I don't care who we draft but to be an elite mid you have to win your own contested ball when taggers start coming your way. I would favour the player who has the ability to win both the contested ball and the loose ball now rather than hope he develops either of those skills after we draft him.

We can't muck this up.

I am having fun today. Anyone watching the GF?

Aish is the goods according to my mates in SA but he's fairly light and won't be an overnight sensation in the AFL.

If we're impatient and want an Ollie Wines who will be good from the start but might only improve in small increments then we look elsewhere but if we want someone who might win a Brownlow in a few year's time, the Aish is our man.

I wouldn't swap pick 2 unless a very, very good offer presented itself. That's fairly obvious but given the evenness of this year's top 10-12, I doubt one will.

Aish is the goods according to my mates in SA but he's fairly light and won't be an overnight sensation in the AFL.

If we're impatient

We are and that's why when Crouch gets the Rising Star nomination in round 2 (Hogan will get it in Round 1) we'll again be bemoaning our round 1 choice whether it be Aish, Kelly or the second coming of Gary Ablett Jnr.

I'm in the Aish camp, he seems to have been a constant number 2 choice so in the absence of any other information I hope we select him.

Most of the other top 20 players are bouncing around depending on how they are currently traveling but Aish remains number 2 in all cases.

I'll go for the best available VIC midfielder. Kelly, Freeman or Crouch.

I don't want to recruit someone who is that desperate to play for Adelaide, and worry that he'll be on the first flight back once his contract expires.

Kelly "purely" outside.

I reckon this view is crap.

I reckon you are right. The games I've watched him (admittedly only a couple), he got his fair share of contested ball and clearances. The outside tag comes from people looking at his weight not his performance.

He is clean, has good skills, is a good runner and accumulates the ball. I wouldn't be unhappy if we picked him up.

Well said fellas.

Funnily enough similar things were said about Pendlebury leading up to the 2005 draft - not enough grunt or too outside.

I'll go for the best available VIC midfielder. Kelly, Freeman or Crouch.

I don't want to recruit someone who is that desperate to play for Adelaide, and worry that he'll be on the first flight back once his contract expires.

We've had plenty of South Australians play for us over the years, Todd Viney is one, and most have stayed, in fact apart from Thompson I can't off the top of my head think of any other.

We've had a history of drafting South Australians and some have come from famous football families like Aish but they have all pretty much stayed and had good careers with us.

We've had plenty of South Australians play for us over the years, Todd Viney is one, and most have stayed, in fact apart from Thompson I can't off the top of my head think of any other.

We've had a history of drafting South Australians and some have come from famous football families like Aish but they have all pretty much stayed and had good careers with us.

I am still thinking Freeman as a power mid versus a nice outside mover.

I am still thinking Freeman as a power mid versus a nice outside mover.

We may have some power mids already at the club and maybe they just need a plan and some development/coaching/encouragement, a bit of sheer class sometimes helps.

Strong belief among journos that we will not pick Aish if we retain pick 2. Some chance he might even slide out of the first 5 picks. No firm reasoning given for the drop, might even be down to Freeman and Kolodjashnij bolting up rankings after the Combine.

I'll go for the best available VIC midfielder. Kelly, Freeman or Crouch.

I don't want to recruit someone who is that desperate to play for Adelaide, and worry that he'll be on the first flight back once his contract expires.

Actually, on the other hand, If we take Aish, maybe we can then trade him in12 months, for one of the better Sth Australian boys we like??? Brad Crouch, Ollie wines?

If Aish goes so well, we may even get player, plus some incentive.

Strong belief among journos that we will not pick Aish if we retain pick 2. Some chance he might even slide out of the first 5 picks. No firm reasoning given for the drop, might even be down to Freeman and Kolodjashnij bolting up rankings after the Combine.

What journos? What is this based on..?

Strong belief among journos that we will not pick Aish if we retain pick 2. Some chance he might even slide out of the first 5 picks. No firm reasoning given for the drop, might even be down to Freeman and Kolodjashnij bolting up rankings after the Combine.

What journos? What is this based on..?

Heard someone talking about it today (can't remember which journo) but I very much doubt a lot of weight would be placed on the combine results as far as the top end picks go. The recruiters would already know what they bring to the table, they have been watching these guys for years now.

Heard someone talking about it today (can't remember which journo) but I very much doubt a lot of weight would be placed on the combine results as far as the top end picks go. The recruiters would already know what they bring to the table, they have been watching these guys for years now.

