binman

Yep. It's true of the whole team as well. I expect in the draft we will target players with excellent disposal skills, with some pace who can play a link, outside role. Obviously don't grow on trees so the recruiting team will have to show their talent spotting skills again. Maynard fits the goody mould, he's a Melbourne person. Hard at it, fierce, team first and super competitive. But he does indeed lack polish, specifically with his kicking. He's not overly quick either. You'd think he is competing with Oliver, Brayshaw and viney as an inside mid. So up against it. But like the selection of smith goody has shown a preparedness to back such players in so he will get his chance.

Totally. Shots me

Do we know when they will announce the fixture? i have to say i love getting that first look at the fixture. Its a great chance to look into the future and see what days what life will revolve around!

Any Friday night game is gold for the club. The friday night game is not just important for FTA exposure during the game it also means all the radio pre game build up across all stations and then on the Saturday all the footy radio stations do a reviw of the game. Great for the club, sponsors and most of all fans. We are a popular side, that will push for the flag, plays an exciting brand and until we win a flag will enjoy the support of other club's fans and neutrals. As result I reckon we will get 3-4 Friday night games which would be a great result

Agree, his kicking was much improved. took less risky options, but didn't eliminate the risky kick all together. Which speaks to better decision making, which i suspect is what the club told him to work on at Casey.

The reason i put up the stats for May and Omac at comparative stages was to highlight that like May did Omac is likely to improve significantly over the next say 2-3 seasons ad n is well on track to becoming one of the better big defenders. Frosty has some upside perhaps but not as much and he is certainly unlikely to get too much stronger. on disposal the DE rating is always going to be higher for players playing deep back as they do a lot of short crosses and kicks to unmanned players. Mids are more likely to have take riskier kicks, as is Hiiberd who often goes long to contest. I guess you argue Frosty plays a similar role to Hibberd so maybe his DE is ok. But turnovers are the real issue. One more per game than OMac is a lot given turnovers from defenders often result in scoring chances for the oppo. But as i have said i don't think Frosty is competing with omac for a spot. His competition is Lever, May and Hibberd (and possibly Hunt). Frost's advantage over OMas is he is stronger (though that will change) giving him first crack at the biggest opposition forwards, like Hawkins. But in future May will almost certainly get those players leaving OMac on the second forward.

Sorry. Didn't see yours

My best is mystic journey at the valley. Race 6 no 3. Good value too.

I was at that game and he was completely knocked out. Looked pretty serious actually. He and the club were lucky it was not more serious. File under 'what were they thinking'and/or 'what could go wrong???'

Rhyming slang?

Me too. But it could be because gluten cross contamination is an ever present threat

Yes, you're right about the elimination final - i had somehow (perhaps conveniently) forgotten that. Pretty sure Omac got Roughehaed, but he is certainly not the power he was was and is pretty slow thses days which suits Omac. You are spot on though as we now have a big group of defenders, across multiple roles, to choose from. it was great to hear may talk about being keen to be part of an elite back line.

He got hawkins for a quarter. I don't think he got franklin, bu could be wrong. And pretty sure Omac got Roughead. And Kennedy toweled him up.

A good example of the problem of taking stats in isolation. For example by that logic Frost is a better one on one defender than May. But that's not the case. One mitigating factor is Omac played in more losing matches than Frosty, and in those games our pressure dropped off and oppo kicks inside 50 were better. The same issue applies to May obviously. Another is that as FND points out for most of the season Omac got the oppos best and biggest forward. And performed well in most of those contests, despite giving away age, strength, weight and experience. Next year he will stronger and heavier, in fact he will keep getting bigger for the next two seasons, whereas Frosty is probably as big as he is going to get. Omac is still in a kid in terms of the role he plays. His peak is 2 to 3 years away. On that point here is a statistical comparison of May and Omac and the same stage of their career (Omac's last season and May's stats for his 2014 season): 2018 Stats for Season 2014 25 Games 19 7.6 Kicks Per Game 10.5 4.0 Handballs Per Game 2.8 11.6 Disposals Per Game 13.4 3.8 Marks Per Game 3.8 0 Goals Per Game 0 0 Behinds Per Game 0.1 1.2 Tackles Per Game 2.3 0 Hitouts Per Game 0.2 0.8 Inside 50s Per Game 1.1 0 Goal Assists Per Game 0.2 0.2 Frees For Per Game 0.8 1.0 Frees Against Per Game 1.1 4.3 Contested Possessions Per Game 4.9 7.0 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 7.6 9.2 Effective Disposals Per Game 10.0 79.3% Disposal Efficiency % Per Game 74.6% 2.1 Clangers Per Game 2.8 0.7 Contested Marks Per Game 0.5 0 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 0 0.1 Clearances Per Game 0.3 3.1 Rebound 50s Per Game 4.3 6.3 One Percenters Per Game 10.3 0 Bounces Per Game 0.7 96.0 Time On Ground % Per Game 95.5 I don't think Frost is competing with OMac for a spot and if he is he in a spot of bother because Omac is ahead. I like Frosty but his disposal is too unreliable and as result his risk reward ratio is too weighted towards risk. Which is an issue for him given the way he plays.

