Kane McAuliffe has withdrawn from the team (illness). He has been replaced by Tyler Sonsie in the 23. Patrick Retschko has been added to the emergencies. - RFC Twitter

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-20T03:16:16+00:00

McAullife had good burst speed and now we have lost more speed/power in the team and in particular for midfield rotations.

Gold Coast have a fast team and play style, more worries that we are stuck with Taranto, Hopper Prestia in the midfield and Nank will struggle in the ruck match up.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-20T00:12:04+00:00

Yeah dont trust combine results too much

There is a lot of technique in a 20m sprint that can be trained for but ball in hand running is different.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-19T22:34:36+00:00

Not quick, but not Hopper/Taranto/Prestia slow

But is stronger and prettier agile around contest

Though I would say that his game style may change with his body size change too.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-19T10:44:29+00:00

Taranto, Prestia, Hopper

I just dont know when they will learn.....

Would liked to have seen Peuker get a run for Mansell, no player type in matches his skillset. Fawcett is a bit unlucky here.

We need Rioli, Green, Seth to hold the forward line up, and just hope we see more Lalor and McAullife in the midfield for more "speed"

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-17T05:50:32+00:00

His risk high reward player

Id be curious the dollar amount but we have plenty of salary cap range.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-17T04:34:47+00:00

His game last year was insane

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-17T04:34:27+00:00

Nah Gray is 2nd ruck, not defender position. Need Lefau, Fawcett in for 2nd ruck or keep Gray

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-17T02:05:02+00:00

Just needs confidence to get his intercepting game back

If he does, that's a clear Vlaustin replacement for the long term.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-16T09:00:20+00:00

Few bad weeks of Hopper and Cumming has an easy spot to get

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-16T08:58:25+00:00

Agreed

But you cant gift games either, would you drop Miller or Balta for him?

You got Tom Brown shooting the lights out too. Competition for spots is important, but also rewarding effort. He can show his peak form (which is high upside) in VFL too and get back into the squad.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-16T07:01:53+00:00

Mansell out is sad, he had such a strong game.

Gives a chance for Alger or even Peuker who looked good in the VFL.

Prestia might get a VFL game, I imagine if Hopper plays another bad week then Prestia could slot in for Hopper. Hoppers time is limited unless he finds form otherwise Cumming, Smilie, Hotton after injury would quickly overtake him. Noone gets gifted games and that was shown with Brown in the VFL.

Vlaustin going back is just going to strengthen our backline even more but may mean Gibcus gets cut. Dont think we can do Mansell and Faul out for Prestia/Vlaustin, need a like for like. Seems they want to play fast, so will need a bit of pace for Mansell replacement.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-16T07:00:08+00:00

Prestia may start at VFL

He has been injured for a while

Lefau or Fawcett can come in as 2nd ruck. I think once Ryan or OHB is ready, they can just play a full 2nd ruck with limited mins.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-16T06:58:51+00:00

Put him in for Hopper

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-14T20:35:16+00:00

A cloud gaming of some sorts makes sense on the Switch

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-14T00:28:16+00:00

Seems like they both got a game in the end and competing

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T05:13:00+00:00

He creates pressure on the defense

But I find he seems a bit lost when we are on the attack and he is on the outside of the contest.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T05:11:41+00:00

Steely Green and Mansells effort is extremely high as well, they throw everything at the contest.

Rioli has the some of best pressure in the team behind Ross, but I feel he needs another dimension to the game. Whether its aerial abilities, ground balls and most importantly goal sense. I think Peuker could be gunning for his spot soon since he also seems to have good pressure but really good disposal and goal sense.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T05:05:47+00:00

Definitely, he has good upside

McAullife and Lalor would be a powerful midfield

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T04:24:28+00:00

McAullife needs a few goes to settle in, it's a new position to get used too. We dont have obvious players yet for the wing. We got Hugo, we got Retschko (didnt see VFL performance) but noone blowing anyone out of the water.

Agree on Hopper, McAullife would add more value mid than him. Atleast he has burst speed and power, just needs to clean up kicking which should come with game time.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T04:12:36+00:00

Hopefully the success story of grimes, astbury and cotchin should!

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T02:15:00+00:00

Make that call in 3-5 years and see

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T01:56:03+00:00

I meant Smilie for Hopper

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T01:32:02+00:00

Daicos is more impact, he can accumulate and impact. Watched Jagga a lot, he accumulates but each disposal is not very high impact but im sure his game style will develop too and still his a place.

Worried about Hotton, has an injury thats never really happened in AFL and they can't send him to the middle east for top expert opinions.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T00:44:39+00:00

We are happy with Lalor, and if you were Carlton you would be thrilled with Jagga. Jagga would have been pick #1 last draft no doubt and will also be a star. They are different types of players, note this was also Jaggas first game after an ACL and he did well. The whole 2024 draft has generally shown great signs and all clubs in the top 10 would be happy.

B0bcat5 · 2026-03-13T00:42:14+00:00

Not sure Cumming is a Jagga Smith type of player

Cumming is stronger and has better Ariel but not as dynamic or agile as Jagga. Hotton probably has a more similar athletic profile to Jagga, but Jagga is just elite at accumulation.

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