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you are forgetting - anything poor that has ever happened blame Neeld ( fallback position - blame Watts)

I've got a contact at the club who is involved with the recruiting and drafting and I just thought I'd let you know that the issues you've been discussing here are exactly those that are being debated at the club at the moment. I've been told that Brayshaw is a lock for 2 but I think everyone knows that but pick 3 has narrowed down considerably over the last few weeks as a result of the interviews they have conducted. Initially McCartin was the front runner as they wanted to add depth to the KPF situation and they realize this is one of the few chances they will get to pick a big class forward. And they reckon he would work really well with Hogan although that will be a few years away. They are comfortable with Dawes doing that role for the next few year but have doubts about his ability to do it in the longer term. But at the last meeting they discussed his medical situation and now have their doubts. The two players now most under consideration are Lever and Jordan De Goey who have edged in front of McCartin. Lever is a real talent but there is still some concern over his knee and they really like that De Goey is a real goer and is a big bodied the midfielder Roos likes. The other one who hasn't been ruled out is Nakia Cockatoo because of all the players in the draft he has as much skill and X factor as anyone but his lack of exposed form is a real issue. Roos is torn because he can see the kids talent but hates taking risks. At this stage the value bet is De Goey although they still have some interviews to do with coaches and so forth but if you wanted to have a punt he'd be a good value bet. They still have a couple of meeting to go and Taylor and Viney will make their final presentations a couple of days before the draft. I can say that a line has been ruled through Wright and Laverde as both just don't tick enough boxes. Anyway I thought you'd be interested. If I hear anything else I'll pass it on. Reality is that a lot of the things said here are spot on the money other than the rather surprising status of De Goey.

scratching ones balls is a much undervalued pastime

. . . just drove past Hirdy's place . . !

just putting it out there - I box and I win every fight I am in by a 100 metres.

If we get two premierships I don't care who leaves.

Probably not. We should call Richmond.

what gets me about all of this is the hypocrisy of clashing in the first place and then the dubious and different treatment some teams get. below are actual 'clash " strips from 2014 : not a whole lot of WHITE happening there !!! Still the last one , the Doggies , is interesting to me. A team who is predominantly Blue with some red is now predominantly red with some blue...and both a dash of white. if thats the case why cant we change from mainly blue to mainly red as follows ( have posted before )

sorry....i need a bucket

Secondary fallback position - blame Schwab

Revisionist^^ At the time Evans was showing very good signs and was a player that was actually tracking well increasing his possession count and hitting targets more often than others.

The biggest of facepalms.

For what it's worth, a couple of current coaches (family connection) consider Lever & Heeney to be the two players with the highest upside/potential. At a recent dinner both commented that they expect the 'so-called' draft expects will see a few surprises in the top 15 picks (well more than in previous years was their exact wording). I found it interesting that both expect Lever to be drafted in the top 6 (one suggesting to us at pick 3 & the other to pies at pick 5) with the general consensus that he's a 'permanent defender' being way off-base and most likely to play the game in a similar manner to Luke Hodge in a sweeper role who also rotates through the midfield. My 2 cents - Lever to MFC at 3 & McCartin to the Giants at pick 6.

Emma Quayle has just posted an article about him: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/nakia-cockatoos-sensational-sevenday-season-20141111-11kadc.html Everything about him sounds terrific! Only reservation is that he missed most of the season due to a foot injury. Not saying we shouldn't draft players who have had a lengthy time out for injury but our track record of managing player foot injuries hasn't been good. Hope we have a specialist medical team to support our recruiters in player assessments...perhaps more than those we have recently relied on.

I watched the livestream of the game expecting to see a skilful outside flanker type in Cockatoo. My jaw dropped when he started winning contested ball and bursting away from contests. One game (and an impressive combine) saw him go from a late pick/rookie chance to top 10 contention. I don’t think we’ll risk pick 3 on him, but he looks to have a rare blend of ability and athleticism.

He was an average player at best initially, who has regressed significantly over the past couple of years. Far better players have come and gone during his time at the club. I am more than comfortable with the idea of delisting him, paying his contract out in full and finding a replacement.

