Leaderboard

You know it's the off season when one Instagram shot of backyard cricket starts a 7 page conversation about batting

You say it would be a terrible pick at 3 yet in your prediction you think he could go the next live pick to Essendon at 4. So he is a terrible pick at 3 yet a likely good enough to be picked at 4. If he gets through the session today I'd take him at 3. When fit he looks a sensational prospect. Watch his highlights video, he moves a lot like Pavlich. 12 marks against big bodies in the AIS v Bullants game. He can play. I like Parish too but I think it's simplistic to say Weideman's a terrible pick at 3. How many guns have slipped down the draft because of injuries? Judd, Selwood, Darling, I'm sure there are many more. If we want another competitive dominant key forward he is it. Curnow is not. I don't want to regret this draft, I don't want this to be a Fiora pick over a Pavlich pick.

My mate who works at the Falcons isn't sure of Curnow as much as others, says there are plenty of other better mids before him in the competition that he saw first hand or have been informed about from others in the industry and he just isn't sold on him as much as them. Says Parish is an absolute gun though, which i have posted about on here already, a few times. Take all of this as you will.

Yes I know it's not MFC (or even AFL for that matter) related, but this man was an unbelievable athlete and I thought this sad news was worthy of first posting here where it would be seen rather than hidden away in the Other Sports forum to where it will undoubtedly be moved at some point: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11547393&ref=NZH_FBpage

Parish with 3. Surely.

The more I think about it, the more I feel we'll pull the trigger on Weideman at 3. It just fits in with the mould of the type of players we've been attracting over the last 3 years - and the type of targets that Taylor et al have said they're chasing - that is, competitive beasts. Hogan, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca, Tyson - each of these guys has competitiveness in spades. The AFL is too unforgiving these days to be anything less than 110% committed and aggressive every time you take the field. That's not to say Parish is not aggressive. He has a good mix of inside-outside play and a high contested possession average through the TAC Cup this year. He has some great attributes; excellent decision making, great disposal on both sides, impacts the game (rated no. 1 for metres gained). But no recruiter would say that raw competitiveness is his number one attribute. In fact, if you watch the 2 VFL games that the Academy boys played, he never really threw his body into contests and seemed slightly reticent to tackle, let alone hunt players down. This is backed up by his poor 2.8 average tackles per game despite playing as a full-time midfielder. As an alternative, Weideman IS a competitive beast. He has virtually no bulk on his frame and yet throws himself into packs ala Hogan. He tackles hard, chases and generally just plays at a highly aggressive level. Sure he has lots of other attributes too, but if the recruiting team were to continue the current trend of picking competitors, Weideman seems like the logical choice. The one caveat is obviously whether he passes his upcoming fitness test with us.

I can guarantee that whoever we pick, the media will go hard to mock us for not picking another player just like they did with the Salem and Tyson deal.

Volunteer Team We completed the reserved seating project over two nights. Thanks to Pete K, Pete G, Pete W, Heather, Rosalyn, Tim, Geoff, John, Julian, Dee & Trish. $16.380 of sales & numerous seatings settled & serviced. The club offices are rippling with images of the new logo on garments stationary & signage. I like it. Renewal will start mid Feb. Hoping for a good summer & a great winter.

I'm sure that Taylor & Viney will be picking based on the opinions of who shouts the loudest on an internet forum

Sanderson seems to really rate Curnow. It'll be interesting to see who Essendon take. To be honest, the thought of taking Weideman at 3 and the best available mid at 7 wouldn't bother me. Perhaps we even go for a Bonner or Milera instead to compliment what is now a pretty 'contested heavy' midfield. Can't stop thinking about a Weideman/Hogan forward line. We'll pick up mids down the track. Prestia is still coming home remember.

It happens to the best of us.

Exactly. I'm not an expert but from what I've read the only knock on Parish seems his size & tackle numbers. Everything else he apparently does well. He's averaging 129 SuperCoach points a game & 29 disposals albeit at a lower level than AFL, but he can only beat who he's up against. I'm pretty sure Brayshaw & Salem averaged less at that level. He's been an All Australian twice. Not sure how we can really go wrong drafting this kid & how anyone sees him falling out of the top 5 let alone top 10.

On the surface, a common-sense proposal. But: - it creates an enormous loophole - the players should have known, or at least done everything they could have to know - the players almost certainly knew what was going on, enough to know that they were sailing close to the wind

I disagree. At the end of the day footy is 22v22. If one set of 22 has an advantage because they took whatever - even if due to support staff - then they have cheated. Not to mention health concerns etc with injecting unknown substances....

