Adam The God

I wouldn't mind noting in this thread who might make a good senior coach. We'll need a back up option in 2020 pretty quickly, I fear.

I go every week mate, but I also work a very busy job, so I don't think I'll be doing that. But perhaps you could, if you want to dispute it.

Lever is usually a very reliable kick. Maybe not so much this year, but as a rule... otherwise, I obviously concur mate.

Frost definitely improved this year and was certainly top 10, maybe even top 5, but we finished 17th. Anyone saying they'd be shattered or what have you, if he left, has completely lost touch with reality. He still gives up almost as many goals as he saves. If Sam wants a better offer and we can get a more solid best 22 player in, pull the trigger.

Yep, Ellis Yolman has pace and could be handy on the outside. Ah Chee, likewise.

I hope we snaffle up Ben King. Fingers crossed we've advanced talks further.

Ah. Haven't watched a single AFL program this year. I don't watch AFL media when we lose and since we barely won, I didn't watch a single ep all year. Interesting they confirmed it...

When you say officially, there's been nothing official on the website.

I know it's still early, but there's a distinct lack of riddles in the last 24 months. Do better, Demonland.

This thread is as sad as me reading 26 pages of the Grand Plan for the Yarra Park Training HQ on a Saturday afternoon. Can we close it?

Fair enough. I just don't think we know all the details, so couldn't really fully comment with authority.

It might be an unpopular opinion mate because you've got no idea of the details in his case. Not only, I presume, are you not a doctor, but you also, I presume, have no inside knowledge of Kade's case. You're really not qualified to make an assessment on the concussions. I read your post as 'you've got to be a bit tougher', but I don't want to put words in your mouth. It does seem like this is your insinuation though.

Agreed. Hore is a turn over merchant. Very good intercept marker though and has nice courage.

Well, I guess you could look at Chris Scott's Geelong, but I think game style is a big failure at our club in 2019 and that falls at the feet of the coach.

I agree that some of our crowding stems from panic and a loss of confidence, but I also wonder how much of that is game style-directed. To swarm each and every contest. I think it's a failure of the game style, unless you have cover out the back.

Another who could play wing too and add to outside pace. A little soft IMO, but wingers usually are. And the Basil clue would work for Toby Greene if he was an FA and not signed up for another 4 years.

I'm sure we do. We've been very good in this area and ahead of the pack in terms of the new AFL systems in place. Landing Oliver and Weideman in the same draft was a perfect example.

I think the landscape has so significantly changed with the advent of free agency and player movement, that premiership windows are a thing of the past. If we get everything right next year, we have a list that could challenge for the flag with a bit of luck. Just as easily, we could be anchored to the bottom of the table. I want a new senior coach though. If we pull the trigger on that front in the next 6 to 12 months, we'll have a greater chance, but I hope I'm wrong.

I reckon in time Petty playing next to Lever will be the intercept equivalent of McGovern and Barrass. By all means play him forward for the moment, but I'd have Petty back before Hore. Maybe Marty playing back next year allows another year of development in Petty before we send him back, but I loved Petty the year of his draft and saw a Lever clone in him. He'll get there if given time.

Absolutely agree. I've said this before about Collingwood being a good example of how a lot of their kickers seemed to go from turn over merchants in 2017 to a strong team of kickers, who can control games in a similar way to old Hawthorn under Clarkson. Collingwood clearly worked really hard on their fitness (arguably too hard, given all their injuries in 2018), but this meant their players regularly got to the outside and into space, so they could keep moving the ball with seeming accuracy. As has been said a couple of times now, you look a much better kick when you're not trying to thread the eye of the needle, and merely kicking into space or to a free player.

Bloody hell. I just read 26 pages on my Saturday to catch up on all of this as I'd stayed away since April, and the ending (non-closure on this) is as unsatisfying as the end of The Sopranos.

I remember watching that game as a 9 year old out at the Whitten Oval. Brilliant game. But those last two highlights in that top 5 are simply incredible. We've got no one that has that sort of forward genius in our side. Oliver is the midfield equivalent.

There's something a bit Bulldogs end of 2015 about where we're at currently. If we were to trade out our captain or Gus, you'd want it to pay off pretty quickly, otherwise there'd be blood on the dancefloor in 2020. IMO we absolutely have to add at least one natural crumber. As @Fifty-5 and I have been saying, Viney should play forward next year too. Yup, noticed that, so I'm sure we're looking at other options.

Well, I think that's part of it too. Pert did have a reputation coming in to the MFC of interfering too heavily in FD matters, so he was less likely to do it as soon as he walked in our door. It seems like (yes, speculation) that he must be complicit in driving a lot / some of the changes via Mahoney, but I guess we won't know for a while / ever. Certainly, the Board would be behind much of the change too, because for anyone to get sign off for the moves we've made so far, it would surely have to get Board sign off.

Agree with the aim of the first part of your post. King. Langdon, another runner (maybe that's Tomlinson?), Smith and 17. That's significantly more outside run. I'd also like to target two zippy smalls to compliment the rest of our forwardline. But we don't have enough genuine ball winners to be getting rid of any of our midfield core, so I wouldn't be trading Gus or Jack.