DeeSpencer

Pro: more money, picks and game time Cons: more likely we suck. I’m not sure the Saints will finish better than 7th but I’d probably chose them because that’s a lot better than 17th

Roan Steele, Ted Closehy, Jai Serong, Ben Jepson. Not sure there’s anyone out of contract who moves the needle at all.

For a very good defensive player he's not physical, he rarely takes the body when spoiling. But good coaches can teach that. And he does plenty of brave things. He's just a player that favours evasive maneuvers over physicality. Maybe Melbourne haven't gone all out to keep him as they think that lack of physicality might come back to bite at some stage. But I'd hope now, as the game seemingly only gets more and more spread out and reliant on skills.

Brownlow votes because he’s a high possession player. He did have a few great games, was mostly ok but he has a few stinkers as well and generally just looked pretty close to the end. Multiple things can be true at once. Maybe a new coach and a new fitness standards can help he regain the lost step. It does happen, but not often. I don’t care for his disposal efficiency when he didn’t make a risky choice all year. A 3 for 1 deal with the state of our list would be a stinker unless we absolutely nail the pick. If anything after doing so many trade ups we need to be doing 1 for 3’s the other way.

Someone bookmark this when AMW is delisted and Judd’s playing in a prelim next year. Clearly it’s not the same as losing a star but it’s closer to that than nothing. In terms of players we couldn’t afford to lose: Pickett, Langford, Turner, Bowser, Lindsay, Windsor are the only ones I’d have ahead.

Salem’s best and fairest result was a joke. I’m pretty certain we inflated both Christian’s to try to offload both. Yes, he’s a veteran quality half back who knows the role but he was beaten by anyone quick and/or dangerous. Not to mention his disposal that even helicopter parents thought was too safe. Judd was the Salem replacement, now we have to start again probably with a middling pick in a [censored] draft. Judd had work to do in his half back play. But he needed the opportunity to do that work. He has tools Rivers seemingly will never have which is poise and control with his short kicking.

Ahhh yes, I was totally benchmarking him against Will Ashcroft, that’s totally what I was doing.

If we could cover it why didn’t Judd play back flank when he came back in to the side? Maybe 5 years ago Salem sure, but it’s clear as day he wouldn’t have the pace. Maybe if Willie Rioli unretires and doubles the keg he might be able to catch him. Howes is seen as a lock down defender because he can’t do stuff all else at afl level. But any small forward with any smarts is running rings around him. At Casey he’s an intercepting and rebounding half back which is where he should play at AFL level but the game is too fast for him. I said last year go and get a lock down back so Judd doesn’t have to do it. But no, Timmy Mutton Lamb and co stick with Marty Hore. This is the result.

Langdon the last good player we took from someone that actually wanted them. 5 years now of being nothing but a farm team for the league to take the likes of Bedford and JJ and now a really classy player that we couldn’t afford to lose.

9th in our B+F year 1. 7th last year. Beaten by a couple of good players when our backline leaked like a sieve. If you don’t think this is a terrible result for the footy club you’re kidding yourself.

I’d care if Judd on his worst day wasn’t twice the player of Howes on his best day. If Howes could actually play like a proper footballer rather than a deer in the headlights that would fill some of the void Judd leaves but I doubt it.

I’m fine with 2 plus a trigger as long as the trigger is >30 games AND >15 in 2027. Ideally it’s front loaded too.

Lazier, softer, has basically never played the position and almost certainly doesn’t want to. The only positive if he’s contracted, there’s a lot of negatives.

Free agents always get 20% overs because they don’t cost any picks. To pay Flanders right at the top of the market and then also have to pay at the top of his trade value with picks makes it a non starter to me. I’d happily spend the cash but not the picks that we don’t even have to offer!

There’s a few out there choices but we aren’t going to get anywhere keeping the same best 22 as the last couple of years. This is also before adding anyone aside from Derksen and Mihocek.

