Our bottom line is the same - we really need to trade for a least two extra picks

Can I suggest its not a matter of getting more picks ... just attempt to improve/upgrade the picks you have already got. ie pick 34 and maybe 50 ... just a thought.

I'd love to know, in all honesty, why you rate him so highly.

In other words, what have you seen of him that's making you so insistent he's a bona-fide star?

This isn't a wind up. I'd just really like some background.

OK

I have seen this kid play live on approx 6 occassions.

Eastern Ranges 08 Squad & Vic Metro on Final day of carnival in 08

On all occassions he has lit the field up with blistering pace, silky skills on both sides of his body

& above all finds the ball 20plus times a game & breaks lines.

Yes I have only seen him play @ under 18 level however the fact that he was smaller than most out there

& that alone didnt hinder his ability to dominate should carry over into the AFL against bigger bodies.

They simply couldn't catch him & his evasive skills are outstanding.

Word is his leg has healed fine & there will be no complications & his pace won't be effected.

I have also had discussions with a couple of close sources to the Blease family

who where mates with his late father. Both speak in glowing terms of his passion & drive

to suceed @ the highest level.

Interesting story relayed was when he arrived @ the club he demanded a meeting with Jimmy & Cam Scwhabb.

He demanded to be given No.17 ( I think ) the same number his father wore during his VFA career for Camberwell.

He didn't get his way & was told he would have to earn his stripes to get a lower Number.

Apparently when Sam had left both looked @ each other smiling & where wrapt the kid had the balls to

call the meeting with the Prez & CEO & both said out loud Future Captain.

& Finally the kid is already great mates with one Tom Scully.

Will cause havoc with The Flash in the same Midfield / Forward Line in 2010.

OK

I have seen this kid play live on approx 6 occassions.

Eastern Ranges 08 Squad & Vic Metro on Final day of carnival in 08

On all occassions he has lit the field up with blistering pace, silky skills on both sides of his body

& above all finds the ball 20plus times a game & breaks lines.

Yes I have only seen him play @ under 18 level however the fact that he was smaller than most out there

& that alone didnt hinder his ability to dominate should carry over into the AFL against bigger bodies.

They simply couldn't catch him & his evasive skills are outstanding.

Word is his leg has healed fine & there will be no complications & his pace won't be effected.

I have also had discussions with a couple of close sources to the Blease family

who where mates with his late father. Both speak in glowing terms of his passion & drive

to suceed @ the highest level.

Interesting story relayed was when he arrived @ the club he demanded a meeting with Jimmy & Cam Scwhabb.

He demanded to be given No.17 ( I think ) the same number his father wore during his VFA career for Camberwell.

He didn't get his way & was told he would have to earn his stripes to get a lower Number.

Apparently when Sam had left both looked @ each other smiling & where wrapt the kid had the balls to

call the meeting with the Prez & CEO & both said out loud Future Captain.

& Finally the kid is already great mates with one Tom Scully.

Will cause havoc with The Flash in the same Midfield / Forward Line in 2010.

yeah you're not wrong. despite not really 'earning it' he will be in number 17 next year. and he is best mates with tom scully and is real pumped that he'll be coming to the club.

Trengove and Scully certainly sound like good prospects, but that is all they are at this stage, good prospects.

In the one breath you overrate McLean, but you then seem underwhelmed by the prospects of top draft picks.

Some recent no. 1's

Hodge is a star

Riewoldt is a star

Cooney has already won a Brownlow

Deledio has won his club's last 2 Best and Fairests

And to top it off, look at the placings of Carlton's B&F from the other night.

The top 5 were Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Fevola, and Kreuzer.

Guess what ? Three are former no. 1 picks and another was a pick 3. Starting to see a pattern ?

We've got a couple of stars coming our way. There's a chance that we've got the equivalent of Judd and Nathan Buckley walking through the front door - together. Worst case they'll both be A graders.

And yes, I've seen both live.

& Finally the kid is already great mates with one Tom Scully.

Will cause havoc with The Flash in the same Midfield / Forward Line in 2010.

I know Sammy's uncle and he confirms that he and Scully are great mates and already talking about moving in together in a couple of years. The Dees have a big preseason planned for Sam.

I'm sure they'll both push each other to succeed.

Can I suggest its not a matter of getting more picks ... just attempt to improve/upgrade the picks you have already got. ie pick 34 and maybe 50 ... just a thought.

At the end of the day ,you right - that is the objective . Ideally we want to get extra picks to make picks 34 and 50 redundant.

If we can't - and it really is a shallow draft - , we may do just as well delisting players like Bell and Buckley and redrafting them if they get a medical clearance. We don't want to take a kid at #50 just for the sake of it. The rookie list is the place for the long-shots. Another option would be to promote McKenzie to create more room to speculate with rookies.

