spirit of norm smith

Only saw him a few times (I only watched in patches though). He has the class. Good overhead mark. Doesn’t seem to be a high possession type midfielder but I can imagine our midfield bulls getting the ball out to his run and delivery inside 50 or kick through the majors. A safe pick but not the new generation mid to assist Clarry and Trac.

Hmmmm. Hypothetically it’s worth a shot. He’s not a once in a lifetime player. But in patches, his ballwinning, pace and aggression is super impressive.

I watched occasionally through the day but only around 1/2 of the overall match. Observations: Jefferson showed good signs. Nice mark and agility. Definitely build up his upper body strength and agree he will be a good partner for JVR. ✅ Dunstan too good for VFL. Good inside to win the footy and drive it forward. ✅ AMW. I like his agressive style and knows how to kick a goal. Definitely keep pursuing on the list. ✅ Deakyn Smith is still improving. Good overlap run on 2-3 occasions. Got caught once but needs to keep being aggressive on the rebound. ✅ Hibbo. The experience was obvious. Composed and impressed as he won a few good contested 1-1 battles. Welcome back next week (if we have any room) ✅ Harmes. No. Some of his disposals and decision making were horrible. 🤯 Spargo did some nice little things but defensively didn’t see him lay a tackle and was beaten in a few 1-1 by his defender. No recall on that form. 😕 Grundy. Excellent ruckman 👋but he’s a Novice forward. He kicked the goal after a very short boundary throw in. Had other chances but goalkicking let him down. 🤔 One to watch. Tyler Edwards. Noticed him in patches with good skills and entries inside 50. Handy top up player to the squad.

Goalkicking Accuracy ??? A work in progress.

I love it. High risk. High reward. And more entertaining!!!

Danger game. Crows on the rebound after last quarter fade out. They’ve got some talent and we will need to watch Rankine who usually plays well against us. Judd Mcvee gets the job imv and I’ll back him in. May gets Tex and Tomlinson on Fogarty. Backs with Lever as intercept look ok. Without Laird, our midfield clearly should win the day. Gawn and the Mids will give us plenty of supply so like to see JVR and BBB actually hit the scoreboard and nail a few goals each. Kozzzy to light it up hopefully.

Agree. We would have to. Daniel Turner is promising but doesn’t have the size and is more of a backup for Lever. Adams and Kye Turner are very raw and skinny. At least 2 years away. Tomlinson provides cover for Petty and May. He’s done well when played this year and would attract attention on the market if we decided to move him on. If so, we would have to get another mature bodied big defender as a backup with May being 32 at start of next year and Petty picking up a few injuries this year.

Left the game early. Hmmm. Not good. That’s a definite negative mark against his name. I’ve never left early , even in the 1979 horror show v Fitzroy at Waverley.

Captained WA Under 18s. He’s a taller half back, nice run, skilled left footer. I like his style and I think whilst he’s a half back, he could even develop as an onballer. Riley Hardeman definitely on JTs list.

If we were to hold our picks across 1st and 2nd round, we’d have picks 4,15,22,33. That’s 4 excellent opportunities to reset and grab quality youngsters.

And Frawley had been an All Australian. Ben Mckay not even a certainty each week in a cellar dweller team.

It’s sickening how biased Barrett (Kangas supporter) is. Pick 3 for Ben Mckay. Ffs that laughable!!!

Grundy is not going anywhere. He has rucked in tandem and enables Maxy to play more games and remain physically ok through the year (without getting smashed weekly ). And if Max cops a knock or has an injury, Grundy is a more than capable player to step in.

Definitely want to see JJ remain in the team and push for the new contract deal. He is too good to let go and whilst he’s not cemented a spot, his skill and versatility is a huge asset. Certainly his disposal is more reliable than most of the team. However I’d understand given he has been snubbed a lot, I wouldn’t begrudge him if he looked elsewhere at year end.

With the championship now over, here’s some indication of a top 40. 1-10. Harley Reid, Jed Walter (suns academy) , Coby Mckercher, Ryley Sanders, Daniel Curtin, Zane Duursma, Nick Watson, Ethan Read (suns academy), Connor O’Sullivan , Darcy Wilson 11-20 Archer Reid, Mitchell Edwards (Freo nga) , Joel Freijah , Logan Morris, Ashton Moir , Jake Rogers (suns academy) , George Stevens, Nathan Philactides, Ollie Murphy, Riley Hardeman 21-40. Nate Caddy, Koltyn Tholstrup, Harvey Johnston, Jordan Croft (bulldogs f/son) , Alex Holt, Archie Roberts, Will Dawson, Harry Demattia, Caiden Cleary (swans academy) , Clay Hall, Will Graham (Suns academy) , Jack Delean, Will Lorenz, Kade DelaRue, Angus Hastie, Cooper Simpson, Luamon Luai, Will Patton, Will McCabe (hawks F/son) , Michael Rudd. others - Jack Callinan, Koby Shipp, Caleb Windsor, Rye Penny, Billy Wilson, Aiden Odriscoll, Harvey Thomas (giants academy). For the Dees, others of interest were: Kynan Brown as a father son (Nathan Brown) would be looked at around pick 60 or as a rookie and would get nominated in my view. He’s a tough skinny scrapper with a huge heart and tenacity. His skills are ok (left foot dominant) but can have some turnovers under pressure. Orlando Turner is from NT under our NGA academy. Whilst he was largely quiet, gf showed glimpses of brilliance and goalkicking smarts to indicate he might be picked to develop as a small forward. Rookie pick likely. Sam Van Rooyen (brother of Jacob) could be rookie pick as well. He’s tall and lean and watching him v Vic metro , had a few “nearly moments” where we spilled marks or juggled attempts. Very nice kick for goal. He has the base physique of a key forward and it would be good if the Dees gave him an opportunity.

