The last 4 Years of picks are as follows:

2004

Type Pick Player Games Since Drafted

National 13 Matthew Bate 47

National 15 Lynden Dunn 38

National 43 Michael Newton 15

Rookie 10 Brendan Van Schaik 0

Rookie 26 Matthew Warnock 19

2005

Type Pick Player Games Since Drafted

National 12 Nathan Jones 48

National 53 Simon Buckley 18

National 60 Clint Bartram 42

National 68 Heath Neville 0

Rookie 9 Jace Bode 9

2006

Type Pick Player Games Since Drafted

National 12 James Frawley 19

National 30 Ricky Petterd 10

National 46 Colin Garland 17

National 62 Isaac Weetra 2

2007

Type Pick Player Games Since Drafted

National 4 Cale Morton 17

National 14 Jack Grimes 0

National 21 Addam Maric 4

National 53 Kyle Cheney 0

National 66 Tom McNamara 0

Pre 3 Stefan Martin 7

Rookie 3 Trent Zomer 0

Rookie 19 Austin Wonaeamirri 17

Rookie 35 Jake Spencer 0

Rookie 49 Shane Valenti 9

I can see at least 11 players from the last 4 years who can easily be 100 game players and big contributers.

These players are the core for the future.

There are not many picks here that I would give back....

Its far too early to make judgements

Morton to me looks the goods and shows some class but has a long way to go before being considered anything special

The 3 guys i am looking forward to seeing are

Jake Spencer

Trent Zomer

Jack Grimes

When you really think about it Melbourne is the only AFL team not to have an Elite Player

If you wanna watch them go see a Sandy game!

Its far too early to make judgements

Morton to me looks the goods and shows some class but has a long way to go before being considered anything special

The 3 guys i am looking forward to seeing are

Jake Spencer

Trent Zomer

Jack Grimes

When you really think about it Melbourne is the only AFL team not to have an Elite Player

Who is the elite player at Essendon, Collingwood, Swans, Port Adelaide ATM?

Who is the elite player at Essendon, Collingwood, Swans, Port Adelaide ATM?

Essendon - Fletcher (was Hird)

Collingwood - Didak (was Buckley)

Swans - Goodes

Port - Cornes (Chad)

Was looking at other clubs where players have acheived elite status during their careers

Nobody on our playing list has IMO

Essendon - Fletcher (was Hird)

Collingwood - Didak (was Buckley)

Swans - Goodes

Port - Cornes (Chad)

Was looking at other clubs where players have acheived elite status during their careers

Nobody on our playing list has IMO

Some have, but not-quite and/or not for long enough

Neitz

Macca

Green

Bruce

White

Yze and

TJ

all had their moments being among the best but nothing like other clubs' champions

desperately need a true hero at the club - we have a number of pots on the boil let's just pray we can produce one

Essendon - Fletcher (was Hird)

Collingwood - Didak (was Buckley)

Swans - Goodes

Port - Cornes (Chad)

Was looking at other clubs where players have acheived elite status during their careers

Nobody on our playing list has IMO

That's a bit ridiculous, I think. Essendon, Port Adelaide and Sydney all won Premierships with those players, and Collingwood make back-to-back Grand Finals. Of course they're gonna have good players. By the way, Alan Didak is a hack of the highest order. Very overrated.

That's a bit ridiculous, I think. Essendon, Port Adelaide and Sydney all won Premierships with those players, and Collingwood make back-to-back Grand Finals. Of course they're gonna have good players. By the way, Alan Didak is a hack of the highest order. Very overrated.

Well how bout the other 9

Freo -Pav

WCE - Kerr, Cox, Glass

Lions - Black, Brown

Crows - McLeod, Goodwin, Thompson

Hawks - Franklin, Hodge

Blues - Judd others to come

Saints - Riewoldt

Dogs - Cooney, BJohnson?

North - BHarvey

Rich - Richo, Delidio, Foley ok theyre not so hot either

Cats - half the bloody side

As painful as it is to realise, Swampfox is right

Well how bout the other 9

Freo -Pav

WCE - Kerr, Cox, Glass

Lions - Black, Brown

Crows - McLeod, Goodwin, Thompson

Hawks - Franklin, Hodge

Blues - Judd others to come

Saints - Riewoldt

Dogs - Cooney, BJohnson?

North - BHarvey

Rich - Richo, Delidio, Foley ok theyre not so hot either

Cats - half the bloody side

As painful as it is to realise, Swampfox is right

We had David Neitz. He's done more than every one of these players, barring Black, Brown, McLeod and Judd. Bear in mind I'm not saying we're not crap. We don't have champions. White and Yze have been champions. Bruce has been at times in his career as good as most on that list.

By the way, I'd not agree with on Cooney, Glass and Goodwyn as champions. Riewoldt hasn't done anything spectacular. Just the other week, Luke Hodge cost the Hawks the match with his terrible, Bruce-like turn-over by foot in the dying minutes against the Cats. Pavlich has, time and time again been unable to save his team in the dying minutes.Etc, etc, etc. Not to say these players aren't very very good.

