If anyone wants a very clear explanation of the balance between needs and best available, just listen to Dean Bailey and Barry Prendergast's interviews of melbournefc.com.au.

They both made it clear that had a better player fallen to our pick, they did have the flexibility to go with a midfielder or a flanker... however this draft had good depth for talls, and we needed talls, so we were able to balance needs without compromising best available.

For the record, Bailey confirmed they had knowledge that Howe would NOT be available at pick 50, and Prendergast confirmed that another recruiter told him straight after the draft they were waiting for Cook only a few places after our pick, so he definitely woudln't have been available at 33.

Links are now on youtube..

Interesting stuff!

Happy players on the day after draft night: Jones, Bartram, Maric, Macdonald, Jetta, Bennell, Bail, Blease, Strauss

Nervous players on the day after draft night: Warnock, Bate, Dunn, Newton, Martin

Watts and Jurrah may have been happy to have some help up forward also.

Happy players on the day after draft night: Jones, Bartram, Maric, Macdonald, Jetta, Bennell, Bail, Blease, Strauss

Nervous players on the day after draft night: Warnock, Bate, Dunn, Newton, Martin

Yeah, but Howe will be the only one near the 22 to make them nervous.

I would like to see Cook groomed for the 'FF/FP & back-up ruck' position so Spencer should be the nervous one, but not for a couple of years.

Davis and McDonald are as threatening as puppies...

So Dunn and Bate should be nervous and Newton should be wrist deep, crying into his KFC bucket...

Nervous players on the day after draft night: Warnock, Bate, Dunn, Newton, Martin

Bate is the one who I most agree on. Picking 3 tall forwards, considering we already have Watts, Jurrah, Pettard, Dunn etc... and the fact he really trailed off towards the end of the season... he will really need to lift next year. I've always been a Bate fan, I think he just needs a full pre-season and continuity, but he really needs to pull his finger out

Don'e agree with Dunn. He found a niche this season and is now structurally important part of our forward line.

Good post Sylv, don't disagree with any of it.

I think Bate suffers from his lack of agility, which severely hampers his ability to apply defensive pressure in the forward line.

The rest of his game needs to be exceptional to compensate for it.

I worry about his place in the side, cos I have a soft spot for the big ranga.

Good post Sylv, don't disagree with any of it.

I think Bate suffers from his lack of agility, which severely hampers his ability to apply defensive pressure in the forward line.

The rest of his game needs to be exceptional to compensate for it.

I worry about his place in the side, cos I have a soft spot for the big ranga.

+1

Good post Sylv, don't disagree with any of it.

I think Bate suffers from his lack of agility, which severely hampers his ability to apply defensive pressure in the forward line.

The rest of his game needs to be exceptional to compensate for it.

I worry about his place in the side, cos I have a soft spot for the big ranga.

Agree on Bate but the blindspot that fans have developed around Dunn is staggering.

He played well for half a season. And played about 5 good games.

That's his whole career.

If I were to judge careers, if not the chances of being in the best 22, Bate beats Dunn hands down.

They both have a lot of work to do.

We'll see...

Agree on Bate but the blindspot that fans have developed around Dunn is staggering.

He played well for half a season. And played about 5 good games.

That's his whole career.

If I were to judge careers, if not the chances of being in the best 22, Bate beats Dunn hands down.

They both have a lot of work to do.

We'll see...

I think Bate's career thus far has been underrated... I agree with you he's done more than Dunn thus far.

However Dunn played more than 5 good games last season. Even the games in which he didn't have high stats, he played some terrific roles as a defensive forward, shutting down some awesome rebounding defenders. That role doesn't win a lot of plaudits or statistics, but if played well can be one of the most important roles played in the team. To me the fact that Dunn also has outstanding goal sense is just icing on the cake.

By the way, imo, the problem with Bate is that he hasn't had a full season for a while, and unlike some other players, when Bate gets injured he often takes 3-4 matches at least to get his mojo back. Some regular intervals over the last couple of years have really set him back, but if he had a full pre-season and played 22 games I believe he can be a terrific player

Agree on Bate but the blindspot that fans have developed around Dunn is staggering.

He played well for half a season. And played about 5 good games.

That's his whole career.

If I were to judge careers, if not the chances of being in the best 22, Bate beats Dunn hands down.

They both have a lot of work to do.

We'll see...

Bate has done more over time, but I completely disagree that all Dunn has ever achieved is 5 good games last year.

He really turned the corner at the end of 2009 and I remember being very excited for his 2010, not to mention being surprised when he had a slow start to the season.

If anything I think people have blinkers on when it comes to Petterd.

He played a few good games at the start of the year, but due to injury, had less impact than Dunn.

Before he emerged against the pies, there was a fair bit of criticism of him being played up forward and uncertainty over where he actually belonged on the field.

Dunn is our primary defensive forward.

It seems to escape people that Petterd is only 185cm opposed to Dunn at 192cm.

It seems to escape people that Petterd is only 185cm opposed to Dunn at 192cm.

And yet who plays taller?

As Paul Johnson can attest - it's not enough to have the extra inches, you have to know how to use them.

You know what I mean.

Edited November 22, 201014 yr by rpfc

And yet who plays taller?

As Paul Johnson can attest - it's not enough to have the extra inches, you have to know how to use them.

You know what I mean.

Agreed.

and yes, us smaller men need hold on to this as truth.

I know what you mean, but I still believe Dunn is our primary defensive forward over Ricky P.

If its a choice between Petterd ( fit ) and Dunn id choose Petterd any day. Just plays with far more aplomb and strikes me as having more strings to his bow. He doesnt fade in or out either. Dunn gets lost at times ( a worry ) . His game has improved , going by latter of last year but its still not an A game..

Going to be interesting to see how the fight goes for forward possies from here on in.