2007:
Morton - No longer in AFL
Grimes - @ MFC, played today
Maric - No longer in AFL
Cheney - backup @ Hawthorn
McNamara - delisted

2008:
Watts - played today
Strauss - did not play
Blease - did not play
Jetta - rookie list, did not play
Bail - played today

2009:
Scully - @GWS
Trengove - did not play
Gysberts - Delisted
Tapscott - did not play
Gawn - did not play
Fitzpatrick - played

2011:
Taggert - delisted
Tynan - delisted
Sellar - delisted
Clark - well we all know what's going on here.

Says it all, really.

I listened to an analysis of some of these drafts from an Adelaide and Carlton perspective. Lots of the players picked in some of these drafts were fails for other clubs as well. the different is MFC uses draft picks as some kind of hope-currency for the future whereas other clubs dont draw as much attention to them.

I know our recruiter was still saying cale Morton should have been a great pickup

Other clubs may have stuffed up too, but not with the high picks we had!

Roos can't improve rubbish.......even Hinkley had something to work with at Port.

Recruiting has been disgusting, simple as that!

Oh I agree, dont get me wrong. But we have to get one right eventually just ont he law of averages.

I got very nervous looking at Josh Kelly today.

I got very nervous looking at Josh Kelly today.

Tyson and the potential of Salem (he may still turn out to be a spud) gives me comfort.

Development at Melbourne has been poor, but I think the majority of the problems have come through poor drafting.

Come on guys, Bruce Matheison said Carlton's drafting was the worst over the last 10 yrs by far!

I got very nervous looking at Josh Kelly today.

Tyson is as good or better on his own i reckon, Tyson looks an absolute gem, and Salem i reckon will be even better than either

Oh I agree, dont get me wrong. But we have to get one right eventually just ont he law of averages.

Trouble is one is not enough, we would need to snaffle three or four elites in the next draft to even be competitive again. Our list is so far behind the pack it is truly amazing.

I got very nervous looking at Josh Kelly today.

Always going to be a good footballer but had it easy on Grimes today and when in the middle "mummy" helped a bit.

Tyson and the potential of Salem (he may still turn out to be a spud) gives me comfort.

Tyson is a great pick up, imagine if we had a winning ruck. He had to do it on his own today with Jones down early.

Drafting and bringing in kids is an imprecise science with nothing ever truly guaranteed.
People talk about Hawthorn and how they were able to turn their top picks into gold and in the case of Buddy, Rough and Hodge, they would be right. What should also be kept in mind is that this was also the club that drafted Beau Dowler ahead of Joel Selwood and Mitch Thorp the year before.

The thing is that the Hawks have allowed their players to come on at their own pace as has Geelong. When was the last time Geelong ever got a top ten pick? They haven't but they have blooded kids post 2011 journey who have been able to continue improve because they aren't 'the MAN' from day dot. When the Selwoods, Bartels and Stevie J's of this world retire, we will still look at Geelong as a strong team because the kids they have blooded have been able to play against players of similar skill level and not have their confidence smashed.
I really hope Roosy keeps Salem under wraps until he is truly ready. Jack Watts, Cale Morton, Jack Trengove and potentially Jimmy Toumpas have had damage done to their careers by being given too much responsibility before they were ready. Let Christian learn his craft at Casey then give him a guernsey.

Another thread on drafting.

Lamashtu posted recently about how this thought process that if we'd only taken the right kids and everything would be better is the exact reason we're where we are at right now.

Our strategy was to take our draft picks, bring in talented kids, and have them pull us up off the bottom of the ladder.

The argument that we stuffed up our recruiting and that this 'says it all really' is indicative of the attitude that the MFC ruined this club with, this idea that 'oh, let's just stack the list with talented kids and wait a few years, then we'll be fine'.

Let's focus on some of the more pressing issues, that can actually be fixed (theoretically, anyway): our attitude, our lack of being a team, our skills, our efforts, our game plan.

Development at Melbourne has been poor, but I think the majority of the problems have come through poor drafting.

Key issue is development ..... Look at Cheney b&f @ box hill...

How many games was he forced to play @ box hill before he could get a game @ Hawthorn??

Our young kids were not made to earn senior games..... Crap culture along with too many changes in coaches & instability!

