DeeSpencer

As far as I'm concerned either don't advertise that there's a training on or do it at the right time. I know the club has much bigger things to worry about but it's a multi-million dollar business with a truckload of employees, one of them can update the website.

He doesn’t want a million a year, probably more realistically 600-700 and no doubt performance bonuses. But he can and likely has structured the deal with 1Mil for the first year. Exactly what everyone predicted. That number would force us to back end a lot of money and harm our chances of retaining Oliver and Petracca on good deals and then likely cost us player/s down the road.

Turned up at 10:45, 15 minutes after the advertised start time. Training finished after a minutes silence at 11. My report: it was sunny.

Assuming the talent levels are similar I think the big difference is that talented juniors from the Kimberley have a pathway through Perth and WAFL/WA juniors and things like schools and programs like Clontarf. AFL clubs and academies are likely the benefit of years of hard work. Again, not claiming to be an expert but what's the pathway for a kid from the Alice region? Is Alice Spring's still a troubling town that you want to keep kids away from? Is the NT program working (recent draft results say no)? The solution might be getting the most talented kids in schools in Adelaide.

That's interesting, and shows the media is slowly warming to it. There's absolutely an appetite from fans to know more. A slow process but in time the commentators who suggest a team needs to 'work harder' or 'win more contested ball' will be edged out by people who can actually say something interesting about the game. Then the coaches won't get away with such easy cliches either.

Pete Roberts was our head of football technology who’s also moving on. No doubt Burgess who have some of his own guys who come from a GPS/fitness analysis background. Not sure that’s entirely the same as someone crunching the numbers on stats for the coaches and recruiters. Ideally everyone works together across areas though. Amazing that clubs must have so much data but there’s so little out there for the public to understand. Then coaches get away with post game press conferences talking about junk like not winning the contested ball or playing our brand.

I reckon we'll know by about a month in to the season - even if we are 2-2 or maybe 1-3 - if Goodwin has a future and it will be because he'll finally relax in his media conferences and show a bit more of himself. Do that and I think a lot of views will change. Whether it's humour or anger it's time for passionate, dedicated and a more human Simon Goodwin. Needs to sit down with the Reverend and have a chat about how he did it. Then if the rest of the club comes with him in a positive and professional way (unlike mid 2000's when it was Daniher covering over the cracks of a decaying club) we'll be on the up. I know a player drafted by Melbourne who copped some stick from a couple of premiership coaches. The premiership coaches turned out to be right. The interviews and as the American's say 'game recognise game' can be a vital part of the draft process. I wouldn't want every player loving Goody, but I'd love to know who came away with mutual respect.

I do rate McDonald and Melksham as decent but not superstars, Fritsch the same. Although that's 3 players without defensive games. Weid who knows. Petracca required in the midfield. I think we need either a tall forward or a mid sized marking player to pair with Petracca for mid/forward impact and clearly we need a proper dangerous small with a defensive game. Weitering was up, then down for a couple of years but very much up last year. Big and strong enough to win one on ones now and a great interceptor. If you didn't watch him last year and see improvement you've missed out. SPS I rate, was good when moved to half back under Teague and just has to keep building his tank and attacking the game more. Talent is absolutely there, was just asked to do too much as a young midfielder. Dow might turn it around, his speed is still enticing. Marchbank is a serious footballer just in need of some injury luck. O'Brien the kind of elite runner who's a bit soft to begin with but becomes very useful once they start moving the ball. Setterfield still has a huge ceiling and started to produce late in the year. Cripps - who Sos inherited, plus Curnow and the number 1 picks in Walsh and Weitering are easily the standouts of the rebuild but I like their spread of talent and I think it will start to shine this year. Considering the potential for disaster in tear down rebuilds I think Sos has done really well.

Well we are all eagerly awaiting your draft guide. Go ahead and compile all the stats and draft combine results and compile a list of over 100 players.

We added (at different times) both Jay Lockhart and Corey Wagner last year and the Saints added Jono Marsh and Sam Rowe. If we've got the list spots and taken the mandatory 3 picks in the draft then I can't see why we couldn't add both. Not convinced either is a great pick up, one might never play again and the other might be no good, but yes we can get both. The supplemental selection period is the likely time frame for Murray and any other delisted free agents. They are unlikely to get picked up in the National draft - regardless if they nominate or not and can then withdraw their nomination for the rookie draft and sign with their club of choice after it. That's what Corey Wagner did last year.

