Great day for the MFC

[Guest Schtacker]

People, people. Don't forget we can still get quality talls in next years draft. Butcher (CHF/FF) will go in the top 3 and is a freak.

Yep my sentiments entirely - we will get him and we have our twin towers - effing good ones too. We will probably pinch the best gutrunning mid from the top 4 next year too and he will have all the ingredients and then its cooking time

[jacey 333]

Exactly. And whom, in all your wisdom, do you believe were the good key forwards available at 17 and 19, who were also clearly superior choices to Blease and Strauss? Since they are hard to find, what do you reckon the odds are of us landing a good KPF with a later pick? Minimal, I would have thought.

We've got a hatful of promising young tall defenders. I concur another tall forward option would be IDEAL (if far from essential), but the last thing I want is us chucking handy picks away at a problem we are never going to be able to solve in one year, without at least a couple of top-10 picks and a serious dose of luck.

I concur. I don't want to overlook a good small to take a punt on the next best tall whom we aren't confident in. No doubt our fwdline is a work in progress but having good delivery will help the lead up players we already have.

[LeBron James 41]

Yep my sentiments entirely - we will get him and we have our twin towers - effing good ones too. We will probably pinch the best gutrunning mid from the top 4 next year too and he will have all the ingredients and then its cooking time

Bang on the money there Schtacker. Next year will be our last year at the bottom! Premiers 2012!!

[Late Draft Pick 48]

I am still so very very happy were managed to get Blease. Melbourne has not had an onballer

like him for many many years. His get the ball and on your bike style reminds me of Kevein Bartlett;

he's as tough as nails and his body size doesn't bother me. I would have been devistated if we had

gone for someone else.

On another note, the sen callers menitoned, and i hadn't heard this before, that Swift is a swimmer (?)

and swimmers joints are softer that those of the normal population (my phrasing), this having lead to his

knee problems. I was also hoping Swift would fall to us but I am more than happy with Strauss who like many

others (eg Rys O'Keefe) had varying assessments of them before the draft.

With Bennell and Jetta and Bail on the list too, I'll be looking forward to going to the footy again next year,

and its less time to wait for the preseason that it has been since our last game.

[hoopla 418]

.... the last thing I want is us chucking handy picks away at a problem we are never going to be able to solve in one year, without at least a couple of top-10 picks and a serious dose of luck.

You miss the point. (i)The top 10 picks for the next three years at least are going to go to the new interstate clubs;and (ii) it is generally accepted that this was an unusually deep draft with an unusually high number of quality talls

The fact that quality talls are hard to find means you have to take you chances when you have them.To get one - you are probably going to have to try 4 or 5

The facts are that a large proportion of draftees won't make it. I think I'm right in saying that of our last 11 draft picks only two (Watts and McNamara) are potential KPPs ( unless you want to count Cale)

I don't think our recruitment policy is geared to the development of a balanced list

[Guest Schtacker]

I am still so very very happy were managed to get Blease. Melbourne has not had an onballer

like him for many many years. His get the ball and on your bike style reminds me of Kevein Bartlett;

he's as tough as nails and his body size doesn't bother me. I would have been devistated if we had

gone for someone else.

On another note, the sen callers menitoned, and i hadn't heard this before, that Swift is a swimmer (?)

and swimmers joints are softer that those of the normal population (my phrasing), this having lead to his

knee problems. I was also hoping Swift would fall to us but I am more than happy with Strauss who like many

others (eg Rys O'Keefe) had varying assessments of them before the draft.

With Bennell and Jetta and Bail on the list too, I'll be looking forward to going to the footy again next year,

and its less time to wait for the preseason that it has been since our last game.

Swift DID fall to us and we passed on him twice

[Guest Schtacker]

(i)The top 10 picks for the next three years at least are going to go to the new interstate clubs;

incorrect

we get pick 1+2 if we finish last on 4 wins. Some younger players will be unavailable but we are still getting two top5-ers at absolute worst. We will have another chance to get probably the best tall and midfielder of the draft. The following year is where GC rolls in

[Diablo 1]

You miss the point. (i)The top 10 picks for the next three years at least are going to go to the new interstate clubs;and (ii) it is generally accepted that this was an unusually deep draft with an unusually high number of quality talls

The fact that quality talls are hard to find means you have to take you chances when you have them.To get one - you are probably going to have to try 4 or 5

The facts are that a large proportion of draftees won't make it. I think I'm right in saying that of our last 11 draft picks only two (Watts and McNamara) are potential KPPs ( unless you want to count Cale)

I don't think our recruitment policy is geared to the development of a balanced list

The first point is innaccurate, as Schtacker has established.

