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He’s been at Hawks since the end of 2018 actually. He’s had influence on their direction long before he actually took over as coach. He had control of their midfield first and then became head of player development. He got a head start like 3 years before he officially Started.

Mitchell’s coaching record is 48% btw. Maybe that’s the way to go though. Bottom out for a couple years when there’s no pressure on you so you can load up on the high draft picks.
That's the Hawthorn way
 
Still makes no sense to me why we aren’t all over Ah Chee and Starcevich. Ah Chee for O’Driscoll or O’Meara and Starcevich for Banfield or Worner and we are proper contenders.

Humphrey was the difference against us last week and has been blanketed by Starcevich tonight.

Easy to cry poor about how disadvantaged we are at the trade table but we aren’t even trying. Both these guys are from WA too.
 
Still makes no sense to me why we aren’t all over Ah Chee and Starcevich. Ah Chee for O’Driscoll or O’Meara and Starcevich for Banfield or Worner and we are proper contenders.

Humphrey was the difference against us last week and has been blanketed by Starcevich tonight.

Easy to cry poor about how disadvantaged we are at the trade table but we aren’t even trying. Both these guys are from WA too.
We do try.
 

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We do try.
In general we try. But those two in particular are players that have been linked to West Coast but not Freo. They're at least open to a return to WA, but we aren't aggressively pursuing them. It's not like last season where we were linked to Gulden, Cumming, Baker, Bolton, Warner and Kozzy.

I think Joe Brierty's words on Wednesday will prove accurate:
"Day one of trade period will look very different to the last day of trade period. We're just really open to what's the best option for us as a club in adding talent to where we see the needs on our list.

"We want to continue to look at opportunities for players who might want to come and join Freo and if it's the right player and the right value is our first pick then we're open to parting ways with them."
But those qualifiers are doing a lot of heavy lifting. We're not just gonna go for any player who might want to come that would marginally improve us. We're looking for "the right player and the right value." That might mean in the next month or so we get linked to someone shocking out the blue. Or (probably more likely) McVee is the best player we get linked to btwn now and the trade period ending.
 
Jai Serong and Box Hill lost and are now out of VFL finals.

His stats this season and positions across 20 VFL games - missing some as AFL emergency:
Disposals: 426/20 ‎ = 21.3
Marks: 146/20 ‎ = 7.3

Very versatile with his starting positions:
7 CHB
6 Wing
4 HBF
3 Centre
 
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oh come on. if we are going to compare to Hawthorn can we at least be measured about it? in the last 3 off seasons they have brought in:
  • Meek (F4 + O'Meara)
  • Amon (UFA, free)
  • Chol (F2)
  • D'Ambrosio (61 + F4)
  • Ginnivan (2nd rounder + F2, with picks coming back)
  • Gunston, again (2nd rounder + F2)
  • Barrass (F1 + F2)
  • Battle (UFA, free)
So they got 8 b22 in, cost them 1 first, 5-6 2nd rounders, and some junk picks.

In the last 3 seasons we have brought in:
  • Luke Jackson (1st + F1 + F2)
  • Corbett (F4)
  • O'Meara (Meek)
  • OMac (DFA, free)
  • Sharp (PSupp, free)
  • Voss (PSupp, free)
  • Bolton (3* 1sts + F3 with a 1st coming back, so let's say 2*1sts + F3 for brevity)
So at BEST we got 5 best 22 and 1 depth player. It cost us 4 firsts, meek, a second, a third and junk. The cost we have to pay for players is astronomical. We are never going to get UFA walking to us like Battle.

I think we have had two UFA in the last 10-15 years and they were Reece Conca and Colin ****ing Sylvia. Any other "freebies" we have picked up has been the club willing to task a risk and use up resources (eg list spots). And I would say our astute draft selections, esp the last 3-5 years have us sitting top tier drafting & development wise. we are playing a different game entirely to the big vic clubs + nepo babies.
Aye …. Outdrafting them is our best ( maybe only ) chance

Oh and the NRL coming …… might wake a few of the campaigners up over there that we are not just an infinite resource to be plundered and forgot about

Buy a membership to the new NRL team if you can afford it … might be the best thing you can do for Freo in the long run and worst case even if it doesn’t help Freo much at least you’ll have one team to follow that the lords and masters want to succeed
 
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Jai Serong and Box Hill lost and are now out of VFL finals.

His stats this season and positions across 20 VFL games - missing some as AFL emergency:
Disposals: 426/20 ‎ = 21.3
Marks: 146/20 ‎ = 7.3

Very versatile with his starting positions:
7 CHB
6 Wing
4 HBF
3 Centre
Don't think we hear anything about Serong for at least another week whilst Hawthorn stay in finals.

Think he'll be on an AFL list next year. Looking at hawthorns list of out of contract players do feel it won’t be there though.
 
I was looking through our list the other day and they categorised Riddle as a forward. I doubt thats true but if it were the case who is our Reidy replacement.
No doubt Riddle isn’t that player, at least yet.

Don’t rate Reidy any higher than some of the rucks that have been delisted or I expect to be delisted though so I'm not overly concerned tbh.
 
Anyone that watched last night games and thinks we shouldn’t absolutely prioritise a half back flanker that can kick the **** out of it needs to watch more football.

The risk taking and confidence from Zorko to constantly come through the middle absolutely tore that game apart.
 
Anyone that watched last night games and thinks we shouldn’t absolutely prioritise a half back flanker that can kick the **** out of it needs to watch more football.

