Young Blood

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.

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 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.

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.

- 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.

Or maybe even some shields? like the colours on this one.

The most pleasing thing looking at the bigger picture is there's guys that could potentially (but probably doubtful) play that could round out an even better bottom 6 and maybe be ahead of JKH Hunt, Joel Smith, Pederson, Bugg, Garlett, Wagner Not to mentioned the injured that won't be available: Lever, Vince, Kent, Stretch Thats some depth right there.

Are these lists based on current form? Or overall this season? Importance to the team? If it was based on form and importance right now Harmes would be top 5 and I don't think Jones would crack the top 10 to be honest. He's playing his role well but not influencing games as much as others.

He deserves a lot of credit for this clubs recent success. He came across because Roos was going to be coach and saw some hope and opportunity for growth. There aren't many players who are playing close to their peak that would do that. I think he's had a huge impact on the young playing group. The way he attacks every contest (bar a few high ones) is exactly the type of player you want influencing everyone. I've always enjoyed Bern's honesty and professionalism in front of the media. He will be missed. I don't think he will take up a role at the club as he has a real estate career/business waiting for him.

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

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.

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.

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.

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