Adam The God

Hibberd was far more experienced than Jake. And his position didn't change at Melbourne. Lever is now learning to play second tall, not third tall/intercepter. Just as Rance had to learn when he was 25-26 (note the age difference). Poor comparison, Bubs.

So you'd be prepared to pay top dollar for someone you call depth? Okay. I wouldn't. That's not how you build a premiership list.

Hogan and then Salem, please.

I'd rather nick a GWS mid from them. That'll certainly bring us closer to them. Shiel, Coniglio, Whitfield or Kelly. That said, priority one for us should be ensuring we hold onto what we've got. Yeah, I'm confident that by the end of 2018, if injury free, Petracca, Salem and Brayshaw will be a feared group, lead by Oliver and eventually Viney.

I've posed this as a potential question for Goody on the forthcoming podcast. We'll see if it gets asked.

Absolutely. Never said he wouldn't be in our best 22. But what would he offer (specifically) that we don't already possess? As you say, at what cost? I'd take him if he came cheaply, but he won't. Oliver, Viney, Petracca, Salem, Brayshaw, Tyson and Jones will do me fine.

What does he provide that most of our mids don't already? Apart from an inability to break a tag... He's meat and potatoes. That's it.

I suspect this stat will remain relatively the same for the foreseeable future. We play a very high press and when teams eventually get out the back, as we've seen on multiple occasions, they have a paddock to run into. Inside 50 stats can be very misleading in the modern game.

No, thanks. Sloane doesn't excite me.

No reason why he can't be as good as Martin by the end of 2018 and as damaging forward as the bikie.

I know this sounds a bit narrow minded but our inability to play a final last year has no doubt kept some away. Unfortunately, many people only wish to be associated with winners. As we win more and gain more respect, those that have stayed away will finally return. I've always thought our membership target for 2018 should be approximately 45,000. Start the season well and we're a big chance to exceed that 45,000, which IMO is excellent for a club that has not played finals in over a decade.

This is the big point. I was debating my sister about Caro today. She was saying Caro gives all women in football a bad name. My argument was that it's not her gender that's the issue, it's her agenda. She clearly has a bias and so whatever good investigative journalism she does undertake at other clubs, this work should be neutered when put beside her lack of perspective on her own club. Bad journalism IMO.

Without Viney and Oliver, we get murdered IMO. It's like taking Selwood and Dangerfield out of Geelong.

To be clear, no way I'm paying $300 for it. I'll wait until it is reduced. I'd prefer to spend my money buying a place to live in. Already pay my $700 and whatever it is for MCC/MFC membership.

I think I'll get this one. Classy as.

Love it. Thanks for sharing, Z.

Very glad the club failed to listen to me at the end of 2016 and trade an injury riddled Salem. Despite suffering injury setbacks in 2017 as well, I've always loved Salem's attributes as a player. He posseses that perfect blend of skill, decision making and toughness, which affords him one of the highest ceilings at our club. Our medical staff seem to have handled his body well over this pre season and like many others here, I reckon he's on the cusp of finally taking his game to the level it deserves. Think about a midfield of Oliver, Salem, Viney and Petracca. If Salem and Brayshaw both come on, we're going to have an insanely talented and scary midfield.

Unless Wines is willing to come back to Victoria for less money, there's no way he'll come here. Our list strategy has been pretty clear for the past 4 years. Draft and develop from within, trade for needs. As much as Wines would walk into our midfield, we can do without him and we have more pressing needs, such as securing a plethora of young guns to long term deals.

I was speaking to a mate whose cousin is an up and comer at one of the big Melbourne based clubs and apparently many of the year 1 to 4 players are on between $150-250k, even with the new CBA. So I reckon our figures are all out of whack here. It's not as high as we'v always thought.

Love this thread. Am currently developing a doc series on youth mental health. Obviously, a massive issue. We need to talk about mental health and too much is left unsaid.

I also rate their list. Their midfield might not be as deep as ours, but it is chock full of elite talent. Reckon Daniher will win the Coleman in 2018 too.

Oldie but a goodie, mate. ?

Does anyone know how Spargo rated in the kicking test?

How the heck did I forget Jeffy? Anyway, add Jeffy to Hannan, Spargo and Petracca. And I'd agree about Weideman, but his leg speed is an issue in this sense IMO.

This is the key ingredient to the last two flag winners' success. Hogan and TMac are the talls, with Hannan, Petracca and a Spargo providing forward pressure. I'd consider moving Hunt forward at times again too. His pace and marking overhead are handy and as Richmond's smalls showed, if you work hard, tackle and tackle, and work to keep the ball in a dangerous area, you will eventually get just reward for your toils. One of the major deficiencies of Hogan's game I'd be looking to rectify over the off season is his inability to lay tackles or chase. He needs to build his tank and improve like that pill Riewoldt did. TMac has enough aerobic capacity to put enough pressure on too. Another pre season with Petracca will also hopefully see him improve in this pressure area. If our forwards can lock the ball in better and our backs can repel consistently (Lever helps in this regard enormously), we will finish top 4. Our midfield (with a fit Gawn) is dominant enough to beat any opposition. And if our forward pressure improves and Lever continues intercepting everything in sight, we really don't have many weaknesses.