The AFL endorsed message in hiring Roos was very much please stop losing and improve immediately. We did that, but Tyson and Vince are gone and Hibberd is on his last legs. And the Lewis experiment is mercifully over. Meanwhile apart from a priority pick situation allowing them to get a couple of mature players the league has been happy watching Carlton accumulate talent. The tangible evidence is the fruits of our rebuild in terms of young highly rated talent. Top 30 draft picks between 2012-2016 at Melbourne: Inherited for 2014: Viney, Toumpas (ouch), Hogan (departed as the club culture/professionalism/injury prevention didn't harness his talent) Drafted: Salem, Petracca, Brayshaw, Lever, Oliver, Weideman. Total: 9 players, 2 since departed. Top 30 draft picks between 2013-2018 at Carlton: Inherited for 2015: Cripps Drafted/Traded: Pickett (bust), Marchbank, Weitering, Kennedy, McKay, Curnow, Cuningham, Setterfield, SPS, Fisher, Dow, O'Brien, De Koning, Walsh, Stocker Total: 16 players, 1 departed. Even if you remove the guys in the 20's (Fisher, Cuningham, De Koning) it's still 12 v 7. Short term ladder position isn't a major concern in assessing a list build and the job of a list manager. The aim of the game is to win a flag and Sos has put Carlton in a very strong position. Melbourne aren't in a bad position and if winning a flag is climbing a mountain then we got some elevation last year, but have fallen down and need to regather. The closer to the summit the harder it gets but Carlton have a pretty clear path to zoom straight up to base camp and then have a good window.

No, I’m comparing list build strategies and think Carlton’s was far superior to ours. Helped by them having the cash and seemingly backing of the league to do a full tear down rebuild. I don’t think Roos and co did a bad job, they had no option but to bring in talent and get immediate improvement. Only we’re now stuck in the middle of the ladder list wise and need to absolutely nail some top picks and trades this year to get momentum back.

He took on a bunch of the GWS players he didn’t want to absorb list spots or salary to get the ones he did want - Marchbank, Setterfield, Kennedy, Plowman - at a discount price. Top 10 picks for 2nd rounders. Shifted out the right players in Yarran, Henderson, Tuohy. Drafted a heap of talent in Curnow, McKay, Weitering, Walsh, Fisher, O’Brien, SPS, Stocker etc. Apart from possibly a bad miss with Dow I’d say he’s done a heck of a job. Especially once they land Martin. The best example since GWS and then maybe going back to Hawthorn before that of the complete rebuild. It will undoubtedly pay dividends over the next 5 years. I’m convinced of it. Unfortunately we stuffed up the rebuild twice so had to bring in Roos who traded away a bunch of high picks for instant starters in Tyson, Vince, Hibberd and Melksham and we didn’t assemble the right depth of youth. We’ve had to pay big money for key defenders, we’ve been found severely wanting in midfield run and we aren’t sorted with forward line talent either.

Not sure if there's anything stopping Freo trading 10 for Gold Coast's 2020 mid first round priority pick and pick 20, using 20 and later picks to match the Henry bid, then trading Gold Coast's future mid draft first with another club for a pick around the 15-20 mark to use on draft night. Instead of using 2 clubs to rig the system clubs will just have to use 3 or 4. At the end of the day academy players are still going to come incredibly cheaply as clubs slide as far down the order as they can to match a bid and trade back in to maintain a nice draft pick. The only incentive to get Freo to trade up with us for pick 3 or pick 7 is that it will delay the Henry bid by at least another pick. It's far more likely they just plan contingency trades based on moving down the order.

Jared Polec, Shane Edwards, Brodie Smith, Wayne Milera, Hamish Hartlett and could make an argument for a young Shaun Burgoyne. Stephens’ is a country Victorian who’s played senior footy - in the Bush and at league level, did he suddenly get soft because he boarded in Adelaide not Shepp like Clayton Oliver or Caulfield like James Jordon? The height is a valid concern, I like mids who are 6’2 rather than barely 6’. Makes an important difference for versatility and ball winning, but if you play like Richmond and run run run it doesn’t matter. Why did Toumpas and Trengove fail - because they couldn’t run. This kid can seriously run and the tackles and contested ball percentages are good. He’ll start on the outside but he’s 18! Let him win more contested ball when he’s 23.

