poita

Viv Michie, Ben Newton, Ben Kennedy, Aiden Riley, and countless others. Not sure why this club keeps thinking it can make AFL players from other teams' state league players. We've proven time and again that we're not up to the task. Good luck to Balic if he comes on board, but the odds are well and truly against him.

I think he's developing very nicely, compared to the likes of brother Tom & James Frawley at the same stage of their careers. Clearly he has to get stronger so he can take on the big forwards, but that will happen with continued work. It amazes me that so many people cannot see any positives with Oscar, but will defend Weideman to the death in the same breath.

I thought Hulett showed a bit in the couple of games I saw from him in 2016, so it was disappointing to see him regress so far in 2017. Ultimately you can't argue with the delisting of a player who is in the VFL reserves at the end of his second season.

Basically a wasted season for Sam, as I saw no improvement from year 1 to year 2. I have little hope at this point that he will become the player we need him to be, but clearly the club will give him every possible chance to make his mark, and then some. The biggest mistake we made was giving him AFL games that he didn't deserve. Far better to make him so hungry and desperate to get in the AFL side that he never lets his standards drop, than hoping he steps up when games are gifted to him. The talent is there, but that is all at this point. Essentially Sam needs to be much harder and more committed in his attack at the football and at the contest. Part of that is getting bigger and stronger, but it is also the mindset that he is going to play with a lot more physicality than he has to date. He has to get fitter so he can cover more ground and make repeat leads. He has to keep himself in the game for longer by tackling and chasing. Plenty for him to work on over the break.

Tom was fantastic in a variety of roles up until round 21, and I expect him to finish top 3 in the B&F. Unfortunately his performance in the last two rounds, particularly against Collingwood, was dire and he was a major reason why we couldn't get the job done. Hopefully that spurs him over the off season to ensure that it never happens again. I believe Tom is out of contract again at the end of next season. For me, he is by far the most important signing we have to make next season, and even more so if Watts leaves. Expect him to put his hand out for at least as much as Lever is getting offered, and fair enough too. Hopefully we can lock him away for a lengthy period, at least four years.

We should have rescinded his new contract after he was banned. It was a pathetic way to repay the club for the faith shown in him. A player of his limited skill set (small, slow, average skills) needs to be absolutely manic in his attack at the football. JKH isn't, and on that basis I'm not sure what he offers coming into his fifth year on the list.

I'm amazed to read that he only played 80 games and was basically only a regular selection for two years. His stats were good in 1990 - he must have been injured to only play 10 games that year.

Kennedy gone, excellent. Average player with below average workrate. I'm just thankful we only gave him a two year contract. Hopefully there are still more delistings to come - there are plenty of suitable candidates.

I'm okay with Bernie getting another contract because there is plenty of chaff on our list. That said, another stupid suspension and I would banish him to Casey permanently. I don't like Bernie playing in defence and hope that he is able to push back up the field in 2018. Following on from Richmond's lead, whilst he doesn't have the leg speed, perhaps his best use could be as a defensive small forward who annoys the crap out of players such as Laird & Docherty.

Another MFC list management masterstroke: a three year contract for a bloke who was destined to spend the majority of the contract in the VFL. We need to implement a rule that states no long term contracts for players aged over 26 unless they are in the top 10 players on the list. That said, I think Garland offers more next year than we'll get from the likes of Kennedy, Vandenberg & McKenna.

We did win the Mascot sprint at the MCG open day yesterday, so the season hasn't been a complete loss.

I sure hope he was back to running and kicking footballs before we gave him a new deal, because spots on the list are too valuable to waste on (soon to be) 26 years old VFL-standard players with poor injury histories.

I hope Adelaide dig their feet in and demand two first round picks. Surely Melbourne aren't stupid enough to give in (although we have been known to agree to some horrific trades), and turn their attention elsewhere. Our midfield is a much bigger problem than our backline, and Lever showed on Saturday that he is not up to the task of leading the defence. I'm sure he'll be a great player if he can play as a loose man forever, but he's not the big bodied "gorilla minder" that we need.

Certainly exceeded expectations to play games early and be a solid contributor in most of them. He fell away in the second half of the year as presumably he started to feel the effects of a long, hard season. As others have said, the question is how much better can he get? There is a lot of natural talent there, so hopefully a fair bit of improvement still remains. He badly needs to reduce the gap between his best & worst football, because he had far too many quarters & halves where he just disappeared completely. Hopefully that can come with another pre season and some more experience.