FB: Turner Adams W. Lual* HB: Rivers Petty McVee* C; Bowie Langford Lindsay HF: Henderson Mihocek Pickett FF: Fritsch Kentfield Chandler Foll: Gawn Oliver WIndsor Int: Salem, Viney, Tholstrup, Culley, Derksen Backline: Lever, McDonald, AMW, Howes Mids: Langdon, Laurie, Sparrow, Woey* Forward: JVR, Jeffo, AJ, Mentha, Melksham, Sharp, McAdam Rucks: Heath, Campbell Lual is kind of a stand in for a tall back pocket with defensive versatility. I think we need that kind of player just a matter of who it is. Derksen is picked as the 5th bench spot who covers forward, back and in the ruck. Viney is pretty purely a midfield rotation, where as the rest of guys on the bench - Salem, Kolt, Culley are used in a variety or roles and wings and half backs should all be used in a variety of roles.

Fair enough, just the one report but I’ll assume it has some merit. He probably signed an upgraded new contract after 2021 but he was out of contract now so they could’ve negotiated a lower offer. The fact there’s no one linked to him so far shows he’s hardly in high demand.

Is there any evidence Chocco was highly paid? He was coaching Ajax in the VAFA and Werribee before we gave him another go in the afl system. I think it’s time for a fresh approach to our development and also a realignment between Casey’s goals and development. Hopefully our young guys keep playing in key roles and playing the right brand of footy as they did in the back end of this season.

Obviously it’s not a guarantee but if we can nail a couple more draft picks this year and get the development of Langford, Lindsay, Windsor, Tholstrup right suddenly it’s not looking a dive right to the bottom rebuild. Not suggesting we’ll nab a Lever or May any time soon but might be able to grab a Hibberd/Melksham type to start pushing things forward.

I suspect it will be a fair deal that leaves a lot of us disappointed but is clearly more than a firesale. I'd also suggest that we pay a chunk of Tracc's wage for the year to improve the draft compensation. And likely pick up the tab on a chunk of May's deal too. Anything left over should go to frontloading Gawn, Viney, Oliver, Lever and getting our cap in great order so we can make a move to bring in some quality ourselves.

I don't agree with that. Aside from our overall trajectory/talent level no longer lining up with his timeline I think the balance of our midfield is a key reason why Tracc would like to move and why the club would consider it. The best sides have at most 2 predominantly inside players and usually one of them is defensively oriented. Neale (attack) and Dunkley (defence) for Brisbane. Danger and Atkins for Geelong. Newcombe and Nash at Hawthorn once Worpel gets offloaded soon. DeGoey and Ned Long at Collingwood. Then it's runners. McCluggage, Will Ashcroft, Z Bailey, B Smith, Holmes, Ward, Day (maybe Merrett), Daicos x 2. Viney can play the Atkins defensive role. But Oliver is untradeable in any realistic deal and can't play anywhere else. If things go to plan we'll also see Langford taking over as the fulcrum of our midfield sooner than later too. To avoid being top heavy in the midfield Tracc has to play forward. Whilst we clearly aren't stacked with forwards Tracc's limitations as a forward - shoddy inside 50 kicking, awful goal kicking, poor defensive pressure make him expendable if the price is right.

This is after winning the B+F in 2020, his first year as a full time mid: Adapting to a new role this season, Petracca dominated the Demons’ midfield, recording the second-most contested possessions in the competition (216) and averaging 23.5 disposals a game. He also managed 108 score involvements and 15 goals of his own – proof that he can be just as damaging all around the ground. “I think the coaching group have allowed me to play to my talents and play to my strengths,” Petracca said. “I feel like as a midfielder, I’m good around the contest, but when that’s not going well, I feel like I can go down forward and play a vital role as a forward as well. I agree our forwards lack of system is a wider problem but it’s hard to change that system with players who naturally don’t lead at the ball. Melk and Fritsch have shown there’s room for leading players at Melbourne

Claz was way off the rails. Key forwards I guess there was hope but nothing like a prime Ben Brown. I guess you could say there was promise of another top 8 finish but we weren’t tipped to win the flag after the 23 finals.

We haven’t had a strong enough list to have a surplus of picks, it’s easy to say you don’t have list spots if you junk up the list. Of our delistings only Sestan and perhaps Verrall should’ve been on the list to begin with.

Aside from the 17 premiership players developed by Goodwin (23-4 trade ins and Gawn and T Mc). Sestan won't be anywhere near an afl list unless he gets himself super fit and given there was never any sign of that happening I'd be surprised if it does now.