Why did we get another in and under midfielder when we could have got the best key defender in the draft? Allow me to just name a few of the in and under midfielders we seem to have an abundance of: McLean, Jones, Moloney, McDonald, Sylvia. Now allow me to name our questionable KPP backmen: Rivers (injury prone), Frawley (could be ok), Carroll (Ughh), Holland (The only bloke big enough to handle to opposition 'gorilla's'). Now which area do you think needed to be addressed more urgently at Pick 14 yesterday? ESPECIALLY after taking a tall midfielder/wingman in Morton. If Grimes was an outside midfielder with genuine pace and sublime skills I wouldn't be questioning this selection; however after watching some footage of him his footskills are rubbish and he's not overly quick. I love Morton and Maric but i'm furious with CAC for letting Rance pass us by. Only time will tell whether or not this was the right decision.

yeah i was surprised we let rance go after all of the talk about him...however, dont forget CAC thinks that Cale Morton could turn into a KPP in defence (or forward) and hes probably also trying to address this with mcnamara and cheney who are both a tall and medium defended respectively.

Grimes was the best available player available at 14, and we should not be taking a tall defender above a sublimly rated midfeilder simply bc of the position he plays.

ur the guy who was applauding Luke Molan being drafted about 30 picks too high bc we needed a tough CHF, when the hugely rated Nick DalSanto was there for the taking.

and also, Grimes will become a quality, hard running midfielder and is a great leader. you can never have enough quality midfielders!!!

its interesting to note that EVERY afl club passed on Rance. He may become a great player, but Grimes is a safe bet to become a quality 200gamer with his attitude, work ethic, leadership and skill

Rance is no good mate. I liken him to another Alan Toovey. Ok pace, can run a bit, nice size and can provide a bit of attack from defence but is a shocking decison maker, has poor balance constantly going to ground under pressure, has poor hands fumbling under pressure, lacks defensive skills required at next level, has shown an inability to play on taller forwards and beat them one on one due a lack of power and strength. Also have concerns on his spacial awareness and reading of the play in defence. In comparison to Grimes we made the right choice.

Grimes is an outstanding young man, he has Captain written all over him, leader of his junior teams right the way through his career. Runs a 15.10 Beep Test which is in the elite category, he will run and run till his legs give way hence the stress fractures in his back he carried this year. He runs a 2.98 for 20m which indicates at his size of 186cm he will be capable of playing multiple roles across the ground. He is hard and tough and will win the majority of one on one contests he throws himself into. He is an excellent overhead mark. His kicking action is flawed a little bit but is fixable with correct coaching which he will receive from the 2 new development coaches (O'Donnell and Williams) the club has put on this year. I ranked him at 4 in my rankings behind (Cotchin, Kreuzer and Morton). He will be a 200 game player and most likely will contend with Brock McLean in a few years for the Captaincy of our football club. We have been crying out for consistent hard working reliable players for years and Grimes will provide that week in week out.

Rance is a if or maybe but Grimes is a definite player and when comparing the two, the majority of clubs would of taken Grimes over Rance 100/100 times.

Thanks for that Wheels. All of the sudden i'm feeling a whole lot better about Grimes :D

Fair enough to have an opinion, but I prefer to leave it to the experts!

We are kidding ourselves to even pretend to know what we are talking about.

Rance is no good mate. I liken him to another Alan Toovey. Ok pace, can run a bit, nice size and can provide a bit of attack from defence but is a shocking decison maker, has poor balance constantly going to ground under pressure, has poor hands fumbling under pressure, lacks defensive skills required at next level, has shown an inability to play on taller forwards and beat them one on one due a lack of power and strength. Also have concerns on his spacial awareness and reading of the play in defence. In comparison to Grimes we made the right choice.

