http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=125361

I have read a few comments by demonlanders who are hoping for picks 2 and 3 with 11 and 19 to follow. This is supposed to be our salvation again and with more young guns a glazier will be commissioned to build another premiership window . Whilst some top ten picks have turned out to be absolute guns I could easily see a 'blame the recruiters thread' being started in 2016 because once again our top draft picks haven't turned out to be Judd,Ablett and that green eyed "I don't get pinged for holding the ball' Buddy. I'm not having a crack at our top picks now as Trengrove and Watts will turn out to be great for us but it isn't always the case. I want to win as many games as possible this year and every other year even if a flag is not possible in that year. Winning form is good form and I like to watch my team win. Tank away at your own peril as draft picks are no certainty to a premiership. Building a team and bringing in fringe players who can fill a role in the team can work and with less risk. If our team hasn't got a player to fill a role that is required and you can find one from another team go and bloody get him! There is no point when in need of Key position players drafting them as you have to wait an olympics to see if you are going to get anything from them.

1996: 7 of the top 14 picks did not play ten games for their club. Port Adelaide had three top 14 picks at received a total of 89 games combined.

2003: Pick 1 Cooney: Brownlow medal. Picks 9,10 and 14 did not play ten games for their club. Picks 4,5 and 6 were traded before playing 100 games for their original club.

Only three top 10 picks have won the brownlow since 2000: Judd (3) Cooney (1) Bartel (8)

2001 superdraft netted us Luke Molan (9) and North Melbourne Ashley Watson (14)

we wont need to tank this season...

i think that articles premise is a tad flawed in that recruiting was nowhere near the same standards of precision, even as recent as 2003 (let alone 1997, where you were probably picked on ability to rebound on a Sunday after finishing a keg post-victory)

Given that we are now staring down the barrel of a 0-11 start, 2013 and multiple picks (plus Viney) is pretty much a lone bright spot at present!

I also agree you need a culture of winning and strength, as we havent finished higher than 12th in past 5 years! Davey used to be AllStar... *he* should be the McLeod of our team, but the complete dearth of wins means its too hard for new blood to exert much influence given it is a team game...

What concerns me about our recent picks: compare us with Richmond... you can rattle off Martin, Deledio & Cotchin as potential superstars no matter how the club was performing...

Who are our Core 3 Superstars??? Trengove? (10 possns) Jones? (punching well above his weight) Watts? (inconsistent) Moloney? (disappears often)...even $cully is still not living up to expectations...

By weight of stats, its bloody Magner! Reminds of when Valenti came in, dominated, delisted..wtf!

You need a core of Potential Superstars to get anywhere...Carlton being perfect example (Judd, Murphy, Gibbs) as you could swap our next 15 with them and it would be as successful!

Where Art Our Big Three???

i think that articles premise is a tad flawed in that recruiting was nowhere near the same standards of precision, even as recent as 2003 (let alone 1997, where you were probably picked on ability to rebound on a Sunday after finishing a keg post-victory)

Given that we are now staring down the barrel of a 0-11 start, 2013 and multiple picks (plus Viney) is pretty much a lone bright spot at present!

I also agree you need a culture of winning and strength, as we havent finished higher than 12th in past 5 years! Davey used to be AllStar... *he* should be the McLeod of our team, but the complete dearth of wins means its too hard for new blood to exert much influence given it is a team game...

What concerns me about our recent picks: compare us with Richmond... you can rattle off Martin, Deledio & Cotchin as potential superstars no matter how the club was performing...

Who are our Core 3 Superstars??? Trengove? (10 possns) Jones? (punching well above his weight) Watts? (inconsistent) Moloney? (disappears often)...even $cully is still not living up to expectations...

By weight of stats, its bloody Magner! Reminds of when Valenti came in, dominated, delisted..wtf!

You need a core of Potential Superstars to get anywhere...Carlton being perfect example (Judd, Murphy, Gibbs) as you could swap our next 15 with them and it would be as successful!

Where Art Our Big Three???

We've got 5 'potential' stars who for one reason or another are miles away at the moment .

Watts - in the 2nds

Trengove - struggling , injured ?

Sylvia - an enigma

Frawley - lost his attacking flair

Jurrah - ?

If all these 5 were up and firing we'd be a much , much better side .

