Interesting that a 187cm running half back reminds you of a small 177cm crumbing forward!?!

Is he 187cm? What does he weigh?

Is he 187cm? What does he weigh?

189 cm, 80 kg. For the sake of comparison, Luke Hodge is 186cm and 89kg.

Edited November 27, 20159 yr by Moneider96

All the kicks were neat dinky 15-30 metre short passes. Didn't see any running of the lines and long penetrating kicks, nor did I see any strong contested marks for a player of his size.

He looks like a neat player, without any obvious standout qualities, hence the reason he's been selected as a rookie. Comparisons to Hodge were laughable.

I think the semi professional style of footy up there lends itself to those short kicks. A lot of local footy looks like that, you either go the short accurate kick or the long bomb because that's where the players are. No one is leading or running for a 50m penetrated kick!

There were some decent marks in that video, plus a few nice tackles and ground ball pick ups.

He's about the same size and shape as Hodge, kicks on the same foot with a similar style and did a few tough things. Of course it's stupid to compare him to Luke Hodge. But we may as well aim high. There's not much point in comparing him to some dud. That said I'd be pretty happy if he could be as good as Taylor Duryea. Is that a more realistic answer?

Do we have another vandenBerg rookie NEAFL smokey on our hands here?

Yout don't

All the kicks were neat dinky 15-30 metre short passes. Didn't see any running of the lines and long penetrating kicks, nor did I see any strong contested marks for a player of his size.

He looks like a neat player, without any obvious standout qualities, hence the reason he's been selected as a rookie. Comparisons to Hodge were laughable.

you don't watch the hawks much do u, I bet they are the number one team for short kicks, they don't kick long out of the backline

Yout don'tyou don't watch the hawks much do u, I bet they are the number one team for short kicks, they don't kick long out of the backline

Ok, we've got another Luke Hodge on our hands. What a steal!!!

Yeah I can see that. The very best kicks have the ability to loop the ball up over an opponent and have a team mate run on it as well as being able to flatten out the ball and spear it. I hope he can do both.

The well weighted kicks are handy to put it in front of forwards, but to nail accurate kicks in to the corridor he'll have to flatten it out. Still looks to have a kicking edge over most of our list which is nice!

So long as he can hit targets he has a future at Melbourne.

So long as he can hit targets he has a future at Melbourne.

Certainly sets him apart at this stage.

Ok, we've got another Luke Hodge on our hands. What a steal!!!

Ok, we've got another Luke Hodge on our hands. What a steal!!!

I did not say that, you made out that short kicks that hit targets is a negative when one of the best teams ever has it as their main game planr

Mitchell isn't a long kick. Pretty handy none the less.

I did not say that, you made out that short kicks that hit targets is a negative when one of the best teams ever has it as their main game planr

It's a highlights package. Do you think that they'll show his turnovers?

There's nothing in his highlights package that suggests he has any X factor. They show him as a neat player. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, and hope he has a long and distinguished career for us, but the hype for every player we draft in is ridiculous.

It's a highlights package. Do you think that they'll show his turnovers?

There's nothing in his highlights package that suggests he has any X factor. They show him as a neat player. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, and hope he has a long and distinguished career for us, but the hype for every player we draft in is ridiculous.

I've noticed that you're pretty negative about every draft situation we get ourselves into. Are you one of those, never happy unless they're miserable types?

I've noticed that you're pretty negative about every draft situation we get ourselves into. Are you one of those, never happy unless they're miserable types?

I was really optimistic after the last 2 trade and draft periods, and totally understood the rationale. By and large, they've proven to be successful. This year, the players we traded for are unlikely to be game changers, and left me underwhelmed. The trading/upgrading of picks hasn't made a lot of sense. We've given up quite a bit, which most people choose to ignore.

The only credible source of info we've had on the site was from the poster who told us about the Wagner pick before the event. He also said that we hadn't decided on Oliver or Parish until very late. That made the upgrading of picks seem superfluous. Trading next years pick in a supposedly strong draft or for a potential target in Prestia seems strange.

Oliver and Weideman may well be great players, but both have knocks on them. The rest of the draftees are speculative at best.

I was really optimistic after the last 2 trade and draft periods, and totally understood the rationale. By and large, they've proven to be successful. This year, the players we traded for are unlikely to be game changers, and left me underwhelmed. The trading/upgrading of picks hasn't made a lot of sense. We've given up quite a bit, which most people choose to ignore.

