DeeSpencer

Crazy that he racked up 11 Brownlow votes. He’s one paced, poor ball user and not a great runner. There’s no politics there

Unless we’ve seen enough to make a call there’s no player I want to see more than Marty Hore the next 2 weeks. He’s the only out of contract player we have who’s not a young developmental player nor an older veteran. Given there’s not much on the line I’d like to give him the chance to push his case for another year.

A luxury addition at a time we’re trying to restock our meat and potatoes players and culture.

Marginally better inside ball winner but without the 2 way running and explosive burst Sparrow has. More of a pure inside mid. But we’d be in trouble if he was more than depth and I hope we don’t need to burn list spots on one dimensional depth players.

Yawn, there’s not much to be said right now, and particularly not in regards to unsubstantiated trade rumours. I’ll judge the boards handling of the footy department based on reviews and changes at the end of the year. The home base issue has been disappointing but we never had full control of our destiny there.

I said 'can't trade Oliver'. There's a world where there's no deal at all for Oliver, or at least no deal that's worth taking. I know trading Tracc would be the nuclear option but I feel like we have to do something pretty drastic to change the balance of the list and add some more midfield skill and run. It certainly wouldn't be my preferred option but I wouldn't entirely rule it out

Saad El-Hawli looked legit in the Essendon VFL team and then wrecked his ankle, not the greatest proof of concept but had he stayed healthy he'd have been something. Logan Evans who Port took one pick behind us is fantastic, and just a kid. He'll be the player of this mid season draft. Unfortunately I'm not sure our budget even covers the SANFL, or if we can't find the streams. Brynn Teakle was the obvious choice to give Max some cover for the season as well as straighten us up in the forward line, has done pretty well at North. And Ned Long has been a useful contributor for the Pies who have had the same midfield struggles as us but have gone at got reinforcements. Kentfield was a 100-1 to go in the top 50 in this years draft, but we took him so we can get a look at him and have him settled before doing a preseason. That way he's ready to perform at Casey next year and you're not waiting until 2026 to even know if he'll be up to it at VFL level yet alone AFL level. Right now it's hard to see the positives in that investment.

Devils advocate here: But if we can't trade Oliver, can't trade Fritsch for fair value, can't get enough picks or cap space to bring in players and hit the draft effectively is there not some value to trading Tracc if the price is absolutely the top of the market? By that I mean a proven young player and a very high pick. I just worry Tracc's lack of tank and dodgy kicking means he isn't the midfielder he once was and he's always going to be a bit iffy as a forward with his set shots. I think the preferred option is a retool and build around what we have and Tracc is the number 1 piece of that but if we can't make moves that improve both our draft and trade hands it is going to be very difficult to pull off. The club is right to say he's untradeable but with our list the way it is nothing should be truly off the table.

Ahhh so we should believe Tom Morris because someone said it on demonland first? Where do you reckon Morris got it from? Clearly we need to make some changes this offseason but I’m not buying Tracc will be one of them nor do I buy he’d want more than to see the kind of progress we’d all want to see.

10 am start for the VFL. The lads will be doing mad Monday by 1pm. What a way to go out for a few big names especially.

I’d be shocked if he went interstate but moving clubs in Melbourne is hardly that dramatic and Tommy seems to thrive on changes. And the key back market is crazy and limited for options. I reckon Tom would do wonders for Carlton, Essendon, North and they’d all be having a nibble. We free up salary and list spot, if we genuinely think Harry Edwards is an AFL player we need to offer him best 22 opportunity. No way he leaves West Coast especially if Barrass is gone to be our 4th or 5th string key back. And we spread out the May/McDonald age bracket. There’s potentially a win-win for both sides.

Out of contract rucks according to footywire: Kailin Lane - shown a bit in the lions ruck log jam but did his ACL Alex Mirkov - hasn't shown much development Aiden Begg - undersized and injured Liam Reidy - was more of a forward when drafted but dominating WAFL hit outs at least Braydon Preuss - I very much doubt it. Clay Tucker - only young, haven't seen a lot of him, seems to be play forward a fair bit Hamish Free - lots of concussions and not great VFL form Tom Campbell - hmmm, I doubt it. Lachlan McAndrew - huge height, athletic, developing from no idea how to play to something interesting Tim English - surely too expensive Reidy or McAndrew would both interest me. Although if we add a forward who can ruck a bit we might just see if Verrall can improve enough to own the spot.

That's simply not true, Petty took JVR's stint in the ruck in the middle of the last quarter. Gawn had an extended rest in the 3rd quarter in preparation for doing much of the last quarter. Melksham was expected to do more but that's the life of the sub some times, you can't always come in and pick up the pace of the game no matter that you're fresh. If we subbed Fritsch people would ask why we subbed our best goal kicker. If we subbed Disco people would ask why we subbed the young guy who was clunking a few marks and making an impact across half forward.

