become a make-shift wingman, which, like Tyson, doesn't suit him. I'm not convinced he can play half forward either, otherwise we'd have probably tried him there already, which we've resisted. It'll be interesting to see where they look to play him in 2019. No doubt, we'll get some sense as pre season gets under way. But I hope we treat him carefully for cultural reasons, because as MFC supporters, we know what a slippery slope that can be. I will say though that if we're challenging for a flag in 2020, I can't see Jones being a major part of that challenge. It'd be a coup for loyalty though if he was there to lift the cup.

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I'd certainly be sniffing around Neade. Has a good goal sense and if he gets it right, will fit into Goodwin's system.