bing181

Something's not right. When you look at his VFL performances from last year he was regularly getting 20+ possessions, laying tackles, etc. though he has never been one to hit the scoreboard often. Could be a wasted year unfortunately, he really needed a full pre-season.

Doesn't quite work like that, and you'd have to presume that he's hitting his targets in terms of overall cardio fitness and running ability. But yes, it's a long way back from a long period on the sidelines. You only have to look at the difference between this year's Bowey vs last year's where he missed a couple of months with the shoulder.

Unfortunately with AJ, aggro is about all we've been getting at AFL level. Hopefully, with a bit more time to grow and develop under his belt he'll be able to turn that around. Fingers crossed.

Which is but one factor in determining form. The players are at the club all week, neither you nor I have any idea what else might be going on that could lead to them being picked or not. But your Tholstrup vs Laurie argument holds little water in any case as they play different positions. If you wanted to do Tholstrup vs Brown or Henderson you might have a point.

Yes we do, and our previous forwards coach was there when we won a premiership, which makes your point somewhat moot. Collingwood's forward coach is an ex mid-fielder. The Lions won the flag last year with someone who had never played AFL and had been their backline coach for 10 years. Adelaide's forward coach is an ex-defender as is the Bulldog's, Hawthorn's a "utility" who spent most of his coaching career coaching backs etc. etc. Across the AFL, forward coaches who spent their playing careers as forwards are the exception rather than the rule. This assumption re forward coaches comes from a misunderstanding of what coaches and assistant coachs actually do and the skillsets required.

Injuries to Petty and Jefferson forced that recall. Though hard to see that in the context of Playing an AFL match isn't giving him a chance to regain form?

No it hasn't. You're seeing what you want to see.

If we're talking about other clubs, Jack Gunston. Only lasted one miserable season with Brisbane.

Not helped by the revolving door of other forwards - not particularly anyone's fault either (injuries to Jeffo and Petty, suspension to Johnson etc.) If we could have a settled forward line for a month with either Turner or Petty alongside JVR, we might all be able to see where this is heading.

Second rounder and something future. No-one's going to be playing hardball here, if players want to leave they generally get to where they want to go. (Wade Derkson excepted).

Winning flags isn't an "opportunity", it's a herculean task where you need everything, every little thing, to go right. Geelong and Swans (in particular) have been "up" or thereabouts for a decade or more, and have 1 flag to show for it (Geelong 2022). This "we should have won 2 or 3 flags" is just entitled self-indulgence. (Though I can tell you in two words why we didn't win in 2023: Angus Brayshaw. We were never coming back from that. It was a hammer blow to the players and club that we still haven't really recovered from.)

All of them. Though you describing them as "social outings" only reinforces how out of touch you are with the realities and demands of high-level professional sport. It's not 1950 anymore.

Turner had 11 marks for the day. In the last quarter after he was moved ... 1. Hawthorn managed 7 goals in 3 quarters with Turner in the back line. And then 6 in a quarter after he was moved. You don't move players who are winning their positions.

Posts like this astonish me, though I don't why I'm still surprised to see them. The gulf between your average fan's understanding of what happens in elite sport and what actually happens remains as wide as it ever was.

You do realise that most training sessions are closed and/or indoor?

NSW Rugby League team. Recovery session. Surfing (indoor). Also smiling.

Also applies to Adams.

From the Codesports article re Pickett: KOZZIE PICKETT Melbourne’s No.1 priority with Pickett should be to extend his contract, not allow him to leave. He is a generational talent who transforms Melbourne from drab to dangerous. His new manager Anthony Van Der Wielen will spend the next few months finding out what Pickett really wants. Safe to say the Dockers are relatively confident given the links to their club – Shai Bolton, Isaiah Dudley, Quinton Narkle, whose partner Taylah Cubillo is the sister of Pickett’s partner Ardu Cubillo. Van Der Wielen didn’t take him on to move him west like fellow clients Tim Kelly and Bolton, he did it because Kelly and Bolton were keen to have him on board. He wants to set up Pickett’s financial future past 2027, so is open to a contract extension wherever it comes. So Melbourne’s priority shouldn’t be to retain him to 2027, it should be offering him a long-term deal on well over $1 million past that date. If it costs $4 million to extend him from 2027 to 2030, then so be it. They are very open to that possibility but for now are thrilled he is playing dynamic football and is enjoying his time at the club. Securing two mid-ranked first-rounders for Pickett (and some steak-knives picks) will never get them fair compensation so the only play is to keep him or extend him.