I suspect that the journos talking about things would barely know more than you or me. It doesn't pay our recruiters to let out too much information and when something is let out these days, it's for a purpose. We've indicated that we're willing to deal on pick 2 for the right trade which brings one or two quality midfielders to the club and nothing less will do, otherwise we'll keep pick 2. That choice is likely to go on favour of Aish or Kelly if the recruiters' intention is to draft the best young midfielder on offer.

What journos? What is this based on..?

Brett Anderson was pretty strong on it, a few of the Hun journos are convinced that we'd take Kelly over Aish, and the Ox in conversation with Pickering suggested Aish could go anywhere from 2 to 7.

I suspect that the journos talking about things would barely know more than you or me. It doesn't pay our recruiters to let out too much information and when something is let out these days, it's for a purpose. We've indicated that we're willing to deal on pick 2 for the right trade which brings one or two quality midfielders to the club and nothing less will do, otherwise we'll keep pick 2. That choice is likely to go on favour of Aish or Kelly if the recruiters' intention is to draft the best young midfielder on offer.

I don't necessarily disagree with you WJ. My gut feel here is that that Melbourne may be a worried about picking a lighter framed kid who could be viewed as being too similar to Toumpas (I don't discount possible buyer's remorse here after passing on Wines). I don't view Kelly as all that different as a player, and we may see someone like Freeman jump up as he is physically more developed than the other two.

I'd hate to think that our recruiters might be spooked into bypassing a player who they rate, but you can only guess the pressure they're under given the intense scrutiny on our most recent recruiting efforts combined with a pretty high turnover in that department over the last two years. I personally would take Aish at 2 as I rate him as the best midfielder in this years group, but is he the one that's most likely to have an immediate impact? Probably not (bear in mind that Aish is still only 17 and amongst the youngest players eliglble for this years draft).

We've had plenty of South Australians play for us over the years, Todd Viney is one, and most have stayed, in fact apart from Thompson I can't off the top of my head think of any other.

We've had a history of drafting South Australians and some have come from famous football families like Aish but they have all pretty much stayed and had good careers with us.

I agree, but Bassett and Jarman were two others. Jarman only threatened it, Bassett did it.

We take the best player available though. We're just lucky this is a midfield draft. Of course, it may not come to that.

There are some conundrums with this kid.

1. He has very strong historical football ties with his home state, it is impossible for us keyboard jockeys to assess the risk of the go home factor.

2. He is unlikey to make a concerted impact for a few years due to his body type, if he does want to go home after developing in our system for a while then it is quite possible that his trade value wil drop.

There is a significant risk of paying top price for this kid, then selling him off at a discount. Obviously the club is in a better position to assess this risk than I am.

Edited October 10, 201311 yr by dandeeman

We've taken the "class" option a lot in recent years and it hasn't paid off - we need to get a meat & potatoes mid in next year who can impact straight away (like a Wines or Rich) and help our class mids develop.

Bassett raved about him on trade radio, highlighting how slick and poised he is.

We've taken the "class" option a lot in recent years and it hasn't paid off - we need to get a meat & potatoes mid in next year who can impact straight away (like a Wines or Rich) and help our class mids develop.

Apart from Toumpas who are these class mids you talk about?

Who ever we get needs to have class, good skills particularly by foot, good decision maker etc.

There are some conundrums with this kid.

1. He has very strong historical football ties with his home state, it is impossible for us keyboard jockeys to assess the risk of the go home factor.

2. He is unlikey to make a concerted impact for a few years due to his body type, if he does want to go home after developing in our system for a while then it is quite possible that his trade value wil drop.

There is a significant risk of paying top price for this kid, then selling him off at a discount. Obviously the club is in a better position to assess this risk than I am.

I think that risk is negligible, and you face the same risk with all interstate draftees.

The track record for players going back to SA from VIC is a lot lower than players going back to WA or leaving QLD.

This really isn't a consideration for mine.

We've taken the "class" option a lot in recent years and it hasn't paid off - we need to get a meat & potatoes mid in next year who can impact straight away (like a Wines or Rich) and help our class mids develop.

Trade period logic, for ya.

We haven't had success with draftig classy mids, so give up on them...

I think that risk is negligible, and you face the same risk with all interstate draftees.

The track record for players going back to SA from VIC is a lot lower than players going back to WA or leaving QLD.

This really isn't a consideration for mine.

Sadly I think it becoming more of a concern with the expansion clubs making it easy for kids, not only to go home but to the club of thier choice.

If he is considered to be a likeliehood to go go home in 2 years, we are not going to get pick 2 back for him.

I am normally in your camp, but I think that in this particular case the risk needs consideration.