... is a term that Kevin Sheedy (love him or loathe him) gives to a player that has played 50 games or more. Essentially the first 50 games are a players apprenticeship. Some come on quicker, whilst others take the full 50. I say after 50 games a player can be judged, two names that spring to mind are Bell (60) and Sylvia (67).

Melbourne at the moment, is very much in the development phase and to me, if you have played over 50 games and are not in the best 22 including all injured players, then it's time to move on. So on that basis I'd suggest Bell, Sylvia, Carroll and the veterans may be in strife at years end.

Now, last week Melbourne played with 14 players serving their 'apprenticeship', whilst Geelong had 5 (one of them Joel Selwood).

It might be interesting to show past, present and future graduates as a means of finding when our list will/may peak.

2005

Williams (delisted that year)

Miller

2006

Moloney

Davey

2007

McLean

Sylvia

Jamar

Carroll

2008

1. Bell (round 5)

From here all probablies

2. Jones (round 22)

2009

3. Bate (Round 1)

4. Bartram (Round 6)

5. P.Johnson (Round 8)

6. Dunn (Round 9)

7. C.Johnson (Round 16)

2010 (is a bit trickier as it's too far out to make reliable estimates, but another big batch will come through here)

8. Buckley 17

9. Frawley 18

10. Morton 16

11. Warnock 18

12. Wona 16

13. Newton 14

14. Garland 17

2011

15. Petterd 10

16. Valenti 8

17. Martin 6

18. Maric 3

19. Grimes 0

+ new draftees and last years picks

10 players graduated between 2005-2008 (4 years) 1 delisted and 3 will be lucky to be with Melb next year in my opinion.

Potentially 12 graduates will come through in 2 years 2009 & 2010. This is where the improvement will come from.

Thoughts people?

I like the though behind it, while it's obviously not a hard and fast way to tell where people are at ie: Silv has been struggling to stay injury free with the OP and be fully fit and at the other end of the spectrum you have selwood it's still a reasonable way to bring things into perspective.

Impressive bit of work, and pretty much outlines the Footy Department's plan. To have, by the end of next year, a good crop of youngsters to work with - a fair slice of whom will be or have been first round draft picks.

I think it's a bit too simplistic to look at age and games played, and make an assessment of a team's future. It's more about quality of your graduates, rather than quantity.

It's players that reach the elite level that make a difference to a team's fortunes. I'm not sure if any of our dozen graduates will get to that level.

Fair enough Mo 64. But I'd say it's difficult to judge at this early stage, particularly those under 20 games. I hold very high hopes though for Colin Garland, could be a terrific player. Obviously, 2009 should give us a better picture. But at least there are players showing promise, compare that with the likes of Smith, Hunter and others who collected mothballs.

I think it's a bit too simplistic to look at age and games played, and make an assessment of a team's future. It's more about quality of your graduates, rather than quantity.

It's players that reach the elite level that make a difference to a team's fortunes. I'm not sure if any of our dozen graduates will get to that level.

Hmmm, yes it is a bit grey, wet and cold out there today.