DeeSpencer

Harmes certainly has up and down quarters or even games, but I'm not so convinced by this idea that he's completely up and down. Most of his variance comes from the role he's been asked to do. If you play him consistently as a midfielder and with a mix of defensive assignments ranging from hard tag to occasional minding at stoppages he'll give you pretty much the same outcome most weeks. Great tackling, lots of hard run, some much needed line breaking and some occassional dodgy disposal/decision making. Play him as a 4th midfielder with a bit of half forward and wing he'll contribute very solidly there just as he did in finals. Play him too much half forward and it won't be as pretty, he doesn't get the time and space to run and decision making is harder there. Play him down back and we won't talk about that... Overall though he can step in to a full time midfield role at any time and can also step back to splitting time on a flank and wing and providing run, aerial contest, pressure and tackling there too. As a full time mid he's only better than Dunstan due to his pace. As an overall player he's more valuable because he can move around. Brayshaw gets a lot of credit for selflessly taking a team role on the wing. Harmes giving up a lot of centre square time and deferring for Viney and then being rotated through positions in the finals deserves similar praise. We won't be in any hurry to move him on until our half forward and midfield depth is a lot stronger than hoping Laurie can play and signing Dunstan.

I know he’s small and not overtly physical but I liked the look of some of his VFL games in the midfield. He lacks the speed to be all that dangerous deep forward so can only compete with the high half forward types, but a full preseason and more VFL footy in the guts could really up his midfield ability. More touches, more contests also improve his belief if he gets called up to the senior side as a forward. Similar to ANB’s progress. Clearly we’re light on for midfield depth where as the Crows lack top end talent but are very deep with recently drafted mids. I’d be selling him on being the number 1 depth mid (or number 2 behind Dunstan). He wouldn’t be best 22 at Adelaide and they’d have more invested in early draft picks too.

May, Oliver, Petracca, Gawn are undoubtable. Oliver slipped a little last year but they all should’ve been A graders last year. Salem was knocking on the door and cemented himself this year. Lever found the consistency that he flashed last year and became the A grader he was meant to be. Gus had a great grand final but is no where near A grade and neither is Langdon even accounting for his brilliant work rate. He was A grade for the first half of the year but not the second half. Viney showed what he’s capable of in finals but misses too many games with injury and has a few too many shaky regular season games to quality as A grade. Fritsch is very close, can argue either way, probably needs to back it up next year to me. Unless the grand final tips him over. He’s a B++ along with Langdon and Viney. Ben Brown’s end to the season was that level as well. Melk and Weid are C graders too, just a bit too flawed to be reliable. All the premiership players are key parts of a premiership team. I don’t care if they are 19 or 22 or where they will be in a few years time. They’re all solid B graders right now. There’s no young players who were carried. Every one of them earned their spot.

I want our players running out each week with a desire to be the hardest at the contest. And also the fittest and most skilled if possible too! And if you can’t win a share of your own ball you’ve got no place in AFL footy. But I’m also glad we’re a team that recruits Langdon, sticks with Fritsch through quiet games, backs in a tiny young fella in Bowey to play finals after 4 games, sees the value of Spargo’s running to space and kicking even if he’s not winning much of the ball.

No. Way too slow. We fell in love with that mantra for years and it peaked in 2018 before the Eagles blew us apart by opening us up. The biggest change this season is we stopped all trying to win the same ball and used speed and spread with our contested work. The over the top focus on being the best contested footy side should be relegated to history alongside Neeld’s ‘hardest team to play against’

Thanks for clarifying that my opinion is my opinion. I was getting confused. I’ve got no issue being told to shut it when I question Jason Taylor’s draft picks, although I think I’ve been fairly supportive. The same for players we’ve let go, and for our big name recruits outside of Ben Brown who I really did think was broken and not a worthwhile upgrade on Weid. Dunstan’s a player we’ve all seen plenty of and I don’t think anyone is questioning he’s one dimensional. He’s coverage for our big 3 mids which is useful, but I’m of the opinion our next 3 mids (Harmes, Sparrow, JJ) could provide that same coverage.