Grimes is an outstanding young man, he has Captain written all over him, leader of his junior teams right the way through his career. Runs a 15.10 Beep Test which is in the elite category, he will run and run till his legs give way hence the stress fractures in his back he carried this year. He runs a 2.98 for 20m which indicates at his size of 186cm he will be capable of playing multiple roles across the ground. He is hard and tough and will win the majority of one on one contests he throws himself into. He is an excellent overhead mark. His kicking action is flawed a little bit but is fixable with correct coaching which he will receive from the 2 new development coaches (O'Donnell and Williams) the club has put on this year. I ranked him at 4 in my rankings behind (Cotchin, Kreuzer and Morton). He will be a 200 game player and most likely will contend with Brock McLean in a few years for the Captaincy of our football club. We have been crying out for consistent hard working reliable players for years and Grimes will provide that week in week out.

Rance is a if or maybe but Grimes is a definite player and when comparing the two, the majority of clubs would of taken Grimes over Rance 100/100 times.

You seem to know what you're talking about Wheels. Thanks for the input!!

Why did we get another in and under midfielder when we could have got the best key defender in the draft? Allow me to just name a few of the in and under midfielders we seem to have an abundance of: McLean, Jones, Moloney, McDonald, Sylvia. Now allow me to name our questionable KPP backmen: Rivers (injury prone), Frawley (could be ok), Carroll (Ughh), Holland (The only bloke big enough to handle to opposition 'gorilla's'). Now which area do you think needed to be addressed more urgently at Pick 14 yesterday? ESPECIALLY after taking a tall midfielder/wingman in Morton. If Grimes was an outside midfielder with genuine pace and sublime skills I wouldn't be questioning this selection; however after watching some footage of him his footskills are rubbish and he's not overly quick. I love Morton and Maric but i'm furious with CAC for letting Rance pass us by. Only time will tell whether or not this was the right decision.

Yeah, I am still upset we drafted Brock McLean, when the speedy Kane Tenace and ultra mobile Kepler Bradley were still available........

I will be resurrecting this thread when Jack Grimes has won the Norm Smith medal in a couple of years

i'm furious with CAC for letting Rance pass us by.

I can understand maybe "intrigued", or "puzzled", or "bemused". But why "furious"? Isn't that a bit over the top and emotive?

It's not as though Grimes will be a waste of list space. Chances are he'll be an excellent 10-year player for us. If anything, I have a good feeling about the ability of Morton and McNamara to fill KPP roles when they have experience and "fill out". Both are tall enough and probably still growing.

I can understand maybe "intrigued", or "puzzled", or "bemused". But why "furious"? Isn't that a bit over the top and emotive?

It's not as though Grimes will be a waste of list space. Chances are he'll be an excellent 10-year player for us. If anything, I have a good feeling about the ability of Morton and McNamara to fill KPP roles when they have experience and "fill out". Both are tall enough and probably still growing.

Maybe furious was bad wording but that's what I was feeling when he called out the name, and I had a look at his footage. I say this because I saw Rance in the U/18 championships and he was the standout defender from the carnival, an area of weakness in our lineup. When you pass up a player like that (who seems to me to be a gem) and grab a grunt player like Grimes who, lets be honest, had a highlights package compiled by AFL.com.au which wasn't overly impressive, it just got me thinking - haven't we got enough of them? Sure depth is great but we already had depth in the midfield and zero depth in defensive key position posts. It's only my opinion and I hope that Grimes does play 200 games for the MFC, because like you guys i'm red and blue through and through. However i've also seen enough of Alex Rance to suggest he won't be anywhere near the disaster that was Luke Molan.

Yeah, I am still upset we drafted Brock McLean, when the speedy Kane Tenace and ultra mobile Kepler Bradley were still available........

Mate that is a stupid comment. We were always going to take inside mids early in that draft as we had a gaping hole left after Woewodin and Powell moved on.

There were another 3 clubs after us that passed on Rance

Two of them (Kangaroos and Port Adelaide) need a full back as much as we do

THis tells me that Rance isnt really that good or available players in other positions were much superior, even if Rance did fill a need

There were another 3 clubs after us that passed on Rance

Two of them (Kangaroos and Port Adelaide) need a full back as much as we do

THis tells me that Rance isnt really that good or available players in other positions were much superior, even if Rance did fill a need

True that. Oh well, slightly off topic...when are the new blokes going to train for the first time? Wouldn't mind getting down and seeing them.