Thanks @ChaserJ On reading, it’s a very very very good write up and summary. Covers most of the top 20-25 players likely in the draft and addresses lots of key players. Only a few extra names imv to throw in.

In the last 10 years, Kangas played finals in 2012, 2014, 2015,2016, including 2x preliminary finals. So it’s only the last 6 years, no finals. Compare this to 2013. MELBOURNE has failed in its bid to gain a priority pick at the 2013 NAB AFL Draft. The AFL Commission accepted on Monday the recommendation from football operations manager Mark Evans that no priority picks should be awarded under the League's 'special assistance rule'. Melbourne has won just six games in the past two seasons and made a request for the Commission to receive an extra selection at this year's national draft. However under criteria introduced in 2012 that gave the Commission discretion to determine whether a priority pick was needed, it was decided Melbourne was well enough placed to improve - as reported on AFL.com.au on Sunday. "In coming to a decision, the AFL Commission considered a range of factors including the Melbourne Football Club’s recent performances, but also the opportunity the club has to make improvements in its operations - including its coaching, recruiting, administrative, cultural and welfare programs, as well as significant upside in young talent that is currently on the club’s list," Evans said. Dees then had another 6 years until 2018 to get finals (12 years without finals). Yes I’m still bitter that the AFL rebuked us yet offers deals to Suns and now probably the Kangas.

How? Why? Mac Andrew was not given the same access as available for the Dees. It seems there is the rules and then there is the AFL changing the rules when they need to. I think they could get a “start of round 2” priority pick which would then need to be traded.

The Age Melbourne d Brisbane Lions It is still nigh on impossible to get a read on the 2021 premiers, after they bookended Friday night’s win with a flurry of goals but struggled in between. The Demons are also the last team to beat Collingwood, and ran the Power very close at Adelaide Oval, so their best form stacks up. Coach Simon Goodwin insists they have time to bed down their best 23. Clayton Oliver and Bayley Fritsch remain out with respective injuries, while million-dollar ruckman Brodie Grundy faces a race against time to prove he can be valuable not just as a ruckman but also as a forward. The bigger problem for Grundy might be how good Max Gawn was against the Lions without having to spend so much time in attack. Gawn is a six-time All-Australian ruckman for a reason, and there is a distinct possibility that Grundy might watch Melbourne’s finals campaign from the stands. Click bait journalists again. Forecasting Grundy will be out of the team now and forever more.

Great reward for his hard work. He has really developed and now fits into our backline as dependable as any other. His match v Cameron was another key to our victory. I like his composure with the footy, ability to run and deliver with skill. Definitely our most improved player on the list this year.

Barrett is a serial pest. Loves the negative story especially if it’s anti MFC. MFC must have really hurt his feelings at one time, from which the psychological impact has left him permanently hateful. ? Kangas absolutely thrashed by (3rd bottom) Hawks ?? Goldstein career over ??? Ben Mckay couldn’t be any less interested at Kangas There is some anti Kangas stories but he’ll avoid those due to his bias.

Mckercher is like Zac Merrett but will be better imv. He had elite decision making and is a goalkicking mid. Definitely top 5 rated in this years draft.

Kynan is not blessed with physical dimensions. He is super light as you know. Probably 65 kgs at max inv. Needs lots of protein shakes. He’s a scrapper. Socks down. Huge heart. HUGE. Runs and runs. You can’t buy tenacity. He’s a goer. Like his dad, he’s a soldier in style. Disposal is occasionally very scrappy. He hit a few targets but also missed some. He cracks in for tackling and loved his attack in the 4th quarter with back to back second efforts. But he would struggle when confronted by the physical nature of the AFL and will need 2-3 years in the gym. How to describe him? Maybe a cross between Liberatore and Damien Oliver. Late draft pick 60+ or rookie pickup imv.

If Freo end up 15th. We assume Reid goes 1 to Eagles and Jed Walter chosen next as Suns priority. Then picks for Kangas, Hawks and Dees. Either Sanders, Mckercher or Zane Duursma would be then still be available at our pick. Merry Xmas JT.

Tom McDonald back in a fortnight. Not sure he’s a top 22 lock anymore. He’ll have to come back and work through time at Casey.