poita

I'm sure he's a nice guy and reaching the highest level (in this country at least) in two sports is a fair achievement, but there is absolutely no way he should have been on our list this year. All he was doing was taking up a list spot that could have been handed to a younger player.

i can't believe he has a 3 year contract. Did we do any due diligence, or did we just stick a contract under his nose? Surely the fact that GC17 basically threw him at us should have been a massive red flag. I would love nothing more than to see him fit and well and playing good football next year, but I can't see it happening. A settlement prior to the draft would be a good result for all parties.

He is finished, and has been arguably since late 2018. Unfortunately we have zero cover in that position, so he will continue to get games in 2020.

Can someone please tell me where I am misreading this situation: 1. We made a preliminary final in 2018 with Frost & McDonald in the key defensive posts, both of whom (according to Demonland experts) are apparently so useless they are not worthy of being on an AFL list. 2. Despite paying roughly $1.5M to Lever & May in 2019, neither played a full game before round 12 and both were either injured or incompetent for most of the remainder of the season. Lever, in addition to his woeful B&F result, played in a grand total of zero wins for the year. 3. Frost played every game for the year, finishing top 10 in the B&F, in a career best season. He was our best defender by the length of the Bathurst straight. 4. We keep May & Lever and their big fat contracts, and resign such luminaries as Josh Wagner, but can't find the money and list space to keep Frost. You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.

I'm completely convinced that the number one reason for Brayshaw's (relative) struggles this year was Goodwin messing around with things that weren't broken. Put Brayshaw back in the middle, let him hunt the football and let's see how he is going half way through next year.

Joel Smith is a player who has benefited from always being injured. A couple of goals in a practice match one year, a few VFL games the next year and half the supporter base sees him as the second coming of Ablett snr. The reality is that he has been around for five years without actually doing anything of significance. He is an awkward size and I don't think he has the football nous or skills to compensate for that - he is certainly not a better prospect than Fritsch, Melksham or Petracca in the forward line and he is not taking one of the key forward posts.

Most players on AFL lists, particularly those drafted in the first 2 rounds, you can look at and see some faint reason why they are playing at the highest level, even if they don't ultimately make it as a long term player. There is nothing about Spargo that suggests he belongs - too small, too slow, doesn't kick goals, mediocre disposal and decision making, doesn't win his own ball, doesn't tackle well, constantly in the wrong position. I assume he is a nice guy and works hard on the training track, hence we extended his initial contract. I can't imagine he will get another contract without ticking off most of the items listed by CB in the previous post.

This is exactly my view on Lever. Aside from the multiple first round draft picks we used in the trade, we now have an oversized HBF on a massive long term contract who can't play man-on-man defence, has poor foot skills and whose most notable contribution to the side this year was his elite finger pointing. When you hear about rifts in the playing group, you have to think that overpaid, under-performing big-name recruits are a major reason for that.

The last thing we need is another small / medium forward. Get rid of Spargo, Bedford, Chandler, Neal-Bullen, Lockhart, C.Wagner, Dunkley, Hannan and co, and I might be interested.

464 – Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver 323 – Jack Viney 319 – James Harmes 293 – Christian Petracca 230 – Bayley Fritsch 213 – Christian Salem 210 – Angus Brayshaw 204 – Sam Frost 199 – Jayden Hunt 192 – Nathan Jones 167 – Jake Melksham 154 – Steven May 151 – Tom McDonald 142 – Marty Hore 126 – Jordan Lewis 107 – Michael Hibberd 104 – Jay Lockhart 97 – Josh Wagner 87 – Harry Petty 82 – Tim Smith 65 – Sam Weideman The above list is from the MFC website. Is it accurate to that point? If so, I find it interesting, but not at all surprising, that Lever finished below Petty & Smith despite playing more games. Also missing is Neal-Bullen, and I'm not clear why he was given a 2 year deal on that basis.

Congratulations to the winners. Gawn was clearly our best player this year, although down on last year, and should have won outright. Oliver was very good at times, although he is capable of so much more. The next group, third to ninth, played okay in patches but were collectively miles below the same group last year. Hunt was very ordinary this year, so anyone finishing out of the top 10 had a terrible season. Hunt scored 199 votes out of a possible 840 (21 games), which equates to an average rating of 2.37 per game. That sounds about right to me, but it doesn't say much for the likes of Jones and Hibberd who polled even worse.

