LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT CAT by Whispering Jack

Will Ralston's cruel Tom Scully parody based on the song by Adele, "Someone Like You" has become a You Tube anthem for Demon fans in the post Scully era. There is karma; deep, hurtful bruising followed by healing and closure to a distasteful piece of the club's history. Tanking is dead, the different cat whose arrival promised salvation but delivered nothing is gone, taking the poisoned chalice and his thirty pieces of silver with him to Blacktown and leaving us with two highly inadequate compensation picks given what they cost us.

But catharsis has come. We live, we breath, the air is clean again and we can look for the next different cat without the burdens of the moral dilemmas which we imposed upon ourselves in those dark times as children bawled "their eyes out when Jordan McMahon kicked Richmond's winning goal after the siren while their fathers wore grins from ear to ear." 

Suddenly, less than a week after we waved farewell to young Tom, there is a breath of fresh air rushing through the Melbourne Football Club. The newly appointed coach, Mark Neeld warns that his Demons will be hard to play against and promises to assign his recruiters with the mission of plugging the gaps in the team's requirements.

The club will, of necessity, become more involved in the trades than in previous years, a change mandated by the perceived weakness in the draft pool, the compromised nature of the draft, the selections currently available, the situation of the list and the fact that Scully's departure has left the club with spending money for new players. All of the elements are there for the Demons to become more involved in the trades than they have for years.

The targets are likely to include one of the under 17 mini draft players, a mature, quality midfielder with the ability to win the ball at stoppages and some leadership capability and a tall marking forward.

To achieve this you need both a positive approach and good intelligence. There are some clubs that might need to free up salary cap space, others might have needs where Melbourne has a surplus. Some sacrifices might have to be made because fairytale trades don't just happen. They have to be win/win deals for both sides and this might mean some pain and some angst among supporters.

Neeld comes from Collingwood which has been one of the more daring clubs at trade time. The Demons are not at the same point the Pies were at two years ago but they did well getting Jolly and Ball in the 2009 trades leaving themselves with a first pick in that year's national draft in the 60s. Given that the AFL has given a free rein of this year's draft to Greater Western Sydney and the lack of depth of the pool, a strategy of filling the gaps through trading would appear to be the most productive way to go about things at the present time.

With less than a month left before the trade period which incorporates the mini draft for 17 year olds, it's worth looking at the prime candidates among this young group. There are two of them and the main one is 182cm 75 kg Jaegar O'Meara from Perth who recently booted four goals on debut for his WAFL club.

The AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said of him on the AFL site:

"He is a gifted medium midfielder with breakaway pace and elite endurance. He has averaged 20.6 possessions at 71 per cent efficiency in the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, winning All Australian honours. He was part of the 14th intake in the AIS-AFL Academy."

 

O'Meara is all the rage and he seems to be everyone's favourite but my mail is that, if the main target is a quality player to win the ball out of  the midfield, then the club would do well to focus on a youngster from closer to home in  Brad Crouch who hails from North Ballarat which has become a fertile recruiting ground in recent times. The 184cm, 83kg on baller would feel right at home joining Tom McDonald and Lucas Cook who were drafted from that part of the world last year.

Sheehan says: "He had an outstanding year in the TAC Cup and NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, winning All Australian Honours. Excels with his ball-winning across half back or midfield and makes good decisions with the footy. He was selected in the AIS-AFL Academy 15th intake which comes together this month."

 

Melbourne already has a leading 17 year old prospect in father/son nominee Jack Viney coming on board in 2013. Viney is known for his tough uncompromising style very much in the image of his old man. If the Demons can also snare a 17 year old through the GWS mini draft, they will have two very likely looking young additions to the playing list who fit the bill in the quest to find that Someone Like You. Knowing that they have at least one and possibly two young and different cats in the bag, it will also be easier for them to spurn the draft pool to an extent and to enter the exchange period in a very aggressive frame of mind.

The focus this weekend might be on the AFL's two great preliminary finals but there is also another game in town on Sunday - the TAC Cup Grand Final between the Sandringham Dragons and the Oakleigh Chargers. The Chargers team will have a definite Melbourne flavour with the sons of two football department members on display. Whispering Jack will be there to report on the game.

Yes, its very different Cats all around isnt it. The nature of the pool, its content and structure as well as the climate it exists in are all a bit different. Enter the MFC itself a different beast and becoming more so.

I sense nothing about this years trade and draft will be same ol same ol for our beloved club. Different eyes, different tastes and different outlook all herald a shift in the design and build of the Demons. Some may see it as tweaking but often subtleties affect great change.

I have a feeling that the current sweep through at the Boot end of the Club will provide a less timid approach to our future. Reward often comes from bravery and sometimes the only bravery is to beleive in yourself and your journey. Time to take tomorrow by the scruff of it neck Melbourne. A new era dawns.

