Macca

And the reason why we remember the 2024 draft is because it was so recent But try going back 10, 15 or 20 years ... no one would have a clue And that's my point. I'm not interested in what happens in hindsight, that's all for everyone to see It's the predicting is what matters (to me) Get it right, all the time, and you've got my attention

It's still way too early to evaluate the 2024 correctly. Lot's of promise of course, but I'd say by the end of 2028 is when we can make a decent appraisal And if the draft is anywhere close to being a known science, then there would be a lot of out of work recruiters (sacked) They all missed on Fyfe (including Freo who picked Morabito #4 ... played 26 games) Do they ever get sacked for being so incompetent? haha ... the reality is that those within the industry know full well how difficult a task it is (drafting) I'm a cynic for good reason, but I do trust Taylor. We're in good hands as he punches way above his weight

The main thing that never seems to get remembered are those drafts that were supposed to be chock full of talent or the ones that are supposed to be shallow (not the aftermath comments by those using hindsight, the pre draft comments ... the consensus) Because it takes a good 5 years to properly evaluate a draft, no one seems to know what was said before the drafts And in every draft, there are any number of good players picked past the first round There's a lot of luck involved but there again, there are those recruiters that have the midas touch (like Taylor with non talls) It's always fascinating to re-evaluate any draft as the order is generally completely different years down the track Happy to acknowledge that the industry is a lot better at drafting these days but a few unknown areas still exist ... like coachability and whether a player is a self-starter A manic desire to succeed is another area that is hard to evaluate. Or players who relish physical contact (copping it, rather than dishing it out) We need to remember that the draftees are still teenagers and certainly not the finished product

Well, I'm not so sure that we wanted to keep Trac that badly ... we certainly didn't do an Essendon (Merrett) Did we fight hard to keep him? All we kept hearing was that we wanted to be compensated well. There was a fait accompli about the whole business Did the club want to go through a 3rd year with the whole to and fro? It's my belief that the club would be very pleased with the deal, all things considered One thing is for sure, there will be no more talk about whether Ollie or Trac are going to stay or not They are both gone

And all things being equal, for 2 off-seasons in row, Petracca wanted out If it was just one year, then you get on with it. But it was obvious that Trac wanted out and we need a united group (were we united in 2024 & 2025?) And his best years are possibly behind him. Very good but top notch? I'll take the 3 x 1st rounders and back Jason Taylor in If he can turn 2* of the 3 picks into top players (giving 10+ years of service) then we win the deal But of course, time will tell And who is to say that we might (somehow) land an extra 1st rounder in the 2026 draft? After all, we went into the 2025 trade week with just a pick in the mid 20's as our first pick *Hoping for 3 top players with 3 x 1st rounders is probably a bridge too far

Well in a 3 year stretch 2021 - 2023 Trac accumulated 2098 possessions over 74 games (average 28+ per game) And 39 possessions in a GF. Some would describe that performance as the complete game Not too shabby for a player who you reckon never put in 4 quarters Make no mistake, Petracca will be difficult to replace. Let's hope we draft well with the 3 first round picks that we got for him

The question is Gonzo, right now, would we prefer 3 x 1st round draft picks or Petracca? Remembering that we got nothing for Oliver other than the salary cap space and then the subsequent acquisition of Steele (and Mihocek?)

Meanwhile, Dallas' GM, Jerry Jones, is off chasing $100Billion in gas reserves ... causing quite a furore in the States

Yes, I'm hoping that Kolt hits the first training session raring to go and as fit as a fiddle. Being a bit muscled up wouldn't hurt either Actually, all our players need to present well as there's a lot of ground to make up They are all professional footballers

As poor as Miami was, the Ravens were quite impressive (and they are coming) Lamar makes such a difference with his star quality And Henry doesn't look like he's slowing down in a hurry. A real pro Bleacher Report Power Rankings (Full Write-up) Their top 14 ... 1) Colts 2) Chiefs 3) Rams 4) Packers 5) Eagles 6) Lions 7) Bills 8) Bucs 9) Broncos 10) Pats 11) Seahawks 12) Chargers 13) 49ers 14) Steelers

Fair enough, I was only having a bit of fun with the Dolphins of Miami They may not have to tank to get a nice pick in the draft anyway I wonder how the next batch of QB's are going at College level ... there's usually 4 or 5 prominent names - including Arch Manning?

