Jack Darling ... Why? Oh Why? Oh Why?

[Jarka 767]

Yeah, we [censored] up, everyone knows it, but it's well and truly time to accept it and move on. Honestly, what can we do about it now?

[Pennant St Dee 12,811]

Comparing who we picked against who west coast picked over the years we shared similar draft picks is depressing. What they did was a master class in drafting. What we did is a joke.

Ash Sampi, Andrew McDougall, Tony Notte don't worry they have had their bad picks as well showed some promise but never realised their potential, Sampi & McDougall both went in the first 5 picks

[dazzledavey36 53,332]

Lucas cook has big arms

[olisik 4,060]

Hope we can get a trade for cook

[olisik 4,060]

3 rd rounder for cook?

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I wonder if the rest of the competition agonises over the same question, since just about everyone else passed too.

Cook was passed over 11times before we picked him up. The kid is full of self doubt and is so nervous before games he suffers from migraines, maybe we should have checked that first, a simple interview would have picked up flaws that are now obvious.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Hope we can get a trade for cook

If we do I hope we get a chef for him.

[Sir Why You Little 36,744]

Now i am depressed again.

[angrydee 842]

Short handled whips on special at the DEmons shop - for supporters prone to sef flagellation

[1 red eye 1 blue eye 771]

Blew me away when they said in the commentary tonight that Jack Darling is also a black belt in karate! From what I understand becoming a black belt in anything demands a fair amount of discipline. FMD! I am right with you RR in your plight to ram home how unprofessional our recruiting has been.

[stuie 7,374]

What, no poll?

[rhaz 342]

The kid is full of self doubt and is so nervous before games he suffers from migraines, maybe we should have checked that first, a simple interview would have picked up flaws that are now obvious.

got a source for this or are you just making up another rumour like 90% of the stuff going around here?

[skills32 229]

OMG they are making Rangerovers with 3 wheels and a handle bar now.

[bush demon 2,013]

Because we are at the bottom of the ladder, Demonland periodically sponsors a 'pick on a draft pick' thread to tear down our young players. As stated many times, many clubs passed on Jack Darling, it is not a demon disease. We picked two marking forwards, howe and cooke. Howe is Harte-like, Cooke not yet there. Anyone who has watched Cooke at Casey knows he is by no means a lost cause. He has bulked up, just not getting the pill enough yet. he is certainly not on his own as an under-achieved player on the demons' list this year.

[Sdemon53 15]

West Coast did a brilliant job letting out misinformation on Jack Darling, and it worked for them.

The other big question was if Melbourne had done their research properly they should have taken Shaun Atley. Shaun is going to be one of the best fast running players in the AFL. A type of player we need.

However Jack Darling should have been taken if they had checked out all the rumours it would have been a different story. The only problem with this is would Darling have performed for us like he has for West Coast. I have a feeling NO.

Has the club handled Cook in the correct way to get the best out of him. He certainly has ability and the size to be an AFL player, and yes he has had injury problems but he should have progressed more than he has. In fact he seems to have gone backwards.

What do we do? I suggest we hang on to him if he is physically sound for 2 more seasons and really work on him. If we let him go we could find that with another club he could turn out to be the player we wanted.

[Key Deefender 143]

If we had picked up Darling I doubt we would have picked up Jeremy Howe as he would have been regarded as a similar type to play a similar position. I am more than happy with Howe over Darling - which is probably a better comparison anyway. I wonder how many clubs or rival supporters are nashing their teeth over missing Jeremy Howe? Probably a more versatile player playing in a side with currently little player support, who takes a Mark Of The Year contender every week, and whose upside is probably even greater. Darling is a good player but he too may have struggled in our forward line without the kind of support and delivery he gets at West Coast.

Lucas Cook was no doubt a mistake, at least that far up the pecking order, but any draft needs to be looked at in totality rather than in isolated picks, as who is picked early will have a hand in who is or who is not picked later to determine need and list balance.

FWIW I would delist Cook and probably re-rookie him depending on other latent quality available because there is some talent there, he just needs alot more time and size.

[Hannibal 5,814]

Look, it is monotonous when RR drives over the same carcass, reverses, and speeds off again, but it's hard to argue with him. He's expressing angst at watching this club continually stuff up. I can't blame him for that.

We presently have 17 top 20 draft picks, which outside of GWS is the highest in the competition. The next highest is Carlton and Essendon with 13. Yet since 2007 we've only beaten two Victorian teams. And if it wasn't for the development teams we'd be sitting on one win for the year.

