poita

Can we delist McAdam and forget to re-rookie him? Or Laurie?

The last time we kicked more goals than points was round 2. It's now round 11. I think that sums up where we're at - effort generally good, but execution generally pretty ordinary. The lack of contribution from our bottom 6 or so players probably means we are not genuine contenders, and arguably not even top 4 with a tougher draw. We needed to hit the draft to freshen up the list, and we've done that (with mixed results), now we might need to look at bringing in some experience.

Just basing on what I have seen and heard, I think the chances of Tigga Johnstone being an AFL player would be basically zero. That's not a criticism, just an acceptance that some kids want to enjoy playing sport with their mates and don't have the drive (or perhaps the ability) to be an elite sportsperson.

Why would you even bother trying to recruit and retain a WA kid in this environment unless he is head and shoulders above everyone else in the draft pool? You spend so much time and effort trying to make them feel at home, then they go home to mummy at the first opportunity.

It's now not only about being able to field a competitive side this week, but also a race against time to build some form and match fitness prior to the finals.

I believe that the proposed purchase of the land was announced in December 2016, with initial planning starting back in 2015. https://www.afl.com.au/news/866406/this-is-a-gamechanger-hawthorn-hawks-to-commence-construction-of-100m-facility The above article anticipated construction commencing in early 2023 with a partial move in the first half of 2024. They have obviously missed that by a fair way. Conservatively, that is a good six years of planning, approvals and fundraising, followed by almost three years of construction. We'll be lucky to get into Caulfield within five years.

If Berry isn't ready to plug and play at Casey, we need to investigate other options as soon as possible. We sent Kyah Farris-White to SBMT at least 12 months too late.

I believe the Whalan family have close links to the Mordi-Brae football club, which is the largest club in my local area. I don't know the family, but this will affect a lot of people. There is some information in the post below. I believe there is also a GoFundMe appeal set up to benefit the family. https://www.facebook.com/BreastCancerNetworkAustralia/posts/in-admiration-and-tribute-to-one-of-our-community-champions-amber-whalan-mum-to-/1198312585662887/

It's embarrassing how often Goodwin coached sides capitulated against Collingwood, even when we were by far the stronger team. Hopefully King and his assistants can sort out both the football aspects and the mental aspects of this team.

Happy for him to come down to Casey and be a leader of that group, but definitely no future at AFL level.

Agree, yet the Casey coach is now our development coach. Something about this doesn't sit right with me. On Woewodin, I think he's a little unlucky and I would have loved to see him get a run in McVee's lockdown defender role.

Given the AFL are hell bent on sabotaging their own competition, it is hardly surprising that we remain at 12 rounds for 2026. I've said it before, the competition should start on the Kings Birthday weekend, when there are numerous byes in the men's comp, and run for 17 rounds with finals commencing in the first week of October. That leaves a GF in the last week of October when it has reasonably clear air before the Melbourne Cup and serious cricket. It also allows for double headers with the men's comp between June and August, which seems a clear way of giving AFLW more exposure. I am glad that that they have given the players more notice of the season dates this year. afl.com.au/aflwAFLW confirms number of rounds, start date for 2026 seasonThe 2026 AFLW season will begin in August again with finals to start in November

Every single time we give up more than we should - it's absolutely ridiculous. If Tim Lamb was a real estate agent he'd sell the house and chuck in the furniture, the dog and a slab of beer on top.

You don't need to be Nostradamus to know that this is going to bubble to the surface multiple times over the length of the contract. The big issue is what else we will throw his way to keep him happy if we're not sniffing finals in the next few years.

I'm not really sure how we're better off if we use the Oliver pick for Steele and pay a decent chunk of both their wages (presumably we're still up for $1M plus between the two). Aren't we just shuffling the deck chairs again? I think I'd prefer to see what the new coach could do with Oliver, or keep a list spot open until February for a train on player, rather than bringing in Steele for a couple of years.

Back to struggling to field a team - that is less than ideal given our draw over the next few weeks. We desperately need at least three of the top four on that list to play this week.

Yay, another fringe player. Dear God, I hope not. Lumumba was the worst recruit I've ever seen walk through the front door of this place (and I've seen plenty of shockers).

Congratulations Demonland posters! 125 pages written about a player who hasn't asked for a trade and who hasn't expressed any interest in coming to Melbourne. I'm sure you can get this baby up to 300 if he actually does one or both of those things.

Turns 28 next year and has only averaged more than 16 touches a game in 4 of his 9 seasons. Really none of his stats are that impressive. Maybe his kicking is good, but does he get enough of the ball? Yes, he would be best 23, but you wouldn't want to give up much to get him.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if pick 103 is the missing element that turns Lamb's head. The king of tough talking strikes again.

A very good first round pick is the price for Simpkin? That would make Petracca worth 15 first round picks.

Lamb is a clown. Why did any future pick need to be involved in a free agency deal, let alone one that could fall in the mid 40s? He'd be perfect working for the state or federal government, splashing around taxpayer money without a care in the world.

Fremantle have set the market for unproven ruckmen with the Liam Reidy trade. Max Heath's value should be similar. Not sure why this would be a difficult conversation, nor why we haven't commenced negotiations yet. Surely we want to get this one locked away, because Petracca and Oliver are likely to take a lot of time and effort to finalise.

So the bottom side loses their captain to the two-time reigning premier, and the AFL don't think they might have a problem with the salary cap, free agency, equalisation, or any other aspect of the trade period?

Let's look at recent B&F results across the league: Brodie Grundy 2nd Luke Jackson 3rd James Jordon 3rd Alex-Neal Bullen 5th They might not all be huge names, but all played in sides that finished well above Melbourne and all were crucial to their teams' performances. You can add Bedford who finished top 10 in 2024 as well (with Hogan winning). For how many of these players did we receive even close to fair value?