Little Goffy

Pre-season supplementary selection still possible. The question is, would Hogan be an effective top-up to cover Nietske?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but at this stage he is the third best key position forward we've drafted in the last 25 years. ? I actually feel like he can be something really valuable. Not a Hogan replacement, not a beast of the goal square, not an All-australian contender. I just have this feeling like he'll put together a long 'effective' career that will do wonders for our team structure and salary cap balance.

It's a tricky one, because on the one hand Franklin's presence probably made the difference of - Two additional finals appearances (2018, 2017) Two, debatable three, top-four instead of top-8 finishes (2016, 2015 and perhaps 2014) So in the first five years of the nine year deal he has basically been the difference between Sydney being a genuine premiership contender and having an image as an outstanding, exciting team, or Sydney being just another mid-table better than average team in and out of finals with a few flashy stars and reliable old hands. On the other hand... what would the salary cap difference have meant? Players traded out of the Swans in Franklin's time include several handy names; Lewis Jetta, Toby Nankervis, Tom Mitchell(!), Nic Newman, , Dan Hannebury, Gary Rohan and Zak Jones. For how many of those losses was Franklin's recruitment and salary space a factor? As for the future? No doubt Franklin's athleticism won't be as potent as it has been, but he is still a very smart forward. You do have to wonder though - ten weeks out of full training for a 'simple' knee arthroscopy does seem like a lot. Maybe it isn't just the Demons who are a bit shady when it comes to injury reporting?

Nobody. I am convinced that the structure these days should be 2xCHF with the nominal FF position being either left open for players to run into or used to rotate a player (obviously usually a ruck) to mess around with opposition defence structures. Two centre-half-forwards share the job of ensuring there is always someone offering the long lead to our confused clearance packs AND always someone lurking ready to burst out with the shorter lead or at least contest in a dangerous area where all our mad mix of medium-sized half-forwards can swarm through. And those two CHFs should be McDonald and Weidemann, particularly so that Weidemann has a constant reference point for the work rate required in the role while also always having an experienced player around to direct and encourage him.

The great Norm Smith himself. Or maybe you mean Paul Roos, but I'm pretty sure that adds up to two.

Our current set of imports alone would have to be a considerable core to a team if all playing well etc caveat thing thing. Hibberd, Melksham, May, Tomlinson, Langdon, Kolodjasnij, Preuss, Lever and Mitch Brown now too. Possible Harley Bennel at any moment now. I almost included Hannan, from Footscray! And Gawn is literally foreign - New Zealander! Or possibly some as-yet unidentified planet. May have arrived with the Murchison meteorite.

I think I can see what the club seemed to be trying to create, even though it went so horribly, horribly wrong in 2018. I also think I can see that the actual players required to do it are there on the list now - we aren't playing a style that is mis-matched with what we've got. Shiver down my spine but I really believe if it comes together we're not talking about 'competitive' or 'respectable', we're talking about truly dominant. I think what our current list, and strategy, could conceivably produce is even better than the Round 6 to 11 run of 2018. So, bugger it, I'm going to say that success in 2020 looks like: - a few rounds of being 'competitive' while we find our feet, being 4-1 after round five but people saying it is mostly a soft draw and we were lucky against one of the Giants/Eagles. - pushing the Tigers to the wire in round 6. - and then going 15-1 in the remaining 16 rounds, to finish top of the ladder with a 19-3 win loss and a metric obscenity of percentage. Maybe we win the premiership, maybe we wont. But the finals will be epic.

I unfortunately don't go as far back (in AFL life) as the Northey years. But what also strikes me about the Daniher years is that we had many 'senior' players who would only produce the occasional really grand season and then just be good the rest of the time. Some of that was just plain old injury, some of that seemed to be a bit of self-satisfaction. I'm not going to try to judge too much, i just find it an interesting pattern. Hmm, off the top of my head, Johnstone is the poster boy for it. And then quite a few definitely good players - but the question is, if they had strung together the form consistently could they have been 'great' and could the team have jumped an important step further? Johnstone, White, Woewodin, Robertson, Rivers, Leoncelli, Mclean, Bizzell, Bruce, even Green and McDonald who only really consolidated late in or after the Daniher period. A dozen players bobbing up like whack-a-mole rather than being a potent, consistent core to keep turning over the wins column and provide a structure and leadership for new kids to develop in. It is clearly still a pattern and is why I prize the consistency of the likes of Gawn, Oliver and Harmes, and why I desperately long for a few nice clean preseasons for important players who I feel would be consistent if injury let them, like May, T.Mc, Melksham, and Viney.

I'm really annoyed about that. Particularly Kat Smith who I really rate the way she goes about it. I also think Lauren Pearce is right up amongst our most important players. It's going to be a hard start to the season for them but in the end the AFLW game is still 'young' and variable enough that whoever conditions best, trains best and wants it most on the day will get the wins.

I can't decide what joke to make here. Should I go with the 'game being santised' theme or the 'homoerotic fantasy' theme?

