DeeSpencer

Jason Taylor would’ve drafted Jackson over Anderson, so there’s no way we would’ve got both of them. I would’ve liked Mac but we’ll have pick 19 and pick 30 something instead. We aren’t getting screwed at all, we’re just getting part of a fairer system. Look at the quote above from Mac, we’ve been involved with him for a long time but hardly the main factor in his development.

Brayshaw: got himself rock hard fit for the the first time and became a useful role player with upside, the best of which was the grand final. But he had some stinking games. He’ll have to be just as fit if not fitter to keep with the competition and it’s time he gets his skills to where they should be too. The last time he had a good season he dropped off a lot. Chandler: I think his future is as a midfielder as much as a forward, needs to get stronger and fitter. Doesn’t have the speed to be a danger deeper forward but could be another essential link/tackle player which is the basis of our game plan. Petty: Had a fair bit of last summer wiped out by illness and missed the entire year before. Which makes his 2021 even more impressive. Could really take another leap and needs to in order to fend off competition from Tomlinson and probably cover May who’s track record of playing 22 games isn’t great. BBB: we probably won’t have the luxury of giving him a preseason mid year again. So he has to be durable through summer. Teams will also put a heap of work in to Fritsch next year, the best way for us to cover that is for Brown to play like he did late in the year (or even better).

Certainly not a big criticism but he’s now gone 0/4 on young rucks with King, King, Bradtke and Filipovic. They are a dice roll but you’d expect at least one of them to become a useful back up. Home grown depth talls and speedy wingers are probably his two areas for improvement. If he nails those rolls of the dice his record would be just about spotless

I dislike anyone who peddles anti vaccine misinformation. But I have a degree of sympathy for the victims of that misinformation. Particularly if they’re refusing the vaccine for incorrect families reasons etc. We have to do more to counter the misinformation particularly on social media and to bring people back in to society. All of that said, Liam surely has access to as many doctors and scientists as possible to talk this over. It’s a shame none of them have got through to him.

It took until this year for Oliver to sort out his decision making and both he and Tracc still have great room for improvement with their kicking. But they’re also in the top 1% of ball winners to ever play the game! Sparrow has some similar attributes with power but it’s unfair to expect him to get to the level of those 2 freaks. His finals series was excellent, my point was I’m just not sure, where as others in this thread seem confident he’ll explode.

I know nothing about him but he’s an overager with a fairly mature body given the weight, and probably a touch undersized too. Every year there’s very good goal kickers at junior level who don’t have the athleticism and talent to be AFL players. The odds are that’s where this guy fits.

It's a tough competition but I reckon Docklands probably is the better of two evils with Southbank these days. Some absolutely horrific towers there. And don't get me started on what's happened in Box Hill. Or the size of some of the towers in Footscray. Caulfield and Camberwell have pushed the envelope too. There really should be something like a hard and fast 8 story rule for anywhere but the Hoddle Grid. Any development along the rail lines should really be for public use. Technology will make it increasingly likely to be built on at some stage but it should all be things with public benefits. A vertical school, a tafe that probably never gets funded and covering the buildings in weeds to carbon offset. No thanks Eddie.

Nope I stand by my post. I'm not saying he's no good or his decision making or kicking is dreadful, it's just to continue to improve to the level that some are speculating about in this thread he'll either have to become a Petracca type who dominates the contest and routinely nails high risk/reward opportunities or he'll have to be sharper with his decisions and kicks. I don't have a strong belief in whether he'll stay as a very valuable premiership player or elevate. That's all I'm saying. If Tracc and Oliver are 9.5/10 players and Harmes is a 6/10 I just don't have conviction on whether Sparrow will end up more of a 6-7/10 or a 8+. Neither are bad results! The examples were just from the grand final as they were the most recent game and we've all seen it plenty. Don't get caught up in the results and look at the actual choices and execution. And you can go through several games this year and see plenty of poor kicks and some odd decisions. I could highlight all the times he kicked in to the mark but I'm choosing the grand final because he played superbly and he really grew in the finals. I definitely stand by the goal that needed all of T Mc's strength to get over the line. He had Oliver running for the one-two and he had Brown alone in the corridor. The shot wasn't an awful option and he nailed it, if he keeps nailing those kind of kicks then happy days but there's only a handful of players in the comp who do that and there's plenty of Sam Powell Pepper types who think they're the hero and usually aren't. In the last quarter Keath leaves Brown to try to defend Spargo but I still think you take the simple open lead inside 50 rather than rely on Brown taking a contested mark. Spargo was pretty peeved that he got burnt, that's not me on the couch that's a team mate. The kick was well placed to Brown though, even if a little loopier than might've been required. Again, excellent result, but if we're talking about a player taking the next steps to become elite then it's taking the quick simple option when it's open.