JJ was sub and Harmes and Sparrow are playing half forward. I’d have targeted a half forward where there’s more opportunities to hold down a spot. Then I’d look for midfield reinforcement but with more upside and versatility. Neither Jones nor Vanders were centre square options for us this year. Is Dunstan actually going to skip the queue or will he just end up frustrated at Casey?

Keep trying then, it’s clearly working well for you

We owe our premiership to Alan Richardson inexplicably taking McCartin over Petracca, but I’m not sure giving him free reign over our recruiting is a good idea. Dunstan would be clogging the list

I praised the soft cap the other day as a huge part of our success by being on a level player field but it also makes it hard once you have success to keep everyone you'd like to. That's even assuming Jetta would've wanted to stay. The Collingwood VFL team might be a bit more appealing than trudging out to Casey. And coaching players you've recently played with isn't always easy either. Plus we've got Matty Whelan too. So in all 3 aspects of the job I assume Nev has been hired for - playing, coaching, Indigenous programs - it makes sense for him to get a fresh start.

I can see the similarities but similar to Lyons you have to go all in with him in the midfield and as a ball winner to get the value. I’m not sure Dunstan will like Goody any more than he did Ratten if he’s back in the VFL

Clearly he didn’t get on with the coach. But they have Steele, Crouch and Jones ahead of him as primary mids, then Bytel who they like, plus a fleet of options like Gresham, Byrnes, Higgins, Clark, Sinclair. And are committed to Ross (free agent but never leaving) and Hannebery, both who offer more on the outside.

If Hamill really thought he was an elite midfielder he wouldn’t be saying it publicly, he’d be pleading with Carlton to sign him. I said earlier I can see the appeal. I’ve changed my mind, the bloke is Dom Tyson 2.0, what’s the use in a slow mid with shoddy kicking?

Impossible to tell from the outside but I remember when Mahoney left after we moved Richo in to head of footy that I was pleased Dan was still there to provide experience at running the day to day stuff with which Richo wouldn't be as familiar with. The covid protocols, the drug testing and AFL compliance, all those aspects of the job. And all things we really did well in since Mahoney took over. Things you don't notice unless they've gone wrong. Obviously Richo has now had a year to get acquainted with that stuff and they can probably bring someone else in/up/on etc. so hopefully it isn't an issue but credit to Dan for keeping the trains running on time. McPherson came with Roosy so hardly a surprise he's off to North, but good on him for a solid stint that ended with the flag.

I'd like a backup to Langdon that I feel more confident about than Baker and Rosman, but I sense Goody actually prefers a Brayshaw like 2nd winger. And JJ can develop as Gus' understudy and push him along. Harmes can also be used in that Brayshaw role. The biggest increase to our outside run came from ANB getting back in form as a half forward runner. Sparrow has the fitness to keep progressing in a similar way and Spargo and Kossie hopefully build fitness and strength from clearances to move up the field. Overall it's probably run and class through half forward and in to the midfield where I'd want more than a pure winger type. Laurie's clearly one hope there but it's such a vital position. Half forward in general might be a weakness both with the depths of midfield rotation types but also with Tommy Mc. I'd like a young mobile 188-195cm CHF to suddenly come on board if possible! Don't have to be a star, just prime Tom McDonald/Jack Darling hybrid ideally. Someone fit and agile enough that they can work around Brown, Fritsch and the resting ruck. Not asking for much!

Nik Cox is different but somewhat similar. Rory Lobb and Rhys Stanley too. I don't know where Mac falls on the continuum but the Giants were absolutely desperate for Jacko. If Mac is even remotely similar I'd imagine they'd be super keen on him as reports indicate.

The number 1 priority for most players is to actually play regularly so they can forge a career - both for the money but also for the games played. Fringe players leave good sides for that exact reason. Unless we promise him a certain role which would be very unlikely, or no one out there can sell him a bigger role I'd expect Dunstan to go to a club that gives him opportunity. Even if it's a one year deal he's a much better chance of having an extended career if he can play 15-20 games next year rather than 5-10 from mostly outside the best 22 at Melbourne.

