JJJ

McDonald is retiring at seasons end. It would take a monumental change in heart to go around next year. Personally I think the lack of key forwards who can ruck is a weakness of ours. As Binman pointed out on another thread, using our best prospect in JVR as a backup ruckman is not ideal. Other teams have shown, having a hulking aggressive backup ruck can do well at AFL level and this kid could fit the bill. It also points to the changes going into next year. McDonald, BBB & Schache are out. Petty is still a chance to leave at seasons end while Jefferson and Fullerton are both still unproven. Better to get another prospect in early and see if we can get him up to speed prior to the preseason.

Worth a shot. He ticks a lot of boxes from the reports. Mid season draft picks don’t normally pan out so I have no issue swinging for the fences with a Forward/Ruck. Good luck Luker.

What happened with McLean? Did Bevo do a number on him too?

I was at a function last week where I was told that while Goody wants to move the ball more aggressively he will not budge on the defence first mantra. Hence it’s at times ugly and the players look lost but ultimately as long as we are moving the ball well and maintaining our defence by mid August, he will be happy. Expect more ugliness.

JVR’s trajectory is going well. I think we differ an where he will finish up. More on that later. On your 1st point, JVR does not consistently impact the game as a key forward should YET. His trajectory points to that in the future but he is still young, developing and learning his craft. I believe he will get there. One can lack impact but still be on a positive trajectory. I am not sure how you don’t understand that concept. I don’t believe I have ever questioned his impact for a player of his age and experience. That’s not a metric I’m interested in as we are in the Premiership window. If he is playing, he has to fulfil the role he is given. He has a lot to work on but he is already important to us structurally. There is no contradiction in pointing out his poor hands and average body work to his trajectory as a key forward. As you clearly state, he has other elite traits. Athleticism, work rate, leading patterns, defensive work, goal kicking, attack on the ball and aerobic capacity point to an end product that could be pretty bloody good. He also has an appetite to win the footy and the requisite strut but that shouldn’t be mistaken for his lack of craft when one-on-one. Regarding the Amiss comp. It’s a good one as they are contemporaries in similar situations. Amiss has stalled a little this year but I believe he is potentially an AA in the future. JVR similarly has flattened out a little in 2024 but should get back on track. I have watched a lot of footy in various capacities and from the eye test, Amiss seems to have a higher ceiling with a few more strings to his bow. I see JVR peaking as an A-Grader and key pillar for our future but would be surprised, pleasantly so, if he won an AA blazer. But development is neither a given nor is it linear so who knows?!

Wow. I don’t think JUH is impactful enough yet either. Also, I wouldn’t compare them statistically like the above, as comparisons like that are mostly useless unless you’re comparing in a vacuum. Key forwards are measured offensively on; number of targets inside 50, contests won/lost & score involvements/assists. Anyway, if you’ve read my other posts you will also realise that I acknowledge that he is young and going well. Just pointing out that as a young key forward he hasn’t taken the step where he consistently hits the scoreboard or asserts himself when things aren’t in our favour. It will come. Lastly, I have never once questioned his trajectory other than to say that his hands aren’t elite for a key forward nor his body on body work. The latter can be developed, the former not so much.

Curnow would dominate for us. Even this year when we are still learning a new style of ball movement. He is way more dynamic than JVR. McKay is a better comp from Carlton. JVR hasn’t learnt to use his body well in 1on1’s, rarely wins the ball on the deck and still has hard hands. It doesn’t mean he won’t eventually develop and become a game winning key forward. Just means it hasn’t happened yet. I am happy for him to focus on drawing the footy, bringing the ball to ground when he can’t mark, giving Max a chopout, applying defensive pressure and kicking straight when he gets a chance. Anything above that is a bonus.

I am aware of the above. My point is that he isn’t able to impact the game when we struggle. Typical for younger players, key forwards in particular.

It probably tells us that JVR is not impactful enough to swim against the tide. As in his goal tally is a result of a dominant midfield, not him dominating an opponent.

Anthony Edwards…..

