Forum topic

Very interested to see your assessment of the whole list, NorthPort. I'm not going to try to give my thoughts on the entire list - I've left out a number of players who only played a few games or didn't play - and this is based on what I remember of the games with some checking of stats but not re-watching. But here are thoughts on some of them.

1. Charlie Lazzaro. Very good season. A bit of a drop-off in impact midseason but picked up again in the last weeks. Exactly what the midfield needed. Great acceleration from the contest. So fast that when he does get caught holding the ball I'm usually inclined to blame his teammates for not giving him an option quickly enough! As you say, great run and carry. Has the second most tackles of any Port Melbourne player for the season, though his tackling dropped off in the second half of the season. I'm tipping him to finish second in the best and fairest.

2. Tex Wanganeen. Showed a bit, though likely behind others for the half back flank or back pocket positions. Apparently off to St Kilda in any case.

3. Fraser Rosman. I thought he wasn't quite as good this season as last season, but still generally reliable. When he was initially moved to the midfield/wing, I thought that left the backline too short. After Johnston came back from injury that was less of a concern. Still more impactful at halfback but was starting to have more impact in his new position when he was injured. Does anyone know how bad the knee injury is? It would be a real shame to not have him for the beginning of the next season.

4. Tom Hird. Has improved to the point that it makes sense now to pick him as one of the first-choice midfielders (as opposed to 2024 when he played midfield because there were so many injuries). Was having a very good season at halfback and continued to be very good once moved to the midfield in round 12. Could stand to clean up his kicking - I think his field kicking was at its most precise in his first year at the club - and not a big clearance player, but the low clearance numbers are in part because he's often positioned defensively at stoppages. Still gets a lot of the ball and has the third most total tackles of any Port Melbourne player for the season. A bit of a side note, but he's good enough at kicking the ball directly off the ground and still getting it to go where he wants it to that I almost find myself thinking that soccer might have some use exclusively as cross-training for adolescent footy players. One of our most consistent players. I'm tipping him to finish fourth in the best and fairest.

5. Owen Mulady. Will probably be competing for a spot with Stubbings, Sparkman, and possibly Cahill. Worth keeping.

6. James Van Es. I was not impressed with him early, but he had some strong performances in defence the second half of the season. The game against Collingwood was one of his best. Has shown some ability to go up forward as well, which is useful.

9. Sam Philp. Had a few good games. Would like to see him get a clean run at it, but very injury-prone, and perhaps doesn't fit in the side if the others in the mid/wing rotation are all fit.

10. Tom Hofert. Whether we re-sign him may depend on whether we can recruit another backup ruck option. Early on I would have rated him over Sam Grant, but I'm inclined to flip that assessment now.

11. Tobe Watson. Judging by the number of games he's played this season, the coaches see something in him that I don't, or else it's a question of who's available. Still not entirely sold on him as a player and would like to see him react and make decisions more quickly. That said, he has had more good moments in recent weeks, and I think he's at least mostly stopped just poking at the ball (and thereby causing it to fall short) when he kicks.

12. Dom Bedendo. Great pickup. Has had some brilliant games up forward and can also play at halfback if needed. Can also take a great specky, as we've seen multiple times this season. Finished off the season with his best performance yet. Still, the fact that his 23 goals made him our leading goalkicker shows the weaknesses elsewhere in our forward lines. Kicked 23.8 for the season, so he's pretty accurate.

14. Josh Green. Good season. A few quieter games but some big performances as well. Good to see him play a full season after he dealt with the shoulder injury last year.

15. Lachie Rankin. Agree with your assessment. It was great to see him come back from the shoulder injury in such good form. Good at halfback, on the wing, and as an inside mid. Would surely have finished high in the best and fairest count if he'd been able to play the whole season.

16. Archi Manton. Had some impressive performances but also some quiet ones. Worth keeping, but needs to become more consistent. Finished second in the goalkicking with 22 goals over 11 games. Kicked 22.20, so needs to improve accuracy. His attack on the ball did improve when he returned to the side after being dropped.

17. Matt Signorello. Would be surprised if he's still on the list next season. I actually thought he'd just played a pretty good game when he was dropped for the second time, but it wasn't exactly a good season.

19. Anthony Anastasio. Agree with your assessment there as well. Had some down games after returning from the ACL, but that's only to be expected considering the severity of the injury. Great to see him finish the season with such a good performance. In general, very clean with the footy. Probably the most skilled player on our list except possibly Heppell.

