DeeSpencer

Bit of a catch 22 tho. One of the reason we don’t move the ball faster is because we have Billings at half forward who can’t find space on the lead or defend a quick turnover. He did have some moments in the first half of the year when we moved the ball ok at times. He just flubbed most of them. Back half of the year, whatever was left of our midfield was pretty cooked. Not point flogging that dead horse.

Absolutely agree, the initial rankings (which is really just 3 people in the media) are very high on mids but I personally think the number of blue chip mids in this draft is closer to 3-4 than 6+ and that includes Ashcroft. And even then none of them truly blow me away.

Watching his VFL games his ability to read the play around the ground and at stoppages are both elite but almost exclusively he’s ducking out the back of contests or banging it on the boot. Most of his clearances come from setting up defensive side too. And in general play he has chances to put the foot down and he’ll often handball off or take safe kicks. I see the Daicos like shimmies and clean ball handling but not the same pace, he’ll often handball off rather than put the foot down. When Nick clicks in to top speed he’s super quick. Nick also kicks hard and low, Jagga just pops it. If anything he’s more like a young Josh Daicos than Nick. Draper and O’Sullivan both have more pace and damaging kicks. If you trust his physical development and his contested ball stuff then Murphy Reid has a far bigger kit bag. And yeah. We need a hard running midfield accumulator, but with pick 5 or 6 or whatever it is we need the best possible talent for 10-15 years ideally not current fit or to fill a need. There’s other ways to fill needs.

When he’s not injured he’s a bit slow and the skills aren’t quite silky enough to make up for it. He’d provide our midfield some much needed balance but there’s a pace problem. You’d be mad to give more than an early second. And unless Carlton heavily front loaded the contract he’ll be overpaid. That said, he’s only the second midfielder behind Peatling that makes any sense as a genuine target and not just a bargain depth buy.

If we do pick him up it might mean no more Melksham, I can't see the need for 2 veteran talls who's main strength is they can help set up a structure. I've always thought Membrey played a couple of decades too late. Not sure that's going to change as he gets older. We are in desperate need of someone who can lead up at the footy but in an ideal world it's a genuine tall with height and agility. But clearly it's very slim pickings on the tall(ish) forwards market.

I didn't rate him when he was good, I'm not going to be enthused about him now. It comes down to midfield spots, the contract etc. Right now our midfield is Viney, Oliver*, Tracc**, Rivers, Sparrow? and no one. Can make some case for Kolt, Laurie, Pickett, Kynan Brown I guess. That has to be at least 6 if not 7 names by the end of the trade/draft period. If it comes down to Macrae or no one then I'll choose Macrae, but he's far from my first choice.

JJ played 22 games in 2022 mostly on the wing, got injured in round 23 and actually missed finals to Harmes on the wing. Gus was already moved in different roles in 2022 - half back and midfield. JJ finished 12th in the best and fairest after a strong start. Hunter didn't crack the top 10 in the B+F in 2023. JJ was relegated to Casey, the sub and various other roles. Bad list management and bad coaching too, because Hunter never had to earn his spot. Plenty of times in 2023 when JJ should've been backed in to get his spot back and keep it.

Dev Smith is a little harsh! But yeah the downside is if he doesn't stack up as an inside player he might be more Scully ish. Although I think his kicking has far more balance and penetration that Scully's. I'd like to have him if we had a pick around 10ish, not sure he'll be in the frame at 5/6, but depends on athletic stuff. He looks like he has a nice turn of speed without being quick quick like Windsor, but does he run all day? If he's got freakish endurance that would raise him up the boards.

Second rounder? Not likely. Cal says top 10 and I think he's right, who knows, could go as high as 6! He's raw, but there's very kids who have his combination of reading of the ball in flight, athleticism and physicality. r

Not his best game, didn't have his using power in his kicking. Obviously Melbourne's non stop wind didn't help things but might be starting to run the tank on low after a huge season. But he still attacks every contest with a heap of vigour and wins the ball in so many different ways. Plenty of clips of Ah-Mu in this too. Love his soft hands on his hit outs and there's some mobility. Part of me says if he has a huge preseason he could be a top 5 pick which would be fantastic. But I'd also be happy if he coasts on through to us as a rookie then has a big summer after the draft! Stupid academy system!

He plays on ball at Gippsland, was a winger in the champs. We're also wasting Windsor if we pigeon hole him as a winger long term. He should be spending plenty of his training time with the inside mids and half backs over summer no matter who we pick. Even if I think he's a few years away from a permanent on ball role, if at all. But back on Lindsay. He has similar attributes to Josh Kelly, who we passed over twice because of doubts about his toughness under the highest of pressure but is undoubtedly a good player. And whilst I like my midfielders big and beefy there's no doubt the league has shifted to valuing quick and skilled mids. Naicos, Gulden (playes overwhelmingly on ball), Butters, Serong were all Aus. Merrett should've been. We've just lost the one player we have who can run with those guys in ANB. Lindsay's also 183cm and has at least some size on his frame, he's not totally skinny. Who's to say he doesn't end up a better inside ball winner and stronger than Jagga Smith, Finn O'Sullivan, Draper and Murphy Reid who are all in contention for top 5 picks. He had 11 disposals and 5 clearances in just over a quarter in this clip and looked comfortable in traffic.

