DeeSpencer

Weeds - born June 97 - 196cm Fritsch - born Dec 96 - 186cm Not really a fair comparison. Curnow had never kicked more than 2 goals in a game before tonight. So no different to Weeds. This is a year for Sam to develop a healthy, strong AFL body. Apparently with ankle surgery and a long preseason in rehab and not rushed in to AFL games that has hopefully been achieved. At VFL he has to find consistency with getting to and winning contests. If he's body is right he'll be able to rotate in as back up ruck and that will do him wonders.

My questions for Mr Misson are: If Tom McDonald is feeling so much better now after 10 days off legs then why wasn't he given 10 days off legs when he first felt sore 8 weeks ago? AND Why did he play in the AFLX shambles at on the Etihad car park if there was knowledge that he had any sort of niggle that could be exacerbated by a firm surface?

This injury update was seemingly the first bit of positive news in a long time for both of them. With McKenna it's hard to imagine that they can't fix his hamstrings eventually. Foot problems are on a different level but it's nice to here they plan for Vanders to run outside, being in rehab for an entire year is bad enough without having to do most of it without even joining the group outside.

Interestingly no update on Jones. That probably tells me they expect him to play which is good, but they also don't want to go public with an update on his back. I think Lewis and ANB get through, always have. They were back running a few days after the injury and have had a lot of time. I'm not confident on Tom. There's a big step between not running and being ready to play and at best that step using takes 2 weeks no matter the injury.

I haven't seen any tentativeness to get the ball or lay a tackle but at the same time that kind of stuff isn't only natural ability but it takes training and team work as well as the right mindset. It's certainly going to make selection difficult and it will be interesting to see how the forward pressure works in round 1. Apparently Gold Coast's small forwards have a club where the player who gets the least tackles buys breakfast or coffees or some such thing. I'd steal that idea for sure!

Was hoping we avoided the Watts/Fritsch chat. Can we call it a day on that one now? With the vagaries of the draft it's more a coincidence than an intended move I'd imagine. As for young Bayley - has a nose for a goal, lovely kick, competitive overhead. He'll need to have convinced the coaches his defensive work is up to scratch to get picked for round 1. I hope he has.

They test the biomechanics in the rehab process. That's been the big issue with Vanders, he's not flexing his ankle right after so much heel trouble that they can't progress him to running. I'm sure they've done a lot of that stuff with Tom and it's why they start (and often stay) in the rehab group for so long. I was a bit angry before and shot my mouth off. Really when I look across the competition I think our guys do a good job, but I also think we've had a lot of foot injuries for a long time and I'm not sure if we have nailed the right solution. There's probably limitations about what we can do with the ground at Gosch's - although I think it's in good condition. There's talk that players have shoe deals that means they have to wear certain brands of footwear. So many variables and I'm not sure the best surgeons, biomechanists, fitness guys, physios etc really understand the feet all that well anyway!

I liked the match up of Tom in the ruck against Blicavs who can make things happen with his running. That said, Cam is probably better once the ball hits the deck. Hard to know which I'd prefer up forward. Tommy more reliable but Cam's good games as a forward - when he's on his bike and tackling are exceptional. My main concern isn't round 1, it's getting Tom healed quickly.

Why would the club release injury information that only panics fans and helps the opposition? Journos work long and hard to chase stories and if they get one you say well done.

Maybe one day we'll give the Misson a missile in to the sea. Tom's as fit as anyone, doesn't need to overdo the running and get a hotspot. Oh well. In Pedersen we trust. Jones is a worry given he's had neck surgery and a broken back. His style of play has taxed his body. The positive is we have an explanation for why he looked a long way off his best in JLT 2. JLT 1 was rust, I wasn't worried, but he struggled last week. Epidural's can work but you're hoping it relieves the inflammation to allow for the rehab not just a short term pain fix. Surely they wait until he's right to play him. That might come in the next 2 weeks but I have my doubts. Not as worried about Lewis, ANB, Harmes and others yet. Think they'll be alright.

I'd extend Jetta but I don't think that's a huge issue. I wonder if Harmes isn't worth getting done before the season to get him cheaper so to speak. Obviously the club would want to sign Brayshaw and Oscar but I'd probably let them play and earn the bigger deals if they want them. No idea what to do with Tom McDonald.

