ignition.

I wouldn't call ANB quick either, he has an excellent tank and running patterns. Macrae also has excellent tank, running patterns, as well as superb awareness and evasive skills. My point is we've lost senior depth and certainly lack it with Billings (Macrae is a far superior upgrade to him). Likewise, he's a better player than Sparrow who also gets time at the centre bounce. Macrae had 1 bad year after 10 excellent years (stats below). For a player like him to come in at a cheaper price, allowing more salary cap allocation elsewhere, the club would be silly not to look at him. And if they're incapable thinking about how a player of his caliber can be utilised elsewhere on the field we certainly do have a problem with the football program. https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-western-bulldogs--jackson-macrae

He'd be a better player on the field than Billings. Could also fill the void left by ANB. A yes for me.

Well he's been disqualified by ASIC from managing corporations for 4 years, so he's felt the urge to interject and do something... https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2024-releases/24-041mr-asic-disqualifies-former-asx-listed-merlin-diamonds-director-joseph-gutnick-for-four-years/

Jack Steven

Don't know if this has been posted elsewhere, but HOW and WHY is Gary Pert a part of conducting the review of the men's football program? "This review is being conducted by President Brad Green, CEO Gary Pert and external consultant Darren Shand." - MFC website. Gary Pert should very much be under review. He is at the top, he needs to be investigated, and should come into question regarding his polarizing statements around club culture. In his position he was primed to identify any early signs to ensure the right environment was set. It clearly spiraled out of control.

Not to mention the future second round pick (2024) for McAdams...

What are your thoughts on Mitch Georgiades? I rather rate him and feel he hasn't reached his potential at Port. If I recall correctly the Taylor and Lamb rather liked him during his draft year.

Thanks for the info. One part of me thinks, owe great, he'd currently come in at a cheaper price given his lack of AFL exposure in 2024. The other part of me say, owe great, we'd need to deal with Peter Bell and Fremantle over contracted player.

Will Brodie has been struggling to hold a spot in the firsts at Fremantle. He is contracted to 2026, but he had a sensational year last year accumulating 11 Brownlow votes, and even this year, his numbers wern't bad when he played in the AFL while also brining in good numbers in the WAFL. Might be worth a look into for the much needed midfield depth.

"Match review officer Michael Christian graded the incident as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, drawing a three-game ban." - ESPN, Aug 26, 2024, 04:57 pm. "Match Review Officer Michael Christian reportedly threatened to quit his role over conflict with AFL bosses regarding Brayden Maynard’s charge for concussing Angus Brayshaw as part of a “dramatic” Friday." - FOX Footy, September 12th, 2023 10:40 am. One, the recieving player dropped the knee in a chase to the ball where shoulder contact and a well timed side bump is trained to be made. That player took the knock, got up, continued playing, and was pulled due to protocols. The other situation, the receiving player was standing up right and landed on with a flying elbow, knocked out cold which ultimately ended his career. Can you pick which one Christian is giving 3 weeks for and the one he threatened to quit over?

Statistically Gawn outperformed Xerri. More disposals, more marks, more goals, more metres gained. 0.5 hitouts less, and less tackles (Xerri in a team often on the backfoot). I'm hoping Gawn gets his 7th All Australian. https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?playerStatus1=A&tid1=12&pid1=3346&fid1=S&playerStatus2=A&tid2=13&pid2=6534&fid2=S&type=A

Apologies Admins, I probably should have put that in the 'Delistings 2024' thread. Please feel free to move it.

I'd like to open this to hear everyone's thoughts on our out of contract players and potential list changes. To my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the mandatory three delistings have already been achieved through Brown, Brayshaw, and Smith. With that said, my thoughts for the following are below: - Sign McDonald if possible. As a UFA losing him will serve us absolutely no gain unless if he's asking for too much from a salary cap perspective (following a good season down back). - Promote Hore to the main list. I actually rate him as a player and believe he wasn't given enough opportunity to string multiple games together at the AFL level (clearly a step-up from VFL). He will be a cheap acquisition to the main list and provides great depth as a ready-made player (at worst). - Likewise for Melksham. If he's not ready to hang up the boots, I feel he still has plenty to offer and will come cheap from a salary cap perspective. At worst, he provides excellent depth to the forward line as a ready-made AFL player. He's touted to be an excellent club-man and currently given our alleged culture that in itself is worth gold. - Promote Moniz-Wakefield, simply because I like the cut of your jib :) - Absolutely DELIST Schache, surely a reason isn't required. - Delist Hunter and Tomlinson if better players or depth can be acquired to replace them (such as Houston and Parker). - Not too fazed by the rest of them. Please share your thoughts.

Agreed. We've got top-tier defenders and midfielders (May, Lever, Gawn, Petracca, Oliver and Viney), but the forward line has to be bottom-tier. We absolutely lack a top-tier full forward and centre half forward. I'm a big fan of Fritsch, but I think his best position is as the third medium forward. Tim Lamb, list manager, has had this once in a generation midfield and defence yet has failed to recruit the tall forwards (by either trade or draft) to match the prime years of those mentioned above and thus support the premiership window. He has to go.

