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It would appear that in selecting the powerful Clayton Oliver over Darcy Parish, that the Dees are building a midfield for the future based on the Freo/Swans model. This makes sense when you consider the Roos/Lyon influence. Parish is without a doubt, a pure ball winner and a natural footballer and I'm confident he will be class act in the future. There is a part of me that wanted to take him at pick 3. On the other hand, I was wary that he was too small, given of the other mids on our list. Two of our main ball winners are Jones and Viney (180 & 179 cm respectively). The prospect of another 180cm prime engine room player concerned me. Oliver reminds me a little of Michael Voss (from the highlights package admittedly). He barges through packs, stands up in tackles and delivers the ball well under pressure, by hand and foot. He also appears to have a great footy brain and good evasion and lateral movement. This may help compensate for his self-confessed lack of pace. He also has good hands and likes a goal. He's fierce at the ball and the man. The decision to take Oliver over Parish appears to be very considered. Bernie Vince is a great ball winner and smart user but won't be around when this list is at its peak. Jones will probably be in the twilight of his career and not the force he has been up until now. This midfield will be based on the big bodies of the guys following: Tyson (186 cm), Brayshaw (187 cm), vandenberg (188 cm), *Trengove (185 cm), Oliver (187 cm), Petracca (186 cm), Harmes (185 cm). All of these guys are powerful through the core and legs as well and stand up pretty well when tackled. Then there are a smaller bunch: Viney (179 cm but plays like he's much bigger), Neal-Bullen (182 cm), Stretch (180 cm), Salem (183), Newton (183 cm) - all of whom have shown a genuine toughness around the ball. There are other smaller players who may end up in the middle at times like Kent, JKH, Kennedy. With development Brayshaw and Oliver will end up with bigger and harder bodies than they have at this stage. We still could do with a bit more outside speed but Brayshaw, Vandenberg, Harmes and Petracca are all quick. This all points to a physically powerful midfield with players who can also kick goals. With the right development and a ounce of good luck this may be a feared midfield group in the not too distant future. This is why I'm glad we picked Oliver over Parish. * Providing that Trenners gets back successfully.

Got mine yesterday. On the back of last year's card it indicated that I had 48 years of consecutive membership. This year's card says I have 46 years. Now, while I would love roll the years back that easily, I was proud to be approaching 50 years of membership. To their credit, I called the club and they have undertaken to amend this and reinstate my antiquity.

I'll back Watts to play more than 10 games next year. For the Dees, not Casey.

Spoke to a colleague at work who is good mates with a guy within the coaching/management team at Eastern Ranges and his mate had seen Tom Boyd and Jon Patton come through and thought that Sam Weideman was easily the best talent of the 3 and that once over the injuries would be an absolute gun.

And last year was the 2014 draft - Brayshaw Petracca Stretch ANB O Mac White and vandenBerg Let's talk about this one

It's "he's".

Even the sole Sam Wiedeman thread, a player we drafted less than 48 hours ago, is hijacked to become another Jack Watts thread.

I dont. I hope they draft spuds, and continue to suck arz

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!

You are a strange individual.

Geez....Imagine Viney, Vandenberg,Brayshaw,Petracca and Oliver in a few years time, monstering the opposition to our first flag in 40 years, with Hogan and Weideman picking em off in the air. We have a plan , and I like it.....alot.

Apologies if already posted and I missed it... http://www.foxsportspulse.com/club_info.cgi?client=1-3020-111722-0-0&sID=157502&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=38051650

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!

Everyone is banging on about 'true competitors' and rolling out the time old cliches, but the reality is that premiership winning teams always have players like Jack Watts as the icing on the cake. The Hawks have a couple of them in Gunston and Suckling. You could probably go through every successful club and pick out the players who play their role through skill and intelligence rather than aggression. I firmly believe as the team begins to gel we will see Jack come into his own more and more.

Don't worry about Max and Mitch. We can just Mix and Match.

Outstanding example of when the sidetracks are so much better than the original subject of the thread!

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.

Jack Watts may never be an inside midfielder but he's a beautiful finisher and in some ways a good competitor. Give him a break.

If you get a chance, do yourself a favour and watch the first quarter of the AFL Academy vs Northern Blues match from the beginning of the year. Wiedeman plays at CHF and is the dominant big man of the ground, taking 5 marks and kicking 2 goals. He could probably have grabbed another one or two with better delivery. What stands out is that he marks the ball in a range of ways; he's not just a lead and mark player or a body on body player. Instead, he took marks leading straight up at the kicker, marks bending his lead to space, jumping over the top of players, in a one-on-one push and shove, and pushing back hard into an opponent to mark in front. It makes it much more difficult to defend because you can't just play him one way, but you have to protect a range of options. He'll need to build up his running significantly, but he was supposedly in the top couple of runners at Eastern a few years ago, so I suspect he has at least some natural endurance to him. But if he can get his running up then he could be very dangerous with Hogan, because they are both players who can beat you in a number of different ways. Both players will need a multi-talented key defender to look after them.

Here is an early AFL list of 2016 draftees http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-11-26/the-next-batch-whos-the-pick-of-the-2016-draft-crop?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS+feed%3A+AFL+Latest+News Not necessarily top 10 but 10 that will probably be in the 1st round. Notice no tall forwards in that 10. That I think is the key to the trade of next years 1st rnd pick for an extra top 10 pick this year. With all the Academy players (again) and a mid ladder finish our 2016 1st pick would be around # 13-15 and any decent tall forwards will be long gone by then. We had to get our tall forward this year!!!! I now wonder if Weideman was the reason for trading up to pick 3. Then when Oliver stormed home, we knew he wouldn't get to #7. We took a punt...it paid off and we got both! Next year the draft is touted as running deep for mid-fielders. We should be able to pick up another with some speed next year. That is about all we need to finish off a balanced 'best 22' plus some decent depth. The foresight and forward planning by the Club this off-season has been exceptional.