The risk taking and confidence from Zorko to constantly come through the middle absolutely tore that game apart.

High quality half forward pocket
Wing
forward pocket
Half back.

Four spots we need to improve to compete with top 2
 

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High quality half forward pocket
Wing
forward pocket
Half back.

Four spots we need to improve to compete with top 2
A midfield that can push out Zorko, and doesn’t miss Neale.
Brisbane is stacked with mids, skilled and physical.
We lose one of Young, Serong or Brayshaw and we are stuffed.
To say we need to prioritise another Young type of player is an understatement.
But when we played them here, we were outcoached and physically weaker in some
aspects.
Dunkley’s position also highlights how we play a nice style of footy, one that doesn’t win
Finals.
First pick has to be a player like Young, dual positional and lethal boot.
Add the others later, but IMO the coaching needs the biggest investment.
 
Aye …. Outdrafting them is our best ( maybe only ) chance

Oh and the NRL coming …… might wake a few of the campaigners up over there that we are not just an infinite resource to be plundered and forgot about

Buy a membership to the new NRL team if you can afford it … might be the best thing you can do for Freo in the long run and worst case even if it doesn’t help Freo much at least you’ll have one team to follow that the lords and masters want to succeed
Sounds ok, unless you have to watch that mind-numbingly boring 2 minute training drill extended, just so shaved gorillas can run into each other.
I would rather watch lawn bowls
 
Anyone that watched last night games and thinks we shouldn’t absolutely prioritise a half back flanker that can kick the **** out of it needs to watch more football.

The risk taking and confidence from Zorko to constantly come through the middle absolutely tore that game apart.
Absolutely but how about the players who have the skills , nous and strength to take corridor though ?

Who do we have that compares to parking Rayner, McLuggage, Dunkley , Berry in the corridor to name a few , then have the likes of Ashcrofts , Neal , Bailey streaming past them to receive.

No headless chooks , slow runners or ball butchers in that list
 
Sounds ok, unless you have to watch that mind-numbingly boring 2 minute training drill extended, just so shaved gorillas can run into each other.
I would rather watch lawn bowls
Nah , great fun to play I played a few games when I lived on the Goldy and there’s only 3 situations I’ve been really scared playing sport , going back with the flight of the ball in AFL when you know they are coming , facing a bowler who is too fast for you in cricket and running the ball out from your own goal line in league

Nothing wrong with a bit of barefoot lawn bowls either for that matter
 
No doubt Riddle isn’t that player, at least yet.

Don’t rate Reidy any higher than some of the rucks that have been delisted or I expect to be delisted though so I'm not overly concerned tbh.
We do need a back-up mature Ruck. One that can play a few games as needed. Oliver Eastland (Claremont) and Hamish Free (South Fremantle) are no worse than Reidy. Also Brynn Teakle who has played about 20 AFL games and is available. Essentially we need an OMac to allow a couple of years of development for Riddle. I’d expect this mature ruck to be played even less than OMac given the likelihood that Jackson or Darcy ruck alone with support from Treacy/Voss as option 1 in the event of injury to one of Darcy/Jackson.
 
Free agency has been a massive failure as currently constructed, it was meant to help equalise the comp but all it's done is the opposite. The best players from the worst teams just leave and join contenders and the cherry on top is the other 16 clubs are punished with compensation having their draft picks compromised.
 

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Anyone that watched last night games and thinks we shouldn’t absolutely prioritise a half back flanker that can kick the **** out of it needs to watch more football.

The risk taking and confidence from Zorko to constantly come through the middle absolutely tore that game apart.
I see Cooper Simpson as our future Zorko. Similar attributes.
 
Free agency has been a massive failure as currently constructed, it was meant to help equalise the comp but all it's done is the opposite. The best players from the worst teams just leave and join contenders and the cherry on top is the other 16 clubs are punished with compensation having their draft picks compromised.
Spot on
The creation of expansion clubs in the past 15 years is what has led to footy being in the state it is now with a huge divide between best and worst
And now ,as you say , the best just pick at the carcass of the worst .

F/S can stay , I love the idea of it

Stop growing the league to the detriment of the rest of the comp

Change the contract rules so that players and their managers don’t have so much power ( or let it be a free for all , one it the other )

No pp picks if your team ranks ( willingly or not )

Change or abolish F/A ( not sure how )
 
I know there is an unspoken rule not to trade with WC, but why wouldn’t we be considering Liam Ryan?
 
Spot on
The creation of expansion clubs in the past 15 years is what has led to footy being in the state it is now with a huge divide between best and worst
And now ,as you say , the best just pick at the carcass of the worst .

F/S can stay , I love the idea of it

Stop growing the league to the detriment of the rest of the comp

Change the contract rules so that players and their managers don’t have so much power ( or let it be a free for all , one it the other )

No pp picks if your team ranks ( willingly or not )

Change or abolish F/A ( not sure how )
Changes to free agency are easy IMO.

Get rid of compensation picks. Do you think West Coast let this happen with Allen if they'd lose him for nothing? Not a chance. They'd offer him a decent contract and if he didn't accept they'd match the bid and force a trade. Brisbane would have to choose between Allen and their first round Academy prospect.

As for Draper would Essendon allow him to become an unrestricted free agent if they'd receive no compensation? Maybe but only through mismanagement. Think rules that differentiate between restricted and unrestricted free agents would need a few tweaks.

Removing compensation picks would pretty much much only fringe players move as free agents. That's what it should be for.
 

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