Little Goffy

If you want reasonably credible rankings for player from just this year, there's a few options to consider. Inside Football's http://www.aflplayerratings.com.au/ The coaches association votes appear on the AFL website after every round. You can also just run with champion data, and sort by supercoach points by position (probably easiest using footywire) None are ideal, but all are better than the 'Official AFL Player ratings brought to you by schmuck'

I was going to say, Yze is the person to ask. Surely a signed No.13 is out there somewhere?

It is interesting that guys like Dawes and Trengove are being given a huge long steady process for building up training loads, time in the VFL, and so on. In particular, Trengove dominating the VFL week-in-week out now and still being told 'let us know when you feel ready, and then we'll sort out the lasts steps we need from you'. Contrast that with some of the 'in hindsight we shouldn't have played him this week' calls already made this year. I think there's an element of trying to wipe out the 'damaged psyche' of the past. If Trengove and then Dawes come back in the kind of form that they reached at their best, then the applause for the footy department should be the loudest cheering to be heard at the B&F dinner. There's zero doubt in my mind that if Dawes was available and in form, he'd be up forward, Pederson would be down back, and Frost would be at Casey. But that's a big double-if.

North Melbourne followed the same strategies, at the same time, under the same difficult expansion draft conditions, and with later first round draft picks and fewer resources. Adelaide lost Bock, then lost Tippett, got penalised draft picks along the way, then Gunston was poached by Hawthorn, Phil Davis snagged by GWS, Bernie Vince was lost for the value of Colin Sylvia(), and finally they lost Patrick Dangerfield to Geelong. And their coach died in awful circumstances mid-season. Port Adelaide faltered then bottomed out exactly as the expansion teams came in. And currently two major players are out due to the Essendon cheating thing. They are in all kinds of poor form and yet nobody really thinks they're doomed the way Richmond are. Just say'n. The problem for Richmond might just be... Richmond.

I'm trying to think of another club in more serious need of tall defenders, whether in the short, medium or long term. Nope. He's certainly 'tradeable' in the sense that just about every club would love to add him to their list. I get that people are being driven mad by his errors but can we please not turn him into the new Jack Watts?

I am so proud of the Steven May hit. It is really what AFL is all about. sighfart.

Bonus points - * Richmond's best players are still the same best players as five years ago, so they haven't actually rebuilt squat. * Richmond's draftees generally haven't been good enough or developed well enough to be demanding places in their 22 - it is not a case of good kids banging down the door and being held out by Petterd and Grigg! * Generally they paid comparatively little at the trade table for their recycled players, and have had a good return on the relative investment. The recycling has not been where they failed. I was initially going to describe all this as hilarious, a kind of nonsense hubris being punished in comedic style. But then I was looking at the season summaries and... wow... the joke about Richmond coming 9th over and over has actually papered over the much more disturbing reality. For Richmond, a finish of ninth marks 6 out of their top 8 seasons from 1986 to 2012. I'm willing to acknowledge that Hardwick's effort of bringing Richmond back to some kind of competitive relevance is actually a huge achievement. It is a bit sad that it would appear to have imploded again so quickly. A team that should be 'peak of cycle' for the mix of age and experience, with a core of genuine top level players, simply isn't functioning. I hope Melbourne learn the lessons from this. Most of all, that we can't expect to ride along on a handful of stars, sucked into the headline like Richmond, Carlton and by the looks of it Collingwood too. Holy crapbiscuits, you've got to feel for Chris Yarran.

Exactly. He was caught by surprise a few times, got pinged twice that I saw. On the other hand, he got involved and caused a bit of damage. I thought he had a pretty quiet game and was surprised by the stats - 3 goal assists is particularly interesting and hopefully a sign of what is to come once he has the rhythm.

Even at our lowest ebb we could usually manage close to 20,000 against interstate clubs. Richmond fans should never be allowed to live it down. Their alleged 600,000+ fans, and 60,000+ members, who are allegedly so passionate and durable and devoted and 'tiger army' blah blah blah... They've had an absolutely corker of a fixture for getting bums on seats so far this season. The season opener against Carlton, friday night against Collingwood, Anzac Day eve against Melbourne. We'll see how they look for crowd numbers after fixture reality kicks in - Rnd 8 Swans, Rnd 10 Bombers, Rnd 12 Suns, Rnd 14 Lions. It's a shame we don't play them again late this year, I'd go just to taunt the fans for being even softer than their team. But not to worry, all chances suggest they'll be even worse next year, so we can bury them then.