Most our our best 22 would, when injury-free and in form, fully deserve a place in a top-4 team's best 22 unless they were jammed behind a better player in their specific position. Most our our best 22 would, when injured and/or out of form, fully deserve a place in a bottom-4 team's best 22.

Let's go corporate speak and call it is his 'stretch goal' then. Quite right that it'll all come down to consistency. But I'm not worried about rivals up forward - a return to 2018 attacking power compared to 2019 is worth close to 120 goals (1570 points for vs 2300) to share around! Ugh. I just got a shudder at the exposure to just how much we stalled in 2019. All is well. All is well. All is well.

Fair enough - it's a big call but not an eggnog-level call! I'll start by just going 'yep, Tim Kelly'. I'm basing it on 16 goals in those final seven games when he was allowed to settle forward. For a mid-sized half-forward in a team which only managed 66 points a game in that period, that's phenomenal. Pushed out to a full season that would work out to a neat 50 goals. So, my call is basically that Fritsch's form of late 2019 once he was moved permanently forward is how he will continue in 2020, and that, without any further improvement, puts him right up among the top class of goalkickers, never mind half-forwards. Meanwhile, the top-pick midfielder Rayner, Brayshaw, Cerra, Dow all look great but are lucky to crack 20 disposals in a game and only Brayshaw has really earned the contested ball and tackling credits. Hell, those guys were all supposed to be midfielders when drafted and Fritsch has them all covered even on possession counts. They're all good players but there';s nothing the likes of Walsh, Taranto or Oliver among them. Liam Ryan and Jack Higgins are beautiful players who have done great things coming into top teams and been very effective as creative small forwards. Would be completely happy if Pickett followed their level! Jaidyn Stephenson is similar in the sense that he has had a clear role in a top team - luxuries denied to Fritsch. He also deserves a lot of credit for showing consistency. He's the most like-for-like rival to Fritsch in terms of role (assuming Fritsch is allowed to settle forward). It'll be a head-to-head comparison to watch in 2020. Aaron Naughton has had some GREAT!!! games and if that becomes anything like his norm then he'll be a superstar. But he's also turned in more than a few stinkers or had minimal real effect for many games. Impressions are influenced by just how memorable his best games have been. There's some others of note, like Worpel, Miers, and a few kids of course who might just emerge a bit in 2020. But that's not a big pool to pick from and the fact is that if Fritsch delivers in future what he showed in those last seven or eight rounds of 2019 then he is a truly elite half-forward. Plus, turns out 2017 was a weak draft that we did well to trade out of. Hopefully the same is true of 2020.

I'm confident that we will rebound at least well enough to have the horrors of 2019 become just a foul memory (learning experience etc). I actually really think our 2020 team has much better prospects than, ah, well, I guess I'd have to say any team of ours since 2000, really. If 2000's fourteen wins with good percentage is the benchmark, I think we'll get there. My 'reasons for optimism' list goes something like; - our entire backline leadership and brains group was chronically injured in 2019 and is looking available for 2020 - we have hugely increased the diversity of our midfield group thanks to Langdon & Tomlinson coming in - I personally (and I'm not alone) rate both Vandenberg and Smith as valuable inclusions who make things go a little better. - The knock-on effect of having many more senior bodies available is that it will allow our layer of players who aren't 'guns' to be used in roles best suited to their attributes and confidence. Hanna, Hunt, Nibbler, Hore and many of our younger guys will both benefit personally and be able to be more effective role-players than they could be under the depleted-team pressures of 2019. - Bayley Fritsch will consolidate as a top-3 player from his draft and with the returning Melksham (AFL King of Goal Assists) provide a smart and capable half-forward line that we crave. - I believe in the return of Tom McDonald to full prowess and workrate. That in my mind is worth a couple of wins a season even if nothing else changes. Hell, he had a rubbish year all up but when he found his rhythm he still managed to be absolutely crucial in three of our five wins.

Hmm, players I see as being of that core 'definitely AFL quality every week' unless something is serious wrong with their body or form - B: Jetta May HB: Salem Lever Harmes C : Landgon Brayshaw HF: Melksham T.Mac Petracca F: Fritsch FOLL: GAWN Oliver Viney Fourteen 'feels' like a good start, and then there's a good block of players who might also warrant that 'reliable AFL quality' term in 2020 but I'm not prepared to declare it based on some question mark or another, from age (at either end) to chronic injury to whatever - Tomlinson, Vandenberg, Smith, Hore, Jackson, Pickett, Weideman, Hibberd And of course all the guys like Hannan, Hunt, the Wagners, Nibbler, O.Mc who when in good form a perfectly acceptable cogs in the machine. Seems like the main thing we really have a question mark on whether we can have enough truly AFL standard guys out there is the tall forward bracket. Interesting to watch Weid, Jackson, Brown and see what they deliver. Just one of those proving to be a reliable target and hard worker for 2020 would make a big difference to our game.

Hmm, but that would require organisation! Do you have a format in mind?

