Young Blood

It's not abnormal for a player coming from a club with lower standards of training/fitness to rock up out of shape. I've seen those reports and believe that he'd be fairly disappointed that he wasn't starting at a level that would prepare him better for the season. But where are the reports that he wasn't enthusiastic about coming to Melbourne? Is that because there were rumours that Collingwood were keen to get him? Don't know if that necessarily means we were his last pathway out. Unless you've had discussions with him or have him quoting as such? He's played half a game or so. Guess we'll see how interested he is in playing good football when he's on the ground. '

Sounds to me like he is stating "Its a massive challenge away from home in a hostile environment".

I know this takes our two fastest players out of the team but I don't think it's really a priority considering we are too slow overall as a team this year. I think the idea is to control the contest and not let other teams get on the outside. It's going to be do or die a bit this year. Out: Hunt, Frost, Wagner In: Wagner/Lewis, May, Stretch I agree with others if Viney isn't fit bringing in Stretch makes sense. The problem with Viney is still that he doesn't play other positions effectively. I noticed on the weekend that Oliver either didn't spend or hardly spent time in the forward line. This might have been because Viney had to rest more so Oliver had to play more in the middle but its still a concern with Viney especially if he can't rest in the forward line for example. Sounds like Lewis might be available but if not I think Goodwin likes Wagner. At his best he competes well in the air for his size and has decent foot skills. When he plays with intensity I think he can be very serviceable across half back. He frees up Jetta and Hibberd to play other roles and be more attacking because he can play on third talls or smalls. I'd like to see KK and Preuss come in but I think/hope we've learnt our lesson from last week bringing players back that might be underdone. Especially early in the season it just can't happen. When the fatigue kicks in for that last quarter you need your fittest players.

Agree can't see them wavering much from what you've got there. Apart from no Hannan or Tyson this is pretty much the team we won two finals with last season. It may not be the fittest but its a proven side. I look forward to seeing KK, Hunt, Garlett, Stretch and the new young kids battle down at Casey for a spot

A very important resigning for a very important player

I definitely think Hogan should eventually be a better all round FF then McDonald. At the moment McDonald beats him in accuracy and consistency but Hogan has quite a bit more to his game that he will continue to develop. Hogans agility and ability to win the ball around the contest is better. Tom still struggles with kicking anything thats not a straight line. I agree with others this means very little at the moment. Will be interesting to see how Jesse develops out west. Tom at the moment is a more consistent and effective forward to me.

WO SMITH!

AVB looks in ripping condition. Bursting out of packs using his body. He's going to really add some oomf to our midfield this year

I'd imagine you would want both starting in the middle. I don't think Harmes will start off tagging every game. It might be a matter of seeing how much we can win the ball early and how damaging their best mid is before sending him in. Viney seems like the only one who will spend 90%+ game time in the middle as he's not as effective elsewhere as Gus and Oliver. Oliver and Gus will rotate with Harmes, Trac, Jones, ANB, Vanders all spending some time in the middle. I think we'll see less of Salem in the middle then last year and same for KK as well with both playing predominantly high HB/Wing.

Your idea non-existent depth at the midfield position seems to go against the trend of everyone believing we are top 3 for midfield depth in the competition. I don't think that's as much to do with who can fill midfield roles from Casey as it is who can fill those roles within our best 22. Ie if one of Oliver, Brayshaw and Viney were to go down with injury you would see the likes of Jones, Petracca, Salem, ANB, Harmes, AVB spend a greater amount of time in the middle. Those second tier midfielders (who I think are very strong) would slide in to more time in the middle with the likes of Wagner, Fritsch, J.Smith, Stretch and other solid fringe filling in other areas. I do agree with you about tall forward depth. You have to wonder if Tmac and Weid were to get injured if we would potentially swing another backman forward. I think Lever would be best suited to this. Other more shaky options being Frost and J.Smith but I think a forward line with Tim Smith/Lever and a resting ruckman, while not ideal would be serviceable. With that being said I can see Melbourne trying to play more mid sized forwards next year anyway to try to really push Petracca's effectiveness and continue Melkshams along with Fritsch and Hannan.

