Trade & Draft Assessments

[Whispering_Jack 28,128]

During the trade and draft period, we highlighted Snoop Dog's phantom draft on bigfooty. Now, he's back with his assessment of each club's drafting and here is how he rated Melbourne's efforts:-

NATIONAL DRAFT

36. RORY TAGGERT – Was one of the first real surprises of the night for me and Melbourne just continued their ability to surprise. I had him much lower and will watch and see how badly I got this one wrong. I hadn’t seen a heap so maybe that was a part of it but equally wasnt high up on the radar.

52. JOSH TYNAN – I really like this kid. About where I expected him to land

54. JAMES SELLAR – Well this was the biggest surprise for mine. I probably forgot about him bc when you think about it he was a highly rated junior and the big kids take time. Hope he makes and makes sense for the Dees. 

PRE-SEASON AND ROOKIE DRAFT SELECTIONS

JAI SHEAHAN – I had him around the #50 in the ND and was one I tracked closely all year. Offers a lot of scope and has some real good features. One I will watch closely as I think he was under rated.

THOMAS COUCH – I saw a lot of Tom and can see why they took him but I was staggered they went for him over Tom Sundberg. Dont get me wrong I think this kid could make it but would love to here why Neeld had him higher than Tom.

JAMES MAGNER – Good selection for them. 

LEIGH WILLIAMS – Dont know enough about him so didnt have him in my list.

OVERALL – I think they made some really bold decisions and I will watch with interest as to how it unfolds.

[Whispering_Jack 28,128]

Another who posted a fairly good phantom draft on bigfooty was Knightmare who graded each club's efforts. His assessment of Melbourne's drafting and trading isn't particularly positive although he does like our new coach:-

Trade week:The Mitch Clark addition was a big one, and I’m not necessarily a fan of his game, but I like the selection because he adds quality height into this team and sends out a clear message to the competition that “Melbourne mean business”. The work Melbourne put in to get the guy to the club and convince him to make the move to Melbourne under coach Mark Neeld really impressed me and my tip is that Mark Neeld develops into the next AFL super-coach and that his coaching group will very quickly become the best in the league. The loss of Matthew Warnock, while he wanted to move on for other opportunity, I consider him very much an underappreciated player who won’t necessarily be a good loss.

Grade: B+

National Draft: The national draft didn’t impress me as much as I was hoping, especially considering what Melbourne did at the trade table. The clear theme in the national draft for Melbourne was adding hard, physical players with a strong character – which is always the safe way to go and a way that can’t really be knocked. Taggert went under the radar a little and I can’t say he is one I really looked out for during the year. Will be interesting to see how he performs for Melbourne. The Tynan selection is the selection that impressed me and at 52 he represents some value off a back flank. James Sellar is the real surprise selection and one which surprised a lot of people. Sellar is a solid ruck/KPP and is an ok player who has had a few years in the system, will short term fill a need as a depth player who can play some senior games, but his development since joining Adelaide has overall been pretty underwhelming and it is hard to see him developing into anything of significance for Melbourne over the long term.

Grade: C

Preseason + rookie draft: Interesting rookie draft with a real theme of adding players who can contribute now. Jai Sheehan was the exception to this with Melbourne’s first selection. Jai was a standout at TAC Cup level as a key forward and consistently kicked big hauls during the year. Tom Couch played for the Collingwood VFL side and is a ready to play, very good stoppage player who could step into the Melbourne senior side if required. James Magner is another mature inside midfielder who again will add a lot at stoppages. Won Sandringham’s B+F and will like Couch be someone who can play if required. Leigh Williams is an interesting player and not one I know a lot about. Mature, key forward who played in the Eastern Football League, not common practice for clubs to select players from these lower competitions, the production is there so it will be interesting to see if Williams can take the next step.

Grade: C+

Overall: C+

[Demon 16 198]

Nightmare was a little harsh on our trade week and rookie draft imo.

[rolly 149]

thought we could've used woodward, hawthorn snapped him up immediately after we took tynan...hope it doesn't cost us

[Red and Blue Bloke 20]

It seems MFC are the only ones who rated Taggert...

[Deetective Sgt. Taggert 380]

time will tell...

[Redleg 38,618]

time will tell...

The most accurate assessment by far.

[biggestred 4,436]

what we should be doing is rating the 2007 draft

[Juicebox 628]

Seems to rate Warnock quite highly, so I wouldn't read too much into this.