Pavlich is an out and out superstar IMO.

He may have not been able to win them a few matches at the end in the past, but i can guarantee in many of those games he was the reason they were a shot in the first place

We had David Neitz. He's done more than every one of these players, barring Black, Brown, McLeod and Judd. Bear in mind I'm not saying we're not crap. We don't have champions. White and Yze have been champions. Bruce has been at times in his career as good as most on that list.

By the way, I'd not agree with on Cooney, Glass and Goodwyn as champions. Riewoldt hasn't done anything spectacular. Just the other week, Luke Hodge cost the Hawks the match with his terrible, Bruce-like turn-over by foot in the dying minutes against the Cats. Pavlich has, time and time again been unable to save his team in the dying minutes.Etc, etc, etc. Not to say these players aren't very very good.

well yes I already named those blokes but made the important distinction that they were never quite the best and not for anywhere near long enough

Mark Riccuito - Eight times all Australian

Melbourne FC - Five times All-Australian in a decade

How good does that make ya feel about Neitz, Bruce and Yze?

Did somone say they saw Weetra at 62 a blunder?

Yeah that was me.

A player who is stuck in the VFL reserves in his second year is a drafting blunder in my book...no matter what pick.

No. What I said was this:

Ok here's what you said (in cotext - not that i think that it makes any difference).

Dont count your chickens before their hatched.

I would wait at least 5 years before I get carried away with a draft year performance.

None of the players listed have achieved anything to get into raptures yet. Some still have question marks on them yet some posters seem rapt so far. Amazing.

There is some potential and IMO only Morton has the potential to develop into a "star". He still has a way to go to get there

So you start off saying it is too ealry to say if any of our young players will turn out well and that 5 years is a good amount of time to judge someone. Great I agree.

But then you do a backflip by proclaiming that only Morton has the potential to be a star. Ironically, this is on the back of one seasons play. As it turns out, I agree that Morton is the most exciting prospect at the moment but then I think, shouldn't Rhino take his own advice and wait a little longer before writing off our other young players as not star quality?

So I point out that actually, Gary Ablett Jnr. was nothing special prior to 2007 and that, given that he is probably the best player in the comp at the moment, there is every chance that other young players on our list might go on to be greats of the game. Accordingly, it is good to be cautious not only in your praise of a young player but in your "faint praise" also. If it takes five years to properly assess draft year performance then surely it takes 5 years to tell if a player is "star material" or not. 2006 was Ablett's 5th year and I would not have called him star material then.

Anyway, your "better than medicore" talk prompted me to do some research and I've come up with some stats from rleague comparing Ablett's first three seasons with those of some of our young players. Obviously, there are all sorts of reasons why the stats aren't going to be completely compelling, different teams, positions, playing styles etc., but it might be worth a look anyway it is actually a pretty encouraging read for those who live in hope. In any case, I'm not trying to prove that any of our players will definitely go on to be stars, merely that you are overly pessimistic in your assertion that Morton is the only one with the potential to do so.

Games and percentages are aggregates, thus, the "three seasons" row includes stats for the previous two seasons in its calculations. With the exception of Ablett and Morton, players are in no particular order. Most of the players who are under 22 and have played 3 seasons or less so far are included, but not all. No-one was left off intentionally, I just couldn't be bothered anymore.

Garry Ablett jnr.’s first season (2002) aged 18 (DOB: 14-05-1984):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

12 ------------ 8.33 --------------- 0.83 --------------- 3.33 ------------- 1.08 ----------- 2.08

Two seasons:

34 ------------ 12.56 ------------ 1.06 --------------- 1.57 ------------- 2.18 ----------- 3.00

Three seasons:

55 ------------ 13.24 ------------ 1.29 --------------- 1.48 ------------- 2.18 ----------- 3.55

Cale Morton’s first season (2008) aged 18 (DOB: 18-01-1990):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

17 ------------ 18.06 ------------ 0.71 --------------- 1.71 ------------- 5.88 ----------- 1.12

Simon Buckley’s first season (2007) aged 20 (DOB: 18-04-1987):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

6 ------------ 10.33 ------------ 0.17 ----------------- * ----------------- 2.17 ----------- 1.33

Two seasons:

18 ------------ 17.11 ------------ 0.17 --------------- 1.00 -------------- 4.89 ----------- 1.28

Colin Garland’s first season (2007) aged 19 (DOB: 28-04-1988):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

2 ------------ 4.5 ----------------- * ------------------ * ----------------- 0.50 ------------ 1.50

Two seasons:

17 ------------ 10.88 ------------ 0.12 ---------------- 1.00 ------------- 3.88 ----------- 1.29

Nathan Jones’ first season (2006) aged 18 (DOB: 20-01-1988):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

