Tolstoys Nudge

Rob is all class & his view is one that’s shared by 90% of the AFL ‘inner sanctum’ & whilst this years still not gone yet.. one eye clearly must be on list mgmt & again noise is there that we are already looking hard at some very much ‘needs’ based options which we have track record to show we are capable of, diff is this time it to correct what we incorrectly saw as our needs in past 2 off seasons. Foot Skills & A marking target with a big tank. That’s what we need and it’s what we will do all we can to get. Brayshaw would’ve been enough last year but currency far too low now, so best bet is free agency, as the other 3 top kids are never going anywhere not on your life and rightly so. Jeremy Cameron has been and very much is still on the Radar, but obv it’s at best a long-shot of 30-1 but be known, Melb ARE trying to facilitate a deal & have more space opening up than ppl realise with Jones gone Hogan off books 100% now & missing on Elliot LY. Butler wow what an oversight, esp considering many MFC coterie tried to get him to MFC it was just so obvious and yet.. But, Casboult is the one we missed on and could’ve had LY but hindsight’s a wonderful thing, still a chance but now Brown is looking the most viable and he dies have a good tank and provides much of what JH did and Weids would compliment him well. Georgiadis another we will do all we can to get but that’s a pipe dream considering he’s from WA, but with Dixon & Marshall one May be sues to top off a need for them as they are close on the premiership clock and could use one of them to pry a defender out of another club so who knows an opportunity may arise from a 3 way trade. Hunt, Brayshaw will be trading chips but again value not there u led Gus form turns quick, if it does then value goes up exponentially. Gibbs someone club may look at for his composure and foot skills if he comes free, the other one’s the club are looking at is Sheed whom I’d love & Parish. Hore and just foot skills missed as is Perry’s work at contest and hands he’s a genuine option as key fwd his contest stats show that. Fritsch needs to go back and will to shore up the foot skills, Rivers will return for same reason.. I think Jordon needs to get a look in on wing & Bedfords pressure may be handy if we get talls mix right first. Glen Bartlett backed his guys in LY & is now, quite rightly, letting rip as he’s just beyond angry believing the list is right but that the run and carry strategy should be what we are driving but he doesn’t have the nous to recognise that style can’t win against teams like WC and doesn’t hold up without more leg speed outside. Banking Geel & Lions wins would have us top 4 so doom gloom way overblown, every other club can have bad games and be written off as Clanger I mean crikey Dogs are all over place, Pies now 3 deal Howlers, we will be 5-5 if Nth don’t stun punch us (which they darn well can) and that’s far from dead and buried!

Smith MUST go fwd it’s the only surety I have from today apart form fact SG must unfortunately go. No plan B no fwd system AGAIN butcher ball and best kick is in 2nds, fact is WCE ended his career that fateful day and until a change is made we are COOKED!!!

Lockhart in for Hibberd and yep those are the changes it seems

That’s the END game 2-6 years down track - he will play fwd in 10-11 days time. Smith will be used as pinch-hitter up Fwd when matchups suit, Mark it down. Club sees Petty as a KEY FWD prospect don’t buy that website BS!!!

Wow.. what a [censored] [censored] of a bloke!!!

Bloody brilliant stuff Liam!!! Keep up the sensational work & go hard honing that craft.. well done ??

KK dar from done he’s a quality user and breakaway pace he will have role to play at some stage! HB (failing a breakdown prior to Feb) will be an absolute revelation and the definitive story of they year in 2020 - Even Balmey said he’s scared at what Harley might do for Red and Blue next year!!!

Why fascinating? Played there and well late last year and BMAC said recently that’s one thing they found Kate last year as a win for 2020 structure so that’s where he was always gonna be! Pinch hit in Mid when required but with Langdon/Tomlinson Vanders & Jordon likely ins next year (Mark my words On Jordon, he’s going to be a designated kicker & will play from R1 All going well)

I’m saying what’s being looted about from a Dees perspective - Freo are ones adding in his name in disc I suggest

If we somehow do end up with pick 3 or suns stun all and pick Anderson - then pick 2/3 for Langdon/Hill is a near certainty - so barrack for whichever outcome you prefer - but I’m telling you, Anderson is EXACTLY what we need and from R1 next year will show it.. I’d we get all 3 it’d be the biggest coup the clubs ever had in an offseason!!!