So we're going with a surprise selection eh? Alrighty then. That's cool. I'm not worried. I'm not worried at all. It's cool.

1. Premiership / MELBOURNE 2. Brownlow medal / NATHAN JONES 3. Coleman medal / JESSE HOGAN 4. Keith bluey / NATHAN JONES 5. Rising star / JESSE HOGAN ...and I am totally unbiased.

...but 'Machsy' you would have been credible if you said you had an inside source. lol

Obviously a popular person around the club and well respected. Good luck let us all hope you can help turn the old girl into a powerhouse again. You have a very important job. Happy players will work harder to improve their best. We need that every week.

It's a 2 minute highlight package but you just get that feeling with this bloke don't you. Shows that he has all the physical attributes.

There is a distinct prototype being adhered to in the Roos era re mids. They are around 6 foot and no nonsense. Roos imho likes to assemble teams founded upon a core of utilities. These are more than just mids per se they are the footy's version of the Universal Soldier. Get 8-10 of these out on the park at any given moment and they just wear down oppositions and relentlessly push forward. They grind games, they grind opponents. They sometimes exhibit flair but in the main they just go about a job...( their role ) and depending who's on song on any given day a slight jugglling may occur until the team clicks again. Look at the foot soldiers...who are they in the draft...pick 2 of them and theyre ours

This is not right guys...the media in reality get the word back from their contacts at clubland and that's how they come up with their lists. They just don't have the resources that the clubs do to track all the kids in the draft, and remember many of these kids have been on the radar for years. We are not boxed into anything, we are picking who we think are the best players at draft time, not who Emma, Terry or anyone else thinks. Our thinking is similar to the other clubs as we all have similar information, that's why the same players are talked up. A really good recruiter has that little bit extra and maybe more than a touch of luck going their way. Lets hope that's who we have and we identify and recruit the next great of the game.

IN AN IDEAL WORLD Premiership: MELBOURNE Brownlow: NAT JONES Coleman: HOGAN Keith Bluey: TYSON Rising Star: TIE BETWEEN HOGAN, BRAYSHAW AND MCCARTIN Wooden Spoon: ESSENDON REALITY Premiership: MELBOURNE Brownlow: NAT JONES Coleman: HOGAN Keith Bluey: TYSON Rising Star: TIE BETWEEN HOGAN, BRAYSHAW AND MCCARTIN Wooden Spoon: ST KILDA

I don't get this logic. Any player our recruiters, coaches and footy department picks at 2,3 or 40 could be guns or duds, its a number and pick 3 or pick 12 makes stuff all difference down the track if they recruit the kid they see with the most development in them.

Evans has proved to be a major disappointment. His senior games were disgraceful, looked out of place and turned the ball over badly. As already stated the feedback he received from his Casey performances was very ordinary. Very lucky to still be on the list

Hope it's not Brayshaw they have their sights on.

Crickey, we have been complaining about our lack of player development for years. Now that we are doing something about it some people think it is OTT!! Both McCartney and Brynes have other roles besides development! Byrnes at Casey will help the young kids train/play the Roos' way so when players step up to the seniors or are coming back from injury the transition is seamless: Consistent messages, consistent rules, consistent drills, consistent set-ups etc etc. This has all the hallmarks of Roos' style; smooth transitions, believe in people, succession plans, consistency and develop our own (coaches and administrators as well as players...think Mahoney, Miller, Plapp and now Byrnes). Roos is quietly setting up a 'dynasty of succession' across the whole organisation. I am in awe of the man's ability to see the big picture and be able to implement it. We may not see the benefit of this work for a 2/3 years but then the 11 current 18 to 21 year old players will be in the 50 to 100 game range and (along with the older players of course) will take us to finals!

Fail. It's Henry's face on the train, not Gordon's.

I just hope that High Court judge Susan Kenny has not fallen in love with pretty boy just like that South African lady judge did with Oscar Pistorius.

