The fact is - if anyone in the media actually knew that the MFC was tracking Gysberts as a potential first rounder, his name would've been all over this site and no one would've been surprised at hearing his name called out at number 11.

The MFC seemingly held its cards very closely to its chest and flew under the radar on him. He's no less of a player as a result - it's just that he didn't get the superficial chat room attention prior to the draft.

Gysberts is obviously a little ripper, and he probably complements the style of our other future elite midfielders, rather than mirrors the style of those others.

Balance is important and he probably adds more to our midfield mix than some of the other names that were bandied about.

I'm going to love watching this team over the next decade.

Nailed it completely IMO.

I was convinced of the need for more mids but was more surprised they didn't take Jetta at 11. But thinking it over, Gysberts is a much better fit - or perhaps it's more appropriate to say that Gysbert's type is a much better fit with our other mids than Jetta's type.

Gysberts is happy & excited to be selected and play with the Demons alongside Scully, Trengove, Tapscott, Gawn, Fitzpatrick and soon to be MacDonald.

That is good enough for me. Who is McLean ?

A team mate of Chris Johnson I believe.

The fact is - if anyone in the media actually knew that the MFC was tracking Gysberts as a potential first rounder, his name would've been all over this site and no one would've been surprised at hearing his name called out at number 11.

The MFC seemingly held its cards very closely to its chest and flew under the radar on him. He's no less of a player as a result - it's just that he didn't get the superficial chat room attention prior to the draft.

Nailed it, 100%. Good post.

Haha he's been at the club for how long? take a chill pill..

What a first post that is *clap clap clap*

I find it amusing that posters are get so excited by a raw prospect that is a 188-190cm midfielder/fwd. He may be fantastic but we have a couple already that I rate including a hard-bodied experienced Lynden Dunn. People don't say the same things about Dunny!

Dunny has done some terrific tagging roles as well. It seems to me the coaching staff are playing him all over the place when most of us think he should play fwd.

It must be 'newer is better' or something!

Haha he's been at the club for how long? take a chill pill..

What a first post that is *clap clap clap*

Mate, you've stolen my avatar.

Mate, you've stolen my avatar.

holy crap, i just got a msg saying some one was already using ron burgundy...now ive stolen your avatar too?...im really sorry haha ill change that too

jnrmac, Gysberts is a different style of player to Dunn. It's like one of Freak's arguments about key position players not being 192cm because that's too small (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary).

jnrmac, Gysberts is a different style of player to Dunn. It's like one of Freak's arguments about key position players not being 192cm because that's too small (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary).

Thank god Gysberts is 190cm.

I find it amusing that posters are get so excited by a raw prospect that is a 188-190cm midfielder/fwd. He may be fantastic but we have a couple already that I rate including a hard-bodied experienced Lynden Dunn. People don't say the same things about Dunny!

Dunny has done some terrific tagging roles as well. It seems to me the coaching staff are playing him all over the place when most of us think he should play fwd.

It must be 'newer is better' or something!

Mate, it's not that. The recruiting staff are pumped on this one. Heard it from one of our recruiters at the MoM night. I love Dunny, and hope he makes it, but this kid might be a step above. Time will tell. I can't give more detail than that... I could [censored] it, but that's not very useful. Just talking to the staff about him, I got the strong sense that they were very happy with themselves over this pick. Melshim was the other choice, but the staff didn't elaborate either before or after pick 11 was read out who they preferred.

So kick back mate, the future is rosy. The only real sport in this from now on is to see just how long it takes for us to dominate, rather than if!

Mate, it's not that. The recruiting staff are pumped on this one. Heard it from one of our recruiters at the MoM night. I love Dunny, and hope he makes it, but this kid might be a step above. Time will tell. I can't give more detail than that... I could [censored] it, but that's not very useful. Just talking to the staff about him, I got the strong sense that they were very happy with themselves over this pick. Melshim was the other choice, but the staff didn't elaborate either before or after pick 11 was read out who they preferred.

So kick back mate, the future is rosy. The only real sport in this from now on is to see just how long it takes for us to dominate, rather than if!

Might be a step above Dunn????!!!! ID F**KIN HOPE SO!

If he can run at a decent speed and can turn quicker than the Queen Mary, then yes - he is worth it!

He seems a similar type to Joel Corey and Corey Enright.

Gysberts - 188cm & 83kg. 0 games

Corey - 191cm & 89kg. 199 games.

Enright - 187cm & 91kg. 175 games.

These two guys aren't flashy or fast, yet they are worth their weight in gold to the Geelong lineup.

It's obviously way too early to compare Gysberts with McLean, Corey or Enright.

But the deal to trade McLean for Gysberts at pick 11 was clearly much better than St Kilda's management of the Luke Ball trade.