It's a full ground approach. Amon and Impey drive it a lot and they combine with their tall backs, especially Weddle to really power it from their backline. Their midfield gets called young but the reality is Day, Newcombe, Worpel and Nash are all pretty experienced and coming in to prime ages sooner than later. And then their half forwards all just run to great areas and have great flow, especially Dyl Moore but others like Connor MacDonald too. We have to start with making sure our core rotation of mids is rock hard fit, then get our backline to stop playing so scared and lazy to run, then hope we have enough half forwards with some smarts, work rate and class as well as tall forwards who don't just position down the line but are actually reacting to the ball movement and willing to make unrewarded leads.

If he has a good preseason (he missed time at various stages this summer and obviously still has a lot of muscle to add) I suspect he'll be ready for at least a string of games next year, but I wouldn't expect a full season and an automatic spot in the best 22. I think Tom McDonald's contract will likely depend on whether we get Harry Edwards, who may or may not become a best 22 CHB (not convinced by him but worth a look). Overall though: BBB 6 games Schache 1 game Tomlinson 5 games (and even T Mc and May 19 games) That's your pathway to get him 10 games pretty easily. Unless Disco takes a huge leap forward I expect Jeffo should compete and hopefully beat him for games next year so Disco can focus on the backline. But for now Disco is having a good crack and I don't want to see that interrupted.

Had it been 2021: 2021 12 - Josh Sinn 2022 3- Cadman/Sheezel/Wardlaw/Humphrey If the eagles got involved 2022: 3- Cadman, Sheezel, Wardlaw, Humphrey OR (post eagles trading down) 9 - Ginbey, 14 - Hewett +/- Reid But I don’t think the eagles ever would’ve got involved directly. They might’ve got involved with their 2022 pick split. I think our plans got screwed by the Horne-Francis trade that utilised that pick split and sent it to North/GWS. I believe were working on combining all the Jacko picks and getting that Eagles pick 3. Jeffo and Windsor vs just Cadman/Humphrey…time will tell

Doubt the eagles had the cap nor desire to pay up post 2021. Doubt Jacko was keen to leave right away. I reckon the grand final in Perth and extra time at home due to covid did us in. Freo probably started on a mega deal offer over summer. Sadly without more future picks being available the most Freo could really offer was 2 firsts and a second. Unfortunately even tho we were lucky to get pick 6 or whatever Windsor was we just fell out of the top range of the draft.

He battled through a pretty bad knee injury late in 2022 and didn’t have his athleticism to really impact forward. No issues with his application

2 massive statistical outliers. There’s reason to believe Gawn can keep going at a good level if given more support. But we had 7 A graders in 2021: Gawn, May, Tracc, Oliver, Viney, Salem, Lever. Aside from Max I’d have 3 in serious decline and 2 (Tracc, Lever) with injury concerns and 1 in Oliver in his own category.

No McKercher’s but maybe half a dozen Ryley Sanders’ level mids. Many of which might take 2-3 years to come good. Some really good tall prospects too

And they finally gave Chandler a run up the ground last night and he looked perfectly competent as a 3rd winger in spot minutes. If we can use all our half forwards: Chandler, Kolt, Fritsch, Pickett, ANB on the wing or on ball we can then put wingers like Langdon and Windsor forward for a change of pace and different look. Or throw Windsor on ball. Langdon at half forward really helped stretch teams vertically rather than just horizontally.

Think you’re harsh on Bowser, I reckon he was set for a big year before a really nasty injury. The kicking will bounce back if we get a midfield that can run and provide options. Moniz is a great package of traits but has no idea what he’s doing and no tank, has to get through a preseason this summer or it won’t end well. Depth utility/wing is probably the best we’ll get from Woey. Howes could be something but he’s just soft and doesn’t demand the ball either. His good form at Casey last year saw he really keen to get the footy but apart from Langdon and few others this team doesn’t believe in running and demanding the pill. Not sure what you’re not seeing with Kolt, super work rate for a young player in the hardest spot on the ground. Does a lot of smart things with things like tap ons. Makes mistakes but generally that’s because he’s trying to be composed and follow instructions. Is he a high end talent, no. But with his frame and enough juice in the legs he’ll do more with the ball as time goes on.

Just saw this, we’re on the same page

Jack should’ve been captain this year, Gawn has battled manfully but he’s paced himself even when not injured and hasn’t always attacked the contest with the intensity of a player in their prime. Can’t have Tracc next year after such a serious injury. Can’t have Lever, don’t trust his body and don’t trust his play under pressure. Honestly if they wanted to reward effort and being a great clubman they could give it to ANB for a year.

Houston’s a better kick because he’s steadier than Farrell and just a much better overall player. I wouldn’t call a high possession winner with an intercept marking/all round game and designated kicker a role player. If that’s a role player then who besides key talls and mids isnt? Port have Sparrow and Chandler level players, most teams do. They’re worth more to us than anyone else. Durable, prime age guys who crack in every week, even if they’re both fringes of a very good side. We should offer them someone of quality in a role they don’t have. Given Georgiades probably has to play key tall they do miss a 3rd tall and I doubt they want to leave JHF there as they did last night. They bought on Watts, they’d be the perfect suckers to bite on Fritsch. A future first and Fritsch for Houston and steak knives would be lovely.