Very sad news. I had the honour of meeting this absolute gentleman in the MCC members stand during our horror years. At the time I was in my early 20s, I got talking to him, I didn't know who he was, I think I complained about Bartram. A few months (or year) went by and some club media came out with him and Hassa Mann, I recognised him straight away. I hope he had a wonderful life well beyond football, my thoughts are with his family. May he rest in peace.

28 years old. The same age as Petracca, Brayshaw and Lever. Younger than Gawn, Viney, May, and McDonald. Will slot into the spine nicely.

With the mid-season Rookie draft a few of days away (29th May), with one position to fill, I'm reopening this thread. If we're to push deep into September, we need to fill the void that exists in our forward line. Petty appears injured, the game has passed Brown, Schache is not AFL standard, Turner is not THE man, let's not speak of Smith, Jefferson is undersized and unproven, and McDonald is doing a phenomenal job down back. It is my belief that Tyler Keitel is THE BEST tall forward in the state league competitions and is absolutely ready to go. He hails from the same draft as Petracca and Brayshaw; the exact man who provided the list position needing to be filled. One can only hope. But I have my faith in Taylor and Lamb regardless. Here is an update of his stats from this year: Here is some updated vision from this year: https://www.afl.com.au/video/1103863/wafl-highlights-r2-west-perth-v-perth?videoId=1103863&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1712390400001

We failed to acquire a key forward and generate depth. It was all in the thread, perhaps read it. I was all for the targeting of ready-made forwards, but I was ALSO promoting to target ready-made depth such as Tyler Keitel, specifically stating he would be far better than the likes of Schache who is not even VFL ones standard let alone AFL standard, not to mention the ageing Brown and McDonald. I like van Rooyen but he's not even close to his prime (i.e. to match our premiership window with in-prime midfielders and defenders). So what did we see last week.... Schache named who can hardly touch the ball and Brown and McDonald still not ready. The BEST in-prime VFL/SANFL/WAFL key forward (such as Keitel) would have made a far superior option than bloody Schache. Therefore, my point is we FAILED to not only acquire the talent (such as the targeting of Naughton, and fair enough you can't win them all), but also FAILED to generate depth and thus we have the same problems we did last year.

At the end of last season I made a thread 'Operation Key Forward'. We failed to acquire and generate the much-needed talent and depth we desperately require up there. Last night it showed.

Agreed. Schache is probably better placed in the Casey Reserves. To be honest, I've questioned this as well, with not just him but several players in the competition. When it comes to early draft pick, in the case of Schache pick 2 in the 2015 national draft, sometimes its like flogging a dead horse in the hope they'll come good based off the hype they presented in their U18 year. Yet several blokes who consistently shine at the state leagues fail to get a look in (not all of course), but especially those that pass the age of 25.

Ahhh sure, my apologies then.

Mihocek alone won't solve our problems. He's a great player yes, but how many years will we get from him (he too will be 31 next year) and at what price? now that he's a premiership player and 5x leading goal kick for Collingwood. We'll be paying maximum value for a player with 2 years left at best. Keitel isn't proposed as a stand-alone replacement. However, if we're to fill this full forward void and develop some depth we need multiple acquisitions (of differing salary cap values) to cover Schache, McDonald, and Brown who are are not worthy or cooked or both.

I raised this initially in another thread, but thought it warrants a thread of its own. What are your thoughts of Tyler Keitel for some added full forward / centre half forward depth? I can't seem to find a better fit from the state or minor league competitions. Hailing from the WAFL, Keitel emerged as the leading goal kicker in 2023, netting 57 goals in across 18 games. At 27 years old, he stands tall at 196 cm, weighing 91 kg, and ready to make an impact. With an average of 3.2 goals per game, 5.1 marks, and 13.9 disposals, his stats and vision (below) suggest he just might stand a chance at the AFL level within a full time environment. VIDEO HERE: https://www.afl.com.au/video/911692/wafl-showreel-r3-tyler-keitel-highlights?videoId=911692&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1682230200001 https://www.afl.com.au/video/1012900/wafl-showreel-r19-tyler-keitel-highlights?videoId=1012900&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1692425400001 https://www.afl.com.au/video/985170/wafl-showreel-r15-tyler-keitel-highlights?videoId=985170&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1690006200001 https://www.afl.com.au/video/911692/wafl-showreel-r3-tyler-keitel-highlights?videoId=911692&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1682230200001 *Has a booming kick on him, marks 55m out and slots them through consistently. Can take a solid pack mark as well.* The only potential concern is his age, at 27, because it's rare to see someone drafted at his age (I can't recall anyone to be honest). But when compared to other options like Schache, if both of these blokes were on our list at Casey I have no doubt Keitel would be called up before Schache time and time again. Even over the likes to the slowing McDonald and Brown who will both be 31 next year. In my opinion, he seems like a promising prospect and should compliment any AFL listed forward options we might be targeting during the trade period. Worth considering, especially from a feasible rookie perspective.

Except if he gets injured as we saw at the end of year. Jefferson has not yet developed as is a couple years off at least. We need Schache, Brown, and McDonald replacements immedietly.

Fantastic game so far. Watching each team slot the goals brings out the envy in me.