NOW THAT IT'S OVER ... (revived thread from 2009)

[Parma 28]

Rapt to hear their names finally,

Whose next?

[RalphiusMaximus 6,000]

Now that the draft is finally over, what are your impressions of the players we picked up? Did we get any bargains? Anyone you're upset over?

I'm obviously happy with 1 and 2, as I assume everyone else is as well.

Gysberts is a huge surprise to me. I was expecting 11 to be used on one of the better talls in the draft, but it's obviously been decided that we don't need more height in the forward line. Perhaps they plan on rotating the rucks through there or using Martin/Garland in the role.

I'm a little surprised that Tapscott got to 18. He seemed to be very highly rated. I'm not entirely convinced we need him, but it can never hurt to have skillful players able to score goals.

I'm a little surprised that Gawn slipped to 34, and thrilled to get him at that number.

I'm amazed that Fitzpatrick lasted until 50. At the very least I expected Freo to take him at 48/49 given that they have little depth in the ruck. I think he may well prove to be the steal of the draft provided his CFS can be controlled.

Overall I'm not 100% thrilled with the direction we took. I would have liked Black of Talia, but the guys we took at 11 and 18 are quality and you can't complain about that. The two rucks we got are great value and should be very handy in a few years.

[Jaded No More 60,004]

Get back to me in 2014

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Absolutely stoked the only change I would have made was Lucas for Gysberts in the first 4 and the fact we took 2 Ruckmen with our final selections is probably a good thing. Scully, Trengove and Tapscott will be stars, don't know enough about Gysberts.

Disappointed we didn't take Grimes and thought Panos would have been worth a pick at 50 but I can live with that.

[Diablo Deemon 220]

Surprised by Gysberts but it seems the football department is working in the Cats

mould of you can't have enough midfielders I was surprised Talia went all the way to adelaide

Tapscott I hope he wasn't recruited so that Trengove has a friend and it's on his ability alone

Missed out Patrick and Taylor which is a surprise I thought we would of taken one of them

Finally surprised we didn't draft Grimes Jnr

Edited November 26, 2009 by Diablo Deemon

[sylvinator 96]

Overall happy-

4 quality mids- Scully, Trengove, Gysberts and Tapscott

2 ruckman- Gawn, Fitzpatrick

Doesn't look like we overpaid for anyone, although I would like to know more about Gysberts.

Happy that it looks like we went best available for pick 1,2,11,18.

Biggest surprise to me is that we didn't go any key position forwards (although Fitzpatrick apparently can play forward/ruck). They are putting a HUGE amount of faith in Watts, Jurrah and Bate.

Our midfield will be A-class in a couple of years

[DeeSpencer 23,648]

In regard to Talia by all the way to Adelaide you mean we passed on him and Carlton passed on him. He didn't get far! I have a feeling if we went for Lucas then Carlton would have snapped him up, but just like us they found the midfielder too promising.

First 4 we took the best available, there is no denying that. We will see how good those selections are in years to come.

We needed a ruckmen, we went with Gawn, we got him at a good pick.

Pick 50 - no doubt we probably would have like the big forward to slip. I feel we must have deliberated hard on Troy Taylor, in the end we went with Fitzpatrick who has the athleticism to be a very good player forward or in the ruck. If we hadn't heard of this guy and he didn't look like such a dopey clown then I bet we would have been over the moon.

Edited November 26, 2009 by the master

[Carlos Danger 380]

A little surprised we went for 4 midfielders and 2 ruckmen, then a defender in MacDonald in the PSD. As far I can tell I figured we needed another forward. Tapscott and Trengove seem somewhat flexible in rotating between the midfield and forward line, but the others seem type-cast for position. This might be a really good thing though, maybe freeing up the likes of Green, Davey, Jetta and Bruce from the midfield to really do something up forward on a weekly basis. Only time will tell I guess.

[Bang Bang Bang 5,608]

Will be interesting to compare Gysbert's career with McLean's, and Tapscott's with Ball's in many years time.

I think we did OK. Scully and Trengove were no brainers... Gysberts was a massive shock but I'm glad we went for what I assume to be best available over a Talia/Black type just for the sake of picking a tall.

Tapscott, from what I've seen, is a Shannon Hurn type player, strongly built and kicks like a mule. I reckon he will be a beauty.

Gawn at 34. At his size he'd have to be a complete unco not to at least be servicable. I suspect he'll end up somewhere in between Peter Street who was a total spud and Aaron Sandilands who is in the AFL's elite.

