00:00:00
Speaker 1: It may be Scott Penderbrey week, but we're worried here on the Code AFR show about getting an invite to your club's Best and Fairest. I'm Josh Barnes. I've got Ed Burke with me. We're going to run through who we think is leading your club's best in Fairest. We've gone and compared notes. Ed welcome, great to be here. I'm enjoying the change of color scheme. We've also got a nice shrub behind us and use the Code AFL studio some good symmetry, so I'm excited the greenery. It feels a bit of fresh bit more oxygen in the room. So we've gone through and name sort of our top three players from each team. A lot of them are similar, so we won't run through every single team, but we'll start at the top. With Adelaide. I had Wayne Miller winning my list and that comes also from Simon Thomas Wilson in Adelaide. He also has him winning his list, so a bit of backup for me. But you didn't have it. He didn't see it that way.

00:00:40
Speaker 2: No, I've gone against you. So so this is who we think we'll be sitting in the top three as we go into round right hand Josh Warrel. For me, it's splitting hairs between him and Wayne Miller, but that had been very important in defense for the Crows. Josh Rachelley was the other one I had in my top three. Sam Berry would be there or thereabouts as well. But I really like what Warrel's done. His offensive output has almost matched Miller out, but defensively he's crucial for them. He's really strong in the air. He can often often swings on to the best forward or gets across from his man to help out their defender with the best forward. So I think the coaches will be looking at that, and usually these awards voted on by assistant coaches as well. It's like a whole coaching group that judges the award. I think that Warrel's defensive game has him just ahead of Miller at the moment.

00:01:32
Speaker 1: Now do you think that has him in line for Australia's snubbed last year?

00:01:36
Speaker 2: I think so. It seems that you need to have two consecutive years of elite defending to be a defender in the All Australian team, so I think he's more in line for it this year. If he can hold this form, he should be there, and he was robbed last year. To be honest, I would have had him in ahead of Josh Battle. No South Australians, I think yet on the selection.

00:01:54
Speaker 1: Game, I was going to raise that Cane Corns has stepped off as a pseudo South Australian. No replacements so far, so I am worried about Porto lad and Adelade's chance.

00:02:02
Speaker 2: We need to find a strident South Australian, someone who's really passionate about the Croators to get on that panel.

00:02:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, put your names into the code flash. I think Wayne Miller would be pretty close to most Improved player in the league if he did that award. He's really exploded this year, got his body right and he's playing excellent footy. Of half back Carlton is another interesting one. It's pretty sad looking at their best and first, I think at the moment you had Patrick Cooks second in yours. A lot of people have been saying he should be dropped for the past month. It's always been a bit harsh. But I had Mark put in at winning, you had Sam Walsh winning. I had him second, even though I don't think Walsh has been that great this year. It's just not a great looking best and first at this year.

00:02:39
Speaker 2: It's a top three where you'd want more output from everyone in that top three. I think that might be a bit harsh on Mark Pittnett, who I think has been excellent so far. Yeah, i'd Sam Walsh winning. I think he's been really fighting away. I think the coaches would be big on his two way efforts in the middle. Hasn't been enough to move the ledger against opposition midfield, maybe not, but yeah, I had him ahead of Crips and just ahead of Pittnet who'd you have in your top three?

00:03:06
Speaker 1: I gave Olie Hollands a shout just because he's played some different roles. Really like I was looking for someone that the coaches might think has done a job for us, because not they many have. I mean, you had Oli Florent fourth. I think in your sort of as your smokey kind of option. I don't think he's been that good apart from last week. I think he's been pretty iffy on a lot of a lot of occasions. A lot of the other players that have played a lot of games just haven't done that much. Even Jacob Wieder and I had it sort of in the fourth area. For Mine, I don't think he's had a good year either by his standards. It's just been tough going, which is probably not surprising when the coach has gone this earlier in the year. But they're just looking for players they can play well and they're struggling at the moment. Even while she, by the numbers, had a pretty good year, he just turns the ball over so much that he's almost a detriment at times to Carlton, So it's been a real battle for him.

00:03:49
Speaker 2: I think from what we saw against the Western Bulldogs, look for those cart and wingers to really move up their best and fairest count. So it's Olie Hollands and Matt Carroll. They could go deep into the count when we get to the job. Nichols medle mate.

