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Good luck at Port Jack. Good luck in your business. Happiness and health. Look forward to seeing you back with the Demons as an ex player when your footy career ends.

Unlikely to get past Carlton's first pick then.....

Something like: ”Hey Jack, just passing on the best wishes from some anonymous forum person who is infatuated by yourself and Natalie Portman.”

Ok then let's go with a non midfielder. Watts has 13 Brownlow votes from 153 games. Jesse Hogan has 14 Brownlow votes from 51 games.

Smart move Junk draft pick for a bloke who was highly rated in his junior years, and the flexibility to offload after 1 year if his supposed issues continue. It's an extremely low risk pick that could pay off handsomely. I approve of this trade.....?

Walker is really only damaging his own reputation by persisting with this line of trash talking his ex-teammates. To have gone thru the Phil Walsh tragedy showing some real leadership and camaraderie to this, being a bitter and vindictive Club captain surely can’t be enamouring himself to his other teammates. Seems like a bit of a boys club over at the Crows where it’s okay for Dangerfield and probably Sloane to leave next year, escaping any criticism.

What rubbish. Outright rubbish. Saying a player isn't up to standard, or is not playing consistently, or is not where the club thought he would be after 9 seasons (!!!!) is not disrespecting him. This is common place in the league and happens all the time during the season. Why can't it happen during the off-season? Is Watts really that precious that he can't be criticised? People asked Goodwin and co. why he was being shopped. They were honest. Let's take a look at this history of this kid. 1. He's drafted in as the messiah and is absolutely hounded and mismanaged as a result. 2. Part of arguably the club's worst ever period. 3. Given absolutely every chance to succeed and grow as a player, nurtured by Roos with positive reinforcement for three years (!!!). 4. Club changes, grows, evolves, gives players all the resources they need to succeed and improve as players. 5. At the start of the 2017 season, Watts is dropped ahead of pre-season games. Mahoney at the time: The club came out to bat for him -- AGAIN -- because he was hosting Skwosh events and taking party buses to Portsea Polo right in the business end of pre-season training. This is well-known and digging deep enough into Instagram and Twitter will bring about photos of this. That's not to say these players aren't allowed to party but there is a clear correlation between the sudden amplification of these images and him being dropped from pre-season games. 6. He is dropped after coming back from an injury, rumours of him not committing to rehab circulating. Again, a quick glance at Instagram show him having a "Sunny dayzz with my boyzz" in Byron Bay right in the midst of his time off for injury. 7. The club encourages him to explore his options, and STILL manages to find upside. It might be a backhanded compliment but it's essentially a "You're super talented, mate, but we're kind of over this [censored]". That was all that was said. It's about reasonable expectations of what's expected from a nine-year player with leadership aspirations. Stringer's issue was less about performance, more about his personal issues, which is why the club didn't come out swinging, because they know there's more to his training and performance issues. Watts decisions to get loaded on a weekday during pre-season, or go to Byron Bay for partyz wif da boyz mid-season while injured, is totally, 100%, unequivocally on him. We have spent the past 4-5 years trying to nurture and guide this kid after ruining the first 4 years of his career. What else can we possibly do? I really like Watts, I think we got unders for him, but if you take a moment to really consider this and look at this history, it is absolutely no surprise that he was moved on. He was in a comfort zone and may very well excel at Port. It was never going to happen at Melbourne.

Your right Dr. How dare we indulge ourselves, & be critical of our recruiters of days gone by. What would we know. Come to think of it, we shouldn't watch the game and cheer or boo as well, as we aren't Pro players or coaches, so we wouldn't be qualified to make any judgement at all, of the AFL's game. You make a valid point, good Dr.

In respect of a discussion in which there are plainly competing, but relevant and reasonable viewpoints on each side of the debate, this is the sort of comment that unecessarily personalises and inflames the issue. Why bother with making such a remark? The one thing I take out of this trade is that Jack Watts is an exceptionally well mannered individual. He has class. Class in adversity. His parents should be proud. Manners show respect. And it is never unattractive to see people display courtesy and respect for one another. I wish some posters here would try to adhere to these standards. We all support the same team.

Sure will. Before Jack headed overseas, he was certainly pleased the dealing was over (as you can imagine) and really positive about the future. Hopefully it works out for both sides.