Free agency boosting the salary of top line players and teams getting smarter with leverage at trade time has absolutely made it trickier, plus the covid impact on the cap. So I'm not so much complaining as just pointing out the reality that we've extended long deals to players to keep them happy and sticking around rather than potentially upping the money for less years.

Potentially but from what I’ve seen of Casey I’m not overly impressed. The talls make sense. Weid’s still good depth. Majak is fine. M Brown is silly but whatever. J Smith one more go. And apparently keeping Melk as medium options. Those guys are excellent VFL players who know the system. I like the idea of giving Declase, Turner and D Smith more time. They all impressed from what I saw at VFL level. I’m a little iffy on keeping Hore even though I dislike cutting injured guys. And then wonder if all 3 of Baker, Chandler, Bedford stay on. Chandler improved a lot at VFL level, not sure the other 2 got any closer Without a lot of cash to spend or draft picks I’m hardly expecting a lot of changes but we might be a little too loyal.

Unsurprisingly no one wanted him. Hasn’t played well since 2018. Possibly another preseason trial on the wing. Otherwise break in case of emergency half forward. Makes even less sense that we’re keeping M Brown as well now. The clubs strategy of long term deals has helped spread the salary cap but has meant we’ve kept a lot of players 1 or 2 years passed their used by dates.

As good as our list management team have been there’s only 1 former rookie in the premiership 23 in Harmes and the 5 players traded in have all been for 1st or 2nd round picks. Ben Brown might’ve been the cheapest. It’s actually been one heck of a run of first and second round picks from JT and co, but we haven’t maximised our rookies and bargain buy pick ups. Would like to find a couple of Marlion Pickett and Sydney Stack (the good parts) pick ups on the way through now.

I can see the appeal. JJ might be needed to cover a wing. Sparrow and Harmes did well as the 4th and 5th on ballers covering for the big 3 and a bit on the wing, they can play more midfield but then they need to be covered. And surely we finally learn the lesson to save Viney for when it matters. Plus we likely have to do that for Petracca and Oliver if needed. Tracc should play more forward in the home and away season. But I just don’t love the idea of bringing in a limited depth player who’s negatives - disposal and speed - really show up at times. And is that what Dustan wants at this stage of his career? Surely he wants to push his case at a club with more room for him to do so. If we’re chasing a mature on ball depth player after losing Jones and Vanders is there no one else who has upside and versatility? Delistings are very thin so far. Bewley as a wing. James Cousins as a mid. But young mids in the draft and state league guys are often ready to go pretty quickly. I wouldn’t want to pull the trigger on Dunstan before surveying all options.

Apparently Sos did a good job of front loading contracts. Remember the Jack Martin deal they gave to stop us poaching him? But apart from that the likes of Dow, O’Brien and so many other young players just haven’t come on. The amount of money we have to set aside for the likes of Jacko, Riv, Kos and so on they can just spend on imports.

They were keen on Treloar 2 years ago more than last year, but they now have a very talented list but can’t bring it together to form a team. They have about 15 talented young players who all get massive overs to stay. Then have about 15 senior guys who all took similar contracts to either stay or go there. The crunch on list spots and salary cap has really hurt them as it is all clubs. But Melbourne go to Gawn, Lever, Petracca, Salem, Viney and give them extra years to take the cap burden off. Gold Coast can’t do that because they don’t have reliable veterans that they trust to carry extra years. Witts, maybe Swallow, maybe Collins but really it’s slim pickings They’d like to do that with Max King and Touk Miller but those guys are committing or certainly not at below market rate

Given the likelihood of a top 15 type on our list coming in seems very unlikely I’d say the 3 priorities are: 1. Cap space - don’t jeopardise our ability to retain our most important players 2. Draft position/capital. Obviously there’s room to go in various directions 3. Depth upgrades So far we seem comfortable with Tomlinson, Weed, Daw and Brown as the back up talls. Hunt, Joel Smith down back. JJ through the midfield. Laurie is a talent. Melk at this stage as well as Chandler and Bedford forward. I’m a little surprised we’re happy with keeping lots of our own guys and havent left more list spots open to survey the market.