00:04:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, nine goals for the Christmas Carol, so he's coming on pretty quickly. Essendon had Archie Roberts leading mine. He has been a super coach Darling this year, racks up more possessions than almost anyone else. But does he use him enough to get the votes? Yeah?

00:04:13
Speaker 2: Not enough for me. He's impact with the footy I think he's improved his ball use from last year. It was a little bit of an issue sometimes last year his decision making coming out of defense. He looks composed, but he doesn't always get the best connection on the kicks that he wants. This year he has improved in that area, but I still think there's room to move the way that Essen have been playing, particularly we saw in that win against Melbourne at the Adelaide Oval very chip mark. You can really rack up your stats that way. I think Zach Merritt is still the one doing the damage, even though we've spoken about on this podcast in the last couple of weeks how he's been pushed out of the midfield. The clearance differential isn't very good when he's playing on the ball. He's come in and out of games pressure wise, but he is the best inside fifty kick in the game at the moment. For retention, he's playing a pretty important role across half forward if he If it holds for him, I think he's on for the Crichton Medal four peat and it would be his seventh overall and then potentially leaving the club at the end of the season. That would be a pretty dramatic way to end things.

00:05:10
Speaker 1: Let's talk about you long now. Bailey Smith is my leader. I think he's been phenomenal in the past month. In particular, he won the Coaches Award, tied the Coaches Award last year, and he's been racking up coaches votes like nothing else in the past month or so. I had him just ahead of Max Homes, but you had it the other way around.

00:05:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, just the other way. I thought Holmes slightly ahead. And what you mentioned before, being able to perform in multiple roles. Assistant coaches love that. So when they're on the voting panel and Holmes is getting thrown half back and producing, or he goes to half forward like he did against North Melbourne for a bit and produces, I think that will have him just ahead of Smith at the moment. And then Tom Stewart's around the mark. I think Lawson Humphries is around the mark as well. He's having an outstanding season.

00:05:49
Speaker 1: Yeah. I had Ocean mallin a sort of my floating extra name. I think he will be getting those scooping up those votes were doing the jobs. Have got a few sort of almost maximum votes for some of the jobs he's done in the past month or so, so I think he'll be a bit of a front runner in there, but I think it is those Dash brothers that will probably lead the way going forward. Gold Coats is this Christian buttrakis to lose already, I think so.

00:06:09
Speaker 2: He's been so good that even though he's only played the seven or eight games, I think he's I think he's out the front at the moment. Twok Miller, Body yuland potentially a couple that would be there or thereabouts, but I think the Truck would still be ahead of them, even having missed a couple of games with the hamstring injury. I don't think either of us had the Colmer Medal leader Ben King out.

00:06:29
Speaker 1: Can you tell me why that is? After he's clearly win the Colma medal. He's been dominating kicking bags and goals. Why wouldn't he be winning the best in fair.

00:06:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, so seventy one goals last year and he finished tenth in the Sun's count. So that's another one.

00:06:41
Speaker 1: We're to do that about it similar again this year when you.

00:06:44
Speaker 2: Talk about tweaking the formulas, do they need to tweak it to make Ben King feel more important to the site leaving him tenth last year, risky move heading into a contract year. It looks like he's going to recommit to the Suns before we get to their best in Ferris Night. If he kicks another seventy goals and is on the free the top ten, that's unusual.

00:07:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's another going to be a very close watch, I think in the Best in first if he resigns in a couple of weeks, does he get a lot of votes in the first half of the season, Does that taper off or something when they feel like they don't have to impress him anymore. I'll be very closely watching that, not that any club would ever do that. GWS has been a little bit tricky. I think they've had a lot of players throughout this year who have gone up and down. But they've finally got a lot of injuries to key players, some players they aren't performing as well as they would have liked. I had Clayton Oliver at the top just for his consistency. Really, I think he's been consistently a seven, six, seven out of ten week after week, which is why I had him leading, which would be a remarkable story if he did win a West in fairest have to be in boot out in Melbourne, but you don't see it the same way. Yeah.

00:07:41
Speaker 2: I know he's polled Coaches Association votes quite well. Is well out the front and.

00:07:46
Speaker 1: Half of those have to come from someone in the Giants team.