The second point I agree with, but I don't think it helps you case in this instance. I think that unless you take genuine top-10 rated talls, your chance of getting good ones is poor. With that in mind then, would you have thrown picks 17 and 19 in a highly-rated draft at average KPPs (given that the most highly rated were probably gone), just because we appear to have a deficiency in that area? Perhaps a later pick, but with respect, you are starting to get into the 'extremely optimistic' category, particularly with talls, at that stage, and it would seem very much like tokenism to take an average rated tall later in the draft.

I think you, and others, have a poor concept of 'balance' in a modern football list. With the importance of ruck contests ever-dwindling, and the dominance of big forwards also diminished (notable exceptions such as Buddy notwithstanding), the majority of players on an AFL list should be short-medium runners. With the fact that we have a number of tall prospects (of variable quality, admittedly) on our list presently, I don't think the club needs to justify aiming at quick, skillful midfielders (another obvious deficiency of ours) ahead of key position types in this draft, especially with Watts at No. 1. People could argue that a ruckman would have been a good late pick, but as I think has been established, good rucks can come from absolutely anywhere, and I reckon you're just as likely to bag one from your rookie list as pick 35 or 51.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Early days??? its freaking hours. Our faith is in the recruiters, now lets hope they have done well.

Of course. But there are things we can glean from the selections that we don't need 3 years of development to understand. That is that these guys aren't too large.

Hmmmm.... I think this is a bit of myth brought about by the Franklin / Roughead hype. Can you provide a list of Hawthorn picks that demonstrates this actually what happened?

Actually the truth around their selections was a bit more interesting than that. The Hawks powers-that-be have gone on record to claim that Roughead and Franklin were the only couple of KP forwards coming through the system that they thought were any good for the coming couple of drafts. They believed by taking both that they'd effectively have a monopoly on the up and coming talls. To some extent that's proven true. After that they had a couple of established mids, and they went nuts the following year looking at all sorts of different mid sized players... while at the same time they have recruited another, ready-made set of KP players with guys like Shoenmakers this year and Thorp a couple of years ago. My point still stands though. It's around their KP players that they've done well. That's not to say they DON'T have a solid 22 outside of those guys, but without Franklin and Roughie, they would have gotten nowhere near the GF.

So Dappa Dan what talls would you have picked up with 17 and 19?

McKernan. I rated him pretty highly. I would have loved him and Blease for example. I rated Swift extremely highly and believed he was worth the risk, but at the same time I like that we don't have yet another injury prone player, so part of me is relieved. Oh, and I thought Trengove was worth a look. Maybe Lisle. I take your point about recruiting KP players later in the draft, but I believe that ruckmen are revealed as good players far later in their careers. Very few Everitts out there. And likewise taller players take time to really evolve and be revealed as good or great. Many have come from relatively modest beginnings and carved out great careers and likewise some have gone the other way due to attitude or injury. In other words KP players are more speculative and as such I prefer to see them drafted lower, unless they're of Watts' calibre.

So I reckon 1-10 have to be all the best available talent whatever they are... picks in the teens have to be speculative KP players, utilities, kids with suspect bodies, and later picks are for needs/outside mids/ruckmen. That applies to rookies too, the ruckmen thing.

People, people. Don't forget we can still get quality talls in next years draft. Butcher (CHF/FF) will go in the top 3 and is a freak.

True, and this makes me happy. But there again, by the time these guys come on how old will McLean and co be? Actually forget them... how old will I be?!!!

Exactly. And whom, in all your wisdom, do you believe were the good key forwards available at 17 and 19, who were also clearly superior choices to Blease and Strauss? Since they are hard to find, what do you reckon the odds are of us landing a good KPF with a later pick? Minimal, I would have thought.

See above...

The point I'm trying to make here actually has more to do with how I rate our current list. As with most sides we actually have a compliment of each type of player. My problem is with the quality of those players. We're a long way from being competitive, let alone dangerous, let alone a flag chance. To name but a few: Dunn hasn't even looked like KP material, Bate is roaming far and wide, Miller is working a bit better but is still blue collar, Newton is miles off... Watts is probably the one I'm most excited about and he's been a demon for about a day... and I'm not even completely sure he'll end up a classic FF or CHF. We got a lot of outside players this draft... which means we have guys like Jones, McLean, Moloney and Grimes extracting the ball and guys like Morton, Blease, Strauss and Davey delivering it... That's 8 names. Geelong has all that covered with about 4.

Now I'm not naive enough to think we'll reruit the next Ablett or Judd... but I am conscious of the fact that none of those players at this stage seem like the type that could become that kind of contested ball winner with pace... So if THAT'S what we're faced with on the draft table, I'd rather we go for a spine... even one that's a notch or two below the best spines in the league, before we recruit the future of our midfield.

