Good work by CAC.

Even if Meesen is a bust, for pick 37 in any draft, let alone an allegedly weaker one, that's a good job.

Hopefully he can go a bit. I'm sure we wouldn't have pushed hard for him if we didn't think he could.

Dean Bailey would have some idea about this bloke, or so I would think.

He was running around in the local comp, where Port and Crows boys play and with Dean being an assistant coach at the Power, one would assume he sees enough local footy!

either way, for that sort of draft pick - it is worth a punt!

just praying that he is no Barry Brooks!!

pick 37 for Meesen is a masssiiivvveee victory for us.

that's a steal.

Meesen in only 21 years old, pick 8 in 2004 draft. He was injured for 2-3 months at the start and that was the only reason he dropped down the pecking order.

he is supposed to be a supreme athlete. is big and strong, and obviously highly talented or he wouldnt have been chosen at pick 8.

in 2006 he showed huge amount of promise playing as first ruck for Norwood.

if this guy fulfills his potential we couldv gotten the biggest steal ever and a 10 year replacement for White. if not, its only pick 37, so is a speculative pick anyways

Meesen is no certainty to make it in AFL.

We need to ensure we have a quality young ruckman coming through.

Well I'm pleased with this comment & I agree with what your saying.

One more but let's not go silly with draft picks over it.

I note that he has magically grown a centimetre and is now 201cm.

their centimetres are smaller

As many have said here, he is no certainty to be a top ruckman but if we'd kept 37 and used it to draft ruckman we'd have less chance of getting a good player. This is definitely a win for us, plus apparently Adelaide radio was going nuts that we'd get him for so cheep.

Top stuff CAC!

plus apparently Adelaide radio was going nuts that we'd get him for so cheep.

Those nuff-nuffs should be greatful they got anything. They were in no position to bargain.

new coach, new highly rated ruckman (again....)

he is supposed to be a supreme athlete. is big and strong, and obviously highly talented or he wouldnt have been chosen at pick 8.

I already like the bloke for the fact that our 'facilities' were obviously not an issue for him coming over.

I already like the bloke for the fact that our 'facilities' were obviously not an issue for him coming over.

Great call!

Dear Adelaide F.C.

Pick 8 in the 2005 draft traded for pick 37.

Not much capital growth there. Excellent pick up for the Mighty Demons.

How do like them apples.

Sour grapes or reality?

A bit of both perhaps.

The following Meesen history is from a Bigfooty moderator NikkiNoo:

He is a ruckman and they take longer to develop. Maric and Messen were drafted in the same draft, Messen in the first round. Griffin was also rookied in the same year. Meesen was the better talent all round and has a great aerobic engine. So much so that Maric has worked harder to match up to him.

Griffin spent most of his first year playing reserves for Centrals (hard to break into that team!) but Maric and Meesen were pretty much playing firsts for their respective sanfl sides.

We had Hudson, Clarke and Biglands as our main rucking options.

End of 2005 and Hudson does his knee, Clarke agrees to stay on for another year to help us cover the loss of Hudson. Clarke gets injured early in the season now a spot is up for grabs by Maric or Messen, Maric gets it as his form in the sanfl had been superior to Meesen's. He grabs the opportunity and plays a couple of games that season.

2006 PF and Biglands does his knee, Clarke decides to retire (and is subsequently then convinced by the Saints to help them for one final crack at a flag). So there you have it two ruckman down for 2007 season but Messen wants only agrees to a one year option with the club even though Maric signed a two year deal. The club upgrades Griffin to the main list.

2007 - starts off promising for Meesen until 2 minutes into his debut in round 1 of the nab cup and injures his knee. Spends half the season recovering. Maric has also been injured around the same time with a hip issue. Griffin makes his debut and shows glimpses as to why Bassett has stated before that Griffin actually has the better upside than Maric and Meesen. Maric comes back and after a couple of games in the reserves is brought straight into ports main team. Meesen languishes in the reserves for norwood for a while. Finally makes it into Norwoods main side and makes his debut for Adelaide late in the season.