8 ------------ 13.88 -------------- 0.25 --------------- * ----------------- 2.50 ----------- 3.13

Two seasons:

29 ------------ 16.41 -------------- 0.41 --------------- 2.00 ------------- 2.79 ----------- 3.83

Three seasons:

48 ------------ 18.06 -------------- 0.44 --------------- 1.75 ------------- 2.92 ----------- 3.42

Austin Wonaeamirri’s first season (2008) aged 19 (DOB: 02-10-1988):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

17 ------------ 11.24 -------------- 1.35 --------------- 7.67 ------------- 4.18 ----------- 3.53

Ricky Petterd’s first season (2007) aged 19 (DOB: 24-07-1988):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

9 ------------ 13.78 -------------- 0.67 --------------- 3.00 ------------- 5.67 ----------- 2.00

Two seasons:

10 ------------ 13.5 -------------- 0.60 --------------- 3.00 ------------- 5.40 ----------- 2.00

Shane Valenti’s first season (2008) aged 21 (DOB: 29-01-1987):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

9 ------------ 17.11 -------------- 0.33 ---------------- 1.00 ------------- 4.56 ----------- 3.34

Addam Maric’s first season (2008) aged 18 (DOB: 18-04-1990):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

4 ------------ 14.75 -------------- 0.5 ---------------- 2.00 ------------- 5.00 ----------- 0.75

Matthew Bate’s first season (2006) aged 19 (DOB: 24-05-1987):

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

14 ------------ 15.79 -------------- 0.57 --------------- 1.60 ------------- 5.50 ----------- 2.71

Two seasons:

33 ------------ 15.61 -------------- 0.82 --------------- 2.08 ------------- 5.18 ----------- 2.94

Three seasons:

47 ------------ 16.26 -------------- 0.83 --------------- 1.63 ------------- 5.49 ----------- 2.96

Lynden Dunn’s first season (2006) aged 19 (DOB: 14-05-1987)

Games---Disposals/game---Goals/game---Goals/Behinds--- Marks/game---Tackles/game

11 ------------ 9.36 -------------- 1.18 --------------- 1.30 ------------- 3.82 ----------- 1.18

Two seasons:

23 ------------ 11.22 -------------- 0.96 --------------- 1.29 ------------- 3.61 ----------- 2.22

Three seasons:

38 ------------ 11.50 -------------- 0.74 --------------- 1.22 ------------- 3.63 ----------- 2.68

Even though I'll be the first to admit that many of these comparisons aren't exaclty fair, I have taken the liberty of highlighting the stats of Melbourne players when they are better than Ablett Jnr's stats of the equivalent season (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd). It's not exactly scientific but Ablett seems to be consistently out-performed for marks and disposals by our boys (probably due, at least in part, to different playing styles i.e. over-use of the ball at Melbourne) but, as one would expect from a forward, does better in the goal department. Ablett's tackling is probably his most impressive stat for these seasons. It would be interesting to hear who people would have hypothetically traded for a 1st, 2nd or 3rd season Ablett jnr. if both players had the same debut year. Hopefully this will also make encouraging reading for any young Melbourne players who might stray onto the forum.

Cheers

Dale Morris has been a golden pick up for the Dogs

But then you do a backflip by proclaiming that only Morton has the potential to be a star. Ironically, this is on the back of one seasons play. As it turns out, I agree that Morton is the most exciting prospect at the moment but then I think, shouldn't Rhino take his own advice and wait a little longer before writing off our other young players as not star quality?

I said "IMO". At 18 and after one season, I think what Morton shows me really excites me more than I have seen in other players. But like I said he has potential but he has along way to go. I havent written the others off, I have only said from what I have seen so far I thought that Morton had potential. And like I also said thanks for the nitpicking.

Yeah that was me.

A player who is stuck in the VFL reserves in his second year is a drafting blunder in my book...no matter what pick.

Funny book

Hope you don't buy tattslotto thinking you'll win every time.

I said "IMO". At 18 and after one season, I think what Morton shows me really excites me more than I have seen in other players. But like I said he has potential but he has along way to go. I havent written the others off, I have only said from what I have seen so far I thought that Morton had potential. And like I also said thanks for the nitpicking.

Doesn't "IMO" stand for In My Opinion?

So what you said was that, in your opinion, even though there is some potential amongst the other players, only Morton has the potential to become a star?

Well fine, I'm just trying to say that I think your "opinion" is misguided and that it is inconsistent with the caution that you advise in the positive assessment of players.

You didn't simply write that Morton is more promising than the others, you wrote that Morton is the only player with star potential in your view. Maybe that isn't how you meant it to sound but it's what you wrote.

Sorry if you consider my objection to your statement to be "nitpicking", I just think that you're being overly hasty by suggesting that none of our other young players will go on to be stars.

Cheers (Sheesh!)

Sorry if you consider my objection to your statement to be "nitpicking",

Apology Accepted. Sheesh were my thoughts exactly.