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DMan 11 said:
I'd prefer to see Zac Clarke used in a running CHF role rather than Jarrod Grant. A better mis-match, taller, just as mobile and likely to be a better contested mark in 2014 ( if improvement keeps tracking ) .

Jarrod Grant offers nothing we need
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dont rate Clarke forward at all, prefer to see Griff if that's the plan OR Clarke rucking and Sandi sitting deep. Then leave ballas deepish to crumb his ruck-knocks to ballas when the high ball comes in.

Walters, Sylvia and Ballas rotating here but i see the other 2 better up-ground players and Ballas pressure better so would have better effect in making up for Sandi's lack of pace.
 
Griff kicked 3 goals this year, and all in the one game (Gold Coast).

I'm not saying that he can't kick goals, but there's no reason to believe he's any more adept than Clarke (or even Sandi for that matter).

I really want us to forget about using resting ruck's in full-time forward roles; we really need a specialised forward; and although I believe Sylvia is a good addition to our list it doesn't solve our endemic problem of needing a KPP.

But maybe we're all getting ahead of ourselves? We do have a good, structured forward line at the present with other midfielders that can kick goals. If Pav remains injury-free next year I don't think we're going to have too many issues hitting the score board; we have brilliant smalls in Walters, Ballantyne, Neale etc and great mids in Mayne, Sylvia, Fyfe, Crozier and talls in Pav, Bradley and maybe even Taberner. If any 2 of the 3 retire (Pav, Sandi, McPharlin) next year we'll have the salary space of attracting a new young replacement.
 

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malpaso said:
It's actually amazing how many goals Mundy misses whilst running into the forward 50 considering he's such a good kick, hits everything up around the ground but whiffs badly in front of goal.
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Seen him kick some nice running goals. I think I know what you mean. I reckon occasionally does the half kick for goal half attempted pass to a teammate.
 
Personally i think the football department has realized we aren't going to land a big star. In fact most of whats left on the market are OK 2nd talls but would struggle as the primary target. Our coaches will need to be inventive, i think the plan seems to be to stack the midfield and use our larger than life midfielders forward. Mundy, Fyfe and Barlow can provide an option inside 50. In the first quarter of the GF Fyfe brushed aside Roughead to take a contested mark. I don't think Mundy or Fyfe would have a problem competing physically with most fullbacks.
 
StingBitten said:
Griff kicked 3 goals this year, and all in the one game (Gold Coast).

I'm not saying that he can't kick goals, but there's no reason to believe he's any more adept than Clarke (or even Sandi for that matter).

I really want us to forget about using resting ruck's in full-time forward roles; we really need a specialised forward; and although I believe Sylvia is a good addition to our list it doesn't solve our endemic problem of needing a KPP.

But maybe we're all getting ahead of ourselves? We do have a good, structured forward line at the present with other midfielders that can kick goals. If Pav remains injury-free next year I don't think we're going to have too many issues hitting the score board; we have brilliant smalls in Walters, Ballantyne, Neale etc and great mids in Mayne, Sylvia, Fyfe, Crozier and talls in Pav, Bradley and maybe even Taberner. If any 2 of the 3 retire (Pav, Sandi, McPharlin) next year we'll have the salary space of attracting a new young replacement.
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Yeah, nah.

I hear you about the number of goals kicked but of the three ruckmen we have he is hte one who has the most goal kicking instinct. Remember his goal against Richmond in the wet last year, work of art.
Additionally i don't think that this year is a good reflection of his forward presence. Remember when he was playing we had no Sandi or Clarke and he was the lone ruckman. We didn't even have Hannath in the side then as we were still playing Kep in the forward line. He was in a full time ruck role. No games up forward.
Having seen him play for East's, he has got a much better forward brain than either Zac or Sandi and he takes a good contested mark. In other threads I will take him ahead of Zac so that he can play more forward and Sandi/Zac come in as genuine rucks.

On the other hand I hear you about Tabener who seems to be coming along nicely.

And I also agree with your point that we have the salary space to not rush. I also like the way we continue to front load contracts to keep the pot large so to say. On this point, as on many others, nice job Bondy.
 
I listened to a little bit of the interview with Chris Bond & Trade Radio. Says we'll make a decision weather to get Ellis over for medical tests in the next 24-48 hours. Says they're considering J-Pod & Gumbleton. Said we need to develop players down back and up forward. From the part I heard, nothing at all was said about Sam Reid.
Lads, they're about to discuss us now, so listen now if you're keen!
 
