Blease & Strauss are CRITICAL to the Club's improvement

[Cranky Franky 1,599]

I really hope the club got it right with these 2. They are critical to the Club's improvement.

Watts was an obvious choice and nobody is going to shoot Prendergast if Jetta, Bennell & Bail don't make it.

Blease & Strauss are high picks in a Superdraft which means they might have been around top 10 in an average year. They were taken ahaed of very well credentialled players particularly some KPP's.

Lets hope they turn out more like Scott Thompson & Adem Yze rather than Aaron Rogers & Luke Molan.

[montasaurus 0]

I really hope the club got it right with these 2. They are critical to the Club's improvement.

Watts was an obvious choice and nobody is going to shoot Prendergast if Jetta, Bennell & Bail don't make it.

Blease & Strauss are high picks in a Superdraft which means they might have been around top 10 in an average year. They were taken ahaed of very well credentialled players particularly some KPP's.

Lets hope they turn out more like Scott Thompson & Adem Yze rather than Aaron Rogers & Luke Molan.

Strauss for mine is the really interesting one to watch due to his finishing attributes he is coming with. Skills and lack of finishing hurt us more then anything else this year. I think your right on the money here with these 2, but they might take a couple of years to develop before we can ask too much of them.

[H_T 2,941]

You are somewhat right. However, IMO all selections these days are critical. Maybe I'm being too hard

I see Binnell, Jetta, Jurrah and even Bail as very important selections for the club, just as important as these two you highlight.

Of course there might be a tad more expectation of them being picked up at 17 and 19 respectively, as it comes with the territory.

Just as pick 1 with Watts does.

What is critical is a collective improvement amongst established players at the club already. The likes of Sylvia, Miller, Jones, Moloney, Buckley, Bell, Jamar, Johnson, Bate, Petterd and Dunn to name a 'few'.

[Bay Riffin 1,434]

Have a feeling Strauss might go alright this year and get quite a few games. not a bad size, excellent balnce, speed and kicking skills.

Blease will be the excitement machine thouh. We are developing the fastest side in the competition here.

[Eastie Boyz 0]

tbh I wouldn't expect to see Blease consistently wearing Dee's colours til he's 22 or thereabouts.

His body is a long long way off atm.

[DeeBest 13]

Every draft pick still costs a footy club $200k or more in player wages, doctors and physios time, training/club apparel whether they are picked at 20 or picked at 75.

Financially every pick is important. And where you can get an edge on an opponent is when you strike gold with a late pick, or a rookie.

[Late Draft Pick 48]

I think Blease and Strauss would have been top 5 in some years, and for that reason I don't see them as critical, or more critical than

Watts or Bennell or now Jurrah.They are both going to make it.

I sure hope I am still not waiting for Blease to get a regular spot in five more years time (he is 17 now).

I haven't seen an onballer like him at Melbourne for many years and see him playing regularly by 2010.

There are so many players that have been picked up in the last 10 years that people just don't keep there fingers crossed for.

(Juddy gee I hope he makes it, Reiwoldt, gee I hope he makes it, Cooney, gee I hope he makes it)

He (Blease) actually reminds me of Kevin Bartlett, and I don't think i'm dreaming here.

Yes, we can worry about any choices, but there is nothing about either of these (Blease and Strauss) that makes me worry.

There have been many skinny and scintillating players that never bulked up and I'm sure Blease will never, and will never need to.

Tingay (that skinny little fella from Shepparton)may have needed to but I don't think Blease does. And for Strauss, bout time we got one of those "fat arsed" footballers.

These drafts have been really good for us I think. With the variety here I am starting to forget the "What could have beens," if we

had got the full Priority pick this year.

I don't say much here much but can I just say that during this draft period I have really appreciated what all of you have

contributed. I'm amazed at the information I have gathered here, and appreciated the threads that people have started including this one.

And people like Morton2Watts and was it Davis 33 that have bothered to put utube contacts - amazing.

[kryton 0]

I really hope the club got it right with these 2. They are critical to the Club's improvement.

Watts was an obvious choice and nobody is going to shoot Prendergast if Jetta, Bennell & Bail don't make it.

Blease & Strauss are high picks in a Superdraft which means they might have been around top 10 in an average year. They were taken ahaed of very well credentialled players particularly some KPP's.

Lets hope they turn out more like Scott Thompson & Adem Yze rather than Aaron Rogers & Luke Molan.

History would suggest that not all three of our top picks will make it - but then who cares about history.....?

[kryton 0]

I really hope the club got it right with these 2. They are critical to the Club's improvement.

Watts was an obvious choice and nobody is going to shoot Prendergast if Jetta, Bennell & Bail don't make it.

Blease & Strauss are high picks in a Superdraft which means they might have been around top 10 in an average year. They were taken ahaed of very well credentialled players particularly some KPP's.

Lets hope they turn out more like Scott Thompson & Adem Yze rather than Aaron Rogers & Luke Molan.

History would suggest that not all three of our top picks will make it - but then who cares about history.....?

[Roost It 1,434]

History would suggest that not all three of our top picks will make it - but then who cares about history.....?

