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From my name a rookie rookie thread.Big fan of this guy. Real tackling and contested ball midfielder and whilst skills aren't amazing he's got the speed and X factor to be handy forward or on the outside. Unfortunately broke his ankle just when he got his chance this year for the crows and therefore he'll take a while to rehab but I presume the Only worry is have we overpaid by adding him to the main list when we could've waited for him to become a rookie but really I think he's worth it and I expect strong showing at Casey at least in the second half of the year once he's fit. I'm not so worried about a better player being available at pick 57 but more worried about a repeat of last year when we get a Hannath on board for our first rookie pick and someone trumps us in the PSD.

This and the Michie trade indicate that Roos prefers speculative 21 year olds over speculative 18 year olds. I know nothing about Riley so I have no idea if he'll be any good, but the rationale seems reasonable.

separated at birth ??

In forum land you are either a gun or a spud.

Originally a NSW scholarship player... Assuming thats the Paul Roos connection

I really hope we pick Freeman because if we do it means that we believe he can transfer his very desirable attributes to the AFL, he's the most exciting prospect. However I won't be disappointed if we don't pick him if he's available because that probably means we have doubts. If someone takes him before us I'll follow his progress with interest.

A clearance machine? I know most of you have been traumatised by Neeld, but please stop lauding every Roos pick a champion.

Some of the comments are got from the Crows supporters. ''Inside midfielder, isn't particularly big, but goes very hard at it. Solid speed, solid disposal, very good tackle'' ''Aidan is a clearance machine given a chance and an injury free run. Unfortunately he is always throwing himself into the pack of players which contributes to the aforementioned injuries''. Sounds like an absolute tough nut. No wonder they call him PigDog!

and already his name's mis-spelt !! lol It's AidAn !!

Really the recruiting team have balanced up who will be available at pick 57 compared to Riley and gone with Riley. I don't think it's about not rating who've we have assembled but recognizing despite the 4 big additions (Vince, Cross, Tyson, Michie) we delisted 4 pure midfielders as well (Magner, Couch, Rodan, Taggert). So we hadn't really added depth. Just replaced the depth who weren't up to AFL standard with 4 guys who will be who now force competition on the likes of Matt Jones, Evans, McKenzie and Toumpas. Riley is the first addition that adds depth in numbers from last year. Pick 9 will be the next addition.

Loves a loopy kick doesn't he. Welcome, but not loving the highlights.

Tad underwhelmed by this pick-up. As always I'm happy to be surprised but feel it's a little overkill on the whole 'we need big bodied clearance players' thing. He was pick 58 in the 2010 Rookie Draft, and played 12 games at the Crows, who I'd say are far from deep in that department. I've seen nothing that separates him and I don't particularly see why he wouldn't be available as a rookie. After the Jack Hannath experience I'm guessing we learnt our lesson to bite the bullet. Congratulations to Aidan, as in this video you can see he has some good lower body strength and I'll always back anyone who puts on the red and blue, but up front I'm certainly not jumping as high as Dom or even the qualities Cross brings us.

Either someone is getting delisted or Clisby will be added to the list via Pick 57. Seen a bit of Sturt this year, Riley is a real workhorse, not a flashy player, but very hardworking, grab it, get it forward type. Very good SANFL player. Think he played a bit for Adelaide across half-back as well. Outperformed Kerridge in the games I saw for Sturt, Kerridge's decision making and ball usage was a real problem for me. I'm not comparing him in terms of ability with Andrew Obst, but he is similar in terms of physical attributes and plays a similar way, at SANFL level at least.

Rookie upgrades count as picks so right now we will have pick 9, pick 40 and then read out Clisby's name as the 3rd draft pick with pick 57 or whatever it is.