Fitzpatrick at 50. Can't say I was too pleased with this selection. Would have much preferred Taylor. Fitzpatrick is built like Cale Morton and cannot kick, but I guess at pick 50 you can't expect superstars to still be around.

* Keep in mind that my knowledge is based on a couple of championship games on Fox and YouTube clips so please take all with a grain of salt.

[hillie 41]

fitzpatrick? reckon they must think they can turn him into a full forward. i don't understand when taylor had also slipped. no black or talia and no jurrah mark II. left a little disappointed in that we still have that hole inthe forward line. it puts a lot of pressure on watts

[jnrmac 19,505]

Tapscott will be a gun going by his UTube footage.

Cross between Riccuito and Rich. Outstanding kick.

[drdrake 3,061]

Very happy, the 4 midfielders we got look good all different types then we get a giant to hopefully get them first use of the footy followed by a forward/Ruckman, I stated this early I thought Fitzy would be coming to us, Bailey has shown over the past two seasons he likes to have his second ruckman play as a tall forward instead of sitting on the bench.

I tell you what, if you are a midfielder you want to be playing good footy or else you will be playing at Casey the competition for a spot is great for our club.

[The Big Ticket 94]

fitzpatrick? reckon they must think they can turn him into a full forward. i don't understand when taylor had also slipped. no black or talia and no jurrah mark II. left a little disappointed in that we still have that hole inthe forward line. it puts a lot of pressure on watts

I don't think it puts pressure on Watts. We're building a small, mobile forward line - similar to the Bulldogs.

Agree with the point about Fitzpatrick.

[Swampfox 190]

This year i think we made some wise choices

Scully and Trengove would have been picked by anyone in our position

Dont know alot about Gysberts to comment but you cant go wrong picking a midfielder with talent

Expected Talia or even Carlisle but our Footy Department should know all the players this early in the draft

Wrapped we got Tapscott and i think he is our Trojan Horse

We had to get some Talls and nothing wrong with picking the Tallest in Gawn

I looked at all the Rucks and to be honest there wasnt a standout as its typical of ruckman not to show their worth later than everyone else

I would have though we would have Vardy in our sights next except Geelong got in before us so settled for Fitzpatrick

Biggest suprise for me in this Draft was nobody picked up Mathew Panos

Happy for Ball and Simon Buckley

Not surprised Robbo missed out

Grimes , Patrick and even Daw i expect to be Rookied but unfortunatley we have no more room

[ickey_11 145]

We're building a small, mobile forward line - similar to the Bulldogs.

I don't believe so; next year Melbourne will play Watts, Garland, Martin, Bate, Miller, Jamar and Jurrah forward at times. I don't think that their ready to give up on Newton either.

Edited November 26, 2009 by ickey_11

[Roost It 1,434]

I don't think it puts pressure on Watts. We're building a small, mobile forward line - similar to the Bulldogs.

Agree with the point about Fitzpatrick.

With Watts, Jurrah, Bate, Fitzpatrick, Morton and the likes of Sylvia, Davey, Trengove, Jetta, Martin involved as well it will be nothing like the Bulldogs.

[The Chazz 4,077]

Ok, a couple of things...

Our forward line is far from small, so DON'T put Garland there to fill a hole. He has played great footy for us as a defender, let's just hope he recovers from his injuries and actually plays at the top level again.

Now, in regards to our picks tonight;

* While we all have our favourite nominee's, and it's not possible to select everyone's preferred picks, don't forget 1 thing, BP is far more experienced in this field than any of us. While it's an open forum to voice your own opinion, there is personnel at the Club that get paid to do this stuff.

* Because of my above point, has anyone that is whinging about us taking no dedicated KPF stopped to think that maybe the ones available were no bloody good? Obviously they don't have as much potential as the mids that we selected, so instead of carrying on about us needing a KPF, how about you be thankful that the Club kept cool heads by selecting the best available player, rather than picking for a need. Obviously we need a top KPF, but if there is none there, WHY PICK ONE???

* I am stoked with the picks. As I have mentioned before, it is very difficult for a team to get more than 1 star per draft (when was our last one?), so the fact that we may have 2 this year in Scully and Trengove, as well as Watts last year, I was always going to be open minded with picks 11, 18, 34 and 51. It's far from the class of 2001, actually, this years draft, outside the top 2, will more than likely prove to be a terrible draft.

* The choice of picking 2 rucks is great. By the time they both develop, we will have limited ruck stocks. I think to some degree it proves the Club may feel the same about Spencer as I do. I am hopeful that Gawn can turn out to be that ruckman that can be very competitive and win his share of the taps for this midfield we have got.

