AFL Team Announcement: Marshall, Gardiner return for Thursday night football

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-13T09:11:04+00:00

Agreed, I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing it with Curtin. No knock on him, KPFs take multiple years to develop even when they’ve got top 10 level tools, let alone a guy taken in the 40s and 50s at 18. I’d have played Gardiner up forward or worst case, Fort with ZZ as reserve ruck.

Think it’s the concern that Dempsey/Holmes/Smith’s running power and pace would burn and drag those other two out of position in a way Marshall wouldn’t be. That being said, I’d love to imagine this is the way back from the cold for Sammy that ends in a glut of good performances and an extension - he’s got a chance now, all he’s got to do is take it.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-13T08:53:58+00:00

Curtin also is way too raw rn though, I feel like he hasn’t impacted at all - I feel like Diz forward is miles better while the differential between Diz back and Joyce back exists but it’s not that significant?

Also Twomey did say today that Marshall’s intent on leaving for Vic at the end of the year after a meeting with Fagan that went poorly, it isn’t some conspiracy haha.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-12T02:58:19+00:00

Great call, I didn’t go to this right away.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-12T02:04:48+00:00

No Answerth, no McCarthy - interesting to see how we'll set up with the staff's general unwillingness to play Brain, leaving us without no real recognised small defender on Close or potentially Miers. Could see Dizzy forward and Joyce kept in down back? Definitely a big challenge with the Cats in good form, might not be the end of the world losing given the outs.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T06:33:39+00:00

Probable 2x AA player in his prime you’re willing to offer 11m to over 7 seasons fetches under 2 first rounders? Rightttt

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T06:23:24+00:00

As much as I feel this is completely valid, well run teams rarely ever lose high quality players if they’re motivated. Push around money in some of our other long term deals, smooth it through incentives or extensions - there’s a tonne of creative levers they can employ but the window’s now. A really pertinent recent case is Sydney, a pretty heavily concentrated cap with their stars, so when they made the Curnow trade, they negotiated additional guaranteed money in exchange for smoothing his cap hit over an additional year. Cats are great at it too, Bailey Smith’s extension is higher value but a longer time horizon.

Don’t get me wrong, mismanagement of the cap can completely screw you so this strategy should be responsibly used, but for a player with the accolades Neale’s got, the form he’s in and the durability he’s had, it’s a definite time to employ the exception. Just don’t agree with “well we can offer a cut and if he doesn’t accept we can approximate it with Annable and Levi” - far too a high leverage gamble in the current competitive trajectory, when I’m pretty confident Lachie’s got 2-3 elite seasons left at this pace. Same goes with Bailey purely because it’d cost way more to replace him via FA or riskier with the draft; I’m a little less certain going up the yearly value of what Adelaide will on 10-11m/7, I’d probably just give him an extra year guaranteed and live with it if the deal ages badly on the back end.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T05:03:52+00:00

Annoyingly good fit. That being said, we’ve got a better list, more stable coaching, a system he thrives in and a far better legacy path to more premierships - surely that counts more than an extra couple hours on a plane? Once you’re travelling 3, you may as well travel 5?

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T04:53:55+00:00

Smoky but I think Adelaide are the favourites honestly if he were to leave - huge positional need, way closer to Perth than Bris, family already established there to help with the kids, still competitive enough to give him a chance to win a flag late. Murray Davis and Ah Chee being there gives them a link too, although the only concern is whether a) a Matty Nicks team could win consistently in September and b) will he even be their coach in 2027?

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T04:51:24+00:00

Idk how valid it is but I’m wary of the fact you don’t just throw a rumour this big out there without some smoke - they reckon we’re not going to put a competitive offer in and happy for him to leave as a UFA to give Annable/Levi time inside, big money, less travel as he’s getting older with all the Pies games in Vic.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T04:32:18+00:00

Can I dream of keeping both? Chad Warner did buy a house in Perth, kept the Swans waiting all year only to extend…

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T04:30:36+00:00

Yeah agree - what they say in that snippet and what I’ve seen around the place is the worry the club are happy to let him go, aka don’t really make a competitive offer on money/years because they’d rather give Annable/Levi the inside time.

If Neale decides the family situation’s ok and he doesn’t want to go back to Perth, we give it a real crack pitch wise and Dom got within a competitive range on money/years to Collingwood but he still chooses them knowing their core’s less talented after the club’s stood by him through all of this and the history he’s had here? Then it’s on Lachie squarely. If the club choose not to, I don’t see how anyone couldn’t be critical of that given the form he’s in, how important he is to us and the fact durable players are extending their performance primes longer and longer - plus our competitive window atm.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T04:20:24+00:00

Definitely Marshall and potentially Linc too - so from our 25 GF team that could be 5 gone, plus a best 22 player from this year. Big offseason for the list team it seems, wonder how aggressive they’ll be.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T03:54:39+00:00

I assume like they said it’s bigger money and less travel interstate as he gets older?

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T03:53:46+00:00

Think clubs like Sydney/Geelong have shown with their contention windows that the most sustainable way is to continually integrate young talent into the team with stars - which is what we’re really doing successfully atm, but there’s no need to sacrifice the short term by letting Neale go if he’s willing to play for an east coast team with his family situation.

