The Chazz

He should know a bit about "the guts" - he has plenty of his own... (joking)

I wonder the same thing. You implied that I thought the club wasn't prepared for Hogan's departure, and questioned me on this. I think we know who the fool is. Cheers to you.

Fair shiner on AVB. Every time I look at Fritter, he reminds me of a younger, brunette brother of Max Headroom. Not sure why. Although, I'm yet to see Max and Dermott Brereton in the same room.

Who do I think I am? I'm the bloke you're misquoting. I have every right to correct you and steer you on the right path even if you're too ignorant to follow it.

Bloody hell these types of posts give me the sh!ts. Of course the club would have plans in place. Not once have I implied otherwise. We (the ones on this forum) are discussing ideas, as we are clearly no privy to what the club's plans are. One discussion point is about peoples (again, posters on here) thoughts about their expectations of Weid for 2019. I really don't know how many times I have to explain to you what most of this thread is about. For the sake of this thread, I'd suggest you send a PM to me if you don't understand something that I've said, rather than flooding this thread with rubbish or twisted words.

So clearly the Hawks managed to find a way to cover Franklin's loss, as well as increasing their total goals scored. Isn't that what we are discussing - the level in which Weid can cover the loss of Hogan, as well as where our further improvement will come from? How did Hawthorn do it? Did their KPFs kick more? Did the small forwards? Midfielders? We won't know the level of success of both (Weid's contribution and the team as a whole) until the end of the 2019 season. But it's good to be proactive about it now, rather than scratching our heads at the end of the season wondering why we didn't cover the loss of Hogan better.

I think you will find the point being with Hogan gone, that some, myself included, are looking to see where the 47 goals could or would come from. With Weed playing more games, then naturally you would hope/expect that a bulk amount of those goals would come from him. From what I can see, the argument is wether or not Weid could provide the same output as what Hogan has. I think he might just struggle this year, so if he can kick 30 (for example), then we're going to be short of what Hogan would've brought us, so we need to find other avenues. The Buddy comparison is great, and thanks for bringing it up. Hawthorn needed to find different avenues to cover the loss of Franklin. They did it successfully, which is the point we are trying to discuss on here.

Let's not forget you were the one that thought because the Geelong players didn't remonstrate with Weid after the Danger dumping = he has a presence. You talk about presence on field for a KPF, Hogan had/has it, Franklin has it, Ben Brown has it, both Jack and Nick Riewoldt have/had it. Weid doesn't...yet. Ok then?

He needs to do it consistently now. He knows what he's capable of, and he should now have continuity in the seniors, so it should be a great case of planets aligning. But, until he shows it regularly, he will continue to go under the radar. Just took at the below post from Dee Zephyr (which was one post above yours)... I'm also in the camp that doesn't think he will win it, but surely as a key forward, and especially as he will be our number 2 KF (behind TMc), he should be in the market somewhere. That said, if he can start the year like he played in the finals series, he will be well on the radar after about Round 5 or 6.

I don't think so, DD. I think it was more a case of the Geelong players realising that the Weid/Danger moment summed up their night. They were rooted and they knew it. Possibly further to that, it also shows that they are a team of individuals at the moment. Weid doesn't need to have a presence, he just needs to get the job done. He has the opportunity to really fly under the radar for another 12 months or so, which will be great for him.

I don't think that's what people are saying, Moonie. 47 goals is what he kicked for us in 2018, so by him leaving, then that's 47 goals we are losing. But just because he is taking 47 goals with him, doesn't necessarily mean that he will make use of all of them at his new destination.

If AVB is our best player in a prelim, I know that we have lost the game without needing to look at the scoreboard. We have many better players than him that we would need playing well to not only win, but make a Grand Final. His true worth to the team is to play very well, and be around the 6th-9th best player on the ground.

Uncle, if you are going to say that there will be a league-wide increase in scoring of 5%, then all teams will be in the same boat. But it would then also be fair to presume that our current forwards should also see an increase in their goal kicking tally by the same amount. Given that we won't be kicking many bombs to a demanding Hogan, and are actually lowering our eyes more going forward, I think it's a fair expectation that TMc, Melksham, Petracca, et al will see their yearly totals surpass that 5% increase that you speak of. It's fact that we play better football when Hogan isn't in the team. We are less predictable going forward, and seem to hit the best target more often. Even though, as you say, Hogan is taking 47 goals with him to Freo, I would actually expect our scoring to increase anyway (even if there weren't any rule changes).

I'm starting to think you have some sort of cross pollination fetish, Ethan. Showing your liking for strange fetishes will get you a one-way ticket to Romsey Manor. Tread carefully.

If CP has a run of poor form this year, will we see a potential headline in the paper reading "Fat Tracc Bullied"?

If Petracca is, as advertised, at 96kg, dropping 5kg to get to 91kg will see him have a very similar body shape of the likes of Dangerfield and Martin. While I don't claim to be an expert on the matter, I'd also imagine Petracca at 91kg would mean he has worked a lot more on his tank, rather than bicep curls, meaning he should be able to start as a mid, then drift forward like the said players you mentioned. Hard part is, we all have no idea. He might be exactly where the club wants his body to be at. They might be frustrated that his body isn't changing to where they want him to be, or his body may not be able to change so they will work with what his strengths are. I think it's an ok conversation to have on here, but it's going to be one where we will never know the answer to, so maybe stick to having a civilised discussion about it. As long as he plays top quality footy, I won't care at all. At the moment, I think he has higher levels to get to, and would like to think we will see the next of those in 2019. If not, then I'll be back on here looking at reasons why he isn't.

I'm one of the people that have been saying that he looks like he could drop 5kgs. Over the past 12-18 months, I feel that he just looks too heavy. I'm definitely not saying he is fat. Hopefully you realise that there can be a difference between being too heavy (often because of muscle mass) and being too fat. To be honest, I think most of the "critics" of Petracca on here are of the same view. That said, I found your last sentence to be quite amusing. You say he is in ripping nick, which "shows how hard he has been working..." So do you agree that he needed to get in better shape, hence why he needed to work harder?

Wise move OD. Moonie has a reputation for being the resident Master Baiter, so you've done well to avoid a potential, er, situation.

No idea what you're talking about re. Our wolf, however, I like the above photo as I do rate May as a key defender, so if he is matched up on Weid all preseason, it can only be a good thing for a developing young forward.

Any ambition of that has just be thrown out the door...

I asked for further clarification on Gus' state last week as "sick" didn't sit with me, especially as he was at training, and was actually doing some form of exercise. @brendan @TeamPlayedFine39 any latest news that's not from the Herald Sun? My doubts were that if he was actually sick (ie cold, gastro, etc), he'd be better off spending a couple of days away from the club, and definitely with his feet up. He's been rehabbing for well over a week now, so my suspicions are growing.

Only other one that has come close to challenging that ones already posted in this thread would be Dom Sheed, just under 2 minutes to go in the GF. The look on the crowd's face will never get old.

Probably asking for a bit more than "understood he has been sick". Thanks anyway.

So you don't know? Would've thought if he was "sick" that he'd be in quarantine, but that's just me.

Haven't seen specifics reported anywhere, but can someone shed some light on Gus' injury please. I think he still has a couple of levels of improvement in him (yes, I rate him very highly), so am desperate to see him have a relatively injury-free preseason.