Wondering if there are any other options out there to fill what may soon become a gaping hole at the 'true tall' defender role? With Hurley and Hooker unlikely or sealed up, there sin't a lot of top-level key defensive talent to secure. Are ther any role players, even fairly short term, we could snag? If Freo go full rebuild, could Michael Johnson be brought in as an end-of-career 'consultant', Daniel Cross style? Lachlan Hansen has been North's Jack Watts for a long time. Could he be price-effective for the role even if not a world-beater? Any chance Sam Day would like to be a full time defender for a real football club? And aside from that, surely it is time to end the Sam Frost forward experiment and get him back to the position we all thought he was being recruited for.

Lynch-Hogan could be quite the shootout, the way the Suns and ourselves are defending against marking talls lately.

Hurley would be highly suitable for our needs. A better team defensive effort and more coherent structure would also be highly suitable! If we could get Hurley for 500k a season it would be astonishing and a no-brainer. But unfortunately the talk is closer to 900k, which is waaay beyond what I'd be ok with paying at this stage of our growth. Maybe in three years when (touch wood) we are looking to seal a list gap in order to really dominate the league, yes, but not now when all it does is push 'inflation' of player salaries when we don't quite have the glamour and reputation to retain players on discount rates.

And there it is, the crux of the matter in 8 words.

It is pretty blatant and revolting arrogance. Disappointing that it isn't getting slapped down by the media. But remember, Collingwood have recently declared an Pies-Swans 'Goodes medal', and Eddie has been coming out with some other random gibberish 'big ideas' that people just kind of smirk off. If it annoys you that the Pies are elbowing in with their cash and 'weight', then the only good response is to help push our own way in. We've got to fight hard, alongside the Bulldogs, to be the highest profile women's team. Yes, we led the way, but now we're in real-politik football land and we have to go hard. Dollars for the Demon women, turning up for the games, taking up player sponsorships, and everything right down to talking them up at work - that is the answer.

Yeah, I'm done with Etihad. Usual shemozzle for getting one extra general admin ticket - my heroic girlfriend sent me in ahead so I could see the start, but that still sucks. Atmosphere still dull. Lighting and angle from the top deck makes it feel about as natural and involved as watching on TV. Didn't eat (despite not having anything before the game that day) after seeing the absurd prices - yeah, I could afford a few extra dllars, whatever, but no, I'm not going along with being insulted and fleeced like that. Good luck to the Demons at any future games there, but I'm not wasting an admission on that awful place again. It is not our home ground.

It has been thoroughly reported for many years from various perspectives (players, coaches, fitness managers) that playing a night game basically eliminates that night's recovery and even sleep. It takes half the night for most players to even wind down to a regular mood. Especially young players without thoroughly familiar after-match routines. But the short turnaround doesn't cover the confusion and disorganisation. I think our main persistent selection error this season has been a persistent inclusion of one tall forward too many.

Got beaten on the spread from stoppages and on the push back into defence. Bit short on accountability - too many opponents got loose enough to make decisive kicks. Had a few passengers and a few players just had shockers. I was a little concerned by the number of bounces attended by Pederson. Though he fought as he does, it did give a hint that there might be some worries on Gawn's fatigue. Garlett, well, it's the curse of being a small forward. Would be silly to drop him. Frost... honestly, despite two goals, I'm really not convinced of his contribution. Lumumba... maybe he deserves some patience for being constantly mismatched, but he blew it a great many times today. VFL time in my opinion. Other than that, we have to decide which kids need a rest and refreshment, and who we can bring in to shore up our defence a bit.

Catching a train out of town from Spencer Street at 6... seems only logical to loiter over the other side of the tracks for the afternoon! Not sure how Etihad security will react to a bunch of suitcases though. I'll have to check my white privilege on the way in. Phew! Glad I got that. So anyway, anyone know much about this Petruccio kid apaprentl making his debut?

Can't speak for the hierarchy, they are clearly bonkers. But the Carlton fans... well, they are acutely aware that it has been some time now since Carlton outscored ex-Carlton in a round of football.