[Demonsterative 2,382]

I can't help but feel that Neeld had some influence with Taggart coming to the club too. He was a favorite with Bucks when he coached the under 16 Aust squad and they shared an office. Many in the industry were surprised by who we drafted and most who were drafted has the smell of the coaching staff on them. I hope they have got this right and the recruiting staff were given the space to do there jobs without being hindered too much. Coaches aren't recruiters

[Demon 16 198]

With low picks In a weak draft Ive got no problem with the coaching staff saying they want to lean towards strong, competitive bodies. I understand Barry Prendergast was more than happy with Taggert anyway.

I presume our early picks next year will be used on the best kids available.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

C+ doesn't sound great.

However, I seem to recall that Rohan Bail was considered to be a bit of a surprise pick for us, even though he was pick 64 and our final pick in that draft.

To my mind, our picks this year have a similar feel to the Bail selection (ie, bit left field, harder, more mature bodies etc).

Presumably, those same recruiters who expressed some surprise at the MFC picking Bail at the time would now think he's turned out to be a pretty good pick. Some of those recruiters presumably also thought Sellar was a bargain when he slipped to pick 14 or so in the national draft that the Crows picked him. Now they seem to think we went wholly left field in picking him at about 54 in a weak draft.

I also recall that Maric was considered by some to be a bargain when we picked him up at about 21. We just de-listed him.

It's all over the shop IMO. I think Ascobar has summed it up - 'time will tell'.

That said, it'd be interesting to know who Prendergast had his eyes on in this year's national draft.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

certain experts also said that Cale Morton could have gone at number 1. Nuff said.

[savoydee 6]

An extremely risky draw that Neeld seemed to demand.

Firstly Taggart will make it. He will turn out to be another McKenzie.

However, I have my doubts on all other picks except I thought Sheahan was worth a punt when Fletcher Roberts was picked up by the Bulldogs. I truly hope I'm wrong and one of the midfielders make it taking pressure off the start of Jack Viney's career in 2013.

Also, if one makes it, we then can look at outside midfielders /wingers with the super draft of 2012 being worth spending our compensatory draft picks on.

[Hells Gates 505]

An extremely risky draw that Neeld seemed to demand.

Firstly Taggart will make it. He will turn out to be another McKenzie.

However, I have my doubts on all other picks except I thought Sheahan was worth a punt when Fletcher Roberts was picked up by the Bulldogs. I truly hope I'm wrong and one of the midfielders make it taking pressure off the start of Jack Viney's career in 2013.

Also, if one makes it, we then can look at outside midfielders /wingers with the super draft of 2012 being worth spending our compensatory draft picks on.

I love the way McKenzie goes about his footy but geez he has terrible disposal - Im tipping he may struggle to get a game next year if he doesnt clean it up. As for the rest of our picks - maybe Magner and Williams are ones to look out for.

[Nasher 33,246]

I love the way McKenzie goes about his footy but geez he has terrible disposal - Im tipping he may struggle to get a game next year if he doesnt clean it up.

Yeah, nah.

[Deeman 1,426]

I love the way McKenzie goes about his footy but geez he has terrible disposal - Im tipping he may struggle to get a game next year if he doesnt clean it up. As for the rest of our picks - maybe Magner and Williams are ones to look out for.

I think savoydee might mean "another McKenzie" in terms of a player who flew under the radar and wasn't really fancied when drafted but turned into a really good one after a year's grounding at the club.

As for his kicking, I beg to differ in that I don't believe our midfield set ups under Bailey were particularly conducive to producing good disposal by foot. Our players were often hurried coming out of the middle and had less protection when doing so and I believe this often affected their disposal, particularly by foot. I'll be very interested to see what Neeld does with our midfield set ups and how he can effect improvement in that division which was often found wanting in the past despite the efforts of players like Moloney, Jones and McKenzie.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

Funnily enough I'm more excited about our rookies (and Sellar) than I am about our ND picks. I think we'll be seeing quite a lot of some of them next year, while Taggert/Tynan will most likely take a couple of years to come along.

[Lutz 76]

I can't help but feel that Neeld had some influence with Taggart coming to the club too. He was a favorite with Bucks when he coached the under 16 Aust squad and they shared an office. Many in the industry were surprised by who we drafted and most who were drafted has the smell of the coaching staff on them. I hope they have got this right and the recruiting staff were given the space to do there jobs without being hindered too much. Coaches aren't recruiters

A very strange conclusion to come to, based on no evidence and seemingly not much thought.

