DeeSpencer

The only thing for us to review - and it’s the same for the Giants - is to not travel insterstate against the best team with a rabid home crowd on the back of 2 hard fought finals. That means finishing top 4 and having the good fortune of the majority of the best players ready for finals

Training as a half back and whilst he's looking good there (and was his best position at Casey) I can't have him ahead of Hibberd, Salem and Harmes yet.

JT didn't give much away, but that's to be expected. Trying to read between the lines I think the 3 most interesting things he had to say were: 1. When asked about the Gold Coast's first 2 picks he wouldn't comment on the clubs draft board but there did seem to be an undercurrent of Jackson being rated very very highly. Possibly at number 2 on the board and hey maybe even number 1 (although I doubt it). There's no benefit to putting your neck on the line further by publicly stating he's ahead of one of the Suns boys but it was reassuring that they made the Jackson pick proactively and not because it was a draft heavily weighted to the top 2 picks. 2. That the difference between Pickett and Weightman really came down to Pickett being more of a crumbing specialist with slightly better pressure skills whilst Weightman has the better aerial game. Sounds like they rated both of them and team fit became the deciding vote. 3. Powerful seems to be the word JT likes best for Rivers. Promising for his midfield potential but also hopefully means that from early in his career he knows how to knocks guys off the ball and use his body.

I think we made an error not going to Viney and Gawn last year. Jones was clearly over the hump of performing as an on field leader and his best leadership was his on field drive. I'd be happy with Viney and Gawn. Viney has done the apprenticeship and might finally have his body right. I still think he has the right on field traits and off field drive to lead the club. Gawn is clearly impressive on field and speaks with passion off field. Why would one of them be stronger without the other? It's a coach driven sport, not one where any player alone can make a huge impact on games to anywhere near the extent of the coaches. If you divide the duties that really aren't that important to team performance - media, sponsors, appearances - then you double the amount of time available for your captain to do the things that do matter

1 of those clubs was the Giants that played in the Grand Final and then changed models because it was time for a freshen up not due to results. The other 6 were Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Sydney, Carlton and the Gold Coast. I don't think captaincy played any part in Sydney, Carlton or Gold Coast's results. The two South Australian teams seemed to have changed to decisions they should've made in the first place. At the Crows having Sloane take over solo from Walker was logical. And Jonas really should've had the gig without Wines, that was a strange decision to begin with but now it raises the question of whether they should've stuck by it given they made it. Carlton have a great pair of captains and the Swans have a model that works very well for themselves. We shouldn't make decisions based on what other clubs are doing, it's a matter of deciding what we need.

Solely with the backline. Think they need the run and ball winning back there. Usually coaches pick the 7 defenders for a game and keep the rotations simple, I can't see him rotating mid and back. Viney probably takes responsibility for the sub 185cm gun mids. Not sure what the plan will be for the Dusty/Fyfe/Bont/Danger types.

McGowan's wage and expense account clearly can't afford him a trip down to Gosch's because he's got a whole bunch of names in the wrong spots there. Most clearly with Harmes at half forward rather than half back and a lot of the depth in the wrong spots. Including naming Lockhart as a crumbing forward option.

Not sure Gawn is a good kick, and leaning back happens after you've kicked. So the examples above Salem has just dropped the ball whilst the others are later on in the motion. But I do agree the best kicking technique is getting forward so the ball is dropped from a lower height. Salem's ball drop is so quick and repeatable so it stands up under pressure. Even with his opposite foot/hand you can tell he's dropping it right over his foot. Meanwhile Gus is dropping it from somewhere above waist high and so it has so much potential to go wrong. If Lewis is going to work as a kicking coach he needs to remember all the drills and lessons he did under Clarko and David Rath 10 years ago. St Kilda had the great idea in the offseason to hire David Rath. I wish we did.

Exciting stuff. After watching Jackson at training and in his highlights, the tall mid that Jackson most reminds me of is actually Bont. In his highlights he kicks left foot floaters rather than left foot bullets but the ability to move with the ball through a pack in space you didn't know was there is similar. Bevo loves to use Bont in the ruck as a momentum changer to get an extra mid around the ball. If Jackson plays back up ruck early it's going to be an interesting challenge for our coaches structuring up for Gawn winning a lot of clearances to a completely different style where Jackson probably loses a lot of the knocks but is a weapon at ground level.

Defensive ability will be crucial but fitness might be just as important for Lockhart. Because I see him playing pretty high up as a flanker and having to cover the ground. I don't expect him to really compete with Nev. Salem and Harmes have been positioned for that job but if Lockhart takes it up a notch we then get to move one of those 2 around. Most likely Harmes back in to the midfield mix. Nath Jones is down to start the year with the forwards as a high half forward.

Sandringham Dragons key forward apparently.

Garlett and Lewis probably had great statistical value last year despite being completely finished. I wonder how they’ve valued Jones. The good news is apart from Gawn who surely can’t go up another level again we have so many players who can improve. Not sure the Dogs are 2nd but I think they belong in the top 5. After that the gap between 6-17 can’t be all that wide. North won 10 games, Freo won 9. Unless Hill and Langdon are now Judd and Ablett the gap between the lists can’t be all that big.