Lach72 said:
Yeah agree. When I look at the team, hill is the midfielder we could afford to lose. Very up and down, but has currency. Only if we could get a Boyd or Hogan though.

I think we'll see Walters start to rotate through the mids. Lachie Neale knows his way around goals, and I did notice an adjustment in the last few games with Fyfe starting in the center then pushing forward more. If he had kicked straight in the GF......

We need Morabito or Simpson to start pushing into the side, and you can see the logic of getting Sylvia. He loves a goal
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This isn't the off-season to trade Hill. Season 6 is the big one for midfielders like Hill. He's either going to make the leap a la GAJ or continue on his merry little way a la Wells. Either way he will help us in 2014.

In general though, it just doesn't make sense to me. Who are we trading Hill for that helps us win the 2014 Premiership AND helps us during the post-Pavlich apocalypse as well? If we're giving up an asset like Hill, that's what we need in return. Hill has currency for a reason. You don't want to simply blow it on more 'potential' though. If it's not about 2014, then we may as well hold off until the next off-season. Hill isn't going to lose value if he puts in another season like his last.

A first round draft pick doesn't help us in 2014 - unlikely we'd get it anyway.

Which leaves us looking for experienced players that will help in 2014 and beyond. Neither White or Reid have proven to be worth any more than 30 goals a season - which is what we can get from J-Pod who is free to a good home. Gumbleton has been talked about on this board since he was first drafted and he's also delivered as much on field as all the talk has.
 
prattsta said:
This isn't the off-season to trade Hill. Season 6 is the big one for midfielders like Hill. He's either going to make the leap a la GAJ or continue on his merry little way a la Wells. Either way he will help us in 2014.
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Why season six as opposed to any other season?

On consistency of output, 2013 was probably Hill's best season to date, but he probably had fewer games where his impact was above and beyond the rest of the team, as compared to other years. And ultimately that's what the side lacked on grand final day - someone to take the game apart.

He should be that player.
 
mike91 said:
I listened to a little bit of the interview with Chris Bond & Trade Radio. Says we'll make a decision weather to get Ellis over for medical tests in the next 24-48 hours. Says they're considering J-Pod & Gumbleton. Said we need to develop players down back and up forward. From the part I heard, nothing at all was said about Sam Reid.
Lads, they're about to discuss us now, so listen now if you're keen!
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Whilst I am keen to see a gun forward join the group I am not so keen on this plan for 3 or 4 geriatrics join the team. Yes I am being melodramatic but if we take both J-Pod and Ellis we have to drop two. Maybe we trade them for better picks in the draft but TBH. I don't like this approach.

Maybe both Mitchie and Mello go but I would prefer to go to the draft a bit more. I would look to upgrade our first three picks and pick one of the above mentioned three no more. And to be honest I am not convinced that any of them are 100% what we want.
 

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manpurple said:
Whilst I am keen to see a gun forward join the group I am not so keen on this plan for 3 or 4 geriatrics join the team. Yes I am being melodramatic but if we take both J-Pod and Ellis we have to drop two. Maybe we trade them for better picks in the draft but TBH. I don't like this approach.

Maybe both Mitchie and Mello go but I would prefer to go to the draft a bit more. I would look to upgrade our first three picks and pick one of the above mentioned three no more. And to be honest I am not convinced that any of them are 100% what we want.
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I see what you mean. I've changed my opinion on j-pod, meaning I now want him. I'm not keen on Ellis though. Mellington looks a certainty to leave. Nothing was said in that interview about Michie, but maybe it's because hes only played half a game, so we didn't mention his name on the radio.
 
clogged said:
Why season six as opposed to any other season?

On consistency of output, 2013 was probably Hill's best season to date, but he probably had fewer games where his impact was above and beyond the rest of the team, as compared to other years. And ultimately that's what the side lacked on grand final day - someone to take the game apart.

He should be that player.
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Time to give Hill the 'Ablett treatment'. Sit him down in the middle of a massive group circle. Let the team tell him that we need him to lift and he needs to start dominating games, he needs the taggers to fear tagging him.
 
clogged said:
Why season six as opposed to any other season?

