poita

Just the faintest shadow of the player he was a few years ago when he finished 2nd in the B&F. His confidence looks completely shot, and he looks finished as a player. It will be interesting to see what his mindset is like next year, because surely neither the club or the player would allow the contract to go a third year if he continues to languish in the VFL.

I didn't see that coming, not one bit. Full credit to Jayden, he worked hard, got bigger and stronger, and he has the football world at this feet. Hopefully he can stay fit and be a 200+ game player for the club.

He can certainly play, but I hope (and expect) that experience and a bit more size will add a bit more consistency to his work rate and intensity. I reckon he is someone who needs it drummed in to him that even if he is having an off day, he can still have have an impact by working hard and keeping his focus.

Disappointing VFL final series casts significant doubt over his ability to adequately step in for Gawn if (god forbid) the need arises. It's nice to have a second ruckman on the list, but he is clearly not the answer long term.

Occasional brain fade aside, he is a star and comfortably in the best five key defenders in the competition.

He showed a bit in his first year, but has done nothing in the past two. Obviously injuries are a factor in this, but so is the fact that we have too many similar types on our list. I know he has a contract, but I would be happy to trade / put on the rookie list / delist now, because I think we are just delaying the inevitable.

I'm underwhelmed by Bugg. I can see some value to him as a genuine tagger negating the opposition's best player, but his disposal is so bad that he will never be part of an AFL finals side. Yet another recruit who will be a list clogger by the end of his contract.

Hopefully the delay in the Hibberd deal being done is that we have decided we can do much better for a second round pick, therefore Essendon can accept a third round pick for Hibberd if they are desperate to get his salary off the books, or we can find a better deal for our second round pick. As an aside, I spoke to a Hawthorn supporter today who told me: a) O'Meara signed 12 months ago, and Hawthorn suggested that he stopped playing after a couple of NEAFL games this season. b) The Vickery deal is heavily performance based, and the base component wouldn't have been enough to have triggered a second round compo pick for Richmond. (And I see separately that there are issues surrounding the length of that deal). c) We are interested in Grant Birchall.

Coverage on the AFL website of the draft is appalling. How hard is to tell us a bit about the players, such as what position they play and how old they are.

One day somebody will publish job descriptions for each of these positions and we will learn how they all fill in their day. We must be getting close to the point where each player has his own coach.

His best B&F result has been 15th, and his average finish is probably in the mid 20s. For a player of his experience and salary, that is woeful. Comparing to Jayden Hunt on a draftee's salary and at the start of his career is just ludicrous. Dawes was finished two years ago, and it is disappointing that we haven't said farewell and good luck already.

Fantastic first part of the season, then dropped off a little in the second part. He is a gun and it will be great watching him continue to develop as a player and a leader over the next decade.

We didn't miss him one bit this year, and I firmly believe that he should be quietly retired over the off season. He hasn't committed to the club and his on field performances have been largely woeful. If his concussion issues are as bad as we are told, he should do what is best for his long term health. If he does come back, I would expect him to spend a substantial amount of time at Casey next season if the senior side is picked on merit, as others have gone flying past him in the past 12 months.

Criminally underrated around here. Good luck Garry, in whatever you do going forward. PS. It would be good if people could get his name right - it's not like he was only at the club for five minutes.

Very, very good news. A five year deal would have been perfect, but hopefully the club is entrenched in the top 8 by the end of three years.

I thought he had a pretty good year, but not a great one. You could never question his effort, but there is no way he should have finished ahead of Gawn in the B&F. Hopefully he spends the summer working on taking a quick kick forward as a first option, rather than handballing backwards and sideways to a player in a worse position. He is a much better field kick than he gets credit for, and his forwards will appreciate him more for doing so.

He was certainly in the mix to be delisted, but I'm surprised that he was the first to go. I had thought that we would clear the obvious 5 or 6, and the futures of the next bunch (eg M.Jones) would be determined by the results of the trade period. I think Matt would be pretty pleased to have played 60 games when he was running around at Box Hill 5 years ago, but he has the right to feel aggrieved if Newton and Michie get contracts for next year ahead of him.

The thing that the Bulldogs have over us is belief in themselves, belief in their teammates and belief in the club. They have a coach who makes them feel like they can achieve anything as individuals and a group. I never saw that with Roos, despite the hyperbole from his pet players. Talent helps, but this game is still played mostly above the shoulders. A group of fully committed players can achieve anything. We still have far too many who play if and when they can be bothered. Until these are removed, we will also be a mediocre team.

So pleased to see Jack starting to fulfill his undoubted potential. As long as he keeps his intensity and work rate up, he will be a very good player for us over the remained of his career.

Salem can clearly play, but doubt remains as to what his best position is. I don't think he is a defender, so he needs to get super fit so that he can be part of the midfield rotation.

Seemed to do a couple of special things each week without really dominating at any point. He is a special talent who will become a genuine star when he works out what it takes to succeed at AFL level.

Even by the low standards of the previous 3 years, Dawes' contribution in 2016 was dismal. He has the uncanny ability to be where the ball isn't, and he and Hogan clearly can't operate in the same forward line. I don't question his effort, but his performance this season suggests that the game has well and truly passed him by. It is all well and good for Dawes to be chief cheerleader for Casey during the finals, but he really should have been playing if he wanted to demonstrate that he had a future with the MFC. Behind Newton, he should be the next on the list to be delisted.

By his very high standards, he didn't finish the season off particularly well, but he is well on track to be an elite player in the competition. Hopefully it is with us. It's pretty clear that 40 goals is his base, his ceiling could be anything. Losing Hogan would set this club back years - you only need to look at the impact of Boyd on Saturday to see how important a quality key forward can be in a well constructed forward line.

Excellent news - happy for our better players to be on longer deals.

It is simply astonishing that this club keeps handing out long term deals for guys ranked 15 - 35 on the list. 4 years for Melksham, 3 for Bugg, 3 for Garland, 4 for Lumumba, 3 for Michie. We should rank everybody on the list for their long term strategic importance and hand out contracts in bands. If you are top 15 you can have 3+ years (rising to 5 for the top handful), 15-30 get two years and everybody else gets one year at a time.