Isn"t Boyd there to fix That. It appears that they have had a good strategy and executed it well

Wouldn't think paying 10% of the salary cap to one player is a great strategy.

Hopefully we get Petracca and Brayshaw, otherwise Brayshaw and McCartin.

Wouldn't think paying 10% of the salary cap to one player is a great strategy.

Hopefully we get Petracca and Brayshaw, otherwise Brayshaw and McCartin.

Un like the Dees who did the same right?

Yeah, we have had no problems finding mids in the draft...

Our top 6 mids: Jones, Vince, Cross, Tyson, Viney, and Matt Jones.

Only Nathan and Matt Jones were not traded in or a F/S.

That does not back up your argument at all.

That is fairly narrow, we just picked up the wrong players. Every draft since 2007 we picked the wrong mids, plenty of them to pick from and there are a number of mids picked up through that period that are A grade midfielders that have been picked up after our first round picks.

2007 We could have Dangerfield, Roili, Ward, Ebert instead of Morton

2008 Shuey, Swift, Hannebery, Beams, Zaharakis instead of Blease and Strauss

2009 bit of a nothing draft but still Fyfe and Martin

Imagine if we got it right and had Dangerfield, Hannebery, Shuey, Martin and Fyfe instead of Morton, Blease, Strauss, Scully and Trengove.

Un like the Dees who did the same right?

??? Who are we paying a million a year for 7 odd years?

Ah yes the hindsight drafter...

I've spoken about melbourne not taking pure midfielders whilst drafting for a number of years. The ones we did take are trengove, scully (at the time, but probably too small as he hasn't really put on any weight), gysberts (was just too lazy). We have taken some wingers such as Morton and blease, halfbacks and half forwards such as bennell, tappscott and Strauss. The rest have been players like watts, cook, McDonald and other talls not really around anymore. Plus a couple of rucks.

I would debate that we have completely neglected our midfield. I mean guys that go and get the footy. The last 2 drafts and trade period they have attempted to rectify this. Some not as profitable as others and some of the younger ones we will see. For years we forgot that you are suppose to have the football before the flashy players can use it.

We need to address our midfield in a big way because imo players like Evans and m jones aren't contributing to winning. Geelong won their early flags with an average to ok forward line but had a brilliant midfield and backline. We have the makings of an ok forward line at the minute but its hard to judge when the ball goes in there 20 to 30 times a game and was very slow ball movement last year.

I've commented on laverde already and I don't believe he is a player we have the luxury of picking at the minute. He could be a very good player but he could be a fail as well. His u/18s side has some very good mids who can get the ball and he seems a bit of icing. I have seen him play about 10 games live. I wouldn't pick him in the first 3. It's too risky imo and we really need to get high draft picks right. I would pick ahern before him for us in our current position. Not that I think ahern will be top 3.

Hoping for Petracca and Brayshaw. We need midfield talent. It's hard to be enthused because I just think Sylvia/Mclean and Scully/Trengove. We've had two shots at two top 5 mids, and other than the expansion clubs no team has ever had this chance, let alone twice.

2004 draft:

pick 1 - deledio

pick 4 - tambling

2005 draft:

pick 2 - dale thomas

pick 5 - scott pendlebury

There are plenty of teams who have had 2 top 6 picks in a draft due to PP/ FA (excl. GC & GWS).:

Carl - 2002*, 2003*, 2005, 2007 -- *picks were stripped due to salary cap breaches.

