Young Blood

Hopefully it might just mean that we are more of a destination club then we use to be. With success we might be mentioned more along with the usual Richmond and Collingwood's. It's probably more likely we've been mentioned as I'm fairly sure we had strong interest in him in the past so would naturally put us in the conversation. But then guys like Tmac, Hoges and Petracca arrived!

Gee would love to see AVB play some football this year. Has had an awful run with injuries. You would think they would probably bring him on slowly and it would be predominantly VFL football for the back half of the season. Missons's comments on his tank and that he's still got all his attributes is really promising. On a side note I was thinking if Vander's does eventually come back for AFL call up at some point our tall forward depth is pretty strong in: Hogan, TMac, Weid, T-Smith and Pederson. If Lever and/or Oscar were to get injured our tall backline depth is a little thinner and certainly less proven. Keilty, J-Smith and Petty would be the backups with Wagner being a tad undersized but decent in the air. I wonder if worst came to worst whether they would swing Tom Mcdonald back if they had to. I think the ruck and key back development at Casey is going to be crucial this season for added depth in the near future down back.

He's starting to show some real versatility. He's working really hard on the wings with his running and his decision making and disposal has been excellent. Knows how to spread and find space. Playing his role perfectly.

I feel like we would be a predominantly pro-weed club.

Seems to have solved his shoulders popping out a lot. Must be better tape.

His stats are starting to move into elite territory as a tall forward. The thing that has stood out most to me this season and was evident on the weekend was his disposal. He hits targets whether its 15 or 40 metres and under pressure too. He generally makes good decisions when he has clean possession. I think the best comparison right now might be Roughead in his prime. He's got similar impact across the ground. Feels like we're starting to see the player he wants to be and he's tracking nicely for that peak prime of mid-late twenties.

So lets say Dom gets dropped. Who moves up to the wing role? I think Lewis and Salem are too important with their roles down back to spend more time further up the ground. Harmes seems to play predominantly wing and a bit of half forward. T-Mac, Trac and Fristch, the latter who has played further up the ground lately are still needed across half forward and deeper. I think we need another creator who plays prodomantly wing. i don't necessarily agree that Dom can't learn to play this position. I think he has lost some of his versatility he showed in his first few years with his marking and tackle. I still think he's an excellent link up player but I'm open to him having a spell for Casey to see what else might work.

Yeah he is no ordinary tackler. He didn't stick with some today but his pressure around the ball was excellent especially in the first half, the same half where he made a few mistakes and many on here seem to think he was terrible. I thought he and Oliver were BOG

Would obviously love him at the club. But I think Lucifer is right in that we would need to give up something pretty substantial to get him. In the end we really had to give up a fair bit for Lever. This guy would be top 10 outside mids in the comp in his prime at 25.

I think we're in a good position. I think Spargo could potentially play ANB's role but off the back of only one game I'm not sure. ANB puts a lot of pressure on the opposition and works hard at positioning off the ball. I don't think he's going to be dropped. I agree with some of the whacks on Tyson here but again don't think he will be dropped. Not until Brayshaw takes the next step and we have a healthy Viney. There's just not someone else I would put in right at this moment that would play a different or similar role to trump him.

Don't know where he says he unequivocally does NOT want to play VFL, but I am sure that is the case and fair enough. Will probably still play VFL i reckon

His positioning still needs work but when he is in the right position he contests really well. He works really hard with his running for his size and the skills will get better over time. People forget that Rance while being great over head in his first few years, he was really fumbly and turned the ball over often.

So is this roughly your team when fully fit and healthy? Who comes in that you think he better to play a role then Tyson and ANB? Jetta Omac Hibberd Hunt Lever Salem Lewis Brayshaw Harmes Trac Tmac Hannan Fritsch Hogan Melksham Oliver Jones Gawn Int: Vince, Viney, ???, ???