It's just my theory, and I don't mean to be negative... I'm sure Blease and Strauss will be serviceable... maybe better than serviceable. But that kind of silky outsider is the last piece of the puzzle IMO. KP players, good in and unders, and good all-round mids are harder to come by AND develop, and they certainly never come up for trade unless there's something significant wrong with them...

Don't get me wrong, these are good selections... I was just hoping, as with every group of supporters, that we'd get inspiration. In the end I think there's a great possibility that there were two inspired choices in this draft. One was Watts over Naita, the other was avoiding the temptation to select injury prone footballers.

This post has gotten oversized. I'll continue in more detail if asked, but for now, I think I've bored enough people.

[Old Man Rivers 326]

It is not very often the MFC receives positive news articles or in general have a day where the media attention is focused on us.

Today was great. Very happy with all of our recruits.

Onwards and Upwards for the Melbourne Football Club.

OK - I have just found time this weekend to have another good look @ highlights of -:

Watts, Blease, Strauss, Bennel & Jetta.

Couldn't find any vision of Bails but like what I read.

The amazing thing about the highlights package's of these guy's is the number of times

Watts, Blease & Strauss feature in each others highlights package.

We all know how good Watts will be, Blease looks an electrifying excitement machine &

Strauss looks like Mr Reliable. (I couldn't help thinking Brett Lovett)

As for Bennel & Jetta both looked silky skilled & very likely types.

Obviously yesterday was part one in the bigger game plan.

Look for the big guy's to arrive in this years PSD & next year's National Draft.

Really looking forward to watching these guy's rolled out over the next 12 month's.

[Deeoldfart 8,033]

A great day for the Demons indeed!! .... it could just be the watershed we have been craving for far too long. I'm rapidly growing in confidence that the MFC is becoming a great learning environment for young footballers with the right attitude, and I'm sure our recruiting and coaching staff will have made their selections with this in mind. Only time will tell whether they have made the right choices, but I reckon the journey will be exciting.

[45HG 1,539]

PARTY TIME!

[Bails 0]

I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but we only have one true proven quality midfielder, who can get the ball and use it, and that's McLean.

Putting Morton in there was generous and possibly premature.

The rest of our midfield has serious, and I do mean serious deficiencies, primarily when it comes to disposal. Jones and Bruce have awful disposal, Junior is on his last leg, Morton is not necessarily an extractor or even a pure midfielder, but more a wingman, same goes for Green. Moloney can barely get on the park, Grimes is a complete unknown but hopefully will become a great player. So go on, who else, apart from McLean, has shown us that they are good enough to become a part of a premiership winning midfield?

Lets hope that the boys we picked up today will finally provide us with some much needed class and above all else the ability to dispose of the ball... and not to the opposition

i reckon thats a bit rich Jaded.... Buckley?????? he will be a very good player next year and uses it ok

[Jaded No More 68,965]

i reckon thats a bit rich Jaded.... Buckley?????? he will be a very good player next year and uses it ok

Buckley, Grimes and Morton all have decent disposal, but they are still unknown quantities.

As it stands, our midfield is crap.

[hoopla 418]

Well it seems that the the majority of those who read this site are comfortable that 9 of our last 11 draft picks have been devoted to developing our list of 'non-KPPs' ( unless you class Cale as a future KPP). We haven't really added a quality tall to our list since picked up White and Ingersen from other clubs ... except hopefully for Watts.

Over the next few years we are going to face Brown-Bradshaw, Fevola-Kruezer, Franklin-Roughead and Mooney-Hawkins-Ottens. Even if Morton,Grimes, Maric, Woenamiri, Cheney Blease, Strauss, Bennell, Jetta and Bail all come good - we will struggle to match the physicality of these teams week in week out.

Over the past few days, the experts (Quayle, Sheehan etc) have said that clubs like West Coast have done best out of the draft.I have not been alone in doubting the wisdom of our policy.

[H_T 3,049]

Well it seems that the the majority of those who read this site are comfortable that 9 of our last 11 draft picks have been devoted to developing our list of 'non-KPPs' ( unless you class Cale as a future KPP). We haven't really added a quality tall to our list since picked up White and Ingersen from other clubs ... except hopefully for Watts.

Over the next few years we are going to face Brown-Bradshaw, Fevola-Kruezer, Franklin-Roughead and Mooney-Hawkins-Ottens. Even if Morton,Grimes, Maric, Woenamiri, Cheney Blease, Strauss, Bennell, Jetta and Bail all come good - we will struggle to match the physicality of these teams week in week out.

Over the past few days, the experts (Quayle, Sheehan etc) have said that clubs like West Coast have done best out of the draft.I have not been alone in doubting the wisdom of our policy.

Like you say we have added Watts to the list.

We have the likes of Martin, Warnock, Garland, Rivers, Frawley to deal with the physicality of the opposition players you mention.

