Young Blood

Trade a 23 yr old key position forward while he's developing and before he's even close to reaching his prime? Laughable

I think people tend to forget the importance of Hogan's presence. Even when he's not playing well he still demands the oppositions best key back or even two. This allows Mcdonald the freedom to lead into other open spaces and gives small forwards the opportunity to be proactive knowing Jess is more likely to try to bring the ball to ground when he has two opponents. I don't mind if Jesse is having an off day not marking or finding the football as long as he makes a strong contest in the air and applies pressure around the ball in forward half thats all you can ask of him when he's not at his best. I know Jess has been down on form the past two weeks but if fit I think its key to keep improving our forward structures and keep the team playing together with that predictability and trust as well as continuity in our game. I think that's really important at this time of the season.

His marking on the weekend stood out to me. Hadn't seen him clunk them that well this season but he really committed and took some beauties on the lead and contested. Will need more of this going forward.

Yeah why are we talking about De Goey? He's not an outside mid. He's more an inside mid/forward. We're currently developing one of those, his name is Christian Petracca and its taking a bit more time but he clearly has the tools to be a De Goey type. He is our X factor along with Viney. You outlined Gaff's strengths perfectly which I agree with and is exactly what we need! but I disagree that he hasn't performed well in finals. Wait he did have an average game against Carlton during his first season in 2011.....

Well if you're after De Goey he just re-signed there so feel free to change into the black and white. I'll happily hold onto Brayshaw. He's not quick but he runs all day. He had an average game on the weekend. But he uses the ball well and generally makes the right decision. Kid is 22 and the game has already slowed down for him. He has time and space with ball in hand and doesn't panic when tackled. I think he is a future Pendlebury type.

You're right I don't think its our no.1 priority to have another KPD. Oscar has developed well and will continue to do so if our midfield apply the right amount of pressure. With Lever we had a really good balance in our backline. We have developing KPD in Petty and Keilty of which I think at least one will be serviceable in the next year or so.

Jake lever isn't a KPD?? Gee if he's not then we're in trouble. Yes he plays predominately loose in the backline but he will also still lineup against the oppositions second tall and play one on one (which we know needs work). Much like Rance he will peel off and help out at the contest.

And we wonder why our backline look so disorganized........

I'd like to know where the information came from that he'd like more time in the midfield. Sounds a bit like something to add to gain some traction in my opinion. I've certainly hardly ever seen him winning contested ball when he has found himself in those types of situations. But I spose he also might want to expand his game with his bigger body. A shame if he does go because he had some genuine pace and power which apart from Trac we don't have in our forwardline at the moment. We're heading more in the Richmond direction of smaller leaner players like Hannan, Fritsch, Spargo etc. I see him and a few of the other players at my work quite often so I'll ask him haha.

Agree I think Dion who just turned 20 needs a bit more time to see if he can develop a role for the club. I know its obvious but we won't know until the end of the year, its really hard to pick potential delisted players especially like AVB, McKenna, Kent who will be given a chance to prove themselves once fit. Wagner is definitely staying. I would imagine he will be a required player with Lewis/Vince retirement not too far away. At this stage the only clear one to me is JKH. Has been given a fair of time/development and opportunity and while he can find the ball I just think we have so much midfield depth now he is no longer required. I think Maynard at 26 could also be an option but I'd say they would give him another year considering he hasn't as long in the system/game of AFL.

I really doubt the FD are going to replace Lewis or his role before the end of the season. I agree he looked off the pace yesterday and the style of game did not suit him one bit. His weaknesses were exposed by Collingwood but this was a result of our inability to slow them down. He wasn't given any time or space due to the lack of pressure applied by our midfield. I listened to Lyon this morning say that Lewis has played well when Melbourne has been able to dictate the flow of the game. Same must be said for Vince. When we are in control they are key in controlling our ball movement across the backline/wing. When the opposition are going blitz attack like yesterday they are caught out of position with little leg speed to make up ground. I guess my point is I think the FD are going to continue to take this risk. I think there are other teams that take the risk and rely on their best pressure backman (eg Jetta/Hibberd) to work hard around the contest and feed the ball to the best disposal players in Lewis/Vince/Salem. The conversation will need to be had at seasons end who can step up into the Vince/Lewis roles. Right now there's no one with the combination of both the ball use/decision making and pace to put pressure on. Wagner is the only one close for mine. Would like to see Tyson and Hung clean up their disposal to become possible options down the line also.

Yeah I remember him comment on the podcast maybe that he's not a very long kick. You don't see him kick from 50m often. Hopefully something that he can work on now that he seems to have his action more consistent.

Nah i think we just forgot how quick he is. Over 20m he just burns.

He's definitely our most explosive midfielder. He showed that today. He just bullies opposition. His strength to get himself free from congestion is remarkable. He can only make the game easier for Oliver too. Boy oh Boy our midfield is good. Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw, Jones, Petracca etc.

Will be interesting if he goes back to the Saints after they traded him for what? Pick 37 was it? Ouch

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.