Jump to content

Featured Replies

30 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

Can anyone explain why we're not into Sid Draper at all?

He is literally everything we need - fast, agile, skilful, run and carry between the arcs, hit targets in transition, tough as nails, creative, good character, in and out midfielder.  

Looks like a combination of Lachie Neale and Zach Merrett but with even more speed and agility.

 Langford looks ok, but I don't feel he will change anything with the way we play. 

It's a big call but Draper could, like Naicos for Collingwood. 

Maybe it's a given that the Crows take him or maybe he has a big go home factor. Not sure, but there is no player more suited to us in this draft.  

Stop watching highlight videos, watch a full game clip and count the disposals that are good, ok and ugly. 

 
1 minute ago, DeeSpencer said:

Stop watching highlight videos, watch a full game clip and count the disposals that are good, ok and ugly. 

To be fair not many of us have the time. The majority of us on here (myself included) and basing our opinions purely on highlight reels.

Draper of the top bunch of mids looks the most indecisive with ball in hand

Pretty daring to take a mid with a top 5 pick if you don't rate the boot AND the brain

 

To me his kicking looked better that Allan’s, and from what I’ve read Draper can’t kick and Allan is elite.

Edited by Bombay Airconditioning

Just now, Bombay Airconditioning said:

To me his kicking looked better that Allan’s, and from what I’ve read Draper can’t kick and Allan is elite.

Pretty sure everyones in agreeance that Allans kicking is pretty dodgy

Apples & oranges too comparing a pick 5 mid versus one selected likely outside the 10


Yeah it seems a bit strange to me that we have no interest in Draper, but if we pass on him that means the other teams did too. Including hometown club Adelaide and maybe even Richmond twice! What does that say? Probably there’s something there most of us can’t see. Or maybe he interviews poorly, is a flight risk etc. 

I remember almost an identical discussion with Curtin this time last year. I was personally miffed we overlooked him for Windsor who was considered in the 12-20 range. Not anymore.

That being said, I’ll still be a little miffed if we spend our prized pick on an intercept defender. 

10 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

To be fair not many of us have the time. The majority of us on here (myself included) and basing our opinions purely on highlight reels.

I’m not saying watch the full game, just watch a few of the footy stuff clips that compile most of a guys touches for a game and tally up (either by hand or just roughly in your head) the quality of his disposals.

Draper had a couple of good sanfl games but also a lot where he struggled to get out of congestion or do a lot of damage.

Dan Gorringe had Dylan Alexander on his podcast earlier today (I believe that some of his phantom drafts have been posted on this thread. The bloke seems very knowledgeable in terms of draft prospects.) 

He has us taking Jagga Smith with our first pick, and Harvey Langford sliding to our second pick (because of his lack of pace).

Highly doubt this happens, but it would be almost the perfect result. 

 

I'd be surprised if Twomey is wrong about his top 5. He'll have been doing little else other than ringing people for the last few weeks to suss it out.

It therefore seems like Lalor, O'Sullivan and Smith are the first three, and the only issue up for debate is whether Adelaide decide to go with Langford over Draper.

I'm personally surprised to read that if Adelaide take Langford, we're apparently going to take Tauru over Draper. 

However, I suspect in the end we get Langford and 5 and then one of Allan, Lindsay or perhaps even Tauru at 9.

Also, this will have been debated before, but why the [censored] are Richmond, North, Carlton and Adelaide leaving it to us to bid on Ashcroft?

1 minute ago, titan_uranus said:

Also, this will have been debated before, but why the [censored] are Richmond, North, Carlton and Adelaide leaving it to us to bid on Ashcroft?

Richmond I'm not surprised about as they did a deal for Brisbane's first rounder during the trade period. They probably have an understanding, similar to us with Essendon re Kako, to not bid. At least I'd imagine there would be an informal understanding.

As for the other clubs, stuffed if I know.


1 minute ago, Whispering_Jack said:

IMG_7189.thumb.jpeg.19207a70c4583d368095a3b715e08d3a.jpeg

SCOOPS! Surprised he didn't have Saints trading up to pick 1

Out of the 4 we are apparently got our sights on I'd go Langford, Tauru, Allen, Lindsay in that order. I thought we needed mids and a key forward not a flanker like Lindsay.

1 hour ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

To be fair not many of us have the time. The majority of us on here (myself included) and basing our opinions purely on highlight reels.

 

I know everyone hates these for Jagga but now you get to hate it for Sid too. Good stuff in bold, critical errors in italics, neutral stuff for the rest.

