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I watched all of the 27 minutes and feel I have a better understanding of this player. It's still only a snippet, but it's enough to start forming an opinion. He won't cut it in the AFL as a pure midfielder, so forget drafting him as one. He's just not sharp and clean enough around congestion. At one point when he had to handball left-handed he clumsily fabricated an awkward dish-off with the right. He needs time in congestion that elite midfielders just don't get in the AFL. I appreciate he'll become better in the application of these aspects in an AFL environment, but I can't imagine he'll ever be strong enough to make it his full-time role. One can fall into the trap of concentrating on what a player isn't good at and not what they are good at. Notwithstanding the above, he's got a really good footy brain. He doesn't get too rushed and often waited until the last moment to execute the best option. This was noticeable on numerous occasions. He's a good lead up player, moves well with good pace and agility and looks a natural forward. When the ball is on the deck in the forward-line he'll still be dangerous, because he's had that midfield background and can be creative by hand. He's not as good a contested mark as Hogan, who is, but he's still strong overhead. He actually looks a hulking figure despite not being overly tall. But he's no Stringer. Having seen this extended footage there's no similarity. He actually looks like a more athletic and faster Paddy McCartin. I can imagine him complementing Hogan well and can see them teaming together. But I don't know if he's the best available key forward at pick 7. I too wouldn't take him at 3, but wouldn't be averse at 7. I haven't seen Weideman, who some think is also a great prospect. I suspect one of the two will be there at 7, so it will be interesting to see how things unfold. I can't imagine Essendon taking both Francis and Curnow, because neithers best position is midfield and they're desperate for midfield talent. I doubt Curnow will play more than 5 or 6 games in 2016, whoever he plays for.

I have about a 4 day window between unemployment and overseas travel early next year. Might try to get down to training and get my last hit of footy for a while. If I do, I'll be sure to take creepy iPhone photos and write a really bad report where I get every player confused. I'm sure you all look forward to that! I think the last time I attended training I was in high school... and we were playing finals.... so about 10 years ago. Depressing thought.

Don't talk to the players and get any interesting goss cos you'll be accused of being an apologist. Don't give any opinions cos you'll be accused of knowing nothing about footy. And don't favour anyone or you'll be accused of having favourites. And don't tell us that we've improved because you'll be told "it's only training". Really looking forward to your reports!

Don't forget the scooter, Lycra and beard.

Based on those brief highlights, Parish looks like he knows what to do with the ball before he gets it. And that's what you look for in a gun midfielder. In comparison, Oliver looks like he wants to take the tackler on before disposing of the ball. He may not get away with that at AFL level.

Scully was an accumulator of the ball who relied on running opponents into the ground, his disposal was and still is poor. This kid relies on his footy smarts to get the ball, he is a quick decision maker and uses the ball very well by hand and foot both sides of his body. I'm sure the FD are well aware of his strengths and weaknesses and won't need worry about any red flags.

Dawes gets paid more than most at MFC and some of his performances are so bad its unbelievable that it gets zero airtime. Yet Watts drops a mark and its all over the media.

It's been a common misconception for a long time but I can promise you James Kelly was the most likely pick if not Molan. ND asked him for the toughest KP player in the draft so Craig didn't really focus on top end smalls but when I asked him about Dal Santo he said he had others in front of him. The other interesting thing he said he'd have taken Robert Murphy with pick 5 if we had retained that in 1999. Disappointing because Murphy is my favourite non MFC player. Yep Utah, I was always a fan of Neale. Great man and so much better than he was given credit for, particularly at the time. History will treat him kindly although life hasn't.

Pretty certain he bases his opinion on the 2 to 3 minute highlight tapes from the AFL...

Yeats. The Reverend did our club proud. Several times. Not just his coaching, but coaching a club in difficult times, a club under re-sourced, lacking AFL standard facilities at the Junction. Also his promotion of our club and helping increase membership. He knew putting us in a better position financially allowed the club to compete, despite a ball and chain around it's neck holding us back financially. ie. getting rookies such as Aaron Davey onto our list.

