poita

I'm okay with turning over a large number of players this year, but only if we replace them with something better. Losing a mature midfielder in West for presumably a mid-range draft prospect who requires years of physical development to play midfield at this level is hardly improving the list. I'd rather lose Mithen from that group. I don't rate Sherriff, and Birch's football has fallen off a cliff in the past 12 months, so both are expendable. Birch should actually get us something decent in return as a 2x premiership player and All Australian. We definitely need to make a play for Parker as the best midfielder currently on the market. Otherwise we need to be hunting draft picks in the top 5-6.

I think we're 50/50 to play finals in 2024, and considerably less than that in 2025. Our depth in key areas is almost non-existent and we are very heavily reliant on Gawn and May to play full seasons, which is unlikely given their ages. The age profile of our list says that our fall, when it inevitably comes, will be pretty brutal. I doubt the coach and the list manager will survive.

There's a reason Marty Hore was delisted two years ago (several of them actually), and nothing that he has done since in that joke of a VFL competition, will convince me that he fills any of the gaping holes in our list. It's a really poor list management decision, unless we are trying to lift Casey back into finals contention.

Hopefully we are very active in this space this year.

Why the obsession with small and medium sized forwards? Why are we not prioritising key defenders, rucks and midfielders given the profile of our list, and likely retirements in the next 2-3 years?

I still can't work out why, if we didn't have a contract in front of Jake when he was fit and playing well, we suddenly decided to give him a contract after did his knee. Good luck to him, but this seems like a waste of a list spot to me.

Considering we started the trade period with two first round picks and a second round pick, its hardly a bumper crop of recruits.

It's quite extraordinary to me that we have promised Hore and Melksham rookie list positions and haven't brought in a back up ruckman. Its actually the worst piece of list management that I have seen for a long time. Even if Max stays fit, surely we can't be expecting him to play 23 games plus finals. Van Rooyen should only ruck around the ground when he needs to get into the game, otherwise I don't want him out of the forward line. That leaves Fullarton and Schache, and neither remotely resembles an AFL standard ruck.

So glad we are traded away a heap of draft capital to get mid-size forward number 20 for our list. Kolton might become a great player, but positionally it is the absolute lowest priority that we needed to address. I find it extraordinary that we haven't used a top 20 pick on a midfielder for 8 years now. Even more so given the issues around Brayshaw, Oliver and Viney. What's the plan if we lose a couple of midfielders for prolonged periods next year? Are we going to get Spargo to sit on Laurie's shoulders and see if they can reach Bontempelli's shoulders?

I still think we're insane not to make a play for West Coast's future 1st round pick. Particularly if the alternative is that we take Windsor or Watson.

Every single aspect of our game is poor at present, but our foot skills are simply atrocious. How can we have so many players who can't hit the side of a barn from 15 metres away?

I honestly can't see what Ivey and Bannon contribute that we couldn't get from two witches hats.

We all thought that keeping this list together was a good thing, but the reality is that we haven't added to the group in recent years and other teams have gone past us. We need to find a way to add foot skills and pace at year end. If that means trading a few experienced players (eg Mithen, Birch, Gay, etc), so be it.

We've got massive problems in every part of the ground at present, but it is the forward line that is the most bewildering. We have four genuine leading / marking options (Harris, Hore, Zanker & Bannan) and not one of them leads or plays in front. It's horrible to say, but Bannan and Zanker have played as though they are scared of getting hurt in recent weeks. If they can't get a cheap kick out the back, they are simply not interested. It's definitely not a talent issue, but there is something awfully wrong down there. The number of times a North player took an uncontested mark five metres in front of a Melbourne player inside our 50 was phenomenal, noting that we actually won the inside 50 count despite kicking just one goal. That's partly on the woeful disposal of some of our midfielders, but playing in front is something you learn in the under 8s. Fitzsimon was clearly our best forward yesterday, and I'd probably rate her game as 3/10. At least she was prepared to provide some effort and physical pressure. The rest were witches hats.

Aside from Hanks and Goldrick, they've all been truly awful. A totally inept performance.

If Adelaide win 100 - nil, their percentage would sit at 233.46%. If we win 50-49, our percentage would be 233.56%. If it is getting that close, every West Coast score is a big bonus to us. Similarly every point we prevent Brisbane kicking makes a big difference also.

I think the AFLW season needs to start mid-year, ideally during the AFL bye rounds, then run for 17 weeks + finals, such that we get to the grand final by end of October. The benefits would include: for at least part of the season you run alongside the VFLW comp, so players outside the 21 can play a game each week. you make the most of quiet periods in the AFL season around the bye weeks and post-GF to focus on AFLW. as much as the AFL want otherwise, you don't have 12 months of constant football and there is clear downtime for fans. Clearly supporter fatigue is having an impact on crowd numbers. in some markets double headers are an option, particularly where AFL games are scheduled for 1pm.

I hope we keep 6 and then see if WC are interested on draft night. Maybe offer to trade 6 for their 2024 1st round pick, which will hopefully be top 2. Then we'll see how keen they are on Curtin.

How many clubs own the land their training facilities are built on? I know St Kilda lease Moorabbin from City of Kingston.

There are definitely players on our list we could afford to lose, and about a dozen who we would be desperate to keep. Six months ago I would have said Tayla Harris was critical to our success but, with the form of Zanker and the emergence of Campbell, we almost look better without her. No doubt the AFL will give incentives to the bottom clubs to attract players, but there would need to be significant money involved to get the top players to move. As an aside, I'd definitely be asking Ellie Blackburn if she is happy losing each week, or if she wants to come and play finals at a decent club. She'd have to take a pay cut, but that might not be her key motivation at this time.

Failing to take a genuine midfielder at pick 6 would be the biggest drafting mistake this club has made since the Weideman debacle. If Caddy has the ability to become a big bodied midfielder in the mould of Patrick Cripps, then I'm definitely interested. Otherwise, no thanks.

Turner was a weird selection at the time, and his injuries since haven't helped his case. The club's website lists him as 193cm and 78kg - that is a long way off key position size and he will be 22 before the start of next season. How much size is he going to be able to put on in five months? I'd certainly prefer to move him on, and have a list spot available for a draft slider.

So you're happy having 10 small forwards on the list and no midfield depth? That's bound to end well for us.

If I were any of Spargo, Chandler, Laurie and Moniz-Wakefield, and Melbourne were bringing in McAdam and potentially Billings this trade period, I would be getting my manager to find me a new home as soon as possible. Of course, it's possible that there won't be any interest because none of them are particularly good, but I certainly wouldn't be expecting those four to be playing regularly next year.

Did McAdam approach MFC via his management and say he wanted to play for us, or did we approach McAdam and let him know that we were interested in him? Either way, a future second round pick, which could sit closer to 20 then 40 if we don't get our [censored] together, seems a high price to pay for a 28 year old with 50 AFL games to his name. If Joel Smith stays fit, he'll have played more games by the same age and we know how inconsistent and injury prone he has been.