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Team Mgmt. Talk about the makeup of our list - midfield balance, height profile, endurance runners

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Not really any that are jumping off the page as top 10 worthy currently. We should be going mid.
Amiss might be around at our pick. Not sure if Mac Andrew is more of a ruck, but he might be around too.
 
Amiss for me would be the one. Bit hard to know where he sits without a carnival

I also think if Cerra leaves and freo has 2 picks before us then they'll take Amiss with one
My hope is that Carlton overrate their list and use their 2022 1st rounder on Cerra. In true Carlton fashion, they finish dead last in 2022. Essentially gifting the dockers pick 1 and ****ing themselves over just a little harder than they already were.
 

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We don’t need another KPP under 20 we have more than enough. If we are looking for a key forward it’s through the trade period.

I'd agree, and there doesn't seem to be any that are realistically available for us to chase.

Hence I think sticking with what we have is the best course of action.
 
Been a long time since we've had those two batting deep

I was having this conversation with the better half a couple days ago, when watching Essendon's mids consistently overpower the Dogs - you'd genuinely have to go back 15 years or more to find the last time Essendon seemed to have obvious advantages in the midfield and ruck.
 
I was having this conversation with the better half a couple days ago, when watching Essendon's mids consistently overpower the Dogs - you'd genuinely have to go back 15 years or more to find the last time Essendon seemed to have obvious advantages in the midfield and ruck.

I think it comes back to Sam Draper, when you have the dominant ruckman you and your opponents set up different, we just wanted the ball whereas they wanted to stop us from getting the ball 1st and then get the ball 2nd, huge mindset change for us now, the confidence is growing all the time in the middle, also the straighter we kicked the more CC we had a chance at.

We're one of the better teams in possession of the ball, off the ball is where our biggest improvement needs to come, I agree with you about a conservative off season where we go the draft, perhaps a Wright/Hind type of deal.
 
If we can get a couple of years out of Hurley forward and some more development from Francis I don’t think it’s panic and sell the farm for a full forward yet.

If you believed the murmurings last draft we liked McDonald a lot, so of all the unobtainable key forwards I’d say he would be the one.
 
Weideman the only realistic option

I'd hope we keep well away from Rory Lobb but there were plenty of murmurings that he was happy to entertain a move

Sam Day an UFA?

Agree the top pick should be used on a big mid
 
We don’t need another KPP under 20 we have more than enough. If we are looking for a key forward it’s through the trade period.
I will buck the trend and say we could do with another big-bodied KPF. I guess some depends on whether Francis is seen as a forward now, or if he was moved there out of necessity. Still, he could be seen as more mid-sized. I don't have entire confidence in Hurley or Baldwin.

Blake Schlensog was spoken about as doing well in the WAFL perhaps someone in that mould.
 
We need a key defender more than a key forward. If we get a key defender, we can always use Stewart as a break glass in case of emergency as a forward, where he's a better player anyway, and we can work on the actual hole we have.

I'm not sure if it's ignorance about our key position trouble back there this year or it isn't as sexy as getting a new key forward but it's definitely a bigger hole than our key forward stocks at the moment.
 
We don't need to win the flag this/next year (although would be nice) stay the course and keep building, any glaring list need/weakness will reveal itself and we can then address it.

If Francis was willing to commit forward and from the way he played against the dogs I think he will as he looked engaged to me then I'd love to see him spend his pre season with the forwards, I think it gives the list better balance especially if Hooker is let go/retires.

Fwds - Wright, Francis, Jones, Snelling, Tippa, Smith, Stringer (mid), Perkins (mid), Waterman
Mids - Merrett, Parish, Shiel, McGrath, Caldwell, langford, Cox, Durham, Ham, Clarke
Rucks - Draper, Bryan, Phillips
Defs - Ridley, Stewart, Laverde, Heppell, Redman, Hind, Reid, Guelfi, Cutler/Gleeson

Hurley?? Not sure on him yet.

Young depth - Brand, Eyre, Hird, McBride, Baldwin,

Ambrose, Hooker, Zaka, Mozzie, Cahill, Johnson, Gleeson/Cutler I'd keep one I think - ret/delist

My best 22 would be...

Ridley Stewart/Reid Heppell
Hind Laverde Redman

Draper Merrett Parish
Langford McGrath Cox

Stringer Jones Snelling
Tippa Wright Francis

Smith, Caldwell, Perkins, Shiel

Starting look pretty good, just need to stay healthy.
 

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We need a key defender more than a key forward. If we get a key defender, we can always use Stewart as a break glass in case of emergency as a forward, where he's a better player anyway, and we can work on the actual hole we have.

I'm not sure if it's ignorance about our key position trouble back there this year or it isn't as sexy as getting a new key forward but it's definitely a bigger hole than our key forward stocks at the moment.

