DeeSpencer

Fair point. I don't care much about the positions because at the end of the career they say a player is an AA or dual AA or 7 time AA or whatever, especially for midfielders making it matters more than the spot. Macrae hasn't played much wing this year so I'd leave Phillips in his proper position and put Clarry in the guts!

Actually a pretty good team. Hard to argue about too much. Lot of negativity on here where Robbo has put together a reasonable side showing decent judgement. Those knocking Grundy and Phillips might want to wait until we've played them. Both very good players. Nev had a slow first month. Doesn't excuse him missing last year but he's not AA right now. Backline is spot on. Can't argue with the midfield. Forward line - might move Hogan to CHF, let Buddy roam a flank and have Dusty on the bench. Gawn is very unlucky. Robbo admits he's the most stiff. He'll get his chance v Grundy, and if they both play well then maybe a midfield misses out.

One thing I'd like to see is if for the first 5 minutes of a quarter T Mc does his thing where he starts on a wing then instead of Tim Smith getting the FF job I'd like to see Tracc get that chance. Play Smith or Hannan up a big higher and let Tracc be the go to man inside 50 to start quarters. For this week against the Pies I'd give him 5 minutes deep with the other forwards up the ground and some leading room to see if he can get Dunny on the lead or one on one.

Very much enjoying him as a flanker and rotating on ball. He doesn't get big stats and he's not producing a lot of flashy moments but his ability to turn a contest at half forward encourages our fast ball movement. He's also working hard to make better decisions and iron out his goal kicking. And his pressure around the ball scares defenders and if he can just lift his work rate to get contest to contest as a forward he'll be super dangerous. On the bigger MCG he'll get more one on ones and plays in space as well. There was a contest on the forward flank where he was kicked to 2 on 1 and just held his position to make sure he was spoilt back in to the corridor and could run on to the ball and it was brilliant play.

If there's a Freo player to target to get cheaply to play it role it might be Tom Sheridan on a wing. Former first round pick and a very good runner who hasn't kept a consistent spot in the team. He'd be a buy low candidate.

Probably out of our price range but James Sutherland's done a better job than his current reputation reflects as the CEO of cricket Aus. Launched the Big Bash, made some big money with a TV deal, done the rounds with the players on a pay deal. Worth a phone call at least to see if he wants to move his office just down the street. The more competition the better.

Up until this year he'd butcher the ball relentlessly. Now he's starting to hit his targets. Reminds me of Harmes, but a little smaller and faster. I think he'd play half forward or wing for us and add a hard runner. Freo aren't giving him up in contract though, he's one of their bright spots, so he's a target for the end of next year.

Would like to know how his contract is going. Have they opened negotiations? Also how he's embraced different roles - wing, forward, back, on ball and even some ruck and if he sees himself settling in to one particular spot.

Don't mind this from Greeny. I'd certainly give Weids a go at CHB for Casey for a few weeks. I think he'd hold a lot of marks he gets his hands on up forward and his clean handballing and tackling would be useful. It would help his kicking under pressure and second efforts as well.

We could fit Wines in. Petracca plays forward, Brayshaw - if he's not traded to create the room - rotates in from the wing. But he's going to cost 2 first round picks we don't have, plus a mega contract. Gaff fits a need better, is cheaper - both contract and trade - and it's a question if we can even fit him in.

Alternating would actually work in our favour if we get a 2nd game against the Pies in the first 5 weeks. That way both teams can lock in a big pay day each year, and the QB'day game will grow. With Pies fans upset about not sitting in their regular seats and having a few losses the Collingwood portion of the crowd has shrunk more than the Melbourne portion has increased in the last few years. Alternating is the best way to grow it back up to maximise attendance.

They bought some pubs a few years ago that turned in to lemons, and then had a costly training base expansion to pay for. When AFL profit sharing came in under equalisation they felt the squeeze a bit. Personally I feel Eddie's main motivation is to keep Melbourne down, not in a vindictive way just in the spirit of a tough competition. You can tell when commentating he loves a Victorian underdog side because if you keep the bad Victorian sides exactly where you want them - ie. in the comp but treading water to survive - then Collingwood maintain their status as one of the best Vic sides. Since 2010 Hawthorn and Geelong are as strong as ever, the Dogs nabbed a flag and the Tigers are now a powerhouse. He'll be getting nervous about the Pies position in the food chain.