I could've replaced Dusty this year and they still would've won it. They lost Rance, moved Grimes in to his spot and didn't miss a beat. Mid season they decide there's no longer room for him in the forward line and move Caddy on to a wing. They move a young small forward flanker in Baker to a sweeping defender spot. Shane Edwards and the undrafted Stack held down the back flanks for a while without Short and Houli. They play Cotchin at half fitness because they can. They play 2 rucks off the bench, 50/50 game time each because they can. They debut a guy in a grand final, because they can! The way they pressure without losing their shape behind the ball is incredible. The way they run with the ball and forward handball is amazing. They way they have 22 fit and fast athletes ready to perform to their best is off the charts. It's way more than just Dusty.

You linked to 2018, they aren't the numbers I have for 2019.

Mihocek 1.5 goals to Brown 1.3 1.5 contested marks to 0.5 1.8 marks inside 50 to 1.1 2 tackles compared to 1 In many of the most important stats Brown fall short. That's why he's depth. Maybe I should be more appreciative of fit, skilled and available depth. But he's ageing, he's soft and he's defensively ordinary. There's no moneyball hidden value here. And unless he's the answer down back I can't see the Cam Pedersen unexpected role player like when Cam went in to the ruck with Gawn out.

By the way, todays fairly low contested but fast moving match sim was probably ideally suited out at Casey where the runners would have to cover far more ground. Not great for track watchers but I hope they will move some sessions out there before the season to prepare the team for games at the MCG.

Weideman has had his time at Casey. It’s time for him to get an extended run. Moneyball also implies there’s a skill we’ve identified that Brown can contribute that makes him undervalued. I don’t think there is. The undervalued skills for key forwards as far as I see them are: 1. Forward pressure. 2. Being able to split a pack and not get outmarked. 3. Versatility to go in to the ruck. The moneyball parts of Brown’s game are accurate goal kicking - but I don’t think he can generate many shots on goal - and a supposed ability to go down back.

Hibberd played on Fritsch for a bit of the match sim and made on great closing spoil and took a nice mark. Fritta got him once or twice as well. He looks fitter and still has more defensive smarts than most of our players. He had a few nice kicks as well, it just seems like he's off in his kicking on the run. Not sure if that's fatigue, feeling perceived pressure now he's lost a little speed or a confidence to technique error. I'd like to see him balance up and go for shorter smarter targets. He expects to outrun opponents and launch it 60 like he used to and I don't think he can do that with the same reliability.

Trying to work out why I hate this signing so much and I think I've got it. He's the key forward version of Lewis. He's old, so even if he came in and had one good year he'd be done within 2-3 years - so he's sucking up development time that keeps others in the 2's. He has ok endurance but otherwise no significant athleticism. He has good skills but how much will he use them? He doesn't like the contest - the majority of the marks on his highlights are chest marks. And defensively he's a liability. Essendon got rid of him because they want to play aggressive front half football with defensive pressure under their new coaches. They also probably know that when you have a Mitch Brown you play a Mitch Brown and that gets you absolutely nowhere long term. Drafting Pickett and Jackson is a clear sign we want to bring more athleticism and pressure to the forward line and in Jackson's case around the midfield as well. Why are we adding a poor mans Jack Watts' who's one dimensional and averages 1 tackle per game?

T Mc rolled an ankle on Monday. Don’t think it’s anything more than that. Viney’s done enough training for pre christmas. If they shut him down until January I’d be happy.

Weid coming off with blood all over his face from the grappling

3 consecutive missed kicks under no pressure from Hibberd, Gus and Nietschke. its very uncontested match sim with 2 players going both ways in white vests. They are covering the ground well but butchering it

I'm not trying to be negative, I think we'll be a lot better and have done some nice work to get better. We'll be fitter, we've made sure we at least have decent options on the wing, we've freed up some run from the backline and made an aggressive move for a small forward. But I'm still not sure we've got the mix right between ball winners and quick ball users in the midfield mix and I think that's far more important than a 29 year old 5th string key forward.

I have nothing against all those players. Langdon is a good pick up who will play a lot of games, he's just not a very good kick. Rivers is a really good draft pick, maybe he'll surprise me and be ready early but the coaches are clearly thinking they'll ease him in down back. Not a huge Tomlinson fan but at least he's fit (or was until he got us ) and reliable. I'm a big Baker fan but he needs 1-2 full preseasons to build the tank required to play AFL midfield, instead he has a mystery injury or illness. JJ could be something in a year or two and Nietschke is the kind of hard worker and ball winner every list needs. A plan to fix it? I'd cut Josh Wagner, doesn't have the speed or skills to play half back, no idea why he's still on the list. I'd cut Corey Wagner, we've got ANB, Spargo and Jones in the high half forward role, we don't need 4 players with limited skills or forward craft. I'd think long and hard about cutting Jones as well, either way, at least one or the other. I'd have traded Brayshaw for another top 30 draft pick and used that to trade or draft a skilled and fit mid. And I'd pay Kade Kolo to retire too. That's 4 list spots freed up. Then if we use a spot for Brown we've still got the spot for a depth key defender and 3 spots for skilled runners. But it was too late for that because we locked in a whole bunch of depth players in positions we don't need them. So I'd have waited on signing Brown until March and had the 2 best skilled midfield runners that missed in the draft down to train with us until then too.

We did pretty much the same thing with Corey Wagner last year. Clearly it was arranged to have him out of the drafts, but more of a suprise that we didn't add him as a delisted player. Maybe some salary cap relief if you got the extra rookie.