Lucifers Hero

Carlton got Stocker (pick #19 in 2018 from Crows) plus Crows' 2019 first round pick, currently # 11 in return for this years 1st round (currently #1). So they still have a 1st round pick this year. They effectively had two extra picks last year by selecting then trading out pre-listed players (Kreuger to Geelong and McAdam to Crows (plus some 2nd round picks) as part of the McGovern deal). They did very well from the extra help last year. So, no way they get a pp anywhere in the draft this year! As an aside: Ess is the other club that gambled badly with future picks: they traded last year's first pick (pick #8) and 2019 first pick (currently #9) to GWS for Shiel, expecting they would win some finals. Don't think the penny has yet dropped with their fans! Shows the danger of future trading. At least when we did it we ended up 4th on the ladder.

Who cares?

Agreed. I said a few weeks ago he can't jump, can't kick more than 40m and isn't competing in the air to get the ball to ground. Other worrying trends: just isn't getting the ball. has very few shots at goal (8 goals and 9 points in 11 games with 6 goalless games and 3 scoreless games). very little ruckwork which supports the 'he can't jump' question mark and means he is playing fwd nearly the whole game. has lost his speed so can't get separation from op or get up and down the ground to help mids. In the last month or two he has played around 90% game time, sometimes as high as 98%. This doesn't suggest a physical injury or if he is injured playing him the whole game is poor management and mightily counterproductive. After 11 weeks with one good performance it is no longer 'form'. We desperately need to sort out what is hampering him. Problem is we don't have any tall fwd depth. Having said that I haven't favoured playing Preuss but I feel he may be better than Tom until we get Tom 'fit' again.

Agreed, it shouldn't have been up to Sam. I was disappointed Max took the kick from nearly 50m with just 3 min to go. I get that he wanted to show leadership and get the team over the line. But he has a poor set shot history so the chance of him making it were probably 20:1 or worse. Wiser to give it off to someone closer/better kick. It should be one of our 'end game, close score, few minutes left', set plays. Not suggesting a kick to a pack but a player running past would help.

Both visit the site just not posted. They are probably waiting till we turn the corner, win a few games and come back to preach 'told you so'! So we may not hear from them for about another month!

Things I liked: We lowered our eyes and had some ripper 'bullet-like' kicks i50 from Hibberd, Fritsch, Viney, Jones. A proportionately higher no of shots for goal were take from the centre i50 whereas in the past they have been taken out wide. Helped our early accuracy. Some delightful goals were kicked: Petracca from 50m, Oliver from near 50m, Weideman from near the boundary. We didn't let up. Weideman took really good contested marks. Most of all, we got our ferocity back! Especially in the first half. That Tex had another bad game. We lost but those improvements will help win quite a few more games this year. A bit late for finals but am happy the season will end on a high.

We were ferocious vs Geelong in the first final. But we don't bump or bring players to ground so much these days. We go the tackle which often doesn't stick. I wonder whether all the hip and shoulder surgery our players had over the preseason makes them a bit gun shy of going in really hard. Not making excuses and not saying they are soft - it is understandable if their joints haven't fully recovered. Our physicality just isn't there anymore. Need to take a leaf out of the shinboner's book! Bring back the ferocity!

Sounds like us ?

With a bit of luck he will come in for Spargo whose selection is a head scratcher! And, thanks for your great reports.

Crows in Doubt Pike says Lynch and others may be in doubt. Could be just 'mind games'. I reckon we can win this. Tex might be like angry ant after last weeks embarrassing shirking of a contest but he isn't going to turn on a blinder; hasn't done so in years. Harmes to Sloane. Hore or Hibberd to Eddie. Frost 'sacrifices' his game to run everywhere with Lynch, wear him like a glove to shut down his linking game. They don't have a De Boer to shut down Oliver Our midfield to finally hit its straps. Go Dees!

