FarNorthernD

Apparently has the nickname The Ginger Ninja. Should draft him on that alone.

And Juddy

I was thinking along the same lines. Unlike a few on here I’m not sold that T Mac will be capable of being a long term forward option for us. I can see him returning back to defence and could see either O.Mac or Lever given a shot up forward.

Using the AFL points system and assuming no great ladder improvement from us next year we have effectively given up pick 4 for Lever. I think everyone here would do that deal. Hopefully that is a worst case scenario. If we improve like we expect and Adelaide falter that could translate to pick 5-6 Also whilst next years draft may well be very good whatever player we would have got would take at least 2 years in the system before we got significant results. That brings us to the 2021 season. Lever will be lining up round one next year.

And Lever also has very similar stats to Rivers after the same number of games. Means little at this time. Weideman, by the way, has kicked more goals than Hudson at the same age.

Really? For better or for worse Jack is contracted by the Club for two more years but in its dealings has made it very difficult for him to come back to the fold. They asked him to explore his options and pretty much the least they can do is let him go where he feels like he may have the best chance to succeed rather than what suits the MFC.

Fritsch: "What role am I playing today coach?" Goodwin: "Well today we are playing [insert team name here] so I want you to be booed and sworn out by all their supporters and a vocal and vociferous minority of your own supporters too. If you do well you can expect the same treatment next week and the week after that. Expect to be pilloried in the media and your own Club will admit your mere presence puts them under pressure. You will run the game out to the end but I will infer to the press that your preparation was lacking. All your teammates will make fundamental school boy errors; failing to kick to targets 20 metres away, handball to players feet and missing goals from 35m out but we are setting new standards now and elite finishing skills are so very 2016 which was, coincidentally, when we signed you to that 3 year (non binding) contract. Fritsch: "Oh, I’m playing the Watts role"

I’ll admit I haven’t seen a lot of Lever but what I have reminds me of a slightly upgraded version Jared Rivers at the same age and number of games. I liked Rivers a lot but anything more than our first round pick is too much. To me uttering Lever’s name in the same breath as Rance is silly.

Why would the Crows start with an offer to Lever of $300k? That is madness particularly to a bloke who is perhaps thinking about going home. You are basically saying we rate you as a very average player. I know it is just an initial offer but it is so far off his worth it is dumb management

I would be surprised if this was the case. Josh’s Dad is Phil Kelly who played on the opposite wing to Keith Greg for North in the late 70’s.

I don’t know if anyone else saw player manager Paul Connors on Open Mike during the week but he comes across as a seriously impressive individual. He deflected a lot of his success to the people who worked for him seemed genuinely interested in his players. From what I could work out his advice to Kelly (who is one of his clients) will be to stay for Premiership success at GWS and then reevaluate offers at the end of the next contract. If Connors was only interested in the cash he would advise Kelly to perhaps take the humongous North offer. If I had a kid looking to an AFL future I’d be pretty happy to have him managed by Connors

K

Life doesn’t get much better than this; team on the cusp of finals and rumour of the player I want most is considering donning a blue and red guernsey. Best thing is that you know if it comes true our footy department will be offering Kelly a deal that fits in with the rest of our young and talented team and not some stupid Nth Melbourne $1.5m+

I honestly don’t understand why he would choose Carlton over us. We are a good two years ahead of them.. I very much want Kelly at the Dees. Would have him over Lever in a heartbeat

Jordan Lewis on 360 tonight said Viney’s injury was normally a six week one but he recovered in 16 days. He said some players can play through pain better than others and that mental strength has a lot to do with it. Jack Riewoldt then talked about cousin Nick and his ability to play through injury and made the link to Jack. I wasn’t a fan of Viney being promoted to co-captain but it would be difficult to find a more inspirational and hard at it footballer or one more dedicated to the cause. The bloke was born to captain this club

Line of the week!!

Love that stat GV. Wish you could get it to Bruce and the other commentators who wax and ooze and dribble on every time Cyril gets near the ball.

Rohan Connolly barracks for Essendon. His bias won't let him publicly acknowledge that his team let go of a player that makes our team considerably better.

Both Tyson and Salem would be very much on the fringes of the GWS team so that deal wouldn't work for them Conversely Tyson and Salem are worth more to us than having just Kelly Probably proves the general consensus that the original trade was a good deal for both sides

Cale had his issues some of which were probably exacerbated by our "development" of players at the time. However his implied cowardice in this comment is just wrong.

Nic Nat has one of the best highlight reels ever but is remarkably overrated. By the end of their careers I reckon Watts will be well ahead

Jake Lever would be nice but for what it would cost I would rather have the Mc bros as our tall backs and go for another up and coming mid.

Yep having Kelly would pretty much complete the midfield rebuild.

It is very early days and Paddy has had his fair share of injuries that have no doubt held him back but I think of him as a poor mans Jesse Hogan. McCartin is a good mark but not as good as Hogan, Hogan has better hands, a bigger engine that allows him to play up the ground (and in the centre now) and Jesse's reading of the play/footy IQ is off the charts. They have a similar strike rate when kicking for goal. Overall you can imagine MCartin will be a good footballer so this pick isn't in the Toumpas/Wines league but would they have been better choosing Petracca? Absolutely

I thought that was a massive call but you are right. Sadly when you work through it being the best midfielder for the MFC over the past few decades isn't a high bar to get over. If he gets over N. Jones then he probably has Viney X 2, Junior, Bruce, Johnstone, Moloney, McLean, Tingay, Woewodin, Wells and Lovett well covered too (I've no doubt missed a few) We just haven't had a midfielder of the quality of a Voss, Buckley, Judd, Hird, Matthews, Dangerfield or Fyfe. It is only Clayton's 15th game this Sunday but if anyone is going to challenge for the best Melbourne mid in memory it most likely will be him