Forward line

[Francois Jackson]

I’d keep Lynch. He’s a gun.
Reckon we can have him play another 3-4 years.

Unlike most, I think we can regenerate over the next couple.

Still see our back 6 as being quite strong.
With our crop of draft picks from 2021, I have hope for our mids and wingers.

Would love to see Cumberland and MRJ as the support cast for a Lynch, Balta and Bolton forward line.

Is not all bad.

Doesn't seem bad if you're aiming to finish mid table.

This ain't a premiership list, and the best coach in our generation thought the same when he walked.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

Everyone said the same thing about Collingwood’s list when Macrae took over.

[one-eyed]

Jon Ralph must be reading OER.


The targets Melbourne should aim for in the trade and free agency market

It’s time for the Demons to make a splash, writes Jon Ralph. From the Hail Mary play to the Godfather offer, these are the names who might be on Melbourne’s trade hit list.

Jon Ralph
HeraldSun
September 18, 2023 - 4:03PM

The Demons have two first-round picks (5, 13), Fremantle’s and their own selection, improved by a straight sets defeat.

They will trade Brodie Grundy and if they can get Adam Tomlinson and James Harmes off their books they will clear another $1 million in cap space.

The Josh Schache experiment didn’t work and Ben Brown’s knee is so banged up at 30 they might have a conversation about whether he is fit to play the last year of his deal.

For a top-four finisher, having nearly $2 million in available cap space is a luxury.

HAIL MARYS (UNLIKELY BUT YOU NEVER KNOW)

1. Oscar Allen (West Coast)
2. Ben King (Gold Coast)

3. Tom Lynch (Richmond)
He is about to turn 31 and is due more than a million a year for the next two seasons.

But Richmond is intent on competing, not rebuilding, even though it seems stuck in the middle reaches of the eight.

Even if the Demons offered the world, it would leave the Richmond forward line bereft of options. But could his great mate Steven May make a pitch to reunite them again?

https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/wreck-it-ralph-the-targets-melbourne-should-aim-for-in-the-trade-and-free-agency-market/news-story/0a34d0a0e4aff0a8d41090dcc974b5c5

[the claw]

I’d keep Lynch. He’s a gun.
Reckon we can have him play another 3-4 years.

Unlike most, I think we can regenerate over the next couple.

Still see our back 6 as being quite strong.
With our crop of draft picks from 2021, I have hope for our mids and wingers.

Would love to see Cumberland and MRJ as the support cast for a Lynch, Balta and Bolton forward line.

Is not all bad.

Doesn't seem bad if you're aiming to finish mid table.

This ain't a premiership list, and the best coach in our generation thought the same when he walked.

Absolutely right fj. What are people thinking our better players remain mostly older blokes who are not going to get better but most likely continue to decline.

Our middle tier are not capable of taking over from the oldies and are mostly ordinary.

The club is badly wanting for quality YOUNG players as there is only Gibcus who looked like being quality in his first year.
We dont really know what we have with him as he has been there 5 minutes and people already have him pencilled in as the best kpd in the land.

The club has one thing to get right atm. Determine where we are at and act accordingly. For three years now i keep hearing we are in a window when nothing could be further from the truth. Results back this up. We are not replacing quality players with quality players. nope the system has done its job.

Imho we could finish bottom 4 quite easily simply because we just have not had access to quality picks and players.
Lets say we go again aiming for god knows what a top 4 finish if i join the rose coloured crowd, which is not going to happen and we then continue to deny ourselves access to what we need most and thats quality.

Premierships are built on sustainability and we just don't have it.They are built over a long Period of time.Time to get out of fantasy land thinking it will take 5 years. Next year is year 4, time fly's don't it.

I am happy to do a HONEST break down of the list and the quality we have coming thru but people won't like it.
The truth is we are not winning another flag for a fair while we have to wake up and start doing the hard yards.
Would not be counting on kids either apart from Gibcus you can honestly say there is no other a grader on the list going by what has happened so far.

A big shake up is required and it is needed now.

[Diocletian]

Except you think a "shake up" involves bringing in 30 year-old duds like Taberner.

[Francois Jackson]

Everyone said the same thing about Collingwood’s list when Macrae took over.

everyone?

gee i would have thought a team who played off in a GF in 2018, and then played finals in years after wasnt too bad.

The blemish they had was when the club was all over the place a few years ago, hence buckley leaving his post.

They identified some list needs (Hill) and played peanuts to get him.

They also unleashed a generational talent in daicos  A luxury we dont have at the moment with our list as dusty is still our best player IMO. Our best hope will be brown, banks and ryan. Sonsie and Clarke look average to me from that draft. They are 3 years away from dominating if they indeed do at all.

