Ted Lasso

I agree, i reckon alot of it is confidence, in his SANFL days he certainly didn't shy away from putting his head over the ball, some rated him a better inside player than outside, just need to work out how to transition that to AFL level

I appreciate the step up, i think it's you that's not, it's huge and the body size and how hard they hit is huge, it takes time for most players to get used to it, sometimes players can go from round 1 (Viney & Wines ) others take time, most reckon it takes 3-5 seasons before players really feel they can impact games, Toumpas i am very confident will be impacting games in a serious way if not by the second half of this year but early next year, he needs and deserves half a chance, at a stronger side he would have been developing in the 2's most of last year

pretty harsh on Fitzy and Evans i reckon they show abit, the others i can't see getting any better than what they are/

I have seen Jimmy Toumpas absolultey rip SANFL games and finals and grand finals apart, this kid is a Jet

I love the trade, Kelly and Dunstan will probably both be good players but i reckon so will Tyson and Salem, but Tyson is a future star and he was ready to make an impact right away which i think puts him ahead of them, looking back i reckon we should have offered picks 3 and 13 for Hogan and Kelly in the mini draft and forgotten about injury prone Dawesy, imagine adding Hogan and Kelly to our list this year after a year of development

I reckon we will beat them, and i reckon hogan will play that game, we played alright against the Tigers and Cats, Hawks were just scary good on the day

It's the same deal for the saints though, if Roo doesn't kick a bag i can't see them kicking a winning score, and our midfield is going to be a fair bit stronger

we need role players, Toumpas has elite skills and game sense, with time and confidence he will be able to show how damaging he can be as an outside player, and we have Chunk, Cross, Trengove and Viney going in and getting the ball to him in the meantime, Salem will be much the same when he starts playing at AFL level

Lynden Dunn for me fits this group, he seems to have become a very solid player for us but at the end of last year i seriously wondered if he would be kept on, the extra year on his contract probably saved him

We have been kinda the exception to the rule for a while

Just thinking of the team i'd take into round 1 i reckon it would be Lynden Dunn James Frawley Alexis Georgiou Jack Grimes Tom Mcdonald Dean Terlich Jack Viney Nathan Jones Jack Watts Viv Michie Cam Pederson Sam Blease Max Gawn Jack Fitzpatrick Jeremy Howe Jake Spencer Dom Tyson Bernie Vince Daniel Cross Jack Trengove Jordie Mckenzie Jay Kennedy-Harris Want to settle the defence, keen to see Jimmy Toumpas and Christian Salem develop in the VFL until they are too good to ignore, and i reckon Jack Viney could possibly play as the sub but i'd start him if they feel he is fit enough

Could not agree more, sometimes you come across a team that if they're on they are going to belt whoever they are playing, they did the same to North only a week ago

I haven't totally given up on Jimmy OD watching him in his junior days he looked like an absolute superstar in the making, i think alot of it is that he is a very emotional young man, it's all about confidence and he needs to go back to the VFL until he is simply too good to ignore

I seriously doubt Wines would have had anything like the impact he has had for Port if he played for us, it's abit easier when you have guys like Boak and kornes around you

I reckon jay Kennedy-harris should play round 1 on form, Toumpas maybe needs a stint in the VFL

The posters who are still banging on about how we have made a huge error taking Toumpas, the dogs said they'd take him at 5 if we passed on him, he was clearly more highly rated

We just need to get over Wines, he is a port player until at least 2017 now

they don't have a huge amount of options either and our backline is alot more solid than their's plus we should beat them out of the middle, but i agree Watts up forward would be a good move, we have plenty of mids now to cover him

Of course you can, but it's a little pointless i mean everyone saying how soft Jack Watts is, then what if he comes out and get the 3 votes in round 1 against the saints, so many ups and downs

Judge them at the end of their careers, i am certain at different stages one will be a mile ahead of the other, right now Toumpas is a Melbourne player, he's had a fantastic pre season but it's clear he has aspects of his game to work on as would every other player in the AFL

I suppose the positive is we now have a video of our new gameplan getting taken apart by a better side, will be good for the team to see what good sides are going to try and do and be able to pre empt a little bit rather than wait for them to kick a couple of goals and then slow them down

It's a shame Salem needs to be eased into AFL his kicking and hard running would add to our side right now

Jimmy Toumpas is a born leader, Captain of the SA under 18's had been playing against men for 2 years before we drafted him and winning games in the SANFL, he was rated higher than wines by alot of recruiters and he is still very young i have absolutely no issue with the decision to draft him over wines, i think he will be a great player for us, today he was outclassed by better opposition as was most of our side.

I wonder if Cameron Bruce would be worth considering for the heir for Roosy, he's had a couple of years under Clarko, been involved in a flag, add a couple of years under Roosy and he'd be ripe for the picking i reckon? thoughts?

We gave Geelong abit of a push and they're a good team, it might play out that the Hawks are just scary good and they are going to belt most sides