Went passed at about 10 and stayed for an hour until they finished. Unsighted (by me): Gawn, Vince, Cross, Jones, Strauss, Blease, Kent, McKenzie, Dawes, Frawley, Dunn, Garland, Jetta, Bail 2 or 3 different rehab groups with players swapping in and out doing a variety of running and light skills. Hogan, Michie, Spencer, Evans, Viney, Nicholson in one but all looking pretty good. Jamar doing a little kick to kick then running a few laps. Byrnes doing a few sprints. Brett Allison took a drill with basic kick to kick 25m apart but before each kick the players would do a figure of 8 drill with short steps then move forward a step and kick the ball. Thought it was a very innovative drill to make basic kicking much more game like. Tommy McDonald took part in that drill. Poor Spencer is still all over the shop with basic kicking. Tapscott and Tyson looked the furthest back of the rehab group they just did laps and headed off. Tyson has a big frame though, he'll be a 90kg mid when he fills out. I think it's time Tapscott tells the fitness staff that his career is on the line and gets in to main training. Whatever is wrong with him this endless rehab group isn't helping his footy. Back in the main group they did a few hand ball drills picking the ball off the deck and spreading it around. Looked very much like Roos is starting with the basics which makes sense. Then moved in to some relaxed kicking around a triangle then a square. It was pretty windy and the kicking looked decent considering that and the time of year. Just looked like a light drill to finish off. Watts' kicking stood out as did Mitch Clark's bounce and energy. Toumpas moved well in the handball drills. Todd Viney came out at 11 and got a minute of silence going and after that it was pretty much done. Michie and Viney (jnr) finished the session with a few more laps. Hogan did some 300m run throughs. All 3 looked to be moving well.

Your post is well considered and well constructed but I am going to take you up one point. Specifically "He was peeling off contests at Casey in his first few games and leaving teammates battling 1:2 and 1:3, in late 2013 he was still doing it." Being a team game, footy challenges players to pick which contests they will go into versus providing a spread option to players already in that contest. What we have seen for a few years now is that our players have been unwilling or unable to spread - they either stick beside their player so they don't get burnt or add to an existing throng and create a stoppage. One of the biggest challenges for us has been to create options when we have won the ball - as evidenced by players holding on to it a bit longer, waiting for a target only to have to thump the ball long and wide to space or another contest as a last resort. In a sense it takes a great deal of confidence in your team mate at the ball to create a release option for them The best sides do it all the time and they both win those 1:2 and 1:3 contests and have plenty of options to burn the opposition that over-committed to that original contest. Its not lazy, its a judgement call. And it takes more courage than many here can understand. Edit to remove unexpected censoring...

Since when are leadership qualities and the ability to remain uninjured and kick few goals, one and the same thing? When he was on the field he showed leadership in spades, when he fronted the media he showed leadership in spades, and no doubt around the MFC between games, he showed leadership as well.

I was chatting to Tom Sheridan (has re-signed at Freo) a few weeks ago, and he reckons Viv is a gun. Tom's more an outside midfielder (he captained Calder Cannons three years ago), and reckons Michie is really good inside, with good hands and feet, a good leader, and a top bloke.

Most of these guys couldn't even get on the park! Look, I'm just saying that we've picked up a lot of players who have been injured, or failed to make the grade at their respective (old) clubs. Let's temper our expectations, rather than calling everyone a champion or a clearance machine - let the kids settle in first.

Anyone with the nickname Pig Dog gets my vote!