Totally agree. If we are going to de-list him (payout included), there's no point in re-rookieing him. We're better off selecting a kid who is still an unknown quantity, as opposed to re-selecting Evans who is a known quantity, of which there isn't much quality onfeld-wise.

Brayshaw and McCartin, then pick up Oscar McDonald at 40

They'd never catch Morton in order to hit him - just ask Brendan Lade (with apologies to Morton, i know that GIF is not accurate, but jeez its funny).

I know they are only highlights from one game and I have no runs on the board in recruiting, but he looks good, the way he fends off reminds me of Dusty Martin. He has serious pace and can jump.. Won the kicking contest at draft combine.. I would not be upset if we ended up with this bloke on our list at pick 3. Get maybe a dozen games into him on the forward flank in the ones, develop his midfield game at VFL the rest.. I can actually see a lot of 'potential'.. Good size frame to grow into an big bodied mid, with x factor.. Love that Qwerty30 mentioned he is in contention.. Whether he is talking rubbish or not, I still like it..

Remember Roos saying he saw Freo's mids and how they were all tall big bodied (maybe not Fyffe) and how that was the new prototype. I suspect he is heading down that path.

give.me.fat.kids.

Day 2 And more lawyer fees Can this appeal take a month or two in the courts? Poor Mr T

I think too many people look at how things look instead of the results, Kennedy has changed his run up and now he is not as accurate.

OD, I think we all want it resolved, but not at the expense of justice. The players association, EFC and to some extent the Federal Government have been putting pressure on to get it resolved. However, to do it quickly would only mean ASADA/WADA would have to cut corners, thereby handing EFC, the AFL, and Hird a trivial sentence. This is what I think the EFC cabal's strategy is, while all the time slowing it down via irrelevant court cases, all designed for maximum public and political impact, and then blaming WADA/ASADA for the delays. The political pressure on ASADA/WADA to get this resolved has been immeasurable. It is exactly the same tactic that was used by Lance Armstrong's lawyers against USADA, and that resolution took four years until it burnt itself out in the US Courts.Fortunately WADA/ASADA seems to be made of sterner stuff. I have been immensely impressed with both their integrity and their resolute determination to go through the process in order to come to a just decision irrespective of the political games the EFC, the AFL and Hird try to play on them. Fortunately, there are a number of key people of integrity left in this whole sorry saga, and I for one don't mind how long it takes as long as there is a just outcome in the end, and that means the demise of Hird, and his lackies on the EFC Board.

De Goey at 3 is not that far-fetched given that afl.com.au's Callum Twomey is suggesting Collingwood is considering taking him at 5.

Good news is that Gerard Healey got done convincingly in the first round despite having a much higher profile than Gary Hardeman. [censored] head Censored word was K nob which I think is more than fair

Ok, call me stupid but can someone please explain the obsession with Lever over McCaitin. Everything I've read says he's a key back who could potentially play in the midfield although he never has. We just recruited Frost and our backline is the one area we don't have to worry about so why Lever. Why not Laverde for instance if you don't want a key forward

I'll be encouraging everyone I know to vote just so they can marvel at the photo of TJ at the end.

similar to .......perhaps http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/21766-clash-jumper-2011/?p=345945 again....via Clint's efforts

Could he ... possibly... maybe even ... be a remote chance at pick 3. Yes he played one game but this kid has the talent. bazinga for cockatoo at 3. !!!

The most important reasons we should pick Lever, IMO: 1. I haven't said that I like him. 2. Picket Fence wants McCartin. 3. Someone somewhere thinks he might be able to play in the midfield some day. 4. Is most likely to be our first ever 18 year old captain. 5. His mum or dad cook a mean dinner. (Or Roosy's wife cooks a shocking one. ) 6. They call him Snake. The most important reasons we should not pick Snake, IMO: 1. Jack Watts can run 20 metres faster than him, on a basketball court wearing sneakers. 2. He did his knee 12 months ago and if he ever does either knee ever again under any circumstance, then it's another recruiting blunder. I think the pros have it. And they say it's not an exact science. Pffft.

Surely Bizzell beats Lyon.