This is a fruitless exercise, hindsight is a wonderfully skill to have.

Getting your draft picks is one thing ...... It's how your can develop them & what culture a club has....

What occurred from 08-13 in our footy club would have stalled/ruined most players drafted to the MFC!

As Roos says we need to stop thinking that young talent will be the saviours... They are there to be developed & become great players in yrs to come!

Not exactly ones that got away, but let's not forget the "he was a Demons supporter" club: Judd, Pendlebury, Franklin.

Handy little trio.

Can add the touted number 1 pick this year to that club: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-05-06/the-chosen-one

Getting your draft picks is one thing ...... It's how your can develop them & what culture a club has....

What occurred from 08-13 in our footy club would have stalled/ruined most players drafted to the MFC!

As Roos says we need to stop thinking that young talent will be the saviours... They are there to be developed & become great players in yrs to come!

Maric, Morton, Gysberts, Strauss, Blease, Sylvia, Petterd, Scully and Cook all disagree.

Maric, Morton, Gysberts, Strauss, Blease, Sylvia, Petterd, Scully and Cook all disagree.

Sylvia in the group above is most certainly the one that got away. At least he actually had some talent. I'd describe the rest of the bunch soft. Maric = scared. Morton = tickets Gysberts = no engine Strauss = not up to it. Blease = no engine and soft. Pettard = lack of talent Scully = mercenary. Cook = worst drafting decision we have made.

Colin could have been anything but was allowed to get away without doing preseasons or any hard running which meant he never gave himself a chance. By george he was powerful on his day.

Lucas Cook single worst draft selection in history of the draft.

Some days I wonder if we were figjammed on purpose.

Lucas Cook single worst draft selection in history of the draft.

Some days I wonder if we were figjammed on purpose.

I remember exactly where i was on draft night when we drafted Cook. Sitting at the kitchen bench, eating dinner listening to SEN cover the draft on the radio. The moment Pretendergast read out his name i moaned "noooooooooooooo". Admittedly, i was hoping to draft Lynch from Sorrento (who went at pick 11), but with him gone wanted Darling next.

Instead, we drafted Lucas Cook. I know it is hard to predict how kids will develop, but i was as sure as i have ever been that picking Cook would haunt us (i'd thought that he'd at least debut). Felt a similar way when we drafted Gysberts whilst Talia was still on the board (JCB was a fan of Talia's very early in his draft year).

I will admit though, when we drafted Toumpas i was not unhappy about the decision. I would've been happy if we drafted either Wines or Toumpas, but had expected us to draft Wines until the late mail a day or 2 out from the draft. Hindsight is a wonderful, yet very cruel thing.

Not exactly ones that got away, but let's not forget the "he was a Demons supporter" club: Judd, Pendlebury, Franklin.

Handy little trio.

Can add the touted number 1 pick this year to that club: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-05-06/the-chosen-one

Yeh and some of the players that got away probably had red or blue undies - completely irrelevant unless yarded happened to play for the Dees.

We've let Brownlow medallists (Bill Morris, Brian Gleeson) and Coleman medallists if they had it then (Doug Wade) slip through our fingers but at least these blokes never played a senior game in the red and blue.

In the modern era ie post 2000 who has been the one we let go that you most regret?

I nominate S. Thompson.

Col Sylvia

Interesting and wide ranging contributions.

Personally I find Draft retrospectives pointless and unsatisfying. You know - the duds we took and the 17 year old future champions we along with most others failed to recognise.

My intention in starting this was less ambitious. To be more precise I was wondering - of those who had played at least one senior game in the modern era in the red and blue - who do we regret seeing off most?

This is not a woe is us topic. I suspect we have done better from our imports than the recipients have done from our exports. Did we really regret seeing off Sylvia and McLean?

The Wiz

Earl Spalding....

Yes, retrospective drafting is pointless, so perhaps the Fyfe one is irrelevant, but Sloane, Rockliff and Wines were three we were heavily into, and went another direction in 50-50 calls, so I think it is fair to say they are 'ones that got away'.

Not exactly ones that got away, but let's not forget the "he was a Demons supporter" club: Judd, Pendlebury, Franklin.

Handy little trio.

Can add the touted number 1 pick this year to that club: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-05-06/the-chosen-one

Also interesting that he did a number on Carlton's Matthew Watson in that academy game because I remember our own Jesse Hogan doing the same thing to Watson two years ago at Casey Fields.

Sound an interesting type and will probably be available at around our draft pick if our season continues the way it's going. That means we'll continue to debate mids v talls for a while yet.

Where the hell do you start?

We have tried to play catch up over 8 years rather than reinventing ourselves Roos is now just continuing the past . Just Pathetic and I cant blame him because obviously he is not allowed to drop under performers like Jack.

Every thread has to be about Jack Watts?

Every thread for jackaub has to be a criticism of the club. One of the most negative 'supporters' I've ever encountered.

