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That is disturbing on so many levels

I found dustin martin cocky and annoying. Lucky we went for trenners and scully.

tuned in heard Dwayne Russells voice Turned it off immediately A great reminder why I never listen to the radio

No problem with the requirement of kicking the door down. Others in this thread have instead removed the door and replaced it with a brick wall before he's arrived at the front gate.

I don't think any of us would have the slightest clue if he can coach. I like the idea of him cutting his teeth at Hawthorn who have good forwards - it will be as much about teaching them what he knows as learning about why the Hawks are so successful and how to operate in a successful environment . Let him learn and hopefully bring to it our club if he proves himself to be good at the caper.

Dead set - how many former Dees have had coaching and admin gigs with the Hawks in recent times?! It's ridiculous.

Geez you'll be torn. You won't know which trade decision to gnash and wail about. Oh BTW Wines is overrated, will plateau now and the the decision to go to with the Toump will be proven to be the correct one.

'Chafing' at the bit? I think you need to rearrange your bit...

if we land Petracca and Brayshaw they can pick santa claus at 40 and the easter bunny at 53 for all i care ps. I do care but u know what i mean

Maybe apart from Hogan, he is better. Gawn is a ruck, Pedersen & Fitzpatrick depth. Now for one thing we might not even have McCartin and if we do I wouldn't be ruling a line through him just yet. I wouldn't be gifting games to Pedersen, Gawn or Fitzpatrick because they've been around a while. I am sick of gifting games to players who don't deserve it be they kids or experienced campaigners. That's right, he doesn't expect them to be saviours but he doesn't rule them out of developing at senior level either. Roos has been quoted as saying a lot of things and then it's 'Demonland' law that Roos does this or Roos does that. I judge him more on his actions. Roos does play first year players, first game in the AFL. It doesn't mean McCartin will or McCartin won't. If we go on 'Demonland' law we won't take McCartin and at least 3 of our picks will be used for senior players not kids.

Great isn't it. It is a bit like life, nothing much happens for months at a time, but we still waffle on. And continuing with the food metaphor. I am a great believer in the slow cook method, and this is turning into the ultimate slow cook. The EFC will be so cooked that the meat will fall off the bones.

I'm glad we don't have the decision it's kind of refreshing

Neita: *something that sounds like Jar Jar Binks*

You've got to be [censored] me.. Here I am at levis stadium surrounded by 49ers and redskins fans listening to the falcons game.. Thinking were home with a Matt Bryant field goal, only for the browns to head down the field for a field goal.. How do you lead with 45 seconds and lose, this team continues to fustrate the [censored] out of me lol

It's a shame that we didn't draft Naitanui. We could've had NikNat & Paddy Mac

Don't want any MFC coaches right now. We need outside blood for a number of years. If Neita becomes a good coach he can return.

Reading way too much into it.

You are not alone bb he is starting with the best and IMO most coaches who are starting should get experience at a different club. I wonder how much better Voss would have been had he started at the WCE as was the original plan.

must be me...not fussed. go to start somewhere

Pretty sure Todd Viney spent some time there as well, but we know where his heart is. Neita will likely be the same. Note: Brereton has been a specialist coach at other clubs (GWS comes to mind) but he is still a passionate Hawthorn man.

I think potential coaches are best served by learning their craft at a club different from the one at which they played. It makes them appreciate alternative approaches - or "intellectual property" as it's now often described. He may or may not make a good coach, but he gives himself a better chance of succeeding by working for a while elsewhere (and, let's be honest, at what would appear to be a very good place to learn a bit about coaching).

They are not coming from the same base. Hogan has been at the club for two years now and had even had a season against men. McCartin will not be training until December and is straight out of juniors. He's excluded because that is what good clubs would do - they would have no need to throw the pressure of being a part of an AFL forward set up 4 months into being a player. If he plays Rd 1, my flabber would be gasted...

disappointing really likely drafting McCartin and already having Hogan, we should have got Neitz in to show them the way

Pretty impressive stadium Levi's although it takes near on 2 hours from San Francisco by public transport, a lot of the 49ers fans I spoke to were pretty annoyed with the move from candlestick and said it's just too far to go I have a few photos but they won't load unfortunately

Hogan. I don't like it but he is suited to it, moreso than Dawes, might actually play well for those 20 minutes, and considering we will be investing another top 3 pick on a tall forward - he can used in this purpose. I think that if McCartin is chosen, he will not play much in 2015, (barring injury of course) and they will have Gawn/Pedersen there to backup Jamar.

Bound for Glory website said this about him at the start of the 2014 season: Melbourne will be salivating over eligible father-son selection, Jake Lovett, who is the son of former club champion Brett. Although a different type of player to his father, Jake is a high-possession winning on-baller, with damaging disposal and a tendency to be aggressive. The only downside is that he the Dees will have to wait another year, as he is not eligible until 2015.

