Sydee

We don’t need him to play inside he’ll be our Nick Daicos receive and connect player and he is good at that now and will get better with good coaching and development He’s never going to be a bull but we already have those - what we lack is skilled connection - he will help with that I was desperate for us to recruit Tauru and was really disappointed when he went to the Saints with pick 10 - I’ve since watched several Vic Country games and while still being disappointed we missed Tauru I see why we probably need a Lindsay more

Is this the reason for the one on one tackling practice?

Lindsay you would think would play more of a Nick Daicos type HBF role where he runs to receive and then deliver with precision to teammates up the field Anyone thinking he’s a lock down defender who will win most 1on1 contests might be missing where his skill set is

I am 100% behind Xavier and hope he has a great career but I’m 100% confident Tauru is going to be a better footballer at AFL level - time will tell I was really hoping Tauru would slip to our pick so this one is a bit bitter sweet

His effort at around 3.07 minutes left a little to be desired Not seeing a lot of contested ball

Assume then we’d still be able to get either Reid or Allen Personally I’d be happy with that outcome

I’m still hoping we somehow land Tauru - huge upside imho

Hopefully - I thought a poster recently said they had feedback from one of the coaching staff that they were concerned he may never have the intensity required to make it at AFL level He has to make an impact this season or the alarm bells will certainly be ringing

I rate Reid as on par with Smith tbh if he is still available at 9 I’d say he’d be on our shortlist - other than the go home factor I still quite like Allen for 9 simply because of his size and athleticism

Agree - the people on this site that are carrying on about picking him obviously haven’t watched much footy where he has played His ceiling is way higher than some of the highly fancied undersized mids in this draft imho

It was say a lot about the club’s confidence in Trac and Clarry staying and getting back to their best imho

It seems some hard decisions and hard conversations were needed - maybe he was the catalyst for that happening If it makes us a better team then good on him The only real fact that I know is that he remains arguably our best footballer and if we really want to have success we should all put our feelings and speculation away and get behind the team including Trac

If this is some sort of veiled dig at Trac personally I think that’s out of line Have you not seen any of the vision of Trac working super hard to get as fit as he possibly can be for 2025? Trac is not due to be back yet just like a dozen other senior players that are not training atm - Clayton looks a lot less physically ready than Trac imho so it’s great he recognises that and wants (and frankly needs) to start asap Whatever our personal views are of off field events in the off season I think it’s time everyone puts that all behind us and focus on being the best the club can be - that’s of course what we expect of our playing group so as supporters we should too

If he does decide it’s all a bit too hard do we have any way of replacing him at this stage ?

Thanks Colm for the link - watched it and I’m still not sure who we will be taking but I have to say I really like the way Lalor goes about it If we were looking for a tall forward I found it hard to split Simms, Armstrong and J Whitlock Of the midfielders I was a bit underwhelmed by Ashcroft, Smith and Smilie I thought Reid was clean and clever, Langford was good has the overhead string to his bow a little like Bont and Lindsay has good disposal by foot which we desperately want I’m a fan of Tauru but it was just a game from him. Trevaglia looks to have some dash but personally I think others have more appeal JT has a tough job 😀

Really He was in great form before the KB debacle I would prefer not to focus on what happened after that other than to say if things weren’t being managed professionally within the club I’m 100% behind his calling that out and I genuinely hope that we move forward better for some hard conversations and hopefully that includes Trac fully committed to the MFC for the rest of his career He is imo our best footballer other than perhaps Max we need him fit firing and 100% focused for the club to be successful in the short to medium term

Allen looks like he’s got potential to be a very solid 200 gamer to me Do I think we’d be better picking a Victorian kid due to flight risk - probably Based on the limited vision available I don’t think his disposal by foot is worse than any of our current starting midfielders - probably a low benchmark though

Didn’t he get injured early in the Stingrays game after a bright start ? Or have I got the wrong game

Darcy Moore pick 9

Indeed - remarkable self promotion for someone who hasn’t managed a game yet and regularly is virtually unsighted at Casey To each his own though - personally still think Tauru will be a much better player in time than Jefferson or Armstrong Most of these kids have plenty of ability it’s the mindset and the hunger to compete and win that sets some apart. We have certainly had our fair share of tall forwards that don’t seem to have much of the latter quality - hopefully it’s about to change

Given their collective energy has failed to get them a finals win for decades I’m not overly concerned by a bomber fan death ride

Jury still out on Adams and Jefferson Neither really shooting the lights out - yet

I don’t really see what he has that is any better than Jefferson who after two years has yet to get a game Tauru above Armstrong for mine

I’ve only watched one full game and some highlights but I think he could - I really think he could be like Bont or Dawson (tall mids) that are good overhead and can hit the scoreboard

I think he could be our version of a taller Heeney or Jordan Dawson He could play most positions other than ruck and I seriously hope JT has a target on his back