Some strange axe to grind?

Not happy unless you have something to complain about or criticise?

Picking players unexpectedly has been a theme since BP has been in charge, and it has worked out fairly well for us.

Bail, Martin, McKenzie, Evans, Howe, Nicholson, Gysberts, Tom MacDonald, Bennell...

[Whispering_Jack 28,128]

A very strange conclusion to come to, based on no evidence and seemingly not much thought.

Some strange axe to grind?

Not happy unless you have something to complain about or criticise?

Yes. I noticed that too but surely, it can't pass as criticism. Barry Prendergast made the point after the drafts that the coaches had an input into the types of players needed to implement the game plan they want to impart and that's how it should be, particularly given that our first national draft pick was at 36 and that was our only selection in the top 50.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Picking players unexpectedly has been a theme since BP has been in charge, and it has worked out fairly well for us.

Bail, Martin, McKenzie, Evans, Howe, Nicholson, Gysberts, Tom MacDonald, Bennell...

Completely agree with your post - although I'm not sure Bennell and Gysberts were that left field.

I had thought we essentially stole Bennell from West Coast who wanted to pick him up with the very next pick in that draft, and Gysberts was also being tracked by Sydney and Geelong - just not the 'in the know' folk on Demonland.

[mauriesy 6,920]

We get a C+ from Knightmare, apparently based on losing an error-prone Warnock (while developing a great lot of younger defenders), the unknown virtues of Taggert taken at pick 36, and his lack of knowledge of Williams as our fourth rookie pick.

Ho hum. I can live with that.

[rolly 149]

Yes. I noticed that too but surely, it can't pass as criticism. Barry Prendergast made the point after the drafts that the coaches had an input into the types of players needed to implement the game plan they want to impart and that's how it should be, particularly given that our first national draft pick was at 36 and that was our only selection in the top 50.

this is how it should be! the coaches are in the best position to know the requirements for the team however pendergast and co. are in the best position to see which draftees are the best to translate potential into ability. just because neeld says we need a tall mature body, doesn't mean we should recruit dolph lundgren.

the coaches are there to coach and the recruiters are there to...hire new players. they should each be concentrating on there own spheres of influence even if they do overlap at times.

i hope that the coaches merely hand over a very detailed list of requirements and maybe a dozen names for each position and then pendergast and co. make up their own mind about the talent available at the time. neeld does seem to like things his way or the highway, but he isn't a recruiter and it would be bad for the club in my opinion if he is telling the recruiting staff to pick specific "names" rather than specific "types"

[Demonsterative 2,382]

It seems as though the football dept has looked at 3 different areas that the club need beefing up on

More elite trainers (couch) on the track setting the pace for others to compete against. Jones has been the benchmark in this area but it's looks as though TMac and JT have stepped up this year too.

More ball getting ability and toughness in tight (couch, magner) for the others to compete against. No more reliance on Beamer in this area.

And genuine height and strength up forward and back (Clark,Sellar)

And I almost forgot another area, 23 to 26 year old players who can play

I have no doubt the coaching staff can pick talented players, but they can't compare this talent across different leagues and competitions. That's where the recruitment dept come in and try and make informed decisions. I hope there has been a very good balance of decisions made between the coaches and recruitment depts.

At the end of the day time will judge the decisions made. Fingers crossed

[Lutz 76]

Completely agree with your post - although I'm not sure Bennell and Gysberts were that left field.

I had thought we essentially stole Bennell from West Coast who wanted to pick him up with the very next pick in that draft, and Gysberts was also being tracked by Sydney and Geelong - just not the 'in the know' folk on Demonland.

Bennell & Gysberts were both selected higher than expected according to the general consensus, from what I observed.

And since we don't have access to clubs' IP in regards to potential recruits, we have no idea how other clubs viewed them.

Just like with Taggert.

There's no anecdotal evidence to say 6 clubs weren't waiting to pounce on Rohan Bail late in the draft, but recruiters rarely make comment on players they don't end up getting.

Re: Bennell, iirc WestCoast were hoping to take him at their next pick, but didn't expect us or any other team to be interested so early.

Re: Gysberts, he was being tracked by those other teams, but their picks were 14 & 17 compared to our 11, and anecdotal evidence would make it appear that no other clubs viewed him quite as highly (outside the top 20).

Him carrying an injury on the DL through his final year of TAC cup could have contributed to this.