The only credible source of info we've had on the site was from the poster who told us about the Wagner pick before the event. He also said that we hadn't decided on Oliver or Parish until very late. That made the upgrading of picks seem superfluous. Trading next years pick in a supposedly strong draft or for a potential target in Prestia seems strange.

Oliver and Weideman may well be great players, but both have knocks on them. The rest of the draftees are speculative at best.

What r the knocks on Ollie? Seems the package to me..

I was really optimistic after the last 2 trade and draft periods, and totally understood the rationale. By and large, they've proven to be successful. This year, the players we traded for are unlikely to be game changers, and left me underwhelmed. The trading/upgrading of picks hasn't made a lot of sense. We've given up quite a bit, which most people choose to ignore.

The only credible source of info we've had on the site was from the poster who told us about the Wagner pick before the event. He also said that we hadn't decided on Oliver or Parish until very late. That made the upgrading of picks seem superfluous. Trading next years pick in a supposedly strong draft or for a potential target in Prestia seems strange.

Oliver and Weideman may well be great players, but both have knocks on them. The rest of the draftees are speculative at best.

It looks to me the trading of picks was all about getting Weideman and one of Parish or Oliver.

Whether this was a successful strategy will be seen in the future but I like the look of Weideman and we definitely needed another good forward option.

It looks to me the trading of picks was all about getting Weideman and one of Parish or Oliver.

Whether this was a successful strategy will be seen in the future but I like the look of Weideman and we definitely needed another good forward option.

I like the look of Weideman also, but the type of player he is with a serious injury history, means that he'll physically take quite a while to develop into an AFL player.

The only way we would have missed out on Parish or Oliver was if GC took one of them at 3. Clearly they didn't see either as a "must have" and traded the pick.

What r the knocks on Ollie? Seems the package to me..

I saw Brayshaw as the total package. The knock I have on Oliver is that his body of work at a high level is very brief. Taylor said that he didn't have him in the top 30 at the start of the year. He's been drafted at 4 due to his "upside", and I'm always cynical about those type of players. You have to question why he allowed himself to get into the physical shape he was, if being an AFL player was his goal.

Edited November 29, 20159 yr by mo64

I was really optimistic after the last 2 trade and draft periods, and totally understood the rationale. By and large, they've proven to be successful. This year, the players we traded for are unlikely to be game changers, and left me underwhelmed. The trading/upgrading of picks hasn't made a lot of sense. We've given up quite a bit, which most people choose to ignore.

The only credible source of info we've had on the site was from the poster who told us about the Wagner pick before the event. He also said that we hadn't decided on Oliver or Parish until very late. That made the upgrading of picks seem superfluous. Trading next years pick in a supposedly strong draft or for a potential target in Prestia seems strange.

Oliver and Weideman may well be great players, but both have knocks on them. The rest of the draftees are speculative at best.

It wasn't a trade period for game changers. Teams in their window traded for the likes of Yarran, Anderson, Howe, Aish, Toumpas, Freeman. It was a throw at the stumps trade period and for all his knocks Melksham isn't really worse than a lot of those guys. We were blessed to get Vince and Garlett, wasn't going to happen every year.

I agree we've traded out a lot but I think we've brought in a lot with the 2 top 10 picks. I don't buy that just because someone finds out our rookie pick that their info was solid on the pick 3 decision. Combining what Jason Taylor said when he joined the AFL draft podcast and what he said about Oliver post draft I think they've been a fan of Oliver for a long time.

Don't worry about Prestia and next years draft. We'll find a way to get the trade done if we can get him. 2017's 1st pick plus a couple of 2nd rounders will do it. Same if we don't get him, we can stock up on 2nd round picks and that's where you are just as likely to find the skilled run and carry types that we need.

I was really optimistic after the last 2 trade and draft periods, and totally understood the rationale. By and large, they've proven to be successful. This year, the players we traded for are unlikely to be game changers, and left me underwhelmed. The trading/upgrading of picks hasn't made a lot of sense. We've given up quite a bit, which most people choose to ignore.

The only credible source of info we've had on the site was from the poster who told us about the Wagner pick before the event. He also said that we hadn't decided on Oliver or Parish until very late. That made the upgrading of picks seem superfluous. Trading next years pick in a supposedly strong draft or for a potential target in Prestia seems strange.

Oliver and Weideman may well be great players, but both have knocks on them. The rest of the draftees are speculative at best.

From what we understand this years draft was shallow where the quality was in the top ten players. We got two of those quality picks - the second best mid and a tall forward who Sanderson argued could have gone number if he played all year - and both those picks are exactly what we need. Also our extra pick from this year will have had 12 months development over the player we would have got first round next year.