Where is Hurley at? I know we planned on him forward but if he's going to give 2022 a crack would he be better suited in defense?
 
Funny how everyone saying Essendon rebuild has bore fruit straight away ect ect...reality we are getting next to nothing onfield from our last draft haul, have 1 player in the U22 team. All points to one thing. Woosh held us back horribly.
If we are to push further forward, it's where most of the improvement has to come from. That draft haul in the Ambrose photo (Merrett aside) was not very impressive.
 
Even though it isn't the sexy option, I'd be more than happy to have a conservative trade and free agency period this year.

The midfield is stacked, our ruck division runs deep, our defensive options are excessive.

I believe Cox is likely to develop in to a key forward, and Perkins will (ideally) turn in to a tall mid/forward.

I could be tempted in to a high level KPD; but pickings look pretty slim on the market ATM. Reid is a great long term option, but I'd love to have another elite tall defender talent in that 21-23yo age range.

I know there's a temptation to pursue a KPF as well, but unless we're going to be able to pry loose a Harry McKay (has re-signed), or Ben King (unlikely), not really sure who we'd target. Riccardi might be another moneyball option, but I don't think we're going to repeat the success of Two Litre for a 4th rounder.

We've got some cards to play in terms of our ability to shuffle around some picks this year and next (considering our father/son riches next year), so we can potentially target specific players in the draft and get ourselves in a position to secure them. Geez I'd love Josh Gibcus.

All in all, list looks in a good profile. No need to do anything other than keep securing 1-2 top level juniors per year.
I feel very similar to this in terms of the list profile. A win for us has been Trucks ability to see value in guys he already has on the list and find roles for them and stick with them. Francis forward might be another move that can end up sticking. We have plenty of unproven young talls but we have senior coverage, which gives us time to develop correctly through the VFL. Phillips, Cutler, Guelfi and Clarke have proven handy depth and a worth a list spot for another year. Id probably keep Zerk as well if it were up to me. As you say all we need to do is pick up more quality through the draft, and we can be quite targeted with our approach due to the list having a well balanced demographic. Mozzie would've been so handy this year as too much was left to Tippa in the small forward department. Small defender stocks arent flush either although im hoping McGrath rotates back once hes back in the side. Caldwell still to come into the midfield as well so we aren't looking too bad there. I feel like Truck has brought more alignment to list management decisions as well, him and Dodo seem to be pulling in the same direction.
 

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Funny how everyone saying Essendon rebuild has bore fruit straight away ect ect...reality we are getting next to nothing onfield from our last draft haul, have 1 player in the U22 team. All points to one thing. Woosh held us back horribly.
And/or the attitude of some of the departed players. Think they both played a part.
 
its why i loved buddha and benny howlett.

TBH if Clarke has improved his kicking he can already be the one to fill this role. Does all the team orientated things, has shown he could be our go to run with player and only turns 23 this year.

The other who could do this kind of stuff but has a higher ceiling is Caldwell, assuming the surgery to remove the scar tissue on his hamstring pays off.
 
Ambrose, Johnson, Cahill, Hooker, Zacka, Mozzie (6) maybe seems too high from the primary list. Who's replacing them?

Our top 3 draft picks and Snelling. I suppose our latest picks will come into 55-60 again and also the option of PSS (Although why not just draft them)

Agree that we are still a long long way off. The recent 6 week data shown on 360 of defending is poor. Also from memory our expected scores this year have us alot worse off

On the other hand we've had a horrid draw as worse as any for the past 18 months. So that can only get better as we suit Marvel. Also injuries have hit us pretty hard

Like to see another year to see where we really are
 
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And/or the attitude of some of the departed players. Think they both played a part.

In retrospect we did a hell of a lot of addition by subtraction last year.

Not sure it’s a popular opinion but I’m still looking at inside midfielders first and foremost. I’ve loved Merrett, Parish and Shiel playing more of a first receiver role doing serious damage on the spread and another high level inside player would make us incredibly imposing. That would be a draft priority.

KPF would be a trade in priority because we’re probably looking at more of a mature McStay type battleaxe to just jump into packs, compete and compliment everyone else rather than a star. Could see us offering Sam Day a deal.

At this stage everything else should just be about getting as many Durham sized 2 way runners that can kick the footy as possible, can settle them in positions later.
 
I was having this conversation with the better half a couple days ago, when watching Essendon's mids consistently overpower the Dogs - you'd genuinely have to go back 15 years or more to find the last time Essendon seemed to have obvious advantages in the midfield and ruck.

People are over stating the whole ‘big bodies’ inside mid thing. We beat fairly convincingly the best midfield group in the AFL with soldiers missing (McGrath, Caldwell, Langford).

Evidence that system helps not just size. Add more running power and a much better connect between midfield and forward and we could win that game by 5 goals.


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