At ground now. On way home. Can see jack out there. Geez it is free flowing and attacking. V different to afl zones etc.

yea they were saying on commentry that they dont do zones and players dont get tagged all clubs agreed to it as its supposed to show off all tallent gives all players a fair go

hahahaha was a little fight on the wing and viney just destroyed someones shirt ripped it 2 shreds

Did a nice side step and long kick, that was a little too long.

He nearly just "killed" some bloke.

At ground now. On way home. Can see jack out there. Geez it is free flowing and attacking. V different to afl zones etc.

Viney attacks the ball like a bull terrier. Just cleaned up a vic country opponent with a fierce attack on the ball. Heard bodies collide from the stands. Playing up forqard this last quarter though and ball not really going through him much since I've been here.

Is Patton dominating? Played on him through juniors. Absolute freak.

Watched the game on the idiot box.

Viney didn't get a great deal of the ball (maybe 12-13 possies), but from what I can gather he spent a lot of time on the bench.

What I liked most about him, is the mongrel he showed. Starting melees, cleaning blokes up, pushing and shoving at every opportunity, and going in hard. The guy has a touch of harmichael about him and we need these types wearing red and blue.

Is Patton dominating? Played on him through juniors. Absolute freak.

Played pretty well. Way too big and strong. Kicking for goal was woeful from him though.

Loved the look of Dom Tyson. I'm no expert on underage footy, and this was the first time I saw the 2011 crop in action, but gee I could find a place for a classy left-footer like him any day of the week.

Someone needs to get some of his footage onto youtube...

Watched the game on the idiot box.

Viney didn't get a great deal of the ball (maybe 12-13 possies), but from what I can gather he spent a lot of time on the bench.

What I liked most about him, is the mongrel he showed. Starting melees, cleaning blokes up, pushing and shoving at every opportunity, and going in hard. The guy has a touch of harmichael about him and we need these types wearing red and blue.

Lets not forget he still has 12 months more development in him. Kid at 16 with a very bright future ... I hope.

Lets not forget he still has 12 months more development in him. Kid at 16 with a very bright future ... I hope.

More like 20+ months... until this time next year, plus a couple of months before the draft, then the whole post-draft preseason with us. Niiice.

That was my first look at the kid, impressed me with his attack on the ball and man. Has good hands, good clearance work. For an underage player he's had a great championship. Could do with some more height and pace over time.

I dont think that Chad Wingard is playing??? SA captain, must have been some sort of tackle by our boy haha, loving this

he isnt on the stats sheet on the afl website

I dont think that Chad Wingard is playing??? SA captain, must have been some sort of tackle by our boy haha, loving this

he isnt on the stats sheet on the afl website

I've just left Etihad and just watched Jack Viney play in the opening match. Fair game tonight but still good enough to get into All Australian team based on previous games. At this stage smaller than his old man, built like him though and faster. Good crumber and gee he hits hard. Kicking ok. Missed an easy goal tonight.

Quality of game was appalling and the second game was worse. Wingard didn't play. Rogers,No 12 was SA captain. I left the game and was talking to a couple of Demonlanders at the game and we agreed - weakest championship in many years. A few quality but depth very, very weak. Patton will be a superstar. Kennedy who played in the midfield with Viney was also very good.

WJ - a wise move staying away - ruddy cold joint.

I'm no expert at analysing Under 18s games, but Viney to me had a decent game tonight, not great. Was my first look at him, and he's as short as I expected, but reasonable playing weight for that size (one of the Metro kids was listed at 66kgs!).

He seemed to spend the start of the quarters on the ball, then after 10 or 12 he'd head to the forward line for a couple of minutes and then to the bench for the last few minutes, it was the same flow every quarter. Plenty of hard ball gets in the centre, he was often to be found on the bottom of a pack. Missed a gettable goal in the second quarter from a set shot (but wasn't alone in that regard tonight). Absolutely crunched a Country opponent in a dive for a loose ball, forcing his opponent off the ground the worst for wear. Young Jack dusted himself off and ran off unpeturbed.

And in a scuffle involving 6 or 8 players later in the game he was the main man in the middle of it all.

Kicked at least one that I saw quite comfortably on his right foot to a teammate so opposite side of the body doesn't seem a huge weakness. Only knock is he didn't do a lot of gut running through the middle when his team was in posession wide on the wings and he was relatively unmarked in the middle, although it was probably due to the nature of the contest of the kids taking the ball and wanting to run and run and link wide.

