Well we're in a bit of a pickle arent we..

I thought I'd offer up possibly somethg else to coment on.

When it comes round to casting our net for new players, we like most clubs seem terribly focused on the draft, on the kids.

I dont think this is either healthy or wise..i.e placing so many eggs in one basket...or one source.

Trade hasnt got us very far...or indeed many clubs in recent years as that avenue seems to have tightened up a lot.

One area that piques my curiousity are the other leagues...whether the VFL..or SANFL or WAFL etc...where there maybe some of these same said kids that might have been overlooked in previous years, but have gone on to carve themselves a bit of a reputation. Maybe they we late developers or simply didnt fit the mould or flavour of 'that' years particular intake.

We , like all clubs , draft kids. We seem to take an inodrinate time on average bringing them to the game. In hindsight is it really that great an investment to have so much reliance upon a feed with no guarantee. Yes you need to take these risks, but could we not temper it and marginalise them by looking further afield ?

I'd like to see this club become more lateral in its approach to finding players

other's thoughts ??

certainly alot of players that have played in comps like the sanfl and wafl have been good picks.

my thinking is.. by all means draft X number through the kiddy pool... but there has to be quite a few young blokes running around where there real capabilities are on show...not what "might be " They are already playing against men...which is often the argument about not advancing the draftees too quickly..

Not every player is going to be a star.. but we could certainly use a handful of young blokes who play an honest afternoons game with full respect for the jumper.

I'd be very intereested..and seriously ( and resepectfully ) if you are reading CAC...does MFC look to these pools of potential talent with much effort , that is in comparison to all the attention paid to the kids ?

Well we're in a bit of a pickle arent we..

I thought I'd offer up possibly somethg else to coment on.

When it comes round to casting our net for new players, we like most clubs seem terribly focused on the draft, on the kids.

I dont think this is either healthy or wise..i.e placing so many eggs in one basket...or one source.

Trade hasnt got us very far...or indeed many clubs in recent years as that avenue seems to have tightened up a lot.

One area that piques my curiousity are the other leagues...whether the VFL..or SANFL or WAFL etc...where there maybe some of these same said kids that might have been overlooked in previous years, but have gone on to carve themselves a bit of a reputation. Maybe they we late developers or simply didnt fit the mould or flavour of 'that' years particular intake.

We , like all clubs , draft kids. We seem to take an inodrinate time on average bringing them to the game. In hindsight is it really that great an investment to have so much reliance upon a feed with no guarantee. Yes you need to take these risks, but could we not temper it and marginalise them by looking further afield ?

I'd like to see this club become more lateral in its approach to finding players

other's thoughts ??

My thoughts are this topic should go under 'Cleanout' as there are too many similar posts here

no i disagree..as cleanout only goes to the idea of well that..a cleanout..

this has nothing to do with cleaning out the list per se...just what are viable avenues of enlisting players.

I think it's a good idea.

It's interesting that clubs are so reluctant to draft anyone who is a little older, considering most kids are drafted simply on potential and under-age rep etc.

this has nothing to do with cleaning out the list per se...just what are viable avenues of enlisting players.

Agreed.

I agree with everything you have said Belzibub.

For an example you have to look no further than Brett Kirk. Who knows how many Kirks there are running around in the VFL etc that would be great on any AFL list!!!

It's quite simple to explain too. Not everyone develops body and skill wise at 19.

the picking of kids who are 17 nd without gaurantee of making it amazes me. i really think we should be picking enough to have a reserves comp, so that players can develop ion the 2's and only join the senior team when they are guns. yes we might still pick kids a bit younger than ready but they then develop into footballers...our top competition, the afl, is not as good as it could be, as a large number of players are still learning the game at this stage...

Well we're in a bit of a pickle arent we..

I thought I'd offer up possibly somethg else to coment on.

When it comes round to casting our net for new players, we like most clubs seem terribly focused on the draft, on the kids.

I dont think this is either healthy or wise..i.e placing so many eggs in one basket...or one source.

Trade hasnt got us very far...or indeed many clubs in recent years as that avenue seems to have tightened up a lot.

One area that piques my curiousity are the other leagues...whether the VFL..or SANFL or WAFL etc...where there maybe some of these same said kids that might have been overlooked in previous years, but have gone on to carve themselves a bit of a reputation. Maybe they we late developers or simply didnt fit the mould or flavour of 'that' years particular intake.

We , like all clubs , draft kids. We seem to take an inodrinate time on average bringing them to the game. In hindsight is it really that great an investment to have so much reliance upon a feed with no guarantee. Yes you need to take these risks, but could we not temper it and marginalise them by looking further afield ?

I'd like to see this club become more lateral in its approach to finding players

other's thoughts ??

There are clearly footballers in other leagues who could play AFL and hold their own. For example Shane Valenti at Sandy in my opinion could play AFL.

For some reason we have this infatuation with the young untried 17 & 18 year olds who may never develop and overlook the ready made slightly older players.

speaking of this...

luke molan signed with spotswood this year, playing with ex-falcon teammate "spud" theodore as playing coach

first contest, molan is 5 meters away from the contest, looked out of it, leaps, and takes mark of the year in the first passage of play!!!

kicked 5-6 to 3/4 time, when my friend watching had to leave

probably to old to be re-drafted, but good to see ex-demons having a crack

There are clearly footballers in other leagues who could play AFL and hold their own. For example Shane Valenti at Sandy in my opinion could play AFL.

For some reason we have this infatuation with the young untried 17 & 18 year olds who may never develop and overlook the ready made slightly older players.

Same goes for all the teams IMO.

A hypothetical. Valenti was on the rookie list this year. One of Bartram or Robertson was placed on the long term injury list (I must admit I am not sure of qualification for this, but let’s say its 8 weeks and one of them is going to be out for that length).

So if we had the option to promote him to the senior list would he be playing this week for the dees? I believe he would.