00:07:48
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, so Adam Kingsley could be the one giving him a fair few of those votes. I do think he's still getting caught out a bit in transition. It's not as pronounced as it was last year when he was at Melbourne. But just watching the West Coast game on he's winning the football, but then what is he giving them in when the balls in open play and it's been more pronounced than this year. I think if if Lockie Ash wasn't winning the count right now, he would be very close to overtaking him in the next week or two, and maybe even Finn Callahan as well, who I had in second. So I've really liked Ashes moving to the midfield. A few weeks ago, Corey Mabillio and I from Corey from Champion daht It, we both vehemently agreed first Ash one should make that midfield move. Glad to see that it's happened. He's had a bit of impact there again, when you changed roles and you perform well, assistant coaches love it. It's gravy to them. I think that Ash would be out the front right now.

00:08:37
Speaker 1: Now you mentioned Corey's an americanhom knocking on the door. So let's wrap up some of the other best and first Brison, we had Locky near leading ours, Nick Dacos at Collinwood, Luke Jackson at Fremantle, at Hawthorne and John and yukam Melbourne. Max Gorne just had a cozy picket. That'll be interesting. Count North Melbourne you had Aldu, I had Harry Ches. I think that's neck and neck. Zach Budders has to be beating everyone at Port Adelaide, even though Leo has had a great seat. In Richmond, you had Jim Taranto and I had Jack Ross. Good season from Jack.

00:09:05
Speaker 2: Ross could be a great trivia question in five or six years of Richmond. Rock it up the ladder from here, Yeah.

00:09:10
Speaker 1: Cal Wilkie at some Kilda, Brady Grundy at Sydney, Harley Reid at West Coast and the Bond at the Western Bulldogs. So that's where we sit at the moment. We'll keep a close eye on this as the week's come along. But Ed, I need you to get out of here. Corey's desperate to come in, so we'll get him in now. So we've moved ed out and brought in Corey because that it's time to talk about Scott canderby Coy Mobilio from Champion Data. Like the rest of us, I'm sure you've been knee deep in numbers about Pendals all week. He's going to be the greatest games played EVA will be on the top of that list. He's on the top of many other stats in the deep deep data bases.

00:09:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, look, it's Pendlebury's week, isn't it.

00:09:53
Speaker 4: So just thought i'd come armed with some numbers today and just what He ranks number one in Champion Darty history.

00:10:00
Speaker 3: So I've handpicked a couple here.

00:10:02
Speaker 4: There's obviously quite a few more, but number one for disposals close to eleven thousand disposals, effective disposals, number one, tackles, which is a bit of a surprise, Number one goal assists number one, and balks, which is, you know, in Layman's terms, selling the candy. And I think you know, you think of Pendlebury and it's that unfair game i Q he has and that composure he has with ball in hand, one of the best kicks we've seen, one of the best kicks inside fifty we've ever seen, and he's still performing at a really high level.

00:10:31
Speaker 3: Top twenty rated.

00:10:32
Speaker 4: Player across the competition this year if you look at the player rating points, which you know just quickly on the rating points, it's more about the quality and the impact you're having, so you don't necessarily need thirty disposals to rate highly. It's more how you win it, where you win it, and what you do with it. So obviously, so this is a measure from twenty ten onwood, so we missed the first part of Pendlebury's career. Total rating points he ranks, he ranks number one in the competition. If we just stripped it back to average, he's actually number five. So highest rated players based on average since twenty ten. Gary Ablett comes out number one, Bonton Pali comes out number two, Dane Swan, Brent Harvey and Scott Pendlebury rounds out the top five.

00:11:14
Speaker 1: A couple of interesting names there, so Swan and Penderbury is always a debate. So Swan had a higher player rating average for his career than Penbury has.

00:11:21
Speaker 3: Had correct yep, correct. So interesting one.

00:11:25
Speaker 4: But I just think with Pendlebury, it's just that composure We've seen time and time again. He's done it in Grand finals, He's done it on the biggest stage. He's been a top three rated player at Collingwood in one hundred and sixty seven matches, which is the most we've ever seen by a player. Also, so and he's still performing at a really high level.

00:11:43
Speaker 1: A lot of that is obviously he is. Nobody's played more games than him, that's pretty clear. But does any of those stat surprise or any of those numbers that you look and think that is a bit of a shot.