Took over from Craig Cameron as head of footy for a few years until they realised they needed Balmey.

Losing Jye Caldwell for cents on the dollar as well as other young mids definitely influence that change for them. With Hopper, Taranto, Ward, Kelly, Green, Coniglio, De Boer etc they are just stacked for on ball options and can’t fit them in. I think we’d be cautious drafting a pure clearance midfielder for similar reasons, but we don’t have to be as worried about the go home factor. A young ruck probably isn’t priority number 1 either. Otherwise I don’t think we’d be stressing on whether there’s a clear spot for any early picks

Cameron was head of football in the early 10’s but their recruiting back then was a handful of superstars - Dusty, Cotch, Riewoldt, Rance and a bunch of terrible picks. Francis Jackson was their head recruiter and missed on a lot of picks. Blair Hartley has been their list manager for a decade and the main architect of their list according to tigers fans I’ve spoken too. Jackson moved in to a part time role in 2015 and their recruiting under Matt Clarke since has been far better.

I think Rowell still goes somewhere between 1-3. And I’d have Green and Georgiades a little higher too. Still an incredible draft for the Dees no matter how you rank them.

Simon Dalrymple at the Dogs and then Sydney might be the only one I rate above Taylor purely for having the same level of huge success with early picks (Bont, Stringer, Macrae, Naughton) and then some more late round gems. Taylor’s been freakish in the first and second round but surprisingly colder with late round picks. The other clubs who have done really good jobs lately are Port, Brisbane and also GWS since Sos left.

1. Oliver 2. Petracca 3. May 4. Salem 5. Lever 6. Gawn 7. Viney ------------------ 8. Brown 9. Fritsch 10. ANB Unlucky: Jackson, Kozzie, Langdon, Gus, Petty, Rivers. The Oliver and Petracca combo are where everything starts. After that I think our best 3 defenders are vital and it's hard to know which order but May and Salem might be the hardest to cover. May's by far our most reliable stopper and Salem just controls the ball use from the back half. I wanted to have Gawn and Viney higher. Viney especially come finals. Gawn I've only lowered because Jackson's improvement means we can afford to get less out of Gawn. In fact this year we deliberately didn't use up the big fella too early. I wanted to squeeze Jacko in but I snuck ANB up because I think he sets up our defensive effort and work rate. Everyone else kind of goes along from him. It's probably Jacko and Kozzie at 10, 11 but I thought I'd give ANB the nod. In terms of the tall forwards it's hard to split Brown, Fritsch, T mc and the impact of Jackson/Gawn. If we go smaller up forward then Jacko and Gawn are promoted more. I went Brown at 8 because I thought he did the trickiest structural job as well as kicking goals. Tommy took an unselfish role up the ground (which suits his game). The rucks kind of floated around. And Fritsch was the main goal kicker but to keep winning against the best backlines next year I think it will take more Ben Brown.

Talls and tall flankers/wing depth are probably more of a need but running midfielder types make up a huge chunk of the team. Tracc, Oliver, Viney, Harmes, Sparrow, Salem, Bowey, ANB, Spargo. That’s 9 of 22. I wouldn’t be worried about having overlap in that group as long as the players are versatile.

I reckon running technique, including posture and being physically well rounded is a huge one when it comes to footy. The rehab process from any soft tissue injury is often hours of the guys doing straight line running not just to build back up but so the fitness guys make sure they're running correctly. Not everyone will be Eddie Langdon but I reckon so many of our players just looked like far easier runners over the last 2 years since Burgo came on board. Clearly they were fitter, but wonder how much was just doing more kms and how much was refining their running techniques. Similarly the warm up circuits and all the extras like pilates, yoga, hot/cold baths, massages etc that the players invest in make a huge difference too. Hard to know which of those things works individually but the players who invest in them all often come out with far less issues.

