DeeSpencer

Definitely true on Langdon, I guess just the running winger is probably what I should've called him. They give Eddie the freedom to play his game, where as Gus certainly seems encouraged not to get too far forward of the play. They want him sealing off the forward 50 then getting back to help the backline. Not convinced by Macrae as a wingman. He was good at it earlier in his career, and would certainly still be good at it. He's a beast at racking up uncontested possessions, but he doesn't do a lot with them. His kicking is somewhere from neat to decent, he's improved a lot, but it's still very safe. He doesn't kick goals or take contested marks. His game involves a lot of contested ball winning at clearances and then just a whole bunch of Bulldogs handball receiving. He's a better overall player but I think similar to Andrew Gaff that kind of handball receive player is actually better off inside now than on a wing. McCluggage or Josh Kelly are the 2 that I considered for the running wingman, both will run all day and will chop you up with their kicking. Karl Amon probably 3rd in line. Along with being a bit stronger at the contest that's where they separate themselves from someone like Langdon who isn't far behind given he's so good at the role. Langdon more likely to lose a contest but give it his all than Kelly tho, who will win more but dodge a few. Seedsman 4th or 5th option, Duncan ruled out through too many injuries and I think needing to play on ball now. Dawson is the clear standout for the other type of winger I'm looking for. 190cm+. Strong in the air. But unlike Brayshaw, Dom Sheed, Kyle Langford, Dan Howe, Menegola, Miles Bergman, Mitch Robinson or any other options he can also kick the cover off it. He's perfectly capable of playing as an intercept defender which is what you want from your dropping back winger and if he can sit on the forward 50 and get those intercepts he'll hit targets or kick long goals.

The player I referred to was Jonathan Isaac who outlined he reasoning why he feels protected after having covid. Whether you're protected by having covid as much as by getting the vaccine is up for debate. Reinfections seem higher than breakthrough infections, but in a fit healthy athlete there might not be much difference. Of course he's still wrong, because having covid then being vaccinated is the best possible situation. It makes you super immune. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/health/if-youve-had-covid-do-you-need-the-vaccine.html

Athletes are testing positive multiple times in the US. Some of them are using it as a defence on why they shouldn't get the vaccine after repeated positive cases and antibodies and in fairness they do have some case there (at least more than those who flat out refuse). They've relaxed the close contact and testing procedures for vaccinated NFL players, but there's still circumstances where some players are missing games. I think after 2022 it should be presumed everyone is vaccinated and been exposed to covid, so testing will only occur on sick people and contact tracing won't be happening. But 2022 will be the year of difficult decisions about what to do with exposures and isolation periods.

WA are on track to have 80% vaccinated by December and if rates hold 90% by the end of the year. I understand why he wants to keep the state at zero cases for as long as practically possible but surely 90% is the limit. After that you’re just delaying the inevitable and punishing your own population. The bigger challenge for the AFL will be dealing with positive tests within teams.

Mitchell was on the shorter side for a midfielder but his biggest problem was lack of speed. He more than made up for it by a super footballing brain and then the best dual sided player I've seen in my time closely watching footy. (Or possibly equal to Aker). He maximised his skills and smarts to more than make up for his deficits. I wasn't overly impressed when I first saw Bowey because he was playing on the wing and the lack of height worries me for wingers in the way we (and most teams) play. Gus Brayshaw showed the benefit for a taller winger all year and in the grand final. And whilst Bowey had played some forward as well I wasn't super impressed by his highlights in that role. He looked a bit reluctant to get involved and didn't really have major advantages over defenders. As soon as Jason Taylor said they'd start him down back I was far more impressed by the pick. That's where his cool head and disposal was going to be of most value. His highlights showed a natural ability to run to receive the ball, pace and a leap to close forwards and smart players are always valuable down back. I don't think other clubs used a top 20 pick on him because they wouldn't have seen that possibility for him. Zippy small forward without the amazing pressure skills of someone like Koz or even the ball winning of Spargo, that's probably not a player who goes top 20. The vision to see him as a defender, the coaching to train his defensive skills up (from a fairly low base early in the year to more than adequate at AFL level) and of course Jake for doing the work all deserve a heap of praise.