Do you honestly think this team, esp our midfield can win a flag without adding some real a grade talent? What happens if Lynch doesnt give us a full year?

Lets take out grimes, prestia and anyone else over 31 as they wont be around much longer and even when they do play can we rely on them to take us to the promised land? I dont think so. We simply have players who are not capable to do the things that other teams can do now.

I hope the next coach doesnt think we can just keep topping up, getting rid of top picks, without finding real talent or its a trip back to the dark days of frawley and wallace.

[the claw]

Except you think a "shake up" involves bringing in 30 year-old duds like Taberner.

Lol i would take any actual kpf we can get our hands on. Last time i looked there was only Lynch and he is turning what 32.
Taberner any old kpf had to be better than just JR.

Sliding door moment we reuctantly as usual and belatedly as usual take a genuine 18 yo kpf in the draft. What you think we can play him straight away thats fairy land stuff.

To me a shake means prioritising kids its long overdue. But maintaining structure and a semblence of experience so they can develop where ever they need to.

If we played Taberner at ff and we got him for next to nothing, By the way he was not the only kpf i thought we should get the last few seasons,  Lynch at chf and Bauer third tall then that would be better than what we had most of this year.
I would gladly have bought in Findlayson and a few others as long as we also drafted some genuine kpfs with half decent picks. But alas we continued to almost totally ignore the most glaring need we have had on the list for years.

Its funny people like you bemoaning all year that JR  had to do it all on his own and now expect Lynch to do the same.
People here bemoan pplaying and persevering with Balta as a fwd when there is no one else and others we could have played in defense.

Given no team is giving away good kpf's and definately not young ones at that and we have no real means of trading for one then a kid in the draft is just about the only option we have. We need another kpf even if its only for a season or two come on down your Taberner types.

I really thought this would be quite obvios to everyone but it seems not to be the case. 

[Hard Roar Tiger]

Everyone said the same thing about Collingwood’s list when Macrae took over.

everyone?

gee i would have thought a team who played off in a GF in 2018, and then played finals in years after wasnt too bad.

The blemish they had was when the club was all over the place a few years ago, hence buckley leaving his post.

They identified some list needs (Hill) and played peanuts to get him.

They also unleashed a generational talent in daicos  A luxury we dont have at the moment with our list as dusty is still our best player IMO. Our best hope will be brown, banks and ryan. Sonsie and Clarke look average to me from that draft. They are 3 years away from dominating if they indeed do at all.

Do you honestly think this team, esp our midfield can win a flag without adding some real a grade talent? What happens if Lynch doesnt give us a full year?

Lets take out grimes, prestia and anyone else over 31 as they wont be around much longer and even when they do play can we rely on them to take us to the promised land? I dont think so. We simply have players who are not capable to do the things that other teams can do now.

I hope the next coach doesnt think we can just keep topping up, getting rid of top picks, without finding real talent or its a trip back to the dark days of frawley and wallace.

Yep.
Everyone.
They screwed their cap and had to offload 3 of their better players and the world wrote them off.
12 months later and they were a goalpost off a grand final.

[the claw]

Everyone said the same thing about Collingwood’s list when Macrae took over.

everyone?

gee i would have thought a team who played off in a GF in 2018, and then played finals in years after wasnt too bad.

The blemish they had was when the club was all over the place a few years ago, hence buckley leaving his post.

They identified some list needs (Hill) and played peanuts to get him.

They also unleashed a generational talent in daicos  A luxury we dont have at the moment with our list as dusty is still our best player IMO. Our best hope will be brown, banks and ryan. Sonsie and Clarke look average to me from that draft. They are 3 years away from dominating if they indeed do at all.

Do you honestly think this team, esp our midfield can win a flag without adding some real a grade talent? What happens if Lynch doesnt give us a full year?

Lets take out grimes, prestia and anyone else over 31 as they wont be around much longer and even when they do play can we rely on them to take us to the promised land? I dont think so. We simply have players who are not capable to do the things that other teams can do now.

I hope the next coach doesnt think we can just keep topping up, getting rid of top picks, without finding real talent or its a trip back to the dark days of frawley and wallace.

Yep.
Everyone.
They screwed their cap and had to offload 3 of their better players and the world wrote them off.
12 months later and they were a goalpost off a grand final.

I never wrote them off. So not everyone. I did write WCE off after winning the thing though.

I think a simple rephrase Most people wrote Collingwood off and just a few idiots like me wrote The Eagles off.

[Francois Jackson]

Everyone said the same thing about Collingwood’s list when Macrae took over.

everyone?

gee i would have thought a team who played off in a GF in 2018, and then played finals in years after wasnt too bad.

