Anyone thinking Binns hasn’t been given a fair go by Carlton to play AFL should watch a replay of todays VFL game vs NM.

He’s hasn’t done enough to improve his kicking. Terrible. Thoughtless. Lazy. Can’t kick left .

He is not what we need to improve our foot skills in the AFL. It’s the one metric that hurts us

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Yep that group of Binns, Lemmy and Moir have been so so disappointing. We will get nothing from any of them.

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I'm shocked to be sitting here

Just watching Swans and Aaron Francis kicks a couple goals as a sub.

He’s the type we need in the VFL.
Seasoned bodies, and look after the kids in the VFL

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Aaron Francis would be on $300

Keogh might like the idea of recruiting the 6 best players in the VFL. From the rep team and replacing any of the young 6 already on our list.

That would improve our depth and have players we know have capacity to compete in AFL and VFL on our list.

Thought this because it’s obvious we have too many kids on our list who have to be played in our vfl team.

it’s a real tease when you see kids like Charleson and you just believe they have AFL traits.

Francis kicks another…now 3 since I posted the thought in AFL live games thread

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

If TDK goes to Saints as a RFA, we will benefit with a Band 1 pick.

If we are targeting a FA, I’m sure we will have 2nd thoughts on that front given we lose the pick we get for TDK

We had the same problem when we lost Betts to Crows as a FA then taking FA Thomas on from Pies.

Thomas selection nullified the first round pick we would have received for Betts.

It’s not good, and have to look at other ways around this problem.

MSD is a good place to start picking players. We have only one pick from the Kemp LTI.

Newman kicking the ball tells me he will be right to return and will make his call to play on before the MSD.

TDK needs to let us know where he intends to play his footy next year, so we can get the best ruck available in the land through the MSD if he’s going.

It’s messy for us. Even if TDK doesn’t make his decision public, iand we target a ruck in the MSD instead of KP depth, like McMahon, we will know what TDKs intentions are. I wonder what that does to the team chemistry with players knowing he’s gone?

Will that scenario be compelling enough to force LM to lift our offer to TDK. Austin has the money saved for other targets.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I though it was based on a points system.
i.e. If we lost TDK for a 7 year contract at $7.5 mil and traded in a FA for a 3 year contract at say $2mil.
We may not get a high first round draft pick but we still might get an early second rounder, especially if the FA is older than TDK at 26.

But then again you need to add the Carlton tax so we might end up getting a late 4th rounder if at all.

Yeah, kinda.

Picks allocated on the net result of free agency.

The Betts-Thomas year should still be fresh for many.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

IIRC Thomas was on about 700k per year for 4 years and Betts on $500k per year for 4 years?
Which is why we got nothing for him, TDK deal might well be the other way around.

From that group I still have hope for Lemmey. Still developing and has improved both fitness and work rate.

But is that right Bondi ? if we picked up a bloke like Crossley he's gone for sure . But on the other hand if we picked up young Riley ( which I would be happy to grab ) then it becomes unclear .

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All my dangerous friends

Looking at the above responses from fellow posters there's a lot of questions and assumptions around the FA compensation.

I was thinking about the Thomas-Betts exchange of FAs and ending up with nothing...don't get me started on the Waite situation. There's the makey uppey AFL Commission whose bias should have some (negative) impact on our compensation to consider. Imagine losing TDK and getting zero for him. Freaks me out. AFL would have to give us something for a player worth $1.7M, but I wouldn't count on it. The AFL Commission are busy (yeah right) still (apt word) trying to work out the rules and costs around NGA and other selections....then there's the awful situation where Carlton has no Regional zones outside the Northern Corridor to decide on too.

TDK - Pittonet - O'Keefe - Riley(21yo) / Crossley (25yo). Makes sense to me, because I like 2 AFL capable rucks, 1 back up and one developing.

Either Crossley-or Riley selections would be an indicator for me TDK's going. But, I would be taking Riley to develop even if TDK stays. He's a beauty at 206cm. He joined in on some preseason training sessions with us over the preseason. Crossley would be a great back up despite being under 200cm. He's strong, and O'Keefe would be still developing imo. If we lose TDK, I would want an AFL capable ruck targeted, if that's Crossley, fine, but I'm sure there's better, and then Riley could be the understudy. Same age as O'Keefe. But I really value the ruck position.

Interesting to note too, 21yo ex Northern Knight, 196cm Dane Harvey was training with the seniors last week. Maybe we are looking at him too. He's a beauty too.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Onya Bondi . Your all over it . Good stuff .

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All my dangerous friends

If De Koning is going, then we need a ready-made replacement on a better (cheaper) rate. I can’t see that coming through the MSD.

Pittonet & Skull, with Young, Lemmey & McKay as the relief is an ok ruck solution… but still probably one short.

We’d be sailing a bit close to the wind injury-wise if we add a development ruck, and a state league stalwart does nothing for us in the here & now.

If we are going to take another top up player this year (#46 on the list), I think it has to address one of the options that we’ve lost.

Ben, Lucas & Binns aren’t Jagga, but they’re pretty close to ready. Docherty & Lord are already on the fringes… I think we’re ok for mids.

Cincotta (hopefully) comes back. Cowan is already back. Newman is confident, but it’s a long shot… still, I think we’re ok for half backs.

We were already light on for goal kickers when Kemp went down. Cripps is doing pretty well, but repurposing our best mid can’t be the answer. We need a medium forward.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

makes sense. kemp goes down for 12 months, maybe never plays for us again give his contract year.

replacing kemp is right up there in needs.

The 3rd banana is crucial to get right.
I know it’s yesteryear, but if we can unearth an agile marking forward like Clape in 95, I’ll be very happy.

Hey braithy, you and I have been critical about our small forwards for a couple years. What’s your thinking now since Durdin and White came into the fold? Plus how many smalls would you like?

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Next year O’Keefe may be finding his groove. Let’s see where he’s at by end of year. Wasn’t that good last week imo. He’s bigger, and perhaps stronger this year, but I’m not seeing that aggression he showed in his first year.

If Pitto gets injured we would rely on Young and O’Keefe, or Young and McKay. That’s competitive but vs Marshall and TDK, or Darcy and Jackson, or O’Reiley and Tilthorpe, or Cameron and Cox….etc I feel if we can find a stronger ruck against the big bodied rucks would be handy.

I’ve got fingers crossed O’Keefe improves his forward craft, because there’s a spot there since Kemp went down. Someone like TDK who can mark and hunt ground ball.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

for one game against norf, the smalls worked real well. white does all the blue collar running and seems to be excellent at getting to where the ball is.

durdin has a more forward role and crumbing, and tbh, i did not think he was ever capable of being a goal sneak. i think elijah had a huge effect on the forward group, getting up and down the ground, and delivering the ball inside 50 with class.

williams for one game at least - and i'm not sure why - looked like the small forward good for 40-45 goals. maybe bcos he could just deliver the cream while white did the blue collar stuff? i wasn't at the game so couldn't really figure it all out.


one thing is for sure. that pressure and pursuit on the ball is thee most important thing to get right. the personnel will take care of itself if the appetite for the ball is on.

White is becoming a favourite. Everyone speaks highly of him. Maybe its the Blue collar trait. Maybe its the goal sense.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Yeah, I guess what I’m saying is that if we’re replacing De Koning, it’ll be with Cameron or Darcy. Not a Crossley or Downie type.

We’ll probably spend every bit if that $1.1m on the table to find one.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

Ah, so it's your fault!