Obviously had injury concerns along the way, but hardly sounds like the next Polly Farmer.

Probably worth a punt for pick 37.

Hudson for a 2nd rounder?

Wood for 14 + R.Shaw?

King for ?

Meesen for 37

If he's any good we've paid under market value.

Welcome to the MFC John Meesen

Bumper crop

November 20, 2004

Today’s AFL national draft will have such a country flavour, you can almost hear the drawl. Emma Quayle looks at why and tracks six players in the draft back to their roots.

John Meesen can't remember the first game of football he played. But he has heard lots about it. The Grovedale teenager started out on the Mount Moriac oval, in a Modewarre Warriors guernsey, playing for the under-11 team that featured Geelong VFL player Jackson Bolton and his twin brother Matt, the sons of former Cats and Sydney player David Bolton. Oh, and a couple of young Abletts.

"I was only six, so they used to stick me down in the back pocket and hope I'd stay out of trouble," Meesen said. "Those guys all played in the forward line, so the ball never came down my end. Everyone reckons I just used to sit down there building sand castles."

Meesen does not know which club's colours he will be swathed in after this morning's national draft, but he should be left guessing for only a few seconds after the 10am start and understands already that his AFL dream must involve a decent drive from home.

He is not the only country boy whose bags will need some serious packing. The Geelong Falcons produced Luke Hodge, 2001's top draft pick; Brendon Goddard, No.1 the next year, grew up in Gippsland. Last year, four of the first 10 players called out hailed from country Victoria. The bush will be just as well represented this morning.

Meesen's name will be called quickly, Warrnambool midfielder Jordan Lewis shouldn't be available past the first round, with Bushrangers' speedster Chris Egan and Echuca defender Ruory Kirkby also in first-round calculations. Other names to watch are Matt Rosa (Warracknabeal), Dean Polo (Wy Yung) and this year's Vic Country captain, Andrew McQualter (Traralgon).

Modewarre's latest Ablett, you may have noticed, already has started his first pre-season at Geelong.

There might not be much rural water around right now, but is there anything in it? The AFL's national talent manager, Kevin Sheehan, believes the Victorian Country boys benefit from having the same coach, Leon Harris, guide them through their under-16 and under-18 representative teams, picking out flaws and then fixing them.

He points also to the success of the TAC Cup, which allows country kids to work towards the big time without having to abandon their home, school and friends for what used to be half-chances. "When you talk on country radio, you're always asked about the AFL taking kids away from the country," Sheehan said.

"People forget that before the TAC Cup started, about 120 kids used to be dragged out of the country home to try out for under-19 teams and most of them never went back, even if they didn't make it in footy.

"Now, if they go away, they leave later and with the promise that they'll be looked after."

Harris, who took on the country teams for what he thought would be one year, is still there eight seasons later. He gathers his teams together for only one full weekend before their annual carnivals, but suspects the many hours his boys and their parents spend on the road demand a real determination to make it.

He also tries to find the right mix at selection, to pick teams that leave him equally optimistic about claiming all the championships he can and having boys to drink to on draft day.

Those who are drafted this year might even be matched by next year's batch: of the 30 players picked in the Australian Institute of Sport AFL Academy after this year's under-16 championships, nine come from country Victorian homes. "There's a balance there to strike," Harris said. "If you take too many under-17 kids into an under-18s carnival, you'll struggle, but the players who are going to be good enough rise to the occasion.

"Who knows what it is? They go in cycles, these things, but there's always a real passion in the country kids. There has to be, because they've got to do a fair bit of work to get there and they have to be pretty desperate.

"The country's always supplied the AFL with some special players. But we're on a nice roll, there's no doubt about that."

JOHN MEESEN

GROVEDALE

John Meesen's father, Paul, is about 10 games off Modewarre's all-time record. He also has missed only one of his son's games in the past six years. He probably will have a decision to make after John gets drafted today.

"He's played 300-and-something games and he only needs a few more," Meesen said of his father. "He'll probably do that and then give it away. He's getting a bit old, I reckon."

