Adam The God

Mark Williams. Interesting.

People said that about Steve Johnson too.

Wouldn't touch Dal Santo or Petrie...

I reckon he could still go before 2017, but if he stays on, the moment things go south in 2017, he'll be out the door (a bit like Neeld - except 4 years too late).

Would take him every day of the week. Clearly his brother is okay... Thompson and Harvey would significantly improve our gaping leadership chasm.

No way Collingwood factor into this debate. Was having a debate with a Collingwood mate today and I kept asking him, where's the midfield depth? If you look at the midfields of those you've mentioned, only the Dogs' would compare. Collingwood's drops away dramatically after Treloar, Pendlebury and Sidebottom. Adams is alright. De Goey looks promising. Greenwood? They also lack decent young KPDs. You could argue they're a little light on for KPFs too. Let's look at the Gold Coast. Their KPPs rival any in the league, but their midfield? O'Meara, Prestia and Swallow were all in their best 22. They'll all leave and the Suns midfield will consist of Ablett, Martin, Hall, Miler, Rischitelli, Rosa and Shaw. That's a pretty ho-hum midfield. They'll get some more talent with all those draft picks this year, but we can't really comment on those yet. The point is, their overall list is behind ours. Onto the Saints. They're rife with KPFs, but with the exception of Carlisle, who have they got for KPDs? Fisher is retiring. And their midfield is probably even shallower for sheer talent than Collingwood's. Steven, Montagna (who's basically 33), Armitage (who's 29), Ross, Newnes, Acres and if I've being kind Weller and Savage. In terms of guns, Acres is developing well and Newnes and Ross could be alright, but I'm not convinced. The Bulldogs I would agree with. Their KP stocks aren't as good as us, the Suns or the Saints, but are probably comparable with Collingwood's. But their midfield is deep and they are well coached, so their holes appear less obvious. Liberatore, Dahlhaus, Bontempelli, Wallis, Macrae, Daniel, Hunter and Adcock. Only the Suns can compete with us for access to the top midfield talent over the last 3-5 years, but most of their A grade potential stars are walking. If we can keep ours together we have a midfield of: Tyson, Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem, Stretch, older guys in Jones and Vince and if I'm being kind Melksham. Those first five guys, four of them are top 4 picks. We know that elite talent, combined with good development usually converts to star AFL players. Injuries permitting, we should get at least 3 or 4 stars out of that batch. We've then got two top 10 KPFs who for anyone that has any idea about the game, can see are going to be lynchpins and stars for 10+ years in Hogan and Weideman. We have a good mixture of pace all of the sudden with Hunt's break out year to add to a list of Melksham, Frost, Stretch, Kent, Garlett and arguably Harmes. Our KPD stocks are good IMO with TMac, OMac and Frost, but we could do with another developing defensive tall at the end of this year. We need to recruit another top class mid (Prestia and Mitchell fit the bill of available options IMO), Hibberd's supposed acquisition will be handy for kicking skills, another developing KPD (at the draft) and more senior leadership (I'd look at Harvey). At the end of the day, I actually think we have a great list balance than the Bulldogs, but I agree with you on being dead last in the experienced leadership stakes. If we don't sort this out soon, we might be letting down this new crop of talented youngsters.

That's why I think if we can land a Tom Mitchell who'll also rack the numbers consistently, we'll have a dominant midfield of Gawn, Viney, Tyson and ie. Mitchell. We improved our centre clearance work in leaps and bounds this year, but that was from a third world perspective. We've still got a hell of a lot of work to do to get to that elite level. * I want to see us blocking and shepparding for each other. Hopefully get more guys to hit the contest at speed. You're a lot harder to stop then. * Spreading quickly to the outside from the contest. More attacking use of the handball. Tyson is pretty good at this. Oliver is a genius at this. Someone like Mitchell is also very good in the use of an attacking handball. * Preventing the third man up against Gawny. IMO, a half forward or winger should always be the man guarding that third man up. I think if we can implement all of these points successfully, it'll go a long way to making this midfield elite, with first use granted by Gawn.

I also think there was a patch of a month just after his re-signing was announced that cost him a place in the 40. His game down at Geelong wasn't too flash either, but I'd say the team was already sorted by then.

Agreed. And in retrospect ofy post a moment ago I'd probably have Tyson just ahead of Viney at 2.

This is what I hope eventuates and should. Wouldn't mind Tom coming in at 6 just before Jones as well.

Urgh. Bontempelli. The most overrated player in the league. Gee, he's a good player. Gets 24 touches and kicks a goal. Is that seriously good enough to be in the 40 man AA squad? It just shows that the selectors have been swept up in the media hysteria pedaling his overinflated worth. Glad for Gawny though. He's been a shoe in for the last month.

Interestingly, Bolton came in with a teaching background. Luke was a coach at St Bedes, winning multiple flags. Yze and Bruce were simply former players. So not sure they're the greatest examples.

He certainly doesn't impact the game often enough for a leader. As the year has worn on, the more his game has resembled Cotchin's. He just runs around wracking up possessions that don't really hurt the opposition and IMO, his disposal all year has been ordinary. There's no question Jones is best 22, but he's not a good leader.

Lol, he didn't kick too many like that in our jumper, but good on him.

You've still got the best time of the year to come around yet. The trade/FA period is when Demonland truly comes alive.

Very true.

There is if you want to make the coaching change as smooth as possible.

I know they've been ravaged by injuries, but the Bulldogs finish 7th. I wonder how they'll measure their season. People probably hoped for a bit more from them, but as I say, injuries have somewhat prevented that.

Wow. So Salem is a better player than both of those guys? Well, we just disagree on that score then. For the record, I'm not suggesting Salem for either of these guys, I'm just saying there would be a scenario where I would trade him.

Because unlike many Demonlanders, I know it will take more than just steak knives to get something of worth. Salem has worth. As I've said a number of times, I would only trade Christian in the event we managed to land someone better than Salem.

Mahoney should keep the job. He's seemingly very good at it. RE: Goodwin wanting to bring in assistants, I'd prefer we didn't bring in people who haven't won the ultimate thing. Roos' assistants have. And clearly Stafford is another one who has been brilliant.

I don't care where WYL said the goal posts were, there's no wriggling out of the simple fact that for 2016, our leadership group failed to stand up when it mattered. No team should be losing to Carlton (given what we had to play for), Essendon and Geelong by 100 points.

We need someone to be that person right now though. We need someone who our younger players can learn off. Dangerfield and Selwood both had these role models. Whilst it's important to maintain the integrity of our young list, it's also vital that we do everything we can to ensure success. It'll be interesting to see if we become more aggressive with our trading and FA strategy now that Roosy has gone. Think Longmire and co at Sydney with Buddy and Tippett (without the cap compromisation that this led to). After yesterday's shamozzle, I'd be targeting Brent Harvey, Tom Mitchell and Dion Prestia. I'd consider most options, but I'd try to frontload any contracts out the wahzoo. There would only be a couple of players I'd trade and it'd have to be for the right price. Salem, Kent, ANB would be three guys I'd consider if we could land top notch leaders in the 25-28 age bracket and I'd put our 2017 first rounder out there too. It's certainly not panic stations on the back of one horrendous loss in Round 23, but it should signal that aggressive, yet shrewd list management is still needed to ensure our pieces are in place to best attack the finals in 2017. With our current leadership group, I hold little hope they'd be able to stand up in a final. We need players that can swing momentum in a game and stand up when it counts.

Still reckon we're in with a chance.

Or understand how key position forwards develop over time.