DeeSpencer

Who would you trust to build a training base at Gosch's? Josh Mahoney - jointly in charge (with list management committee) of allocating a salary cap amongst the 44 players and doing some trade deals, as well as resourcing the coaches and players Or: Gary Pert - overseen a club that turns over maybe 77 mil in revenue and has built the Holden Centre with all the same stakeholders to deal with. If we are smart and rate Mahoney so highly then the succession will actually be from Pert to Mahoney after Pert has built us a training base.

Apologies to Perty. Pub deal was before his team. https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/how-pies-lost-8-million/news-story/54631eb7122cea71af64e81327cdecb1?nk=c5c3f57ae8e15e99b04955486daba99f-1528976623

Pros: - Knows how to get a facility built, especially in the Olympic Park precicnt - Experienced in football - Experienced in media relations Cons: - The Balme/Gubby Allen/Buckley etc fiasco. Collingwood's footy department has been a mess the last few years - Very prominent in the media on a range of issues including on drugs where I thought his attitude and understanding was limited - Losing money on the pub deals

Sign immediately: Brayshaw, Jetta, Oscar, Harmes Probably stay: T Smith, Balic Could go either way: Kent, Keilty, Wagner, Vanders, Flippers, King, Johnstone, McKenna Probably go: Bugg, Vince, JKH, Pedersen As far as contracted players: Frost, Stretch and Tyson the three most likely to seek trades I would've thought, unsure there will be much interest for any of them. And we might want to investigate moving Garlett.

Lucifer's contract template

I was a Kent fan from his debut up until 2016. Last year was shocking. But in a very small sample size his 2018 games looked vastly improved. - Nailed his shots on goal - kept his feet - laid some tackles - held his marks As for the rest of our small/medium smalls: I love Spargo but he is just a kid. I'm still very sceptical on ANB who works super hard but makes terrible decisions under pressure and isn't quick enough to get out of trouble or to run down good defenders. Garlett is pretty well done unless he proves otherwise. Hannan is just floating through games and isn't a proven tackler either. Bugg has the right work rate but his skills are just too far below the standard. Vanders is a hope that he can get back. Balic is yet to prove anything. Pretty much what I'm saying is I have little faith in any of our small forwards and I really could see Kent coming back in and making the team better and I'd like to see him rotated up to the wing for short bursts as well. I wouldn't bet on it happening or working, but there's a lot of people putting faith in some players who haven't done anything really. If Kent does come back in and isn't picked then yeah both he and club would be better off parting ways. But there's still a lot of time left in the year.

I've actually liked his year (outside of the Carlton game stinker) but there's very little composed about Bernie Vince right now. He's just running around giving his best. So I wouldn't put him in the composure category. Joel Smith played a fair game under immense pressure first up for the year and 3rd game overall. His spoils, smothers and tackles stood out. He'd made some blues with the good stuff but at 1/4 time he was probably the only defender who had broke even. Made some errors with his kicking but those are the kind of errors you cut out pretty easily with some more games and development. Harry Petty looks a natural, I'd love to see what he can do. I think you can play those guys and they can fill roles as willing defenders and competitors. Composed ball use is vital. Jetta is great at it. Salem is the best user in the team and doesn't panic when faced with a contested ground ball. Oscar now has a steady kick. Hibberd when not trying to do too much is reliable. All of Harmes, Brayshaw and Fritsch could do the job and we could bring in another forward or mid if needed. Or Nath Jones. The high half back sweeper role is the easiest position in footy. The ball comes to you and you can use it in any direction.

Really, I thought yesterday under pressure in the first quarter the backs were incredibly slow to set up with a number of stoppages in Collingwood's forward line. In fact I think they got one or two goals from forward stoppages when it wasn't right in the first 20 minutes. The backs also failed at spreading quickly and encouraging the switch. Hibberd and Salem are the two players I'd have in charge. I'd use them to get Joel Smith and (if it were me) Petty lined up correctly. Probably room for one of Lewis or Vince still as we don't have a lot of obvious inclusions so no doubt that experience is valuable but a 30+ year old guy shouldn't be in charge of the show, there's enough others who have played plenty of footy. And surely Oscar and Jetta don't need to be told what to do, they've been playing back in this system for the longest?