I think the only way he gets squeezed out from playing predominantly mid is if Angus takes the next step in being a consistent inside mid. I think Gus certainly took some steps toward on the weekend especially in the second half. I still think Tyson is best 22 when all fit, he wins his own ball and generally makes the right decisions under pressure, unlike some of out mids he has a bit more time and patience in the tackle to wait for the right handball, kicking still needs some work. But it is an interesting question. What hurts him is he doesn't play other positions either end of the ground. Gus, Trac, Jones, Salem, Harmes, ANB and Lewis are all more versitile (not better necessarily at this point) but it does put pressure on Dom to play at a high level as a mid moving forward. A good thing I guess.

Rance is something like 7 years older. I think Lever has a natural build but will take more time to build the strength to be able to be a better one on one defender. His level of concentration and timing is pretty outstanding. If he can be as good as Josh Gibson or Rance he could anchor our backline for many years.

Yeah I agree with this. I definitely think another key back would boost the team but with the recruitment of Hibberd, the significant development of Frost and slower development of Oscar I think we're in pretty good shape. We still need another tall back to add to our depth beyond Frost/Oscar/TMac. But it doesn't have to be Steven May.

He even laid his first and only tackle as a dee today! What a guy.

He had a partial dislocation of his patella tendon pre Christmas. Could still be feeling that knee. He didn't play any JLT and missed round one so kinda rushed in a bit. I wouldn't be surprised

It's round 6. Keen to revisit this thread when we're past the halfway mark. I do think he's had an interrupted pre-season and looks a tad off. That alone is a good reason for him to either rest or get some form back at Casey. Thought he was pretty decent against Freo and one of few that played well against Carlton. But jeez we're talking about a guy who is 23! I personally think he's got some more time to develop and improve his fitness and decision making.

I agree Soidee but I think there are a few others like McDonald and Jetta who could show better maturity and leadership as well. I wouldn't heap all the blame on Jones. He just looked stuffed in that last qtr last night. I hope the club isn't in strife if we don't have Lewis playing. Also he's only played two games. He was great in one and ok in the other. Not sure if he alone is the answer to our leadership problems.

He is definitely playing better but I think Tyson, Lewis and Viney are OK too. In terms of clearances yes at the moment a class above but we have good contributors around him like ANB, Strech and Salem.

The handball to Watts off the ground before Watts turned and kicked it into Salem for the mark and goal was incredible. Had Richmond supporters around me noting they had not seen quicker handballing before.

I've watched a lot of match replays and all the highlights of Parish (yes they're just highlights I know I know) I believe the experts that he can read the play well, uses the ball well and is a good outside midfielder in the way he can burst away from packs and spread well. But I haven't seen any really solid contested football from him. He bounces around in congestion occasionally and gets the handball away quickly before or just as he's being tackled. But I'm really not sure about his contested football. When you look at Hopper's highlights (Brayshaw and Petracca's from last year too) they can do a lot of different things. The main thing you see from these three is real hardness and commitment to the contest including tackling. Hopper, Trak and Brayshaw can win one on one contests all over the ground. I don't see this much at all from Darcy. It is what Roos has pushed most is commitment and hardness which you also see from Harmes, Stretch and ANB. If we are looking for an outside mid who can spread and use the ball well then I think he's great. If he can work on his defensive side and build up his strength he could be terrific.

I agree with you. Also agree with others that the 400k and the 4 years is odd for a player of this caliber. Has shown potential one season, steadied the next, then fell away a bit last year. Not exactly a booming recruit. But he has worked closely with Goodwin and I'm sure Simon believes he can get the best of of Jake. This isn't the recruit Melbourne fans want. But putting the details of the deal / trade aside, this isn't a bad recruit. For me he is like a Dom Tyson, perhaps less of a ball magnet but is able to play contested football through he middle. I don't mind adding more Dom Tysons to our list to create depth. Melksham is actually a bit quicker and a better mark then Tyson plus has had good experience as a run with player being of good size, length and height. I would hope that he can just work on his consistency. Again not what we want first up this trade period, but something we need to keep adding depth to this club.

Although there is a good picture of Garlett bringing down Talia.