Certainly exceeded expectations to play games early and be a solid contributor in most of them. He fell away in the second half of the year as presumably he started to feel the effects of a long, hard season. As others have said, the question is how much better can he get? There is a lot of natural talent there, so hopefully a fair bit of improvement still remains. He badly needs to reduce the gap between his best & worst football, because he had far too many quarters & halves where he just disappeared completely.

His first two months were absymal, and he was rightfully (and belatedly) dropped. Whether his poor form was due to his year off, or being played out of position, thankfully he was able to turn things around from QB onwards and be a consistently solid player. The most impressive thing for me was his ability to kick goals from 50 off a couple of steps, whilst most of his teammates were stuffing around with handpasses and sideways kicks from the same position. That said, I doubt that we gave up a second round pick for a HFF. The challenge for Jake now is to get super fit so that he can spend more time in the midfield next season. He has shown a good balance of attack & defense when given a run-with role, and his willingness to kick more than handball should be encouraged.

At least half of our list has zero trade value, ie you would accept pick 100 because you wanted to get them off the list. That is basically anyone who you can't get a pick in the first two rounds for. The logic behind saying Tyson = third round pick bewilders me. There is no way the club would let a starting midfielder go for a speculative pick in the 40s, no matter how much you dislike him.

We did waste a few years looking in New Zealand. Are the odds of plucking a player from Ireland any better than looking at other sports (eg basketball or athletics)?

Disappointing season overall for a player who has been around a while now. I reckon he is another one who is being overloaded with instructions, rather than given one or two things to focus on. Goodwin needs to decide whether he wants Frost to be a lockdown defender or a more attacking player. I don't think he can do both, particularly not in the zone defence we are currently using.

I can't help but think that football is a pretty simple game at it's core, which a whole industry of supposed experts (media pundits, special commentators, assistant coaches) has managed to make exceptionally complicated over the past decade or so. Goodwin was guilty of being too clever for his own good on a number of occasions this year. It took Damien Hardwick 9 years to work out that he was making life too difficult for his players, hopefully Goodwin can work it out over the break.

I would have been appalled if Cotchin missed a Grand Final for what was unavoidable contact as two players went for the ball. I don't care how or why the decision was made, just that the correct outcome was achieved. I have no issue with players missing Grand Finals for deliberate punches or strikes, particularly those off the ball. These are the acts that the AFL need to focus on, regardless of impact.

Richmond are in the Grand Final because they play harder for longer than 16 other teams. I can't believe people are putting this down to luck or the draw. In a competition where there is nothing between most teams, almost every game is decided by work rate, effort and intensity. Richmond had a couple of poor games (Adelaide & St Kilda), but have turned up basically every game. They also don't just disappear for a quarter or a half like Melbourne did this season. Full credit to Hardwick & his coaching staff for (a) getting the entire list on the same page, and (b) for implementing a game plan that suits his list perfectly. Goodwin needs to look at that second point over the off season. For what it's worth, I think Adelaide's scoring power will be too much for Richmond to beat, but I'm hoping for a good game in what has been a very ordinary finals series.

It simply astonishes me that the penny has not dropped with this bloke. Five years into his career, presumably now on decent money, and he still hasn't learned that it is not good enough to turn up and give 100% once every four or five games, and just cruise through the rest of the time. He only needs to look at the two blokes he was drafted with (Viney & Toumpas) to see what is possible if you devote everything you have to your football career (Viney already captain of the club), or the consequences of just bumbling along (Toumpas traded and about to be delisted). I can see the natural ability, but I'm not a fan because he doesn't work hard enough and he makes too many simple errors. He is a clear trade candidate for a third or fourth round draft pick if anybody is interested.

I thought he showed a fair amount in 2016, but he went backwards in a big way this season. I understand the club wanting to make him more defensively minded, and working on his contested game, but all we ended up with was a player who looked totally confused every time he went near the football. Hopefully we can reset Billy over the off-season and get him back to his best football, because I believe he can be one of the outside runners that we desperately need. Some players just need the game made simple for them, and perhaps Billy is one of those. (As an aside, Goodwin would do well to take note of what Richmond has achieved this year by simplifying their game plan and allowing players to do what they do best.)

His work was fantastic from round 5 to about round 19, when the year out and an interrupted pre-season finally caught up with him. I think he was a little lucky to be All Australian given that he missed a month, but we are owed a few, so I'm not going to complain. For the same reason I don't think he'll finish in the top 3 in the B&F, but he'll certainly be top 5. All in all he was a great recruit and hopefully he can back that up with a strong 2018.