Here are some guesses based on stated mm objectives in 2013, subsequent recruiting, player development and gut feel.

Midfield depth and run. Clearly last year we were outgunned in the midfield , not so much in top end talent, but the ability to run out the game. This was due to two main factors....
1.key injuries carazzo, murphy, judd
2. A lack of b+/a grade relief midfielders.

Strategy.
A wait for the recovery/return of existing mids. Fit murphy, carazzo, judd(lol)
B recruit A grade midfielders good to go .Thomas
C recruit mids to develop who may have impact. Cripps, Holman (temay graham)
D recruit players that can displace mature talented midfield types from existing fill in roles everitt, docherty to free up walker and gibbs.

Key position deficit.

In a perverse way the trading of Hampson will imo help . With the three rucks we had too much choice. There was a luxury that was leading to indecision .
An emphasis on having a tap ruckman has now given clarity. It has to be warnock as our number one ruck. This year he will stand up. From reports his preseason has been outstanding. Late last year his aggression stepped up, something that stemmed imo from greater clarity given to him by malthouse about what his role was and improved confidence that came from this. In hindsight hampsons papers may have ben stamped earlier than we thought, possibly in response to early interest from the tigers which clinched our decision.
So with greater clarity over the number one ruck position, that brings us to the role of Kreuzer. A victim of his flexibility, i think more than any player on our list, he has suffered from a lack of direction but at the same time the weight of expectation thrust upon him.
Is he a tap ruckman
Is he a "midfielder"/ruck rover
Is he a forward?
There is no good reason, why Kreuzer cant excel as a more permanent role in the forward line.he has all the attributes
Height, mobility,strength, nous ,decent kick, great below knees.
His failure has been his inability to regularly take a contested mark as a forward, often being pushed under the ball, by smart defenders. But with some guidance, greater certainty on his role, and an injury free season, i can see him taking on this role and succeeding.

IF Kreuzer can take on this role in the forward line, then we are one KPP up on 2013. What a bonus! Additionally and probably most importantly, this gives us the ability to send henderson back to defence where he has played his best football. He has formed a great understanding with jamieson who excels as our second KPD. Once again with greater certainty on his role, I expect to see jamieson take a further step forward on his good effort in 2013.

With the key defenders locked due to the flow on effects of kreuzers move forward, we are left with the one key spot to fill. Enter the forgotten man Jarrad Waite. Whether Waites superior speed and mobility works better further up the ground or closer to goals is an interesting debate, but my gut feel is that the key determinant will be his relative lack of fitness. Kreuzers superior fitness , and greater size tilts the balance in favour of holding down CHF . I feel that Kreuzer has a greater ability to run all day -something that all great half forwards share. Additionally Waite has such a sensational vertical leap that for me FF beckons. I also feel that this vertical leap which worked so well for walker a few years ago, would finally release Walker from the idea that he should return to the forward line and cement his spot in the midfield (having also been released from half back duties by docherty and co)

Here is revealed the malthouse difference. Whereas ratten subscribed to the "throw enough shit against the wall and something is going to stick" theory which he applied indiscriminately to the team structure, especially in the ruck division, midsized (HBF) and KPP division, malthouse targets.
Superficial analysis might draw a similar tactic with malthouse who has stated that he wants team flexibility. But its different. As pointed out ad nauseam by some , a team of half back flankers does not necessarily make a great midfield depth. Thanks Ratts. A more targeted approach is needed.
Potentially our midfield next year could have the following. Murphy , Judd, Gibbs, Walker, Thomas, all top line midfielders.
Next rung down. Carazzo, McLean, Curnow, Lucas, simpson, Bell, cachia,
In development Cripps,Holman,Graham, Temay(?), buckley?
Thanks ratts, just having Judd and Murph as our mainstays was not enough.

Specialist forwards providing X factor: garlett , menzel, yarran ( will we REALLY miss Betts?)

Specialist backs. Contrasted to the x factor desired in the forward line, stability and reliability is key here. The partial gelling of the back line last year was disrupted by the move of henderson to the forward line. I expect that malthouse above all else will want to decide the henderson best position debate early, and in so doing give the back line much needed structure and stability. He may talk about the flexibility of henderson going forward, to keep opposition offside and indeed need this with injuries, but i believe the over riding emphasis will be stability.
The key 3 Jamieson, Henderson,McInnes
The other 3:
A. Docherty. He wasnt recruited for nothing. He gets a gig.
B Tuohy ? Simpson?
C scotland

Out of left field.
The limitation in midfield rotations may spawn some changes to strategies. Inevitably there will have to be less running. Does this bring in the possibility of more kicking?
We have on our list players capable of the long bomb for goal.
Tuohy, an absolute freak kick for goal
Everitt, has kicked some freakish goals. Most famously against the cats last year . But check the highlights video on the cfc web site.
Could these two be our wingmen? Able to drift forward and wreak destruction by making the opposition defenders second guess? Will they be able to stay with their forwards AND counter the possible long goal?

My team

Mcinnes Jamieson. Carazzo

Simpson. Henderson Scotland

Everitt. Gibbs Tuohy

Menzel. Kreuzer. Yarran

Garlett. Waite. Walker

Followers Warnock. Murphy. Judd.

Inter. Thomas. Curnow. Mclean. Bell

Emrg Casboult.

This gets my vote. I have a lot of love for this set-up.

Casboult: train train train, with a lot of goalkicking thrown in, for when Waite inevitably goes down, and a bit of ruckwork for the other possibility (you'll get your chance at some point, Wood).

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'People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.'
Soren Kierkegaard

Inside the mind in MM. Well, I wonder what goes on in there given the self portrait in his lounge.