A CROWS' young gun is making a name for himself as someone who can cope with the knocks, says Scott Walsh. In junior football, he was known as "Nugget". In basketball circles, he was "Mongrel". Now, at West Lakes, Aidan Riley is Adelaide's "Pigdog". As unflattering as all three nicknames seem, they reflect a common theme in the Crows' four-game greenhorn who is already making waves as one of the competition's hard men. Just ask colourful commentator Brian Taylor, who has already singled out Riley as one of his favourites, gushing during a call: "He likes doing the dirty things no one else wants to do, Aidan Riley. He takes the rubbish out, greases the car, cleans the fireplace; they reckon he's that sort of guy." The image was crystalised two weeks ago in just Riley's third AFL appearance, when he speared himself at Geelong ruckman Brad Ottens - 20cm taller and 20kg heavier - with a crushing tackle more at home in a rugby league State-of-Origin clash. But growing up in NRL heartland Wollongong, as a West Australian-born kid with Australian football in his blood, "tough" and "courageous" weren't always tags thrown at the lad who brushed the Sydney game of league for the minority code crudely dubbed "GayFL" in some pockets north of the River Murray. "I remember one teacher turned around and called him a wimp because he wasn't going to play rugby league," father Peter said this week. "That's the attitude - `what's wrong with you, you're not playing rugby league, you're playing that girl's game'. I had to take the teacher aside and politely point out that it had nothing to do with Aidan's courage or stamina, and if he had a problem with it, to speak to his parents." It has been a 12-year ride - against the odds, defying his location and bucking the popular practice of schoolmates - for Riley to become an overnight AFL success. The story goes something like this: WA-born kid takes up Auskick after his family moves to Wollongong; limited number of junior teams means he plays under-10s as a seven-year-old; talent recognised as a 12-year-old with selection in a Sydney Swans junior academy; accepted at Illawarra Sport High School as a top basketball prospect; Dad has to coach school footy teams because school refuses to teach the "girl's game"; plays first senior match in Sydney league as a 15-year-old; consistently selected at regional representative level until spotted by Crows' recruiter Matt Rendell and snapped up under the NSW scholarship program. In doing so, Riley became the first player from Wollongong - Australia's ninth largest city - to land on an AFL list. "He's just got a trait in him that's come from the family - they're fighters," mum Sharon said. Peter added: "We've always been AFL supporters. "But the understanding and exposure to footy here in Wollongong isn't like it is in Adelaide or Melbourne. That's the thing we were pleased about when he got the scholarship and rookie spot with the Crows." Riley's parents moved from northwest WA town Karratha to Wollongong, 100km south of Sydney, when Riley was a toddler. Both were West Coast fans - Sharon a converted member of Richmond's faithful, owing to her father having played there when he was younger. Like most kids, Riley tried every sport. As a youth he even made a train-on squad of 30 for Illawarra's regional soccer side, the Wolves - only because his mates had bet him $5 he wouldn't front. He admired rugby league legend Andrew Johns and Swans captain Brett Kirk - two figures whose influence shone in backyard scraps with Peter and younger brother, Connor. "Competitive, I'd say," Peter said of those early imitation grand finals. "That tackle on Ottens was a textbook tackle. "We were doing that stuff in juniors here. The difference is he's now got the build to do it. He's always been an aggressive player but the Crows have done a lot in giving him the skills and high-level coaching he needed." "We only ever had the one broken window - and Peter did that," Sharon joked. But Riley excelled at footy and basketball, at times spending Friday nights and Saturdays attending hoops carnivals across NSW before returning home for Sunday football commitments. "We must have covered thousands (of kilometres)," Peter said with a laugh. "There were some weekends when we'd drive 500km to Albury, do the basketball there on Friday night and Saturday, jump in the car early Sunday morning and drive 600km back to Sydney for an AFL game." The Riley family car is still racking up the miles - Connor is emerging as a baseball talent, but a carnival in Tamworth last month was cut short when the news came through that Riley was set to make his AFL debut in the Crows' Round 19 Showdown clash with Port Adelaide. "We got the call on the Friday, while we were on the seven-hour drive to Tamworth," said Peter, who works as an ABC radio breakfast announcer in Wollongong. "We were on the phone all day and wore out two phone batteries trying to find a way to get to Adelaide for Aidan's first game. Connor made the decision he would not play in his finals because he wanted to go to Adelaide for his brother's debut. We went to Aidan's jumper presentation and Michael Doughty introduced us and told everyone we'd flown in from the east coast especially for it. He said how his brother had given up his baseball finals in NSW to be here - so Connor piped up, `yeah, so you better do something good today'." It was Riley's basketball talent that fast-tracked him into his sports-specific high school - and onto the hardwood where teammates dubbed him "Mongrel". Like fellow Crow and housemate Kurt Tippett, he could have gone either way. But in his middle teens, after a dose of shin splints, doctors advised Riley he was doing too much. It was time to pick one sport and run with it. "I had a bit of trouble with my knees and shins when I was younger and they told me I was playing too much sport, that I couldn't keep doing all the training for basketball and football," Riley said. "The doc said you can't do it, so I had to make a decision." Riley arrived at West Lakes in time for the 2010 season as the Crows' second NSW scholarship experiment, behind key forward Taylor Walker. As a rookie, he was only elevated to playing status earlier this year through Adelaide's growing long-term injury list. He was immediately dubbed "Pigdog" - a moniker he believes he inherited as a replacement for departing midfielder Rob Shirley. "I was a bit unsure about it, but the year I got drafted was the year `Shirls' left and they were looking for someone else to call Pigdog," Riley said. "I guess it was the way I was going about my footy in the pre-season that they gave it to me." Riley said after making an impression early in his career, his next aim was to build promise into a long AFL journey. "For me, I'd love to be able to finish off the last two games of the year with the Crows, and then I've just set myself a bit of an off-season goal to come back in as good a nick as I can and have a really good pre-season," he said. "I missed most of last pre-season with injuries. "But I want to come back really sharp and have a strong pre-season and give myself the opportunity to play as many games as I can next year."

Its a new season, new coach, new coaching staff and a different way of going about things - that is made clear by who we have drafted. Mr PRoos has confidence in JW and that is good enough for me. Can't wait for Round 1 2014!