* I think this year's draft showed just how little depth there was. Guys like Vardy were picked up at 30+, Patrick and Grimes weren't picked up at all. Outside the top 8, the selections were a lottery, this is because the pool seriously lacked depth. Players that the experts and us were expecting to go top 20 or so, actually went lower (eg. T Taylor).

As I said, I'm stoked that we got Scully and Trengove (although we have known this for ages now). I have complete faith in BP's other decisions, and while I'd like to have seen Ball come to us, I'm not going to sit and whinge that he didn't (unlike other posters that didn't get "what they wanted for Christmas"!!!).

Bring on 2010!!!

[IWAP 168]

* Because of my above point, has anyone that is whinging about us taking no dedicated KPF stopped to think that maybe the ones available were no bloody good? Obviously they don't have as much potential as the mids that we selected, so instead of carrying on about us needing a KPF, how about you be thankful that the Club kept cool heads by selecting the best available player, rather than picking for a need. Obviously we need a top KPF, but if there is none there, WHY PICK ONE???

I was really keen to get a key forward with pick 11 and 18. But i reckon Carlton are more in need of one than us, and they also passed on Talia and Black.

[Sir Why You Little 35,321]

I'm Stoked that we got 4 class Midfielders to run around the MCG.

Now Go for it Bails, Coach your ass off with this young talent.

LET'S GO 2010

[dee-luded 2,958]

Ok, a couple of things...

Our forward line is far from small, so DON'T put Garland there to fill a hole. He has played great footy for us as a defender, let's just hope he recovers from his injuries and actually plays at the top level again.

* Because of my above point, has anyone that is whinging about us taking no dedicated KPF stopped to think that maybe the ones available were no bloody good? Obviously they don't have as much potential as the mids that we selected, so instead of carrying on about us needing a KPF, how about you be thankful that the Club kept cool heads by selecting the best available player, rather than picking for a need. Obviously we need a top KPF, but if there is none there, WHY PICK ONE???

Talia was taken by Adelaides first pick, 13, thats high recommendation.

Edited November 26, 2009 by dee-luded

[Adzman 2,086]

Not overly fussed we didn't get a forward. Was at the top of my shopping list until I realized we have one of the best kicks on goal in the AFL that is spending all of his time floating around the ground- Brad Green.

New mids and the additional of MacDonald in the PSD may allow Green Machine to go forward with Watts and Jurrah. I think we all forget how much of a gun Greeny is. The gems of the Draft were Jack+Sculls, so if any of the other pan out then we have done well.

No such thing as a sure thing in football!

[Grand New Flag 3,227]

From our picks I think it is obvious that the plan is to play Green forward much more often. I think he will be a full time forward by mid season 2011.

[Jaded No More 60,004]

Talia was taken by Adelaides first pick, 13, thats high recommendation.

Fergus Watts says hello

[Mousey 47]

I also think Cale will be spend alot of time in the forward line and turn out to be a forward target.

Green and Cale to the forward line in 2010.

[Whispering_Jack 28,118]

Having spent the evening at ground zero - the MoM meeting - I would have to say that all of Melbourne's wishes came true this evening.

Chris Connolly ran the evening as only CC can - with lots of humour mixed in with some very incisive and informative discussion relating to the draft.

First off he made it clear that our first two picks in order were Scully and Trengove - no surprise there.

Then he indicated that with pick 11 it was unlikely that the club was going to take a KPP. The club's recruiters were simply not impressed, with the feeling that John Butcher was the pick of this group but he had some problems with his kicking for goal and field kicking. The club felt Butcher was likely to go to Port Adelaide. He nominated Jordan Gysberts, Jake Melksham and Kane Lucas as the likely selection. He favoured Gysberts and said that the club was very impressed by him and keen to pick him up at this stage of the draft.

Then came one of the highlights of the evening from my point of view. In answer to whether the club would be picking Luke Ball, CC made it very clear that Ball wasn't in the club's plans - there was no place at the club for him. The club had constantly used Ball to highlight the fact that he might have been a leader of the club's extremely young list but it was more with the purpose of ensuring that the public was made aware of how good our youth were. Ball wasn't really a contender.

So who to take at 18? CC came right out with Luke Tapscott. It was either him or Max Gawn. Both were taken by the club, the latter at 34. Even at this stage CC was prepares to suggest the club wanted Jake Fitzgerald at 50 - and it came to pass!