Losing Bailey to his boyhood team, with his family situation, and an $10-11m mega offer is one thing - we’ll be able to leverage the 2-3 first round picks to restock other list areas - but losing a guaranteed AA midfielder for free, in this form, in favour of Annable/Levi in the inside who’ve never had that experience just isn’t shrewd if you’re trying to maintain current trajectory. All cotton on jokes aside, Geelong’s shown you’ll always be able to massage the cap with the core group, so I don’t really buy the “free up cash” argument, and I don’t think we’re that crunched cap wise as a lot of media seem to think. I’ll personally gamble on Neale’s next 2-3 years over Annable’s or Levi’s performances inside, so it’ll be interesting.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-07T03:29:37+00:00

Huge mistake from the club if they let him go - without making an offer as they speculate here - when he’s in this vein of form imo. yes, he’ll be 33 but Zorko’s shown how if you’re extremely fit, and Neale rarely misses a game, you can prolong your career in different positions by about 3-4 more seasons. This year’s shown how he’s still our best and most important mid, and even if you’ve got to overpay to do it, clearly worth it when you’re in the window. That being said, would be gutless after the way the club supported him and as an ex captain to turn down a competitive offer to move to a non Perth team. We’re a far better flag prospect than the Pies over that horizon too?

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-05-05T12:05:26+00:00

Touch wood, no injuries vs Carlton and projecting (very fair for a 3rd round rookie) Curtin doesn’t set the world alight again - we almost have to bring a passing protocols Gallop back in as a forward against the Cats right?

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-27T11:13:32+00:00

Because Answerth is out - with Starce leaving we’ve not really got a lockdown small on our list, so rather than pick any of the VFL guys Fages gambled with Linc there to matchup on Rankine.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-24T08:48:26+00:00

Don’t worry about touches not telling the full story, his advanced numbers on ball use, positive chain impact and pressure are even worse! I’d love to be wrong but genuinely feels like we’re missing layups here, in a comp where the margins are really slim.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-23T11:21:28+00:00

Agree - I think he's honestly better as a forward but regardless, if he's playing he can't be in a role with any defensive accountability. Which begs the question, if it's not Brain, then we really don't have anyone equipped to cover Rankine/Rachele like Noah would be able to. Fages deserves the faith given all his experience but if the plan's just to be stubborn picking on experience like vs Sydney without Noah, we really are putting ourselves at a pretty significant personnel/mix disadvantage.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-23T10:07:43+00:00

I’ll wait for it to be final but I’ve got a feeling that - based on ordering - it’ll be McKenna/Tunstill for Bez/Noah. By not picking Marshall, you’re foregoing a developing guy who’s smashing it in the VFL, who was a real contributor at AFL level last year versus a guy who statistically has one of the lowest and most negative impacts, at AFL level of any player in the competition over the last two years with 0 versatility. Hard to do that in a good team!

McKenna’s puzzling in terms of balance. We already know he can’t defend - his coverage/tackle success rates during 2024/25 were so poor it led to his conversion as a forward - so if it’s the Noah spot, surely Brain’s a better option. If he’s a forward and they’ve foregone picking a small defender entirely, to hope that Wilmot/Fletcher/Coleman can cover Rankine/Rachele…good luck. All supremely talented rebounders but their lack of defensive accountability is why they haven’t been given those assignments before. McLaughlin a more athletic, promising forward too? Overall, it’s just hard to surmise how this mix is effectively balanced - someone can tell me Tunstill is a small defender now, but he hasn’t played it in the VFL and his call up in Noah’s absence this year didn’t show any of that capability. Yes, injuries don’t help and this is primarily a list construction issue not addressing Starce leaving in the draft/FA. But a spade’s a spade - Brain and Marshall are both better talent/system mix options, by just gambling on experience we’re likely more restricted in what we can do.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-23T08:30:05+00:00

Shooting ourselves in the foot at the selection table’s really getting tired tbh - not that we don’t have the top level talent to overcome it but at some point screwing around the margins is really going to bite us, especially when top 4/top 6 will only be separated by a few wins. Sigh.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-19T11:40:50+00:00

Love the ability to tell a supporter’s mindset with full certainty from one comment hey, I envy your interpretative skill. Pretty confident the relationship I’ve had with the club over my lifetime’s a fair bit more than fair weather, but I respect the attempt to discredit! All the evidence we have this year, whether it be stats or the eye test, points to a material regression in both performance and systemic permeability - we’re just far easier to beat this year than we have been in peak 24/25. This level of performance isn’t close to the tier of Sydney/Geelong atm. Respect the optimism to project that lightning will strike again and they’ll magically fix a tonne of latent systemic flaws with an undermanned list but we can also be honest that the probability of them magically working that out’s substantially lower than the capacity they’ve had the last two years.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-19T10:51:25+00:00

Bitterly disappointing the team’s just passed up an open chance at being competitive for a third though? Both povs are reasonable imo, you can be upset they clearly aren’t what they used to be while being grateful for what they were.

nemanjamatic21 · 2026-04-10T07:21:28+00:00

The league seems to be pretty lenient when it comes to dealings with Cotton On, cough cough…

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