Would love to see Salem play halfback/midfield next year. The lack of footskills evident in most of the back six in the prospective round 1 teams on this thread is still a major concern for me. A half backline of Grimes, McDonald and Garland doesn't fill me with a huge amount of confidence. Defensively there's no worry, but none of them can split teams open with a 'one kick' play. Vince, Watts and Salem all have that ability and we need someone there to be able execute it. It's one of the reasons why Malceski would have been such a great pickup. We're a competitive team now. But we're still well behind when it comes to footskills. Even having a look at the replay of Gold Coast vs Melb from this year you can see how easily they move the ball from one end of the ground to the other. It's about being skilled. And knowing it. Grimes and Garland are perfect examples of players who doubt their ability to execute and therefore never go for kicks to leads that we need them to. They decide to go long to a contest or pointlessly backwards or sideways. Conversely, if you see some of Vince's kicks this year, he is confident in his ability and therefore regularly seeks those leads and targets that are in much more advantageous positions. Or at the very least, in positions where we see a 'metre gain'. I'm sure others won't agree with how simple that explanation is and that other factors come into play. But from my experience playing, and from what you can visibly see with attributes, it's really as simple as that. We need footskils in our backline if we're going to see a marked improvement in this competition.

Lymphoma apparently. Good luck with the treatment Choco. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-11-23/choco-battling-cancer

So I'm on 3AW Sports Today and its 6:40 - where is Petracca information!

that beanie would be great if it didnt have bloody white on it

what are the chances ???

Neitz was a club great and stalwart no doubt about it but on the couple of occasions i heard him speak/be interviewed he didn't strike me as a great communicator. It will be interesting to see how this gig pans out.

Love Neita but also believe it can only benefit him to experience the other football clubs go about things- especially if he wants to make a careers of coaching/assistant coaching. It shocks me that some players, after spending fifteen years playing at one club, then shift straight in to coaching at that club. Players like Buckley, Voss, Hird, etc. could have got an assistant job at any club in the country; but instead, they stuck around the same people, structures and cultures that they'd always had. It's hardly conducive to innovation and fresh ideas. Would be wrapt if Neita did some coaching elsewhere, soaked up us much knowledge as he can, then one day landed back at the MFC.

Well that is deflating, I didn't make your list.

And here http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-11-24/gawn-handed-stynes-no11-jumper I like the history they've given with each number

would your gob be smacked ?

Actually Hogan comes from a higher base having played a year of Casey, in the NAB Cup and having had now his third AFL pre season. But otherwise I agree with your premise. If we take McCartin and he has a good pre season and NAB Cup, he will play, if not he starts at Casey.

I think the way it works is if Ess win they get zero points but if their opponents win eg Hawkes, then the Hawkes get the 4 pts. So it shouldn't affect the ladder position or % (Except that Ess end up on the bottom). This would work as long as their draft position for 2015 is based on their 'unpenalised' ladder position. Ie a 'shadow' ladder is kept showing where Ess would be if they were playing for points/%'age. This way they do not get the #1 draft pick in 2015.

What happens if we don't pick McCartin for round 1, and he kicks 10 goals in the VFL? Is he then ready for a game? Why is Hogan any different? Zero games in the AFL and injured for his entire first season on the senior list. He's coming from the same base, is he not? I know my McCartin 10 VFL goals example isn't realistic - I'm just trying to understand the logic of why he's automatically excluded by some for round 1 when we haven't even drafted him yet, let alone exposed him to any form, and where the boundaries of this logic lie.

Claws out.....

please nut, don't remind me, my wife still hasn't got over it

it is quite possible a team penalty could be devised where they play 2015 for no points a'la storm

Agree, the unfortunate thing being that the prince doesn't really solve this problem either. Line breaking ability but an unreliable kick. Howe provided some improvement in this area but was still learning the ropes. Salem/Toumpas could be the answer. It is a black mark against the three you mention that we are still discussing this as an issue.

In simple terms my wants for picks 2 and 3 are that we just get footy players.. Kids who have shown a penchant to actually play and take on the game. I'm so sick to death and over this 'elite' shlt I cant tell you. Elite reminds me of the idea of that 'extraodinary girl" that we all imagined we wanted/needed only to discover it was an illusion and just a high maintenance headache. Why does that sound familar !!

The number 1 issue facing cricket is the scheduling of the games. You already have T20s and ODIs finishing at 10:30pm. Soon we will have test matches finishing at the same time. If kids can't go to matches to see their heroes they will lose interest and take up a different sport. I'm not a massive cricket fan, but it was a big deal when I was growing up (late 80s - early 90s) for people to go and watch international cricket. The attendance figures this year, and for a number of years, suggest that this is no longer the case. Sure television has had an impact, but people who want to go games will still go in the right circumstances, as is the case with the AFL. The AFL has enough day time content to keep kids happy at the moment. But every year we see more games finishing after dark and there has to be a tipping point, particularly when you have games finishing late on school / work nights. I wouldn't dream of taking my son to a game that finished after 6pm (ie get home after 7pm) until he is at least 10, and who knows whether he would still care by that point.

That makes two of you. You and Redleg

Nothing of real note has occurred for the MFC for years and yet here we are waffling...

McCartin is more of a footballer than Darling. Jack Darling is an athlete - and a VERY good one. But judging solely from a football perspective, McCartin has superior hands to Darling and much better football smarts. Darling is just big and quick, but he lacks brains and is a bit rigid under the ball - we won't have that problem with McCartin.

If we were examining an 18 year old D Breterton I wonder what we would be saying. Undersized for a key position, not quick, can't play mid field, can't play back. Let's move on. But hold on he is a natural forward, he has heeps of mongrel and can take a contested mark and kick a goal. What do we do now? Is there some way of testing for that mental capacity to compete that the likes of Brereton, Hodge, Selwood and others have/had to get to every contest? If there is I wish we knew it because if you get one or two of those characters on your list and you are off and running.