Interviews with SA radio from club website below. Apologies for only posting the article link...don't have the expertise to post just the video link. Mahoney pre game Interview Chaplin pre game Interview Re Lewis, Mahoney says he needs to go back and play well at Casey and be ready to play later in the year. Not sure if that was a turn of phrase or he meant Lewis won't be in the seniors for a while. Re Goodwin's dizzy spell last week. They both said he had been working hard at his fitness training that morning and hadn't eaten and was fine in the afternoon. They said he is a very hard worker and Mahoney implied he may be working too hard. Mahoney said he Macca and others were helping Goodwin and he has some excellent mentors outside the club he turns to for advice. It occurred to me that Mahoney and Chaplin taking these interviews was a way of lessening the load for Goodwin. If so, a good move. Lessens the load and frees him to prepare for and focus on the game. On Brad Green, Mahoney said the club was getting around Brad in many ways. Also mentioned his mates had done so, some coming over from Perth, some taking days off work. Not surprising as Brad is such a good bloke but still heartening to hear. When asked about 'playing the kids' (Robbo had suggested it on AFL360) when we can't make finals, Mahoney said 'we can't get any younger can we'! He said we had played 35 different players. Great answer as Robbo had prefaced his suggestion with 'I won't use the word tanking'. It annoyed me as no-one in the media in recent years has use that word for other teams playing their kids. But its Melbourne, right? Well Mahoney has the perfect answer. We have to play them! Obvious for all to see. Chaplin surprised me when he said he had viewed vision of a Crows game the night before and would view another one today for ideas. Wouldn't that happen early in the week to incorporate ideas into training?

This was written on fox website for this week's preview: The midfield mix changed all day against GWS last week. Angus Brayshaw spent full quarters in the forward line, then the midfield, then defence. James Harmes had a quarter in all three areas too. Nathan Jones returned to the midfield having been a wingman or defender for almost the entire season; Jack Viney remains in the midfield even though he’s having his worst season (per the AFL Player Ratings) since his debut. Did anyone notice the musical chairs for Brayshaw and Harmes last week? Its damn difficult to get 'connection' with forwards if the midfield is being moved around every 30 minutes especially when we are playing new faces each week due to injuries. It looks like Goodwin has reverted to the hybrid mid/fwd roles of early last year when players were often played out of position. iirc the hybrid was abandoned after the mauling by the Hawks. I would prefer players be mainly in their natural positions to develop cohesion and be predictable to each other. Surely, the much sort 'midfield connection with forwards' would improve.

Not saying he doesn't deserve to reach 300. Not saying he shouldn't get another contract. Just saying it shouldn't come with a guarantee of at least 14 games. We haven't won a premiership in 55 years. imv the club owes supporters who have loyally stuck fat for many decades, to do everything in its power to get the next one. I would expect the club to put its and supporter interests ahead of any individual. Lets hope we do both: Jones to 300 and a tilt at the premiership in 2020!!

Happy for Jones to get another year but not with a guarantee of at least 14 games for the 300. I recall Geelong's 'retirement' of their champions a bit differently. The list was getting 'old' so they retired players including Chapman and Stevie J who went to other clubs for several more years - similar to Clarkson with Mitchell, Lewis and Hodge. They kept Bartel on a 1+1 year contract 2016/2017. During 2016 he reached 300 games. They left him in limbo at the end of 2016 for the + 1 year and as I recall it all got a bit ugly. Jimmy retired at the end of 2016. tbh I don't see much sentiment in Geelong's handling of its champs or Bartel. They did what was best for the club.

If they do he will earn more per game played than Tom Mc ?

Thanks for the update jane02. So sad for Brad and his boys. So glad your surgery went well. All the best.

As always, respect for your views. My assessment of where it has been countered is based on 2018, not just the injury riddled 2019 - I could have offered more 2018 examples. For mine our 'brand' is not sustainable for 4 quarters, week in and week out. To back up that view - in nearly every game for the last 18 months we had goalless quarters and or 5-8 unanswered goals scored against us. I suggest this is because our guys need a breather so our momentum slows or stops. Maybe we can play chaos/ballistic for a few weeks eg 4 games of late 2018 but then we are cooked ie the prelim. So my view is chaos/play on has a role as a 'shock and awe' attack tactic but not as a sustainable basis for a 22-25 week season.

Our 'brand' of 'chaos' football is not working because clubs have learnt to counter it: Neutralise Max by: 1). double tag him eg WCE in prelim, 2). rough him up eg Port in round one or 3). opp mids rove his taps eg Hawks in last year's massacre. Win the contest at stoppages then get the ball outside. Hardwick said exactly this pre game when asked how to beat Melb. Deny us the ball around the ground using the kick-mark, kick-mark control game. If the ball doesn't come to ground our 'contested ball' game is rendered useless. Many teams have used this technique. Pressure the mids disposal to stop the i50 entries. Our i50 numbers this year are way down. Again many teams have woken up to this. Clever exit play from our fwd 50 to stop us keeping the ball in, again not allowing our contested ball game. In a nutshell our game plan is predictable, it has been found out and we don't have an alternative or a counter strategy. For mine 'chaos', 'ballistic' football has a role but is fatiguing and not sustainable for 4 quarters each and every week even with a fully fit team. It needs to be a tactic, used in a 'shock and awe' attack style not the basis of our game plan. My concern is that the focus on injuries as reasons for our losses and appalling %age has papered over the cracks in our game plan as outlined above. If so, no matter how many players we get back, if we don't change our game plan we won't get back to winning.