I hope Fev doesn't dominate trade week. We don't want half the clubs putting so much time into him - and side-deals around him - that they hold back on other options until it is too late

Even today the club has stated via its web page it would look to trade for picks, IMO the only we would be looking for another mid 20 pick, this will take a player and pick 34 or 50 depending on the player to get this. I a point I agree with the no more mids and I see us drafting

1 Scully

2 Trengove

11 KPP

18 KPP

22-26 Mid size defender

50 Pass for to use PSD pick 1

Even today the club has stated via its web page it would look to trade for picks, IMO the only we would be looking for another mid 20 pick, this will take a player and pick 34 or 50 depending on the player to get this. I a point I agree with the no more mids and I see us drafting

1 Scully

2 Trengove

11 KPP

18 KPP

22-26 Mid size defender

50 Pass for to use PSD pick 1

Reading the "tweet" that Cam Schwab posted this morning, he said "Winning teams need approx 12 quality players who can run through the midfield. Cats had 14/15 on Sat. What will ours look like in 2012?".

Who are our minimum 12? In no particular order;

1. Jack Grimes

2. Colin Sylvia

3. Cale Morton

4. Aaron Davey

5. Nathan Jones

6. Brent Moloney

7. James McDonald*

8. Brad Green*

9. Cameron Bruce*

10. Jack Trengove**

11. Tom Scully**

12. Sam Blease**

13. James Strauss**

14. Pick 11 OR 18**

* Veterans who still hold their own in the team, but are getting toward the end

** Sight-unseen, but Schwab obviously thinks they will be on "that" list.

I can't help but thinking that we just may hit another midfielder at pick 11, then go for the best KPF at 18, UNLESS we can jag a reasonable mid in the trade, then go for a KPF at 11. Let's not forget that there are a number of names being thrown around that at various stages some of us have said we would love to pick up. There is probably close to 15 names that could easily go top 10 and no one would blink an eye, and that is a mixture of mids and KPP. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we still got a mid or tall at pick 18 and we will all sit back and say "that's a good get".

I wish draft day has been and gone already. I'd hate to be BP!

Note: Useless information for you - there is a Facebook group called the Tom Scully Appreciation Society. One of the 85 members is Lachie Prendergast. Does anyone know if BP has a son? He is wearing a blues scarf though. Just a shame I only found that now instead of months before Tom confirmed his star status. Could have been on to a big winner there!!! LOL

In the one breath you overrate McLean, but you then seem underwhelmed by the prospects of top draft picks.

Firstly my rating of Brock was not in the same breath, it wasn't even in the same thread.

Secondly, I make no apologies for thinking pick 11 is not enough for Brock.

and finally, I'm not underwhelmed by Scully or Trengove, I have been proclaiming Scully the next Judd for about a year.

As for trading for picks, I don't trust the quality of the draft enough to follow this strategy any more than we already have. Of course I would prefer to have pick 22-26 than pick 34, but we'd need to trade away a player of value to do so and I don't see a big difference between pick 26 and 34 anyway.

Reading the "tweet" that Cam Schwab posted this morning, he said "Winning teams need approx 12 quality players who can run through the midfield. Cats had 14/15 on Sat. What will ours look like in 2012?".

Who are our minimum 12? In no particular order;

1. Jack Grimes

2. Colin Sylvia

3. Cale Morton

4. Aaron Davey

5. Nathan Jones

6. Brent Moloney

7. James McDonald*

8. Brad Green*

9. Cameron Bruce*

10. Jack Trengove**

11. Tom Scully**

12. Sam Blease**

13. James Strauss**

14. Pick 11 OR 18**

* Veterans who still hold their own in the team, but are getting toward the end

** Sight-unseen, but Schwab obviously thinks they will be on "that" list.

Just noted that you have not listed the following

Bartram ( I'd delist)

Buckley ( still a chance if he gets fit)

Dunn ( still has upside)

Bell ( might go this year)

Petterd ( definite midfield option)

Jetts ( had time in the midfield at the end of the season)

Aussie ( want to make him a midfield option)

Bate ( showed at end of season that he is an option)

Winning teams also need KPs - including two marking forwards

Reading the "tweet" that Cam Schwab posted this morning, he said "Winning teams need approx 12 quality players who can run through the midfield. Cats had 14/15 on Sat. What will ours look like in 2012?".

This is my list. I don't think they all need to be genuine midfielders, as long as you have a few and some that can play in the guts for a bit (Paul Chapman/Corey Enright).

1. Jack Grimes

2. Colin Sylvia

3. Cale Morton

4. Aaron Davey

5. Nathan Jones

6. Brent Moloney

7. Ricky Petterd

8. Neville Jetta (will be able to pinchit in midfield)

9. Lynden Dunn/M Bate/J Bennell/S Buckley/J McKenzie

10. Jack Trengove

11. Tom Scully

12. Sam Blease

13. James Strauss

14. Pick 11/18