Since my query about who was going did not elicit any positives, and since it was an intimate affair of about 60 Demon obsessives, including several family groups of parents and adult kids, I guess I was the accidental Demonland rep for the event.

First let me say you missed out. On a sensational gourmet pie at least. I had the lamb shoulder and vegetables teamed with a shiraz or two and it was a seriously high class pie (night).

Entree was antipasto of terrines, prosciutto, salami, pickles, house chutney. Damn fine and I had to limit myself out of politeness since I was at a table with nine strangers who may not appreciate my customary two fisted eating style.

Dessert was some form of brownie with caramalised banana and icecream. It was better than it sounds but I know you couldn't give a rats about the food.

It was upstairs at the Duke. Robbie was MC. Gawnie the special guest but Roosy the star.

What did I learn?

We won't draft Wright even if available.

Roosy did not exactly say this but he gave a very strong indication when the words 'won't take Wright' came out as part of an unfinished sentence. He was going on to say something else but stopped himself, but it was his comments about talls and the TAC that were most informative.

He told us about the special rules for the TAC about no double teaming on talls, no players dropping back to flood and the fact that talls at that level often are mismatched for opponents.

Mids on the other hand are matched evenly and it was clear he reckons a good mid at TAC level has a much higher chance of being a good mid at AFL level than a tall has of making the same progression.

In other words TAC is so unlike AFL that it's not a good guide for talls. He explicitly said - "you can't judge talls in the TAC Cup".

Plus he talked about the need for many mids - high half forwards who play as mids, half backs ditto, wings...you get the picture.

Key message for me was we will draft mids and trade for talls. In fact I wanted to ask would he have drafted Hogan but did not get the chance, but given the Hulk's exceptional body the answer was probably yes.

In summary he does not value draft picks the way some of us do: 'at Sydney we traded many draft picks because it's a lottery, the draft".

He described the loss of Mitch - "probably the best player on the list" - as season changing.

No news there but good to hear it.

He said Howie will eventually return to the forward line better for the experience of playing back this year.

Ours is a very damaged football club - the players bear that damage more than anyone - and it can only be fixed in stages.

He talked about free agency as a huge impediment to clubs like ours and that ultimately most players will lose out as he (heatedly) explained to the AFLPA two weeks ago all the money will go to the elite few and mid-ranking players will drop from 250K a year to 150k.

We are not after any free agents.

Players with big upside are Howe and Tyson, and Salem and Toumpas need two-three years development.

Improvement will come from improving the list but he also said there is 10-15% improvement from higher fitness levels which will come out of this pre-season.

Then there was a raffle - signed framed guernsy, autographed footy and $100 meal vouchers for the Duke so those who got the vouchers actually got their dough back.

Thanks Pitmaster.

Very much appreciate the report. Interesting to hear that Roos thinks there is still a fair bit of upside in Howe

Let's hope the saints take a tall a pick 1 then

Yep thanks Pit. The food is quite good there isnt it

Roos explains the logic of why its dangerous to rely tooo much on the draft and why he prefers to look at watching, evaluating and securing players AFTER they've entered the system. The TAC is a sanitised version of the game. Caveat emptor

I wonder what he thinks about drafting tall forwards from the Private School Competition then

  On 26/08/2014 at 23:53, drdrake said:

I wonder what he thinks about drafting tall forwards from the Private School Competition then

pretty much watt we do i suspect

  On 26/08/2014 at 23:45, Gorgoroth said:

Let's hope the saints take a tall a pick 1 then

They're pretty desperate for taller timber. Their list is pretty shot as well but the engine room is better than ours ( currently )

  On 26/08/2014 at 23:53, drdrake said:

I wonder what he thinks about drafting tall forwards from the Private School Competition then

Would be surprised if private school comp gave a much better indication than TAC cup in this regard. The football is a significantly lower standard as there are many kids running around that have neither the ability nor desire to play at an elite standard. Would think that the state carnival is probably the most valuable scouting venture for KPPs.

  On 26/08/2014 at 23:45, Gorgoroth said:

Let's hope the saints take a tall a pick 1 then

I suspect they'll trade it as we did our early pick last year to maximise their gains?

I was in attendance as well - had a great night and thought the 3 course meal plus drinks as well as the Q&A with Gawn and Roosy was really good value and hopefully the club gets a kick out of it too.

Roosy had a lot of interesting things to say and I must admit once hed finished up I was feeling a lot more confident and comfortable being a Melbourne Supporter/Member after a sour second half to 2014. Robbo and Roosy both said a number of times they were really happy with the start of the year and suggested it was really only the last 4 games or so where weve really dropped off and let ourselves down.

Roos offered a really good stat that we were in front in the last quarter of 10 (?) games this year and only went on to win 4 - which shows that for a lot of the playing group Winning needs to be learned.

Another interesting thing Roos talked about was the request of some supporters/commentators for the 15m kick to be extended to 20m or 25m to eradicate all the short chipping and backwards kicking.

Roos suggested that making that rule change would set us back 5 years and flooding would come back in vogue as the short chipping is currently used to draw opposition players out from flooding back, which creates space and allows play to then flow.

Robbo was a bit cagey at the end of the night when someone asked a question about Jack Watts - said he doesnt know why someone should have so much pressure on them just because of where they were taken in the draft. Believes if he was taken with Pick 3 instead hed be left to his own devices with a lot less public pressure.

From what he was saying it sounded like there might be an article written or story on Jack in the next week or two that isnt particularly favourable.

Gawn suggested after having travelled a fair bit during his last few off seasons hell be staying home to get started on Pre Season training early and really look after himself as he hasnt had a proper Pre Season yet - which I thought was a great sign and I think if he can get through Summer fairly injury free there is a lot of upside to Gawny.

