Little Goffy

For what it is worth, I'm firmly on the side of getting him. Yes, a little bit of risk but he very much fits into our list needs. Would not be crazy expensive in trade terms, and we can't just have seven teenagers come in all at once.

Was ahead of our curve at Melbourne as far as developing a calm, humble and professional attitude. I'm quite sure he was a good example to the 'kids' coming through;, and his presence forever ready to step up would have been a good honesty check for the young talls. Can only speculate if his attitude also had something to do with how well several players responded to stints in the VFL, too. "Is Pedersen sooking? Then why are you sooking? Get on with it." I wonder what his ties with his junior/pre-AFL clubs are like, I can see him cheerfully dropping by to kick 12 goals in an afternoon while he is still fit.

Wasn't that long ago, the last time talk of Hogan leaving went ballistic, that I speculated that maybe Gaff and a good first round pick would do the job. Now, Gaff has become a free agent, Hogan leaving would open the salary cap space to grab him, and we'd realistically get two first round picks from the trade. Swings and roundabouts. I still hope Hogan stays and I think the three-tall forward line can work (Haaaa ha ha with Hogan playing the role previously held by Watts... sorry, I just said that to annoy people) given the versatility of all three. What I picture is a kind of 2xCHF set up, with the 3rd 'slot' being filled by the variations of Weid in the ruck, Hogan up the ground, McDonald pinching (only occasionally) in defence, and a true traditional stay-at-home FF - in a sense, a forward 'resting' even more forward! Between the double-CHF and those four variations you get 3 players on the ground close to 100% of game time, using that 'rest' in the goal square, cycling between the three as needed. I think the benefit of each tall adding an extra 10-15% of game time on field works out in as much as you can then give that '30-45%' to help the midfield rotations stay fresh. I also think, given our haphazard inside-50s, there is real value in having three clear options going on at all times - a CHF 'travelling' out to offer a link up the ground, a CHF staying roughly around that traditional zone, and a FF ready to attack the emergency long kick.

Pick 3 ought to get it done. We could use Izak Rankine. I wonder if, in the chaos of trade period, and throw all the other ifs in like Hogan actually going, it could happen? Picks bounce along, we end up with an existing top-10, package it with Kent and maybe something else, get pick 3, get the precise player we most need. Yes, obviously I'm just yanking the chain, like everyone else at this time of year.

Geebus. This thread is still going? I'm seriously considering adding an inane meme-gif every time it gets bumped. It just beggars belief.

Jayden's attributes. + The number of players now in our best 22 who showed a glimpse, then ended up 'working on their game' with Casey before returning as much more complete, well-rounded players. = Reasonable confidence that there's a respectable future for him.

Yep, the Sydney pub I ended up at was all about the Rugby League, barely an AFL person, let alone a demon. But even that crowd was cheering during Hannan's run-in - possibly helped draw some attention when I momentarily lost it when his opponent slipped and I yelled "RRRUUN" like some kind of horror movie cliche.

Yep. Yep.

Oooh, adding to the bottom-6 Hall of Fame, Nathan Carrol's tackle on Fraser Gehrig, the single most important moment the last time we won a final. By coincidence I found the Demonland match report when I was looking for video of the incident.

I actually agree with your general point but it did remind me of something my brain dug up from the archives. And since the topic is the 'importance of the bottom 6', well, is there any better case for it than the great, the only, the unique, Simon Godfrey. 2006 Demons with Simon Godfrey - 10 wins 1 draw 5 losses 2006 Demons without Simon Godfrey - 3 wins 3 losses. Come to think of it, any chance Demonland can bring him in for a podcast. Maybe ask him if he ever forgave Robertson for stealing the 3 votes in his epic game against Richmond that year, and any tips for tagging Ablett, who happens to be the only player still active from the 2005 final.

2004 Josh Mahoney! (kind of our very own, or is now, anyway)

I think in the end the strength of the 'bottom 6 importance' case is that it necessarily includes the whole team. Not so much an argument of 'these specific six players must do well' as it is about looking at the contribution that can be expected of any player in the 22. Illustrated by the debates in this thread about who is in that bottom six. Fritsch, Vandenberg, O.Mc. I would reckon that when our bottom six becomes full of players that can be debated about as having too many merits or playing their roles too well to be considered bottom six, we'll be laughing all the way to the trophy cabinet!

Correction: Carlton would have been romping their way through finals if the top FIVE were what mattered. Also, I've seen some silly arguments in my time but to argue that the best 6 are what matters by listing the best 6 and noting that they are the best 6 is taki g circular reasoning to an impressive level. Is it enough to point out that the best 6 at Richmond has been much the same since almost as far back as Terry Wallace times?

Let's call it the Stephen Armstrong Principle. Your 'bottom six' don't have to be great players but they need to play their part effectively and not be leaving slack which your top players have to pick up. If your best six won finals, Carlton would've been romping it home for a decade.

The main thing I'm taking from this is that we have a lot of genuine quality players who fill their role really well. That and it gives the list a whole new look to have a few of the absolute top bracket players. I wonder where we'd slot in some of the players from our previous 2004-5-6 finals? Not sure many would make it in, which is kind of exciting.

His peak value will also be when he is a restricted free agent. So how about we all calm down and let this settle itself in time.

Wait, we took an 18-year old downhill skier as a Cat B rookie? Talk about thinking outside the square!

Well, not a complete derailing. Dutton is a banana-bender after all. And much like this thread there is a vagues suspicion as to a question on his validity. One thing we do know, this thread will outlast whoever wins the grease wrestle on friday! Heh, it just occured to me, one of the joke measures of 'how long since the Demons made the finals?' is that there have been five changes of prime minister. Well, a tick over two weeks to go, we look likely to hit 6 and there's a real prospect of making it 7.

Self-respect? Concern for reputation? Not wanting the responses to overheat the Demonland auto-censor?

I seriously considered starting a thread of "Should we pick up Goddard as a delisted free agent" just to watch people spit out their lunch.

I just... the sweet sweet joy of knowing that Melksham was absolutely hated by Essendon fans, and now he's playing better than ever and it turns out the problem was Essendon all along.

In my mind, for a long time all stadiums in Perth are Subiaco. No matter how many times they rename it. It would appear this prevented me from remembering that there is actually a new stadium. Well, after sunday it will be renamed The Sam Weideman Picnic Ground...

People forget that having really smooth skin and a nice tan make you look a bit skinnier than you are. Weideman is being brought in to fill a role, rather than be a star, and if he focuses on doing the team things then the he'll do fine and get a couple of opportunities by weight of numbers in that big wide Subiaco spaces. 3 goals, no behinds, and a couple of occasions of keeping the ball trapped in the forward line that ultimately results in a goal, is my tip. I just have a good feeling.

No contact between the senior coach and a star player, while the star player is in crisis, and you're planning to include the player in coaching duties... Either it is just not the truth (a West Coast coach lying? Shock!) or Gaff is surely gone.

Yeah, bugger it, we're no good, trade veryone with currency, time for a rebuild.