Dont write him off. club champion, the prince. he invented dynamic forward pressure. The first of the first. the flash.

I back him in.

Davey isn't 'The Prince'. That was Scott Chisholm.

I agree this is a great team to start with, although stacking our team even with the likes of Caddy (who im not sold on), Viney, and Toumpas and O'Rourke, may leave us a bit raw although the rest of the team is beginning to mature thank god.

I would honestly think pick 4 is a bit early for O'Rourke i would hope he could potentially slide to pick 11 tbh or unlikely but Plowman at pick 11 at a big stretch, and then pick up a Stringer or Mayes or Wines at pick 4 would be my preference but the theory is the same essentially.

I would also play Clark as the rotating ruck as well it can bring him into games imo, and isnt for long at all, specially if we still have Cloke (a big if) as the target during this time. this means that Sylvia can come onto the bench and give us some pace, and skill which he has, and he has been showing some real form imo lately.

Also i am a fan of Watts down back being the play maker and i would hope that Cook is still a chance to come in next year for a while and make it his home, in this case i would go more for maybe a Garlett option maybe at pick 11 or a Kennedy to give us that small option and outside player we lack.

this is ALL Blue sky stuff though

It's more of a concept team and a direction Melbourne have to take rather than an actual starting line up.

Ben Hur is the only guy to actually put up a blue print of Melbourne's future while carefully articulating why this is so. The Magners, Sellars, Couches are gap fillers, all try bloody hard but were Blunders by the Neeld Admin. BH has a balance of youth, speed, bigs and smalls and sure it's a young team but that's good? right?

Silly polls advocating MASS CULLS and" I believe in Neeld" without any reason to believe and Pro Neeld Polls don't tell us much. Would rather read a well articulated piece as to the direction Melbourne should go and congrats to BH!

Continually bagging out on players we are meant to support is not only malicious but also disrespectful. Sure I'm not happy Melbourne rushed to appoint Neeld but crap happens and will move on. The guys no Moron and maybe he can warm into the job. Hasn't shown anything yet but hey...it's coming.

Tonatopia makes some excellent points in reference to our current crop of players...browse back and see what he has to say.....

Clark

Watts

Jones

Grimes

McKenzie

Sylvia

Moloney

Davey

Green

Rivers

Jamar

Jurrah

Frawley

Trengove

Howe

Garland

Bartram

Tapscott

Viney

Brad Green

IMO all these guys should stay on next year and I hope they do! Get Maxxy Gawn back to team up with Russian and away we go with BH's re-structured mids (would be sad to lose Sylvia/Moloney though BH)...ok.....bla bbl a......hand it over to you guys to rip the shreds off me!!!!! hehe

Davey isn't 'The Prince'. That was Scott Chisholm.

Scott Chisolm rings a big bell??? Remind me please.

Scott Chisolm rings a big bell??? Remind me please.

He was a Melbourne player.

He was a Melbourne player.

Yes recall that much..why did they refer to him as "the prince"

Wish I could like the OP x1000, with all the misery & Weltschmerz being peddled around in the media & on these boards it's easy to forget that we have a future.

A few thoughts to go with the OP... Please note I haven't watched any junior footy this year. I like what I hear of Toumpas, Stringer, O'Rourke, Wines & of course Viney, netting any two (or more) of these guys plus having a fit Trengove & Jones in the guts goes a long way to fixing the midfield which should be our priority. That said were we to select Brodie Grundy with #3 or #4 I wouldn't be jamming the fork in the toaster. Nor would I be upset if we were to trade #3 to get Jack Martin in the mini draft.

Nailing this draft will go a long way to securing our future. I firmly believe we have the bare bones of a good side in 3-5 years right now, the bases are loaded, nailing this draft will be the home run. Clark, Frawley, Jones, Trengove, Howe, Jurrah Grimes & McDonald could all be A graders. Watts, Rivers, Jamar, Moloney, Garland & Sylvia have enough class to contribute more. Bartram, McKenzie, Bail, Jetta, Martin Nicholson & Sellar are handy role players. We may even find a player or two from the largely unproven group of Evans, Blease, Gawn, Gysberts, Strauss, Tapscott, Taggert & Tynan. Things are never as good or bad as they seem. Even if my optimism is somewhat blind, there are at least 15 good players on our list.

This is what Malthouse walked into at the Pies in 99: http://afl.allthestats.com/?itm=111718&inyr=1999&t1=4

Of that very young Pies list they only had Buckley, Burns, N Davis, Licuria, Lockyer, Michael, Prestigiacomo, S Rocca, A Rocca, Tarrant, Williams who were any good. 3 years later they were within a breath of a premiership.