20. Jack Johnston. I find myself not remembering a lot of specifics, but I think he's been fairly solid. If Highmore re-signs it's probably him who comes out, though (am basing this guess on Grant's ability to be a backup ruck and the possibility of Van Es rotating forward).

22. Paddy Farrant. As with our forwards in general, needs to be more consistent, but definitely worth keeping. Playing him on the wing in the final game brought mixed results, but he did show a bit there as well. Kicked 16.11 in 11 games. I think his attack on the ball also improved when he was brought back into the side after being dropped.

23. Jimmy Miller. I thought he wasn't as consistent as last year, but he did have some big games and is always hard at it. Kicked 19.18, so it would be great to see him improve his accuracy next season.

24. Riley Polkinghorne. Showed some good signs. May not have had the fitness for an entire season at VFL level, but that's something he should be able to improve. Early on he was a solid if not spectacular contributor as an inside mid. Showed promise late in the half-forward role. As you noted at one point, he has had some good kicks to leading forwards inside 50 in recent weeks. Looking forward to seeing his further development as a player.

27. AJ Kuol Mun. Very good tap ruckman. Was taking it right up to Brayden Crossley in the game against Southport, and if he hadn't gone off injured in the third we might have won that one. Very consistent with his ruck performances. Does need to give away fewer free kicks and also to improve his marking around the ground - some weeks he hangs onto marks well, but other weeks he's dropped too many of them. Still, an excellent pickup, and one whom I expect to see on an AFL list at some point in the future. We absolutely must re-sign him for next season.

28. Tom Graham. Good season. Has had some quiet games, but I've been impressed with how well the defence as a whole, and Graham in particular, has stood up with Highmore out injured. Looking forward to seeing him playing alongside Highmore (hopefully) next season.

29. Archie Lazzaro. Just mentioning him to ask if you or anyone else has an idea of whether he's worth keeping. I assume he's Charlie's brother, which of course doesn't mean he'd have the same kind of talent, but he hasn't played at all this season, and I've been curious as to whether he's any good. 

31. Harry Stubbings. Probably competing for a spot next season with Mulady, Sparkman, and possibly Cahill - not sure if all four fit into the same side. Now that I think about it, if we could sign a Rankin clone (or two), all four of those players might have difficulty nailing down a spot. Decent season, though; like Mulady, worth keeping, particularly if we don't sign a Rankin clone.

32. Matt Gahan. Season interrupted by injury. Would like to see how he does with a clean run at it.

34. Roy George. Hope he re-signs. Has shown some very good signs indeed. Has had some good impact up the ground as well as closer to goal. In general plays farther from the goals than Clarke.

35. Tom Highmore. Hope he re-signs, avoids injury, and is played in the backline, not the midfield. Some of the positional moves have worked, but trying our best key defender in the midfield still strikes me as a puzzling decision.

37. Harvey Hooper. Very good season. Disposal efficiency could be improved at times, but always competes hard and puts his head over the ball. Had the most tackles this season of any Port Melbourne player. One of our most consistent players. Tipping him to finish third in the best and fairest although a second-place finish would not surprise me (I have the top four as Heppell, Lazzaro, Hooper, Hird but am very pleased with all their seasons and honestly wouldn't be surprised with almost any order). Hope he keeps the captaincy next season (I don't see any reason why he wouldn't).

38. Sam Grant. Was decidedly unimpressed with him in round 4, but he improved and was worthy of his spot once he was selected again.

41. Lachie Bond. Was impressed with him in a couple of the preseason games, to the point that I remember him well enough that he's getting an entry here despite how few games he played, but he was unable to replicate that form during the home and away season. Not sure what went wrong. Perhaps didn't attack the ball as hard in the few home and away games that he played as he did in the preseason - for one reason or another he seemed to struggle to get involved. Would be surprised if he's on the list next season.

43. Josh Sparkman. Was showing some promising signs when he was injured. Showed enough that I'd say he's worth keeping. Played mostly halfback but had enough of a run as part of the midfield rotation that I've listed him as likely competing with Mulady, Stubbings, and possibly Cahill for a spot.