Needs to find more of the ball and up his defensive game to lock in a consistent spot. That's a reality of a mid sized forward in modern footy. But his upside and nose for a goal is probably too good to leave out. What I liked was how many smart little things he did: - the crumb where he's read the flight and stayed down - the low and fast kick to a lead - the quick play on to dish off a goal and my favourite of the day - the punch when caught behind 2 opponents that set up a goal

Base wage this year is 80k for players drafted 40+, 90k for players drafted 1-20. With $4000 match payments and $3000 bonus for ever 5 games played. So pretty much it's close to 200k if you play every game. 3rd, 4th and pretty much until a player establishes themselves are probably the hardest players to know what kind of deal they are on. Minimum is 105k with 4,300 match payment but you'd think clubs would go well above minimum for anyone who's played a few games in the first 2 years. Salary cap is 12.5 million. Which fits with the average wage of just over 300k. Given there's a lot of depth and youth at most clubs who make less than the average I think teams can squeeze in a few big contracts ie. 750k+ and can have a lot of solid players making 400-500. I think where the media reporting and guess work goes wrong is for the players who are allegedly signing deals worth 550, 600, 700 etc. My guess is a lot of those deals are very incentive based and they work out a lot lower than reported.

He's contracted to the Eagles for next year and they'd want a good backup for Wentz. The logical move might be for the Eagles to keep him until the trade deadline then sell him if Wentz is back at his best. What can they get for him now? A 2nd or 3rd round pick? Pretty handy to have that come draft time. Alex Smith already traded. Cousins and Foles available. Keenum/Bradford/Bridgewater situation in Minnesota. It's looking like a very interesting QB offseason.

Belichick made one great adjustment moving Gilmore on to Jeffery. But should he have started on him? Otherwise I was surprised he couldn't match up the rest of the Defense. That said, it was a lot of Ertz and the big plays from Clement. Possibly the problem was the Eagles had the weapons and run game. If they played Dime defense to get all the match ups right the Eagles could run the ball on them. Kansas City did it in week 1. Panthers with Newton's ability to run or throw caused them issues. Pittsburgh kind of did it later and should've scored at least 7 points more! The Dolphins even did it in December. Very easy to say after the fact but the reality might've been that the Pats just didn't play a very good schedule of teams this year. The Belichick theory of take away your strengths and beat you because you 'can't play left handed' works very well against teams with more weaknesses than his defense has. Doesn't work as well when you're playing a team with an excellent spread of attacking options up against your own weaknesses in the front 7.

I was thinking if the Eagles couldn't get a stop before they got to half way and/or 1 minute of game time left they'd may as well let Brady score a TD as quick as possible and then get the ball back themselves for a tying or winning FG. Shows how good the Pats are that I was ready to skip the 'they will score and win' stage and go straight to 'the Eagles need to go outside the box here' stage.

A fantastic coaching performance. Credit to Pederson but also it seems like their OC and QB coach are all fantastic as well. I think it takes all those minds to come up and defeat the greatest coach and particularly the greatest defensive coach of all time with a back up QB. After watch the 2 Bill's last night the game reminds me of Parcells/Belichick Giant's team beating the heavily favoured Buffalo team in the 90's but in reverse. Belichick came up with the game plan to beat the Bills explosive offense. Today, the Eagles came up with the game plan to beat the Pats defense. Frank Reich was the back up QB for Buffalo back then and was the OC for the Eagles today. That Pats front 7 is pretty light on for talent but the Eagles had to throw and challenge a very good secondary. I really thought Philly's only chance was to run the ball and shorten the game and get sacks and take aways on defense. The missed FG is in many ways a take away and obviously they had the huge sack and fumble recovery, but you're right, the Pats win almost any time with the numbers they put up on offense.

Man of little faith Dappa. Always certainties to win the Division! Now if you told me they won an epic shootout with the Pats in the Superbowl I'd never have believed you! I still can't believe it happened.

Absolutely no need for a player to sign with another team before the end of the year. Free agency has been given to the players as a right but they have to earn it, which means finishing your current contract. Hopefully in time the rules change so the entire process is smother and occurs after the year. There's plenty of open space on the sporting calendar in October and November to get it right. Players signing with other clubs before the end of the season is unnecessary and a really bad situation for clubs and fans. The idea that it is 'mature' because it happens in the NRL is stupidity.

I don't think they really do mark them down all that much. Plenty have been drafted very high after injuries, including Aiden Bonar this year who went at pick 11 after 2 ACL's. Stringer was pick 5 after a really nasty broken leg - the Nathan Brown injury. Lever was a tall defender who missed his final year and therefore miss those big state games against the other best kids with a target on his back. Lots of young talls play well as underages but don't kick on when there's more pressure - see Sam Hayes this year. It's rare to take a key defender in the top 10 anyway, so pick 14 isn't a huge slide. Burton had a really nasty injury. It's the kind of injury you don't take a chance on in the top 10. He looks a beautiful player but might not be a midfielder or KPP either so the reward isn't as good for the risk. Selwood clearly was worth the risk but his knee was called degenerative at the time. If trusted doctors use degenerative with 18 year old it's a bad combination. I doubt Spargo ever would've gone top 10. The midfielders who went top 10 were big, strong, athletic and productive juniors. Bailey at 15, Higgins at 17, L Fogarty at 22 look similar kinds of players with similar production. I don't think Spargo really slid due to injury, I think he was drafted at the right spot, but could've gone higher had he player more games and put up the big numbers. Of the teams in and around the range to draft Spargo: Richmond took Jack Higgins, a similar player. Geelong took Fogarty who's a similar forward/inside mid smaller player and then took Kelly as an outside runner. West Coast drafted some highly rated talls then took the risk on Liam Ryan who could be anything. GWS overlooked their former academy prospect for a different small in Daniels but he probably suits their needs better as more of a goal kicker. And North overlooked the (non-eligible) father son to go with a speedy and athletic risk-reward pick after getting a plug and play midfielder in the top 5.