Thompson at Geelong the same year: http://afl.allthestats.com/?itm=111718&inyr=1999&t1=8

Another garbage list that was transformed into the powerhouse of the new millenium by nailing their picks in 99 & 01

When Dean Bailey took over at the club I thought of how long it took Geelong to really get their [censored] together, 8 years. In 2015 it will be 8 years since Bailey started rebuilding the club, although our path was different & the journey could be a little longer I expect us to be around the mark in 2015 regardless.

Get Cloke '13

Yes recall that much..why did they refer to him as "the prince"

I think it has something to do with extended family, one of his ancestors was a Prince...or something.

Davey isn't 'The Prince'. That was Scott Chisholm.

Pretty sure it was Brian Lara.

Wish I could like the OP x1000, with all the misery & Weltschmerz being peddled around in the media & on these boards it's easy to forget that we have a future.

A few thoughts to go with the OP... Please note I haven't watched any junior footy this year. I like what I hear of Toumpas, Stringer, O'Rourke, Wines & of course Viney, netting any two (or more) of these guys plus having a fit Trengove & Jones in the guts goes a long way to fixing the midfield which should be our priority. That said were we to select Brodie Grundy with #3 or #4 I wouldn't be jamming the fork in the toaster. Nor would I be upset if we were to trade #3 to get Jack Martin in the mini draft.

Nailing this draft will go a long way to securing our future. I firmly believe we have the bare bones of a good side in 3-5 years right now, the bases are loaded, nailing this draft will be the home run. Clark, Frawley, Jones, Trengove, Howe, Jurrah Grimes & McDonald could all be A graders. Watts, Rivers, Jamar, Moloney, Garland & Sylvia have enough class to contribute more. Bartram, McKenzie, Bail, Jetta, Martin Nicholson & Sellar are handy role players. We may even find a player or two from the largely unproven group of Evans, Blease, Gawn, Gysberts, Strauss, Tapscott, Taggert & Tynan. Things are never as good or bad as they seem. Even if my optimism is somewhat blind, there are at least 15 good players on our list.

This is what Malthouse walked into at the Pies in 99: http://afl.allthesta...&inyr=1999&t1=4

Of that very young Pies list they only had Buckley, Burns, N Davis, Licuria, Lockyer, Michael, Prestigiacomo, S Rocca, A Rocca, Tarrant, Williams who were any good. 3 years later they were within a breath of a premiership.

Thompson at Geelong the same year: http://afl.allthesta...&inyr=1999&t1=8

Another garbage list that was transformed into the powerhouse of the new millenium by nailing their picks in 99 & 01

When Dean Bailey took over at the club I thought of how long it took Geelong to really get their [censored] together, 8 years. In 2015 it will be 8 years since Bailey started rebuilding the club, although our path was different & the journey could be a little longer I expect us to be around the mark in 2015 regardless.

Congratulations Jimmyc. Well written pc. I say Watts and Blease belongs in the A Category or at least next year they will.

Are you suggesting we culled Bailey a little early?

Congratulations Jimmyc. Well written pc. I say Watts and Blease belongs in the A Category or at least next year they will.

Step away from the bong!

Are you suggesting we culled Bailey a little early?

No, & even if I did think that, I don't see how going over past mistakes helps.

Sylvia has seduced me for years

Initiailly, I read this 'reduced me to tears' purely because 'Sylvia' preceded that passage...

Scott Chisolm rings a big bell??? Remind me please.

You don't recall The Kreuzer Cup nor Scott Chisholm?

What the hell is going on here?

Maybe I watch my footy differently...

How could anyone forget Scott Chisolm? I'm trying to think of a worse field kick I've seen in my life, and I mean from any club, and I can't think of one. He was just... wow.

Anyway I always try to think about the list in terms of 'star' quality players and also 'role palyers' that are not there in terms of quality but can fill a need either short term or longer term in the best 22 of a competitive team. Potential quality is self explanatory, unknown players are ones that I can't put into any of the three categories and that will surely (to me anyway) be around next year.

Quality

Trengove, Grimes, Viney*, Frawley, Clark, Jones, Watts, Howe, Pick 3, and Pick 4.

Potential Quality

Blease, McDonald, Gawn, Tapscott, and Pick 13.

Role Players

Jamar (1st ruck - 3 years), McKenzie (Tagger - Medium term), Sellar (Tall back - Medium term), Garland (Tall Fwd/Back - Medium term), Martin (2nd ruck/Tall fwd - Medium term), Batram (small defender/tagger - medium term), Rivers (Tall back - short term), Nicholson (small back/wing - long term), Sylvia (small fwd/mid - medium term), Bail (wing/mid - medium term), Jurrah (small/med fwd - medium term), and Moloney (mid - short term).