Lets see how many fellow Landers put him in their starting 22 for round one........ You know it will happen.

The glass is always full unless it's in a complete vacuum. It's more a matter of whether it is full of liquid.

Loving the work of what Roos is doing..! We finally have some decent midfield depth! Go dees

Surely one of Jetta or Nicho is gone. Two things - he must be highly regarded at the Dees to think that he won't be waiting in the rookie draft and Viney, Roos and co REALLY don't rate our midfield group.

Not really I can see his arms

What's happened to the bengals offence strafford? Your boys offence was smothered in the first half. Bears came real close with some TD's waved off late in the game. That rams defensive line is bloody scary. Next week I may purchase a Green Bay jersey as our very own "macca" may line up at QB.

The contests that Watts "chose" not to enter at Casey were ones that he should have been influencing. I'm specifically referring to aerial contests. There was no "courage" to spread involved. To the contrary ...

my ego doesn't need feeding pal. I dont know who you are either, so take it or leave it. If you don't want me to post, catch you all later, not like I spend my days trying to climb the posting ladder here. cheers

I think that Roos would be prepared to give Tuck a second chance in the AFL if he is good enough. Tuck would run through walls for a team prepared to take a chance on him.

Get ready for an announcement of a major sponsorship with a large vehicle dealership group. $Multi-million

Despite a few departures which are par for the course every year, the Casey Scorpions are looking far more settled than they were 12 months ago. At that time, the club was staring in the face of extinction in the wake of the loss of poker machine licences, had no coach and concerns about keeping their playing list together. Senior coach Rohan Welsh has been reappointed for the role in 2014 but gone from the list will be former skipper Kyle Matthews, vice captain Luke Tynan, ex-Magpie Danny Nicholls and Michael Riseley. That's a large pile of experience but the club has been active in re-signing many of its younger guns who have come through the club's local areas and there will be an influx of this year's talent from the under 18s. Some of the names won't be finalised until after this year's drafts but with an earlier date for the rookie draft, the club will have more time to work on its recruiting for next year. Jake Best, the speedster who was such a revelation this year, is a good chance to be drafted but if not, is likely to be back with the Scorpions. One of 2013's big improvers is Mitch Gent who had also signed on again although he might be a rookie chance. The Scorpions have launched a new initiative - an academy for local area youngsters - From Casey to Fremantle, Scorpions new academy a testament to trailblazer Alex Silvagni. Recently delisted Demon Tom Couch has rejoined Collingwood while former players James Wall and Rian McGough have joined Richmond's stand alone VFL team. Demon fans might recall Ryan Ferguson who once famously refused to be traded to Hawthorn in a deal which would have brought Brad Sewell to the club. He is transferring from West Adelaide to the now stand alone Williamstown. Another name in the news that's well known to Demon fans is Nick Sautner who has been appointed CEO of the WA Football Commission.

And I hope his former wife's parents don't either. I've often wondered why or how anyone can kill another human being. Back to the subject of Liam Jurrah; he will never play for the club again, so the dream is over.

Pull Your Head In

Not sure that saving yourself from Alan Stoneham type injuries, inflicted by a thug, is a DNA flaw. Most smart footballers of today would act in the same way and be praised for it.

Not if they aren't broadcasting the event. It was a stupid idea. Clearly came from the AFL.

Will they be doing the horrible 10 to 1 countdown again? Stupidest idea ever.

Fox did televise it last year and for a couple of years before that - they just made a poor fist of it. I'm sure they'll do it again but if they do I'll record it and listen to SEN instead.

It's turned out to be one of the most difficult tipping comps in the history of tipping comps. Urgent fine tuning is required but alas, we'll have to wait until next season for those changes to be implemented. In the meantime, it must be remembered, that any of us can still win the damn thing! Keep plugging away 'Gorgoroth'!

....yeh.. that sounds really .... um what's the word i'm looking for.. accurate

Bah, bloody vikes, I'm am the worst tipper ever! Bah!

Occasional runs through the middle and very occasional, not capable of long spells as there is no tank

Nah...it's the reality caravan.

RESTRICTED Free Agency.

I dont think the clubs take the slightest notice of the media and their "estimations" or drafts etc. Each club will be going on its on recruiting reconnaissance and research. The clubs all already know who they want and have their pecking orders established.

Are you OK?

I don't understand what this thread is?

Bad turn of phrase but my alternative is: The club recruits players on the basis of supporter preferences as expressed on Demonland polls. Would have achieved some good outcomes in past years.

No, we don't actually.