He seems a similar type to Joel Corey and Corey Enright.

Gysberts - 188cm & 83kg. 0 games

Corey - 191cm & 89kg. 199 games.

Enright - 187cm & 91kg. 175 games.

These two guys aren't flashy or fast, yet they are worth their weight in gold to the Geelong lineup.

It's obviously way too early to compare Gysberts with McLean, Corey or Enright.

But the deal to trade McLean for Gysberts at pick 11 was clearly much better than St Kilda's management of the Luke Ball trade.

I think you have hit the mark on what type of player we're looking for him to become; an A grader to support the stars. That is exactly what Joel Corey in particular is.

Mate, it's not that. The recruiting staff are pumped on this one. Heard it from one of our recruiters at the MoM night.

Were they gloomy when we picked up McLean?

I think you have hit the mark on what type of player we're looking for him to become; an A grader to support the stars. That is exactly what Joel Corey in particular is.

interesting comment too because when i heard them call gysberts my thoughts were that they were trying to pick a player who would be a loack to get the 100 games up. there were a couple of players who perhaps were more flashy or looked to do the nice stuff and thus caught the eye and you think 'this player has something special' but then there was gysberts who you think will do a good solid job week in week out, always above par always on the money without being the superstar of the comp.

maybe they feel that he was more likely to be a long term player than some of the others, even if some of the others have a better upside if they come off? sometimes the sure bet is the winning bet.

but fwiw there doesnt seem to be anything wrong with his form or stats or performances except that people didnt really talk about him that much around here...

FCS people a bloke's height is one of a myriad of factors that determine his overall worth. I continue to be completely staggered at how much people crap on over 1 centimetre here and there, when was the last time you looked at a ruler, if you reckon 1 centimetre is important you have rocks in your heads. Now look at 10 cm, that's about the difference between Jones and Gysberts big bloody whoop how much advantage is that really in 120 minutes of football, it might mean there is one or two marking contests for the entire day where Gysberts has a slight advantage and that's it

when you are talking about key position players and ruckmen it's a little different as they spend more time jostling in one on one marking contests but as far as midfielders go, they spend the match wrestling in packs and running their asses off and their height is almost irrelevant

skills, heart, brains, guts these are the attributes that make quality footballers not friggin millimetres

wake up FCS

PS If we hadn't traded McLean we would have had picks 1,2 and 18. They obviously rated Gys highly and they selected at him at 11 before Tapscott. Had they not had pick 11 they would have taken Gysberts at 18 where he definitely would still have been available. So in reality we traded Brock McLean for Luke Tapscott

Were they gloomy when we picked up McLean?

Probably not, but not as happy as those who got pick 11 for him.

FCS people a bloke's height is one of a myriad of factors that determine his overall worth. I continue to be completely staggered at how much people crap on over 1 centimetre here and there, when was the last time you looked at a ruler, if you reckon 1 centimetre is important you have rocks in your heads. Now look at 10 cm, that's about the difference between Jones and Gysberts big bloody whoop how much advantage is that really in 120 minutes of football, it might mean there is one or two marking contests for the entire day where Gysberts has a slight advantage and that's it

when you are talking about key position players and ruckmen it's a little different as they spend more time jostling in one on one marking contests but as far as midfielders go, they spend the match wrestling in packs and running their asses off and their height is almost irrelevant

skills, heart, brains, guts these are the attributes that make quality footballers not friggin millimetres

wake up FCS

PS If we hadn't traded McLean we would have had picks 1,2 and 18. They obviously rated Gys highly and they selected at him at 11 before Tapscott. Had they not had pick 11 they would have taken Gysberts at 18 where he definitely would still have been available. So in reality we traded Brock McLean for Luke Tapscott

Interesting and incorrect take on things.

No one is claiming the Gysberts is significantly superior to a player of 187cm. But at 188cm he does have a significant advantage in the air over a player such as Scully at 182 or Tapscott at 180cm.

May I remind you that "football is a game of inches" and being a few cms taller than your opponent is more likely to help than to hinder you.

That's not to say that skills, heart, brains and guts (which I see as the same as heart) aren't also contributing factors to success as an AFL player, just that he also has height to his advantage.

Don't reduce Gysberts to a player whose only asset is his height - he also posses elite kicking skills, a large engine, football IQ (which is severely underrated) and an ability to win the hard-ball.

PS Your claim that Gysberts would still be available at pick 18 is unfounded.

If you're basing it on Big Footy phantom drafts then you're beyond help on this issue...