I hope someone manages to do some reports like Saty used to.

Spotted young Darcy at one of the local pubs tonight and I tell you what, he does not look like a footballer! Told everybody I was with that he is the likely number 3 pick in this year's draft and they all called [censored]. He didn't stick around long enough for me to ask whether he was likely to put on a heap of muscle over the next few years or if he was going to get a haircut. Sorry guys and girls.

Well it looks like Cal Twomey has now covered every possible scenario, and I'm sure he'll gloat when one of them comes up.

Viney, Brayshaw, Tyson, Salem, Petracca, Parish. Just wanted to see what that looked like in black and white.

FFS, seeing threads like this bumped scare the [censored] out of me.

If you have Instagram follow Rob Jackson fitness. He is the fitness guy at Melbourne and I have seen a number of photos of the guys already into training. Yesterday it was Dunn, Dawes, Viney and Petracca doing some kind of circuit work.

Here is one from his twitter. Petracca's knees look in good shape! By all accounts he worked hard at his rehab ... deserves the reward and play the whole season!

I find JW threads boring full stop.

How about a hair shirt wearing lemon sucker?

I think you will find that the first word was in fact a number. As in, One went to training today. Much better.

I posted my concerns about the hair on Facebook last week. It certainly looms as a major issue in respect of the difficult decision the recruiting team is faced with over the next few weeks. My solution was that if we take him with pick #3 then Josh Mahoney's first task should be (preferably before they leave Adelaide after draft night) to take him to a barber for a #3 haircut. Problem solved. [PS: I've subsequently discovered that if we bid #3 for say Callum Mills and force Sydney to take that player in response to our bid, then our pick would be #4 and in that event, the blades to be used for the haircut would be #4.]

Funny you should mention herbs R&B my wife has pots of them all over our balcony and every dinner time she insists on asking me to "get me some thyme, get my some parsley". Nearly every time I come back with the wrong herb and that allows her to reinforce one of my few weaknesses on a regular basis. It is a real blank spot for me and I have suggested she put name plates on all the pots but of course she has no intention of doing that!

Agree OD, absolutely done to death. There is really nothing that has not been said many times in many different ways, but is all amounts to the same thing, over and over and........

Thanks for these highlights. Excellent disposal both sides of his body. Agree with Snoop Dog's surprise that he hadn't tested better at Combine. As he said you wouldn't have thought that would be the case given these highlights.

Great post. Makes me think of the Aussie officer in Tobruk who was shirtless digging a trench with his men when a British officer appeared with all the pomp and ceremony and asked why he was not being saluted as a superior officer, only to have the Aussie put his shirt back on and point out that he in fact was the superior officer. The Brit was taken aback that that an officer was doing the digging with his men. It is a great part of our culture than no person is above another and every person in equal (or as close to that as anywhere). This was probably enshrined int eh culture due tot he frontier nature of the country in the early days, everyone had to pull their weight in equal measure or you didn't survive.

I just like being called "chap"

Sorry to hijack the Dean Terlich thread but just wanted to say how happy I am for James Harmes... Good size, aggressive and can only get better... Work hard and enjoy your successes... Let's just hope there are plenty to enjoy!

Next year the coaching staff need to leave Watts inside the forward 50 and told he has 10 weeka to show why we drafted him as a forward. No more shedding weight in the expense of playing in the midfield. Club needs to just back him in one position and told be creative and kick goals.