Which players would you have pulled out of 2018 on route to a prelim purely because they needed end of season surgery? Harmes, Hunt, Oliver, Petracca all were fine for 2019. Taking out Jetta? Taking out Tommy Mc or Melksham? Really pulling out Viney who finally got a chance at finals? Or Hannan and his match sealing goal. We had too many self inflicted injuries at the start of 2019 and didn’t manage post surgery guys back to form and fitness. But there’s no way we should’ve rested guys. Imagine if the Dogs did that in 2016?

I remember how good his first season was at half back. Then in classic Melbourne style we started playing him forward and in and out of the side rather than just develop him in his preferred position. Yeah he was probably short a standout attribute in terms of size, strength or pace but he was a natural half back flanker. Managed a good season for the Eagles as well. Always nice to hear about former demons doing well post footy.

Assuming the club knows the likely result with Martin I can't see the others on that list impacting our draft plans. Bennell's almost no chance to play games, Murray's a slim chance to play well enough to hold down a spot, Tomlinson will be useful for 3-4 years as a role player which leaves only Langdon as a long term player. Whilst he locks down a wing spot we still have long term needs of run and class off half back, half forward and the other wing.

I wanted to check if he met the magical 30% contested ball percentage and he does National champs: 32 of 94 = 34% SANFL: 80 of 244 =33% SANFL ressies: 38 of 64 = 59% Apart from that I think at 182cm - ok but not anything useful for the air, good but not great pace and a nice kick but maybe not Whitfield style lasers on both sides is he just below the top 5 in the draft? And then is he the best of an even bunch that rate from 5-15? Would be very happy to get him at pick 8 but he might be gone and there might be other options that help us more.

I think those stats are a little unfair. He kicked 14 goals in 7 games at SANFL reserves level - so already up 1 level from his peers. And averaged 17 disposals at Colts level last year. As with a lot of kids he's had to split time between school footy, SANFL reserves, SANFL seniors and the National champs. 14 disposals and 3 tackles at the Champs from 3 games - even with only 2 goals - shows he's a guy who gets involved in games. The comparison I'd make for him would be Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti. I do agree he's not one I'd have in the frame at pick 8 but with a pick from 15-25 I'd have a good look.

Dan Rioli was pick 15 and in a redraft would probably stay at around 15-20. Willie might be about to miss the next 1-4 seasons and was a fat older draftee, great talent, not sure how high he'd be picked again. Liam Ryan's already crashed his car in to a tree and can do some wonderful things but isn't perfect as a player, not sure he goes much higher than his draft spot, maybe 15th at best. Pickett looks to have a lot of talent but at 170cm he's smaller than the guys you've named, I'm not sure I'd be grabbing him in the first round.

Football training is such a chaotic and unpredictable activity with the movements and stresses on the body you'd be mad to include anyone with even the slightest niggle in to ball work in early November. The benefit just isn't worth the risk. From that list Weid and Nev had surgeries, AVB and KK are dealing with long term issues. I'd like to see May, Petty and Joel Smith back in full training sooner rather than later but let's wait until the main group is back before being too concerned. The thing that undid us last year was the numbers in rehab all the way through until the start of the season (and beyond). A few guys on light duties in November isn't the same thing.

I'm conflicted because I've made my thoughts on Lewis clear but I also don't mind the idea that he's kept inside the tent so can't lob potshots in and that (even if he's untested as a coach) we've finally bought someone in to focus on kicking.

Honestly I'd split both picks and get 4 high quality top 20 kids in. Maybe you end up with 1 star, 2 solid players and 1 bust. But.... If you can get 1 elite player then you have to do that. Young's kicking is special Jackson's movement at his size is special Kemp's movement and skills for his size are special (bearing in mind the ACL) Tom Green's clearance work is off the charts. The argument against trading pick 3 is to get a great player with rare abilities. Pick 8 I'm more for trading as I'm not sure there will be a special player left on the board for us to pick, but again it's a matter of how deep the list of high quality players on our board goes.