Key issue is development ..... Look at Cheney b&f @ box hill...

How many games was he forced to play @ box hill before he could get a game @ Hawthorn??

Our young kids were not made to earn senior games..... Crap culture along with too many changes in coaches & instability!

Is Cheney a much better player at Hawthorn than he was at Melbourne or is it just that his teammates are better? Last week he really stood out for being quite poor I thought.

Morton, Gysberts and Maric all failed at other AFL clubs (plus Cook failed in the VFL) which to me is far more clear that drafting is the issue.

actually hogan 2014 that is very true!

Agree our drafting was rubbish. I wanted Wines over Toumpas, Palmer over Morton, Atley over Cook, Talia over Gysberts, Freeman/Sheed/Dunstan over Salem.

Watts was the right pick. So was Scully, Trengove, Blease, Grimes.

2014: Brayshaw, Lever, McCartin are the right kids. I want tough footballers. Not development types.

Edited April 6, 201411 yr by spirit of norm smith

I got very nervous looking at Josh Kelly today.

Kelly is going to be a jet - which is expected of pick 2.

There will be a lot of fans whinging down the line.

But most clubs expect to select jets with pick 2.

Tyson alone is worth pick 2, he has been brilliant, exactly what we need.

What a great start of the year Tyson has had.

Is Cheney a much better player at Hawthorn than he was at Melbourne or is it just that his teammates are better? Last week he really stood out for being quite poor I thought.

Morton, Gysberts and Maric all failed at other AFL clubs (plus Cook failed in the VFL) which to me is far more clear that drafting is the issue.

We have too many failures... Recruiting has been crap, but I'd say other club environments continue to develop far better... Early picks are no guarantee... Look at Stkilda, all early picks yet no flag, Carlton the same...

Four drafts collecting stick figures and project players - when we need mature bodies and ball winners.

What a farce.

Key issue is development ..... Look at Cheney b&f @ box hill...

How many games was he forced to play @ box hill before he could get a game @ Hawthorn??

Our young kids were not made to earn senior games..... Crap culture along with too many changes in coaches & instability!

Bad argument. James Magner.

Kelly is going to be a jet - which is expected of pick 2.

There will be a lot of fans whinging down the line.

But most clubs expect to select jets with pick 2.

Tyson alone is worth pick 2, he has been brilliant, exactly what we need.

What a great start of the year Tyson has had.

A la Trengove at number 2? No jet there I am afraid.

Come on guys, Bruce Matheison said Carlton's drafting was the worst over the last 10 yrs by far!

Who?

Agree our drafting was rubbish. I wanted Wines over Toumpas, Palmer over Morton, Atley over Cook, Talia over Gysberts, Freeman/Sheed/Dunstan over Salem.

Watts was the right pick. So was Scully, Trengove, Blease, Grimes.

2014: Brayshaw, Lever, McCartin are the right kids. I want tough footballers. Not development types.

Right. Because you wanted them, that must mean they were the choices that should have been made.

Palmer's career is done, crap player. You've written Salem off after 0 games. Atley is just going OK at the moment (obviously better than Cook but at Melbourne Atley would be a failure, another 'skinny kid'). We have players to play Talia's role, so we don't really need him. As for Wines v Toumpas, see every other thread/discussion/waste of time we've devoted to that.

Morton and Gysberts were talented juniors who came to a club that couldn't give them the environment to let them flourish. Instead, we played them too early, too often, in roles they couldn't handle for their age/development, with no support, leadership or proper coaching. That's the real issue.

Morton and Gysberts were talented kids who did not win contested footy. They played as tall mids in uncontested style... modern day athletes who were not ready for the grit of the AFL.

At least I put it out there. You get it right most of the time so you question why cannot the professionals.

We have held players back and yes like 17 other clubs have also played 18 year olds in their first year. Give me strength. It does not seem to have hurt the Giants or Suns youngsters development.

Brayshaw, Lever, McCartin are all footballers (yes like Hogan who I supported our mini-draft choice). Do you have 3 others from this years crop that you support. If you don't follow the recruiting, then keep backing the clubs UNDER PERFORMANCE and keep eating the popcorn from the club in the cheap seats.