How fast are Hawthorn? Not very. Their speed comes in the form of quick ball movement and superior kicking skills.

Gunston, bruest, smith, birchall, stratton, suckling, shiels..... Competitive beasts??? All skillful players that play their role. Watts needs to stick to his task week in week out. If he does this then his spot is guaranteed

This his biz is slipping in all over the place now 'Clint', not really that fond of the idea.

I felt Jack Watts played a really good patch of footy this year, and he's growing into his role, i still see him as very much part of the 22 if he plays at his best, hopefully another year with Macca and he'll be alot more consistent, has the ability, can he do it every week now

Should have gone driving with Charlie Curnow last week. That would have done the trick.

What ever do you mean? Their increase in size and muscle mass is easily explained by their state of the art cutting edge training sessions. Being jabbed hundreds of times by a dodgy 'sports scientist' is purely a coincidence.

Hawthorn have Hill and Smith, and to a lesser extent Rioli, who play on a wing and have lightning speed and can really take advantage of the space when it is there. Freo have Hill, Pearce and now Bennell as well. IMO, we only need one or two, but I don't think we have any at this stage. Garlett plays closer to goal, other guys like Hunt are still speculative and some way off, Kent is more of a forward and I don't think he has the top end speed those listed above have, JKH isn't quick enough etc etc. A young Aaron Davey would be handy.

I don't know what the Club is thinking re NT but I'd love to see us set up an academy, the talent up there is outrageous.

This comment from Roos sums up the NEW Melbourne being built : “There are some non-negotiables now for kids coming in. You give yourself a better chance if you are a competitor,’’ he said. A team full of competitors WILL compete.. How did we not see this over the years

I don't wish to seem unkind, but some of us are truly (truely is another one) staggered that so many younger people use "his" instead of "he's". It's embarrassing.

Not wishing to be mean spirited but I hope it's not.

It will be someone that none of us mention.

jake lovett?

*just sayin'! i didn't join demonland to get spelling and grammar lessons from people that make mistakes in their own posts.. it's a freaking footy forum, relax guys! let's get back to talking weideman!

After year one we were all pretty happy with Scully & Trengove, Gysberts had shown he could win a lot of the ball at AFL level and most were very optimistic about Tapscott. Gawn had also earned a senior appearance and held his own. The fact that the players all stagnated or went backwards is the depressing thing. I'll show myself out now.

Not only can I discuss topics of interest with other MFC fans but I also learn how to use English grammar the right way.Thanks Demonlanders

He will be one of our starting wingers/high half forwards, then it is up to him to keep his form up so that he stays in the side. He played some decent football on the wing, where he used his speed to take the game on and his disposal is almost the most damaging in our side, so he should be pivotal for us moving forward. Im an unashamed fan, would back him in for 18+ games and a contract extension.

Vandenberg loves a crunching tackle .. hurt quite a few opposition players in his first season

Something that is bugging me and is hardly related to the MFC but really gets me is why the hell SOS is rated so highly as a recruiter! he's screwed up so many more picks than he's gotten right. 2012 he grabbed...1: Whitfield ( looks good but obvious choice ) 2:O'rourke ( gone to hawks after showing little ) 3: Plowman ( gone to blues after showing little ) 12: Jacksh ( gone to blues after showing little ) 14: Corr ( looks okay, but not standing out ) 2013 1. Boyd ( gone to dogs after showing little ) 2. Kelly ( looks a player but obvious pick 2 ) 14: McCarthey ( good but wants out already ) 2014 4. Picket ( eh, did he even play? ) 6. Marchbank ( looks okay ) 7. Ahern ( meh ) 11 selections inside the top 14 in 3 years and imo 2 players that look like long term giants is a Melbourne-like result. hope his strike rate is better at the blues, for their sake.

Jarrod hayne?

Great blast from the past Beezlebub - dodgey brothers?

I think the club will benefit having Oliver on our list. Having looked at his skin, under OH&S legislation the AFL will have to give us more night games or risk a claim for serious sunburn.

Often Peel and East Perth have 13 or 14 AFL listed players running around in their line ups. And with Port and Adelaide now having stand alones sides I dare say they would often have around 10 to 12 players in their sides. Overall a lot of AFL listed players playing regularly at VFL, WAFL & SANFL level are either young and developing or just depth and you can see the young developers may have great skills an smarts they can get crunched by the bigger bodies whilst the with the AFL depth list cloggers their skills aren't great they get by on their superior fitness. The biggest upside on Oliver for me is yes he looks great on video against kids and he has done well at VFL level, What I like more than anything is the change in body shape over the season and the condition he turned up to the combine in. Speaks volumes of determination and the right attitude. That is in a player and very hard to teach Welcome to the club Oli

Best available. Does vanders have a twin hiding in NEAFL somewhere?

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.

I still don't feel this is entirely fair on the players mentioned above. Whilst Gysberts was seen as a 'roughie' the other three were all seen as good selections at the time. In many of these cases we have to look to the development of our list rather than the recruitment of the players. These three players also suffered some very significant injuries that hindered development, and would have had a big hit on confidence as they see other players go past them. Rather than being revisionist, surely it is better to acknowledge we had significant issues in most areas of our football department, and since we've had PJ, Josh Mahoney, and the coaches in place, and we have a stable environment and system for our players to improve and grow it's had a very noticable impact.

Yes mine has arrived. I am relieved to see that the guaranteed ticket to the Grand Final still applies.

Happy for us to draft him on his name alone.