We also have McNamara, Cheney still developing.

I think you seriously need to re-look at our list if you are seriously doubting our needs in the draft and who we selected.

[hoopla 418]

Like you say we have added Watts to the list.

We have the likes of Martin, Warnock, Garland, Rivers, Frawley to deal with the physicality of the opposition players you mention.

We also have McNamara, Cheney still developing.

I think you seriously need to re-look at our list if you are seriously doubting our needs in the draft and who we selected.

Garland, Rivers and Frawley don't have the bodies to handle the physicality of those players - and Cheney is a small.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Like you say we have added Watts to the list.

We have the likes of Martin, Warnock, Garland, Rivers, Frawley to deal with the physicality of the opposition players you mention.

We also have McNamara, Cheney still developing.

I think you seriously need to re-look at our list if you are seriously doubting our needs in the draft and who we selected.

Cheney is 184cm, McNamara has proven nothing as yet (not writing him off, but facts are facts), everyone seems to love Martin but he's only played a handful of games and is not a great kick, Warnock is not ever going to be a star defender... just a more serviceable Carroll (with pace), Frawley has question marks, Rivers' body is a worry... Garland is the only one I have supreme faith in and I reckon his future is forward what with his right boot and all. If we had, say, Hurley (who I rate ENORMOUSLY) and Garland making up our KP backline... THAT would be exciting because we could rotate a bunch of guys who've shown something back there... including PJ who I've seen do good work on the 50 metre line. As it is though we have a few ok names there, but no-one you have set in stone, which I think every defence (or at least every PREMIERSHIP defence) needs.

Same goes for our forward line. I can't imagine ever being more excited about a recruit than I am about Watts... but he's only human. He's going to need a foil or two of quality. Hawthorn's forward line wouldn't be as scary without Williams and Roughie... Brisbane's wouldn't be as scary if Brown didn't have Bradshaw... going back a couple of years it was the Saints with Reiwoldt and Gehrig... Sydney have Hall and O'Loughlin...

[watts up? 0]

Sounds like there is going to be some real pressure on Martin then.

Might have to keep throwing Miller back there when we come up against big bodies?

Our back line performed slightly better than would've been expected this year, and could only get better with Rivers coming into the picture. Although it's anyone's guess as to how long he'll last and what level he can get back up to.

How come we have players that look awesome in their first year then drop off? Davey just hasn't had that intensity that was evident in his debut season, Rivers looked like becoming a superstar. I suppose they were unknowns and might've gotten a bit of a free ride match-up wise early on.

Hopefully Morton and Wona can reverse the trend next season.

[watts up? 0]

Oh yeah and hopefully Colin can have his first decent season!

Fingers crossed.

[Red and Blue Flame 187]

Garland,

Warnock is a typical darren glass/rutten defender. tight on their man, not overly quick, good spolier

Rivers will be back to his best

add strauss as a run off half back

Stef Martin too

we'll be fine- just one more defender in next year's draft and we're set

[mo64 5,875]

......./

Dappa, if you look at the key position players in the top 4 teams this season, they each had holes in them:

Hawthorn - 1 good key defender

Geelong - 1 average key forward

St. Kilda - No genuine key defender

Bulldogs - No genuine key forward or CHB.

On the other hand, over the past 4 seasons, Essendon have had the likes of Fletcher, Michael, Ryder, Lucas and Lloyd filling their key position posts, and haven't made the finals.

As Sydney, West Coast, Geelong and Hawthorn have shown, you can win a flag without a star in every key position.

[mo64 5,875]

Warnock is a typical darren glass/rutten defender. tight on their man, not overly quick, good spolier

Warnock is not in the same hemisphere as Glass and Rutten. Dappa's description was apt, a more serviceable Nathan Carroll.

[Keepin up with the Joneses 48]

Garland, Rivers and Frawley don't have the bodies to handle the physicality of those players - and Cheney is a small.

I also would have preferred more tall options, however the fact is that we were never going to be able to address all our list problems in this draft.

One more year of pain will bring anothe 3 picks in the top 20 and we will be away and will have turned over all the excess crap on our list from 2006

As people have said, butcher and scully would be very handy + a ruckman, and who knows what Spencer might bring.

[montasaurus 0]

On another note, the sen callers menitoned, and i hadn't heard this before, that Swift is a swimmer (?)

and swimmers joints are softer that those of the normal population (my phrasing), this having lead to his

knee problems. I was also hoping Swift would fall to us but I am more than happy with Strauss who like many

others (eg Rys O'Keefe) had varying assessments of them before the draft.

I am so glad we did not take swift. 2 knees, from WA TOO BIG A RISK, WELL DONE MFC. Blease looks great

SAT 29/11.

We can put this down in the diary as the day we turned the corner!