I thoroughly on the 'Pederson makes a difference by constantly working and forcing an opponent to work to cover him' wagon. He's also having pretty regular moments when he directly makes an impact, surprisingly often at important moments. Add to that his demonstrated versatility and he's a 'preferred tall' in our team. I like some of the things Frost does and I think he has a future, but I'm not convinced he should be a stable part of the 22 at the moment. He has time. Dawes... I respect him but I feel like he is not really dangerous. A bit predictable and a bit slow to act and would not quite fit into the mad inventor way we are playing at the moment. Same boat as Garland at the moment - respectable footballer, not a 'loser' but also not someone who will make a team win games. Melbourne is moving past adequate, and I fear Dawes is only adequate. We'd be better off bringing in an extra, dangerous, player in a different position than bringing in Dawes as a back-up 2nd or 3rd tall. My thinking is also influenced by the belief that Hogan can work quite well without a crowd of other tall forwards around him. I'd already be dropping Frost as I think the extra space and focus on Hogan would actually create more goals than having Frost out there as well!

I agree with a lot of the sentiment in this thread - Petracca is not being seen as a saviour, so much as a part of completing the puzzle. A valuable part that also happens to offer a lot of entertainment in both quality and attitude! I'm excited because I really expect to have fun at the football.

Uh, ask me again late in round 23? Honestly, before Rnd 1, I had Geelong as a credible top-4 and an loose chance for the premiership. They aren't looking quite that dangerous but there's a good team there. Main vulnerabilities I can spot are a lack of spread for contested marking (Pretty much Hawkins, fresh air), clearances, and rebound 50s. I expected more from both Henderson and Smith. Meanwhile, Harry Taylor is having a poorish season by his standards. The edges are a little frayed at Geelong, might be a bit of the Richmond thing of having too few core players carrying too much responsibility. But you'd have to expect them to at least be in the 8 right up until we smash them and pass them on % late in August.

I consulted an actuarial table and found that their entire forward line is likely to have chronic bowel problems by mid-way through the season? Hmm, I'll say it is a kind of semi-rational gut feeling. Piecing together - * I'm not convinced there's not too much to be taken from their wins so far. Every opponent has allowed them to score freely, and in turn they haven't been able to really put a clamp on any opponents. Next week against the Bulldogs (even depleted) will be an interesting test. Then there's a slightly softer run (Saints, Bombers, Blues) before the opponents start to get a bit tougher mid-season - Swans, Cats, Hawks, Crows (in Adelaide) and Eagles (Perth). It's credible they could be 9-7 by round 16, win another three against weaker opponents, and then face Dogs, Swans, Hawks and Giants to finish. * They've been lifted (I wont go so far as to say carried) by consistent stellar performances from a smallish group. Most obviously the Goldstein/Waite combo in Ruck and CHF. Lose either of those and they have nobody to come in to hold the position. Preuss and Daw are their only other listed rucks. Petrie and Brown are already out there as tall forwards. If either one of Goldstein or Waite hadn't been available for the first five rounds, they'd be sitting mid-table. * Did someone mention old -> heightened risk of injury? Well, to put that in context, so far this season North have had 19 players play all five games. Not a single significant player has been even given a dent in the side. Only 4 individual games have been played by the half of their list that isn't 'best 22'. And despite having a ridiculously clean injury list, Ben Jacobs and Lindsay Thomas aren't under much threat for their positions. So, basically, what I'm saying is that so far absolutely everything has gone right for them, and they've just scraped in over the Crows and Demons while notching decent wins over weaker/up and down clubs. Their draw gets a lot harder from here and their luck will keep being stretched. Another way to look at it - after comparable starting opponents, the difference between the Kangaroos and us on the ladder is... one goal.

Do you mean the 2000 Preliminary Final vs Carlton which we won from behind in a second half boilover partly inspired by Schwartz's demonstration of belief and arrogance? This one - Carlton v Melbourne 2000 Qualifying Final Still, it was a little bit silly for Bugg to get into it. Maybe not as silly as it is for everyone else to get into him about it! Some people have fun playing football. I'll only judge him when I've seen how he deals with games that aren't fun.

If not for the appalling loss to the Bombers (how many sentences will start with that this year?) we'd be top-4 right now! As it is, only % separates us from 6th. And that includes the unpredictable Giants, totally unpredictable Suns, and downright wacky Eagles. Alas, this weekend we are favourites against the Saints, so I guess we'll be dropping off the pace a little. I'm going to make a ridiculously wild tip here and suggest that there is a real possibility that the wheels could fall of North Melbourne and they might not make the 8. Bookmark it and hold me to it if you like - I'm willing to look stupid.