I reckon Knevitt will be gone, too much upside for someone not to take a chance earlier. 30+ touches at 193cm with athleticism - hard to see him lasting past 15 I reckon. Owens is appealing, tall wingman who can read the play, but I'm not convinced by him. They're both tall mids with contested ball winning but I'm not sure they have the powerful games that Taylor seems to like. Even the smalls he's drafted in Koz, Spargo and Bowey have a lot of power per square inch of size. Sparrow and Rivers both like to use their power to burst through congestion. Same with Harmes - for better or worse. Salem - thrives playing with contact and in congestion. There's every chance we go left field as we often do if one of the top quality guys doesn't drop. But from what I've seen the most Jason Taylor player around the mark of our pick is Sam Butler.

Nope, don’t care. The NGA’s are a rort. JUH got developed by the Oakleigh Chargers and Scotch. Mac played junior footy and has been part of the Stingrays program. Ive only ever seen one photo of him at a Dees academy session. There’s very little else out there about any impact the Dees have had with him. The idea that we’ve been pouring huge resources in to him just doesn’t seem true at all.

Not really sure where I sit on Sparrow. I think his kicking and decision making still needs plenty of work. Even choices that paid off in the grand final weren't always the best ones IMO. The low percentage long goal off a step could've been a quick kick to an open Ben Brown 35 out. And the square up kick to Brown early in the last came after a wide open Spargo on a short lead. But at the same time he often doesn't rush and has the ability to create space for himself and he executed the choices he did make to perfection in the grand final. And his defensive work rate and physical impact is always really strong. The AFL app has an 'average speed in defence' metric and he's usually right at the top of that. So he motors to defend. Mids who can genuinely contribute across half forward and rotate on ball are super valuable and important too. So I've got a lot of confidence in his ability to play a role. I just don't have any conviction one way or another on whether he'll keep improving to become a top line midfielder or not.

Polec is still owed decent money for 2 years at North. If a team wanted him he would've been traded, with North paying a decent chunk of his wage. If he really was a free rookie I might consider it. But he's going in the rookie draft with a 2 year 500k contract to still be paid. The window to target Polec was a month ago. Clearly no club was interested. North moving him on to their rookie list is just managing list spots.

Achieved its desired outcome of keeping the ball in play more and moving end to end. Didn't achieve its desire to up scoring. Didn't make the Geelong chip around game the predominant game style which is great. Did annoy Richmond, also great. Needs 1 obvious change: 1. On any set shot - signaled by the player taking some/all of their 30 seconds rather than the usual 8 or so seconds, the man on the mark is allowed to move laterally to man the mark. Needs a couple of tidy ups: a) Umps can't abandon the need to pay 50 by players clearly setting the mark well over the actual spot. Happens a lot now and they are told to stand or given the chance to move back 2-3 metres. If it's a clear infringement of manning the mark the 50 has to still be paid. b) umps need to punish attacking players who don't go back over the mark by calling play on right away if it's deliberate/reckless or stopping play to make sure they go back over their line. This will result in messy games, especially early in the year, but the attacking player has to take responsibility to kick over the mark. If the attacking player goes backwards a long way off the mark they then can run in straight right by the man on the mark without a plan on call, that's where it all looks farcical.

I’m interested to see if he can become a good kick on both sides of his body. It’s incredibly rare these days. I think it’s the great untapped weapon of opening the game up. Goody trained it a fair bit when he first took over but it hasn’t really come in to our game days. Melksham the only one who has regular success on his non preferred. Brayshaw hasn’t hit a target on his left in 4 years.

Assuming they make it worthwhile this will draw tens of thousands. No need to charge members who paid for 2 years for little return, and probably no chance to get a photo with the cup. But to hear from coaches and players, sing the song, watch either the full game or selected highlights, it should be great.

Not sure about that, but I reckon there's a way if Choco is keen to scale his role back to purely hands on with the players in skill acquisition drills at training that he could do for years and years to come. He could be 80 and if he's still in good health teaching guys how to kick properly, how to handball and how not to fumble.

It's not going to win the Pulitzer prize but I think a bit of draft speculation around the time of the draft is fine. Haselby would have strong Freo connections and be trying to get a read on who they like. GWS loved Luke Jackson, hardly a surprise they'd be keen on Mac and they are stocked with A grade mids, they can easily justify moving around the draft board by trading back or moving their 2nd pick up. Swapping back with Hawthorn and Adelaide both make a lot of sense. Saying Brander is coming in for the same role as Mac is a bit like saying why did Melbourne draft Luke Jackson in 2019 when we bought in Mitch Brown. There's a bit difference between versatile depth talls and a hyper athletic extra midfielder ruck prospect.