bing181

Laughable and laughably ignorant.

Not quite sure what to make of the news here re Rivers' knee. You'd think that the club would have only been to happy to mention it in omitting him (e.g. soreness) - but then again, why select him on Thursday in the first place if it's injury-related? Presumably we'll get a bit more clarity in time.

21 Disposals, 10 marks, 500m gained. Not too shabby. You'd think either something off-field related, or some kind of on-field non-negotiable that he hasn't met. On the surface it seems a bit harsh, but "speak softly but carry a big stick" comes to mind re King and the coaches. Nice guys. Until they aren't.

No AMW. A little bit surprised, thought he'd done enough.

This is another Demonland myth. Salem is consistently amongst our players with most metres gained. Against Freo he was our #1, and second across both teams, just behind Shai Bolton (but ahead of all their other mids). He is crucial to launching us into attack from half-back.

Not one for bans, but if direct copy pasting from Chat should be banned on Demonland. Not why I come here, I can get AI content anytime.

On the Couch had Riewoldt tearing strips off Salem for his (lack of) defending. Showed the infamous kicks off the ground. Wonder if it's something they've been instructed to do, a bit like the long forward handballs? Keep the ball moving forward at all costs ... or something.

One of the disadvantages of training behind closed doors out at Casey. Though the club probably doesn't see it that way, keeps intel on who's training and who's not in-house. Though I suspect events like this are more common than clubs let on. No-one is going to get through an AFL season without picking up a lurgy or two.

Ridiculous, ridiculous comparison. May cost us an arm and a leg, a high first + second rounder, and for both Hibberd and Melksham we gave up a high second round picks. For the others, e.g., Billings was pick 61 and Schache was a future fourth rounder! There's no comparison. All the players you named were depth players, except for perhaps Hunter who was more than useful in his first season with us and worth the trade to have a decent winger opposite Langdon.

Too much logic.

Seriously? At the end of the season you can also ask them why we didn't win the flag.

Watching the backline at the moment isn't for the faint of heart, it seems incredibly fragile. Equally, not all teams have 3 decent tall forwards. But we have to remember we've lost half the backline from last year, and not no-one either: Bowey and McVee, and in particular May. Apart from his defending, his great strengths were his ability to organise the troops and his decision-making and disposal. And while his drop-off is being highlighted here, in his final game for us he still managed 23 disposals and 12 marks. In fact, last season he averaged nearly 18 disposals and 7 marks a game. None of that is easily replaced.

Catching up on all this. My take on it all is that we're in a better place than the pessimists are portraying, but a worse place than the optimists. There are some real issues out there at the moment (mids especially), and they aren't going to be solved in the short term. Elsewhere, as long as we can keep people on the park, I'd like to think we'll be OK. Mid-table OK, grab a few decent wins, lose a few howlers

We did. And both Adelaide and GC took other players before Caddy. In any case, we (badly) needed a player like Windsor (outside run) much more than we did a key forward or even a key defender. Windsort wa the right selection at the time, and still the right selection.

Max had more disposals, more hitouts, more marks, more clearances and more metres gained than the Jackson and Darcy combined. In what sense was it an issue for us?

Counting on our young on-ballers was always going to be a stretch. Steele has more disposals and marks than Windsor and Langford combined. Brayshaw and co taking us apart.

The average number of games for a Pick 48 is 55, and Oskar is well on the way to passing that. Though even that figure is skewed by a few low-pick players playing a lot of games. The majority of players taken at around that pick don't even reach 50 games. So yes, well done Jason Taylor, above average outcome.

Jackson is about ready to step up to AA contention. Scary, not just as a ruck/forward, but also as a mid. Will be a handful. Not so fussed about the others.

We were absolutely right to get rid of him. He's a perpetual fringe player, and like all fringe players, will pop up for a cameo from time to time. Happy for him of course.

Our boy Oskar Baker ...

Ed Langdon has been pretty decent.

Yes. This myth has been refuted in some of the players' interviews, and by King himself.

You can’t claim a counterfactual as a fact. You have no idea what would have happened if King had come in with exactly the same squad. Equally, you have no idea what Goodwin might have achieved with our current squad—and alongside all the other changes that have taken place. The fact that the club pushed so hard to move on from some of these players, even at considerable financial cost, suggests they understood full well that King would not have been free to implement a new plan had they remained.

Hmm. What could Melbourne and the Swans have in common I wonder. Think think think.

Not sure Tom Mac is the man for any of those though. Against that, Amiss only had 4 possessions last week, so not sure about "quality key forward". Howes is 191, perhaps he can pick up the slack.