00:11:54
Speaker 3: Probably the tackles one I thought was a bit of a surprise.

00:11:56
Speaker 4: Maybe the volume with him. Look obviously, like you said, he's played a lot of matches. But I just love him as a player. He's composure, he's you know, he's he's kick rating, he's just everything about him, you know.

00:12:07
Speaker 3: And he's still performing at a really high level.

00:12:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, that's enough penals for now. I'll step off him. The team that is flying at the moment is Melbourne. I was at the MC down on Saturday and I was going off. The bars were full, as you can imagine a lot of Chino's in there after the game between Melbourne and Hawthorne, these are flying. What's going on with and what of the numbers say?

00:12:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we know sat here after round five or thereabouts, and you know, it really acknowledged what they were doing with ball in hand. Their offensive profile was quite strong, their ball movement profile quite strong, but the big wart was that what was happening behind the ball and their defensive profile which is really starting to take shape. So after round five, fourteenth for points against, third easiest side to score against going inside fifty and the fourth easy side to convert any chain onto the scoreboard against. And I was piecing this together last night. I had to catch myself because I looked at the Melbourne profile since round six and it's tenth for points against, eighth for scores per inside fifty against mid table.

00:13:05
Speaker 1: In first steady improvement, steady.

00:13:06
Speaker 4: Improvement, and you know I kind of expected I'd like to see a little bit more green. But again I had to catch myself because I think this these improvements, going from bottom six and slowly working your way up is significant and it's really hard to go from bottom six to top six in the space of a couple of weeks.

00:13:22
Speaker 3: I think King, it's obvious that.

00:13:25
Speaker 4: This profile is, like I said, the war that was standing out and it's starting to improve. And you look at someone like Daniel Turner since round six this number one rated key defender in the competition. So this profile, don't get me wrong, it needs to improve a little bit defensively across the entire year. They've got the benefit of an easy draw as well, but more so it's really starting to shape what they're doing with ball in hand and what they're doing behind the ball. You know, I can see him getting to semi final week, prelim final week potentially if it continues to improve.

00:13:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was going to be my next guy. I think the conversation has changed from them from being smoky for the top ten two getting closer to almost a lock for the top ten. Now the top six is definitely in play, Like how far can they go? I know you're projecting forward, but at the moment, they're improving week after week.

00:14:12
Speaker 4: And that's the thing with King, like he's not scared to throw magnets around it and give different looks, whether it be in game or weeks a week. And like I said, this defensive profile is starting to improve. And also their draw on paper looks pretty soft as well. So a lot going right for them. It's more how they're playing.

00:14:31
Speaker 3: And then I think the wins and losses will take care of themselves.

00:14:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Pendlebree is the game at four thirty five, but twenty minutes before is probably the game of the round. Geelong Rest of Sydney down in Geelong, Sydney has a good record down there. It should be a fascinating clash. The Cats are absolutely flying off the last two weeks. What are you seeing for this Saturday afternoon?

00:14:48
Speaker 4: Yeah?

00:14:49
Speaker 1: Second blockbuster?

00:14:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, can't wait for this one. You look at Geelong behind which one will you be watching? Geelong Sydney.

00:14:55
Speaker 3: I watched the start of the Pendlebrey game.

00:14:57
Speaker 1: The hard thing is that the Cats will start. I assume some ceremony will be on. Yeah, that's the bits is going to be high.

00:15:05
Speaker 3: But what geelonga doing behind the ball.

00:15:07
Speaker 4: Obviously their profile is getting better across the last you know, six weeks. But you look at Geelong one hundred and twelve points from defensive half across the last two rounds. It's their six best two weeks stretch across the last ten years. I think a player in that part of the ground who isn't getting a lot of recognition is Laws and Humphreys. And you look at him since round six six highest rated general defender in the competition, averaging over twenty disposal twenty disposals six innerceps. He's score involvements are really high as well, and I think he's back to that foot that we saw when he first come onto the scene.

00:15:45
Speaker 3: So he's probably one that's flown under the raidar.

00:15:47
Speaker 4: He's had a really big say in Geelong and their born movement profile.