On consistency of output, 2013 was probably Hill's best season to date, but he probably had fewer games where his impact was above and beyond the rest of the team, as compared to other years. And ultimately that's what the side lacked on grand final day - someone to take the game apart.

He should be that player.
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100 games down. No longer one of the new kids - probably more players on the list that are younger than you than older (also old enough to have grown the hell up a little bit). Pretty much hitting the peak of your overall physical prowess etc. etc. etc. It's all a lot of broad stroke bullshit, but it's pretty common for players that develop their game at AFL level as opposed to guys who come in as ready made players.

Ignoring all the broad stroke nonsense for a second. Hill's contested game came on in leaps and bounds in 2013. It was the first season since his 2nd where he made a significant/noticeable improvement on the field as well as statistically. He will either continue on improving with his contested/overall game - he now has the size, speed, endurance AND experience to do so - or he will plateau and last season is pretty much as good as it will get.
 
What people don't seem to be remembering about Hill, is that even if his performances dont appear elite on the stats sheet it is to large extent because he is heavily tagged each week. Why ? Because he is recognize as our most dangerous stoppable midfielder. But what we would miss more than any thing is simply his pace - can't anyone remember what it was like before we had him and Pearce? we were dead slow and it showed. Thats why he and Pearce are picked each week, for their elite pace which can be loose ball winning, keeping opposition speedsters honest or dashing through for great goals ala vs Geelong. Don't think he will be going anywhere. I guess Sheridan has that speed too, thats why he was picked before Michie with us all scratching our heads.
 
mike91 said:
They talked about us for 25 seconds and then started talking about Buddy again. Great, cos I can't get enough of buddy talk. Damien Barrett made a good point though, he said next year we should offer Jesse Hogan a 12 year deal. Sign J-Pod and develop Jesse Hogan as our future.
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Love the buddy talk, they should have buddy radio!
 
awaremind said:
What people don't seem to be remembering about Hill, is that even if his performances dont appear elite on the stats sheet it is to large extent because he is heavily tagged each week. Why ? Because he is recognize as our most dangerous stoppable midfielder. But what we would miss more than any thing is simply his pace - can't anyone remember what it was like before we had him and Pearce? we were dead slow and it showed. Thats why he and Pearce are picked each week, for their elite pace which can be loose ball winning, keeping opposition speedsters honest or dashing through for great goals ala vs Geelong. Don't think he will be going anywhere. I guess Sheridan has that speed too, thats why he was picked before Michie with us all scratching our heads.
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Yes, exactly. Ross said last year that we brought in Danyle because we needed pace. Does anyone really believe, that being the case, we will turn around this year and get rid of our quickest player? Absolutely nuts. Coupled with that, he has put in some good games this year. People don't seem to notice because a lot more of his work is on the inside rather than the flashy outside stuff. He now wins his own ball. I reckon he is headed for a breakout year and is totally underrated here.
 
prattsta said:
Ignoring all the broad stroke nonsense for a second. Hill's contested game came on in leaps and bounds in 2013. It was the first season since his 2nd where he made a significant/noticeable improvement on the field as well as statistically. He will either continue on improving with his contested/overall game - he now has the size, speed, endurance AND experience to do so - or he will plateau and last season is pretty much as good as it will get.
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Agree with this

StingBitten said:
http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/2013-10-08/podsiadly-gumbleton-on-freos-radar

Fremantle have come out and officially declared their intentions for Podsiadly and Gumbleton. Wow - is this the right move?
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Maybe a bit of gamesmanship. By saying two names we are clearly telling Essendon, get unreasonable and well just take the J-Pod. Kinda a nice way of saying to the trade averse bombers, don't be a jackass.
 
i would say that it may be worth swapping mellington or michie for either Gumby or an upgrade on first round draft pick if possible, definately grab pods and use that first rounder for Marsh or McCarthy... Between Pods Pav and Gumby/young guy and Tabs we should always be able to field two hungry big guys. Competition for Tabs can't hurt nor can a few reserves ie, Pods and Gumbleton as all will be injury prone at this stage, or worth resting.
 
"Damian Barrett and Terry Wallace are speculating on Gillette AFL Trade Radio that long-term deals such as this will now become the norm. Should Fremantle now offer Melbourne youngster Jesse Hogan 12 years to return home to Western Australia?" AFL website.

Yes, Yes they should.
 

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