DeeSpencer

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.

In hindsight if the club wanted to keep him for another year they should've sent him back to Melbourne or even Perth once it was clear he wasn't going to play for the rest of the season. Seems abundantly clear that the Gold Coast isn't a good spot for him. He really did seem contrite about doing his best for his family. Would be very sad if he spirals out of control.

Yet Viney was probably our best midfielder over the first 2 finals and set the tone with incredible tackling and defensive pressure especially against the Cats. Then won a heap of the footy against the Hawks. If all our mids bought the pressure and intensity of Viney we'd almost have no choice but to find a way to move the ball because we'd be creating so many turnovers and loose ball gets the rest would work itself out. That's pretty much the Richmond model, the biggest difference is they surround their traditional mids with skilled flanker types who pressure.

Specific targets: 1. Build a time machine? Oscar just hasn't become more physical, progressed to taking intercept marks or found the ability to track a lead and move with an opponent. As the game keeps getting quicker and quicker and he doesn't (both by mind and feet) it's hard to see him improving. If you ran 100 simulations of Tom's career post 2018 I think this would be in the bottom 5 versions, but it's very hard to see where he finds the movement and confidence to bounce back from. This year was meant to be a bounce back year and to various extents Viney, Vanders, Spargo, Weid, Hibberd even Lever a little did bounce back. The McDonald's didn't fire a shot.

1. Money 2. Development - he knew he didn't have the fitness or ruck craft to be an effective starter 2 years ago. He had to build his tank and work on his tap work. 2 years as Gawn's apprentice gives him a much better chance to lockdown a starting job.

Doesn't really matter if he was behind Polly Farmer and Dean Cox too, the lack of games hurts his value. Trade week isn't an auction. Preuss seems keen to leave. We seem happy to get something for him otherwise we would've told him he's staying. So he'll find a club and we'll haggle over his value. The bar is being set very high when I imagine the club has a more realistic target on what they want back.

He left the hub - as is his human right to do so - an employer doesn't control your freedom of movement outside the work place, and didn't ever re-enter the hub. And now he's no longer on the list. So why do we have to pay a fine? Sad to see him screw up after working so hard to get his life on track. But the club can gamble on a worn down body if the mind is strong. I worn down body without full commitment isn't worth the risks.

I think he’s a promising ruckman who isn’t willing to play ruck. A lot of similarities to Brad Ottens, just not as good. It depends on how we see Petty and what the price is but I’m not sure he makes it past the kicking the tyres stage.

49ers, Bucs, Packers

6 years on AFL lists for 18 games. Has struggled to get fit. Has battled with injuries. There's very little evidence that he's ready to be a starting ruckman. Apart from GWS those other clubs you named have much more reliable options and don't need to desperately gamble on Preuss. There's no way that 2 years of doing stuff all at Melbourne has suddenly increased his value.

That’s like saying Melbourne’s got Fritsch would they swap Kieran Briggs for Pickett.

Preuss is this years Frost. Yeah he’d be nice to have but we’ve got plenty of assets tied up in one position. We have to reduce what we’ve spent on rucks to fill other needs. We traded Frost because it gave us the cap room for Tomlinson (winger - oops) and the picks to make a swap for Kozzie. Any hope of Preuss earning us a high pick or good player outright is a pipe dream. Academy pick points and future pick swaps gives us a chance - but that kind of wheeling and dealing comes later. If a team values Preuss for an early 3rd rounder that’s realistic.

I’d be worried his pace might not last at 32 and length was always the strong point of his kicking. He’d get some long kicks in quickly but I wouldn’t expect him to hit many short leads

I don’t think I could handle more leadership from a 30+ Hawk on a superannuation contract.

A few weeks ago he was reporting that the Army were about to invade Victoria to perform a coup. Also seems unlikely that Rutten has a strong bond with Saad when he's only coached him for 17 games as a senior assistant.