Too soon, far too soon. Players of Jonah's stature are entitled to long lives reflecting on past glories. Anyone who saw him in his pomp will now have to carry the memories for him, but it hardly seems enough.

I will tell you the Dream Scenario for this draft in 2018...

Mike Catt met him once too...he still doesn't know what hit him. Vale big fella.

Please share this video with your friends. This is how we stop ISIS: ''How We Stop Isis - Waleed Aly (The Project)'' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXUZjyZVj6s

Well ive come to the realization that there is not one player in this draft I really like Last year I was salivating over Petracca and Brayshaw before we even picked them This year theres not one player I really want us to get. I hope we did the right thing by getting two top pics in this draft. The talent pool really does seem weak

If we draft Sam Weideman and he is a star then I can forget what his grandfather Murray did to us on GF day in 1958. A long, bitter memory. We would have had 6 in a row and definitely been the greatest team ever. Oh, for those days back again! Grand Final 1958 - Demonwiki

Don't know if it will happen but if Dean Terlich gets a game. I'll be very surprised.

Anyone?

Correct. Anyone who thinks we didn't know who we would get when we traded for 3 & 7 are tripping.

This is why the players have to go They were visibly larger than their opponents in the early rounds of 2012... They knew they were getting extra mass.

Couldn't have done it without each other knowing.

An awesome athlete and good bloke, it really makes me think that the stars that burn twice as bright, burn half as long. He had a kidney disease as a result of an (I think mosquito) infection, common to islanders. Nothing to do with Rugby, it was the reason he retired young was risk to kidneys.

The draft is in Adelaide

Certainly makes for an interesting night. We have two picks inside the top 10, and looks like we could have any 2 of about 10 players. Unlike other years where it was clear who we were taking, or at least down to a selected 2 or 3.

You cannot bend the rules to suit yourself....If Essendrug players are found guilty with long sentences then yes we are a man down.

Sam barracked for Richmond growing up. Don't see it as any problem whatsoever.

Very sad news; only 40, too. He was one of the best athletes I've ever seen. RIP

What I like about this situation is that we have traded for pick 3 and obviously know who we want at that pick. The only way that we don't get who we specifically want is to be gifted Weitering or Schache. Having said that, I hope that it is Parish that we have earmarked.

I believe it's a range of tests that usually would have occurred at the Combine (20M sprint, agility, possibly 3k time trial and beep). In other news, here's the reason we have to bid on Cal Mills with pick 3: http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/draft/afl-draft-2015-melbourne-expected-to-bid-for-sydney-academy-product-callum-mills/story-fnyc10cj-1227613753378 Bidding on him will move our pick 46 (and 50) up 4 spots in one hit. If Essendon bid on the GWS academy kids, our later picks will get up a bit higher.

As I posted somewhere, if we think we can get a bloke like perhaps Oliver, who is not too far behind Parish, at pick 7, we could very well pull the trigger on a big forward at 3 and Sam is probably the best available at 3.

Sorry if this has been mentioned already, but I'm pretty sure the northern academy scheme was implemented not just to help promote the game in NSW and Qld but also to compensate the Suns and GWS for not having any chance of father-son selections for another 20 years.

It would have helped Prendergast, thankfully Taylor knows what he is doing.

I really rate Emma Quayle.

iF theclub was going down the path of an each way bet...i.e one mid one biggun.. Then id be quite happy with Parish and McKay.. I still prefer...yada yada yada....but Id prefer Mckay to either suss 1 or suss2 It wil be interesting for sure let alone the other two picks Going to have an OK list at eh end of all of this I think

If their f/s pick was bid for at say 10 they would have to part with enough selections that add up to whatever pick 10 is worth. Now that maybe a round 2 and a round 3 ( say 21 & 37) Our picks 46 & 50 would change to 44 & 48. This could change again if other clubs do that to another f/s or academy player.

Sorry song, I disagree. I often have to read then re read posts because of poor spelling or grammar. Perhaps a better example would be to ask someone to stop mumbling so you can undersand them. We are trying to communicate after all, and being unintelligible does not help the cause.

wont happen . In a years time Salem will be almost on par . Tyson wont be traded either. Most likely be trading picks. At years end we probably will want to keep a lot of the list. How novel.