 

0:00 excellent clean clearance at pace, kick is a bit of a mongrel and falls short in front of the defender
0:15 backwards handball
0:22 sprints backwards for 2 backwards handballs
0:41 dives on the ball, htb
0:52 gets a one two, gives it back again! You're the star mate, turn and kick it!
1:02 nothing handball
1:10 great spin and step, but up and under kick
1:29 boundary chip
1:40 great contest win, but handball gets knocked down
1:44 cracks back in, handball to no one!
1:55 ok kick from stoppage under pressure
2:05 short kick under no pressure bounces in front of opponent, helps clean up the mess by conceding a backwards kick to his full back
2:25 takes nice safe diagonal kick
3:00 moon ball kick down the line
3:09 off balance handball goes straight to the opposition
3:22 fast hands, nice
3:45 skips around a couple, picks out his brother with the aggressive loopy corridor kick. Result is nice, but still don't love the process
3:58 wins a nice clearance, kicks the ball wrong way and half way to the moon, bizzare
4:04 sneakily nice over the top handball
4:20 wins a clearance, isn't sure what to do with it, gives it backwards to someone under pressure

He's playing seniors after missing a good chunk of the year with a bad stress injury. So you have to give him some credit for getting out there and having 20+ touches and a number of clearances. Plus he isn't afraid to crack in.

But at the same time the best of his ball use was a couple of nice handballs and 1 kick that was anything other than a hack forward (which midfielders have to do at times) or a short chip kick. And it hung in the air in the corridor looking pretty risky too.

Again, hard to know just how much he was impacted by the injury but I wanted to see his pace result in good things happening even if he's not lacing out kicks.

 

Edited by DeeSpencer

1 hour ago, Nascent said:

I've seen Draper the least out of this years reported top 10 so my opinion is less informed. 

But reading up on his weakness it sounds like he's a poor user of the footy.

So is Langford though...


1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

I’m not saying watch the full game, just watch a few of the footy stuff clips that compile most of a guys touches for a game and tally up (either by hand or just roughly in your head) the quality of his disposals.

Draper had a couple of good sanfl games but also a lot where he struggled to get out of congestion or do a lot of damage.

Fair enough. For what it's worth, longer clips of Langford show he's hardly a good kick either 

Reading all the negatives on Draper, you have to wonder whether Adelaide will in fact take him or not. Surely they'd give serious thought to going for Langford, which upends the apple cart somewhat.

10 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

Fair enough. For what it's worth, longer clips of Langford show he's hardly a good kick either 

Yeah he's not great, he gets a bit scrubby at times but the one thing he does seem to do is make quality and quick decisions with the ball. I reckon most Melbourne forwards would rather take their chances with the footy bouncing in front of them but delivered quickly than mucked around and then sat on their heads.

6 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Marc McGowan from the Age has updated his phantom draft and has Melbourne taking Langford and Allan. 

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/we-surveyed-13-afl-recruiters-this-is-how-we-predict-the-draft-will-unfold-20241113-p5kqdv.html

Mail is Richmond super tight lipped on Pick 1 LALOR/SMITH.

If SMITH goes 1 it changes a lot IMO


According to The West Australian:

6. Melbourne – Josh Smillie (Eastern Rangers/Vic Metro)

Midfielder, 195cm

A massive midfielder who was dominant in the early part of the season and was linked to the No.1 pick. Can play forward as well given his height.

11. Melbourne – Alix Tauru (Gippsland Power/Vic Country)

Key Defender, 193cm

One of the bolters who could well end up in the top-10, Tauru is a strong athlete who could be a great long-term replacement for star Steven May.

 

26 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Marc McGowan from the Age has updated his phantom draft and has Melbourne taking Langford and Allan. 

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/we-surveyed-13-afl-recruiters-this-is-how-we-predict-the-draft-will-unfold-20241113-p5kqdv.html

If not Langford, Tauru. For 9, if not Allan, Lindsay, while we've been linked with Shanahan.

He has Tauru going one pick before ours to St Kilda.

11 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

According to The West Australian:

6. Melbourne – Josh Smillie (Eastern Rangers/Vic Metro)

Midfielder, 195cm

A massive midfielder who was dominant in the early part of the season and was linked to the No.1 pick. Can play forward as well given his height.

11. Melbourne – Alix Tauru (Gippsland Power/Vic Country)

Key Defender, 193cm

One of the bolters who could well end up in the top-10, Tauru is a strong athlete who could be a great long-term replacement for star Steven May.

