The Herald Sun has run with a sensationalist angle? NO WAY!

That said, I think some are underestimating the impact of these massive salary cap, recruitment and draft concessions.

Of course there's an impact but it wont be the world ending meteor that the doomsdayers predict. whatyou will see is a change in the way the savvy teams go about recruiting talent. Many kids who wouldnt have had a look in will now come into play. Many players who thought the bus had eft will enter AFL as a more mature recruit. They will be ready made players compared to the kids who need 2-3 years to come good etc. Expect to see more experimenting with international rookies.

we are about to witness a revolution in the make up of this game. The MFC is well placed to survive..others who cant get up to speed with lateral recruiting will indeed find the going a slog.

such is life

Doesn't mean they will get their picks right. In 2006 they could have got:

1 4 Matthew Leuenberger East Perth Football Club Brisbane Lions

1 6 Mitchell Thorp Tassie Mariners Hawthorn

1 8 Ben Reid Murray Bushrangers Collingwood

1 15 Daniel O'Keefe Geelong Falcons Sydney

2 19 Shaun Grigg North Ballarat Rebels Carlton

2 20 Tom Hislop Tassie Mariners Essendon

And from the 2005 Rookie Draft

1 1 Ryan Jackson Northern Knights Carlton

3 Luke McEntee North Adelaide Hawthorn

1 4 Lachlan McKinnon Calder Cannons Essendon

1 6 Jason Roe North Adelaide Brisbane Lions

1 8 Tom Davidson Collingwood Western Bulldogs

1 9 Jace Bode Sturt Melbourne

Hardly a Premiership winning list!

Just out of interest, this would be the team that would be starting to win premierships this year, using the 2005 Rookie Draft and 2006 National Draft as this is the equivalent draft. This was considered a "superdraft" at the time. For the zone selections, I simply selected the next best player from each zone that was not already selected. I did not include potential 17 years olds drafted from 2005 because many would have opted not to join GC and more importantly, I could not be bothered checking their ages B)

2005 Rookie Draft

1: Ryan Jackson

2: Alan Toovey

3: Luke McEntee

4: Lachlan McKinnon

5: Angus Graham

2006 National Draft

1: Bryce Gibbs

2: Scott Gumbleton

3: Lachlan Hansen

5: Travis Boak

7: Joel Selwood

9: David Armitage

11: Andrejs Everitt

13: Jack Reiwoldt

15: Daniel O'Keefe

26: Shane Edwards

43: Tim Houlihan

60: Carl Peterson

2006 Rookie Draft

1: Sam Jacobs

2006 National Draft - 5 QLD, 3 NT zone selections

[QLD]: Shaun Hampson

[QLD]: Gavin Urquhart

[QLD]: Albert Proud

[QLD]: Brent Renouf

[QLD]: Ricky Petterd

[NT]: Nathan Djerrkura

[NT]: Joe Anderson

[NT]: ??? (Couldn't find another in that draft)

Given there isn't a great deal of talent in the GC team this year, this would make the crux of the team, prior to players drafted from current teams. I don't see that as a team that will win 5/10 premierships...

Interesting thanks for that!

I'm still happy with the direction the MFC is heading, they have been planning for GWS and the Gold Coast drafts since everything has unfolded. If we can keep this list Healthy, fit and together we will have great success.

These 17 year olds are prone to the same pressures of all drafted footballers. They could get hurt, fall in with the wrong crowd, or just simply won't cut the pace/skill of the AFL.

There are no guarantees even with top picks. Sure, it takes some of the guess work out of it, but the truth is there is no such thing as a dead certainty from the draft board to your list.

It will be hard to develop the list when you only have 22 senior spots to do so. Doing it over years sees you guys develop in stages. Trying to develop a bunch of 17/18yos at the same time would be a mammoth task. Don't be surprised if some of these draftees move to another club for more opportunities!

Both sides will be competitive, and will play finals footy. But suggesting the next 10 flags?? Not going to happen.

That said, I think some are underestimating the impact of these massive salary cap, recruitment and draft concessions.

Who are underestimating ?

No doubt it's a free kick and 50metre penalty, lining up directly in front of goal. But seriously, I think Rendell is overestimating the impact.

I was just thinking (dangerous, I know), but I haven't noticed anyone else put forward this thought, so... wouldn't the fact that GC and GWS are going to be recruiting across a wide range of positions mean that there is a good chance that there will still be top ten picks up for grabs? For example, if the draft was top heavy with mid-fielders and there were a couple of likely other KPPs (forwards, backs, rucks etc) in the 10 - 30 range, they are unlikely to be just grabbing the first 10 draftees to come along... so depending on what positions we (and others) are looking to fill, it may not be all doom and gloom.

Just a thought.

Edited June 11, 201015 yr by hardtack

Yep, been considered. I think.

It occurred to me anyway.

I think the draft is top heavy with KPP and ruckmen, but don't quote me on it.

Considering a decent team needs about 12 players to rotate through the midfield, we may end up with a chance to snatch a decent KPP prospect with our pick.

Others have mentioned the likely types. Sam Day is a freak, but while we'll never get him, it gives us a chance to snare someone like Darling.

Fingers crossed.

I'd always go for best available in the first round, but ideally with Viney coming in to top up our mids, we'd hope to get a decent tall.

With Careful & shrewd planning i still think good recruiting can & i hope will occur.

Margin for error will increase i am sure, but like any job the MFC can still recruit good players, as long as our top line players do not leave for better offers.

The Big unknown at this stage is how much trading these new teams will be involved in.

I doubt they will keep everyone they recruit.

The Job that BP and his team have will become more accountable but i don't think the sky is about to fall in on the MFC.

I would love to hear what Cameron Schwab & Jimmy think in terms of our position going forward, at this stage i put my trust in them to have thought it all through as much as is possible.