From Snoop Dog, who's a solid observer... He hasn't yet done his phantom Draft, but this is his view on Parish in another type of communal draft: # 3 Melbourne - Darcy Parish (Geelong Falcons / 181cm / 74kg) Terrific player who have seen plenty of. Probably not as big as you want your midfielders these days but he ticks nearly every box. Very clever player around the stoppages who can win it and create space through the congestion to get away and clear the ball. Actually has real bounce about him and would think he would be a hard player to track and stay on top of as he is always on the move. As a bottom ager I thought he was a bit outside but he was a terrific ball winner this year and has really rounded him out. His ball skills are very good (averages circa 70% DE) and he is particularly good at using lateral kicks to create the play and set team mates up. His vision is elite and his spacial awareness very good to. Just doesn't really get flustered. From a defensive aspect notwithstanding the frame he loves to tackle and whilst an average 2-3 at champs / TAC he isn't averse to it but it is an area he could do some more work on to try and get that up around 5+ per game. Always love to watch how these kids go vs men and really rated his performance for the Academy side vs Blues and Werribee. He was hard at it and really competitive and I think the game vs the Blues was particularly good. Only knock is he didn't test that well at the combine which i was surprised by because when you watch him that is not the sense you get. Not sure where he will start at AFL level. He has shown he is very good off a HB flank, demonstrated this year he is a very good all round midfielder and has pushed forward as well to kick goals. He has a very light frame though and he won't be pushed to the middle to quickly I would have thought and with mids like Jones, Petracca, Brayshaw, Tyson and Viney they can afford to protect him a bit. With Salem & Bugg off HB wouldn't mind betting he starts as a HF flanker. Building a very talented group of juniors these Demons ...

I see Jordan Lewis every few weeks and he does not look big enough to be an inside mid at AFL level but he is and he is a bull. He's as lean as could be with spaghetti arms. Parish has a decent frame on him so he will be fine. The difference between Toumpas and Parish is that Toumpas is a pure link-man or 'sweeper' off half-back, whereas Parish takes contested marks and wins and gives off contested possessions regularly. He is a bit like Shuey or Shane Edwards. He isn't a pure outside mid.

After a number of days I weakened P-man read four posts and decided it was a bad decision

Poor kid doesn't even stand a chance with that 'religiously judgemental and narrow minded train of thought'..... We've all read the poisonous bile and nasty vitriol you spew at the current government in power in the general discussions forum and most let it go (because its, well, you), but bringing an innocent kid into it is hitting way below the belt in my opinion. Save your political opinions for the general discussions forum please.

1st yo 4th year players are back next week. The rest are back the week after that. If you attend the Friday after the draft you'll see the entire team.

I hadn't! Those highlights were really solid weren't they! Excellent hands below his kness, good vision, good decision maker, nice kick. I was already keen, but those highlights sold me.

Toumpas never played like Parish as a mid in juniors. In fact, Toumpas had one of the worst contested possession percentages going around. It's the same problem in the AFL, but only magnified. They're chalk and cheese.

Because he's considered a far better midfielder. Francis' best position is in defence as a third tall. From your post I can only conclude you haven't seen this video: http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/video/2015-10-30/draft-prospect-darcy-parish

When you pick Toumpas ahead of Wines and Stringer of course there's going to be gnashing of teeth, but we all know there's no guarantee. But I will vent my frustration if the club picks a bust with a top 10 pick. Head recruiters are some of the highest paid people within the industry. All clubs know that great ones are gold. It's why they're paid well. If it was just a "lottery" they'd employ the best clairvoyant octopus and save their money. It's not an exact science, but there's far more substance to the craft than you seem to realise.

It's actually pretty simple: In the draft you take the best available player regardless of their position! During the trade period you address the positions that need upgrading! Hawthorn and Sydney have been doing it for years (inevitably resulting in the need to trade tall's; think Hale, Gunston, Lake, Frawley, McVoy, Franklin, Tippet, Richards, Mumford, etc) If you end up with to many quality players in the similar positions (midfielders) then they will have the currency to be converted (traded) into other positional requirements. Not having followed this draft heavily, and following this very simple principle, I would expect: Parish at 3 and Oliver/Francis at 7

I miss Saty. He could get dragged in to conflict as easy as anyone but he wasn't contrary for the sake of it like some. A bit too much of a fan boy at times but I absolutely loved his passion for the club. I'll never belittle someone for that. He put a lot of effort in to the training reports which were a great resource for us guys out of Melbourne. Yes sometimes they read like a Goebbels wartime press release but his dedication was undebatable. Unfortunately d1ckheads on here pestered to the point he bailed. Demonland is worse off for his absence. BenHur is still here. Dr who was a world class, elite t8sser of the highest order and not missed. Unfortunately this forum is extremely tolerant of those who wish to drag it down but over time you get an eye for who can add value to a discussion and who is here to hide from the real world.