00:15:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a crucial player for the Cats. Max Times is clearly the distance maker when he plays off half back. But apart from me, you don't have a lot of excellent that makes sense. It is one Guthrie's pretty safe, but Sullivan it can be up and down to cooning is not awesome. So to have he's kicking and decision making I think is vital for them.

00:16:09
Speaker 4: And that's a part of his game that's really improved across the past month month or so.

00:16:12
Speaker 3: Also, so yeah, what.

00:16:13
Speaker 1: Are they going to do about Brady Grundy.

00:16:15
Speaker 3: The Cats, Yeah, look in really good form.

00:16:18
Speaker 4: It's a big test for you know, whether it be Young Edwards or Stanley, whatever they do, blitzers, whatever they do, the try combat combat. Grundy seventh highest rated player in the competition this year. Look, he benefited off Stein's injury last Friday night, but he had the twenty four contested possessions equal second most we've seen by Ruckman. First ever played to record thirty disposals, fifteen hitouts to advantage and twelve clearances in a game.

00:16:44
Speaker 3: Look, he's in really good form.

00:16:45
Speaker 4: That Sydney profile is in significantly good form as well.

00:16:48
Speaker 1: Pretty good day out and pretty good day out for my super coach team. He really carried us this week. Anything else from that game which should be watching.

00:16:54
Speaker 4: For, I just think that the how it's obvious how red hot the Swans are going number one point from turnover differential, number one points from clearance differential. They're the seventh side on record to rank number one in each measure after round ten. Four of the six, not including themselves obviously have gone on to make a Grand Final. I think if we're projecting ahead, it's probably not a chat for today, and it's one that we can reassess in weeks to come.

00:17:18
Speaker 3: Is what is their.

00:17:19
Speaker 4: Plan B is if their handball game and their corridor game gets taken off them again, park that conversation. They're in really good form. Multimodal. They get you from turnover, they get you from clearance, they get you from back half, they get you from forward half. So a lot of headaches, but yeah, really looking forward to that game on Saturday.

00:17:36
Speaker 1: I'll hold you to that chat in a couple weeks time if they keep winning. That's enough from you, Corey. I appreciate that. Now you have to vacate. Ed's coming back and he's knocking on the door, So thanks for coming in again, Thanks for having me. Now through the magic of editing, Ed's gonna run back into the screen now and not bumping his microphone. Welcome back, Ed. Corey is gone. We've gone, so the bets and fairs. Now let's look towards the trade period and the free agency index. There's still a bit of an update of some of the names still on the board, still looking for potentially a new home or whether they should stay, and we will decide where they should go. Perhaps we should start with the key forwards. It's going to be a bit of a carousel again this year, particularly if we think Ben King is going to stay, everyone is going to turn their attention to the next in line, which I think of Mitchell Lewis and Jola Marty. What do you think about those two?

00:18:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're down to the tier two key forwards now, aren't we? If Ben King is off the board, So all of a sudden, there's probably demand above what Mitch Lewis and Jola Marty would be receiving internally at Hawthorne. And see this is where you cash in it is there are going to be significant gaps I think between what clubs are offering those two and what they would be getting to stay stay put. So Mitch Lewis at Hawthorne, would the Hawks be willing to pay up to a million dollars a season to keep him? I don't know. Like structurally at the moment he seems quite important. He plays high up the ground in terms of score impact. He's starting to hit the scoreboard more and feel a bit more confidence. But they've been using Jack Gunston as that anchor forward when he's been fit, So the Hawthorne really feel the need to pay a million dollars a season for like a link up sort of high c and a half forward type player.

00:19:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, when Marbi or Chol is fit, he's the third best tool forward in the team. So it's a really tricky situation for them, and they have guys who are back up who haven't really come on potentially. I mean, Kelsha Dear has a lot of talent, but he has sort of struggled this year, has taken a long time to break in the team and hasn't really done a lot once he got in. So Mitchell Lewis was their best key forward on the weekend, but that was because Gunston and Troll weren't there. But then how long is Gunsten going to play on? Do you need Lewis as backup to keep him there or are you willing to let him go and believe that Deer and Ramsden and Deer is also out of contract and that Deren Ramsen can come in and fill the gaps while Gunston's gone. So it's a really tricky situation. If I was them, I would be I would be cautious about matching a million dollars over what you assume is going to be a long term contract. He's had injury issues. Mitch Lewis, this is his big payday here. He's probably going to be asking for a six year deal potentially to try and shure up his future. Collingwood, I think is the team that is going to be most knocking on that door for him. They're desperate for a key target like Mitch Lewis. I think once you get towards nine hundred million, you almost have to let him go of your Hawthorne, But then you're putting yourself in trouble. And that's a similar situation for sitting there paying a lot of money for Charlie Kerno right now and Amarti's outperforming him. Carlton is interested. I'm sure Colinwood will be too. What do you do with your Sydney and do you just let him walk as well and hope that Hayden MacLean can sort of fill that gap. Yeah.

