DeeSpencer

Fill out is the wrong word, but most add some bulk and the more rangy guys usually end up very strong in the core. I'm not at all against drafting skinny players like some on here occasionally suggest not to do, but skinny guys without desire for the contest is another thing altogether. Morts didn't seem to have the desire for the contest nor the professionalism to strengthen his body.

I think we were all over Sturt and remember we tried to trade our future first for Butters. I really liked Hamill but one tackle from ANB had him in a bad way. I'm all for drafting skinny kids because they do fill out, it's nonsense to think otherwise, but they have to have the ability to withstand contact. I think teams had Sparrow higher than that 45+ range, the Suns had him next on their board at 23. The JJ pick was more of a reach and he hasn't had his chance to show us what he can do unfortunately. Not convinced by Bailey Williams. Has a nice leap but looks a depth type so far. Vandermeer and McInerny the outside mids we could've taken if we had our time again.

People need to stop thinking the Brownlow finish meant anything. Brayshaw stole all of Gawn and Oliver's votes because he's nice to the umpires where as the other two talk back to them. We had an unsustainable game plan built around mids racking up stupid numbers of possessions and not doing any defensive work. We flooded numbers forwards and prayed the ball didn't get out the back. It's disappointing how much Gus has dropped off but the Brownlow finish wasn't close to a fair representation of his actual output. In the 2018 draft class Taylor focused on hard working good character guys because the list needed an injection of professionalism from the ground up. When you've been a basketcase for over a decade it's not just as simple as the coach for reasons players form drops off. The list isn't close to ready to consistently play in multiple finals. We've seen that with the reliance of 3 first year kids being best 22. We still have big holes on the wing, half back/half forward hard running flankers, a solid key back and probably and inside mid with pace and skill.

We couldn't have got the first rounder to select Pickett if we didn't first give up the 2nd rounder to North first before getting it back. It's Serong vs Pickett and Rivers vs Rivers and a first rounder this year. Unless you include all sorts of other factors like taking Jackson and not recruiting Langdon there's no way we could've got Serong and Rivers.

Spargo played back in round 23 last year. Wasn't terrible, but it's not his go. Playing a tiny defender is asking to give up a couple of goals just through a mismatch. It's a miracle Daniel avoids this at the Dogs and it's because he's off the charts smart and their other members of their back 6 all have size and overhead ability. Spargo is playing well at half forward. If we want to get him in to games more we should start pushing him up higher to attend stoppages and then even in to the middle for short rotations, but he's probably not at that stage yet. They might have to move one to the midfield but if we get Rivers and Salem going we might have a solution for a lot of the backline skills problem. All we need is competently skilled players to support them.

Division Winners AFC North - Pittsburg East - New England South - Colts West - Chiefs WC - Ravens, Bills, Broncos NFC North - Lions East - Cowboys South - Tompa Bay West - SeaHawks WC - Niners, Packers, Saints

Hard to know about his spot on the list until we get clarity with list sizes and potential recruits. Who are we trading in or out? In terms of best position: There's so much less space up the corridor than even 3 years ago it's really hard to find room for those huge runs. Plus it might only end up outrunning the forward set up. The thing I liked most about him as a defender was that he had versatility. He could take an intercept mark. He could spoil. He could tackle. It wasn't just the runs. But I think he started to lose some of that from his game. I've wanted to see him play a bit more wing but without a great tank it's not easy to succeed there. The forward line might be the best spot for him.

Baker did play well but I think at least one if not both of Harmes and Sparrow are needed to beef up the on ball rotations and speed. Tomlinson’s the least likely of the 3 defenders I named to go out, but he’s still no good. Smith and Jetta more likely to make way and they haven’t played all that much. Apart from May, Riv and Salem the backline were disastrous in many aspects, hard to say there’s any cohesion worth keeping.

Brown and even Fritsch had made their way to spare defenders by then. So we had a 4 man forward line. Weid for a tall, Melk and Hunt as guys who can halve contests against multiple opponents and that leaves room for just the one small.

He’s been an awful waste of salary cap. Can only play 1 position - 3rd tall defender. He contributed 7 disposals and 95m gained which is stuff all for an apparently skilled player. And his lack of mobility at ground level continues to be costly. He won’t be dropped because he’s probably the best of a bunch of bad options and likely does a lot of work off camera but Burgo has to work a miracle to get agility in to him over summer.

