Adam The God

I think so too. Jordy is just about done. And Jones will be the following year. Jones' problem is he won't get a game at half back with Hibberd and KK there, and IMO he's not good enough to play on a wing either. I'd have Fritsch and Harmes in front of him. And before some people tell me I've got my blinkers on again, tell me where Jones plays next year. He certainly plays when we have injuries in the midfield, but at full strength, he's not there.

He's certainly not a player that outwardly lacks confidence, but I reckon at this stage it's superficial. He doesn't know what it takes to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. He has the attributes, but he hasn't felt that moment yet where no one is going to stop him. I predict it'll happen next season.

If that's right, I hope bloody Collingwood get a much tougher fixture, because their fixture was far more favourable than ours. Given they finished higher, I would hope theirs is tougher or comparable.

Haha, I'd just be sending Gawn and Viney up to lift that cup.

I'd give the all important 23 to May, the 12 to KK and 16 to Preuss.

Is that you, Karl?

And he was ahead of De Goey in many other stats, without having a break out game.

Might have been 'very hard to deal with... the speculation that came with his contract renewal every season or so'. Also, in regards to who replaces the goals kicked by Hogan, yes, Weideman, Melksham etc, but the guy who many are overlooking is one, Christian Petracca. He had a pretty consistent season and matched De Goey's stats without having a breakout game, yet journalists are frothing over De Goey. Petracca is the one for us. If he kicks into gear next season, which feels likely, we're going to be incredibly difficult to beat, providing our midfield can maintain its consistency.

You are difficult to interpret sometimes, mate.

See, I disagree with this mentality. If Jones is the leader we believe he is, he'll do what's best for the club as a whole and not his ego. Even if he wasn't a member of the leadership group, we'd still expect him to provide leadership. In the same way, I expect Lewis to provide leadership, without (potentially) being in next year's leadership group.

Gawn (co-captain), Viney (co-captain), Jones (co-vice-captain), Jetta (co-vice-captain),Tom McDonald. Apologies to Lever and May. I'd look at them coming in to the leadership group from 2020 onwards, probably at the expense of Jones (if he retires) or simply as an extension of the leadership group.

Well, if driving to a local cafe is considered 'travel', I'm pretty sure I found myself following @Demon Disciple in his car today. His avatar stuck on the back of his window and a 2018 membership sticker nearby. Surely? Very random.

Hang on. Not shooting you down here, Moonman, but Jesse "never felt fully accepted" at Melbourne? Surely not. And if there is even a skerric of truth in it, I wonder if it might have been because he never committed long-term?

It's incredible how many left footers we have in the likely 22 now. I remember when we used to lament our lack of left footers and how this often gave Hawthorn an advantage. May, Salem, Lewis, Viney, KK, Hibberd, Hannan and Fritsch, with Wagner on the outside of the 22. Eight out of 22 is the second most in the comp, alongside North, who just traded in three and the Bulldogs, who traded in one. Amazingly, it's St Kilda who now lead the comp with nine (having traded in two this off season). The next closest is Hawthorn (who also added two left footers in Scully and WIngard) and Collingwood with 7 too.

Obviously, the FD would have preferred to keep Jesse and extend his contract long-term, so there'll be a certain amount of testing the waters next year to strike the right combination. Jesse's incredible ability to come straight in and perform from day-dot is rare and it's taken Weideman a little longer. The beauty of having Jesse on the list (aside from the obvious reasons) is he protected Weideman's development. Now Sammy will have to take that step up next year. The spotlight is firmly focused on him. That does make some players, let's hope he can build on his form in front of two successive 90,000+ crowds in big pressure finals, but there's certainly a possibility he might still be a year or two off. I just think it's important to remember as supporters that I'm sure in a perfect world, our list management team would have Jesse lining up next year in the red and blue, but that's not the case, so we work with what we have. Fortunately, we do have cover for his position.

Won't make it. Bookmark it. Same as Frost. Got no game sense. Is hard at it, but a liability by foot and his decision making is so-so.

I reckon the idea of putting May forward is akin to putting Tom McDonald back. It's not going to happen. Particularly, as we've just paid an early first rounder for him to strengthen our defence. He's a better player than OMac or Frost, so he's already in before them.

Helps when you're on the good stuff, mate.

I think that's the likely match up. But this time, we'll have Lever and May able to drift across in front of Cox. It's a tough one who I'd go for between Oscar or Frost on Cox.

For the next two years it's Frost vs Oscar vs Smith. Petty will start to come into the conversation all being well in 2020-2021.

????????? With a stronger defensive group built over the past 3 years, we've now got an ability to be more offensive and play Salem and even Kolodjashnij back there. I'm sure it's a bit of a dream for Goody. We've assembled a formidable group back there now. Obviously, Frost vs Oscar for the extra KPB spot where required too - clearly the weak link, but David Astbury played in a premiership. Injuries permitting, we've strengthened our defence better than any other team in the comp over a 3 year period.

A very talented player no doubt, but his lack of chase and tackling pressure was completely at odds with the brand Goodwin has been developing since he took the reigns.

Gee, I'm glad we've got some thoughtful posters in here, amongst all the hysterics.

I'm happy with the deal and Hogan is now the enemy.

Get in his ear, mate.