 

would be more likely that we get Tauru at 6 and Smillie at 11

 

Twomey got as taking Lindsey instead of Allen after saying Allen might be taken at 6 by Tigers. Tigers take Allen after our 2nd pick.

Sure. Makes sense.

 


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • GAMEDAY: West Coast

    It's Game Day and the Demons have a chance to notch up their third consecutive win — something they haven’t done since Round 5, 2024. But to do it, they’ll need to exorcise the Demons of last year’s disastrous trip out West. Can the Dees continue their momentum, right the wrongs of that fateful clash, and take another step up the ladder on the road to redemption?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 669 replies
    Demonland
  • FEATURE: 1925

    A hundred years ago today, on 2 May 1925, Melbourne kicked off the new season with a 47 point victory over St Kilda to take top place on the VFL ladder after the opening round of the new season.  Top place was a relatively unknown position for the team then known as the “Fuchsias.” They had finished last in 1923 and rose by only one place in the following year although the final home and away round heralded a promise of things to come when they surprised the eventual premiers Essendon. That victory set the stage for more improvement and it came rapidly. In this series, I will tell the story of how the 1925 season unfolded for the Melbourne Football Club and how it made the VFL finals for the first time in a decade on the way to the ultimate triumph a year later.

      • Love
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREVIEW: West Coast

    Saturday’s election night game in Perth between the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne represents 18th vs 15th which makes it a tough decision as to which party to favour. The Eagles have yet to break the ice under their new coach in Andrew McQualter who is the second understudy in a row to confront Demon Coach Simon Goodwin who was also winless until a fortnight ago. On that basis, many punters might be considering to go with the donkey vote but I’ve been assigned with the task of helping readers to come to a considered opinion on this matter of vital importance across the nation. It was almost a year ago that I wrote a preview here of the Demons’ away game against the Eagles (under the name William from Waalitj because it was Indigenous Round).  I issued a warning that it was a danger game, based on my local knowledge that the home team were no longer easybeats and that they possessed a wunderkind generational player in Harley Reid who was capable of producing stellar performances playing among men a decade and more older than he.  At the time, the Eagles already had two wins off the back of a couple of the young man’s masterclasses and they had recently given the Bombers a scare straight after their Anzac Day blockbuster draw against the then reigning premiers.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 1 reply
    Demonland
  • NON-MFC: Round 08

    Round 08 of the 2025 AFL Season kicks off on Thursday with a must-win game for the Bombers to stay in touch with the top eight, while the struggling Roos seek a morale-boosting upset. Friday sees the Saints desperate for a win as well if they are to stay in finals contention and their opponents the Dockers will be eager to crack in to the Top 8 with a win on the road. Saturday kicks off with a pivotal clash for both sides asthe Bulldogs look to solidify their top-eight spot, while Port seeks to shake their pretender tag. Then the Crows will be looking to steady their topsy turvy season against a resurgent Blues looking to make it 4 wins on the trot. On Election Night a Blockbuster will see the ladder-leading Pies take on the Cats, who are keen to bounce back after a narrow loss. On Sunday the Sydney Derby promises fireworks as the Giants aim to cement their top-eight status, while the Swans fight to keep their season alive. The Hawks, celebrating their centenary, will be looking to easily account for the Tigers who are desperate to halt their slide. The Round concludes on Sunday Night with a top end of the table QClash with significant ladder implications; both Queensland teams are in scintillating form. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons?

      • Thanks
    • 183 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: West Coast

    The Demons hit the road in Round 8, heading to Perth to face the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. With momentum building, the Dees will be aiming for a third straight victory to keep their season revival on course. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
    • 563 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Richmond

    The fans who turned up to the MCG for Melbourne’s Anzac Day Eve clash against Richmond would have been disappointed if they turned up to see a great spectacle. As much as this was a night for the 71,635 in attendance to commemorate heroes of the nation’s past wars, it was also a time for the Melbourne Football Club to consolidate upon its first win after a horrific start to the 2025 season. On this basis, despite the fact that it was an uninspiring and dour struggle for most of its 100 minutes, the night will be one for the fans to remember. They certainly got value out of the pre match activity honouring those who fought for their country. The MCG and the lights of the city as backdrop was made for nights such as these and, in my view, we received a more inspirational ceremony of Anzac culture than others both here and elsewhere around the country. 

      • Love
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland