HPN

For Geelong, the time is now. The Cats made the Grand Final this year, and were the best team throughout the Home and Away season. They are likely a couple of errant quarters of football away from a flag. While the future always matters for a sporting team, it matters

While the AFL player movement period is largely one where more players stay than go anywhere, the least mobile players on the field are probably the most mobile off. As HPN noted earlier in the week, the number of spots for primary rucks are limited, and there are a lot

Sometimes the question of role and opportunity can be cut and dry, but sometimes, it’s not a clear and easy one to answer. The doubt and question marks alone, though, can be enough to prompt a club to undervalue a player, and that player to seek a bit more clarity

Some players grow and evolve into better players when they pull on the colours of a new club. Since his move to Essendon, Adam Saad has improved his standing as a footballer, tallying career best output in most of the indicators you’d want from a dashing halfback. In short, he

Some players burst into the league showing tremendous potential from day dot. When Nakia Cockatoo could get out on the field, his ability to break through and create shone. There’s little doubt around the talent of Cockatoo, and what he can do on the field. If he was truly fit,

Being on the fringes of a great team is a hard place to be for a player. Lachie Fogarty, a young, former pick 22 for the Cats, managed six games this year only to miss selection for the finals. Fogarty and Brad Close were two of the players to cover

The art of the ruck, and its role in modern footy, is sometimes a little hard to pin down. While some sides have a lot of importance placed on the position, others use it as nearly an afterthought. The Western Bulldogs have probably led the latter trend more than any

More than any other position in football, the path to senior football for a ruckman might be the hardest to achieve. There are about 18 slots for full-time rucks in the league at any one time, stepping aside from the dual ruck issue. At the same time, most teams carry

Melbourne’s evolving forward setup looks to have pushed Mitch Hannan out of the picture. The space for Melbourne’s mid-sized forward options is shrinking, and even in that role, Bailey Fritsch is direct competition for Hannan. Instead, Hannan heads to the Bulldogs where there’s a clearer need for his type. The

For a long time, the public view of the 2020 AFL Draft is that it is the “most compromised draft ever“. With a number of players projected to be inside the top 40 either available for pre-selection or tied to clubs, the consensus media view is that the “free talent”