I didn't know Clarry broke 3 seconds and I wasn't saying he was slow, clearly he isn't. But I'd stick with the statement that his agility is elite and rephrase and say he has fantastic burst speed and importantly can use that in traffic, but I imagine plenty of players would sprint by him from the 20m to 50m mark if he was in a sprint race. I guess the point is people on here were disappointed we drafted an inside ball winner and not an outside line breaker. Petty did a 3.17 20m sprint, very solid time for a tall but from the look of his highlights he isn't breaking any Hunt or Frost like linebreaking runs. My athletic comparison with Oliver is really saying this guy might be far more athletic than meets the eye and in time might be capable of some attacking play, just like Clarry has and hopefully will do even more regularly from next year. I get the feeling the footy department favour agility and burst over pure pace. They like players who can break out of traffic and suit the kicking and change of angles plan more so than just running opponents off their legs.

Red hair Country lad Late entry to the elite talent pathway after relocating to boarding school Underdeveloped physically Standout games with standout attributes Unpopular pick due to already having similar players on the list with many wanting a needs based pick Not overly quick but elite agility (for his position, 8.29 according to AFL draft central) All of those criteria apply to Clarry and to Petty. I remember many on here saying we should've picked Parish because we already had Viney, Tyson, Petracca, Brayshaw etc and didn't need another inside midfielder. Talls take a little longer but if in 3 years time this guy is looking good and playing regularly there won't be any complaints. Personally, I think we needed a key defender, but even if we didn't I like the pick.

Jones is 29 and has the fitness and skill to transition to an outside role. A couple of injuries won't change my mind on that. Vince won't be missed if he rarely plays this year, Joel Smith and Lever - different players sure - can replace his backine games. Or Lewis moves to half back and Stretch plays on the wing. Lewis will be clinging to his spot in the side for one more year, that's fine. Pretty much we are phasing out Vince for now and putting in Lever. Phasing out Lewis next year and there's a raft of players ready to replace him - Spargo could play half forward, Melksham on a wing in 2019, easy. I don't know how Tom Mc will go as a forward but it's increasingly clear he's done as a defender. Oscar and Frost have played games out of necessity. They were good enough to move Dunn on but that's about it, a healthy Garland might've played at times if available. Look at the best and fairest rankings to see the coaches thoughts. Keilty - I don't mind him - but there's nothing to suggest he's a permanent AFL player so far. Right as we sit there's more chance he's delisted than promoted in 12 months and I don't mean that to be harsh, that's the reality for mature age tall pick ups, they have to dominate at VFL and get games to stay on. I actually think Keilty's best value would be as a Pedersen swing man rather than ever being best 22 anyway. There was no reason to play Fritsch in the midfield at Casey. He was their most consistent path to goal and developing well. The Dogs did the same thing with Hannan, hid him in a forward pocket until he was drafted. Hannan clearly has something to offer up the ground at AFL level. By all reports Fristch has excellent endurance and a lovely kick, so moving him to the wing or half back has to be an option and doesn't require a massive bulking up. Petrucelle looks like a forward to me. Too shonky a kick to play midfield until you've done years of work there. Express pace for pressuring would be nice but I'd go for ability to kick and mark more. Worpel seemed a nice player but has to be in the contest, either at half back or on ball. Would he dislodge any of our inside mids? I'll stick with Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Tyson and Brayshaw over Worpel.

Frost has a limited tank. If he's streaming forward one way he wont' be streaming back. He's also a shonky kick and not a natural reader of the play. His opponents pick up the flight of the ball quicker than him. I like him as a player but he's still yet to solidify his spot in the team and the reality might be he's best used as depth.

Put 2016 down for Weeds, time will tell but we ended up with a similar pick and he's a year ahead. Put 2018 down for Lever, unless we end up in the bottom 4 I'd say we've come out with a good result there. 2017 we traded back from pick 10 to pick 36 as part of the Lever deal. If Harry Petty can make it as a solid key defender then that's also a good result.