Roger Mellie

This will be decided by the AFL who are worryingly accustomed to fixture merry-go-rounds courtesy of COVID last year as well as maximising any opportunity for additional revenue. I believe their priorities will be (in order of importance): - AFL revenue (attendance) - Broadcasters revenue - Essendon revenue - Marvel - MCC - Lol - MFC revenue

Shattered for the kid

Yep, I think Richo said on SEN that they were doing a program for him.

He was terrific I thought - very confident ball use and smarts. He came to the MFC as a winger. I'd have him there ahead of Baker.

I vote for transparency at the board level. Can Peter Jackson be our next Chairman.............. pleeeease!

Boom - tish!

You misinterpreted his post. He's asking two questions: 1) Who is your surprise packet for 2021? - CHF's nominations are Sparrow, Chandler , Spargo 2) Who will be the whipping boy for 2021? - CHF likes Tomlinson 1) I'll go Spargo although I wouldn't be surprised at all. Chandler, maybe and Nieta if his knee holds up 2) It'll be a big challenge to surpass Melksham for whipping boy, particularly if he has niggles all year, but ANB could challenge if he has a fumbly, get in the way kind of season. His preseason form suggests otherwise and he may find himself with some respect. Tommo shows potential too but seems to be holding down his defensive role inconspicuously.

With the forwards i presume

Interesting! Looking at the training gallery pics, I would deduce that the wing positions are down to Rosman, Nieta and Baker - with Langdon a given and cameos from others. My question is, where's Salem? @picket fence didn't mention him and he's not in the midfield photos (but could've been there).

Someone mentioned in a training report (a rumour) that Lachie Ash would be heading back to Vic at the end of his contract (2021) and would be going to Dees or Cats. Whether it's true or not, he can be chucked on top of the list. Just what we need!

With a return to longer quarters, reduced interchanges and our apparent philosophy of running other teams into the ground, we are going to need a lot more midfield rotations. I expect we'll see a lot more of Gus as well as Harmes, Sparrow and a bit of Jordon, Spargo and one or two others in there (eg. Melksham) in there.

Makes sense to me and I could stomach that. The only thing is, when they showed footage of Gawn slotting the mark in the practice match / simulation a couple of weeks ago, didn't he go off his line for a better angle? I could be wrong but IIRC May couldn't do anything but flap and jump. It would infuriate me if players were given license by the umpire to do so.

A bit of perspective Kent: Bradtke came to MFC from a basketball background, not AFL He missed out on a whole year of development in his second year with covid He's something like 206cm FFS Gawn didn't play a game until his third year (3 games). He didn't play a decent game until his 6th year

I hope Burgess can unearth a tank under all that muscle. For the record, I support this decision but have noticed he can conk out pretty quickly in quarters.

Not sure you would sneak option that past the AFLPA

Great report, thanks Fence. Who played on the other wing? Rosman or a mix of players?

Forwards

IIRC Spargo came to the club as a midfielder (mostly). Obviously his size didn't allow for that, but it looks like this year (I've read) he'll get a little time in the middle. I'm excited for him as he has the talent and footy smarts be a very good player. Wishing him all the best to become a genuine forward / mid and to be able to silence his very loud critics. If it's in the Robbie Gray mould, then all the better.

Or MFCSS?

Thanks for the excellent report Deesp. Can you please clarify where Rivers played - with the A grade mids and forwards as mentioned above? Or, did he swap around a bit. Also, where did Neita line up? Did Bradtke play at all? Thanks

My post above was before the draft. I agree on Rosmon to the wing but he is a raw footballer who has also missed a year of footy. I'm not expecting too much from him in 2021. I have not said that Fritsch should play exclusively on the wing, but switch between forward and wing (as per the match sim last week). I can rule out Salem on the wing other than brief stints and don't consider Hunt and Baker genuine options (but good luck to them). We might see TMac there a little. I'm not convinced, but he might work for stints too. Nieta is the other possibility in my mind if his knee holds up - I see him as a KK style player, but really, no one's seen him yet. So, we'll have to disagree on that one.

Edited

I like that Fritsch and TMac alternated on the wing. I've said it before, I think Fritsch is a natural winger and ticks more boxes than most of our list for the position - particularly his ability to deliver the pill into the forward line. He has a good tank, can cover the ground, isn't slow, great field kick, excellent mark for size, can spot up a target and has great vision. If he alternates with TMac that gives us the versatility to go taller / smaller in the forward line, not sure where Jackson fits in this space as I don't know where they plan to play him predominantly. I realise Fritsch is needed in the forward line, but there are so few players that can actually play wing, it would be great to switch him up and back. I'm not so excited by TMac in that role, but you never know. The other player I think might surprise in this position is Nieta if his knee stands up to it. Down the track we've also got Bowser and Laurie to come through. None of the others really fit the bill in my mind.

If he was 12 years older, he'd be a certainty for Geelong. He's far too young for them. Welcome to the mighty Dees Lachie!

I chuckled