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To Collingwood I say, "Weideman weep."

He got the things I rate highly: clean hands great lateral movement can get the ball makes good decisions What's not to like?

I went along at about 10:30am and the drills weren't very intense, so it must've been after the run. There were 3 groups rotating between 3 drills - being set shot goal kicking, 1v1 marking contests and a ball-up ruck contests with 2 teams of mids. Not much to report really, I wasn't there that long. Players missing were: Jones, Vince, Hogan, Petracca, Brayshaw, Lumumba, Trengove, Tyson, Newton, Pederson, O McDonald, Neal-Bullen, Kennedy, Garlett, Spencer, Terlich, M Jones, King. A few observations were: Viney is just scary... just so ripped. Most were pretty up-beat, a lot of talk and encouragement from Watts. Joel Smith has a serious leap. In the contested marking drill they used bags at one stage. One was basically to take a speccy on, using the knee. Well, all the others got a knee up on the bag and took the grap. Smith basically stood on top of it. Jumped on to it and used his feet! Stretch did quite a few good things in the 3v3 mids roving from the ruck, congratulated by the coaches. White has a thumping kick. Melksham was looking alright, did some good things. That's about it I'm afraid... not much happened really!

I like how we Mitch and Max our Kings.

If you say that three times Jack Viney appears and pulls your heart out...

The thing I like about Oliver is that I think he has the attributes to be a better than good player. That's not to say that he will, but he has the attributes. He obviously has the power in his game, which is great, but he has the ability to beat players using his sidestep in traffic. He is actually able to create his own pocket of space where there is none, and this often separates good players from really good players. For example, Bernie Vince is a good player but that's all he is. He gets the ball in congestion and gives it off quickly or hacks it forward, both of which are legitimate options for a good player. Whereas Pendlebury is a really good player. He can get the ball in congestion and then beat an opponent to create space for himself, which means that his clearance is now an attacking opportunity with clean possession retained. Oliver looks like he could create opportunities from contested situations with his combination of power, agility and composure. I'm not saying that he'll automatically be a superstar, but I'm certainly feeling bullish at this very early point. And if I can't be bullish now, when can I be!

The first thing he needs to do is start calling himself Clay. It's much better than Clayton. We have another competitor. What I really like is that he makes good decisions under pressure and seems composed. Also, he's a true inside mid, but has speed and agility. 2.99 seconds is very good for an i.m, so is 8.11 in the agility test, which ranked him third. He doesn't look like he's an elite kick, but his hands are fantastic and 70% disposal efficiency for an i.m is terrific. An average of 24 disposals, 6 clearances, 6 tackles and 59% contested possessions ratio rounds out the picture. Best of all, he's a goal kicking inside mid - 20 goals from 16 games. Everything stacks up with this guy. He's the real deal.

Don't mind this pick. Must say i was a little surprise as i had him down for a rookie spot. But thats based on his lack of exposure. The games i saw this year i couldn't take my eye off Oliver (you beauty) but there was one guy who was just giving him platters and that was Mitch King. Remember the Jamar/Moloney combo? Well thats exactly how it was. The combination and teamwork these two had was quite impressive. 3 things that probably stood out for me about King was that he was aggressive, His 2nd efforts for such a big guys is first rate in my opinion in that he will lay a handball off and sprint to put a block on or go and lay a tackle afterwards. And 3rd was his workrate. Couple of times i noticed he would push hard into defence and intercept any forward entries coming in. Something our ruckman have lacked to do over the years. He is pretty raw but.. but fits the Roos model of being a competitor. Needs to polish up on his kicking but that can be easily done. A bit more weight on and don't be surprised if he sneaks in a game or two in his 2nd year of AFL footy because of his competitive streak and work rate. Not in the Max King category where he is skinny as a rake and a raw project thats going to atleast take 6 years. Lets not forget the work Greg Stafford has done this year to turn Max Gawn around so i expect Mitch King to develop into a good ruckman over the years. From Wodonga Bulldogs.

murray would obviously love him to play for collingwood, that's only natural murray however is great friends with barass and knowing the odds he would never get to the magpies said he would be rapt if he went to the dees i think he will be very supportive of him at the dees. there's no great hate thing going on here

I know it's (probably) a typo, but I'd like to think you've just created a new expression meaning "courage beyond his years"

A few of the standout things from the highlight package on the MFC website. - Smashes through contests like a raging bull - Lays bone-crunching tackles - Looks like he has a heap of time when he has possession - Makes good decisions with ball in hand - Can execute a perfect handpass even whilst getting tackled - Is excellent at taking overhead marks - Can push forward and kick goals Very happy to have this kid at the MFC and here's hoping for a long and successful career.

life ban please

Display pic fixed...for the next decade

Premiership 2016 Calling it now

FWIW, he averaged 6 tackles a game in the TAC Cup this year. For comparison's sake only, Parish averaged 3.