Yes - we ALL do! AFL Not compromise another draft for those incompetent buggers.. best they’ll get is start of 2nd round that’s all that’s in rules to give now anyways!!!

Langdon, Anderson AND Hill WILL be Demons in 2019 - barring a major hiccup. Langdon is across the line - Suns taking Rowel it’s a Monty.. Hill only talking to Dees & Hawks, fact! But word is our offer to a Freo is far superior (likely 2nd rnd & pick swaps maybe young player). Also some spec around that it may also involve Langdon & Jetta but that’s just too early on to know. Both Brayshaws receiving spec both ways also yet odds are astronomical either gets moved. Anderson is the light at the end of a shitty tunnel of a year, No chance we are trading the pick unless it’s super deal ie 2 for Hill AND Langdon, even then we’d want a top 15 pick back by throwing in 2nd rnder.

You guys are so bloody idiotic and DELUDED - He’s our best young player by FAR overall in upside and our ONLY elite groundball player. Seriously you ppl scare living [censored] out of me sometimes.

Here’s what MFC need for 2020 & beyond: 1) Continuity in playing list: this is clearly biggest issue and starts now re addressing ALL surgeries on spot to minimise off season inj and ensure better pre season continuity and lack of players missing blocks and sessions ala entire mid group this year. 2) Ground Ball & Pressure players up forward: This is MASSIVE and biggest single diff to Late last year statistically. cats lead comp in all 5 key stats around this we rank 11-16th in same 5 categories. Scoring from fwd pressure, score diff from turnover, score conv per i50, Score diff from post clearance, ground ball get count. Kyle Dunkley is already a good start in this direction as is Chandler & as will Vanders be and J Smith & Hannan when fully integrated and has when has help. Recruiting Targets: these are the type of players we need.. Gryan Miers, Dahlhaus, Josh Thomas, B.Mihocek, Castagna, Mason Wood, Zurhaar, K.Turner, Jenkins, Zak Jones, Liam Ryan, Sheed. We desp need FINISHERS (Jenkins for example, quality finisher) & Ground ball players. Petracca is elite ground ball and he’s literally ALL awe have right now. Vanders will help, Chandler too & Dunkley as mentioned but we need help & need converters or we will likely never get improvement on i50 conversion cus we kick 70.99-18(non score misses) in last 6 weeks and it’s just awful. We don’t need huge names - we need them type as per deficiencies not as per what Melb supporters decide we want cus they know sweet FA From what I read and hear. We need entry 50 help too but I blv we have much to return in this area ie players already mentioned, Melksham, KK & others. 3) Maturity hedge gap between best and worst in areas of skill. We invite pressure atm and knowing WHEN to slow and when to play fast is another huge issue without runners now. fix all this and we WILL contend, fact! PS: seeing our backline area with May & Lever yest was AWESOME! I can’t wait to see these to after 5 let alone 15 games together, it’s gonna be insanely good Lever mark yest showes what he can do and May was good in small and tall - they’ll take some scalps that’s for sure!!!

Wowsers!!! Some players there I’d struggle to put in best 22 of some of their playing years lol Brett Lovett is always pulverising but I’m being harsh - Yeats another id prob say was good but not best of last 30 years for me.. Wilson.. hmm I dunno but a great exercise though and some great calls also - Love Wiz, No Stinger?! Ouch

In: Tim Smith, Neal Bullen, Baker, Pruess Out: Melksham, Hibberd, Keilty & Lewis.

Petracca? Jeff?! GUs? Are you MAD?!?! WOW - the actual football nous on here is just way more of a blind spot than one could EVER anticipate! OUR SINGLE BIGGEST PROBLEM R1-5 was Groundball gets all over the ground, most of all between both arcs.. Jeffry has been a major help in this area and will only improve with time, allowing us a bit extra fwd 50 pressure also, another weakness but Petracca leads ENTIRE COMP in ground ball gets per game IFWD50 - with 3.0 per game.. and you wanna drop him?! Do you actually SEE our entries?! Wow.. Seriously ppl just need to stop the BS and realise we’ve been DECIMATED by inj to ALL our speed and pressure players, understand we’ve FINALLY got some grit & groundball cut through, and hope like hell we get some stability & likes of Hannan, Smith, Smith, Vanders, Jetta, May, Lever, KK etc back by back half in time to storm home or reinvest for momentum into 2020. So sick of keyboard warriors bagging the players they find easy targets without ANY actual insight!!!

