Adam Cooney

Yeah, they do.

I mean, it certainly helps when Max Gorn is punching out, you know, double-figure clearance.

But the improvement of Sparrow again, and it's a completely different midfield in there.

So Oliver Petrarca-Viney from last year.

Yeah.

I think Steele is... I questioned the recruitment of Jack Steele at the time.

I thought, you know, he's a bit of a plotter.

Is he going to suit, you know, the new Melbourne?

But he's been a great leader in there, and he's not getting...

I mean, he gets a healthy amount of ball, but I think he's just doing enough.

And plus his leadership in the middle of the ground, I think he's been pretty valuable for the days with a new-look midfield in there with just a hard head, high standards, and he's a great leader.

So I think the pickup of Jack Steele, while I question it at the time, I think has been a real plus for them at the moment with an injury to Viney and also a completely new-looking centre-bounce squad in there.

Well, that's true.

I stole that phrase from the great man Pickers too, who I heard him use that a couple of weeks ago.

What about this young fellow who comes in, Joel Fitzgerald, yesterday has 26-5 clearances against Essendon.

I love the mid-season period.

But sometimes I feel for...

Players who have been toiling away on a list for three years and they're waiting to make their debut and a club has a few injuries and they pick up a player in the midfield draft and then one week later, they're making their senior debut and everyone's sitting around, these players are sitting around thinking, well, hang on, I've been developing here for three years.

Why don't you pick me?

And it might even be two to three years in the making as well.