Haw - 2004, 2005

St Kilda - 2000, 2001

WB - 2003, 2004

Melb - 2003, 2009

Freo - 2001

WCE - 2001

Rich - 2004

Coll - 2005

2000: St Kilda - Riewoldt (1) & Koschitzke (2)

2001: Freo - traded pick 1 & took Polac at 4; St Kilda - Ball (2) & X.Clarke (5); WCE - Judd (3) & Sampi (6)

2002: Carl - they forfeited pick 1 & 2 due to salary cap breaches

2003: WB - Cooney (1) & Ray (4); Carl - forfeited their 1st round pick due to salary cap breaches, took Walker with their priority at 2; Melb - Sylvia (3) & Mcleane (5)

2004: Rich - Deledio (1) & Tambling (4); Haw - Roughead (2) & Franklin (5); WB - Griffen (3) & Williams (6)

2005: Carl - Murphy (1) & Kennedy (4); Coll - Thomas (2) & Pendlebury (5); Haw - Ellis (3) & Dowler (6)

The rule for priority pick before round 1 is changed from less than 20.5 points in 1 season to less than 32.5 points in 2 seasons

2006: N/A

2007: Carl - Kreuzer (1) & 3 (Masten), which was part of the Judd deal

2008: N/A

2009: Melb - Scully (1) & Trengove (2)

GC & GWS dominate the top 5 picks from 2010 to 2012.

The years we had 2 top 6 picks (2003 & 2009) were arguably the weakest drafts between 2000-2009.

From 2003 the only players picked in the first round who established AFL careers - Cooney (1), Walker (2), Sylvia (3), Ray (4), Mclean (5), Waters (11), Stanton (13), Chaplin (15)

From 2009 (juries still out on a few, but they seem unlikely) - Martin (3), Cunnington (5), Talia (13), Jetta (14) & J.Pittard (16)

Very few 'star' players in 2003, although there were a few solid AFL players (incl. Mclean & Sylvia). Very very few AFL level players from 2009.

That is fairly narrow, we just picked up the wrong players. Every draft since 2007 we picked the wrong mids, plenty of them to pick from and there are a number of mids picked up through that period that are A grade midfielders that have been picked up after our first round picks.

2007 We could have Dangerfield, Roili, Ward, Ebert instead of Morton

2008 Shuey, Swift, Hannebery, Beams, Zaharakis instead of Blease and Strauss

2009 bit of a nothing draft but still Fyfe and Martin

Imagine if we got it right and had Dangerfield, Hannebery, Shuey, Martin and Fyfe instead of Morton, Blease, Strauss, Scully and Trengove.

We didn't get them though - so you can't just assume one can pick mids anywhere in the draft like you were implying.

I just don't want to have the sinking feeling looking at a post similar to the one above mentioning the mids we could have had at ND3 in 2014 that we did not get...

From 2009 (juries still out on a few, but they seem unlikely) - Martin (3), Cunnington (5), Talia (13), Jetta (14) & J.Pittard (16)

Very few 'star' players in 2003, although there were a few solid AFL players (incl. Mclean & Sylvia). Very very few AFL level players from 2009.

Fyfe (20) Carlisle (24) Duncan (28) Gunston (29) pretty reasonable players from 2009. Looks like we would have been better starting in the 20's that year.

I've spoken about melbourne not taking pure midfielders whilst drafting for a number of years. The ones we did take are trengove, scully (at the time, but probably too small as he hasn't really put on any weight), gysberts (was just too lazy). We have taken some wingers such as Morton and blease, halfbacks and half forwards such as bennell, tappscott and Strauss. The rest have been players like watts, cook, McDonald and other talls not really around anymore. Plus a couple of rucks.

I would debate that we have completely neglected our midfield. I mean guys that go and get the footy. The last 2 drafts and trade period they have attempted to rectify this. Some not as profitable as others and some of the younger ones we will see. For years we forgot that you are suppose to have the football before the flashy players can use it.

We need to address our midfield in a big way because imo players like Evans and m jones aren't contributing to winning. Geelong won their early flags with an average to ok forward line but had a brilliant midfield and backline. We have the makings of an ok forward line at the minute but its hard to judge when the ball goes in there 20 to 30 times a game and was very slow ball movement last year.

I've commented on laverde already and I don't believe he is a player we have the luxury of picking at the minute. He could be a very good player but he could be a fail as well. His u/18s side has some very good mids who can get the ball and he seems a bit of icing. I have seen him play about 10 games live. I wouldn't pick him in the first 3. It's too risky imo and we really need to get high draft picks right. I would pick ahern before him for us in our current position. Not that I think ahern will be top 3.