Metro dominated the tempo and patterns of this game. I guess at this stage Viney reminds me of Luke Power with his stubby legs, left foot style and in and under fondness.

As for the others playing, Patton was the obvious standout he took at least half a dozen contested marks inside 50, seems to have nice soft hands.

Hooked at least three of his set shots to the right so will need to work on his kicking action.

Other Metros to impress were: Toby Greene (another small onballer), Matthew Haynes, WIll Hoskin-Elliott (albeit let down by a couple of turnovers), Jackson Paine (another KP Forward), Dom Tyson and Brandon Ellis for his run out of defence.

Not many standouts for Country, although Lachie Whitfield stood out as expected.

Spotted Jack Trengove and Tapscott in the crowd having a chat to Peter Rohde, while it seems almost every person around us in the crowd had a laptop and/or ipad taking notes.

Didn't stick around for the second game but it was good to get an early glimpse at one of our future stars...

PS. Poor form by the Etihad staffers at the door, despite it being free entry tonight and there being only two food stalls open on the entire top level, they were still preventing people from bringing their Nandos in from across the walkway. The sheer greed and self serving of this stadium never fails to amaze me ...

And Demon Dave you forgot to add - just one gate was open to get in and it was never stated in any pre match info...Poor form Etihad.

And Demon Dave you forgot to add - just one gate was open to get in and it was never stated in any pre match info...Poor form Etihad.

Free entry, I'm pretty impressed that Etihad managed to have one gate open!

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I've just left Etihad and just watched Jack Viney play in the opening match. Fair game tonight but still good enough to get into All Australian team based on previous games. At this stage smaller than his old man, built like him though and faster. Good crumber and gee he hits hard. Kicking ok. Missed an easy goal tonight.

Quality of game was appalling and the second game was worse. Wingard didn't play. Rogers,No 12 was SA captain. I left the game and was talking to a couple of Demonlanders at the game and we agreed - weakest championship in many years. A few quality but depth very, very weak. Patton will be a superstar. Kennedy who played in the midfield with Viney was also very good.

WJ - a wise move staying away - ruddy cold joint.

Yes. Happy to be in the warmth of home and watching it in my own good time.

Agree that the standard is nowhere near as high as, e.g 2008 with Watts, Naitanui, Rich, Scully and numerous others.

Patton was a standout apart from his kicking for goal and I do think Billy Longer will be an acquisition for some club (probably GWS). Whitfield of Vic Country looks a future star and leading contender for #1 pick in the 2012 draft if the AFL don't conjure up a way to gift him to GWS in the meantime.

Couldn't help but be impressed by Dom Tyson, Will Hoskin-Elliott (a Demon name if there ever was one) and Toby Greene. Jack Viney didn't star tonight but you can tell he has quality about him and with his schoolmates Trengove and Tapscott and Jordie Mac in the side I somehow doubt if many MFC games in the next decade are going to be bruise free.

Dom Tyson - oh parents can be so cruel with the names they give their children.

Dom Tyson - oh parents can be so cruel with the names they give their children.

Yeah, they should've called him Mike.

And Demon Dave you forgot to add - just one gate was open to get in and it was never stated in any pre match info...Poor form Etihad.

I did read somewhere that only Gate 2 was open so I lucked out...

In another telling stat on the night, Brendan Lade ordered 6 hot dogs in the food queue in front of me...

More like 20+ months... until this time next year, plus a couple of months before the draft, then the whole post-draft preseason with us. Niiice.

Even better you beauty. Cant wait. I'm going to be watching next years U18 with real enthusiasm.

Agree that the standard is nowhere near as high as, e.g 2008 with Watts, Naitanui, Rich, Scully and numerous others.

Interesting hope a few around here take note of your comments.

I agree that tThe standard wasn't great compared to previous years, but on Patton the kid is a giant at this level. Will be interesting to see how he goes with the transition to AFL, could be another Tomahawk? He's not going to have the height/size advantage playing at the top level.

I agree that tThe standard wasn't great compared to previous years, but on Patton the kid is a giant at this level. Will be interesting to see how he goes with the transition to AFL, could be another Tomahawk? He's not going to have the height/size advantage playing at the top level.

Interesting call .. if you are right ... not a good sign for a kid that is touted as Number 1 pick.