Next years the draft is supposedly meant to run much deeper so we will still have access to quality at our second pick.

We could not have played this better

I like the look of Weideman also, but the type of player he is with a serious injury history, means that he'll physically take quite a while to develop into an AFL player.

The only way we would have missed out on Parish or Oliver was if GC took one of them at 3. Clearly they didn't see either as a "must have" and traded the pick.

I saw Brayshaw as the total package. The knock I have on Oliver is that his body of work at a high level is very brief. Taylor said that he didn't have him in the top 30 at the start of the year. He's been drafted at 4 due to his "upside", and I'm always cynical about those type of players. You have to question why he allowed to get into the physical shape he was, if being an AFL player was his goal.

I think you are wrong on Oliver being drafted on upside. His run of form in the TAC wasn't just good it was excellent. He did more in half a season than most juniors, even highly rated ones do in 2 years.

As for the second part that's an easy answer. He's an 18 year old country kid. The TAC system isn't designed to be like a junior tennis circuit full of young professionals. It's deliberately amateur to allow kids to stay at home and school, not travel long distances for training etc. That's why the northern academies have been so successful in a short time. Oliver wasn't in great shape because the majority of kids in the TAC aren't in great shape. They are just 16/17 year old kids kicking a footy.

You do know Gus Brayshaw was a chubby kid as well right? The difference was his dad could independently set him up with Clarkson and the Hawks and get him a training program. Not to mention with an elite sporting background in his family he probably saw an AFL career as a goal not a dream.

If Oliver's only been training hard for 6 months then so be it. We had Scully who was training hard for 6 years and all that meant was he was pretty much burnt out by the time he got to AFL.

What r the knocks on Ollie? Seems the package to me..

The only knocks people can knit pick over, are that Oliver did not play in the nationals. But as you know, that can be easily explained by having OP and a limited preparation. So for Oliver to come out and dominate the TAC cup - to the point where he practically won the Morrish medal in half a year (off of a limited prep) - speaks for itself. Oliver picked himself, he was absolutely dominate, and if people weren't whinging about Oliver they'd be whinging about someone else. There was more risk around pick 7 IMO, but we need another tall. But in saying that I'd understand people knocking that selection, it really will be one that is a wait and see for quite a few years.

I thin

It's a highlights package. Do you think that they'll show his turnovers?

There's nothing in his highlights package that suggests he has any X factor. They show him as a neat player. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, and hope he has a long and distinguished career for us, but the hype for every player we draft in is ridiculous.

I think you read but don't understand, I did not say he is the next hodge or that he will be a good player, I was pointing out the fact how stupid your criticism of short kicks, when the hawks have a short kicking game plan, also the best trades have not been gun players rather the best trades have been good ordinary footballers, example David hail, Gibson, teddy Richards, all very good trades but players with very little x factor.

The trading/upgrading of picks hasn't made a lot of sense. We've given up quite a bit, which most people choose to ignore.

We haven't given up anything.

Which you choose to ignore.

I saw Brayshaw as the total package. The knock I have on Oliver is that his body of work at a high level is very brief. Taylor said that he didn't have him in the top 30 at the start of the year. He's been drafted at 4 due to his "upside", and I'm always cynical about those type of players. You have to question why he allowed himself to get into the physical shape he was, if being an AFL player was his goal.

I am a little suspicious (or maybe just a nagging doubt) of the drastic change but you know at 17/18yo you think you are pretty bullet proof and know better than everyone else etc so maybe it just took him a bit longer. The highlights package is impressive and if that is his trajectory and he can continue that after having decent training and diet etc then perhaps his upside is actually pretty high.

Personally I so like a guy who has had to battle to get where he is as opposed to the guy that is a star in the U12's all the way through to the TAC Cup like a $cully. Perhaps the nagging doubt is that this type of player is not a pick 4 but a pick 10-15. But we seem to have gone for grunt vs silk and grunt is good for mine

Oliver picked himself, he was absolutely dominate, and if people weren't whinging about Oliver they'd be whinging about someone else.

And that is it in a nutshell.

Oliver was earlier this year recovering from OP and if you look at the early video footage he was playing well while still carrying a lot of extra weight. He has since the lost a lot of that weight which has improved his performance to the point he won the morrish medal. That is an exceptional effort of an emerging talent which our recruiting team recognised and took. While parish is good he has been a top players for a couple of years and has not had weight or injury problems, so has not had to overcome the adversity that oliver has to succeed. Parish will be a good player, Oliver looks to be an exceptional player.