Nothing lasts forever but in recent years we've told Watts to find a new home, gently suggested Hogan move back to Perth and then let fringe players in Preuss, Frost, Hannan and Kent find better deals elsewhere (and tried to do the same with McDonald and ANB). Most of our core - Gawn, Salem, Lever, Brayshaw haven't ever been linked anywhere else. Viney had a tricky free agency decision to make but recommitted. Petracca wanted to play more midfield, the club very calmly said get fit and you'll be in the guts, he did and he's been as happy as can be since. Oliver clearly went through some stuff last year, Goody and the club didn't panic, they knew a fresh set of assistant coaches and the team bouncing back would take care of that. If Jackson's family really do relocate to Melbourne then that mostly takes care of the go home factor which is still the biggest draw card for a lot of trades. Look at Dawson and Cerra, the only big names to move this year. After that then yeah it's a matter of him getting his development as a player and person right and the club holding up their end of the bargain. As I said, nothing is forever, but if he signed on for 4 more years I think a fair bit would have to go wrong for him not be at the club for at least 3. And judging by our recent moves we've been pretty good at working out who should stay.

Boyd played some unbelievable finals, but he clearly struggled under the expectations of being an AFL footballer, expectations that are highest on number 1 picks. And don’t even get me started on his awful contract. We stuffed the careers of a lot of players but the development of Watts is right up there. Do we pick a number 2 pick to debut on queens birthday? Petracca from 2020 on is a player unburdened from anything really. But the various times in his career where his development was questioned - 2019 particularly - would’ve been twice as nasty had he been the number 1 pick. Sam Walsh is going to be a superstar. He was a handy player from his very first game. But even he’s copped negative pressure for not being as flashy as some of the players drafted after him. It’s a huge burden to carry.

Would be interested to know just how much Jack Watts and Tom Boyd would’ve paid not to be the number 1 picks if they could. Apart from hurting your rivals the best reason to bid is to take away that pressure.

I guess they’re just hold’en on for now

Don't you have your own forum?

Most likely they'll draft someone with a late or rookie pick and start the whole process again, will be interesting to see if Kreuger is a fix for their key forward issues. The Daicos situation timing up with them tumbling down the ladder really hurts them. They'll still get him at a great discount, but it means they've only had last years picks which weren't in the top 10 and Daicos to start a rebuild. They can't really point to a whole bunch of really high end picks. Will be interesting to see what their plans are for 2022. The Hawks kind of put the cat out of the bag that they want to play kids next year rather than push hard for wins, the Pies still have enough experience to push for finals if they were healthy and committed.

Not sure he beat Maxy but he absolutely made it hard for him and found plenty of the ball around the ground. Then didn’t play for the rest of the season. Collingwood not playing him at all in a dead season then shipping him away is really confusing. 5 more games might’ve got a side to come calling with a future 2nd or an early 3rd.

Worked for Papley. I’m not sure Hill would’ve grown up at the Bombers on a nice healthy deal. GWS need to look at their welfare staff who haven’t created a good enough relationship that he could be honest with them. But if Hill wants a big contract he’ll have to earn it the old fashioned way.

1 good game and the Brayshaw love fest is nearly as over the top as the Jones love fest.

Unless they can get a player to beef up their best 22 (hence targeting the Hawks forwards) I’d keep him. If he gets traded at the end of next year for little or nothing, even if he sits out the season (I doubt he does) they’ve haven’t given up much. Otherwise even though they keep finding ways to be stuck around the middle of the ladder the Giants remain in a premiership window. They have all the most important pieces, if Hill had a big summer he’d be a player they don’t have on their list.

It's certainly not a great market for delisted players and fringe midfielders. Mitch Wallis with the ability to play forward and mid and some doggies IP appealed a bit. Micky Gibbons never got a go in the Carlton midfield but could hold down a role across half forward, he's small but was a dominant VFL mid. Charlie Constable and Brayden Sier are two young mids with upside, not convinced by either of them but might've been worth exploring. There's a number of players without a contract who could take up the option of a deal and a spot at a successful club. Darcy Tucker at Freo - had some injuries and isn't a great user but he's a really strong athlete who can play defensive mid or forward. A 3rd round pick and a moderate amount of cash probably gets you a decent player in the suppressed trade market this year too. There's no one that's caught the eye so far, we weren't getting Lipinski, Hill's too expensive and can't play midfield, SPS probably wanted to be in Perth, but I would've spent a little if it got a promising depth piece. I don't know if Jason Taylor has another Vanders hiding in one of the state leagues. There's a chance we still use one of our list spots on that type of player too, so it's not exactly one or the other, but Dunstan makes it less likely. I understand why they've gone with Dunstan because they know what he can provide. Purely because we're looking at him as our 6th or 7th midfielder I would've preferred versatility and upside, that's all.

