DeeSpencer

Gawn’s on a lot of money. Rucks don’t matter. We must keep LJ? Seems like conflicting points there. Ottens was vital for the Cats in their flags. Hale and McEvoy both important for Hawthorn. Nankervis is sometimes the poster boy for rucks don’t matter but he’s actually a very impactful player. And if Geelong go all the way this year it will likely be because Stanley or Ceglar at least break even and Blicavs is a great back up. In a perfect world I’d have a cheap ruck but good enough ruck. But that’s true of 2nd talls at each end, wings, defensive mids and so many positions.

The cost of housing isn’t really a factor for established AFL players making 500k plus a year. They can and do easily afford houses in excellent Melbourne suburbs. Which is really what Geelong players should be buying too unless they’re really committed to the Geelong region and it’s property market. Rent in share houses somewhere like Richmond isn’t the end of the world for young players either. I wouldn’t be surprised if clubs provide some help here by pairing players with agreeable landlords (such as older players) if needed. Even $200 extra on rent a week is only 10k, not really a game changer if you’re good enough to get a proper afl contract. Where I’m suspicious with the Cats is the farms and exploding property market on the Bellarine and the investment opportunities. That’s the kind of stuff that could change someone’s finances by hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.

He’s really not. Not in a top side anyway. He knew what he was in for when he came to us

I don’t see Bedford’s rate of improvement going past Nibbler any time soon. He’s got the same flaws that need a lot of work. A touch faster but less ball winning. Laurie’s nothing like those guys, he’s an attacking small with limited defensive game so far. He should improve quickly as he gets midfield time and is full of class, but they aren’t even ready to give him VFL midfield time, yet alone an AFL debut. It’s worth asking if Harmes and Sparrow can cover ANB’s pressure whilst offering midfield minutes and more size. It’s possible. But I doubt Goody pulls that trigger.

His decision making and skills will come and go, not too worried about that. The fumbles and not bodying the ball v Freo and at other times has worried me, looked a bit like the old Nibbler. But can’t blame him too much for fumbling in the wet against Freo. Hope to see him sort that out in the next few weeks.

I’m certainly in favour of trading for quality talls, I meant more with late picks particularly for rucks and tall defenders. Disco’s a nice player to have on the list, we could do with a similar prospect as a ruck and even a utility.

It also resulted in him living In WA from early September when we went across before the prelim all way until the new year. I’m guessing it was about 4 months in WA. In a normal year he might’ve had a quick pit stop home in early October, gone overseas for a few weeks after that as footballers generally do, back to Melbourne for Nov/Dec preseason and then really only home for 2 weeks or so at Xmas.

To be fair to JT and the crew Weid used to really fly at the ball. And we’ll forever have the Geelong final which included big marks and huge tackles. Weid is now a mess but it’s lack of confidence and lack of athleticism that impact as much as mongrel. Fritsch has no mongrel, but he reads the play and has the speed to get the ball. Harry McKay was in that draft and he was fairly soft as a junior. All skill and athletic potential. Curnow was the easy pick IMO, but he had off field misdemeanours and I think they thought he was a bit similar to Hogan. When it came to Luke Jackson the recruiters saw a tall with incredible athleticism and the right physicality and had to grab him. I don’t think we’ve drafted enough talls in general. They’re lottery tickets and it’s best to just keep buying them.

Weid - who’s never really established himself as an AFL footballer - is better than McStay, who crashes packs and tackles very well for a tall, hence the price tag (with a 20% free agency tax). That might be the dumbest thing Carey has said since he suggested Carlton trade pick 1 for Tyson, Frost and Bugg Weid stays in until Ben Brown is right to go. Which is likely Friday.

Josh Bruce had 2 disposals against us, manned by Tomlinson for a portion of the game. Matt Taberner - who’s actually handy at his best - had 6 disposals last night. Felt like 2. There’s no way to describe a 1 possession game as good but I don’t think it was Sam’s worst

It’s a bit harsh to compare Harmes to Brayshaw straight up because Harmes really hasn’t played much on ball this year. He’s spent a lot of games predominantly at half forward, plus the 3rd winger minutes and then been the 5th guy on ball in short bursts (even less than Sparrow). He’s often getting the ball in the tricky half forward spots and then doing what every player bar Spargo does in those spots! Far easier to hit targets or safe long kicks in the sweeper mid role Gus played last night. The other big change last night was to open room for Gus it meant Petracca played much more forward. And for the first time maybe all year that worked. Apart from the shoddy set shot goal kicking Tracc competed well, pressured well and hit more targets. If we are to keep Gus on ball then we’re kind of back we were pre 2020 with a full midfield and Petracca not being the gun permanent mid. Gus will still cover the 3rd wing spot and the other mids can play some forward minutes not just Tracc, but we’ll still be given up a fair few centre bounces and on ball minutes. I think Goody sticks with it for another week but I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t. Or if he gave it a week then went back to Harmes at half forward to boost the speed and pressure there and get Tracc more in the guts again.