Me too. Every new recruit should be made to sit down and watch tape of Vince vs Dangerfield and Viney vs Selwood. Marquee players just about reduced to tears from sheer brutality. That's the type of midfield I would like to see us bring with every player every week.

Gee if that happened the we might even be forced to trade him for a first rounder! The horror!

When Cook was interviewed in his first year he went along the lines of taking his time and developing at Casey...didn't happen. Weideman's first interview he says he's aiming to play senior footy this year, he said one game would be great but he's not setting limits...I like his attitude. Given an injury free run I would expect to see him lining up some time in 2016.

Linking the name Weideman with Melbourne is a bit like linking the name Barassi with Collingwood. Polar opposites. Lets hope the Dees checked his blood type, did a genetic screen and used hypnosis or the Rorschach test to ensure that all traces of disordered black and white thinking can be removed. I have a splendid vision of a wet Grand Final against Collingwood when the Pies go in as raging favourites only to be softened up and beaten into submission by a team of Melbourne enforcers led by The Weed and Hulk Hogan. The sadistic pleasure would be something special.

That's why they are picks in the 40's.

He played in the VFL and by all reports handled himself very well.

I think this thread needs a revisit now. Maybe its very title could change to Trade and Draft ? As thats really what its all about, the whole shebang. Trade was not just about bringing in some players directly but positioning ourselves to go shopping at the draft.. This pairing of trading and drafting somewhat parallels the two areas on need for the club's list. 1) The midfield...it's all about the midfield is often the catch cry. Ours has gone from overworked /undertalented to embryonic and now to "we've got the recipe, the ingredients and now is in the oven " Trade brought us Bugg Kennedy and of course Milkshake. But we still needed some more grunt and inside power to this combination....cue Clayton Oliver. We can and will always revise and embellish this collection of midfileders going forward but finally it seems we have something to really work with 2) Talls.. Jesse needed a playmate. Someone who can hold a ball in contested marking. Someone who knows where to be on the ground..Someone who can kick goals.. We have the Weed. Hopefully the niggle goes and these two can become the best of forward mates and terrorise the oppositions defenders.for many years to come. But that wasnt all we needed.. We still needed more forward stocks. We need another Ruck project type,,we needed more depth and we get this with King and Hulett. With only the rookies to come and more than likely Michie to be retainied as one of them it's pretty well near over for the years recasting of the list How did we do overall Bloody marvelously I'd say.. We turned 1 early pick into 2. We plugged holes all over the list. We have genuine reason for optimism. The list is all but unrecognisable to say 4-5 years ago say a small handful...and thank god for that Well done Taylor and Co..Well done MFC-FD Nothing is ever perfect but I'd rate this years trade draft at 9-1/2 out of 10. I still hold concerns in one area but I think we've done very well and should see us play some very good footy from here on in. Go Dees

The funniest thing I noticed was the clear difference between the country bumpkin who has not been through the AIS and therefore has no media training and the prim and proper private school boy with media training in Wiedeman. Loved both aspects but the difference between the two was quite humorous

with those hands, and that desire? Thank god you don't post on here very often.

Love how we grabbed Weideman with the pick that belonged to Collingwood prior to trade week. That'll drive some Pies fans nuts! (Treloar's a decent consolation…) SW listed at 196cm. Genuine KP height.

Welcome to Melbourne Clayton I look forward to 10 years of Oliver vs Parish threads Buckle up kid, and whatever you do stay away from Demonland

I've just had a brief chat with a friend of his Mother. She tells me that Hulett is another kid who was in the sights of several clubs before copping injuries in the last year or so. Melbourne have been following him for several years and have a pretty good idea of what he can do. She also said she's going to have to defect from the Tigers to come and support him at the Dees.

Looks a nice kick on what I have seen, and the fact he takes contested marks is another plus, especially with him and Hogan in years to come being two headaches for defences. Speaks with the right attitude and seems like he has his head screwed on well. Hoping he has the desire to succeed and we are there with the forward structure being set up for a long period. Welcome aboard the Dee train Sam

As crap as you may think Dawes and Pedersen to be - these kids are not ready in 2016, and probably not ready in 2017, and properly allowing these kids to develop at Casey is important haven't we agreed on? Have we forgotten bitter experience?

Lots of good junior footballers who get drafted, never make it because some are just too lazy. They think that after getting drafted to an AFL list, their talent is enough to win them a spot on the AFL team. Clayton Oliver on the other hand has worked hard at getting his body ready for the combine after playing a season of underage football little overweight. He was made aware of the fact that he was overweight and he took it upon himself to do something about it. Players like Blease, Morton, Gysbert and Sylvia did nothing and hoped that their talent was enough.

saw on twitter, but... HULETT THE DOGS OUT!!!

Hogan had stress fractures also , weideman talked bout his grandfather who lives in adelaide , the kid is a tiges supporter and talked glowingly of learning from the likes of Jesse Hogan. I reckon we will annoy the hell out of eddie and his gang for many years to come.

