i'd trade cerra in a heartbeat. get a # 2 mid with run & bounce and move walsh to the wing, and ollie can rotate the wings when blacres and walsh are resting.

blacres big massive rainbow kicks and his compulsory out on the full kick per game is really starting to drive me nuts too.

Nathan Cooper is the closest thing to being able to replicate Sam Collins. Has been awesome in a very good Werribee side this season. 27 years old but his footy IQ is high and he could step straight in given his size. Good closing speed, great spoiler, decent kick. Former Swans academy kid. Has played for Swans Reserves, Sydney University, Wangaratta Rovers and now Werribee.

One hundred percent . Spot on Doc . Been following them this year as I have a mate who's son plays for them . He has not put a foot wrong all year . And Nick Coughlan could step straight back into AFL also .

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All my dangerous friends

I don't disagree with this statement, however.
If we don't find another mid with speed and skill, then I'd draft a quick kid like Taj Hotton and Macrae.
At least Macrae adds a ton of footy IQ and can back it up with skills to hit targets inside 50 and reduce our bombing game.
I'm sure Curnow and McKay would love to be on the end of his kicks several times a game.

Is McRae a better option than either Hewett or Kennedy?

Yes .

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All my dangerous friends

Exactly Side . Everything that is said about McCrae was said about Tom Mitchell when he went to the Pies . Mitchell got " em a Flag ............... and McCrae is a better footballer than Mitchell . As you say Sidey , as well as finding the football McCrae delivers it with pin point accuracy . McCrae would transform our midfield . Our midfield despite being strong is also our biggest weakness .

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All my dangerous friends

my only concern is we have a logjam in the middle - and they're all players who are similar.

if we trade cerra, we could get mcrae. if we don't, he's another player on the books where we end up playing walsh and cerra and maybe even hewett out of position.

out of that midfield, who's chasing the oppo when they get first touch of the ball and break out of the middle. it was such an achilles this season - two way running. adding mcrae without subtracting another contracted mid, is going to weigh our stoppages down.

plus, lord's development maybe more important than adding mcrae to our mix?

We need two way midfielders. That have some breakaway speed. We have the inside midfielders already.

Is it too much to ask to get a fit one, that can run all day ?

hopefully not. imo, if we can't jag one, this offseason would probably be considered a failure, no matter what else we did.

Cerra is the first one to chase defensively and people want to get rid of him?
Let's not forget this bloke was leading our B&F last year until he was injured late in the season. As a 23 year old.
Surely the responsibility is on us to get his body right. It's not as if he's a constant injury case and the rest of our list are bullet proof. Half our list list are getting injuries with many suffering recurrences. Even at training! The fault lies with us as a club. Not the player.

I'd be more concerned our players are the ones looking for a different club who manages them better than us flicking them.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I thought people believe that Russell's relentless determination to make the players 5% fitter than the previous Prelim year was the main cause for all the soft tissue injuries, and the perennially injured have bodies that can't handle the rigours of AFL.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didnt Cerra suffer from soft tissue injury? and, didnt we just see the back of Russell?

This guy who was a pick 4, turned out much better and quicker than our pick 3, Dow. So we paid the price and got ourselves a bargain accepting 600K per annum to get him in our midfield. He was a star last year. See BnF.

From his first year he hardly missed any games to injury.

Games played:

2018 21
2019 20
2020 17
2021 18
2022 18 Carlton
2023 22 Carlton
2024 13 Carlton

No idea why anyone thinks this guy isn't quick, a two way runner and class player, and why would we want to give him away. Aint going to happen. He's only 24yo. Kennedy is 27yo and Hewett is 28yo.

Cerra added pace top the midfield the minute he arrived. Have a look at previous posts. Kennedy and Hewett, whilst valued, present much more upside and long term value than both imo.

McRae is 31yo.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Beat me to it BV.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Cerra is the answer to that.

We were 11.4 after round 15. Cerra did his hammy twice after that. Does that count for the anomaly?

McRae 31yo for Cerra 24yo. Wow. Talk about blow the place up.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I love him.

I love a lot of players in the VFL, including Carlton's team: McMahon (compared to Lemmey), Ramsay (compared to Carroll, ), Cahill (compared to Motlop and Fantasia).

Lets get a few.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I also don't understand the want to get rid of Cerra.
He's quicker than Hewett and Kennedy, has better delivery of the footy and is as you say, defensive.

We need more speed inside and out just as much as better delivery and Macrae is better by foot than our whole midfield so you could pick and chose who he rotates with.
Plus he can rest in the forward line if necessary.
He'd take Kennedy's spot IMO and allow Walsh to play outside or off the wing to add some more speed.
He's not the perfect fit but look how well Josh Dunkley has gone at the Lions and people on here didn't want him either.

cerra when he's up and about is a great player. he still doesn't have the burst we really seek though.

problem is his hammies. they do become chronic and problematic injuries within the tendon. 5 hammies in 12 months is flirting with the criteria of a chronic tendon condition, and is way beyond a typical hammy strain or tear.

which at the minimum cerra would have an imbalance of some sort which needs to be identified, or best case scenario - he simply came back too soon and re-injured the same tear.

russell was a bit outdated in his protocols, but i find it hard to believe he would send someone back into the fold before he has healed.


it's interesting. if offers came or his name was mentioned by other clubs in possible trades, i'd do it. and tbh, his name is only being thrown around here bcos the media already flagged we could unload his salary onto another club to maybe get Petracca the other way.

i went off Cerra from the last game against Brisbane. When i saw him smile during the game. While i was so upset.

I have no respect for a player that smiles in a game that is important and we are being smashed. Its disrespectful.

One journo says Cerra is a chance to be traded.

Another says we're looking to send him to Qatar to see a specialist and looking to extend his current deal.

Choose the rumour that best suits your opinion.

If we could pay him what the Filth paid Mitchell, then yeah, chase him to the ends of the earth.

Otherwise…

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