It probably looks like I am a dog with a bone regarding this BUT play Petty down back!!! He’s not a forward. We should lean into what we know we can do. Defend. Stack the defence and play a smaller, faster forward line until some bigger blokes start to demand selection. (I wouldn’t select Jefferson right now) Lever is a known out but let’s assume JVR is available and Lingers is an automatic in. Backs: McVee, May, Salem Backs: McDonald, Petty, Rivers Centre: Lingers, Viney, Woewodin Forwards: Windsor, Petracca, Pickett Forwards: Fritsch, McAdam, K.Brown Rucks: Gawn, Oliver, ANB JVR, Chandler, Howes, Sparrow sub Tholstrup Outs: Bowza, B. Brown, Lever Ins: K.Brown, JVR, Lingers Kynan Brown, I believe, could play a role for us to help retain the ball up forward. Langdon is vital to our structure and even though he is out of form and needs a run at Casey, I’d bring JVR in to replace BBB. Bowery needs to go back and get the ball 40 times and stick some tackles before coming back. I wouldn’t drop Howes but I would like to see him tried further up the ground for a week or 2. Once Lever is healthy enough to come back I’d line up T-Mac to be replaced. I don’t see how we can use the first 10 games as a launching pad to the ultimate success this year but we can teach some young players how to defend before re-loading for 2025.

The following week. I’m assuming his replacement will play well and we will win comfortably. JVR’s form hasn’t been strong enough to walk straight back in so I’d love to see them give him a week to play out of his skin. Which I think he would.

It probably saves Disco from a week or 2 at Casey. it also gives JVR a chance to potentially get some confidence at Casey next week.

MFC: Too many passengers. One more… Petracca: Play angry more It made me think a bit about the 2002 preseason when Daniher threw Neitz into the ruck and he played physical and angry. From that point onward he was a beast.

My 5 year old daughter is already displaying better forward craft at AusKick than Petty. As I alluded to last week, most of his best stuff was underpinned by teammates neutralising the contest or Petty drifting across to mark. It’s not to say that Petty can’t take contested marks but he doesn’t really draw the footy like a forward and clunk contested marks. If JVR could catch a cold, I wouldn’t mind the structure as I think JVR could draw the ball and allow Petty to use his length and leap to drift in and mark. The reality is, JVR is a below average mark for a Key Forward and Petty is a below average footy IQ forward and it’s a terrible combo.

I was shocked that Bowza was an automatic in after 8 weeks off. He was pretty bad. A game at Casey would’ve helped him. Ultimately we [censored] the bed. 1st qtr was appalling and too many passengers until the 4th. I didn’t really notice the umpiring expect for the tackle against JVR…. Wowee

My Kingdom for a key forward.

Can we ban any links that could see Tom Morris profit in any way?

I have no idea. Rucci is pretty good with this sort of stuff so I am surprised. Further investigation and beer bribery is required.

It’s poorly worded I reckon. Michelangelo Rocci loves to stick the boots into the Crows. He probably heard this and choked on his cornflakes in laughter.

He definitely asked us to facilitate a move. We’d just struck out on one of our targeted players from Carlton and were not ready for a trade request from a player that we thought was not a flight risk. He made a mess of the situation by allowing the Crows to setup that awkward golf course interview. We held firm. As we should’ve. We can’t win a flag this year with him not on the list. No matter which end he plays at. Jackson and Kozi were in different situations. Jackson was gone 12 months out. His story about making his mind up at the end of 2022 is complete garbage. Kozi on the other hand was never keen to leave Melbourne and maintained communications and negotiations the whole time. I never thought he was leaving.

I would love to see Petracca get his skates on and destroy Carlton. I have been a tad underwhelmed by his season. There’s more in there. Big C Curnow has this game circled on his calendar. A bit of gentle ribbing from teammates about his “daddy”, Steven May. Maybe we could have our banner on Thursday reflect that?🤔 I thought Woey looked as good as he has all season on the weekend and would hate to stifle the continuity. Billings is ok and I am not a fan of players coming straight back in after an extended break so I don’t think Bowza should play. My feeling is that we might see Laurie out and Hunter come in.

I like Clazza’s reaction at the end. I would love to know how long it took for Fritta to gather and lay the ball across his boot. Very slick work.

Not my opinion. One that has been smashed into me repeatedly since last year by people who work in the industry. I guess we could change his mind but my understanding is that he will ask to be traded again this offseason. ☹️

That’s an interesting highlight reel for Petty. Floating across the pack for a couple early like a key defender and then some marks while Maxy held ground for him. Even Disco gave him a chop out. I’m happy for him but still think he’s better as a defender. In any case, we’d better win a flag this year as he is gone in 2025. No doubt about it. If he could sign on the dotted line today for Adelaide he would.