Romey

I don’t Thanks for pointing that out. Goes to show that you should not always trust AI. Even still, our best quarter in 12 years isn’t too shabby.

If AI is to be believed, we have not kicked a bigger score in one quarter since 1991 when we kicked 10.3 against North Melbourne in Round 5. (We also get 10.2 against Saint Kilda in 2000.)

That is older than I thought. Still, he is about the same age as Pendlebury, Boak, Dangerfield and Taylor Walker – and they are all still going ok. If you take out last year when he was injured, he has averaged 50 goals a year for more than 10 years. Very consistent. It’s never going to happen, but I don’t think the idea is quite as outrageous as you suggest.

I wonder how Tom Hawkins is enjoying retirement. Surely worth asking the question.

It looks like our most accurate goal kicker is less accurate than the entire Geelong team average.

Some interesting context given our recent goalkicking woes. Is goalkicking accuracy in the AFL at its lowest point? What makes players miss their shots at goal? - ABC News Is goalkicking accuracy in the A...Kicking has been in the gun — but are shots on goal any w...Goalkicking accuracy is a talking point that consistently gets raised in the AFL — but how does 2025 compare to the years that have come before?

The best example of this is Steele Sidebottom who kicked 10 goals in the TAC Cup grand final as a forward / mid. He was picked up by Hind at pick #11 in the 2008 draft after Watts, Natanui, Hill, Hartlett, Hurley, Yarran, Rich, Vickery, Ziebell and Phil Davis. He has gone on to play 331+ games, 2 x premierships, 2 b&f’s, runner up in the Brownlow and has been a vice captain at Collingwood for the past 10 years. Let’s hope XL follows in his footsteps!

Kynan Brown was another who ran well yesterday, finishing second in the 2km time trial. He could be another replacement option for ANB… I don’t think he has been suggested in this thread yet.

Thanks to those who have contributed to the discussion. I’ve really enjoyed reading the wide variety of viewpoints on this topic. I think there have been up to 15 players suggested so it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

This is fairly consistent with how Cal Twoomey personally ranked the top 10 one week before the draft. (Not to be confused with his mock draft based on recruiter feedback.) https://www.afl.com.au/news/1255008/cal-twomeys-phantom-form-guide-top-draft-prospects-november-ranking/amp?webview=true

I’m curious what people’s opinions are on who will replace ANB as our defensive gut-running forward? He played such an important role in our team. We have a number of options including Chandler, Tholstrup, Laurie, Sparrow, Langdon and Sharp. None are like-for-like, but all are great runners, strong defensively and can hit the scoreboard. For different reasons I think we should try Sparrow or Laurie there. Sparrow is strong overhead and has a penetrating kick. Laurie an effective crumber and deliverer inside 50. Obviously still room for a more traditional forward on the other flank. Thoughts?

I see that ex-Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy has left Fremantle and is talking to a couple of Melbourne clubs. I wonder if he could be an option for the Dees?

I don’t want to see Oliver go but if he is determined to leave then yes. Oliver for Geelong’s future first and SDK. We then use the surplus salary to bring in Jack McRae or Luke Parker to cover us while the young guns mature. Both are like-for-like replacements based on Oliver’s form this year. Any leftover salary then goes to paying out Brayshaw’s full term contract to free up salary space for next year. I think that would be a win for the Dees.

Thinking creatively, perhaps we use our surplus salary cap from missing out on Houston to pay the salary of a player to trade out in exchange for a higher pick. Maybe Collingwood would give up pick 36 instead of pick 52 for Tomlinson if we paid his salary? Perhaps there is another player we can trade out. For context, paying the salary is reported to be the difference between pick 27 and 47 for Macrae going to StKilda.

Wes Walley?