We're most probably going to have to bring some stars into our club with free agency , trading or the draft .

Edited May 13, 201213 yr by Macca

http://www.afl.com.a...x?newsid=125361

I have read a few comments by demonlanders who are hoping for picks 2 and 3 with 11 and 19 to follow. This is supposed to be our salvation again and with more young guns a glazier will be commissioned to build another premiership window . Whilst some top ten picks have turned out to be absolute guns I could easily see a 'blame the recruiters thread' being started in 2016 because once again our top draft picks haven't turned out to be Judd,Ablett

There's no guarantees in life about anything, but if you get the picks right and develop them properly it could be the difference between winning that long and elusive flag and not. And right now I'd take that opportunity.

If you put Judd (pick 3), Cotchin (2), Sidebottom (11) and Shuey (18) into our side how do you reckon we'd go ? Rather than assume we'll pick poorly forever I assume we'll get the picks right. It's just the way I roll.

EDIT: I posted before I read this article. The article canvasses picks between 1996 and 2005. It's a flawed analysis because everyone knows that recruiting has improved markedly since that period. The dollars spent on talent identification are far greater now and have been for a few years. There are still no guarantees, but I wouldn't be basing my thinking on that data.

Edited May 14, 201213 yr by Ben-Hur

we wont need to tank this season...

Aint that the truth.

Chris Yarren was a player I wish we'd taken in 2008. Or Steele Sidebottom. or Ballentyne. But we didnt...

Edited May 13, 201213 yr by Norm Smith's Curse

Chris Yarren was a player I wish we'd taken in 2008. Or Steele Sidebottom. or Ballentyne. But we didnt...

Or Nik Nat?

The boys you mentioned were gone by the time we picked Blease and Strauss.

EDIT: I posted before I read this article. The article canvasses picks between 1996 and 2005. It's a flawed analysis because everyone knows that recruiting has improved markedly since that period. The dollars spent on talent identification are far great now and have been for a few years. There are still no guarantees, but I wouldn't be basing my thinking based on that data.

I reckon this will be very interesting to watch. There is a far greater spend on it now, but I wonder how that will translate through to success. I think the clubs and the AFL are talking it up as that's where they are spending. Not sure based on our picks since 2005 if we are proving that the ever expanding spend is worthwhile.

I think I need to watch Moneyball tonight.

Or Nik Nat?

The boys you mentioned were gone by the time we picked Blease and Strauss.

Yeah I know, and everyone would have picked Watts over any of them. Just a pity how it turned out is all.

So If recruiting has improved so much how is our 5 year plan working out? We and many others are still going to hit and miss and we have missed a lot we all know it. My point is I want to see wins this year as the difference between pick 3-10 doesn't bother me. Improvement of the players we have now does. Is any player going to come in and kick the crap out of the opposition for us next year? Hell no. They will take time and have to grow and learn the gameplan and work hard at the VFL and thats what we are hearing now. Win now and worry about picks later.

yes it will, more picks MORE!

yes it will, more picks MORE!

Correct if we get it right this year it will set us up for a tilt at the flag; if we get it wrong, well let's hope we don't.

Viney and a couple of quality mids, Jurrah back and firing (hopefully) couple of the kids already on the list kick on a bit, Watts and Morton get a sever dose of aggro and become monsters, Jones becomes our third mid meaning he gets less pressure on him, Jai Sheahan promoted and becomes a Goddard clone, Nicholson and Blease are both fit and firing, Nicholson has kicking lessons and Blease has attitude readjustment Taggert and Tynan are knocking on the door, all sounds good to me.

I hope we havent administered the "kiss of death" to Viney. Every single over hyped recruit since "Diamond Jim" Tilbrook has more or less been a disapointment for this club. The law of averages are overdue for giving us a real gem..

The OP is off the mark. High draft picks are an essential ingredient to success ... IF you get them right.

And remember, we still haven't technically 'used' our number 1 draft pick from 2009 owing to his defection.

God help us if we don't get it right in November.

Viney + 2 midfield guns + a 10-year, tall key defender is what we need.

Edited May 13, 201213 yr by Range Rover

Who are our Core 3 Superstars??? Trengove? (10 possns) Jones? (punching well above his weight) Watts? (inconsistent) Moloney? (disappears often)...even $cully is still not living up to expectations...