00:20:35
Speaker 2: I think they're making a call between Amarti and MacLean. So that's similar to Hawthorne with Lewis and cal Shadeer. If they've got to pay massive overs for a Marty, they might think, well, Hayden MacLean might give us just as much field for sixty percent money half the price potentially, and I think i'd argue that Hayden MacLean is a better ruck than Amarti. When he goes into support, Brady Grundy can probably do a bit more. I've actually been a bit surprised at how much Clean has been out of the team so far this season. But I know Logan McDonald's really lockdown that second spot, but there could be pressure on a Marty for his spot in the second half of the season.

00:21:10
Speaker 1: So where do Lewis and a Marty play next year?

00:21:12
Speaker 2: I guess I think one of them players at Collingwood. I think Collingwood have to spend on a key forward. Surely who the other key forward clubs that we should be looking at, who's in the market right now creating that demand. I've been thinking maybe Carlton, Maybe Sint Kilda, who are worried about Max King's longevity.

00:21:28
Speaker 1: Yep, they definitely need a back up there. I think Port Adelaide should be looking. They've always got Whitlock young, but George Ardi's is always a flight so I'd be looking if I was them. Adelaide will be losing Taylor Walker, so I'd be considering option there. West Coast has some youngsters, so I think they're more in the Georgia Ardi's market than some of the other the clubs, and I think essen N will also be searching around. I mean, Peter Wright's got a serious long term injury now that Caddy needs help, he needs a big body next to him to help him. I think so they should be looking. But I'm not sure many players are looking to go to Estenence, so I think that's probably the market now. I think Geelong also always keen. They always plan for someone to replace Jeremy Cameron, etc. I think they would be interested, and they need sort of a second rock option with Blixav's coming towards the end of his day.

00:22:09
Speaker 2: So they're great on the phone too long you can. You can link them to just about everything.

00:22:13
Speaker 1: They linked to every single every single player all the time. But I think Lewis, I would guess, would bet Collingwod and I would guess in Marty's stays at Sydney. But I guess we'll see their two Melbourne names, Tom sparro Ka Chandler, both in probably career best form. They're flying at the moment, good timing in a contract year. What are your thoughts there.

00:22:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been spending a lot of time on Sunday afternoon games this season, which has been fantastic for work life balance. Also been fantastic forgetting to know that the Melbourne Football Club and watch them during party time at the MCG. So I've spoken to Tom Sparrow earlier in the season. He wanted to sort of park a decision until later in the season. He's a South Australian, but there isn't necessarily a go home pool there for him. He's really enjoyed his time living in Melbourne, it's been here for about eight years now. Really enjoys playing at the Demons under Stephen King. But there is strong interest around for him, particularly since he's come into this center bounce role and started performing. So he had a pretty cold start to the season. I think it was nineteen touches across his first two games and then has really turned into probably over the last seven weeks, he's been in the top flight of midfielders in the competition. There's interest from Port Adelaide that's fairly strong. The Crows are monitoring him as well. Being a South Australian and they also had a nip it him previously at the end of twenty twenty three. It's part of that Shane McCadam trade. But there's also interest in Victoria for Tom Sparrow, so Collingwood is among the interested clubs. I believe there's three Victorian clubs that are having a bit of a look at him, and other could be Geelong, who might not have quite got what they wanted with James Warple when they brought him over from Hawthorne. Whether they'd have enough room to bring in another midfielder like that though, and they seem pretty happy with Ocean maulin the way.

00:23:47
Speaker 1: It depends what happens with Butters, I suppose as their midfield stocks.