Please don’t be a disposal efficiency truther. A 40m hacked kick to a one on one scores the same as a Tracc 65m bullet that clears half a backline. We all know what happened with Clarry but by the end of the year he looked fitter than Parfitt, even if he didn’t run like it. Parfitt’s also fitter than Stewie Dew and John Daly, doesn’t mean he’s fit.

Maybe, but he’s only 26 and rucks are special people. Most of them are a bit odd

Ladhams is a peanut (literally his nickname) but his VFL form is strong and there’s not 36 better mature body rucks in the country. He’s got a job until he’s 30. The issue is does Sydney just keep him for depth given he’s contracted. Might depend what they think of their big bean pole McAndrew who is uncontracted. But you got to have at least 2 rucks you think you can play whilst in a flag window. And does Ladhams go from sitting behind Grundy to sitting behind Gawn? The way Grundy has finished the year I’m not sure he isn’t better off trying to win that Swans job. Membrey would be a good bit of short term improvement because he can lead at the ball which is our forwards major weakness. But he’s not starting a top 4 side. I feel like a good forwards coach has to look at JVR, Disco, Jeffo even Petty depending on what we do with T Mc and think I can get these guys leading at the footy - with up the ground run and skills.

I’d feel pretty confident about our ability to win the 2018 grand final if we bought in those guys.

Parfitt? He’s a shocking kid. At his best he’s a lesser version of Viney, but he hasn’t been at his best for a while. Frankly I think he’s had injuries because he’s a bit tubby. He’d have to ditch the spare tyre before I’d sign him.

Houston, Pittsburgh, Dallas. Wasn’t going to do tips this year but you’ve sucked me back in thanks Mac. Thoughts on the season. AFC North - Ravens, Bengals East - Jets, Dolphins South- Texans West - Chiefs, Chargers NFC North - Packers, Lions East - Cowboys South - Falcons West - Niners, SeaHawks, Rams I’d probably switch it up now but I have to hold true to my preseason prediction of Packers-Jets in the Super Bowl.

The Demons’ favourite term…. Like the media didn’t kick this all off and hammer it for years. Begging for just one football journo to not be the smuggest [censored] alive.

Brad announced a review in to the board. This reads as a review in to the club and particularly the footy department. Neither things are a top to bottom club review that someone else wants. An idea which could be nice but was always going to be very difficult to implement quickly and just as likely delay changes. I’m not against this at all, but the problem is we’ve wasted 2+ weeks (or really closer to 2 months). Roffey on SEN mentioned they had someone from the all blacks in at the footy department tho so maybe this is just an expansion or formal version of what was previously happening. I’m happy for action but worried that it’s coming late. The window for making list, coaching staff and footy department personnel changes is all closing rapidly.

I think it was a stinker of an extension at about the same time as the Laurie one, too much hype over preseason improvement that was untested in games. I’m not phased that he’s not playing afl, the issue is he’s a poor vfl player in year 2.

The way he judges the ball in the air and leaps is pretty rare for a young tall.

Yep but barring a great deal I’m not trading Salem if we’re bringing in Brodie/Parfitt types or kids. It’s got to be Peatling level guys. Possibly you can make a case for the guy we take at pick 5 to be a likely best 22 inclusion but it depends who it is.

Tried to trade up for Watson. Probably didn’t have the cash for Chol. Rather lose every week than have Ginnivan.

3 talls who offer nothing in attack is a worry. It’s why Tommy Mc was vital this year and partly why Petty stayed forward. May has lost his confidence to run but can still do more. Petty has the skills, just a matter if he has the mindset. Lever tried more this year, he was a great linking handballer when we got him but has always been prone to a shank by foot. I’d change Chaplin’s line role because I just don’t trust him to change. He was a slow ball user when he played. I’m the patron saint for trading Fritsch for similar reasons at the other end of the ground so I can’t be against trading Salo. But it comes down to return and options. And mostly whether they believe Salo can get fit and get his burst back. If Rivers can stay back then Riv, Judd, Bowey, Howes and if he gets fit AMW can be backed in to transform the backline. But we need at least 2 ready to play mids (or half backs) to make that viable. So I doubt it will. Whether we are aggressive with trades out or not we have to at least take some swings on hard running players. Billings, Fullarton and McAdam doesn’t look good right now they were all moves to attempt to fix certain deficiencies. Multi year deals and draft picks for McAdam both not ideal but we’ll have the list spots to try again.

Scache 🤣🤣🤣🤣 the problem was having him on the list, not not playing him