I can't see Frost playing further up the ground. Yes he is quick over 50-100m but he's buggered everytime he does so. Hence why he plays predominantly within back 50m. He would need to really build up his endurance to play wing. Like Tom Mcdonald his straight line kicking is good which he can get away with as a backman but would need to really change his style to be more dynamic with his disposal.

Didn't know he had that height. Makes him our tallest midfielder. Long strides, good length in marking contests. He seems to run and really good pace over 100m. Can't wait to see him really improving our run and spread on the wings which we badly need.

Having Hibberd, Jetta and May is going to be something special. There's compeditive backlines and then there's just mean, physical players who use their bodies incredibly well to beat their opposition. We now have 3x the latter. Give these guys a look at finals where one on ones are crucial and it just gives you chills.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see J.Smith train with the forwards through pre-season. With May our backline depth is looking solid. He's the next best option to step up and create some depth as a marking forward who competes well in the air. Has the ability to impact further up the ground like a Darling light. I think its a good option while he continues to try to find some continuity in his kicking where turnovers are less costly. Excited to see him have a full preseason and really challenge the likes of Hannan and AVB as the third tall/HF. I think his pace would also be beneficial if he can use it in the forward press putting opposition backlines under pressure.

He's added a lot of bulk which might have impacted his speed. I think its worked for him with him dominating a few games this year for Casey and in the seniors he seems to be sticking tackles a lot better which was always his key strength when he was drafted. I'm still not sure of what his position is in the seniors. Was hoping he could become more a small key defender in time with his good tackling and contested work. Just needs to spend a lot of time one on one with Nev and learn the ropes.

I think he's the type of player we need if he can get back to the consistent form he had back in 2015 where he was third runner up in GC best and fairest (not a huge feat at GC but he was only a 20). You only need to look at his stats that shows how much he marks the ball demonstrating how well he spreads to find space. He's not lightning quick but has solid speed and athleticism. Really builds up speed well. I like the idea of him on a wing or half back with his ability to really spread. Uses the ball well too.

Yes this is very true. I was going to post earlier in regards to why Pruess would even consider Melbourne I think you have answered a potential reason why both player and club would be interested. There is a greater need for two ruckman. Along with potential rule/interchange changes you only need to look as far as the last two teams left playing in the GF. Both teams play with two ruckman (I know Cox is predominantly forward). It definitely gives you more options.

Would Freo not just wait another year so they don't have to pay overs and pick him up in free agency? Gives them more time to sort out their key pieces before then.

Bayleaf*

It's a tough pill to swallow for Bayley. He does so much right. He uses the ball so well and competes in the air but he's not a natural defender and his one on one work (where finals are won and lost) has not developed yet. I have no doubt Goody would have told him he's got a long career ahead of him. Such a natural footballer who already has so many of the attributes for him to build on in the coming years. Smith is the perfect player to run with Darling. He can run with him further up the ground where Darling is so damaging and match his athleticism. It's a big task of someone with very little big game let along many afl game experience.

Thought ANB is one of many players who set the tone early on Friday night. Yes he wasn't particularly clean but he made up for it with intensity and ferocious tackling/pressure. Took some risks with passes that paid off. He is the sort of player I want in finals with his relentless pressure. He doesn't stop.

I agree. I watch Trac and definitely think if he dropped even a few kg's he could be so much more damaging. I think with Weid coming on and Tmac as main forward option the most obvious thing to do would be to train Hogan as a CHF/Wing who can be dynamic in the middle part of the ground and drift forward when needed. We know he has the tank and showed in the first few games he can perform around in and around the contest further up the ground. He will probably need to be a little bit lighter again and work more on the defensive side of his game. Would love to see Hoges work with Vanders in the off season to become more the two way running player that Vanders is.

I think this is such a great example of the way Max thinks. He will admit he's not the most articulate or the sharpest guy at the club. But he has such a good footy brain in the way he thinks broadly about the game. His awareness of his and other clubs strengths/weaknesses and game plans and style is so good.

- Slight role change to start the season - Injury set backs / couldn't put together solid string of games - Only 23 with plenty of time and potential He has a competitiveness that makes me confident if he can get his body right and carve out a role in this young team he will be best 22 for quite some time. Clean up his disposal and decision making and he's well on the way.