The blemish they had was when the club was all over the place a few years ago, hence buckley leaving his post.

They identified some list needs (Hill) and played peanuts to get him.

They also unleashed a generational talent in daicos  A luxury we dont have at the moment with our list as dusty is still our best player IMO. Our best hope will be brown, banks and ryan. Sonsie and Clarke look average to me from that draft. They are 3 years away from dominating if they indeed do at all.

Do you honestly think this team, esp our midfield can win a flag without adding some real a grade talent? What happens if Lynch doesnt give us a full year?

Lets take out grimes, prestia and anyone else over 31 as they wont be around much longer and even when they do play can we rely on them to take us to the promised land? I dont think so. We simply have players who are not capable to do the things that other teams can do now.

I hope the next coach doesnt think we can just keep topping up, getting rid of top picks, without finding real talent or its a trip back to the dark days of frawley and wallace.

Yep.
Everyone.
They screwed their cap and had to offload 3 of their better players and the world wrote them off.
12 months later and they were a goalpost off a grand final.

fly come on board at the end of 2021, These issues were around before that, possibly 2 or3 years. I wouldnt say everyone called it when fly "took over" I thought it was a great pick up, personally and equally as effective was the recruit of Leppa.

getting back to my original point of our list playing off in a GF. When do you think its coming?

I think i have said if we get it right its still 5 years away ,so depends how full or empty you are looking at the glass now. Plenty of retirements still to come and they need to be replaced.

you or others may think its a success just finishing mid table with the odd finals appearance, i dont.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

All I’m saying is that is happens quicker than we all might think if we get the off field stuff right. Seemingly players that are no good can thrive when given roles that suit their strengths and others can just make that leap forward in a season or two.

We’ve already seen it once. It can happen again.

[Francois Jackson]

i agree but for some 5 years plus is a long time for a club that went out and gave away first round picks. Its those types of stupid mistakes that set you back further. I think Dow could have replaced Hopper all year and we would still finish where we did, which is why i hope we offload him in years to come if we are struggling, similar to what the pies and hawks did (treloar, jaegar, mitchell)

You also have to remember if we dont trade it into this draft somehow, and dont nail those 21 draftees it could be a long time before any top end talent has come into our side. I classify TT as a talent and a need due to his age, but look where those 2 got us? mid table.

I also think we in 2 years we wont have Grimes, Nank, Broady, Lynch, Dusty, Shorty will be gone or well over 30. These guys need to be replaced with equally talented players, not to mention the guys we have just lost.

The good news IMO is i see hope in our back 6. If gibcus and brown come on we should be fine. Its the mids and forward i see real issues. I see blokes like hill and bedford roaming around for other clubs for peanuts, and then question what were the idiots at the RFC thinking trying blokes like pickett, and other duds in our f50.

[lamington]

If Harry McKay can win the coleman that tells me that coaching can go a really long way. Considering how inaccurate we were this year (we kicked a stupid amount of behinds vs goals in most games) plus our poor i50 ball movement was how many goals did we leave on the table?

I think if we get this right our forward line will instantly look a lot better

[the claw]

We were no more inaccurate than most sides. 8 teams kicked more behinds than us leaving us mid table in that category. Surprise surprise we finished mid table.

What is scary is when you look at how many goals our PERMANENT FWDS KICKED.
Only JR kicking any decent amount and he is now retired. A very heavy reliance on mids who go fwd were next, trouble is we dont have two dusty,s or Bolton,s and they are needed in the midield.The Midfield looks absolutely pedestrian and devoid of class when they are not in there.

Jr 32 for the year the only permanent fwd who kicked a reasonable amount of goals.
Bolton 31 a more a mid and he kicked plenty of those goals as a mid.
Dusty 25 goals same as Bolton
Taranto 19 goals.
Where are the permanent fwds.

[Damo]

We were no more inaccurate than most sides. 8 teams kicked more behinds than us leaving us mid table in that category. Surprise surprise we finished mid table.

What is scary is when you look at how many goals our PERMANENT FWDS KICKED.
Only JR kicking any decent amount and he is now retired. A very heavy reliance on mids who go fwd were next, trouble is we dont have two dusty,s or Bolton,s and they are needed in the midield.The Midfield looks absolutely pedestrian and devoid of class when they are not in there.

Jr 32 for the year the only permanent fwd who kicked a reasonable amount of goals.
Bolton 31 a more a mid and he kicked plenty of those goals as a mid.
Dusty 25 goals same as Bolton
Taranto 19 goals.
Where are the permanent fwds.

In a moon boot till recently