I believe that Tomlinson will improve our list as he is a capable AFL player coming on to a list that is massively lacking in talent and composure below the top 12-15 players. I also believe that he is not a player worth acquiring at any cost. As we have seen from the Lever and May debacles, there is a significant inflationary impact from paying overs to underperforming senior players. If we see Tomlinson getting $600K a year for four years and failing to consistently finish top 10 in the B&F, I fully expect to see Oliver, Salem, Petracca, Harmes and Viney asking for significantly more over the next 12 - 24 months.

Locking in players such as Chandler and the Wagners prior to the trade period, and even the draft, is just plain dumb. Who knows what might eventuate in those periods and how many spots on the list we might need free. It's not as though any on that list are going to get a game anywhere else. As it stands we have two spare spots on the senior list, which seem likely to be taken by Langdon and Tomlinson. So where are we freeing up the spots to take 3-4 draft selections, which is the absolute minimum we should be looking for? Our list management is just abysmal.

Say what you want about Watts, but we currently have two key forwards on our list, neither of whom have played since round 16. In the past three post seasons Goodwin has presided over the departures of Watts, Hogan, Pedersen, T.Smith and Keilty and has brought in the grand sum of zero tall forwards. Our forward line was a complete shambles this year. At some point we are going to need to recruit some key forwards who are ready to play. They don't grow on trees, so I'd like to see a list of better options that could be available if we ask the right questions.

That table doesn't even include the worst pick of the bunch - Addam Maric at 21.

Whereas Weideman averaged 10 possessions and 1 goal a game in his fourth season.

If by "natural leader" you mean he likes to stand by himself and point vigorously at the opposition players that he refuses to be accountable for, then absolutely yes. If this club was fair dinkum Lever would start next season at Casey until he shows he can do the job he was recruited for.

The stupidity of this club knows no bounds. Anyone with half a brain could have seen this situation coming from a million miles away. Step 1: Parachute in two players on massive salaries who, on the rare occasions they are actually fit, arguably make the side worse not better. Step 2: Make laughably insulting contract offers to players who are actually on the field working their guts out each week. Step 3: Lose said players to rival clubs for inadequate compensation. I'd definitely keep Frost before Lever, and probably before May as well given May's age and inability to play 20 games a year. Losing Frost at this point would be a disaster.

Terribly underwhelming at this stage. Bedford & Chandler were late picks, but neither will make it. I would delist one this year and one next year. Wagner, Lockhart & Dunkley are pretty similar players to each other and to a type that we are already oversupplied with. There is no great point of difference with any of them. I suspect we won't keep all three. Hore exceeded expectations, but I agree that we can't play he and Lever in the same side. Nietschke was a left field selection who has lost a full year to injury. Expectations will be low for next year. Yet to see anything from Sparrow or Jordon even at VFL level that suggests they will be anything special.

Right. So he didn't want to leave at the end of 2018 to join a team that was widely viewed as being a premiership contender, but now that we're a basket case he's happy to come across. Some people will believe anything.?

If we are that keen on him, I cannot comprehend why we didn't make a serious play for Langdon as part of the Hogan deal last year. Now we have zero bargaining power and will end up paying overs to bring him in this year.

I don't have any issue with the timing, but why did it have to be a three year deal? It should have been one year to start with and, if we challenged again in 2019, then he gets locked in long term.

I'll buy an 11 game membership next year, because that is what I do. I am too far invested in the club to back out now. Having said that, if the club is going to continue to serve up the 2012/13 era quality of football that we copped this year, I expect to be paying 2012/13 membership prices next year. This year's price increase for long suffering members was a disgrace.

Ego is the key word with Viney (and a few of his teammates). There is absolutely no need for Viney to take on tacklers or try and crash through packs the way he does. He might have got away with it in junior football as the hardest nut on the field, but it doesn't work at AFL level. I still think he can be a really good player, but he needs to play the percentages a lot better than he does at present.

I would have said no re tanking until 6:30 last night, now I'm not sure. We are truly awful, but there is no accounting for those selections.