Believe that is a good side with a few fresh faces

Carrots is a mid and his disposal coming out of the back half wouldn't be reliable enough and doubt Everitt has the tank for a mid. Carrots to the midfield, Everitt to HBF and Simmo to the BP and we have a deal.

Would love you to be right re Krooz, too.

Everitt was a stand out in the TAC as a hard running, very fast wingman. People forget that.
Has played as a midfielder, but as he grew taller, his height was needed elsewhere.

Doggies let go of a beauty to the Swans imo, and now we have the versatile utility (IMO).

I dont expect Everitt to play as a full time midfielder, but could easily be part of the midfield rotation, especially with the interchange caps. I can easily see him and Walker being played on a wing, as the attacking wing. Saw him play on the wing for the Swans several games.

We have snagged a beauty in Everitt. So glad we could entice him back home to Melbourne.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

..i agree regarding everitt, i think the swans team ethos will enable him to grasp MM's philosophy right away, since both rely upon hard work and honest football.. ..i still see him playing the flanks before getting a wing position, more'so because we'll be wanting to run mids thru there or faster running flanks [yaz/garlett] and everitt will rotate thru the flanks fwd and def..

..fitness permitting, i can see Menz having his name stamped all over a HFF however..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force”

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I am as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!!!

"geez I'm a super duper tricky micky"

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I would look at leaving out bell for docherty. Other than that I like that team

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i AM CARLTON

Everrit will be centre half back pretty soon.
Has all the weapons to play the position in the modern game.
Right age and development at the moment.
Long telescopic arms for spoiling.
Good pace
Good recovery
Nice height
Good distribution of the ball from defence.
Can link up.

Excellent pick up. Will blossom with us.

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..i'm not certain we neccessarily do have greater clarity in regards to the number 1 ruck position.. ..it looks to be Knockers, since he is such a 1 position player, but his actual ruck skill isn't any better than krooz's, actual his pure tapman skill is less than krooz's, but his greater height enables him to get more hitouts even though his percentage hitout to adv is less.. ..when both were fit last season, krooz was chosen over knockers to be the main ruck.. ..knockers slowly and steadily upped his attack on the contest last year cos its the only way he can get a game, since krooz sets a high standard of work ethic and hunger for the contest..

..krooz has been stated that he expects himself to spend a bit more time up fwd, but he also says the same of knockers, both have been working on improving their fwd craft.. ..but krooz will play in a ruck combo, and rest fwd.. ..he ought not to be playing a KPF role, and most certainly wont be playing CHF cos there's no way he can be CHF, and then be part-time ruck [even with his high fitness and huge work rate]..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Yes i agree. Its a sign of our evolution as a team that he was forgotten. The reason that i had bell in there was he provides a big body and strength and from all accounts has taken his fitness to a new level this preseason. We do need more than just runners and so a big bodied mid like Bell was in there as a way to toughen up the team. We need a combination of ball finders/extractors, gut runners, and enforcers. Robinson is another obvious candidate.

Hi Padre,
Appreciate the effort and analysis. I agree with much of what you've posted. Not much fun talking about that though so I'll just put the points that I particularly have a question about, (and I'm aware that I'm taking a "glass is half empty" approach).

Kruezer : I'm yet to see anything that makes me think this lad can make a key forward. I like the way he plays and I want it to be true, but he's been playing a while now and I just haven't seen it.

Everitt : This guy's on his third club now. Anyone who really thinks he's going to be star is, in my opinion, being very optimistic. Again I want it to be true, but history shows pretty clearly that blokes who are that good rarely get to a second club let alone a third. Sadly I reckon Laidler's got a better chance of shining at Sydney.

Mid-Field : I agree with your "running out of legs" theory. I think that's why we decided to let Betts go. Too many small forwards who couldn't go through the midfield. The balance has to change and I'm heartened that they seem to be doing this.

Improvement in the youngsters : some will, but some probably won't. Personally I'm really hoping Lucas kicks on ... but we'll see.

Cheers
BK

Hi Padre,
Appreciate the effort and analysis. I agree with much of what you've posted. Not much fun talking about that though so I'll just put the points that I particularly have a question about, (and I'm aware that I'm taking a "glass is half empty" approach).

Kruezer : I'm yet to see anything that makes me think this lad can make a key forward. I like the way he plays and I want it to be true, but he's been playing a while now and I just haven't seen it.

Everitt : This guy's on his third club now. Anyone who really thinks he's going to be star is, in my opinion, being very optimistic. Again I want it to be true, but history shows pretty clearly that blokes who are that good rarely get to a second club let alone a third. Sadly I reckon Laidler's got a better chance of shining at Sydney.

Mid-Field : I agree with your "running out of legs" theory. I think that's why we decided to let Betts go. Too many small forwards who couldn't go through the midfield. The balance has to change and I'm heartened that they seem to be doing this.

Improvement in the youngsters : some will, but some probably won't. Personally I'm really hoping Lucas kicks on ... but we'll see.

Cheers
BK

Watched the interview on Talking Footy of Mick. He has stated that he feels that Kreuzer is too small in todays modern footy to be a full time Ruckman, and that Warnock is the preference for this role. Instead he has been talking to Kreuzer about a role as a forward , that he just needs some time there. He also noted how much harder it is to be a full time forward compared to the ruckman who drifts forward and takes a few grabs.
So going back to my original analysis it seems that my original premise was not too far from the mark. Of course Kreuzer still has to make it happen.
Waite has also been taking some of those vertical leap marks that I was talking about .
Henderson has been thrown about a bit but it does seem to me that the general strategy is to play him down back.

The biggest surprise to me has been the dashing play of Buckley. Could his career channel that other famous slow starter Simpson?