Good post. Who are the pure mids that you would have ahead of Laverde?

We didn't get them though - so you can't just assume one can pick mids anywhere in the draft like you were implying.

I just don't want to have the sinking feeling looking at a post similar to the one above mentioning the mids we could have had at ND3 in 2014 that we did not get...

It just highlights we stuffed up our picks but there are always good midfielders in drafts, but big good key talls are hard to get. If you have a chance to grab one you get him and we have a chance to grab one.

Ah yes the hindsight drafter...

Nothing to do with hindsight, we just plain and simple stuffed up those drafts and the post was more to highlight that there are always good midfielders in drafts but good talls are harder to find

It just highlights we stuffed up our picks but there are always good midfielders in drafts, but big good key talls are hard to get. If you have a chance to grab one you get him and we have a chance to grab one.

Exactly. There are several clubs screaming for a decent big forward. You can have all the other building blocks in place but still struggle without a big target. We should go for 1 mid, 1 forward. Best of both worlds. We can get more mids next year and the year after.

Laverde is a chance to go high because gws have 3 picks and the pies have pick 5.

The obvious ones are petracca and Brayshaw. It's been interesting to read people's opinions on Brayshaw on highlights packages alone. I haven't looked at them. I think he will be a very good player. Has all the necessary skills to be a decent player in the beames type mould. No nonsense, kicks well on both feet, good tackler, gets his own ball in contests, takes 1v1marks and kicks goals from set shots and general play. He is the pure mid type I'm talking about. Plays mostly on the ball in all the contests.

I really like ahern. He is also a pure mid. Has a bit of breakaway speed and uses it pretty well. Can rack up some good numbers very quickly. It's no surprise his team fell away in the granny after he copped a big head knock. He was probably best on until that stage. I don't think he will go top 3. I think Carlton might have picked him if they had kept pick 7.

Duggan and Ellis play mostly mid for the same team as laverde. I've seen a fair bit of those 2. They are both skilled players. Ellis played more half back for metro.

Heeney looks like a gun. I prefer mids that are on the move at a bounce, ball-up or throwin. Heeney is constantly moving. A good example of the is jones when he was younger as compared to viney. Viney is always moving. Jones was stationary a lot in the early years. He got in the right position but was stationary and easy to tackle. He got tackled heaps in his early years inside the contest. Fyfe is another example of someone on the move in the contest. Heeney moves like this. Not surprised we bid pick 2 on him.

I've only seen weller play a couple of times. It's hard to rate the non-big footy states now because they don't play the best teams. He seems to be a pretty good package.

The draft this year is a little different to some years because there are heaps of taller guys that should go early. The best picks imo will be mostly talls with some utilities and petracca and Brayshaw.

Just on a side note. I believe gws will continue to be raidable. If we pick mids, it's possible we may be able to get another key forward from them over the next 2 years. If they end up with McCartin or wright they may end up options in 2 years anyway. Just my opinion.

It just highlights we stuffed up our picks but there are always good midfielders in drafts, but big good key talls are hard to get. If you have a chance to grab one you get him and we have a chance to grab one.

We have one.

He will need a midfield to get him the ball.

We have one.

He will need a midfield to get him the ball.

We have one, you need 2-3 and that one will be attacked by his home clubs. The club has added Stretch, Pick 2, and pick 40 to add mids, that will be three mids and a key Forward. Balance you can't have all our forward hopes on one tall

I am surprised at how many want us to deviate from the "best available" philosophy. We need midfielders but we cannot pass up the chance to draft a great player just because he hasn't played as a mid at u18 level.

Best available is relative, but I want our recruiters to draft the players that in their educated opinion are most likely to become champions. We have positions available all over the park.

NB: Nathan Fyfe was drafted as a forward.

