That’s the trouble we’d need an alternative. I’d have gone hard at Ned Moyle a couple of years ago
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Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 7 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)
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Contrary to the view of many I think we are actually quite well stocked for small forwards. McNeil and Vandermeer should not really be required in this role going forward. We have Weightman, West, Artie and Dolan who should all be ahesd of them, and that is more than enough to flesh out the team. Hynes can also play as a medium given he’s still a few back in the midfield pecking order.
I wouldn’t be going anywhere near a ruck until the rule changes get announced. If the information circulating about last touch out of bounds and requiring rucks to jump come in investing in a wrestling, crash and bash type ruck would be insanity.
Also let’s be honest Beveridge is not replacing English on the list or in the team
Also let’s be honest Beveridge is not replacing English on the list or in the team
Our only issue will be Bevo actually selecting those guys over McNeil and VDM
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Flea wasn't fit all year West played every game Arty started poor then got hurt Dolan play a lot of games but didn't have the impact in games enough,
We are no where near stacked in the positions
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If Will Darcy had half the talent as Sam
Our backline will be stronger next year
Our backline will be stronger next year
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Will Darcy will not be playing next year he's about 60kg dripping wet
Assuming flea is fit next year.
F: west Darcy Dolan/Croft/Arty(if on the list)
HF: Weightman Naughton resting mid
I wouldn’t say we are stacked but if flea is fit our forward line is the least of our worries if Bevo actually selects the best mix.
Natural development from Dolan, Croft and Hynes alone should put them past McNiel and VDM
Croft and Hynes aren't small forwards
That is also far to slow with the resting mid there now
Croft is not slow in the slightest. Richards when resting forward isn’t slow.
We are the highest scoring team in the competition with Darcy being a year older and another preseason under his belt, Naughton hopefully having an uninterrupted preseason, flea back and natural development of Croft, Dolan and Hynes and potentially Arty if retained.
Our forward line will be as as good if not better next season. And this season it was by far the best in the league.
Spending resources there would be stupid.
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Dovaston looked exciting in the VFL game he played against us. He would suit us beautifully.
Angak
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Could Croft be an option in defence? Not as the number one key back taking the best forward, but as an interceptor. I could see him taking an intercept mark and then covering ground with his speed and athleticism, similar to Weddle. Croft might also give you the flexibility to play an extra tall because of his ability to use his legs as an outlet when moving the ball.
The issue with Lobb as an interceptor is that he gets to contests but rarely impacts. Croft is brave in the air and has the athletic tools to influence contests, but he is not yet physically ready to handle the best key forwards. Ideally, you would match him up on a second or third tall, giving him the licence to roam the back 50 and use his tools.
For the genuine lockdown roles we need to be creative. We need to identify or develop lesser known types, like a Keane or a Butts at the crows. Could we find a mature age rough diamond in the state leagues, as Marcus Adams was a decade ago, or should overpay to prise a ready made defender from a rival club? We probably need to do both, because the current mix has major flaws.
Croft isn't slow no but Darcy/Kennedy who is the mid down there most not Richards is,
Scoring wasn't our issue stopping teams running from the backline and conversion was,
Take Garcia yesterday missed 2 sitters in the 1st then an easy tackle where they slingshot for a goal
Agree we need more quality small forwards not midfielders being forced to play there especially if we are going to play as tall as we do
Our defending opposition transition from their D50 to their F50 isn’t that bad:
Opposition go from their D50 to their F50 21.1% of the time which is the 4th lowest percentage.
The issue is when they do they score 9.3% of the time which is the 10th worst along side Gold Coast.
We also allow a shot 51% of the time a team goes inside 50 against us which has us at 14th alongside Melbourne.
We also conceded on average 44.1 points from turnover per game 11th worst beside GWS and Carlton.
So we limit opposition transition but when they get through they score or have a shot regularly.
Yesterday Fremantle went at 27.5% D50 to F50 and scored 15% of those times and scored 71 points from turnover.
Which my reading of it is when we turn the ball over we are so aggressive in our positioning that we cannot defend and we get caught out out the back and one v one in defence. Having quicker forwards will not stop that occurring
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- Aug 31, 2007
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I wonder if we are still interested in Erasmus? Was good yesterday but still don't think we have the midfield role available for him, now that he has strung a few games together for Freo at an important time, might be happy to stay.
The game is all about turnovers now. I don't think any team can defend on turnover effectively but Dogs play it at a higher risk with their gameplan. Definitely do need some better defensive players though with good disposal though.
Weren’t Bruce and Keath both contracted when we traded for them? (*just Bruce)
The pool doesn’t have to be uncontracted players. But you do have to be proactive in chasing these guys.
If we miss out on Silvagni and our answer is to just do what, hit the draft, look to the state leagues…not likely much changes.
Lobb, Buss, and JoD are essentially three third tall types trying to make it work. We have Cleary who dabbles in defending and attacking but not great at either. Then we have Bramble and JJ who aren’t good enough offensively to offset their lack of defensive competitive as backline players. Dale is (more than) good enough to make it work.
Bramble had an ok season but he is a shocker with dumping inside 50 kicks to opposition defenders under no pressure. Gifting them a launch to get our defenders out of position.
Jacques looks really promising and Buss is still very inexperienced but we still don’t know what their careers are going to look like.
It’s ok to have these players biding their time but our lack of competitiveness down back is critically bad.
The Hawks last year were in a similar position and got Barrass and Battle. Yes there was risk involved. They did it anyway. And have made it further than us again.
You can go “win now” without completely selling the farm. We should be thinking about how stacked our forward line is, Bont, Libba, Ed in the middle etc, and really making a run at it for 2026. This would involve some risk taking rather than banking on enough internal development (every club has players that get better, it’s a wash).
The pool doesn’t have to be uncontracted players. But you do have to be proactive in chasing these guys.
If we miss out on Silvagni and our answer is to just do what, hit the draft, look to the state leagues…not likely much changes.
Lobb, Buss, and JoD are essentially three third tall types trying to make it work. We have Cleary who dabbles in defending and attacking but not great at either. Then we have Bramble and JJ who aren’t good enough offensively to offset their lack of defensive competitive as backline players. Dale is (more than) good enough to make it work.
Bramble had an ok season but he is a shocker with dumping inside 50 kicks to opposition defenders under no pressure. Gifting them a launch to get our defenders out of position.
Jacques looks really promising and Buss is still very inexperienced but we still don’t know what their careers are going to look like.
It’s ok to have these players biding their time but our lack of competitiveness down back is critically bad.
The Hawks last year were in a similar position and got Barrass and Battle. Yes there was risk involved. They did it anyway. And have made it further than us again.
You can go “win now” without completely selling the farm. We should be thinking about how stacked our forward line is, Bont, Libba, Ed in the middle etc, and really making a run at it for 2026. This would involve some risk taking rather than banking on enough internal development (every club has players that get better, it’s a wash).
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- Aug 31, 2007
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I know a bit of it is venting, but the completely writing off of Buss pisses me off a bit. He's a developing 21 year old KPD who is still growing into his body and missed a lot of his first AFL season with his shoulder injury. We've been spoiled by our talls coming on so quickly of recent times, these guys often take 3-4 years before they start playing senior footy regularly and then further develop from there. He showed some good signs this year at times and I think there's still plenty of development left in him.
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Bruce was contracted keath wasn’t
cleveland
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Jordan Butts is exactly the depth from other clubs we need to bring in.
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I’d have a crack.
could be waiting for Essendon to officially get waxed before we make any changes public?
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