Mad_Melbourne

whilst i cannot speak for D2014, I think that not all players need to be in the leadership group to lead and Crossy is probably in this boat, especially since i think he will only play 12-14 games this year at a maximum.

Much like Hawthorns, cocaine, strippers and beers. Hopefully I can enjoy the grandfinal bender end of this season

so are we giving it a run again or?

To be fair he hit up fitzy pretty well in the first kick he had on video

i agree with your thoughts. What McDonald has started to do well is run with the football and draw an opponent meaning that he is able to give the handball off, but during the year he also tred to do this and when he was corralled (not sure if thats how to spell that word) he got indecisive. He can be a a 70m player in terms of running and kicking it long and i am happy when he does this, the only reason people dont rate his skill level is his tendency to make one or two costly errors a game, but he also saves 5-6 goals through being our best one on one defender we have.

Not sure if im alone in thinking this, but his biggest issue is that he as a player is too comfortable going onto his opposite foot (left) and often his errors come from this. I would like to see him take the game on more and run hard at his preffered foot meaning that he can use this more often.

Thanks for this, very good to have a look at. List is in an interesting position and resignings this year will shape our list for a long time to come. Interesting to see the kind of contract Howe might command with extensions for Salem, Toumpas, JKH, Hunt and Gawn (tregove im hoping) hopefully coming early in the year.

Bail is a personal favourite of mine so i am a little biased on the issue, but i still think that he has a spot on our list for 3-4 years. His running capacity and his ability to play multiple roles are a major feature but he is also coming off the back of one of his most consistent and best seasons last year. I think he will play 18+ games and earn himself another contract

if all players are improving their 3km time that is a good sign, not necessarily the most indicative form of running necessary for some players, such as Jetta who is probably looking to improve his repeat sprints more so than his 3k time. JKH was a big surprise and good on him, with the addition of Garlett I have put him for a majority of the season in the VFL but he is very good on the training track and this will work in his favour, although i still prefer Kent. They have been looking to work on Jordie McKenzies inside game last year so he could get the ball in the stoppages, he was a major contributing factor to us being able to beat essendon as his lock down job on Stanton was exceptional, so i still think he can offer something to the team. On the kicking issue, I personally think the Cross is our worst disposer of the ball by foot, but is very damaging overhead and by hand and this is what is able to set him apart from the other mediocre kicks.

So I have been a little bored and I thought it would be interesting to get a perspective on who people thought were the 5 most important players for season 2015 and if it was to vary too much, I think they will all be pretty similar but interesting to get a few posters different perspectives. I started the post with 10 players, but then I figured that it was basically half of the team that would play and also a quarter of our list, so top 5 seemed more suitable. My top 5: 1) Nathan Jones: pretty obvious, our most important player for the next couple of years 2) Tom McDonald: will play on opposition forwards and his run to break the lines will be vital, hopefully can improve his disposal 3) Mark Jamar: will play as our main ruckman and is vital to ensuring out midfield is competitive 4) Chris Dawes: our most experienced key forward, pretty self explanatory 5) Jack Watts: our best user of the football by far. In the games we played well last year it was no surprise that Watts was a solid contributor in most of them

No kidding, I was highlighting to the post which I quoted how it was clearly a joke.

15 minutes for a 3k is very poor for someone of AFL standard, definitely would not been be looked at in terms of drafting

The biggest thing with this is that Fitzpatrick and McKenzie have been kicking the ball/marking the ball for the best part of their life this way. It is unlikely/near impossible that significant coaching would be able to change this to be used in games as in pressure situations or match situations it is likely they will resort to the imprinted method. Set shots is a different idea because they have the time and the ability to make a step by step process and think through it, but you will see that it isnt often that players go through whole scale technique changes as they come into an AFL system and it emphasises the importance of junior coaching on these players.

I agree that it shouldnt excuse players for poor form as I believe that players who are feeling the effects that a lack of pre season will cause should be spending time in the twos. I guess Garland is further proof of the fact that it could hinder performance and if he does come out and play a good season it highlights the benefits that come with a full pre season, if not then it highlights that he is on the decline. Obviously when talking about time off over pre season someone like Vince would not be effected as majorly as leg injuries that prevent the running. Vince missing contact drills is not exactly the biggest issue, but the distinction that pre season or lack there of does not have an impact on player performance is something that is clearly untrue, but it shouldnt be used as an excuse.

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!! usually you are a good poster, but a full pre season or no pre seasoncan have major effects on a players season. Just because you can say 2-3 players who were able to miss pre season were able to play well, it is less likely that they will play 22 consistent games and their season is likely to be hindered by such time on the sidelines. he did play his best game for the MFC as a back flank and played quite well for Casey in this position. Players under Roos need to continue to add strings to their bows and hopefully this is his

I think when we are getting belted we have very few players that are able to stand up and be counted, let alone a 23 year old. None the less, i think the major thing he would want to work on is his consistency of output, but each year he has shown steady improvement and I still maintain he is one of our most important players for the next 10 years

Im intrigued by your theory, what do you define as a contest? if its on a previous page i havent been bothered to look back.

I think the biggest surprise packet will be Rohan Bail, many people have him falling out of the 22, i think he will play 19+ games in a variety of roles and we will significantly benefit from his running capacity. I have seen similar instances happen with multiple players, but as a supporter we are more critical of Jack Watts. I think he was a major contributing factor in the games that we won and also the games we were seriously competitive in. I disagree with pretty much the majority of demonlands sentiments of Jack Watts and would still suggest his contract extension is one of our more important ones after this year.

Nathan Jones can get caught in traffic trying to do too muc at times,, happened last year and will happen this year. But I am not against him doing if because quality players can make serious play out of these situations aswell. That is not to say that he has not improved but rather is his major problem associated with his game. I would have said defensive running but under Roos he improved leaps and bounds.

I said the addition of another key post, not the addition of no.1 key forward. Jesse Hogan will play as a key position forward, not as a flank or a small forward and Dawes will benefit from having another one in the forward 50 with him. Im talking about footballers in general, they would not say that Nathan Jones has not had a full pre season because missing a week will not have a detrimental result on his pre season, but rather players who miss upwards of a month, whether it be in December or January will feel a negative impact throughout the year. Nowdays forwards (like Dawes) need to play on defenders (like McDonald) and if they miss large amounts of pre season they are unable to work over their opponents. Whilst some players are naturally fitter than others the fact that a player misses a large chunk of pre season is clearly going to not be a benefit to their season, or why would they complete pre seasons? In modern football players are much more dependent on fitness, rather than ability alone and it is less likely that in any position without a full pre season that players would be expected to complete a consistent 22 game season. (internal expectations rather than those of supporters such as you and I)

I get what your saying, but i think that our forward line seems like it is going to be able to work better immediately with the addition of another key post and an experienced and quick small forward. Garlett will be able to take advantage of the space created by the 18 man team defence and the over the top option will work and this will also allow for the key forwards to push back and then lead at the ball carrier. That said our scores will increase with more i50s and that is from the midfield which no doubt should improve this year

I think this is more a part of the solution than the problem, if you watch Hawthorn last year especially how they were able to score alot of goals was though the lead back towards the goal and the understanding that when they reached the 20-30m mark they would change direction and lead to the ball carrier allowing for much easier goals. Understanding between team mates and midfielders needs to be greater but so does disposal into the forward half

I think Jones problem is more that at times he can get caught trying to do too much rather than giving off the first option, but at the same time i am sure it is coached that if you dont think you are able to get the ball out effectively then barge and take the stoppage as a win. Viney will continue to get bigger and stronger and was able to barge through players which were larger than him, now he needs to use the 10m of exceptional acceleration he has to try and break away from the pack rather than banging into opponents in front of him

Things that annoy me when discussing pre seasons, people who say that missing significant time off a pre season does not hinder performance throughout the year. Anyone who has played football could understand that completing a full pre season allows for much better conditioning rather than missing 6 or so weeks of the pre season as from that point you are just trying to make up ground.With that said, it does not mean that you can not play good games as there are obviously players who are naturally better footballers, but completing a full pre season is the first step to being able to play 22 consistent games of football. Chris Dawes is never going to be the solution to our forward problems, but rather a vital cog that will help provide the backbone of our forwardline. I think he had a par season for himself last year, and the problem was more midfield than anything else. When he was able to find one on one match ups he would win but due to the lack of depth in our forward line he was often found with two opponents. if the ball use is good into our forward line and he is able to use his workrate to move up and down the ground with a single opponent he will be able to deliver us a 40 goal season. (hopefully Hogan and Pedo/Gawn/fitz can play most of the year meaning he will get much less defensive attention)

Guns not yet, potentially yes but not yet. will they play round 1 I highly doubt it. It is completely against roos method of coaching and also defeats the purpose or recruiting the older players. At the end of the day Toumpas, Salem, JKH, Michie, Matt Jones, Newton, Mckenzie and Newton will provide competition with Petracca and Brayshaw and unless they knock the door down will enjoy a good season developing into midfielders in the VFL