Jack Riewoldt did well for many years as the lone tall. Lynch is doing fine as the lone tall even tho he has been there only 5 minutes and does not yet know their system or gained synergy with the other forwards. Their job is if they can't mark then provide a contest and get the ball to ground for the small forwards. Didn't say Tom isn't trying. My point was that Tom is doing neither. That he is a lone forward is no excuse for not providing a contest. That is the minimum any player in form or not should do.

I don't begrudge him another year if his selection is based on form but no guarantee of games. If he earns selection for 14 games (at least) to get him to 300 great, if not so be it. His 2020 selection should not put at risk a top 4 finish and a chance at the premiership or someone like Brayshaw played out of position or someone like Baker or Lockhart denied games. To me he retires this year or gives up the co-captaincy, gets one more year and if his form warrants he is selected. If not he plays in the VFL as Clarkson did with Roughy also a much loved champion, ex captain and loyal servant of his club. It may sound ruthless but it is what professional clubs do.

The age is at the end of respective player's contract.

I would expect we will free up 7-10 primary list spots. In part to keep the list refreshed but also because the game rules have changed. To refresh the list: we have not drafted a top 25, 18 year old for at least 3 years. We will probably have 2 top 25 picks this year, more if we trade out a very good player or trade up later picks. Time to bring in some talented youth. Regarding rule changes. List management decisions are a function of the game plan. We have recruited for a competitive, see ball, get ball, get rid of ball as fast as possible game plan. So we have many similar style players: mid sized, ball getters. This year the new rules have shown that game plan is not sustainable; it needs to change and we need to inject some skill and mobility. So hopefully, in the second half of this year our game plan is redefined. I would not be surprised to see some of the 2020 OOC players traded out to accommodate a more flexible game plan and young talent.

Yes, it is always sad to lose players but as you say that is the reality of AFL life. We have a long line of back up midfielders/on-ballers amongst recent recruits: KK, Jordon, Nietschke, Sparrow, Baker, Lockhart and Dunkley. We need to develop these guys over the next year or two and see who will make it. I feel ANB, Stretch and JKH have had their chances (and each has significant weaknesses) so its time to give the new guys their chances.

I've just updated the Contracts thread and posted my thoughts on possible list changes. It may be a bit early but given our season is done it is relevant to look at possible changes. The Contracts thread: My thoughts on list changes that I posted in that thread: I'm guessing we will lose quite a few Rookies. Its hard to see a lot of the primary list players who are OOC this year getting an extension. My thoughts: Baker, Frost, Weideman will get new contracts. J. Wagner, Garlett, J. Smith are 'maybe' depending on assessment of depth. Stretch, Neal Bullen, Kennedy Harris at real risk of going. They have been on our list for 4-5 years and not able to cement a regular 22 spot. Can only keep them for so long. Lewis, Maynard gone. Jones - not sure. Will challenge the list management team: Nostalgia vs value add vs keeping a younger player out of the team/out of position. We will get some good draft picks this year: a top 10 and a high second round pick so a chance to get some high end talent and skills. Time to refresh.

Updated for Lockhart and Dunkley, both recruited as Rookies. By my count we still have 39 players on our primary list because latest additions have been as Rookies. If anyone has more accurate info please let me know. Re the list: I'm guessing we will lose quite a few Rookies. Its hard to see a lot of the primary list players who are OOC this year getting an extension. My thoughts: Baker, Frost, Weideman will get new contracts. J. Wagner, Garlett, J. Smith are 'maybe' depending on assessment of depth. Stretch, Neal Bullen, Kennedy Harris at real risk of going. They have been on our list for 4-5 years and not able to cement a regular 22 spot. Can only keep them for so long. Lewis, Maynard gone. Jones - not sure. Will challenge the list management team: Nostalgia vs value add vs keeping a younger player out of the team/out of position. We will get some good draft picks this year: a top 10 and a high second round pick so a chance to get some high end talent and skills. Time to refresh.