This actually takes effort, especially to try to select a real team not just an 'all the brownlows' best-of list. That explains the slow rate of responses. But, here goes - B : Rory Laird Robbie Tarrant Dan Houston HB : Jarrod Harbrow Jeremy McGovern James Sicily C : Dyson Heppell Marcus Bontempelli Jack Billings HF : Nathan Fyfe Jeremy Cameron Dustin Martin F : Charlie Cameron Lance Franklin Jordan De Goey FOLL: Max GAWN Patrick Dangerfield Patrick Cripps A thought provoking exercise in how much Essendon really are overrated and just how many teams are in the 'levitating potato' category.

Well, sure it's a good highlights tape but I hear there's a question mark on his game sense and then there's the go-home factor. Brilliant effort from The Mighty Demons and I hope the praise and views motivate you to keep going. I also have a secret hope that one day you can bend the rules and do Simon Godfrey's glorious day out where the only stain was that he was robbed of the three votes and only got two. (Robbo did take fifteen marks though, so I can understand the umpires error there) Round 15 under friday night lights in 2006! Other requests would be - Nathan Jones' three-voter against GWS in the darkest days of 2013. Time to take a moment to remember what 'stalwart' means. - An Aaron Davey in full flight choice, perhaps round 2, 2010 - Paul Wheatley, round 20, 2008. Back on the theme of the role-player who has a big day out. Ahh, this is a fun thing to do but it is much easier to come up with nominations that it is to actually make the videos! Great stuff The Mighty Demons!

Hey, that bottom four includes two of this year's finalists!

Wasn't that long ago that Richmond looked cooked, with the same eight or so players filling out their top ten year after year and getting older and older. The thing about older players is - they've been testes and found, if not excellent, at least credible AFL standard. When a team with a good block of players of that standard then manages to add an extra later in a rush - that is when a truly dominant team appears. It's not a coincidence that Rioli and Selwood won premierships in their respective debut years. And it also isn't a coincidence that many premiership teams have some form of 'fairytale of the kid going big'. The way I see it, an older profile just means the clock is ticking on getting that extra surge before your existing group starts whittling away. All that a young age profile tells you is that there's a lot of potential improvement, but also potential flatlining!

Those pictures right there are of him, working out, for us. (I'll see myself out)

“It was a pleasure to burn.” /closethread

This is necessarily a wild prediction with the incredible variability of form and injury we've had these last couple of season. But here goes! No draftees in the firsts, for me. Plus faith in Weid's and T.Mc's form, and of course a few players injury recovery. And a wild belief in Viney working out as a rotating forward pocket/inside mid. In fact, my vision for the future includes almost a ridiculous picture where our forward rotation will sometimes look include a complete and viable alternate followers group (i.e. Jackson, Viney, Petracca, Melksham) BEST 22 F: Viney Wiedemann Fritsch HF: Melksham T. Mc Petracca C : Salem Harmes Langdon HB: Hibberd Lever Tomlinson B: Jetta May Hore FOLL: GAWN Oliver Brayshaw INT: Smith Jones VanDenberg Hannan I'd say there are half a dozen players there who are playing for their spot on the team by the end of 2020. Thankfully mostly from the interchange group. NEXT 22 F: Pickett Jackson Chandler HF: Bedford Brown Bennell C : Hunt Neal-Bullen Wagner HB : Wagner Petty Kolodjashnij B: Lockhart O.Mc Rivers FOLL: Preuss Baker Sparrow INT: Spargo, Nietske, Bedford, Jordan I'd say there are half a dozen players there who would realistically be expected / hope to be 'not just depth' AFL level over the course of 2020 and demanding a spot in the best 22. And poor bean-pole Bradke, may he blossom and thrive and cast all doubts aside.

It's been a tricky run for Taylor. A lot of drafts no action in the first round and sometimes not even much in the second. I'm also nursing a quiet dread that under Taylor we've somehow recruited a lot of players who show some promise and then slump badly. (E.g. Hunt, Stretch, Nibbler, O.Mc, Hannan, Spargo) 2018 draft effort is still up in the air and aside from Hore it doesn't look like much to celebrate. What can be said is that very few draftees from 2018 outside the top 18 have had much of a presence yet. The only double-figure games tallies belong to James Rowbottom (pick 25, Sydney, 12 games), Matthew Parker (pick 47, St Kilda, 17 games) Nick Hind (54, St kilda, 11) Noah Answerth (55, Brisbane, 19), our own Marty Hore (56, Melbourne, 14). Parker and Hind are both older than Hore. Indeed, a few more of the other non-first round draftees to get any games were also significant over-agers - Bewley and Shultz at Freo, Hayes at the Dogs. In fact, after the first round, the games played tally is some 3/4 held by mature age recruits of at least 22 years when drafted. Maybe 2018 was just a crap draft with no depth! The way it looks now it seems that except for Hore all we did in 2018 was stock up on mid-sized warm bodies and experimental crumbers, and accept that most wont come through and the list slots will be open again reasonably quickly given the short lifecycle of those types.

The Trent "Esme" Bianco suspense is killing me. ... Sorry, I mean, Trent Rivers, obviously.