The hair is relevant. He spent all last year making sure it wasn't pulled out of place. Seems to have a stronger more reliable rug this year, I was hoping it would help his form. Look good, play good. He's not just a regular player, he's a player who does more media for the club than any other, a responsibility and a privilege. It also makes him harder to drop. AFL 360 probably don't want to hear from a Casey player every Tuesday night.

Stress Worried about making mistakes Pressure Overwhelming Overly frustrated Yeah Tom sure sounded like a confident defender. Tom is clearly a player with a new found confidence and at the time I made a thread about him he was clearly a player without a lot of confidence. I stand by it. Just as I'll stand by this one. There will be a touch of short term pain against certain sides where Lewis' ability to find and sometimes use the ball will be missed, just as there was short term pain last year without Tom down back. But in the long run we will have defenders who can actually defend and physically compete with the best sides.

You need to go to the footy with some new people. Might've been third best for Collingwood.

TOM MCDONALD believes a permanent move to the forward line will allow him to play with newfound freedom, with the Melbourne swingman glad to be free of the pressures of defence. Following surgery on both of ankles at the end of last season, and integrating into main training in the past month, McDonald said he was relishing his time training at the opposite end of the ground for the first time in his career. "I don't know why but it's taken a bit of the stress away from playing footy," McDonald told AFL.com.au. "Sometimes as a defender I was so worried about making mistakes. The pressure that comes with being a full back or centre-half back can be overwhelming at times, and I tend to get overly frustrated with myself and it costs me." http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-02-12/mcdonald-ready-for-his-crack-up-forward I was paraphrasing but I stand by it. The guy was making mistakes and I'd be pretty sure he meant with the ball more than defensively. Either way, he's a whole new player as a forward and my point was that Tom openly admits he had issues playing as a defender. I'd love to find a new position for Lewis but there's no where to hide a plodder these days. Half back is the best option but eventually the time comes from there as well.

0 impact. How many did he get from playing on from the kick out.

Has Tom McDonald played as a defender since then? Or did the coaches eventually - through injury or otherwise - wake up to the fact it wasn't working and move him forward. Even Tom himself admitted he'd lost all confidence in his ball use as a defender. If you got them to speak honestly I think you'd find a few team mates who have lost all faith in Jordan Lewis as capable of winning a one on one contest or willing to really put his body on the line for his team.

What the heck is the point of a defender who can't defend. What role is that? If he could run, kick long and tear the game apart I'd accept his lack of defensive skills but he can't. What he can do is find the ball but Hibberd and Salem can do that. Find me a defender who can't defend who's ever won a premiership. If they do exist I bet they are bringing more to the table than racking up little dinky kicks.

The day it was all over red rover for Jordan/Jordie/Lewy/old fake hair

Bernie is just as concerning as Lewis but Bernie can at least defend. He's a willing puncher and can tackle. Bernie's ball use is sporadic but when it's on he's more damaging than Lewis is, he still has penetration in his kicking and can make the big switch. We aren't changing the way we play for Bernie though. He takes an opponent and has a crack.

My grandpa could've played well at half back for the last month. And he's been dead for 30 years.

Easy to give a 2nd effort when your first effort is non existent.

I'm done with this pretender being unable to stand any half decent forward with an ounce of leg speed or overhead ability. I'm done with him falling over or giving away free kicks because he knows he's physically incapable of even halving the contest. I'm done with his futile efforts to change direction. I'm done with the way he picks up the ball protecting himself and only on his left side so he can't move on to his right. I'm done with his handballs that go to grass. I'm done with him taking kick outs despite only being able to kick 45 metres. I'm done with his stupid fake hair. I'm just absolutely done with Jordan Lewis. Vote. Tell me where you stand. If you're sucked in by the stat padding that invariably occurs when he's a mile from his opponent or even playing 7 defenders then good for you. If you think some of his nice short kicks justify his ongoing selection then let me know. Personally, I can't have the team playing a guy who will get so badly found out by a good team. I don't see what that achieves? I think we've got 2 really nice rebounding defender options in Hibberd and Salem who whilst not perfect are tough, courageous, pacy and can beat good opponents. They are the guys who should be getting 20 cheap kicks a game and around them we should have defenders who have the ability to actually defend.

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.

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.

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.