Edited October 23, 201410 yr by jabberwocky

I am surprised at how many want us to deviate from the "best available" philosophy. We need midfielders but we cannot pass up the chance to draft a great player just because he hasn't played as a mid at u18 level.

Best available is relative, but I want our recruiters to draft the players that in their educated opinion are most likely to become champions. We have positions available all over the park.

NB: Nathan Fyfe was drafted as a forward.

I'm not deviating - no-one is telling me he is a transcendent talent that is streets ahead of the 4th best prospect.

Every year, there is a mid taken in the range after the first few 'locks' that turns into an absolute gun.

We need that gun at ND3.

You can make forward line with the talent we have and can trade for a player or two later, the midfield requires instant attention and the injection of three quality players last year gave us a sum of 5 and it still moved the needle only slightly - we were still behind in so many metrics in the middle.

But forgetting stats for a moment - Matt Jones is our 6th best mid, that should be alarming.

You need 10-12 quality players to rotate through there. Matt Jones suited to the tenth or eleventh rotation...

I've spoken about melbourne not taking pure midfielders whilst drafting for a number of years. The ones we did take are trengove, scully (at the time, but probably too small as he hasn't really put on any weight), gysberts (was just too lazy). We have taken some wingers such as Morton and blease, halfbacks and half forwards such as bennell, tappscott and Strauss. The rest have been players like watts, cook, McDonald and other talls not really around anymore. Plus a couple of rucks.

I would debate that we have completely neglected our midfield. I mean guys that go and get the footy. The last 2 drafts and trade period they have attempted to rectify this. Some not as profitable as others and some of the younger ones we will see. For years we forgot that you are suppose to have the football before the flashy players can use it.

We need to address our midfield in a big way because imo players like Evans and m jones aren't contributing to winning. Geelong won their early flags with an average to ok forward line but had a brilliant midfield and backline. We have the makings of an ok forward line at the minute but its hard to judge when the ball goes in there 20 to 30 times a game and was very slow ball movement last year.

I've commented on laverde already and I don't believe he is a player we have the luxury of picking at the minute. He could be a very good player but he could be a fail as well. His u/18s side has some very good mids who can get the ball and he seems a bit of icing. I have seen him play about 10 games live. I wouldn't pick him in the first 3. It's too risky imo and we really need to get high draft picks right. I would pick ahern before him for us in our current position. Not that I think ahern will be top 3.

Super post. Agree completely re: Laverde & Ahern.

I spoke to my one and only source, unfortunately he wasn't able to give me much but he believed Heeney to be the best player of the draft and Petracca as the next best available.

I asked who or had he heard who the Saints would take at pick #1 and he said it will either be Petracca or McCartin.

I asked who he thought for the Dees and he said (on the basis of Petracca going at one) McCartin, Brayshaw, Lever and Pickett were in the mix.

As for the draft he considered it strong with a good depth to around the 50 mark.

Sorry I don't have any more as it's quite vague - he has been a little tight lipped this year.

mccartin looks like a gun. He seems to have quite a large body and is a brilliant mark. he will relieve some pressure of hogan as well. Brayshaw seems like a solid inside mid. lever on the other hand seems like a risky pick. From watching his highlights he has good pace but a shocking kick.

mccartin looks like a gun. He seems to have quite a large body and is a brilliant mark. he will relieve some pressure of hogan as well. Brayshaw seems like a solid inside mid. lever on the other hand seems like a risky pick. From watching his highlights he has good pace but a shocking kick.

G'day Ruddo! What an ugly looking ku.. you are!

G'day Ruddo! What an ugly looking ku.. you are!

ku?

ku?

FMD Ruddo! Fill in the blanks!

mccartin looks like a gun. He seems to have quite a large body and is a brilliant mark. he will relieve some pressure of hogan as well. Brayshaw seems like a solid inside mid. lever on the other hand seems like a risky pick. From watching his highlights he has good pace but a shocking kick.

Lever looks to have very average pace from the highlights, good agility though.