At the risk of sounding stupid, why?

Classic. I could actually imagine mark neeld, saying to a brand new recruit, yet to a play a game: 'you have done nothing for this club, zero, nada, ZILCH. You need to lift your game and harden the truck up'

Were you tripping on acid?

I really admire your honesty and preparedness to be some open about what you have been/are going through Mark. Inspiring.

Rubbish. Talk about revisionism. In what way did jessie not perform at a high level?. A 23 year old kpf averaging two goals a game, despite coming into a team averaging 60 odd points a game and basically never winning. Also despite often getting doubled team in his first 3 seasons and being our number one forward. Elite numbers and as goody said was in an form in the first half of this season. All of that whilst dealing with his well publicized issues (a way from his support network) And perhaps his less known ones. By that I mean the mental health issues Micheal Gleeson noted he has experienced in a recent article. Sounds like someone who is well able to 'compartmentalise' and perform at an elite level in a extremely demanding elite profession. Weeded out? Sheesh.

In east Melbourne they prefer to call it 'influence'

I did indeed want to keep jack. One of my favorite ever dees players. Certainly that was a factor but so was the fact that he was our best kicks and we lack good kicks. His second last season with us was his high water mark and he made valuable contribution. Something that you might well remember I predicted. A prediction you took issue with leading to a losing bet and your jacky boy avatar But I also made clear on multiple occasions that I understood and respected the decision to trade him and haven't complained once since it occurred. And besides we all get things wrong PD. You for instance, in your inimitable way, dismissed completely my belief tmac could make an excellent forward when it was first tried. In fact IIRC you were quite adamant he could never be a forward's boot lace and the experiment would be short lived I on the other hand, with my strong football analytic skills and many many hours of watching him live, was adamant that not only could he be a good forward he might even play that role going forward. I mean it was pretty obvious he had the ability if you were to take of your confirmation bias glasses. Looks like I might have got that one right pd. You - not so much.

Good point. It is quite telling. We are expected to be a top 4 side next year. We should be a top 4 side next year. We have the right players, system, culture and mindset. When is the last time you could say the dees should make top 4? Scary. And of course there is absolutely no guarantee we will make top 4. If we have a reasonable run with injuries anything less than top 4 would be a fail.

Agree. On all 3 points. A better comparison is stringer. Hopefully he has more application.

Sorry MB, i am positive you will be proven to be wrong. Which you will be happy with. So all good. Carlton will be lucky to get a single night game next year after the ratings disaster this year, not to mention all the criticism the AFL copped for scheduling rubbish games in the primo slots. Bombers, Pies and Tigers will all get their share of premium FTA night games, and deservedly so. Hawks too - but again they deserve it. All top teams. What will be different is they will play quality opponents in those slots, which will include the dees. With the additional Thursday night games the dees will get plenty of free to air action in the premier slots. The AFL and Channel 7 will also support the heart of the nation game again and i would be very surprised it e don't play the Crows again.

Good post LH. Agree that he has big opportunity to fill the space left by Hogan. I think he was pretty consistent this year but next year its time to go up a level and deliver on his promise in the way Gus did this year. Get super fit. Work on his set shots. Stop trying for all the cute assists and start imposing his will on games the way degoey does.