deelusions from afar

That's a fair enough response. I guess my follow up question then is who are the "options out there"? My hunch is that it is very hard to look good as a Melbourne forward - a lot of that is about the way we play in terms of priding ourselves on contest and defence. Assuming they are injury free, I think Petty / JVR can do the job (particularly in a forward line that also has Smith, Fritsch and McAdam). In an ideal world we would have more but the reality is that every side has strengths and weaknesses on their list. Do we really want to sell the farm (which is what it could take) to get a better than average forward (this year's McStay) when we have more pressing needs? By this I mean a backup ruck or ruck/forward, coverage for May and speed/class in the middle / half back.

Agree with this. In my view they don't have to be a great disposer of the ball but they need to be able to compete in the air. Our game plan (as per most teams) revolves around kicking long to our ruckman when there isn't another option. I'm not sure whether I have faith in a guy like Schache to who has the skills but not the size or presence.

Collingwood have McStay and Mihocek who are hardly world beaters Port have Dixon and .... Lord ?? (who's played less games than JVR) Brisbane have two big key targets but this is the first year they've really got it together. Of course I'd love Charlie Curnow, Jeremy Cameron etc but we're not going to be able to bring someone like that in.

I posted elsewhere - I feel like many on here are buying into the media's argument that we don't have a key forward. The reality is we've got Petty, JVR with Jefferson developing. Then we have 2-3 agile medium forwards in Smith, Fritsch and likely McAdam / Melkshem. It's not the problem it's made out to be - we were unlucky to have our two talls out for carlton and fritsch still on his way back from injury. What we are missing is the 200cm resting ruckman. We tried with Grundy but he's an extra midfielder that rucks rather than a player that is comfortable taking contested marks. Do we really want to have JVR taking the ruck when Gawn is off in 2024? What about when he gets injured? Can Gawn continue to play 80+ game time going forward and be fresh in September? I've said it before but we should be going after the best forward / ruck going around. He doesn't have to kick a bag each week - but if he kicks his one or two most weeks and rucks when Gawn needs a rest then that is what we need. I'd be going after Tom Fullerton but I'm sure there's other options. Seperate from that I'd be going after good ball users in the middle

I feel like many on here are buying into the media's argument that we don't have a key forward. The reality is we've got Petty, JVR with Jefferson developing. Then we have 2-3 agile medium forwards in Smith, Fritsch and likely McAdam / Melkshem. It's not the problem it's made out to be - we were unlucky to have our two talls out for carlton and fritsch still on his way back from injury. What we are missing is the 200cm resting ruckman. We tried with Grundy but he's an extra midfielder that rucks rather than a player that is comfortable taking contested marks. Do we really want to have JVR taking the ruck when Gawn is off in 2024? What about when he gets injured? Can Gawn continue to play 80+ game time going forward and be fresh in September? I've said it before but we should be going after the best forward / ruck going around. He doesn't have to kick a bag each week - but if he kicks his one or two most weeks and rucks when Gawn needs a rest then that is what we need. I'd be going after Tom Fullerton but I'm sure there's other options. Seperate from that I'd be going after good ball users in the middle

I reckon if we're in touch at quarter time / half time then we will run them off their feet.

My interpretation: Tommo in to play on TDK / allow Lever to not take a big target / rest Hibbo Jordon in to cover Brayshaw midfield minutes / allow Trac to spend more time forward Spargo in for inside 50 delivery and manic pressure - with that many small forwards (Spargo / Kozzie / Chandler /ANB) if you're not running your [censored] off the whole time you get replaced by the one resting on the bench! My fear is that I think our forward pressure should be great with a smaller / aggressive forward line which means we get the front half turn over game that we apparently crave. The problem is that if we get the turnovers in the forward half, we kick it back inside 50 before it has emptied out (we know how that goes). It's far better to get the turnovers up the ground to have a more open 50.

Can we throw all our picks at the dogs and ask for Naughton? They've got too many tall key position players there anyway - they should be playing Naughton or Darcy back in my view. I can't believe there isn't more heat on Beveridge with the amount of talent he has had at his disposal since winning the flag for very little to show for it - surely there's unrest there? Naughton can't have enjoyed his foot this year with the way the dogs played. (Having said that, coming to play in Melbourne's forward line is hardly an attractive proposition!)

