Very relieved at the news. While he is our best and most important player, he is also the player I’d expect to be most merticulius in his recovery. Would be surprised if he isn’t playing round 1.
Strictly talent, then it’s Daniher.
Most important…it’s Merrett without any shadow of a doubt.
Daniher can be covered most weeks.
After all, we won 10 of our last 14 games without him, and 2 of those losses could easily have been wins also.
Merrett’s vision, ball getting and ball use, and ability to make the right decisions make him elite.
If Merrett went down I thing we now have the depth to cover him but Joe going down is a big loss.
I think people are getting a little carried away with what Smack and Brown did last year.
They are role players and mature players but are hardly good enough to be relied upon if the team needs lifting.
I would have Baguley just as important to how we performed last year but he’s rarely mentioned unless it’s to suggest he should play out his final year in the VFL.