Marking anything out at Casey today is near on impossible with the breeze. JVR’s clunked plenty of clean marks this year, and his contesting against an experienced afl defender in Cordy last week was good. But for now Brown or even Weid are more likely to halve contests against good afl defenders due to their size and strength. And Melk is in the other key forward role because he has a seasoned afl tank and 200 games of experience. His positioning and ability to find some uncontested disposals is just superior to a young fella. But in both of those important aspects JVR is building. He’s not far away

Are Dunstan, Munro, Baldi and Mitch White effectively Sauntner-ing our young mids? Bedford, Chandler, Laurie even Woewodin are all good enough to get significant midfield minutes. They’d get 25 disposals rather than 15ish. That’s 60% more chances to work on their disposal and decision making. Fair enough to use the big bodies when we’re playing a top side, but against Preston’s collection of Northern footy league level players I don’t think we’re getting the right development here.

There’s a bit of Collingwood 6 footer about that measurement. Most rucks look clearly taller than him. Darcy Cameron listed at 204 and looks more like an inch than a cm taller. Either that or Grundy is appears shorter because he’s usually bear hugging opponents

The issue with Grundy is some of the things he does well that result in big stats aren’t often valuable, especially if he’s off his best. He gets a lot of hit outs but he’s not tall and doesn’t jump, so they’re very predictable and don’t result in quality clearances. He gets a lot of disposals but they are messy contested possessions. Often times he’s just nicking disposals that should be in the hands of someone like Pendlebury or Sidebottom. Apart from the huge difference in salary the Pies prefer Darcy Cameron because he can play forward, he’s a better mark and better tap ruck who keeps it simple in his role.

Late second or 3rd round pick and 500k would be the most I’d go for Grundy. I’d keep my eye on GWS. If Grundy goes there we should really look at Matt Flynn who we bidded on years ago. The right age to really go to the next level as a ruck and he has untapped forward potential

2 howlers in the 3rd quarter but a low disposal total v Port and a fade out on tired legs last week were silly criticisms. His work rate and strength and power at the contest are just immense, and short of completely butchering the ball he won’t be going anywhere.

Backline was so much better balanced with Hunt providing some defensive cover and speed across half back. Gus helped the midfield get more uncontested possessions and cover on the defensive side. But the wet weather made his indiscriminate hacking of the ball forward look good. And Brodie and Mundy had about 3000 disposals each, but didn’t have the space or skills to do much with them. Fritsch was excellent. Weid and Melk not exactly a pack crashing force, but they did enough to panic Pearce, Cox and Young out of intercepts. Apart from that stretch in the 3rd where Mundy put himself in our bomb out spot and the talls couldn’t come across and impact. I still don’t think we go anywhere without an uncontested kicking game to keep teams honest and some miracle recoveries or performances from tall forwards. But when we can win in the air the ground game still has a lot going for it

Brown for Weid unless Jacko is injured? Melksham continues another week in his small tall role. No idea what to do with Harmes and Brayshaw and whether JJ, Rivers or Hunt go out. Wait and see on Hibbo too.

I think they’ll draft or chase a forward and end up with Balta and Gibcus down back long term when the veterans clear out.

The problem with that idea is best 22 AFL rucks and key forwards that fit within our system are incredibly rare. Jacko is one. I’ve said repeatedly that I think McStay would be one. Jack Gunston would be too. Lobb would, but we don’t seem interested. Everyone else after that is a prospect. Meek’s a nice one, but he might not fit with Gawn, similar to big Preussy (if less eccentric). He might be Max’s back up not Max’s partner. Treacy’s a nice depth option. Once Luke announces he wants to go I think Freo will negotiate hard but eventually put something like the Lever or Hogan deal on the table. 2 firsts. Or a good first and a second. We’ll then have to accept it and do the best we can. It might take 12-24 months to actually target and land the Jackson replacement, yet alone the Brown/Macca key forward we need.

1. Darcy loves an injury 2. Darcy is a good set shot and a good clunk marker. I think he’s well ahead of Gawn for forward craft at the same age. Key forwards are getting harder to find. If you can have 2 rucks you don’t need 2 gun key forwards. 3. Jacko is seriously special around the ground. We haven’t seen it all that often because our game plan is stodgy at times but Freo like to open it up and then Luke can run rucks off their feet and open up the corridor as an extra mid. He can do the stuff Blicavs does for Geelong. 4. LJ’s excellent start to his career has hidden his rate of development and potential for growth. There’s a risk he gets a bit Grundy like and stalls or regresses. But look at Tim English, after years of getting man handled the lights have gone on this year and he’s killing them. Age wise, Jacko shouldn’t even have debuted!

That’s fair. But we also know that multiple other teams were interested in him. I’m happy to be proven wrong if he’s signed on at significantly below market rate, but it would be pretty crazy to lock himself in on 6 years at such a low rate that he could’ve taken 3 from someone else. I wish all salaries above the league average were disclosed so we could get a better handle on what teams are doing.

Why is reposting the entire press release proof I'm wrong? Before free agency guys of Brayshaw's standing would do well to get a 3 or 4 year deal. Since free agency that has exploded out to deals of 5-6 years being far more common. None of that has anything to do with Gus' leadership, play style, character or anything else.

He’s consistently got better at VFL level but I don’t see improvement in the things that would make a coach pick him at AFL level. And I don’t understand the move to half back because if it didn’t work immediately he’s unlikely to get picked there because he’s shaky at the contest. We’ve got too many half forwards as is but I’d have tried him there at Casey. He really does make things happen with his burst speed and ability to get to space.