BAMF

That's not official is it?

I did almost exactly the same exercise at around round 19 albeit only for the Dees and based on my own best 22 picked in the preseason. Basically the same result. We averaged over a third of our best 22 out in every game this year. Even this does not tell the whole story of our woes. So many of our players were forced back earlier that recommended to cover the losses. Viney couldn't even run in round 1 and IMO should not have got a game until about round 5 TMac played injured all year and had little impact most games he played Hannan played 6 games when it was clear to most that he should have played none. Melksham played 12 games after injury and was rushed in with no fitness base Jetta got injured. Missed a few games and rushed back before a season ending injury

It wasn't really a choice between the two though was it? Scully was never coming back even if we wanted him too.

Not sure if this is serious.

He isn't a free agent. So a trade would need to be agreed upon or he would have to enter one of the draft. If he was to go then you would have wished he was a free agent as we would have got pick 3 as compo. We lose if he decides to leave and to be honest, I would not blame him for leaving.

It begins.

Wow. Amazing.

I was at the ground today. There was something fundamentaly wrong with Nathan Jones. His body language reeked. He offered no leadership and no one looked to him for it. My mother watches about 1/2 a game every three weeks and it was her second live AFL game ever. She said it was either 1) his last game for the club or 2) he had just been told that he would not be captain effective immediately. The last time (and first ever) she came to a game she said Jack Watts was playing with no confidence and would be traded at year's end. He was.

Just on the bus heading home from the ground. Happy with the effort from most of the boys. Gawny and Fritsch were amazing. Frost never gave up and I owe him an apology for writing him off at the start of the year.

Has looked to be on the verge of being a good player for a number of years but never seems to get there.

If we miss out on Anderson with pick 2 and go to the draft with pick 3, I would rather pick up Young or Ash. Both could slot into a HBF in their first year and could push to a wing later on. Serong has had a great year from what I have read but wouldnt compliment what we already have.

Hunt dropped. Cannot say it is undeserved. He has been playing like a guy who is just seeing the season out. Some disgraceful positioning and pressure efforts. I hate to say it, but he could be traded come the end of the year.

Tigers certainly have a number of smalls who are gettable. Baker, Bolton and Butler. Butler will likely be the one to make way.

Depends what you define as a key role. You could say that just about any player in the league with a few years under their belt and a healthy body would have gotten a game with us this year. Tomlinson plays ok in a team surrounded by great players. He is tall and can play both ends of the ground which is handy. I'm just not sure about Ellis. He has buyer beware written all over him. He could plug a gap for a few years, but is that really going to help us long term? Especially considering we would be paying overs in salary. If he wasn't a free agent would we look twice at him?

Because in a year's time they could be playing for Casey on good coin. We could be in the box seat to land a big fish free agent but not quite have enough cash because we have overpaid a depth player because they were 'free'. I agree that we need to be smart. Will these players be getting a game in their second year? I'm not opposed to getting them.

I saw this kid’s name mentioned in an article on the AFL website regarding the 2020 draft. He is tied to us as part of our Dandenong Stingrays NGA. He’s 179cm tall and has kicked a few goals so must be a forward. Recruiters split on quality of 2020 draft, big calls loom Deakyn Smith

I just don't think we have that luxury. We are short on outside mids which extends to the half back flank. They tried Salem in the guts at the start of last year and he was ineffective. At best he broke even. If Salem leaves the HBF it would have to be to take up a position on the wings. Does he have the endurance? His disposal is a weapon on the half back flank. We need another HBF who has pace and good disposal. Lachlan Ash is a youngster who we could potentially look at in the draft but would likely go around pick 5-12.

I'm Melbourne

We lack leadership, experience, depth, accurate disposal, speed and goal kickers. There are so many holes to fill on our list and only so many draft picks to do it with. We need to explore all options. Harley Bennell is one I would explore. 1 year deal.

@Lord Travis We would have taken Billings. (Agree with the rest of your post) https://www.triplem.com.au/story/paul-roos-revisits-the-josh-kelly-trade-37923

Hmm... Would we win or lose? I think we would win. Omac to kick 12 goals and win the Robert DiPierdomenico medal.

To be honest. I think we need the cash and every other commentary is just spin. Saying that we are invested in the community sounds a lot better than 'we're just here for the cash'.

These articles were after the interview I heard. Clearly we need the cash still.

I heard a pregame interview with PJ on triple M a number of years ago where this was discussed. PJ said that we were not interested in playing in China as we thought the travel would be a negative impact on the players recovery and preparation. Now that the club was doing better off the field, the admin would do everything they could to give the players the best opportunity to win a flag and that meant knocking back opportunities like China especially as we already had the NT deal in place. PJ said that the NT deal was needed at the time for us to balance the books and he went into some details about how much the deal was worth financially to the club. Which was a lot. He advised that the Alice Springs game was ok as it's a much shorter trip. Temperature and humidity are usually fine, but the Darwin game was taxing on players and now that we were doing better as a club we would look at stopping the partnership to give the players the best opportunity to win a flag.