DeeSpencer

Oscar yes, Frost no. The contract we gave Tomlinson was worthy of a best 22 player who impacts games. Tall bloke who paddles around the backline and can’t defend or intercept isn’t that. A summer training with the defenders might help, he can run and he’s not the worst kick but he wouldn’t get a game in any of the finals sides.

Tomlinson was a mistake many of us saw coming. The Saints bought in 4 nice additions. 3 of which they paid a pretty hefty price for and a bargain in Butler. Plus 32 year old Ryder who’s a nice short term sugar hit. We added Langdon and 3 nice draft picks. Apart from the Tomlinson mishap we’ve done well adding guys who will improve the list for a long time. Isaac Smith could be our version of a Ryder. If we find just a couple of capable role players whilst maintaining draft picks the list we’ll be in decent shape.

Not comparing Petty to those guys but I’m predicting if Brown comes in and takes the full forward spot then Jackson will be the CHF over Weid. Petty also has a strong chance to be preferred over Weid. He has more mobility and versatility.

5 spots below Mitchell who wouldn’t get a game for us. I’d still prefer Frosty over Tomlinson, but not crying over split milk

Smith's likely too old to draw compensation unless the money is a crazy amount. If Viney goes there's still a chance we match and trade. If not and we are keen to sign Smith and it won't draw any compensation due to his age we could always trade for him instead. Give Hawthorn a token late pick upgrade. We can protect ourselves by making the second year conditional on a number of games in the first year. Or add other incentives. The most important questions are whether Smith has anything left and if he makes us noticeably better and helps us become a contender. Most things after that can be worked around.

Absolutely Jackson and if he returns well from injury then Petty as well would make more sense in that CHF role. Brown has a big tank too and comes up the ground to contest, he's an excellent endurance runner, but he averages 1.1 tackles a game and Weid's not much better at 1.3. We've seen Weid play in a 3 tall set up or Weid with Preuss and none of it's worked. He needs to be one of the main men crashing packs and complimented by a player who has different skills. I can't think of a team that plays 2 big key forwards that don't get involved at ground level. The Saints are tall but both their ruckmen and even more so Max King are great on the ground as is Membrey. Riewoldt was struggling for a while earlier this year but he's got an all round game. Kennedy teams up with Oscar Allen and Darling because they move like midfielders. The Cats don't even play a second key forward, they rotate Stanley or Esava down there for a contest and otherwise use Danger and Rohan. Jackson is that kind of Oscar Allen/King brothers type athlete that you pair with a less mobile marking forward. I don't think Brown and Weid go well together at all.

We weren't 13th at stoppages, but anyway. There's an argument to be made ANB could've helped the midfield balance providing two way run but how was he going to help at the clearances? He fumbles, he doesn't commit his body down over the ball and he always attempts to kick even if there's traffic right infront of him. He has no step, no left side and often even struggles to handball because he doesn't even gather and hold the ball properly. He's a good midfielder down a level because you get away with all those things and he can accumulate. Unless he makes big improvements I can't see him mixing it at centre clearances with stronger, faster and smarter players.

If we signed Brown then Weid would play in the 2's. Can't have 2 big forwards who don't get a lot of the ball, don't particularly excel in the ruck, don't move well up the ground and can't defend.

I can see that logic, but I also think we've got Pickett and a rejuvenated Spargo as the starters in the half forward spots. Then some if not all of Hannan, Hunt, Bedford and Chandler on the list to fight for spots. If we keep ANB and he isn't a consistent part of the side then we've really got a collection of speculative talent as is. If there's not a lot of confidence that he'll be a regular in the side then we're losing a lot less for moving him on. There's ways to replace the list spot with a less speculative pick as well - delisted player, mature ager, trade up picks etc.

What is this stat and where is it available?

You've named 3 guys who aren't ruckmen as capable depth ruckmen - 2 of which don't even like contact or contested aerial situations, the other is our full forward - and a 20 year old basketballer. Unless we think Bradtke has come a fair way we'll need to replace Preuss. Rucks get injured, especially older and younger ones. A 3rd proper ruckman being required to play is not remote.

I'd be in no hurry to sign him but he did become a half decent key defender prior to his you know what, which is the reason he barely played this year. If he passed a medical and could train with the club to prove his health I'd have him as key defensive depth ahead of Oscar on the basis that he's not Oscar. There will be other key defenders available in the state leagues or once good sides start cutting their lists.

Small, light body but a nice left foot kick and a good tank. Wouldn't really be in line with our recent recruiting philosophy of contested ball winners. He's pretty much left footed Billy Stretch with a crisper kicking action. Have to think he stays at Essendon they are just working through higher priorities.

We've only had 1 round of delistings from a bunch of clubs that missed finals and I'd have no issues if we replaced the 3 you mentioned with Shaun McKernan, Wylie Buzza and Majak Daw. The rucks and key defenders in particular should bring better names than that as well.