44. Drew Lloyd. Fitness is the obvious knock on his game, but I really hope that he can improve his fitness and nail down a spot in the side. Competition for a small forward spot could be tight if Clarke and George both re-sign, as I hope they do, so admittedly I'm not entirely sure how everyone I'd like to see up forward fits into the side together. But Lloyd has some real intensity about his game and tackles like he wants it to hurt. He's also shown some ability to get out on a lead. His tackling did drop off (0 in the last game, but some good pressure acts, including one that led to Manton's smother), but that seems to be because of the limitations on his fitness - as his fitness dropped off he wasn't able to make it to as many contests. But when he does get to contests he throws himself in with no sense of self-preservation. I'd love to see him make it.

45. Ned Cahill. When he joined the midfield rotation, I was initially unimpressed, but he's improved and has been a decent contributor. Has been more of an inside mid than Mulady and Stubbings and hasn't played halfback like Sparkman, but I'm still not sure all four fit into the side if they're all fit. As a forward, competing with Clarke, George, and Lloyd.

46. Kaine Baldwin. Missed the entire home and away season with injury. In the preseason games, showed some good signs with his attack on the ball but also had a concerning tendency to kick straight to the opposition when exiting defensive 50. I'd wondered if it was worth swinging him forward (he did start as a forward at Essendon) to see if he could find the goals more easily than he did teammates. Where it makes sense to play him next season, supposing he re-signs and avoids injury - unfortunately he's been injury-prone for his whole career - will depend on recruiting. Hope he can fix the turnover problem, as his attack on the ball looked great in preseason.

48. Luca Alessio. Didn't get much of the ball. Good for about a goal a game when played forward (he was in defence in the one game in which he didn't hit the scoreboard at all). Probably needs to put on more size. Currently behind Manton, Farrant, and Miller but is only 19; could potentially develop into a stronger contributor. How much sense it makes to keep him depends on recruiting and what spots we have open. I could see the decision going either way.

50. Jack Boyd. Surprised he got two games. Would be even more surprised if he's still on the list next season.

52. Charlie Clarke. Looks very exciting as a small forward. Has a knack for getting to the right spots and marking the ball. Kicked 12.20 in 10 games, so it goes without saying that he needs to improve his accuracy. But if he can do that, he'll be a great contributor to the side. Must re-sign him.

58. Jayden Davey. Didn't show as much as I'd hoped, though he was injured for a number of weeks. I've read that he and Tex Wanganeen are friends, so it wouldn't surprise me if he goes to St Kilda's VFL side. In addition to Clarke and George, I'd have Lloyd and Cahill ahead of him as small forwards anyway.

59. Heppell. Started watching recently enough that I didn't see John Baird, but I agree with your assessment of Heppell. Very good season. A bit of a slow start, but has played very well in the midfield and at halfback. Very composed with the footy. I'm tipping him to win the best and fairest.

Looking at overall league stats suggests that we're doing well for possessions, tackling, and hitouts but not as well at marking. I can't get the VFL app to sort by averages, though it would be useful to see where our players rank by averages in addition to by the raw totals, but we have four players in the league's top 20 for overall disposal numbers - Lazzaro (8th), Heppell (11th), Hird (13th), and Hooper (15th). For overall tackling numbers, Hooper is 6th, Lazzaro is 12th, and Hird is equal 23rd. Kuol Mun is 6th overall for total hitouts, though his average of 27.0 is lower than the averages of the other rucks in the top 10.

But we don't actually have anyone in the top 40 for total marks. I praised the defence above, but looking at their average marks per game suggests that our key defenders could stand to improve their intercept marking. Among players who have played more than 1 game (technically Felix Dreher has an average of 7 marks a game, but that's from playing exactly 1 game), it's actually Rosman and Heppell who have the most marks per game of any Port Melbourne player, with each of them averaging 4.8 marks a game, followed by Hird with an average of 4.4, Stubbings with an average of 4.2, and Watson with an average of 4.1. Manton and Graham average 3.9 each.

What a great write up, must have taken a while to do. I never thought of Heppell being like Baird but now that it’s mentioned it seems so obvious- very similar to one another. 
I think with number 50 at that point in the season Port was looking to try solve their goal kicking problems and were rolling the dice hence the late over hyped (from some supporters) signing.

Since you wrote your post Baldwin has confirmed as a resign, hopefully played up front and hopefully can find consistency as we have some ok forwards which as you said lack consistency. 
 

Their will definitely be departures, their nearly always is, I feel after the season we had it might be tough trying to convince quality to come over. Good money may be the only solution but who knows if it’s there when we’ve spent a heap this season in and off field. 
 