Watched most of that video. Think it's important to realise it's seemingly lost of his disposals not just highlights. I'm still a fan. He makes things happen. His athleticism is obvious, he seemingly has go go gadget arms and has strong hands in a contest, which of course is what you need at TAC level to be any chance at AFL level. He's certainly a long way off as a midfielder, the repeat efforts around a contest are lacking and his play below his knees is poor. His kicking is interesting. He takes risks and pulls a lot of them off. Ball drop is a bit high and therefore he doesn't lace it out but he certainly makes things happen and doesn't blaze away. Yeah he's a bit of a risky prospect with plenty of development to do but at the same time I think he has a heap of potential and natural ability. We've got Brendan McCartney for a reason and if he can't sink his teeth in to this bloke and make him a footballer then no one can. Pick 3 might be too high, but if he's still there at pick 7 I'd be keen.

The journalists are guessing. We have run a very tight ship in recent times, we aren't going to start leaking now

BBO as you have stated before, just driving your Merc amongst the poor lifts their spirits as it gives them a vision of what is possible, what they can aspire to. It is laudable that you would put aside some of your precious time to volunteer amongst the poor, at your own cost. Although you might want to talk to my accountant to explore what might be deductible in regards to your fuel costs, your time and other wear and tear on your vehicle.

I must be missing something but I simply can't understand how the club would prefer Parish to Francis. There are 2 highlights reels on Francis and in one of them he plays as a strong, tall mid, and goes forward. He kicks 4 goals, a couple involving 50m plus kicks. The next segment shows him defending, taking mark after mark. Again, disposal impeccable.I notice in the AFL highlights reel, in which he talks very movingly about the death of his brother, he says that Brendon Goddard is a role model. I was quite unaware of this, but Goddard is the very bloke I thought of when watching the first reel. Francis is a mature kid, who I reckon would play many games in his first season and 200 overall. To me, he represents much more of what the club needs, than Parish. Has anyone else a view about this?

The Wiz is still criminally underrated by the AFL community as well. Melbourne fans remember just how good he was but, outside of that, people rarely talk about him these days. He didn't help his cause by going back to Freo but, IMO, his efforts in 2000 were some of the best ever by a small forward.

Hey Dazzle. Can I suggest you wait till you finish that three year course in Human Physiology before you answer any more questions on the subject.

Bang. Could not agree more DD. If they're going to "make him or break him" then do it in the one position he's shown the most promise, has the best skill set for, and would be the handiest for us to have work as a team.

He's certainly a favourite with me and even more so after reviewing the vision of his games for Vic Country in the national champs. I'm sure if he comes to Melbourne he will get a good grounding under the current coaching regime but I suspect that he won't end up as a defender. He's too good for that and besides, the only disappointing game I've seen from him is the one v SA at Simonds Stadium where he was played off half back and was rather subdued as if he had to contain his usual flair. He was kept down to 9 possessions and was brushed aside a couple of times by Aaron Francis but there were enough positives from his limited amount of touches to know that he is going to be a very good player. I haven't been so excited about a potential draftee since Jimmy Toumpas ... oh.

Time to start issuing bans WJ. Im sure Im not the only one who is tired of the same schit every day.

As a casual observer I find it fascinating how quickly and seamlessly Stuie can argue himself in to a losing position. Unfortunately it destroys threads in the process.

Using an example that a) is still not established fact and b) resulted in a disastrous outcome doesn't do much to strengthen your argument. The last time we know for certain that the coach pulled rank on a recruiter was Daniher insisting Craig Cameron take Luke Molan. Another disaster. The coach would have input at best, but just as one voice in the FD. Even then, that voice should be of Goodwin and not Roos - it is the former's team now. Other than that, the chief recruiter should be trusted to be capable of identifying which players present the most value to the club. He's a senior member of the FD, and is paid accordingly, and that is his chief responsibility.