Depressing thread!

I think the one that stings the most is Lucas Cook. Pretty much everyone on here wanted Darling at the time and have been proven correct in the worst possible fashion. This is not one where you can use the hindsight argument as it looked clear cut from day 1.

Josh Kennedy. No, wait that wasn't us. The other Josh Kennedy.

Swings and roundabouts.

I think we're beginning to retrieve some of the losses from our past decade of mistakes.

- Vince, in effect for Sylvia, was a special kind of win win deal - we won both ways!

- Dom Tyson was a tremendous steal.

- Port may yet regret losing Ben Newton, too.

- Gaining Cross is, in football-only terms, as big a win as losing McDonald. Though I choose to remain anguished about the dumping. Dogs could seriously regret it if they find themselves just that little bit of midfield grunt and depth short of finals.

- Lumumba we got when we thought we'd be getting nothing.

Right there, 5 of our best 22, and all used in midfield.

With the 2015 end of season trade and free agency period looking like total chaos with a lot of possibilities, an astute club could add some very handy players to their list at very little cost.

I feel like the club is now led by wise enough heads to both pick out good players who would most benefit from a change of club, and make the Demons the club best suited to their refreshed career.

I'm done talking about the ones that got away, I'm keen on the ones we can reel in next!

One that i think we have got really right is Christian Salem, i think he's a good chance to be the best player out of that draft by the end of his career, and the fact we also got Dom Tyson in that deal makes it a massive win

Rory Sloane.

To be more precise I was wondering - of those who had played at least one senior game in the modern era in the red and blue - who do we regret seeing off most?

Easily Scott Thompson. Emotionally, it really hurt seeing Jeff Farmer in another guernsey.

Ah yes, I remember the beautiful Sofia in form 2. Besotted, I was. She was the one that got away. Probably the best decision she ever made.......

Might be against the grain but I wished we kept Ricky Petterd after 2012. Showed a lot pre-Neeld and then fell completely out of favour at the selection table. Been ok for the Tigers but I always liked the spirit he played with despite some disposal flaws.

In addition, keeping Brad Green on for another 1-2 years could have been very beneficial. It makes me sick that we tried to fill that leadership void with aging fringe players from successful sides. His form started to suffer but it's clear that the turmoil around the club took a massive toll on him and he was being nudged out

I'll never forget Emma Quayle predicting Darling as pick 12 pre-draft, then him slipping to 26 and us getting Cook. Who the hell thought he had what it takes? And then he couldn't even make it into the Casey firsts.

"Todd Viney’s season assessment
Lucas was our first round draft pick in 2010 (No.12 overall) and played as a tall forward. He found it hard to get a lot of exposure in the VFL, because of several talls in the forward line, including Brendan Fevola. But he really developed his game and showed some elite work rate. He is a good decision-maker and with another full pre-season, I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity to play next year."

Todd sounded convinced. Jeez. Though it's kind of funny in hindsight how Fev may have sabotaged his development

Might be against the grain but I wished we kept Ricky Petterd after 2012. Showed a lot pre-Neeld and then fell completely out of favour at the selection table. Been ok for the Tigers but I always liked the spirit he played with despite some disposal flaws.

In addition, keeping Brad Green on for another 1-2 years could have been very beneficial. It makes me sick that we tried to fill that leadership void with aging fringe players from successful sides. His form started to suffer but it's clear that the turmoil around the club took a massive toll on him and he was being nudged out

I'll never forget Emma Quayle predicting Darling as pick 12 pre-draft, then him slipping to 26 and us getting Cook. Who the hell thought he had what it takes? And then he couldn't even make it into the Casey firsts.

"Todd Viney’s season assessment

Lucas was our first round draft pick in 2010 (No.12 overall) and played as a tall forward. He found it hard to get a lot of exposure in the VFL, because of several talls in the forward line, including Brendan Fevola. But he really developed his game and showed some elite work rate. He is a good decision-maker and with another full pre-season, I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity to play next year."

Todd sounded convinced. Jeez. Though it's kind of funny in hindsight how Fev may have sabotaged his development

No one sabotaged Lucas Cook's career but himself. He was never, ever, AFL standard.

My son saw him at his first training session with us, came home and declared he would never play a game with us. I thought he was mad. He was pick 12 and the AA CHF after all.

What my son saw, as he explained, was a bloke who was sh-t scared, even at training with team mates. He said he took his eyes off the ball a few times in drills and spilled the pill as a result.

The question I have always had in relation to Lucas is this, " how could an experienced paid recruiting manager get it so wrong when a young supporter in one training session accurately summed up the player".

PS. While at a GF with my son, watching the early game between Ballarat TAC and another team, he said "that boy will be a star i hope we draft him". The boy was Adam Goodes.

Whilst the Mfc butchered & develop many of their early picks.. There are plenty of other examples in all clubs with failed early picks