I’ve enjoyed reading your posts this season Spiny and I hope you continue to show the love and passion you have for the club when you are overseas and continue to contribute to the forum.

Thanks, Mega. I am definitely committed to Port Melbourne for life and will continue following the club from abroad and posting on the forum - although my posts will be appearing at odd times due to the time difference! I will miss attending games in person, but at least the livestream and replays will make it possible to keep watching. I was reading the forum for a couple years before I started posting and have enjoyed discussing the games this season with the other supporters here.

Great to see the news of Baldwin re-signing. If he weren't so injury-prone he might still be on Essendon's list, but hopefully he'll finally get a clean run at it. He's had two ACLs (both prior to being signed by Essendon), a navicular stress fracture in 2024, and whatever foot injury took him out this season, but if he has better luck with injury he looks to have lot of potential.

Should have mentioned Felix Dreher (26) in my previous post - if Highmore returns, and especially if the coaches do play Baldwin in the backline rather than as a forward, there may not be a spot for him when everyone else is fit, but he did put in a solid performance against Preston, and it's too bad he was injured right afterward so he didn't get a chance to show what he could do against stronger sides. He seems worth keeping as well to see how he develops.

That does make sense about the reasons behind the number 50 signing. Are players signed midseason all replacements for players who are on the long-term injury list or who've left midseason? I haven't managed to find the rules for midseason VFL signings and was surprised we were able to have so many.

Im uncertain but I’ll say they must be replacements to injured players as we seemed to sign several when the list appeared to be full. 

Thanks for answering, Mega. New signings being injury replacements makes sense as I'd also thought the list was full. The club website currently lists 49 players and hasn't updated to include Boyd or Roy George.The reports on Wanganeen being set to move to St Kilda seemed to me to be implying that he'd left Port Melbourne midseason, which if true would have opened another spot, but it was a case of implying without actually saying (the specific statement was that he'd be playing the rest of the season for Old Xavierians), so I don't know if it's true or not.

Thanks, NorthPort. Evaluating most of the list was an interesting exercise and I'll be interested to see your additional takes on the list as well when you have the time.
The midseason draft was on May 28 this year, so a June cutoff for new signings would cover midseason draft departures as well.

Well, with Harvey Hooper's retirement, we have the first known list change for the 2026 season. His retirement is certainly well earned after what a great player he's been for us, but it does leave a hole in the midfield, which as good as he was is unlikely to be filled quickly, but hopefully we can develop players to cover that gap.

Tom Hird has developed remarkably and been rewarded with a well-deserved best and fairest (he and Hooper were probably our two most consistent players over the full season - I clearly should have rated consistency higher in my best and fairest top 4 predictions!), but he was often playing a different role in the midfield than Hooper, and acceleration from the contest is still his weak point, so although he's become a good midfielder he won't be filling that same role. Lazzaro obviously has that acceleration from the contest, but the question is who will complement him as another major clearance player. Lachie Rankin could probably do it but is probably also our best wingman. Of the current midfield group, Green is perhaps most similar to Hooper in style of play but not (yet? - he is only 23) at his level. Heppell will likely spend a fair bit of time at halfback again. Hopefully all of Hird, Green, Rankin, and Lazzaro re-sign, but it sure wouldn't hurt if we could find another good midfielder to recruit. But perhaps this opens a midfield spot for Polkinghorne again - it goes without saying that he's not an immediate replacement, since right now the next step for him is to be able to play a full season, but he looks like he could develop well. 

If our aim is to develop from within rather than recruiting to fill the gap opened by Hooper's retirement, which is perhaps the best way to go (not that I would say no to a great midfield signing, but we do need to be able to develop players consistently), I'll revise my earlier comments about Stubbings, Sparkman, Cahill, and Mulady to say more of them will be in the side at the same time than I'd initially thought.

My previous assessment was perhaps overly hard on Stubbings who I might have tipped for most improved this season, although judging by the club's Facebook posts, that seems to no longer be an award.

By the way, is anyone able/willing to post the top 10 from the best and fairest? I suppose that would go in a new thread, but it seems a bit odd to create a new thread just to ask that, so I'll stick the question here.

Is the captaincy determined by the coaching group or by a player vote? It seemed good for the captain to be someone with premiership experience, but my guess would be that Anastasio doesn't want it since his retirement is likely close as well even if he does play on.

Thanks, NorthPort. The club did post a couple of those awards on social media, so I'll create a new thread and post the information we have been given.