We didn't have a run of injuries until later in the season. It might've been easier to get games but it was very difficult to develop playing occasional 12 a side scratch matches in various conditions. We originally took a smaller group to QLD as it was meant to be only for a month or so - which I think most people had no issue with - and then the rest had to catch up. Playing in smaller teams was always going to advantage the more seasoned guys, their athletic advantage would be emphasised in 12 on 12 instead of full vfl games. Sparrow was one of the first non regular players in to the team then got injured. Jordon surely would've got a chance if not for his injury. Baker missed preseason and needed time to get fit. Bedford got rewarded in round 1 for his hard work over summer but he wasn't every good, by the time the season restarted Bennell, Jones and soon after Hannan were available. I'm ok with moving Nibbler on and giving Bedford more of a go once he's had another preseason but I'm not expecting much.

Merrett seems unlikely and Saad is now a lot stronger on Carlton or staying per the latest reports. I think one or two of the experienced players could be in play. 4 or 5 seems very ambitious. I can't see 12 happening either. If we were going to be that aggressive I'd imagine we'd start off with more than 3 delistings. I think the plan is to get whatever we can out of some depth types to get picks to trade and still give Jason Taylor a fighting chance with a few picks in the top 40. At the same time the salary cap gets a lighter year and we can be far more aggressive next year. It was a crappy year to be a young depth player. With a real state league season next year we might find we've got a few handy players waiting to go. If that's the case the health of the list is looking far stronger than if we made big swings for ageing guys that might not work out. And if things are looking up next year then we've got Merrett and Kelly as free agent targets.

The 3rd year of Lewis' contract. Not winding up Jetta and Jones. Trading for Ben Brown. Oscar McDonald.

I’ve seen worse ideas, but with Hibberd probably only having 1 year left and a decision to be made on Nev I don’t think were in the market for a 35 year old. I actually think he’d make sense for North.

He’s not getting a gig in anyone’s midfield. He’s not a winger. He’s not hard at it. He reaches for the ball rather than bodies it. He tackles with his arms rather than his legs. He provides very specific value as a high half forward going contest to contest proving an option in attack and working hard defensively. But without any great way to win the ball or use the ball and being an ineffectual tackler he’s very limited. More limited players have won premierships and hard working team mates are important but so is turning over the list and promoting guys with more upside.

Essendon had 30 year old Bellchambers and 20 year old yet to debut Draper, they landed Phillips from Carlton. After losing Phillips at one stage during trade week last year Carlton had 30 year old broken down Kreuzer and 19 year old Tom De Koning. They landed Pittonet. One look through the out of contract list shows: Kieran Strachan, Max Lynch, Henry Crauford, Darcy Fort, Keegan Brooksby, Ryan Abbott, Joel Amartey, Nathan Vardy and Jackson Trengove. And there's bound to be contracted players - Callum Coleman-Jones is probably one - who are available. If we get something useful for Preuss to find a player in our best 22 we can find a 3rd string relief option elsewhere.

Trading out limited players to create room for newer and perhaps better players is an idea I can get around. The short quarters didn't help and he did have a patch of form later in the year that looked more like an AFL player, but overall I think he peaked in 2018 and as the game is getting quicker and smarter he'll struggle to have the same impact. If it came down to it I'd rather have another look at Jayden Hunt, Hannan or Bedford/Chandler and see what they can do. I don't think the results of our year change all that much if we take ANB's games and give them to those guys. If you save a pick and some cap space to spend on the long term solutions that's even better.

Of course stats lie. One look at how they calculate disposal efficiency will tell you that. As an outside player who wins 2/3rds of his touches as uncontested possessions he should have a high DE. All his handballs should hit targets and all he has to do to get an effective kick is either hit a short target or kick long to a 50/50. Ed Langdon who's not a good kick at all goes at 74% overall. Chris Mayne who plays the wing for the Pies goes at 80%. Phillips will be a cheap draft pick because the Pies are shredding cap space. But the Pies won't pay any of his contract next year if they are giving him away for nothing and I believe it's not a cheap contract. Polec should also be a fairly cheap pick and the Roos might be willing to pay plenty of his cap space for the next 3 years. Anyway that's just 2 options, both of which have pros and cons. My first choice would be going after Josh Daicos in an aggressive way because he has the skills and smarts that help a team score and a lot of upside. There's bound to be plenty more across the comp and in the draft.

It’s nice to have a balance but I don’t think kicking leg matters as much for the wing these days. Gone are the days of long handballs to outside runners flowing on to their outside leg. Wings get most of their ball in space at half back and the ability to turn corridor side and kick with your inside leg is probably more important than running boundary side. Polec’s a good kick which explains our interest. I don’t think him being a lefty means much for team balance. Langdon will still play the far wing because he can run all day whether that’s his inside or outside leg

Collingwood fold their wings back then move the ball slowly and methodically or go long and high to Cox. Pretty easy side to have a high DE playing on the wing. Phillips has a poor kicking technique especially for a left footer and misses targets no matter what the stats say. He’d certainly improve us but short term improvement at the cost of finding long term solutions worries me. Every player you recruit who can’t kick is putting a ceiling on a sides overall ability

Key forwards have to run a lot of KM's. They play high game minutes (up to 100%) and are often jogging to reposition forward of the ball. It's less intense running than the mids and smalls. That said, Weid missed a reliable partner once Jackson got injured and the Swans and Freo games in particular were noticeable that he had to play CHF because either Brown wouldn't contest or Preuss couldn't get to the contest. Weid was constantly towards the top of the most KMs and I think it caught up with him in the last month.