Davos

I love Spargo.

Cerra would've been wearing red and blue if we had the draft capital to get the deal done. Had nothing to do with salary.

All aboard the "Get Zak Butters" train.

Trading Salem would be aggressive, but certainly not smart. Bloke had a down year with injury but is one of the premier HBFs in the league when fit. He's also not a winger's [censored]. Number 1 requirement for a wingman in today's game - running capacity. Salem doesn't have it.

Haven't watched much Casey this year, but who in the world is this Moniz-Wakefield kid? Looks an AFL talent based on that game.

Played with a fractured back from 19 years old onwards. Good career all things considered. Smart guy - onto bigger and better things from here I reckon.

I was there. Seems it was number 43 (some no name). Harmes spent a good 2 minutes getting stuck into him afterwards, then ANB did the same when he got up.

Unpopular opinion, but the correct one.

I'm a perennial optimist, and I won't be losing sleep if either/both of Gus and Jacko leave for the above reasons. Ideally we keep them both, but I'd be hesitant to pay Gus overs even if Jacko left. It's funny, prior to winning a flag I always thought I'd be content with winning one, even if it meant we were terrible for 10 years thereafter. Now, having finally got there, I'm excited by the prospect of finishing top 4 and contending every year for the next 10 years. I look at Geelong, and although I loathe them, I have to respect how they've managed to put themselves in contention for about 15 years straight. That is an absurd run. There's a chance both leaving can result in us extending our competitive window well into the future, not only by enabling us to bring in talent via the draft (assuming Freo can maneuver their way into at least 1 top 10 pick, plus another first rounder for Jacko), but also by freeing up cap space to chase stars who become available in the future. We're in a potential win-win situation here folks. Let's just chill and and see how it plays out.

Pretty sure Ed Langdon said something like that last year.

Remarkable how polished he looked for a bottom age player.

I watched my first game of this year's carnival over the weekend (Country vs WA) given there's a chance we'll wind up with a decent pick for LJ. No shortage of talent in that Country side. I'd be happy with all of Cadman, Clark and Szybkowski based on that viewing alone. Also, that Harley Reid looked like a Tom Stewart clone - a real talent.

Agree. AFL players are seemingly the only professional athletes on the planet who can't cope with a move away from home at 18. I've never seen or heard of an NFL, NBA or football (soccer) player leave a club because they're homesick.

Good on-field option, but a terrible off-field fit for a club leading the way in reconciliation / building a safe space for our indigenous players. No chance we go there.

No one is disputing the fact he played a blinder in the GF - I'm arguing that he's not on par with Jake Lever from both an ability and value to the team perspective. You could make the case that he's had a similar impact to Lever this season, but that has more to do with Lever having a disrupted year than anything Brayshaw has done.

Do the coaches also undervalue him, considering he came 14th in our best and fairest last season? Behind the likes of Charlie Spargo, Kozzie, ANB and Fritta.

He is an extremely good role player - he's not remotely close to being on par Jake Lever.

Our off-ball defence is football porn. Mesmerising.

Cool thread.

Sack him imo.

I think most of these lists in the lead up to the season will have Petracca as #1, but I think if you polled Melbourne fans most would have Oliver as our best. Is his dominance somehow underappreciated amongst the football media?

Gotta say, for a man with supposed "serious" character flaws, Goodwin seems to be able to quickly gain the respect of players. Effectively every player he's recruited has said something along the lines of "I joined Melbourne because I was blown away by Simon Goodwin and his presentation".

Getting the same vibes

Best player I've seen wear a Melbourne jumper. Freak.

I believe we were also very keen on Zak Butters.