I'd love Wines, but with Viney, Oliver, Petracca and Brayshaw I think we're better off spending resources elsewhere. Sounds to me like he's stalling his contract because teams like Essendon surely and maybe Carl, Haw, North and St Kilda have all offered up big dollars.

Hogan doesn't tackle, doesn't apply great pressure, doesn't get 1%ers such as spoils when caught out of position and has a number of clanger turnover kicks per game. There's a number of stats that these rankings seem to really favour. They really like efficiency which is where Oliver stands out. They've always loved Tommy Mc's 1%ers and work rate. They reward explosive players like Petracca who turn contests in to clean possession. Hogan's up to 67th overall and right up with the best key forwards not named Lance this year but clearly his form in '16 and '17 left some room for improvement.

The thing that really need to change for Weideman to get in the team over Smith is for the other forwards to start laying some forward 50 tackles. Especially Hogan who is very poor defensively for a mobile guy but Hannan, Melksham and even Tommy Mc as well. If we had reliable forward pressure from those guys we would pick big Sam.

If Smith was injured then yeah, Stretch could come in and run the wing against Tom Phillips who's an in form player of the competition. Harmes and Fritsch would spend more time forward to cover Smith's 3rd tall role, with either Harmes or Tommy Mc doing the ruck minutes. My guess is the coaches might prefer that to bringing back Weeds. It could work, but the first option is to hope Smith is fine. Wasn't great against the Dogs but as long as he's solid more often than not he's an important role player.

I think there's weaker parts of every line to our team but I still like the 6 remaining defenders. Hibberd, Jetta elite as you said. Salem's made a couple of errors but is playing at a very high level since going to half back. Oscar looking solid. Lewis very good in the right role. Vince doing his job defensively even if his kicking runs hot and cold. Inexperienced outside run (can Fritsch and Harmes be consistent against good opponents), midfield kicking skills (Gus, Viney, Oliver, Tracc all better with their hands than feet) and lack of a good two way small forward (Spargo and ANB excellent up the ground but ideally we'd have a gun pressure player and goal kicker replace Hannan) are equally large gaps. Lever's injury has opened another one but it also creates an opportunity for a player with a different skill set. As good as Lever is when allowed to read the play and zone he's still only average one on one. Potentially we can now play a better lock down defender (maybe Frost) and shift Hibberd and Salem in to more attacking roles. Or we can play Hunt, which takes away some aerial ability and clean skills but doubles down on the ability to cover space quickly and rebound. The Lever injury costs us the ability to set up on our terms to play our very best footy, but the trade is being able to rotate a different 7th defender based on match ups and roles and that could work in our favour.

I've just had the tip his foot isn't in great condition and he had his boots off in record time out on the field yesterday. Purely speculation but they might use the week either before or after the bye as a chance to unload it if they are ultra cautious to avoid a Viney situation. After seems more likely.

Pedersen had to be a chance if they were to use the bye to give Tommy 2 weeks off to fix his foot properly instead of rolling the dice that it will come good.

I've been a strong supporter of the idea of Pedda playing back. He's a lovely kick and reliable mark. That said, I think he'd have to play the full back role Oscar McDonald is playing and there's probably not room for both of them. If things ever get to the really experimental stages I'd like to see Weids thrown back at Casey. He'd find it easier to take grabs at CHB and his clean hands at ground level would be very nice.

Agree. He's a natural reader of the play and should kick to space. When he tries to thread it in tight he gets in to trouble.

Harmes going back to cover Lever meant Gus was shifted to the wing a lot more. Think he shifts back inside more next week.

In a number of preseason training threads I said Gus keeps finding the ball but is sloppy with his kicking. Would've been nice if he started in the team from round 1 but I think reading between the lines Goody put the foot down and said he had to do the extras on his body and his skills at training. It's starting to pay off and should only get better if he keeps the focus on nailing the fundamentals. We got smashed at the clearances today so all the mids have a fair bit of work to do for next week.

His right foot isn't always any better! In space he should use his right, but I like the idea that he goes on his left to get out of trouble and hope he keeps using it. His dual sided ability has always been his stand out trait, especially out of congestion by hand and foot.

Lever is what, 194 and 90 or so? He's not a strong big body, he's mobile and good overhead. And fit. Joel Smith is far more like for like as a roaming CHB than Frost. Big Frost has size and speed but is more suited deep one on one. His endurance and positioning gets found out up the ground.