00:23:50
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, so Port Adelaide would have a fair bit of money be thrown him as well if Butters goes, and that might be part of the reason that you want to park your talks until later in the season, just see what happens with but I think at this stage Melbourne would like to keep him and there's a lot of good will there from Sparrow's camp as well. So he's managed by Michael Dowdy who also manages Cad Chandler Chandler's and talks now with the D's on a contract extension. So that's looking pretty good for Melbourne. Really clever connecting forward. He's from rural South Australia. There isn't much of a go home, but he's from Charini, the great Australian bite, so you're not really getting much out of being at the Crows or Power like. He's almost as far away still as he would be.

00:24:28
Speaker 1: I stole your thunder on Saturday and went to the Melbourne game and spoke to Kate Chanley in the room. So he was very cautious about making a headline and he said some of the things you hear about contracts are true and some of them are not. And he wouldn't confirm whether in talks or not, that he certainly is and he wants to stay and I think he will stay. Most importantly for him and Melbourne, his son Alby has been to five games and they've won all five, so I think that is the most decisive factor for Cad and keeping him there. So I think Albie Chandler's doing as good a work as anyone. And you can't speak yet so he's a recruiting megastar in the making, So I think he will stay. Do you think, sparist or do you think he's really looking at it for Outh Australia.

00:25:03
Speaker 2: I think, Sparas says, I think Melbourne will be able to find the cash to keep him. Can they keep all three of him? Cade Chandler and Bailey Fritch is also in talks on I.

00:25:11
Speaker 1: Would think so. I think their cap room should be wide open. Really, they're paying obviously half for Clayton Nolan to come to play for GWS, but the trackers off the books now Steven May will be officially off the books next year, so I think they should have a lot of room and they should be a buyer Melbourne as well. So I think they can keep all three for sure. I don't think that'll be too much of an issue for them. Rucks is an interesting one this year. Jared Witz and Karen Briggs are both out of contract and both not having their best seasons as guys that can't really jump. Is this a real warning sign for them? And will they even be on a list next year?

00:25:44
Speaker 2: Which is still getting his hands on the ball. I'd be amazed if he wasn't on a list next year. I think Gold Coast would also like to keep their former captain. But does he potentially get a bold two or three year offer from a club that's looking for a maybe like a bridging number one ruck as a as a young one comes along. So we think about Richmond where Toby nan Curvis has struggle with injuries this season and they've got no ruck depth. Could they look at Jared Witz. Kieran Briggs is the younger option, but he's really struggling with the rule changes that Did you catch the game against West Coast on Sunday?

00:26:16
Speaker 3: It was pretty diving.

00:26:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, Bailey Williams had the best game of his life jumping all over Kieran Briggs.

00:26:21
Speaker 2: So yeah, Richmond, they'd be looking at ned Moyle as well, the contracted Gold Coast Ruck whether they can lure him over, But the easier one to extract would be Wits. But he could be pretty several with Gold Coast. He's been there more than a decade now, He's had a very long stint at the Suns and I think culturally they'd want to hang on to him.

00:26:39
Speaker 1: It would be one of the best players in club history. So I don't see them pushing him out the door, and I think he can definitely still play a role. I don't think he's completely finished Briggs. I would be a little bit concerned about it, like he's really battling when he plays. At the moment. They're doing a lot of chopping changing in the ruck there at GWS, So I think these kind of players will still remain on list, but the earning power is dropping significantly, going to be on almost minimum contracts I think going forward. So I think most likely they both stayed just because the market isn't going to be huge for them.

00:27:07
Speaker 2: If you got any tips for the ruck merry go round this year, it's almost more of an inside midfield and merry go around now because teams can only sort of fit one of the traditional inside midfielder is in. But there's still a bit bit of ruck movement. I think that will come.

00:27:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, it's like four years in a row now, But I think there is still a watch of Ned Moyle and what happens there because he still can't really crack a game, and we always hear that he is loving it there all that sort of stuff, but it's hard to imagine he loves playing twos week after week for five years. And Seawan Darcy is another name that I'm sure will come up. He regularly does come up, but it's hard to see him in their best team. I think when it's all said and done so he'll be a watch when it comes to finals. I think two other names will definitely be watching Locke, Neil and Toby Green. Longtimers at both of their clubs a little bit sort of scudder but about where their futures are. They're a main free agents. The Cat's link to Toby Green another one there, and the pis link to Lock and Neel through j Clark recently. What's your best guess on these two?