I wouldn’t call it great recruiting, depth players shouldn’t cost any picks. And in an ideal world wouldn’t be on a 2 year deal. Dunstan is a safe and sensible option to give us midfield cover. They like his experience and character. But it’s a trade off because he can’t play any other position and has limited upside. The club clearly think his upside is more than I do I’d imagine, with room for his kicking and fitness both to improve. The question is whether there was any other cheap available option that provided similar midfield cover whilst also having more scope for improvement and positional versatility. Could a state league or other delisted player have been better? With pace and pressure to play half forward and wing not just on ball? I think the answer is yes, but I can understand why the club went for the bird in hand.

There’s nothing I’d prefer more than to see him [censored] away his talent and fade from the league but now the Pies have a fresh coach and are willing to turn over their midfield he might start to put it together.

Lever’s unlucky, was the best interceptor this year. Moore just has a higher ceiling due to his size, athleticism and booming kick. The people wanted a balanced team so Dawson is the Brayshaw defensive big body winger. McClug is the forward running winger similar to Langdon, he plays as much on ball as wing now but he can do both. Happy to have 1 less than great backman. Daniel is a superb tackler and wins a lot of contests by getting to the ball first. He’ll occasionally get beat for size or gamble too much for position but he makes up for it by being the most creative kick in the comp.

FB: May Andrews Stewart HB: Salem Moore Daniel C: Dawson Bont McCluggage HF: Petracca Naughton Z. Bailey FF: C. Cameron McKay Greene Foll: Gawn Steele Oliver Int: Martin, Heeney, Walsh, Merrett S: Stringer

He was good, not great, against us the 2nd time round, and actually decent enough the first time too when he got a lot of the ball at half forward. The thing about rating Naughton against us is that Steve May clearly has his number for now. Most key defenders don't have the strength and ability to read the play to keep Naughton away from the drop of the ball nor do they have the closing speed and physicality to spoil him once he's flying for it. Naughton played well in his 3 other finals. When 16 other teams don't even get that far I don't think you can punish him too much for a quiet grand final.

My argument was simply that no one in his top 10’s from his October power rankings has made it outside 20 in the last 3 drafts, with most going top 10 and only a small number falling to 15 or so. His 19th ranked player went 23. I said nothing about his phantom drafts that by nature are going to have players all over the place as clubs play ducks and drakes. I disagree entirely that the bid system only changes things for us. If you know you won’t get a player then you can trade your right to bid as part of a trade. It’s likely GWS did that with Coll. Mac is a selection inside the top 20, not a bid, teams are far less likely to let him slide.

He's had a 48 goal season as an undersized full forward and when he went in to the midfield from Queens B'day on he went 32, 32, 29, 31, 25, 34, 27 and 23. All without ever doing a full preseason or committing to becoming super fit. In other words he's a more dangerous deep forward version of Petracca after 2019 but with a raft of off field concerns and 2 years older than Tracc too. If the penny really drops for him he'd be top 10, but there's every chance it doesn't as well.

McInnes was 19th in Twomey's October form guide. That's very accurate to where he end up going. Bids are very tricky to place because a lot can depend on other factors. Adelaide might've been very close to pulling the trigger at 11. But after that GWS had 3 picks between 11 and 18 and traded with the Pies for their future first, probably with part of that deal being a guarantee they wouldn't bid. Collingwood themselves had 2 picks. And Lachie Jones went to Port. That's 6 of the 11 picks taken care of. Add in us not being interested with our 2 picks and that's 8 of 11 spots in the drop. Mac being unrestricted in the top 20 makes him less dependent on which specific clubs have certain picks.

His best year was 2017 and he was so prolific and skillful then and his tackle and clearance numbers certainly stood up. His body hasn't been the same since and only in the second half of this year did start producing absolutely top quality midfield performances and with that I reckon his contested work was looking better. I'm willing to concede a little bit less physicality in a player if they bring exception run and skills. But it's definitely worth watching and there's been long stretches of his career where he's been getting by being a nice player without the full commitment to the contest. Although he's not nearly as bad as the other super skillful, highly drafted and thinly built Giant. Certainly Salem's toughness and contested work have been undervalued for years and it's what makes him a special player. It's just whether a really special half back can be better than a goal kicking on baller. If it's at all close I'm going with the midfielder who will be more involved in the game and can impact two ways more easily. I'd still love to see Salem get his chance as a midfielder at some stage. Or to be used as the hawks used Shaun Burgoyne where he'd play half back most of the time but if they needed some spark he'd suddenly go on ball and win a crucial clearance.