F##k history, Looking back at last year we're all pretty confident about Morton, Grimes and Maric. I reckon everyone of our picks including Jurrah and the rookies will play some good footy for us

[Freak 100]

i'm not sold on grimes. dodgy kicking style, especially when lining up for goal

[LeBron James 41]

i'm not sold on grimes. dodgy kicking style, especially when lining up for goal

Why, because of the one kick for goal he's ever done?

[Freak 100]

yep..peoples kicking actions dont change. just ask bate and jones

[rpfc 27,692]

yep..peoples kicking actions dont change. just ask bate and jones

If he can handball and has vision he's ahead of every other midfielder in our team.

[Stigga 25]

yep..peoples kicking actions dont change. just ask bate and jones

I watched his entire first game for Sandy 1's and thought he had a great kicking style, hitting lots of targets.

[H_T 2,941]

yep..peoples kicking actions dont change. just ask bate and jones

Ask Charles Manson, Warwick Capper and Justin Madden. Grimes kicking is fine.

I watched his entire first game for Sandy 1's and thought he had a great kicking style, hitting lots of targets.

So did I.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I'm still a bit confused about why people hate Bate's kick. The guy calmly slots them from 60 VERY often. It's not an attractive style, but then neither is McLean's. I reckon Bate's kick is one of his weapons.

[Adzman 2,086]

Every pick we made is critical, as we were not even competitive last season. We need to grow some very good footballers, some blue and white collar ones.

A mate of mine (Hawks supporter) thinks Blease is a cracker as he watched him this year. Swears he should have gone first round. This fills me with some confidence, he could be a future club champion.

Strauss looked good, and could be anything. They say Bail is ready to go being a mature age draftee. He could add some depth, or even carve out a senior spot for his own.

The real win will be if the indigenous boys can come through and tear the afl apart. Jurrah, Jetta and Bennell could be anything, from a wasted pick to a league sensation. You just never know. Flash came off the rookie list, and changed that game.

I would say given the state of the club, and the picks being critical for the clubs future, the future looks to be in good hands. Great hands? time will tell.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Strauss for mine is the really interesting one to watch due to his finishing attributes he is coming with. Skills and lack of finishing hurt us more then anything else this year. I think your right on the money here with these 2, but they might take a couple of years to develop before we can ask too much of them.

The more I consider Strauss, the more I think he has the potential to be what the Dees have not had in the entire time I've watched them. A complete inside footballer.

Now we all like Blease for his footskills and pace, but there's countless players with those attributes who either lost their way, or had their potential stunted by bigger bodies, taggers etc etc. This is not to say Blease will be the next Ooze... but I certainly see him as having startling strengths, and some potential weaknesses that might hurt him in finals football.

Strauss on the other hand is, and this may seem silly to say, pretty close to the complete inside player. Good in the clinches, startling vision and hands, an elite kick both under pressure and on the run... He may not have monstered matches, but if you look at his game, he's the closest to that magic type of midfielder you need... that isn't JUST an outsider (Trav) or JUST an insider (Jones), but a bit of both. Effectively, when a player like that is "on" they are like having two players.

Time will tell whether he goes on to develop, but theoretically I can see this kid becoming a bit of a barometer for the side... Unless we get a couple of star mids that compete with him, of the ilk of Scully. It's early days, I know, so take it with a grain of salt... But I reckon Strauss is the one to watch... Behind Jesus Watts, of course.

[Freak 100]

strauss is most certainly NOT an inside midfielder...and he never will be. he is an elite athlete and an elite kick...we need his running game. i think he will also be the one to kick the ball back in after a behind

[LeBron James 41]

So did I.

While he only had 8 posessions in his match vs the tigers, he had a very respectable 88% disposal efficiency.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

strauss is most certainly NOT an inside midfielder...and he never will be. he is an elite athlete and an elite kick...we need his running game. i think he will also be the one to kick the ball back in after a behind

Well then we have different views on what an inside midfielder vs outside midfielder means. From what I've seen he is great under the pump and makes great choices when surrounded.

If you mean that he's not the last guy to pick himself up off the bottom of packs a la Nathan Jones, then fair enough, I've not seen him do that... But I reckon he does enough of the body on body stuff. Plus, it's very early days. He has a little size to him. Maybe that core of Jones/McLean types can instill that hardass quality in him if he doesn't have it already.

[Yencks 8]

ive watched strauss play live twice (maybe three times but didnt know who he was then) and his precision kicking from the kick-ins is second to none. most impressively, even in the last quarter, he is able to half a minute later, gather another possesion right in the middle, and if you werent concentrating, you wouldnt even know that he was the guy that kicked the ball in.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

strauss is most certainly NOT an inside midfielder...and he never will be. he is an elite athlete and an elite kick...we need his running game. i think he will also be the one to kick the ball back in after a behind

Had a closer look... and I might retract that about the insider part. I like that he goes and gets his own footy... and that he's not solely a skinny guy who streams around a wing picking up soft possessions. But yes, you're right, he's not a Judd-like contested possession winner.

[Freak 100]

wow, dappa. gotta respect that post