Meesen's memories of his dad's best footy are sketchy, although one moment has stuck. "It was a grand final and he was the captain and he'd been targeted all day," he said.

"He was standing at centre half-forward and his opponent came up behind him and punched him twice in the head. He's got a permanent metal plate in his face now. They said he was never meant to play again and he's played every year since."

It is his father Meesen has asked for his most honest advice, particularly in the past few years. He got only a late call-up to the Geelong Falcons' under-16 team, made the state side, but had a "pretty pathetic" carnival.

"When you make under-16s, you think everything's just going to come easily. It didn't, and my dad pretty much told me that," Meesen said.

"When you have a bad game, a lot of people will say, ‘It's someone else's fault' or ‘Keep your head up', but he tells me everything right down the line. I always argue back and argue my point, but I can't get away with anything because he's always right on to me."

And so this year, Meesen made himself stronger and healthier. The young ruckman hit the weights, made a deal with himself not to drink all season and trained harder than he had before. The goal: this morning, when Meesen will hear his fate first-hand.

"I got invited to the draft but I don't think I'll be driving up. I'll be shaking all over the road," he said.

"I think the most nervous time will probably be when they start reading out the names, but it will be a good time, too. I'm excited, more than anything. It's one of those things where you've done everything you can and you just want your goals to be achieved."

Wherever football takes him, Meesen will miss Modewarre.

"It's hard to explain. It's one of those places where people come and they don't leave," he said.

"People just get hooked on the place."

Thankfully, we have kept our pick open in the PSD.

We have a great chance to snare some uncontracted talent.

Essendon are trying to get Brennan to go into the PSD and they have pick 5.

Who knows who we might get...maybe Brennan...that would be high calibre funniness.

I simply can't believe that the paper and the TV are going with this Judd story. Everyone seems to forget that Melbourne just secured Meesen. Yes that’s right the Crow has landed should be front page news!!

Stuff JUDD we have MEESEN lets all sing the tune now! I know I am!

It's times like these you need to cheer for something...right?

Just reading the AFC board on Bigfooty.

Their stoked with the trade as they reckon Meeson is bad rubbish.

"Waste of a first round pick"

"Soft c..k"

"Runs to the wrong places"

"Immature"

"Good runner, crap footballer"

"2 games in 3 years"

Sour grapes or reality?

Cost pick 37, bailey probably sees him as a developement player who needs a couple of years to bring him 'round, he's just a kid remember in a mans (ruck) game.

Cost pick 37, bailey probably sees him as a developement player who needs a couple of years to bring him 'round, he's just a kid remember in a mans (ruck) game.

As you say, he's a kid. Really, how many rucks dominate at his age? I'm okay with this pick.

Thanks for the Meesen history lesson YM. Much appreciated.

The general consensus amongst Adelaide supporters is that Meesen doesn't apply himself. He has talent, but does very little with it.

Sounds like so many players we already have...

Hopefully he enjoys the change of scenery and hopefully Bailey puts a rocket up him!

Obviously had injury concerns along the way, but hardly sounds like the next Polly Farmer.

Probably worth a punt for pick 37.

interesting ash. i have heard whispers that he really didnt want to go to adelaide in the first place. the 1 year deal might have been to ensure he could come home when he wanted, but it doesnt sound like his hearts in the right place...

Welcome to the MFC mate, hope you can work hard and play some great footy for the dee's in 08 and beyond.

I know that this is the silly season, but ...

I was just listening to SEN while I was out walking the dog and heard an interview with CAC, who menttioned that Meesen is 202cm, more magic?

I know that this is the silly season, but ...

I was just listening to SEN while I was out walking the dog and heard an interview with CAC, who menttioned that Meesen is 202cm, more magic?

He has grown 2cm since coming to the Dee's then!

Is listed on the Adelaide website as 200cm...

As you say, he's a kid. Really, how many rucks dominate at his age? I'm okay with this pick.

I agree, hopefully he will show what he is capable of in the near future.

Welcome to the Dees, Mr Meesen !!!