Kielty WILL play VS Hawks, Mark it down. Chance Oscar replaces him but I hope not - think we need potential of someone taking grabs up forward or going back. Could both come in to replace Weid but unlikely. Really need Smith, VB, May, Lever back and I think Baker will play in 2-3. So annoyed we put smith back on field to make groin worse he was PRIMED for marking fwd pressure dual role!!! Kielty, Sparrow in for Viney & Weideman.

Slow? ?

Re fumbling - 100% SPOT ON!!! Was the absolute reason we couldn’t get any momentum. I think the cos he’s feel same way - I’ve NEVER seen a side fumble this much over the ball, it’s insanely contagious and reminiscent of WC prelim. No idea how it gets fixed but confidence will address a fair chunk of it.. we’ll win 4-6 in last 8 weeks of year once cattle arrive but it’ll be way too late - good news is we’ll have currency to bring in what we need, but not all of it - either a tall fwd, outside mid with poise going inside 50 & players who are clean!

Don’t underestimate what a few weeks of additional form and a preseason can de for players reputations!!! It adds a stack of bankable data - AFL is a league where question marks become contagious and players get overlooked universally!

Yes we do - due to Nietschke injury.

Most likely today either 12pm or 6pm

Talk about your typical “Sack the Coach” OTT simpleton dramatist - How about to take a Valium or two with a Xanax Chaser & Nitrazapam mixed w/oxazepam combo Cocktail? Simon Goodwin isn’t the issue - the players not running back defensively, constantly making poor rotational judgements in transition - followed by poorly executed gob [censored] decisions w/ball heading inside 50 combined with the fact that ALL our high intercept high IQ defensive talls & contested marks up fwd are either out, or entirely out of form due to being hurt by all the above?! Joel Smith was to be our 3rd tall up fwd that could take a grab AND apply pressure, Garlett was is only now fit - which we’ve missed dearly for groundball issues & May/Lever/T Smith have all been out inj too as well as KK not getting decent run now Lewis having no continuity and just coming back in - we have ZERO continuity and all combined it equals a [censored] start - it’s really that simple but thats FOOTY!!! Our pre season showed us up in R1-2 Essendon we just came up against a team that was red hot and didn’t miss and we didn’t capitalise when on top.. LW was awful and worst loss so far but again the issues listed above can easily be factor and thems the brakes - StK go some good fortune and ran away, we didn’t connect up fwd and lost structure way too often which combined with personnel issues meant a poor loss!!! If you can’t handle the ups and downs of a game where these things happen to teams all the time then maybe think about supporting soccer more or NBL which is great quality now, less of these types of issues by someways but even then you’ll still get issues and luck that falls against your team so I dunno.. quidditch?! Seriously - Yes it’s bloody horrible but I’m so damn sick of ppl always blaming same BS and taking their own insecurities out on the club.. we had some crappy luck and have major continuity issues re personnel and it happens to of made gaps in gameplan worse but it Will turn, Saints proving it now with AWFUL list but they’ve had continuity and are resetting to a simpler style that makes them competitive but ultimately will need to be overhauled to take next step, like we had to 30 months ago.. Their supporters wanted Richo’s head for YEARS & the very same are the ones all over social media banging on about their LOVE for the club etc it’s such a cliche - Faaaarrrkkkkkk!!! Fingers crossed May Lever gets 10 weeks to click and they have massive pre seasons for lead a huge push into next year and in process turn form around wherein we win half our games and compete for 8th with a sneaky shot - that’s our lot this year I’m afraid but we support for the long game not the short! I am telling you NOW - If we sack Goodwin (wouldn’t, ever but let’s say we did and he hadn’t re-signed) we’d be set back 24 months!!! It’s just idiocy to blame him and to compare him to NEELD?!?! Talk about apples and oranges - [censored] it’s more like apples and compost! Maybe sit back when we’ve got some back in 6-8 weeks and see what we turn out then, I suggest it’ll be a “miracle” turnaround that the media say came from “nowhere”.. pffttt!!!

There is no secret that MFC have more than a few needs & if things don’t turn expect a huge review of list & potential movement of some expendable “assets”.. 1-2 needs that can be addressed in the inaugural mid season draft, with genuine upside to get ahead on a few that will potentially selected in Nov Draft. Below are targets that are currently under the MFC recruitment watch and 1-2 speculative picks that some keen observers feel SHOULD be: = 1) Dillon O’Reilly (WAFL): A Genuine Key FWD Prospect that has the potential ceiling to kick BAGS. Clean as can be, mobile at ground level due to being perfect modern fwd size (193cm) & is a great potential foil for what we have currently as he is very diff to Weids, Smith’s & TMac. This kid is ready to go & I prey that the MFC somehow get their hands on him - S/O Stephen O and has same sort of composed tough & contested nature of his old man, ball either gets plucked or grounded just doesn’t get outmarked - Mature 19yo that seems to have developed quicker than many imagined initially, was seen as having low ceiling which has been re-assessed in a BIG way!!! (undoubtedly the equal best player MFC could most use on list right now & more so with eye on future & FWD stocks, impo) =1) Marlion Pickett (WAFL): Huge buzz about with Marlion now backing up what he’s delivered prev which is what recruiters want to see. Instant injection to MFC midfield rotation for mine, he’s a Tim Kelly clone that is perhaps a step quicker outside and half step slower inside but one that many clubs will be after if he continues his progression in off field and prep areas. X Factor Dees desp need & has low risk benefits as at worst he’d be a 10 week trial at best a 150 game JET!!! 2) Muhammad Saad (Coburg VFL): Bit of a left field one here but make it known he’s on numerous radars.. Absolute raw electric pace that can even make his big bro look a step slow in first 5 steps - Also stands 10cm taller which adds to his repertoire. Has taken big strides in his reading of game & midfield fitness with time in middle this season - Can butcher it at times but if used correctly many think he can be a real weapon! Could be DEADLY as outside mid/wing & like Hunt - would play better in a side that has more than 1 speedster to use in tandem and link in bursts. 3) Sam Lowson (Coburg VFL): A really interesting prospect that plays modern game perfectly, has great hands and wastes almost ZERO touches. Strong overhead and in first touch which is key, clean and composed with strong pressure potential that could lift to the level req quickly in AFL system, the base and talent are there and can see this guy having impact almost instantly. Has knocks but big upside! Cult figure alert - hair.. is all I’ll say!!! 4) Sam Fisher (Carlton VFL): Genuine speedster that would be a handy addition if he continues to improve on recent outings. Pressure acts decision making much improved and will 100% be on an AFL list in 2020. 5) Cory Gregson (SANFL): Former Cat who was close to being picked up LY but just missed out, however 2019 form suggests his body is as sound as it’s ever been and if stays fit would be an asset to any team needing a small fwd who can play mid minutes in small bursts. Clean and Smart - One id personally love to see given a crack at MFC. Think Lincoln Mccarthey - Step quicker & less brain snaps albeit with less raw talent and “freak” ability but saying that he’s got gifts too, not to be missed if he’s healthy - Clubs already lining up. Others: Mitch Hibberd (VFL) Jye Bolton (WAFL) Wil Hickmott (WAFL) Luke Meadows (WAFL) Jake Di Pasquale (Sorrento/Casey) It is going to be very interesting to see what happens but there are a heap of Sydney Stack/Fritter/Kelly types around just needing that opportunity.. ripper draft class next year and if we do badly enough Rowell would be genuine DEADLY with Brayshaw and Oliver - imagine! But yes I’d rather we didn’t finish last also, but it’s still fun to picture! Can’t see us being anywhere near his range but who knows. Cheers Nudge PS - This post was motivated by seeing the top 50 prospects post on afl.com so for more prospects and entails it’s a good read and has more info on many of the above.. ta —> https://m.afl.com.au/news/2019-04-17/midseason-rookie-draft-who-will-be-the-next-tim-kelly-or-kane-lambert