DeeSpencer

Playing devils advocate but: Fevola, Jurrah, Sylvia, Dayle Garlett, Murray Newman. Then all the kids who never get drafted because the clubs know they the risk is too high. Someone like Yarran who hasn't got in to trouble but hasn't reached a consistent level of footy and you wonder if the off field stuff is contributing. Another worry for Bennell is he's repeatedly missed games with soft tissue injuries. Which is a give away. Now GC have been ordinary in that regard but we haven't been much better. Our strong leaders: 1. Nathan Jones 2. Jack Viney 3. Dunny 4. ?Tom McDonald 5. ? Jesse Hogan Our questionable leaders who train well but don't do much on the field: Grimes, Lumumba, Trengove, Dawes, Garland etc We have a reasonably deep core of committed young/mid career footballers who train and play the right way - Jetta, Watts, Garlett, Gawn, Vanders, Tyson and the younger guys like Stretch, ANB, Harmes, Kent, Brayshaw etc. But most of these guys are only just making their mark as footballers. I have confidence that these are talented young professionals working really hard to be part of a good culture. Again though, the next couple of years are crucial in making sure as a group they work really hard to get the best out of themselves in order for us to cement the culture instead of it falling down like at the end of the Bailey years.

I'm not so much worried about Harley doing damage to other players or doing damage to the club, but more that he doesn't grow up quickly enough and flames out, thus wasting whatever it is we give up for him. I'll take a risk on the contract, but I'd be close to saying I'd only be willing to risk a 3rd round pick. If our second round pick in the draft and/or a Howe trade nets us picks in the top 25-30 I would hate to waste them. Outside mid is our biggest weakness but we can draft and develop there. I'm glad we are interested. Cost nothing to scope him out. But we will need to be very very thorough.

The attacking Howe has played half back most of the year. Salem has when fit. Stretch played half back. I'm not sure why Lumumba was getting a game all year but it certainly wasn't his defensive work. It might've taken a while but eventually young Oscar Mc and White got a chance. Frost has been injured all year and Terlich is Terlich. I'm not sure who everyone thinks Garland should've been dropped for? I'd love to have played Vince more at half back but he was our best mid and with Tyson battling injuries, Vanders injured, Brayshaw tired, Michie and Newton not coming on quickly we didn't have that luxury. You can go around in circles all you want and eventually what you find is that the 22 who played round 1 for us plus Bernie Vince was probably our best team. Stretch, ANB, Harmes, Oscar Mc and Mitch White all put their names up during the year but that's how development is meant to work.

A couple of ordinary kicks, at least one marking contest where he stayed down when he should've gone up but otherwise some pretty solid efforts. Read the play pretty well. Set up young Mitch White and Oscar McDonald in good spots for them to impact. Likely played a high TOG percentage as well. If we are trading Howe and can't get good FA compensation from Garland then it's a no brainer to keep him on a 1 or 2 year incentive based deal. Oscar Mc and Frost might be the future alongside Tom McDonald in our backline but if we get rid of the competition and depth that Dunn and Garland provide then those youngsters (especially given Frost's injury status this year) have to do a lot in a hurry.

He might be able to lose a little weight but he won't be able to play full back if he drops much. I'd leave him as is if you want to keep him as a deep defender who can go with big forwards and marshal the backline. Unless you have a lot of faith in Frost and therefore want to transition Dunn quickly in to more of a 3rd tall running defender I woudn't worry much. Increasing his fitness a little would be the main priority, if he can keep the bulk it's even better.

I'd be surprised if a few poor games and a dropping would undo all the good work Watts did for about 10 weeks in a row. Not now. Not with light at the end of the tunnel. He's a free agent next year and would fetch decent compo so if there wasn't a good deal on offer this year then there's no need to panic.

I don't think the carpark at the G is below the playing surface. From the times I've been down there it's below the stands isn't it? Either way, I agree it's probably irrelevant to him getting knocked out but Etihad, especially in seasons past has had a lot of issues due to the ground being very firm. Although today it looked in really nice condition and better than the MCG is at the moment.

Was fantastic. One of my proudest moments of a supporter in many years was cheering Crossy today and giving him a standing ovation. I hope he felt the love the fans have for him.

I've said this to others since his debut you notice a lot of good things from him live that you miss on TV. His tackling is great for his size. His skills are good and he makes smart decisions and as he gets used to the pace of the game he'll get better in that regard. Work rate is great. So much of our Etihad hoodoo has come from not having good outside runners and half backs as you have to move the ball quickly or you'll get trapped in the small ground. No surprise that Stretch, Salem and White were a big part of the win.

Neat kick, mainly used it safely, loved that mark going back with the flight, handball wasn't so great but we all want to see more attacking footy, so that's the price. Decent one on one. Didn't look to be moving too well when he came off so clearly the challenge will be for him to have a big pre-season. Overall I think he'll need to improve his speed to either be a one-on-one small defender or take more intercept marks to be an efficient rebounder but the tools are there. He missed a lot of preseason as well so you'd think there's a lot of room for improvement.

Yep happy for him, gives him something to build on for next year. I hope he backs himself to win the ball and show off his kicking.

Looked really good in his first season, he'd be one you'd hope would improve when in a settled environment like Polec did at Port. I think Brisbane really need to stop drafting South Australians.

I do have doubts on his ability. But I'm not a fan of replacing a C+ level player that Garland probably is with an F grader. Not when we have the list spots to keep Garland. For whatever reason since his bad ankle injury (or maybe before) Garland doesn't have great fitness. I've been told by a reliable source that his ability to play up the ground on resting midfielders and rebound off them is limited due to fitness. As would I, but I presume the FD has spoken to Garland's manager and assessed the interest in him and determined we aren't getting that level of compensation should he leave. .