If the Bulldogs get hammered by Freo - who are actually a very competent side right now - then do we just have a 7 team finals series? We’ll be very lucky to make it, but someone has to. Along with Essendon we haven’t had a bye and have played 14 or so games in about 12 weeks. Including FIFO trips to Cairns on 4 day breaks after playing in Alice. Finals experience is finals experience. If it’s on offer we damn well take it an run

Your concern we have no structure when we keep playing the same well drilled structure? I think we should take the short to the pocket to kill more time and get further down the wing, but unless we get more defenders with good skills and some hard running, big, gun kicking mids we're likely to play it safe and play to our strengths.

Had a very good second half and we aren't dropping one of our best pressure players for a poor one.

The defensive structure was mostly ok, one terrible breakdown that led to a walk in goal but otherwise the positioning was good, but in terms of nailing intercept chances, winning the ground balls and using the ball it was horrendous. We gifted so many goals with dropped marks, awful defending once the ball hit the ground and turnovers. None of Tomlinson, Jetta or Smith looked up to it and Lever was his typical hot and cold self. I'd be happy to swap all 3 of those for Hibberd and 2 of Wagner (who didn't do a lot wrong), Lockhart and Hore. Doubt we'll see 3 changes but something has to shift there. In terms of the mids and forwards I don't know how much to change. LJ for Brown has to be a chance but maybe we don't rush the big fella back for a one off game and let Brown face his old side. I think Hunt and Vanders might be the most shaky. Baker is hardly a lock either. I'm assuming Melksham is off limits for whatever reason but most likely goes back to the forward line. Sparrow and Harmes the options.

He wins the ball with a plan to use it, that's almost half the battle. Doesn't get any favours with the umpires either, constantly held and often hit high when he's attacking the ball not ducking. Got to get his crumbing timing right and his conversion. Big issues but not fatal flaws. The pressure and the way he can track the ball in tight are legit, everything else can be worked on.

A retool but not a rebuild. Any team with Gawn, Oliver and Petracca always has a decent inside midfield. Harmes would go straight in on ball in the tagging role. Sparrow looked promising and JJ was clearly close to a debut. Salem and Rivers are viable options too that we really have to be considering to get more class on the ball. The issue is we’d be very thin for flankers and wing options so if it’s midfielders out it needs to be ready made flankers in.

Would gladly trade you for a six pack of thin sausages.

Well his trade value just went from slim to nil.

I don't believe this 10kg thing. He's the same size he was in 2018. Why would we slim down Steve May to as thin as he's ever been and bulk Tom up? If anything Tom might be better off adding a bit of muscle to help him turn and play with power, but there's no way it was or ever will be 10kg

I wouldn't want to attempt to turn Saad in to a winger, he's a natural defender. Got to look elsewhere to fix the wing situation. Possibly Salem and Rivers shift up to the wings but I don't think either are best used there.

I suspect we'll lose to GWS. If not the Dogs will do just enough. Bont kicked the winning goal against the Eagles that was touched on the line and came from a 7m kick. That's the kind of BS that's perfect to knock us off

I just want to know if they think he has the ability to build a tank because he clearly hasn't had a full preseason and doesn't seem a great endurance runner. Which probably means he's fatally flawed as an AFL player. If the guy can build a tank then no matter the limitations with poor contested work and game sense you keep trying to see if he gets it together. Speed and a penetrating kick is just too valuable. That's the ability to break open a game. 1 good run and kick a quarter that sets up a scoring chance is so important. But as I said, it has to be on the back of a good tank. If you don't have the tank you need incredible smarts and contested ability to play the wing role - or any role - and Oskar isn't that.

Steelers, Colts, SeaHawks

Shouldn't happen - Phillips can't kick, we can fix Harmes. Won't happen x 3 - Gus isn't worth a first, Preuss isn't worth Aliir, Vanders isn't worth Cumming. Could happen, but I see it as unlikely. Won't happen x 2. The Crows don't need ANB. Williams we can't afford.

No idea if the kid can play given he hasn't made it for even a proper practice game, skills haven't always looked great, but whenever I've seen him he's been an excellent trainer. And this still appears on the club website "As a show of faith, the Demons have promised to give him another chance in 2021, hoping to see the defender reach full fitness and impact at AFL level"