poita

I didn't see the game but my key takeaways after reading reports from various sources are: 1. Playing defenders who can't defend (eg Lever, Bowey, Howes) and forwards who don't kick goals (eg Chandler, Spargo (when fit), Tholstrup (when fit)) is a recipe for failure. Please don't let this be another season ruined by terrible team selection. 2. Goalkicking is the most important skill in football and we are just plain woeful at it. 3. Having failed to turn over enough players in the draft / trade period, we are now trying to artificially create depth in key roles by stuffing around with things that weren't broken (eg playing Langdon and Windsor out of position). The Bowey as a defender experiment should have ended two years ago as well. Obviously it is fantastic to see Oliver and Petracca looking fit and playing well, but we are still overly reliant on those two and Gawn.

Beating Robbo to the punch, ESPN have released their list: The 50 best AFL players heading into season 2025 Petracca at 5 and Gawn at 21, but no other Demons. Cripps at 1, followed by Bontempelli and Daicos. More Kangaroos than Demons on the list. Discuss.

250 games, 2 x B&F, All Australian & Club Captain. That's a pretty solid resume, particularly for a guy who fought his way off the rookie list.

I'm not sure why McDonald's place in the team is in doubt. Lever is the one who should be made to earn his spot after his dismal 2024 season. I much prefer to play defenders who can beat their direct opponent.

You mean the MFC website that has these brilliant, up to date head shots of our star recruits? And no mention of Jack Henderson?

It's almost as though they don't want anyone to come. Why couldn't they have it Saturday or Sunday?

Completely underwhelming selection. We should have left the spot free and invited some kids down to audition over the pre season. 193cm ruckmen are about as pointless as 32 year old backup ruckmen.

If McAdam was in anyway serious about being an AFL player, he would have fronted up to train with the kids this week after the year he just had. Whether he wants to retire or not, the club should be thinking about paying him out and freeing up a list spot for someone who wants to be there for the right reasons.

No point having depth players as injury cover who are always injured themselves. Poor decision.

You are seriously comparing a 29 year old VFL player to the premiership player and life member who just came third in the B&F? You are a fool.

That's what I thought. Why the heck would he have got a 3 year contract?

In the least surprising development ever, a player who was lazy, half hearted and injury prone at Adelaide became a lazy, half hearted and injury prone player at Melbourne. A shocking recruitment decision that we have to live with for another two years. My biggest regret is that we can't make him play in a local league until he gets serious.

This is huge for the game. My son played in a under 14s team this year. Of 24 kids in the team, most who have been playing for 6-7 years, I reckon less than 5 would attend games regularly despite loving the game. We have to accept that this is an entertainment issue, not a sport issue, and these kids get more enjoyment from doing than watching, even if it is sitting playing video games. That said, I would much prefer afternoon games to night games.

I was supportive of our list purge at year end, but only if we were able to bring in some players of genuine quality to replace them. Maybe that will happen, but the evidence to date is that we failed to nail our early picks. In particular we didn't find the big bodied midfielder that we needed. I'm not writing off 18 and 19 year old kids, but many high draft picks are influencing games from the start. Ours are barely getting a touch. Eliza West was fairly ordinary last year, but she is thriving at Hawthorn and she is the one that we needed to keep. Clearly injuries are having an impact, but too many senior players are coasting along and not contributing. Unfortunately the game has gone past the likes of Paxman, Mithen and Lampard. Bannan and Zanker are half hearted with their efforts. Pearce is regularly injured. We have massive holes in the list to fill, and questions need to be asked about the coach and his game plan.

Can't see the wisdom in resigning Verrell, Sestan or Kentfield at this time. Why not leave the list spots open until after the drafts and see what falls out? I'd be amazed if any of these guys ever play an AFL game, unless we plan on plumbing even lower depths next year. I really hope we give Jason Taylor a decent quality and quantity of picks to work with this year. Giving him two draft picks last year was an utter disgrace.

9 years on an AFL list for 42 games. He should have been delisted years ago, and certainly should have been dismissed immediately after being stood down by the AFL.

Is Rioli a better player than Neal-Bullen? Trade price seems way out of whack between the two.

In the least surprising development ever, a player who was lazy, half hearted and injury prone at Adelaide became a lazy, half hearted, injury prone player at Melbourne. What did everyone think was going to happen?

Nine years on AFL lists is pretty impressive, even if his career didn't reach great heights. I still don't know what we were expecting from him this year.

Kyah is clearly a very good athlete, but is equally clearly not a footballer. We gave him a chance, but it didn't work out. It is the right decision to move on.

As I've said previously, we didn't cut enough deadwood over the past two years. Now we're stuck in a really crappy position with the list. Retire: B.Brown, Brayshaw, Melksham. Delist: Hunter, Schache, Smith, Sestan, Farris-White Trade: Neal-Bullen (only if Crows cough up fair compo) Uncertain: Tomlinson, Hore Would delist if I could: Laurie, Fullarton, Spargo, McAdam. On borrowed time: Adams, Woewodin, Kentfield, Verrall.

That was the price they set for McAdam who offers a fraction of the value that Neal-Bullen does. Maybe they'll take both McAdam and Neal-Bullen for that pick.

How he kicks 40 plus goals in that forward line with our woeful ball movement and kicking skills is beyond me. He would kick 70 in a team that had a clue how to play football.

80 plus possessions between Nick and Josh, and we didn't lay a finger on either all night. Teams must love playing against such a clueless, half hearted group.

A dismal performance by a disinterested and untalented group of players who were poorly coached by an individual who is completely clueless about modern ball movement and structures. Unfortunately the club seems convinced that overturning a few close losses is all that is keeping us from contending, when the reality is that we are light years from consistently competing with the better sides. Either through the draft, trades or internal improvement, we need to find 7-8 additional quality players by round 1 to hope to be competitive in 2025. Fronting up with the same tired, ageing group will guarantee a bottom 4 finish.