Melbourne Discussion

[powersuperkents]

I agree with Mac here; Pig Dog has the heart but not the talent. I also think he has never truly been given a fair go at his prime position i.e. full-time inside mid, but that may be because Roos doesn't reckon he has the skills to deliver in comparison to our other contested animals such as Jones and Viney.

I think he is out of contract BM? If so, reckon this is his last year on the demons list.

Cheers mate  :)

I will be following all clubs' delistings closely (hoping for a lot from Port at the end of the season)

[Barra13]

It's funny what one season can do. Who do you want to see out the door PSK?

[powersuperkents]

It's funny what one season can do. Who do you want to see out the door PSK?

I'm not sure - more fixed on replacements. If Port could drop Schulz and recruit Dixon, that would be a good start.

Aaron Young is pretty useless, Lobbe has had a bad season (so delisting him based upon his 2015 performance would be a bit myopic). It's tough, because some of these players have potential (e.g. Clurey, Moore, Sam Gray etc.) and I'd hate to see they strive in another team if Port dropped them, however I can't see the club ever going for a premiership while they are on the list.

Butcher is a big one who needs to go (and I wouldn't miss him), Monfries is a big one (the guy has been useless - one of our best in our bad games, easily the worst when the team does well though - however, his role is to apply forward pressure and not kick goals so it might be because he is forced to take on the additional role when the team is doing poorly). One tall forward isn't enough for the club, and Ryder is a premier ruck man but will never be a 2nd tall up forward (his transfer effected both him and Lobbe so although Ryder had some good games, I would call the trade a loss for 2015 - if we waited a year we would have the salary cap for Dixon which would be a far more effective team-up with Schulz).

Will have to see what Hinkley does, I really trust Hinkley and rate him, so I will stand by his delistings. The club probably wasn't ready for Cornes departure and Polec seems like our crucial outside mid (honestly, 10,000x better than Matt White). But I don't like the fact that our club's run is contingent upon one 22 year old  >:( It's just not good enough. So far the only players in the club that I am proud of this season are Boak, Gray, Wingard, Hombsch (finally cracked against the bulldogs), & Wines. Three of them carried our midfield (with Polec when he was fit), Wingard carried our forwards, and Hombsch (with inconsistent help from Broadbent and even more inconsistent help from Pittard) carried our defence. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Last season I was proud of all our players (besides Butcher and Moore), I used to make jokes that "there were only 22 players you could choose from" to win the Brownlow  :P . This season that pride has dropped to 5 players!!! Big changes need to be made because the comp. has cracked our running gameplan. The Demons & Saints were the only teams it worked against (two young teams), Nth Melbourne just fell short going head-to-head (but I would not doubt that they are the fitter team now), and Hawthorn only took a half-time break to work out an effective counter. Port need to stop relying on a niche that every team can read (because next year the Demons & Saint will counter it and win) and start backing their players to play low risk effective footy (a traditional style followed by most of the comp.), even then I can only see the kids competing for 6th at best.

I would credit Hinkley for our resurgence, the only problem is a team that relies on one specific gameplan will always be stopped with preparation. Teach the players a specific role, and have them practice it to perfection (like Hawthorn, West Coast, Sydney, Geelong, & Freo) and than you have a team at the top of the rankings. The problem the gameplan made us relevant again, however without a contingency plan the Crows, Pies, Cats, & Richmond are now far further through their development than us. The Saints, Demons, Gold Coast & GWS are catching up. The Bulldogs are another team that will face the same problem as Port in the future, I'm sure Beveridge, unlike Hinkley, will have something ready though for when teams work out its logistics. I think Hinkley was a specialist at a single gameplan, it will be interesting to see whether he has the ability to conjure up another. The players we are investing in don't seem worth it either (i.e. Mitch Harvey, Brandon Ah Chee etc.), I see much more talented prospects in other clubs developing youths. Port need to realise that just making a player 'fit' isn't enough anymore or we could fall back to our status from 2008-2012 - and this time, the talented players will leave  :-\

The cause of Port's inconsistent performance is their consistently utilised strategy (no element of surprise gives opposition teams time to plan days in advance)  :-\ 

[powersuperkents]

Just read this;

exactly what I was talking about

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-08-13/hinkley-has-faith-in-ryderlobbe-combination

Hinkley is stubborn with our gameplan and until he admits this the team will slowly edge closer to being 'easy beats'  >:(

Empirical evidence alone indicates WE NEED A PLAN B

[Barra13]

What has happened to Hartlett this year? Looked like being a gun at times last year.

[Barra13]

Casey Scorpions

B: Hutchins Fitzpatrick Terlich
HB: White Grimes Stretch
C: Salem Newton Neal-Bullen
HF: Gent Hunt Kennedy-Harris
F: Byrnes O McDonald Harmes
FOLL: Jamar Riley Michie
I/C (from): Bail Keilty Lovett* McKenzie Moncrieff Morris Muir Munro Page Rutherford Scott Spencer Toumpas

[Barra13]

Contract talks have re-opened with Jeremy Howe.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-08-14/demons-restart-jeremy-howe-contract-talks

[Purple 77]

Contract talks have re-opened with Jeremy Howe.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-08-14/demons-restart-jeremy-howe-contract-talks

Huh. Thought he was all but gone.

This has surprised me.

[ossie85]

Likely realised he isn't worth as much on the open market as he thought, I reckon his best financial deal is at Melbourne

[powersuperkents]

What has happened to Hartlett this year? Looked like being a gun at times last year.

Was good on the halfback flank. Was a solid inside mid when the main mids were gone. He is our most effective kick (best disposal efficiency), however he just doesn't get enough of the ball to have the impact one would expect (Wingard gets the same amount of disposals as him, and he rarely leaves the forward line). Definitely one of our sides' keepers. But needs to improve next season because in our important games he was quite

[Barra13]

Truck back on the park as well and looking flowering solid.

http://afl.to/1TynRFf

[Barra13]

Gawn's contract update added.

2019
Jones 27,

2018
Brayshaw 19, Petracca 19, Gawn 23,

2017
Dunn 27, Hogan 20, Viney 20, Lumumba 28, Kennedy-Harris20, Salem 19, Vandenberg 23,

2016
Trengove 22, Dawes 26, Grimes 25 (RFA), Watts 24 (RFA),  Vince 29, Tyson* 21, Kent 21, M Jones 27, Spencer 25 (UFA), T McDonald 22, Terlich 25, Jetta 25, Garlett 25, Stretch 18, Frost 21, Newton 22, Neal-Bullen 19, O McDonald 19

2015
Jamar 31 (UFA), Garland 26 (RFA), McKenzie 24, Howe 24, Fitzpatrick 23, Toumpas 21, Pedersen 28, Hunt 19, Cross 32, Bail 26, Riley 23, Michie 23, Harmes  ® 19, King ® 19, White ® 18

* = Require confirmation...

Those underlined are player I think are the top 11 paid players; RFA is determined by players being among these 11 (obviously this will be wrong but hopefully indicative).

[Big Mac]

Apparently Fitzy kicked 4 goals to half time in the VFL yesterday and then didn't play in the second half

[Purple 77]

Apparently Fitzy kicked 4 goals to half time in the VFL yesterday and then didn't play in the second half

At least he seems to be playing desperate footy, i.e. to save his career.

Shows he cares at least... the jury is still out for me about him.

[Purple 77]

Melbourne isn't an awful team.

They're just a team of awful players.

(I'm saying they're a bunch of individuals)