Unknown

Davis, Tynan, Taggert, Strauss, Evans, Couch, and Magner.

2013 Undecided (to put it nicely)

Davey, Green, Bennell, Spencer, Morton, Jetta, Gysberts, Spencer, Petterd, Dunn, Bate, Fitzpatrick, MacDonald, Williams ®, Sheahan ®, and Lawrence ®.

Analysis

A small mercy is that our midfield will be the owners of 6 or 7 of our 'quality' players with Watts, Frawley, and Clark the others. There are some good players in the 'roles' but I just don't think they are, or will be, 'game changing' quality. My 'undecideds' are realistic and probably a little pessimistic but there you go. Team below with a glaring hole at CHF... (Watts could do it in a very good team, but right now is a far better HBF than CHF - which is why HBF is the easiest place to play and CHF the hardest...)

Batram Frawley Sellar

Rivers McDonald Watts

Trengove Jones Blease

Sylvia HOLE Garland

Jurrah Clark Martin

Jamar Grimes Viney

Nicholson Howe McKenzie Bail Moloney Tapscott Gawn Pick 3 Pick 4 Pick 13

*I know Viney will be quality.

How could anyone forget Scott Chisolm? I'm trying to think of a worse field kick I've seen in my life, and I mean from any club, and I can't think of one. He was just... wow.

Excuse me, Nasher. But I once saw Damien Gaspar kick out from full back in a reserves game, stub his toe, break his foot, and be out for 10 weeks.

So let's cut Scott some slack...

Excuse me, Nasher. But I once saw Damien Gaspar kick out from full back in a reserves game, stub his toe, break his foot, and be out for 10 weeks.

So let's cut Scott some slack...

I just laughed embarrassingly loud in the office.

Anyway, I'll stop derailing this topic.

How could anyone forget Scott Chisolm? I'm trying to think of a worse field kick I've seen in my life, and I mean from any club, and I can't think of one. He was just... wow.

Simon Eishold raises his hand....

Simon Eishold raises his hand....

So does Mark Jamar, Clint Bartram, Ro Bail and the Pencil.

On the same page as the OP'er and his thoughts.

I have a high opinion on Caddy, there is a reason Essendon were fighting tooth and nail for him.

Good thread.

Get Cloke '13

I think it has something to do with extended family, one of his ancestors was a Prince...or something.

There was an unsubstantiated rumour emanating from the West ,that Scott's existence resulted from a dalliance between Prince Charles and a local when he visited that state in the seventies. There doesn't appear to be much family resemblance!!!

But there are Olympic medallists in the Windsor family, so there must be some sporting ability there.Of course Charlie was a hotshot polo player.

I guess Scott did have a reasonably protuberant proboscis,too!

So does Mark Jamar, Clint Bartram, Ro Bail and the Pencil.

You obviously never saw The Prince.

Nor did you see Jayson Daniels.

You obviously never saw The Prince.

Nor did you see Jayson Daniels.

Any opinion on the kicking style of James Manson?

Before the latest round of the Cloke saga kicked off there were rumours we were interested in Quentin Lynch as a free agent. Obviously Neeld wants two gorilla forwards & probably doesn't rate Watts, Martin, Fitzpatrick or Cooks prospects of fulfilling that CHF role - at least in the short term. He's recruited other big bodied players like Sellar & Williams.

Jesse Hogan is a KPF prospect in the mini draft but the cost may be to high for MN's liking. Q-Ball is a tad old for mine, Cloke is the priority but there isn't much else out there that would come easily IMO. We wouldn't have to give up much for guys like Jesse White or Aaron Cornelius but then we may not be getting much. We could go to the state leagues for a Beau Wilkes type or try to fast track Williams next season & develop from within. Getting CHF right in the long term is key for the club.

Small forwards are more pressing though; Matt Campbell from North is one we should enquire about IMO or again we could draft some quality out of the state leagues like St Kilda did with Saad & Milera or we did with Davey in 2003. Improved ground level presence and pressure will stop us going for 40 minutes of game time without scoring.

Any opinion on the kicking style of James Manson?

The style was (really) bad, but he was actually a half decent set shot. Of course, this is relatively speaking.

Not sure I'd have him kick for my life, though.

Thanks Ben H , I just read this thread after a shitty day. It is intelligent and thoughful and has actually breathed new life into what was the corpse of my optimistic half.