DeeSpencer

And what is Essendon. One of the journos seemed to imply yesterday that Dodoro was on his usual mission to win trade week but Brad Scott has been far more focused on the draft.

I’d have him train on with the team or play at Casey. With all due respect I’d want to see him fight for his afl future rather than just hand it to him

I'm not suggesting it's a full time role, but who would've had Blicavs, Guthrie and Atkins forming the basis of the Cats premiership midfield a few years back? Plus ANB was getting rotations on ball at the start of 2021 in particular. One thing we really need to do next year is rotate bigger numbers through the midfield especially early in the season so the big guns aren't tired out by the end of the year. If we want to foster a culture of ongoing player development then I'd love to challenge ANB to earn 5 minutes a quarter on ball. It might actually help him make quick decisions and stop trying nonsense like his attempted fends on far bigger players!

2020 just flat out wasn’t good down back. Last year his result from 18 games would’ve been very solid over 25 games, fringe top 10. Given he played 3 positions most weeks it was a great effort. Not a strong result this year but with a few missed games and the difficulty of his role he’s still around the mark for our role players.

Played every game in 2019. Backline moved failed in 20. Played every game when healthy last year. Missed a couple of games as sub post injury this year which was the only time he was actually omitted. Hardly a surprise when wing/mid/half forward is an insane ask of any player. Played wing the last 3 weeks and played it perfectly fine. A couple of injuries the last two years which are valid concerns on his value. But nothing major. If he could just play wing/mid or forward/mid he’d be as solid as a rock. Instead he’s moved around because we don’t have enough midfield versatility.

Maybe, maybe not. He’s physically mature now and could get cleaner in congestion with the practice. Midfields a more predictable form of traffic too compared to the half forward pinch point.

If Harmes played 22 games as an unaccountable mid and the umps gave him all of Oliver’s votes he’d be a chance of that absurd result too. 2018 Melbourne best and fairest votes 1 Max Gawn 657 2 Clayton Oliver 595 3 James Harmes 468 4 Nathan Jones 449 5 Tom McDonald 433 6 Angus Brayshaw 429

I don’t like these moves and I don’t like our young players for immediate help next year (Turner, JvR aside). But Chandler and Laurie will have to play at least some midfield time to make it at afl level, they’re 5th mid options. ANB could also be retrained as a mid too, his run would give us a point of difference we need there. Skills doesn’t help but he might be ready for that. Hunter could be cheap wing cover. If we snag a top 10 pick they might be ready to go for class on a forward flank. Maybe.

The same young guys who aren’t even trusted to have a proper go at Casey. Battling away in peripheral roles.

Or you can stick around and learn something. Your choice really

Might be a swap with Tomlinson. Saints then take Cordy. Dees pick up Lienert. Under that situation I can tolerate Hunter

B+ mid who doesn’t fit with our best mids B- wing B+ half back who isn’t tall enough to be an elite interceptor, isn’t quick or disciplined enough to defend and can’t hit targets, can’t play in the same side as Lever Could’ve kept Harmes and Hunt to provide the same output mid/wing and half back who compliment in some ways our best players. Then used the currency of Gus to find a long term midfield answer. Instead it could be Lachie Hunter and Joel Smith, yay

Yes, we panicked and overpaid the guy who doesn’t fit in our structure and had guaranteed currency so are now losing 3 best 25 guys who have far less value. I predicted this at the time.

Who do you like out of Mitch White, Jimmy Munro or Dunstan to step in to our midfield?

Langdon was playing great footy at Freo and just hitting his prime. There’s a myth the demons created him. Much different to trying to turn back the years on Hunter

The other difference is Spargo’s a good pressure forward who doesn’t have to kick long. Hunter’s a wing.

Can only kick it 30m at a time. Accurate, but doesn’t get over zones

Hunter and Grundy! You beauty. Now if you we can just trade for Jack Darling, Tim Kelly and Daniel Talia we’ll be certainties for the 2019 flag.

So we go back to what didn’t work in 2018 with slow, on way running mids, and replace Gus/Harmes with JJ on the wing? Then replace our only midfield depth with what exactly? I don’t like this at all. Need an upgrade in if Harmes is out.

Was reassuring after Jason Taylor got a little bit creative trying to sell Bowey and Laurie as first round picks when we took them in the 20's

5:35 if you want a good laugh. Lamby not mucking around.

Tim Lamb today: "We've got some other options with the talls on our list, so Goody and the coaches are really open to being quite creative with some of the talent we've already got there" Whilst that might mean J. Smith, Howes or even Turner at CHF to me that's as strong as an indication as we've seen of Petty forward 2023.

GWS lose Taranto, Hopper and Bruhn and their midfield is now down to Green, Coniglio, Kelly, Whitfield, Ash, Perryman, Callaghan, Ward plus Stone and Angwin as developing players and draft picks. They'll be fine, they can now stock up on forwards and backs which need work. 19's a stretch for sure. I'd love to see 16, but the bigger issue is spreading the talent around.

Depends on what order we want to do things. If we’re confident we can eventually shuffle picks around we might accept the Jackson deal early.

The following top 10 picks I think are more gettable than the others: Pick 5: currently at Adelaide, on the way to GC who seem keen to spread their list with future picks Pick 7: at GC, on the way with Bowes, possibly open to Ess or Geel downgrades. Bombers need more picks, Geel could use more to get trades done Pick 8: at Port, possibly on the way to North who could do better with multiple picks to restock their list Pick 9: St Kilda, think they’ll value multiple picks to restock their youth With 3 of those picks set to move hands I don’t think a Jackson deal will be quick if we want to make sure a top 10 pick comes with it