00:28:00
Speaker 2: I'm almost confused now with Locking Neil, so's his interest in potentially going to Victoria or leaving Open South Australia not necessarily moving back to WA for the family reasons that we've discussed earlier this season, so it seems to be a bit of a money thing.

00:28:16
Speaker 1: The way part of it I think was not that it is obviously better to be closer to his family, but he'd be traveling every second weekend anyway, like he'd be out of town quite a lot he's obviously played at Free Matter before, whether he wants to go back there or not, whether he wants to go to West Coast or really battling like I think more importantly to him is getting one last sort of cash in playing two more years potentially somewhere two three years for a team that might win the flag, and then he can sort of way about the family afterward. Whether that's the right thing or not, who knows, but it's hard to judge his circumstances. I think that's always been more at player than it has been being in wa when who knows how much he'll actually see his kids if he's always on the move there. I think he's probably looking for somewhere he can win more premierships and he's in outstanding for me, being in the All Australian team right now, you would imagine whether that's Colin what or not. I don't think that's a great move for the Pies to be going after him as an aging player. I think they're better looking for this Tom Sparrow types than Luckyneil, who has probably two years at best left in him.

00:29:13
Speaker 2: I think I think the Lions would love one more season from him. I think that would be perfect. It's not going to happen though, because they need to either commit to him for multiple seasons, I think, or let him go.

00:29:22
Speaker 1: I think one would be Bang would start phasing him out a.

00:29:25
Speaker 2: Little bit bit more development for Daniel Annibal Levi Ashcroft and that they can kind of come forward with their center bounce mix. But it might be years early next year. I think they'd miss him if if they didn't have him next year. He's we just mentioned before, he's probably leading their best in feris right now.

00:29:39
Speaker 1: Quickly, Toby Green is he going to be playing for the Cats? What's going on there?

00:29:42
Speaker 2: That was interesting heard Tom Green on sen on Tuesday morning. Just suggests that it would be in the in the middle of the season during the bar rounds when he considers his future. That's the most open I've heard one of his teammates be about that he's actively considering it sounds genuinely undecided. Beyond this season. He'd be a huge de for a team that was contending. Struggled a bit at the start of this season trying to play as a center bouts midfield er. I think now they're going to try and move him back to the small forward role. But maybe he hasn't got the supply of the last few weeks, so maybe there's an element of onfield frustration. At the moment, he probably thought that they'd still be contending this season. Like on the evidence we've seen so far this season, it looks like they're not going to contend.

00:30:20
Speaker 1: That's not going to happen. He'd be a great get for almost every single club. Everyone wants a midfold who can kick goals and win your final. So if he does actually enter the market, I would imagine a lot of teams would be keen on him out there. He has deep connections to John Jeremycommins, his best mate. He's in the Connors stable of management, so they obviously have Dangerfield there. Once Dangerfield gets his hooks in a cell, he gets a lot of them. Jack Bow's, Bailey Smith, others that have come through that sort of pipeline. There are a lot of connections there. I'd fear for GWS if they lose Toby Green CEO walking out the door as well. This year they've got a newish president. The attendances at games horrible really, so the club is in a real issue. I think if Toby leaves. I think they need to almost do anything to keep him. But then you're paying potentially too much when you have to pay others, So they're a bit of a bind there. We You and me haven't talked talked about Scott Penderby yet. That's because you really wanted to talk about a poem on air, is that right?

00:31:16
Speaker 2: So yeah, we made There was a poem I'm going to say generated by the AFL. I think it was written. I don't want to be defamatory to whoever produced it, but a poem appeared on the inside page of our sports section in the paper, paid for it by the AFL. It's an interesting one. We've made the conscious decision not to do a live read of the poem because it was we found it a little awkward. We do want to celebrate Scott Pendell breed and it's an AFL record that could hold forever that he's breaking this week. It's quite a remarkable achievement. But we won't really touch on the poem I think too much.

00:31:49
Speaker 1: I kind of hope it at last forever, so we don't get any more poems. But that's enough for today. On the Code AFL Show, make sure you subscribe wherever you listen watch us on the website. Make sure you check out the Integrity Unit and You podcast we've launched this week, and all the other AFL stuff going on at codesports dot com dot are You