By weight of stats, its bloody Magner! Reminds of when Valenti came in, dominated, delisted..wtf!

remind me again....especially the bit about dominating....................

Edited May 13, 201213 yr by daisycutter

We've got 5 'potential' stars who for one reason or another are miles away at the moment .

Watts - in the 2nds

Trengove - struggling , injured ?

Sylvia - an enigma

Frawley - lost his attacking flair

Jurrah - ?

If all these 5 were up and firing we'd be a much , much better side .

We're most probably going to have to bring some stars into our club with free agency , trading or the draft .

Just watching him this year I'd say a groin or thereabouts. That would explain his seeming loss of acceleration. If that is the case I would hope they would give him a spell

Just watching him this year I'd say a groin or thereabouts. That would explain his seeming loss of acceleration. If that is the case I would hope they would give him a spell

Trengove looks like he's carrying something , and I don't like making excuses for any players . He just doesn't look right .

Edited May 13, 201213 yr by Macca

Just watching him this year I'd say a groin or thereabouts. That would explain his seeming loss of acceleration. If that is the case I would hope they would give him a spell

I'd agree with this.

remind me again....especially the bit about dominating....................

averaging nearly 20 disposals, 4 tackles...obviously not up to scratch

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-melbourne-demons--shane-valenti

Year Team Games Kicks Handballs Disposals Marks Goals Behinds Tackles Hitouts Frees For Frees Ag. Brownlow 2009 Melbourne 6 11.5 7.7 19.2 4.2 0.3 0.2 4.3 0 0.5 0.8 0.17 2008 Melbourne 9 9.4 7.7 17.1 4.6 0.3 0.3 3.3 0 1.4 0.8 Career 15 10.3 7.7 17.9 4.4 0.3 0.3 3.7 0 1.1 0.8 0.07 Career Highlights 30 disps (17 kicks 13 hballs), 7 marks, 5 tackles and a goal in Rd 20 63-pt win over Fremantle at the MCG (16 Aug 2009)

Edited May 13, 201213 yr by AllenIsLord13

Agree with OP, I've had enough of being the Big Issue vendors of the AFL.

There's no guarantees in life about anything, but if you get the picks right and develop them properly it could be the difference between winning that long and elusive flag and not. And right now I'd take that opportunity.

That's the rub though. We really need to start getting that bit right. Too many kids have come through and started to look like they were going to be A to A+ players, then they just drifted back into mediocrity or worse. I don't think our recruiting is the problem. It's what we do after that that is leaving the cupboard bare.

averaging nearly 20 disposals, 4 tackles...obviously not up to scratch

http://www.footywire...--shane-valenti

Year Team Games Kicks Handballs Disposals Marks Goals Behinds Tackles Hitouts Frees For Frees Ag. Brownlow 2009 Melbourne 6 11.5 7.7 19.2 4.2 0.3 0.2 4.3 0 0.5 0.8 0.17 2008 Melbourne 9 9.4 7.7 17.1 4.6 0.3 0.3 3.3 0 1.4 0.8 Career 15 10.3 7.7 17.9 4.4 0.3 0.3 3.7 0 1.1 0.8 0.07 Career Highlights 30 disps (17 kicks 13 hballs), 7 marks, 5 tackles and a goal in Rd 20 63-pt win over Fremantle at the MCG (16 Aug 2009)

I agree with you, we let him go to early. He never was given a fair crack. Not fashionable enough for us. Too short, too chunky a little slow but not much different to Magner at the moment. He was a ripper of a player for us. Would love to get him back .

Edited May 13, 201213 yr by Jackie

If you put Judd, Cotchin, Sidebottom and Shuey into our side how do you reckon we'd go ? Rather than assume we'll pick poorly forever I assume we'll get the picks right. It's just the way I roll.

I wonder though, I wonder how we would go helping them become what they have become...

We have had zero investment in developing the bodies of these boys and I think that we are feeling the effects of that.

We have finally caught up in that regard but Misson will need more time.

I hate giving the 'more time' to placate the masses but we had a pretty big shift up in professionalism and it requires it.

Just watching him this year I'd say a groin or thereabouts. That would explain his seeming loss of acceleration. If that is the case I would hope they would give him a spell

I did not see the match wd but I am told he did not make the distance from 30 meters out.

What gives there?