If we hadn't traded McLean we would have had picks 1,2 and 18. They obviously rated Gys highly and they selected at him at 11 before Tapscott. Had they not had pick 11 they would have taken Gysberts at 18 where he definitely would still have been available. So in reality we traded Brock McLean for Luke Tapscott

The thing is, Brock, just like Robbie Warnock, Juddy and' CJ all decided to play for Carlton.

Gys and Tapscott are welcome additions to our club

If we hadn't traded McLean we would have had picks 1,2 and 18. They obviously rated Gys highly and they selected at him at 11 before Tapscott. Had they not had pick 11 they would have taken Gysberts at 18 where he definitely would still have been available. So in reality we traded Brock McLean for Luke Tapscott

Like Curry & Beer, both of you don't know that.

The only thing we got for Brock McLean is pick 11.

Not sure he agrees with that sentiment HT; merely his quoting skills need a bit o work...

Interesting and incorrect take on things.

No one is claiming the Gysberts is significantly superior to a player of 187cm. But at 188cm he does have a significant advantage in the air over a player such as Scully at 182 or Tapscott at 180cm.

May I remind you that "football is a game of inches" and being a few cms taller than your opponent is more likely to help than to hinder you.

That's not to say that skills, heart, brains and guts (which I see as the same as heart) aren't also contributing factors to success as an AFL player, just that he also has height to his advantage.

Don't reduce Gysberts to a player whose only asset is his height - he also posses elite kicking skills, a large engine, football IQ (which is severely underrated) and an ability to win the hard-ball.

PS Your claim that Gysberts would still be available at pick 18 is unfounded.

If you're basing it on Big Footy phantom drafts then you're beyond help on this issue...

If you have a biro in your field of vision, 6 cm is half of that. It's about the size of your car key. You think that gives you a 'significant advantage' in a game of football? As I said, maybe once or twice in a match in a marking contest you would have a slight advantage, and if either player is in a better position eg on the lead it is totally irrelevant, if the other bloke is better with his body use, his leap, his strength, that advantage is more than nullified.. but people can't glance at a three-digit number quantifying those attributes can they

anyway im just ranting because im sick of reading people's expert opinions on why player x is better than y because of a car key... the same goes for 'gee he runs a fast 3km time trial' yeah well that's all well and good but we are playing football not track and field... and while im at it the same goes for weight/bulk... Paul Johnson is a monster of a man but is about one tenth of the player Morton or Jurrah are, even in contested marking situations where supposedly it is so critical to weigh a billion kilos, and they are the skinniest blokes in the side - it's because they actually have the ability to play football and it is not their athletic qualities that define them... Morton's endurance and Jurrah's leap are assets but they aren't the same as their height and weight in that quantifiable way and if they didn't have skill/brains to go with it they would be useless, see nearly every big bloke we have recruited in the last decade for examples, or take a look at S.Buckley or Bail for blokes who are there for their running ability but little else. Maybe if so much credence wasn't given to these numbers we wouldn't see so many sub-par footballers out there and we would recruit blokes who may be shorter/skinnier/slower but can actually PLAY. It's great that we have just focused our energies on getting athletic types for 3 drafts but they better be able to play too. At the end of the day it's about how you influence a match when you are out there with 43 other blokes. James McDonald has been one our most important players for a decade and he would probably not get a look in today because he doesn't run a 50 beep or big vertical leap and is not tall or bulky he just knows how to impact a match of football. Bottom line, if you wanted to assess a player you'd have to make a list of about 25 factors and height would be just one of them and a far less important one than many others

/end crazy rant!

PS On Gys, I'm basing it on the fact I didn't see any media or supporter predictions/assessments that him in the top 20. Don't pretend you know any better than me on this, I don't claim to be an expert but clearly my statement is probably right based on secondhand impressions in that picks 11-17 would have been someone other than he but there is no use arguing something like that.. i'm certainly not slagging the bloke off in any way, i'm just saying that if you apply logic its more likely the Brock McLean situation has netted us Tapscott, not Gysberts. Last year you couldnt say the same for Johnstone/Grimes/Maric because Maric wasn't a gem that happened to be untaken at 21 and there was no way Grimes would have been there at 21 we were lucky he was there at 14, the situation was the other way around to this year

/end 2nd crazy rant!!

6.25cm is 2.5 inches. I think that is a significant advantage in aerial contests.

May I also point out that often increased height also comes with an even greater reach advantage.

Your theory on Brock getting us Tapscott is still unfounded, as is your assumption Gysberts would have still been available.

Some experts said Gysberts would not have got past Sydney, but in the event that he did there was no chance he'd get past Geelong.

My Carlton sources tell me that Brock is absolutely training the house down and beating Judd in all of the long runs. They say he looks fit and refreshed and heading for a big season.

Of course, he has several years of development over Gysberts so the answer to this riddle is still a long way off.