Feel like we'd lose on that, Pickett changes the team in a way that Jackson never will/can. Not knocking Jackson either, would be fabulous to have him back.

Interesting (?) article by Jon Ralph on Code Sports. (paywall): Nine weeks in and Melbourne has steadied its ship tactically, shored up its coach’s position, and yet still isn’t anywhere near the AFL’s best sides. At 3-6, it isn’t time for despair though. It isn’t even time to give the season away – the Demons face Brisbane (away), Collingwood, Gold Coast and Adelaide in the next 11 weeks but also West Coast, North Melbourne, St Kilda (twice), Port Adelaide and Sydney. But the sample size we have seen so far is enough to show the course ahead. Like Essendon has in recent years, the Demons can lift their eyes to the horizon and set that course for 2027-2029 through smart list management moves that require bravery and an element of risk. ... Melbourne hasn’t given up on Luke Jackson returning but every time Sean Darcy’s knee fails him the Dockers’ resolve to retain their unicorn of a ruckman should harden. Jackson is contracted to 2029, has games-based clauses for even longer, will soon be paid over $1 million a year and the Dockers would be plain stupid to let him leave for any sum or trade package. So the task ahead is simple. Keep playing the kids, slowly begin to integrate the Brad Scott-style message about considering the medium-term future, keep working on those relationships. Then if a knock-your-socks off offer comes for Lever or Petracca or Pickett, the discussions can be had in a calm, sensible manner instead of the Demons losing in the kind of fire sale they would have had to accept last year. A premiership within the last five seasons gives the club and its coach some breathing space, as does a president (Brad Green) and a new CEO (Paul Guerra) who would like Goodwin to be part of the future. https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/melbourne/wreck-it-ralph-melbourne-have-steadied-the-ship-now-they-should-look-to-the-future/news-story/70c1e8adad488405b1a75d7f2e0f706d?amp&fbclid=IwY2xjawKOlhpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFEalV4eEhjeVBwZXFEbTVkAR5S1pL-Vad8J-UQiWS6iS4lTheh-3mZJTtNJQ6EpF0Fhz4AqrUz4j3kCalbfA_aem_h6wxlHzIvKAGKRyL2DOt1A

Hindsight much? There's a whole thread here on Chol and you don't even need to go back and read it to guess what the vibes were.

Hopefully they don't. It's a recipe for disaster - increased injuries for starters.

Ridiculous, straw man response. Your claim was that "the club hasn't recruited big forwards". Which is demonstrably false. What you (or I) may feel about these recruits has no bearing on the facts.

A lot less than what you think, as numerous senior coaches have confirmed along the way. e.g. Chris Scott made very clear earlier this year when challenged on the way his team has been shaped that as senior coach “I am just one vote (of four) in list-management meetings.” https://www.indaily.com.au/sport/football/2022/09/16/when-list-manager-is-the-afls-most-important-job

You're shifting the goal posts, the discussion was about key forwards. Of the above list, only 3 are. Cameron was traded before we won a flag, and if we'd drafted Membrey or even McStay, this site would have gone into freefall. You're also ignoring all the clubs who haven't drafted a key forward in that time. Which isn't surprising, because decent KPF's rarely come up for trade. Who for example would you have taken in 2024? Jack Darling? Membrey - who was delisted by St Kilda? Himmelberg - yet to even play a game for GCS? We DID trade in a decent KPF in Ben Brown. Who could still have been playing for us, he's not that old. Otherwise ...