Had a great night and I'd definitely go again. Robbo (as the MC) was trying to finish up the questions at the end of the night but Roosy just kept taking them, he probably took 10 or so more and I got a great sense of how giving and enthusiastic he is as well as knowledgeable.

Would have loved to have gone, previous Night with Roos was excellent also.

You're just left with the feeling that this plainly ISNT how Roos and the FD want the list to be . ist year a bit of a honeymoon/evaluation . This EOS to see the real Roos and Co influence come to bear.

Ive come to learn you need to develop an understanding of Roos speak. Sometimes its the half finished sentences, sometimes its a form of substitution where he inserts a vanilla generalisation in place of what I can only guess is his real thinking but considers the venue and audience not for such confidences.

Theres a game of join the dots though, he's candid and evasive ...all in one breath !! lol

  On 26/08/2014 at 23:26, pitmaster said:

He described the loss of Mitch - "probably the best player on the list" - as season changing. No news there but good to hear it.

Interestingly, Mitch posted an Instagram pic yesterday from St Kilda with the caption:

"perfect day for a recovery swim down at st kilda beach #iphone"

Make of that what you will (unless of course, he was recycling an old shot).

http://instagram.com/mitchclark

  On 27/08/2014 at 01:12, hardtack said:

Interestingly, Mitch posted an Instagram pic yesterday from St Kilda with the caption:

"perfect day for a recovery swim down at st kilda beach #iphone"

Make of that what you will.

http://instagram.com/mitchclark

I live in hope no matter how remote

I was there with my wife and son and I must say it was a great night. Premium beers and wine non-stop.

I asked Max who he believes are the best young players on the list. He only mentioned one, Christian Salem.

It was clear from Roos that McCartin and Wright won't be drafted by us.

I may have drank too much but I got the distinct impression that Jack Watts won't be a MFC player next year.

Good reports thanks heaps.

Did anyone ask who we will be targeting in the draft if it isn't Wright or Mcartin?

  On 27/08/2014 at 02:21, dazzledavey36 said:

Good reports thanks heaps.

Did anyone ask who we will be targeting in the draft if it isn't Wright or Mcartin?

I thought you already knew, you advise Josh Taylor surely?

  On 27/08/2014 at 02:29, Satyriconhome said:

I thought you already knew, you advise Josh Taylor surely?

Huh Josh Taylor? ?

If your gonna attempt sarcasm atleast get the name right Saty..

Poor form.

  On 27/08/2014 at 02:29, Satyriconhome said:

I thought you already knew, you advise Josh Taylor surely?

Jason Taylor, old mate.

  On 27/08/2014 at 02:41, dazzledavey36 said:

Huh Josh Taylor? ?

If your gonna attempt sarcasm atleast get the name right Saty..

Poor form.

He's mates with Jason Mahoney I think !

Good to see Roosy knows what he's talking about and would shy away from Wright, like some other astute minds... *cough*

Not going to mention my rating of McCartin however...

By the by, it would seem that all the good teams have the same philosophy, and even St Kilda to some extent at that.

Traded in mature-agers in Hickey, Longer and Tom Lee.

Hawks traded in McEvoy, Hale, Gunston, Lake, Gibson. Schoenmakers & late pick ruckmen the most recent talls drafted.

Sydney traded in Mumford, Franklin, Tippett, Richards.

Geelong traded in Ottens, Mooney, McIntosh (FA), Rivers (FA).

It's not just the way forward; it has been for some time now.

Good to hear Roosey's thoughts on the draft lottery and although we already knew talls are a bigger risk than mids in the first round I hadn't heard those reasons put up by PR about the TAC rules. Hopefully we keep pick 2 to get the best mid available and use the other Chip pick to trade

  On 27/08/2014 at 02:41, dazzledavey36 said:

Huh Josh Taylor? ?

If your gonna attempt sarcasm atleast get the name right Saty..

Poor form.

It wasn't an attempt at sarcasm, I just wanted to rattle your cage, I know Jason girls, probably too much of an attempt to rattle, spoke to him last week at training, do you want me to ask his opinion on the talls?

  On 27/08/2014 at 03:22, Satyriconhome said:

It wasn't an attempt at sarcasm, I just wanted to rattle your cage, I know Jason girls, probably too much of an attempt to rattle, spoke to him last week at training, do you want me to ask his opinion on the talls?

You are one weird unit. Did you get down on your knees for him at training then?

Go nuts if you want.

I'm kicking myself now that I didn't go.

In case anyone from the club is reading this, as far as feedback goes, I thought the invite needed a bit of work.

Advertised as a "pie night", I know the description was gourmet pies, but it left me thinking "$100 for a pie??!"

Not sure even Roosy could make that worth my while!

& rather than the email coming from the club itself, it came from The Duke directly.

Maybe I shouldn't be, but I'm a bit suspicious of emails coming directly from a sponsor rather than the club.

And after spending a bit more to go to flash lunches where I was left feeling shortchanged (one at WTC with Neeld & Craig where I was plonked on a table nowhere near the action, had a half decent meal and then some quick chats that wouldn't have revealed anything more than the standard club website video)... it's fair to say I was a bit gunshy.

Thanks for those giving feedback however, as I'm yet to attend an event with Roosy, but it has reminded me that all reports are of him being unusually generous with his time.

Looking forward to the next one.

Any mention of a pre-draft event?

I think we'll see a fair shake of offers like this next season. The Duke are working with the club to build this type of thing up. Decent place, good food, nicely tucked away upstairs, easy to get to etc etc

( I'll have a free beer thanks Duke !! lol )