Jaded No More

Can you say how confident the club is that he won’t miss round 1?

I’m confused. So we shouldn’t believe that it’s just a bruised foot because it’s actually much worse?

So essentially they’re just holding off because Kosi is backing himself to demand more money / years by mid season?

He is a very dull speaker. I don't know if we are going to win the flag or the spoon, such is his enthusiasm But I suppose his job now is to manage the footy department and I can't possibly fault him for the work he has done.

Good practice for the season ahead then

Pickett would also be twice the loss Jackson was. Not because I don't think Jackson will go on to have a wonderful career, but because Pickett is a special player who holds a lot of space in the heart of Melbourne fans. Losing him would be akin to when we lost Farmer, who was a cult figure amongst Dees fans. Short of losing Oliver or Trac, which thankfully is nothing we have to worry about for 7 more years, I can't think of another player I would be sadder to see go... maybe Fritta.

No I wasn't.

Kosi is a completely different person to Jackson. We need to stop lumping these two together. Kosi also has, as previously mentioned, a serious girlfriend who resides in Melbourne and family spread across two states. He has had a vastly different upbringing to Jackson, and just because Melbourne the city isn't his cup of tea, does not mean he isn't willing to deal with it for the sake of playing footy for a club he loves, where he sees long term success and has great friendships. If he does choose to leave, I am sure the club already has contingency plans. Jackson was never serious about staying with us long term. It was obvious from the second he only extended his contract for one year. Kosi has already previously extended his contract and if his management is in talks with us it means Kosi is definitely open to staying. This whole thing might just be a clever ploy to up his contract value. Maybe he thinks he will have a phenomenal year in the midfield and earn himself a few more dollars/years.

Club doesn’t think he will miss round 1. So either way it doesn’t sound terrible.

Maybe they’re waiting for scans before making us all panic? Anyone who doesn't think Jack is a huge loss is kidding themselves. He is an A grade midfielder and our VC. Not as easy to replace as we think.

I think they will make the 8, but honestly the competition for top 4 is fierce and they will really need to improve to finish in that part of the ladder. They have a fantastic home ground advantage, which obviously helps them enormously, especially if West Coast have another shocking year, which I think they will. I think they'll finish in the 6-8 range. I wouldn't be shocked if they miss the 8, but I would be shocked if they finish top 4.

Absolutely. If you have a 7 foot Gawn standing up forward, all of a sudden you need to always have an extra body near by. That means someone like Fritsch, who is by far our best forward, is harder to double team. Gawn is not the best kick, but he is an elite mark. You would worry having him behind the ball or in front of it. It's why club spend so much time trying to hit him at every contest. They know it's basically impossible to stop him for 100% of the game. Now add in Grundy, who at his peak was as good as Gawn (well I don't think he was, but some do), and suddenly you have to plan to play 2 rucks, or concede the centre square ruck contests, or plan for an additional tall defender to man one of Gawn or Grundy when they are resting forward. Most clubs don't want to carry an extra tall into games unless that tall is a really good player. Otherwise they are often a liability and rob you for additional mid rotations which are so important in today's two way defensive game.

I would argue that we have a better midfield than Geelong and by a long way. Our midfield has had silver service for years. You can’t just go replacing an A+ ruckman with some random lump and think it won’t really hurt our midfield not to mention what we get around the ground from Gawn. He isn’t just a ruckman. Neither is Grundy. Neither was Jackson. It’s why we invested so heavily in both. We want to have strong rucks and we now have arguably two of the best.

You really think so little of our list management? I am sure money is not the issue here.

We've put a premium on prolonging Gawn's career without robbing the best inside mid of an A grade ruckman. If Grundy helps Gawn play another 3-4 season instead of another 1-2, he's been worth it.

I bet you said the same thing about seeing our next flag... things can change quickly

The only adjustment I am interested in is having the MRP make consistent decisions, regardless of who the player is or what club they play for.... AKA don't let a big name player off the hook but give Chandler 3 weeks ban for the exact same action.

Hunter is too good a player for the Dogs to give up for basically nothing, unless there was more going on behind the scenes. We would be kidding ourselves if we didn't think there is an element of risk involved with him, but given the relatively low price, the reward could be extremely high. Like Stangle, a new environment and a kick up the behind might be just what Hunter needed. I think our leadership both on and off the field is much stronger than the Dogs, and I also think Goodwin would be a better mentor for someone going through it than Bevo. If he can keep himself focused and out of trouble, he would be a better acquisition for us than Grundy IMO. Like Langdon, he will completely change how we play and make us that much harder to shut down.

I'd be disappointed if we weren't bullish about our chances this year. We should be aiming to win the flag. We are in the midst of our premiership window. If we don't capitalise and win at least one more flag in the next 1-3 years, it should be considered a failure. We have an incredibly strong list, and only catastrophic injuries should prevent us from finishing top 4 and giving ourselves the best chance possible to win it again.

I'll be making the relatively short journey to watch this game. Anyone know if they stand will be available or will it just be standing only?

I’m the same. Kayo gets cancelled the minute footy is done and I sign up for another streaming service instead to keep me busy during the off season. Plus I go to every game in Melbourne and have a premium membership so I mostly use Kayo for replays and to watch interstate games. It’s a rip off and the quality is rubbish.

That’s true. But they’re still not a great measure of who we will be competing against in finals. I am much more interested to see how we go against Richmond next weekend.

Defensive flood = 16 conceded goals now Lyon really has lost his touch 😂

Absolutely brilliant. Well done Ben. Quality human.

Also missing our best goal kicker in Fritsch. In saying that, the Saints defense is hot garbage so this win means about as much as our demolition of Norf in the corresponding game last pre season.