I'm a no for Schache (I want to see him do well but he just doesn't seem a competitor) but you've argued that pretty well. Goody and the match committee are very much process driven people. Each player plays a role and if someone is injured or suspended then the next person in line comes in. If Schache is not to play in this circumstance then why re-sign him. If the delivery is good, he is actually capable. Could his job be to nullify Weitering? (Btw I'd still lean to Grundy))

Just to be sure (to be sure)... If you respond "Negative" to Daniel Turner not there.... that actually means he IS there? 🤔

Agree... although at the same time he's not performing at his best so it's fair to question whether he holds his spot. A fit Salem is an absolute weapon! Having said that, from the quotes it doesn't sound like there's any indication that he is at risk of being dropped so obviously the coaches are happy with his output.

From the official trade whisperer himself!

They're normally great podcasts with a great selection of stars who give more than usual in the longform style interviews... the main downside for me is that it's Mark Howie Howard doing the interviewing!

It's interesting because even though I felt we were a bit small - we didn't get beaten in the air in their forward line often - I thought it was more the pace that got us? Having said that I'm sure we will go taller this weekend.

I think a good strategy is to go after players that show promise but are behind in the pecking order at their current club so unable to get a run at it. A good example of this is Bedford who although he got a decent go last year, you get the feeling he wasn't trusted by the coaches (which to be fair I thought his disposal was too hit and miss) - but what a year he has had! Hopefully McAdam might be another! If we're looking for a forward / ruck, why not go for Fullarton? At brisbane he's behind Daniher and Hipwood and Big O is in the ruck. He's 200cm, 24 years old and shown he has talent.

I know he's off the boil this year - but a few years ago Gresham was one of the best in the comp. Has he been carrying an injury? Does the game style not suit? Why isn't he a possible option to fix our broken forward line - he used to be classy? (from someone who's barely watched the saints this year)

Makes sense. However, I wonder whether we're more likely to be on the ropes in the first quarter as we were against Carlton in the first quarter a few weeks ago. It is possible they are better at the contested stuff right at the start. But they seem to be a team that doesn't have the fitness (or maybe their game style is so exhausting) that they run out of dash / legs in the second half. As much as I'd love to come out breathing fire, it wouldn't surprise me if we have a bit of a rope-a-dope strategy to without their early power.

But isn't the idea that Carlton will have a resting ruck most of the time so that is the matchup. May will get Curnow. Who else gets the resting ruck? Lever? Hibberd? Smith?

My Collingwood work colleague reckons Howe will play forward on Lever. If that's the case May plays on one of Miocek, Cox and McStay. Who plays on the others? I would have thought Hibbo goes to Elliot - but we seem like we could be stretched for height down there!

I'm surprised by this as well. Given the pies have Miocek, McStay, Cox and Elliot - not sure how the matchups work. Having said that, I think Hibberd has been excellent for most of the year and his desperation and ability to play on talls and smalls is welcomed! My fear with the pies forwards is probably more the ability of the smaller ones when the ball hits the ground (Hill, Elliot, Ginnivan, McCrery etc) - so a smaller lineup is suited to covering that. I wonder if this is related to the weather forecast?

I thought he was too small but I guess there's plenty of successful small midfielders around - he's already taller than Lachie Neale and Brent Harvey.

Isn't there a rule that you can't stack a whole lot of picks to use on academy bids - i.e. you have to have that many list spots available or something?

Say we managed to get pick 4 from Gold Coast and weren't packaging up for 4 and 5 for Reid, can people see us picking who we want at 4 (whatever it ends up at) and then trading 5 back to 8-12 to get O'Sullivan (if we rate him) and say a future 2nd round pick?

Don't know much about this guy but do remember he was rated as the best small forward in Kozzie's draft. I remember a friend who goes for Freo saying last year he's got skills but wishes he had some of Kozzie's aggression as he hasn't put it together much at AFL level. Makes me think of where Bedford was up to last year - he'd played a number of games and showed a lot of upside. To me he wasn't able to settle and ended up not making the most of his disposals in most games (which is not uncommon for young players finding their feet). But look where he is now! Is Henry one pre-season away from taking a big step?

I reckon we need to go after the best VFL level mature age ruck in the land or maybe next year Kieran Briggs? Someone who is prepared to play VFL unless they bang down the door. If Grundy doesn't hang around we need someone to come in and compete next year - otherwise its up to Tmac / JVR.