Yes, spot on Re Ollie & Trac ... when was the last time a team lost (arguably) 2 of their best players, prematurely, in one hit? It's certainly not a common occurance In the first few rounds next season there's a good chance that we'll be looking out for them, such was their dominance and influence I started not noticing both of them in the last quarters of games in 2025. Normally, both would finish strong but not in 2025

It's way too early to have an accurate appraisal of Kolt. His sample size is limited minutes in a dysfunctional forward line (where the delivery was atrocious) If we went back to his highlight reel before being drafted, he was all over the field picking up possessions and was drafted as a mid/forward We also played Windsor out of position for far too long. Give the lad a run at half back but not all the time (finally moved into the midfield late in the season) Poor placement for both players. And Laurie was hardly given a chance at all in a team that couldn't win games We should have started experimenting with the list early on in 2025

A lot of drafted top end pick mids are plug-in-and-play types these days too And our depth isn't great so I'm expecting a development year with a fair bit of experimentation Looking forward to seeing how players like Laurie, Kolt & Windsor go if (or when) they are given more midfield minutes Losing Ollie & Trac opens up 2 mainstay* spots in the midfield and it will be interesting to see who becomes our main 4 or 5 mids and how they work together (and the resultant style) Viney is right back into the equation where as he previously might have been squeezed out *Petracca played forward a lot of course, so will we develop another Mid/Forward to accompany Kozzie? (Langford?)

Tanking?

Ravens Chargers Jags

Test squad should be announced tomorrow or perhaps on the weekend Bancroft & McSweeney have both scored 💯 today with Renshaw out for 29 and Marnus 4, Green 0, Webster 11, Weatherald 0 Smith got a 💯 as a nice tune up Green didn't bowl and Webster picked up only 1 wicket One to watch is Brendan Doggett who took 6-48 vs W.A Haskett (W.A) is another who is lively. Big lad with a nice left arm action

Yes, there's also different levels of optimism, pessimism and having a realistic view In fact, this whole site revolves around the 3 types of thinking along with all the variables But I've always felt that a team is heavily reliant on the experienced players ... and they let themselves down in 2025 (need to bounce back)

An optimistic view would be pushing for finals or playing a final or 2 I'll be disappointed if we fall right away, as this list is still far superior to the lists we had from 2008 to 2015 Short on genuine stars but plenty of players who are AFL standard One thing that we didn't see in 2025 was a motivated list. We were going through the motions match after match So with a new coach (?) Given a good run with injuries I'd take 9 - 11 wins on an upward curve

Yes, very true, Betters We were just meandering along and then that loss hastened change 2 of the changes (losing Trac & Ollie) will take time to completely come to terms with, but time may well confirm that it was for the best. But hey, 3 first round picks in return might return 3 top players Goodwin had run his race but he'll forever be a premiership coach and for some of us, we thought that 13th flag may have never come

One bounce at the start of each match would have kept a small part of a rich history Did you ever try bouncing the footy? Damn hard thing to do and with the first 10 or so tries, the ball would often come back straight at your snozz (and ... would bring tears)

And it's flipped Blue Jays now lead 3-2 going into game 6 in Toronto (Sat 11.00m AEDT) One more win and they win their 3rd World Series

We should be expecting a decent improvement from our senior players/experienced players We saw the improvement with Bowey, Turner & Chandler along with Kozzie getting better by the year We should be expecting better seasons from Salem*, Fritsch, Petty, Lever, Rivers*, Langdon*, Viney, JVR, May(?) & Sparrow. T-Mac & Melk continuing to play well would be a bonus but then there's Mihocek, Steele & Max of course And the youngsters coming through such as Langdon, Lindsay & Windsor *Salem, Rivers & Langdon need to be more dynamic with their possessions Finals might be a bridge too far but at least 10 wins is a possibilty ... much will depend on injuries as our depth isn't great There's a whole host of middling clubs that are very beatable. And we might get a kind draw So next year's pick might be 5 all the way up to 10 (in my view) And what if King is a really good coach?

Yes, they could have at least left the bounce in there for the start of the match (any match) Out of the 4 umpires, one of them would be adept at the bounce

And they've now made the stand ruling even more complicated with protection zone criteria. It's like a dog chasing it's own tail The Stand rule is another band-aid approach. Although it kind of works, it's another example of how the fabric of the game has changed Apart from the changes that I've advocated, I'd ditch the stand rule because with a more open game with loads more space, it wouldn't be needed