WJ, that's a couple of times you have now mentioned Crouch in your mail. I'm taking particular note, including this by you:

To achieve this you need both a positive approach and good intelligence. There are some clubs that might need to free up salary cap space, others might have needs where Melbourne has a surplus. Some sacrifices might have to be made because fairytale trades don't just happen. They have to be win/win deals for both sides and this might mean some pain and some angst among supporters.

Interesting times indeed.

I have an opinion on different cats out there in the wilderness.

With less than a month left before the trade period which incorporates the mini draft for 17 year olds, it's worth looking at the prime candidates among this young group. There are two of them and the main one is 182cm 75 kg Jaegar O'Meara from Perth who starred in last year's WAFL Grand Final booting four goals for WAFL club, Swan Districts

Hate to be podantic but it was Stephen Coniglio who kicked the 4 goals for Swan Districts in that Final and he is in this years draft and will go in top 3 to GWS, he was interviewed on ABC on the weekend and has already had the tour of Breakfast Point.

I think we may head down the Hawthorn line which Pelchen did of recruiting hard players, O'Meara comes with good wraps but well known in WA he not keen to head east so may be a big go home factor for him. If Crouch is what they say he is it may be better targetting him although I would not rule out sorting the O'Meara trade out and swapping it with WCE for Gaff!

The trick with all this me thinks is to draft clever, not necessarily draft obvious.

Im sure Neeld and Harrington have been getting to know each other a bit over the last few days

With less than a month left before the trade period which incorporates the mini draft for 17 year olds, it's worth looking at the prime candidates among this young group. There are two of them and the main one is 182cm 75 kg Jaegar O'Meara from Perth who starred in last year's WAFL Grand Final booting four goals for WAFL club, Swan Districts

Hate to be podantic but it was Stephen Coniglio who kicked the 4 goals for Swan Districts in that Final and he is in this years draft and will go in top 3 to GWS, he was interviewed on ABC on the weekend and has already had the tour of Breakfast Point.

I think we may head down the Hawthorn line which Pelchen did of recruiting hard players, O'Meara comes with good wraps but well known in WA he not keen to head east so may be a big go home factor for him. If Crouch is what they say he is it may be better targetting him although I would not rule out sorting the O'Meara trade out and swapping it with WCE for Gaff!

O'Meara Kicked 4 on debut for WAFL seniors this year i believe may be the slight confusion

With less than a month left before the trade period which incorporates the mini draft for 17 year olds, it's worth looking at the prime candidates among this young group. There are two of them and the main one is 182cm 75 kg Jaegar O'Meara from Perth who starred in last year's WAFL Grand Final booting four goals for WAFL club, Swan Districts

Hate to be podantic but it was Stephen Coniglio who kicked the 4 goals for Swan Districts in that Final and he is in this years draft and will go in top 3 to GWS, he was interviewed on ABC on the weekend and has already had the tour of Breakfast Point.

Oops, my bad.

I'll correct it as soon as I get the chance. O'Meara's apparently just as good as Coniglio so that's the level of esteem in which he's held.

Who's the other MFC FD kid playing in the TAC Cup final?

Also, GO CHARGERS (Not just for Jack, had a few mates go through the Chargers over the years)

Why the hell not?

When I read the title of the thread, I thought you were talking about Bennett Presser.

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=AU#/watch?v=7EChnZTJicw

WJ, that's a couple of times you have now mentioned Crouch in your mail. I'm taking particular note ...

Crouch's Under 18 coach describes him as the "complete package" and my information is that he will become an elite midfielder - North Ballarat midfielder Brad Crouch one of the stars to watch.

I have a feeling about this kid despite the following which might be off-putting for some:-

But Crouch, who is built identical to Brock McLean, would still be ineligible to debut until 2013.

Mind you, that should keep the predators from Carlton away from him !

Crouch's Under 18 coach describes him as the "complete package" and my information is that he will become an elite midfielder - North Ballarat midfielder Brad Crouch one of the stars to watch.

I have a feeling about this kid despite the following which might be off-putting for some:-

Mind you, that should keep the predators from Carlton away from him !

Thanks for that. Looks as though Geelong has another father/son lined up in Jed Bews.

Crouch's Under 18 coach describes him as the "complete package" and my information is that he will become an elite midfielder - North Ballarat midfielder Brad Crouch one of the stars to watch.

I have a feeling about this kid despite the following which might be off-putting for some:-

Mind you, that should keep the predators from Carlton away from him !

I believe Crouch would be a great pick up for us- really shows class & determination and comes from the Ballarat district.

Looking for a different cat?

We got a Lion- that's a different cat!

I'm funny and witty! Mods... close thread!

Looking for a different cat?

We got a Lion- that's a different cat!

I'm funny and witty! Mods... close thread!

You're right.

We did get a different cat and now this thread will go into the unpinned regions where who knows if and when it ever surfaces again.