D Day for Weideman tomorrow.. Personally i am not a fan of using pick 3 on him to be honest.. we'd be silly to pass on Parish. Curnow Mckay or Weid one of 3 will be there at 7. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/index.html?sourceCode=HSWEB_MRE170_a_TWT&mode=premium&dest=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-draft-2015-sam-weideman-to-undergo-aflsupervised-testing-essendon-eyeing-clayton-oliver-ryan-burton/news-story/17d4412f18dba0cdba3ce5baf7543afd&memtype=anonymous

Yep, my point really is that a deal will get done if the player wants to get to a club and you don't have to sell the farm to get him. A club can ask all they like but 'olisik' putting up Salem or Tyson, well it's not going to happen. I think these guys will be better anyway and we will start to see that next season. Remember, this is the guy that says it will be a disaster if we don't take Oliver. It won't be, even if Oliver turns out to be a gun I think we will get a couple of good players with our 2 first round picks. Anyway, don't sweat Prestia, he's good but not the only game in town. We're on the right track.

I noticed the height difference in a photo that appeared on Instagram just after TMac returned from overseas. Oscar looked a lot taller (certainly more than 2cm taller) but I couldn't be sure because it could easily have been explained by the camera angle or the way the two were standing.If he has indeed grown to the 198cm mark and given he was recruited as a forward who can also play ruck (noted he's training with both backs and forwards), I wonder whether the fact that we have Oscar and Max King coming through the ranks would mean we are less likely to be looking at Sam Weideman or Harry McKay in the draft? [That's not to say that I'm necessarily comparing these players on ability or potential]

Thanks for the cricket reports.

I'm on the Parish and McKay wagon, assuming Weideman is gone by 7. Curnow seems too similar to Petracca in size and style, and given Mckay is 17 and raw, he'd be an ideal candidate for second tall with ruck time potential in 2017.

Let's put it this way: We get the first choice & the fifth choice out of Parish, Francis, Weideman, Oliver & Curnow. In terms of their chances of being a future A-grader (which, let's face it, is why we traded up to picks 3 & 7), there's not a lot to choose between them. We each have our own preferences, but they all show a lot of promise but a few concerns. In this draft, after these guys (and the first two and the academy picks) the chance of picking up a future star falls off a cliff within a few picks. So it's a good place to be.

No it wouldn't

I rate Quigley, Chris, Snoop Dog, and others ahead of the prolific Knightmare. But I hasten to add that it doesn't mean I wish Knightmare any harm in this life or the next. It just means I have an opinion of his opinion. And not losing "a nanoseconds sleep" over Emma's ratings doesn't mean I don't read her, respect her, or consider her opinions invalid, it means I have more faith in our full-time recruiting staff to get things right.

I went down for a short time. It was the second time this pre-season. The notable missing player for me was Aaron vandenBerg. I have seen Christian Petracca and he seems fine, just on a modified program, but I have seen neither hair nor hide of VDB and considering he has been MIA since the Collingwood game in June I hope he is OK.Actually seeing him in the picture above means he is at least around. Hoges was running laps by himself. Looked fine, all limbs in fine working order. They were doing a ball movement exercise when I got there. Split into 3 groups, attack, defence or off. The ball would be kicked down back to an attacker and the attacking team would try to move the ball the length of the ground and score. It was good to watch, lots of running, switching the ball across the ground and fast movement. Sam Frost is back in full training and was good in this drill. Ben Kennedy is possibly the smallest player on our list along with JKH and Viney but he looks very fit and strong and was doing everything he could to impress the coaches and his new team mates. All you could ask at this stage really. Jayden Hunt is very quick. He did a one two with Frost at one point off half back and burnt off his opponent then kicked truly to a leading forward. If they work out how to use his speed there is a chance he can make it. Oscar Mac is taller now than his brother. Looks to have put on height and weight quite naturally, his potential is sky high. The next drill they did was moving the ball the length of the ground via 5 small groups. As you kicked the ball to a player leading from the small group ahead of you you would then run forward to join that group and wait a go before leading, marking swinging on to your left or right and kicking to a player leading from the next group, then running forward to join that group they would eventually make their way down the ground where they would have a shot at goal and then jog back to the other end to start again. About 5 balls in play again there was constant movement. A lot of passes were going astray before I realised they had to swing at least half the time onto their wrong foot. Gus was good on both feet as was Viney. White was pretty good. The highlight was big Tom McDonald kicking on his left. You reckon he's bad on his right foot! Wow. He sort of jumped in the air and would kick the ball with both feet off the ground. Anyway before anyone bags him he was the only senior player there joining in with the newbies so all credit to him.