We have a ruck coach for that. I've got no problem with keeping Jamar up to now, he wasn't too bad at the start of the year and allowed Gawn to do the time at Casey to set up a good end of the season. But now at age 32 there's little reason to keep him as the 3rd string ruckman. If we don't keep Cross who's in the best 22 we can't be keeping Jamar who's 3rd in line for a spot.

If you compare Garland's good games (and there have been a number) to Oscar McDonald on debut I think you'll find there still is a fair gap there. With Cross gone and Howe likely going I think Garland should be kept and the perfect structure would be a 2 year deal with the 2nd year based on a number (say 11) of games in the first year. This is all dependent on Garland getting some of fitness back over preseason of which the club would be well placed to judge. If he gets his fitness back his kicking and attacking output will improve.

It's all about development with the likes of Tyson, Salem, JKH, Harmes, Petracca, Brayshaw, Stretch, ANB and Vanders. On the back of Hogan, Viney, Toumpas, Kent. From their first games at the MFC they all looked like they could play AFL. All have great attributes and also weaknesses just as any player does. Development is not linear. Mitch Wallis at the dogs was 1 player I thought was heading for list clogger or tagger at best, now he's seriously underrated if you don't know who he is yet you will soon. JHK has the agility and smarts to find enough of the ball. A burst of speed combined with a tank will do more than having huge top end pace but never being in the game. He's suffering classic 2nd year blues right now and I think got a bit ahead of himelf but he was a really hard trainer and if he keeps doing that and building his defensive work he could come back hard next year and play some good footy. Tyson's struggling with a few injuries but nothing that seems too bad. He needs a huge preseason to build his tank to the elite midfield level. Once he does that I expect he'll improve as well. Training standards and development coaching will make players out of all of these guys. If we've got that right then Taylor's recruiting will look very good. Although it's about a half job so far IMO, still need the same injection of quality again. 2 more draft crops of 3 or 4 very good players with at least 1 elite prospect in each draft is needed.

FB: Garland Dunn Jetta HB: Salem McDonald Stretch C: Toumpas Jones Watts HF: Vanders Hogan Kent FF: Brayshaw Pedersen Garlett Foll: Gawn Vince Viney Int: Tyson Newton Lumumba Petracca Back: Frost, Grimes, O Mc Mids: Michie, ANB, M Jones, Trengove Fwds: Harmes, Dawes, JKH Ruck: Spencer Extend as Rookies; White, King Promote: Harmes, Vanders Delist: Jamar, McKenzie, Hunt, Bail, Riley, Fitzpatrick, Cross, Terlich Trade: Howe – pick 15-25 or equivalent player Out: 9 In: Draft: 1, 2, 2, 3, 4/PSD DLFA Rookie: 1, 2, 3 Matt Jones is very lucky, he could easily be delisted or dropped back to the rookie list. Hunt I think has to be delisted and should train on with the club in search of a rookie spot. We shouldn't be afraid to carry more than the 4 rookies this year, we should in fact aim for the 6. If the draft is weak then just use the valuable picks in the first 3 rounds and stock up on rookie spots. Especially if we are keen on guys as depth talls. I'd certainly explore the trade and free agency markets but I still think the draft is our best shot at finding the skillful hard running players we need whilst experience or role playing types can be brought cheaply.

I love Crossy but I too think it's a good time to finish up. He couldn't play in the midfield any more and his lack of speed or skill at half back meant he really had to play very well to keep his spot, no matter how many numbers he racked up. Presuming we continue to persist with Garland, Grimes, Lumumba and McDonald as part of the backline mix it really is time to add more youth in those half back spots. That means Salem, Stretch, White, maybe Newton, Brayshaw or Neal Bullen could both have a year of development there and so on. I'm leaning to say I would've kept Crossy due to delisting enough room to hold a spot for an older player, but it would've been for more a 12 game contract and the reality that unless we were really struggling with injury that he might have to spend a lot of time at Casey.

I'm not convinced it is but I'm convinced it should be. We should be able to find a 3rd ruckman from a state league somewhere as depth who will be cheaper, as effective and with much more upside than Jamar.

Slowed down and can't kick over a jam jar. I'd rather be brave and go for Stevie J for a year.

Not the best photo but here is ANB and Langdon in the same image. Doesn't look much between them to me. Hardly a shock that Stretch or O Mc are skinny. That's how most 19 year olds are, especially outside runners or talls. Those 2 in particular are just getting a taste of AFL footy. Let's worry more about senior players with years in the system having the wrong body shapes than first year kids.

Overall I agree, but first option footy relies upon having the options. We are so short of players who spread, block and know each others tendencies that we can't get a lot of first option footy going. And sometimes the 5th options is best! http://gfycat.com/BlackandwhiteOrangeGoral

Every year he's come back a bit stronger and fitter and worked hard in the preseason. He's still only 21. How many 21 year olds in any sport (besides maybe gymnastics) compete against men? In US sport he'd be still in college. In European soccer leagues he'd be working his way up from lower league or lesser top team. He can run and kick and he's committed to improving. That alone is worth more time on our list compared to the alternatives.

Get some overall vision to the club in terms of a plan for: 1. A long term home base 2. A standalone reserves team in the VFL Set some standards for the playing group. With either: A) If you don't bust your absolute backside off and bring a physical intensity every time you play you don't play OR B) If you can't execute basic skills you don't play I'd like to do both at once but I don't think we have the depth. Either way it seems too many guys coast through getting regular or semi regular games despite never improving

Brett Burton who just got sacked from Brisbane after overseeing a terrible run of injuries? No thanks if it's him.