He played for Richmond against Box Hill and had 6 kicks, 10 handballs, 5 marks and kicked a behind. That's amazing considering he didn't have a pre season, is 17 yo and has never played with that squad before. Against Williamstown he had 4 kicks, 9 handballs, 2 marks and 4 tackles. He was also named in Richmond's best for the day. How many TAC cup player could do that? What it shows is that he is good enough for VFL at 17 without a preseason.

To be honest Im a bit torn over this selection. Maybe its the "waiting" we all did for Watts, Gysberts, Cook etc to fill out, to harden up, to get fit, to stay uninjured etc . Maybe I'm just burnt by those years but it seems like waiting doesn't often amount to much. Gawn is an example of the opposite I suppose but that was quite a few years and Id all but given up on him also. We picked up three kids we're gonna "wait" on and we have another kid we're already waiting on in King. Weideman is seriously down in fitness and bulk and I expect at least one full year in the VFL and even that's in the hope his injuries don't resurface. Given Curnow could have immediate impact next year and has a huge tank and talent to burn Im nervous that we let another " be patient and wait" win over "AFL ready" Im sure Taylor et al know what they're doing and researched the injury he suffered ....but I DO have a nervous feeling. Just saying.

He was just being self effacing.

It looks to have been a brilliant strategic trading and draft period. For me the missing piece of the puzzle on the overall structure of the list with the failure of Mitch Clark was another key forward. They brilliantly traded away next year's pick to fill the gap now. I have no idea of what KPF's will be there next year but assuming we start a decent climb up the ladder a Weideman type forward isn't likely to be there by whatever later pick we have. It's an awesome outcome. It looks to me like they decided to take a big gamble in taking Oliver first and hoping that Weideman would still be there at 9. They knew Oliver definitely wouldn't be. I bet there were some sweaty hands as the Dons picks were read out. It's a great result. In some ways they've gambled with the picks this year. Oliver is the first pick in the top 10 not to have been selected to play in the U18 Championships. I understand this can be explained because he was restricted early because of injury but still.... Weideman could be anything but injuries have restricted the past two years. We have to hope he's over them. The good news is, that as I understand it the injuries were stress fractures in his ankles. These could possibly be due to rapid growth in a large body. Unlike ACL's or other ligament etc damage there shouldn't be any long term concerns at all. Brenton Sanderson said last night he thought he could end up being the best player in this draft. Love it! Lateish pick ruckmen/forwards like King will always be a gamble. Hulet could end up being a smokey as he too has been restricted by injuries over the past few years. Lets hope the footy gods smile on us finally and we have a list of players who had their injuries before they came to us which helped them slide to us. It's starting to have the sniff of a competitive list with the addition of the 3 competitive trades as well.

The articulatest?

You will give Jesse as many damn friends as he asks for. Goddammit if he wants a pony get him a pony too. In all seriousness though, just because you have one good tall doesn't mean you don't need backup. His injury history, plus the fact that there are no guarantees that he'll stick around long term, means he/we need a backup plan. Besides, it might mean we don't need to push T Mac up forward, which is a good thing and allows our backline to be more settled. Lets not mention Dawes and Pedders being on their last legs.

2h2 hours ago christian petracca ‏@cpetracca7 @SamWeideman my boy from Whitefriars college. Welcome to the club. Also to Clayton Oliver, can't wait to get started with you boys

I'm just disappointed my Wayne Weidemann joke fell flat. Maybe nobody remembers who he is.

Sanderson commented that Weideman could be the steal of the draft. On talent alone he believes he could be a number one talent. If he was able to get some consistent footy together instead of being injured he believes that he could have been the number 1 draft pick. If we can get this kids body right then we may have our F50 sorted for the next 10 years.

Big factor in him going so high is he can play mid and forward well. Taylor mentioned it in his summary and with the interchange caps, mids who can "rest" forward and damage a team are worth more than a pure mid, even if they may be silkier (i.e. as Parish appears to be). So good that we are in a position to develop him properly rather than fast track him as the new saviour for Round 1.

He is the chosen one... he will bring balance back to the force Just worked out that taking Collingwood royalty as our own is the key to ending the Norm Smith curse!

The thing I worry about is outside speed BBO. It's been a problem for a while now and I can't see how it's been addressed. But, hey, welcome ranga.

What do we always talk about wanting to have in our side? Blokes who have a crack, win the footy, run both ways and give their all for the footy club. Oliver will bring all of those things in spades.

Yes, but he's gone to Essendon, so he should be twice the size by season's start.

Weideman on SEN: -His grandfather and Barassi are great mates -His family is delighted about going to the Dees -Had spoken to Melb a few times over the months and knew we would take him!! -Delighted he is playing with Jesse...and who wouldn't be!!!!

I will never forget it, ever.