This is the worst Melbourne side I've seen since 1981, so I'm reticent to complain about some of RR's thread. If anything, I'm astonished how well some of you take it and how poorly you evaluate some of our players. But perhaps that's why Melbourne doesn't implode. Its supporters are used to crap.

[Chook 15,001]

Look, it is monotonous when RR drives over the same carcass, reverses, and speeds off again, but it's hard to argue with him. He's expressing angst at watching this club continually stuff up. I can't blame him for that.

We presently have 17 top 20 draft picks, which outside of GWS is the highest in the competition. The next highest is Carlton and Essendon with 13. Yet since 2007 we've only beaten two Victorian teams. And if it wasn't for the development teams we'd be sitting on one win for the year.

This is the worst Melbourne side I've seen since 1981, so I'm reticent to complain about some of RR's thread. If anything, I'm astonished how well some of you take it and how poorly you evaluate some of our players. But perhaps that's why Melbourne doesn't implode. Its supporters are used to crap.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sick of hearing things I already know. If Range Rover knows everything that's wrong with the club, why doesn't he give us some ways to fix it?

[Hannibal 5,814]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sick of hearing things I already know. If Range Rover knows everything that's wrong with the club, why doesn't he give us some ways to fix it?

With you he's preaching to the converted. With others he's hitting his head against a brick wall. Either way one of you gets a headache. I get that.

[low flying Robbo 979]

Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing....

[BAMF 4,187]

Please tell me that's not true Olisik???

Hadn't heard that one before.

I heard its true

It's not true. This is a Chinese whisper that is getting out of hand.

A frequent poster went to the 2010 draftees first training session and put a report up on Demonland.

Troy Davis went in a bit too hard for a contest and got a massive spray from Beamer as he had collected him high and hard.

Beamer yelled at him and then reportedly spat (not in Davis direction) and got on with the rest of training.

In a completely unrelated part of the report Cook had seemed to injure himself and sat down near one of the trainers. The person reporting the story said that he could not tell because he was on the other side of the ground but it looked like Cook may have been quite upset. Sylvia went over and gave him some words of encouragement.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,902]

Agree that Cook over Darling is a confirmed judgment error. However I wonder how many would take Cook, Howe and Tom McDonald as a bundle over Darling, Lycett and Brennan in that draft?

[dazzledavey36 53,332]

It's not true. This is a Chinese whisper that is getting out of hand.

A frequent poster went to the 2010 draftees first training session and put a report up on Demonland.

Troy Davis went in a bit too hard for a contest and got a massive spray from Beamer as he had collected him high and hard.

Beamer yelled at him and then reportedly spat (not in Davis direction) and got on with the rest of training.

In a completely unrelated part of the report Cook had seemed to injure himself and sat down near one of the trainers. The person reporting the story said that he could not tell because he was on the other side of the ground but it looked like Cook may have been quite upset. Sylvia went over and gave him some words of encouragement.

Another good reason why im happy for beamer to go. dont let it hit you on the way out beamer! bye

[Range Rover 1,935]

Look, it is monotonous when RR drives over the same carcass, reverses, and speeds off again, but it's hard to argue with him. He's expressing angst at watching this club continually stuff up. I can't blame him for that.

We presently have 17 top 20 draft picks, which outside of GWS is the highest in the competition. The next highest is Carlton and Essendon with 13. Yet since 2007 we've only beaten two Victorian teams. And if it wasn't for the development teams we'd be sitting on one win for the year.

This is the worst Melbourne side I've seen since 1981, so I'm reticent to complain about some of RR's thread. If anything, I'm astonished how well some of you take it and how poorly you evaluate some of our players. But perhaps that's why Melbourne doesn't implode. Its supporters are used to crap.

Thanks Ben. Look, I know some of these posts can be grating but we all need to confront what has happened. It's like it's so shocking that many refuse to acknowledge the horror of what's happened.

With the golden opportunities we've had at the draft table over the past half a dozen years or so, we should be doing 400% better than we are.

We just cannot afford to put a foot - nay, a single toenail - wrong from here on in.

[rpfc 28,079]

This is just self-righteous navel gazing.

Tell me Cook isn't up to it. Tell me we made a mistake. Then tell me something new.

Because those two things have been said before.

Agree with RR or disagree - this thread is a re-run I have seen before.