Mate that is a stupid comment. We were always going to take inside mids early in that draft as we had a gaping hole left after Woewodin and Powell moved on.

cant you see he was taking the pi55?

cant you see he was taking the pi55?

No sh*t, but he was implying that we took Brock as the best available not to fill our needs when we went in with a clear plan to replace Woey and Powell with 3 and 5.

Don't worry about Rance. Hurley's up for grabs next year, lets just hope he slips :D

Thanks for that Wheels. All of the sudden i'm feeling a whole lot better about Grimes :D

Yeah... i think ultimately we could have taken yet another mediocre tall to go with about 4 other mediocre talls we already have... and that player would have taken yonks to develop... OR we could take the best available. If worst comes to worst we can trade a promising young in and under player for tall timber down the track if necessary... the most important thing is that we draft quality, and I think CAC is more comfortable predicting quality with the players around the 180-185cm mark...

CAC had Morton in the top 3 and Grimes as no.4.

So we would have taken Grimes at 4 if Morton had been taken by Rich or WCE.

You take the best available. Their all prospects at this age but the true leaders are the ones that you shouldn't let slip. From all reports Grimes is that.

Besides, our midfield is strong but still has some issues (Outside of Jones & McLean): Bate (slow), Sylvia (he's a midfielder?), Dunn, Petterd, Buckley (unproven), Batram (honest toiler), Bruce, Green, Wheatley (lost form), McDonald (tick tock), Moloney (injury setbacks)

Jeez, looking at that Grimes may be in the 22 come Rd 1.

The fact the Richmond took Rance probably means CAC made the right choice, they always seem to make the bad calls with their early picks.

Besides, our midfield is strong but still has some issues (Outside of Jones & McLean): Bate (slow), Sylvia (he's a midfielder?), Dunn, Petterd, Buckley (unproven), Batram (honest toiler), Bruce, Green, Wheatley (lost form), McDonald (tick tock), Moloney (injury setbacks)

This perception of Bate is wrong. I know some supporters hold this view, but it's a fallacy. Firstly, I've seen Bate at full tilt and pace is one of his assets, especially at his size. Secondly, I've been to training sessions where the coaching staff rip into Bate about using his natural speed to far greater effect than he does. He needs to be pushed as he tends to go at three quarter pace when he should be showing more urgency, or continue to be an option rather than spectate.

And you also sell Bartram short. His kicking needs some work, but imo he's much better than a 'toiler'.

Wheels 45 seems to be all over this. I’ve never seen either Grimes or Rance play, but if what Wheels is saying is right then I’m happy we didn’t take Rance or any other NQR KPP. There’s a reason why Rivers is a better backman than Carroll and it’s got nothing to do with size, or courage or speed and everything to do with awareness and balance. Given that, I’m more than comfortable looking at McNamara’s bio and that we picked him and not some of the others.

Just another quick point on our KPP forwards. I’m not desperate for a power forward like others are. We now have Morton, Bate, Dunn and maybe Newton who can all run through the midfield or play forward. I think people are still hung up in the 70s when they talk of Forwards. I’m very excited about the flexibility that we’ve built into both our midfield and forward structure.

Mate that is a stupid comment. We were always going to take inside mids early in that draft as we had a gaping hole left after Woewodin and Powell moved on.

I'll leave aside the issue of DoubleDees omitting the sarcasm smilie, but I think there's a major flaw in your argument.

Especially with first and second round picks, I don't think you pick to fill "holes" in your list. That can be disastrous, and there is a strong argument that "hole filling" gave rise to the mistake in picking Molan. You pick who you think are the best footballers. We didn't pick McLean just because we had a "midfield hole", we picked him because of his qualities as a hard, ball-winning player that we thought were better than all the other players available at that pick.

Clearly Melbourne rated Grimes highly because of his own qualities, and was rapt to get him at 14. I reckon he could match McLean.

You have gotta love Grimes.

He was a rabid Melbourne supporter according to Cameron.

You have gotta love Grimes.

He was a rabid Melbourne supporter according to Cameron.

That is very good