Mark "Robbo" Robinson

Its truly a stunning statistic isnt it. 28 stuffed selection. Max, Nev and Tom are all guns but they were ALL late picks. Amazing ....it really was a cursed episode in the clubs history wasnt it. Complete with the tanking scandal and the deaths of Jimmy, Robbie and Bailey. May we live in happier times in the coming years.

The poll is still open! I vote Yes.

Thank you for stating the obvious and feel free to invite the recruiters on here to post their plans. Any info posted by fellow demonlanders on the TAC cup and the youngsters hoping for an AFL career is greatly appreciated for people like myself that aren't familiar with the system. There is a simple solution for you though if you don't want to read about it.

It was indeed. And importantly dispelled the myth about his B & F placement. He was eleventh prior to injury.

Q & A - Harley Balic

I'm excited to see how Balic goes next year. There's only upside so it's another very smart move by Mahoney and co.

Get the man we wanted and the best player available in the draft: tick Move on someone we no longer wanted for what he was worth (2nd rounder): tick Pick up a depth player for a (very) low pick: tick Hard to find fault.

I've found some more pre-draft info, including a summary from Quigley on BF, who;s one of the best in the business. Pick 12 (Adelaide) – Harley Balic Position: Midfielder/half-Back Size: 187cm/80kg Player Comparison: Scott Pendlebury In the Mix: Francis, H McKay Having lost Dangerfield in the trade period, Adelaide will be looking for a taller midfielder with a bit of class. Balic fits this criteria perfectly as a midfielder who can play forward or back. Balic excels in traffic thanks to his basketball and that, along with his height, has seen him compared to Pendlebury. When forward Balic leads to the right places and has a terrific overhead mark. The Crows will be hoping that Francis gets through to this pick, while Mathieson is another option. Quigley 13. Harley BalicHt – 187 Wt - 82Balic seems to be slipping down a few mocks in the media and I am not really sure why. If he goes where a few of those pundits have him going he could easily end up the steal of the draft. Up until this year Balic has been splitting time between basketball and AFL and as a result there are still some rough edges to be polished. I can see there being a fair bit of difference in the ratings for Balic between teams and it is not out of the question that a team could love him and take him much higher than most expect. He has a very high ceiling and if he developed to his best he could be an elite midfielder at the next level.Balic is at his best when he is the focus of a unit whether it is in the midfield, up forward or down back. When he is, he tends to rise to the occasion and good things happen around him. He is very good one on one and can impose himself on a game like few in this draft. He has improved quite a lot over the course of the year but there are still areas he needs to work on.One of the areas he has been working on, and one that still needs some work, is his kicking. There is quite a lot of difference between Balic’s best and worst and at the moment there is still a bit too much of the worst in his game. There is not a lot wrong with his kicking style and I expect that with some intense work he will flatten out the flight on his kicks and be more consistent about getting it where it needs to go. Up forward his set shot technique is entirely too variable. He needs to get a routine and stick to it and work on improving his balance in his approach a bit more. With all that said though there is quite a bit of class in what he does even by foot. He has brought a heads-up approach from basketball and he has excellent peripheral vision. He tends to play to the short options but he usually takes good ones and is very good delivering into the 50.Balic has played a lot more as an inside mid this year and he has shown pretty decent potential in that role. His kicking out of the clearances was a bit ordinary but by hand he is really good. His vision in the contest is excellent and is creative by hand getting it to good attacking options. As mentioned above he is very good one on one and he has good strength over the ball. He works through traffic well and is one of those guys who never looks rushed even when there are opponents all around him.Athletically Balic seems pretty good in everything but pace. He ran a 15.3 beep last year and he plays with excellent agility. He can also fly when he has to and tends to play tall. Speed wise he looks like he is cruising around at ¾ pace for most of the game. He is smooth around the park and, for those of you old enough to remember, moves a lot like Michael Long. He is quite solid but has a loose limbed, very agile style.Balic made a name for himself last year as a half forward and he is a very good mark. He can get up and he watches the ball into his hands very nicely. He also has very good body control in the air and he can keep the defender where he can’t get to the ball. He is not a good converter though and if he is going to play as a half forward at the start of his career he is going to need to improve his finishing.On the outside Balic looks calm and composed and can often create opportunities for his team. He has improved his spread this year a lot and upped his disposal count to 23 disposals a game in the TAC and went at 22 a game at the Champs. At times at the Champs he was in a mile of space with no-one in cooee indicating that he is working out how to use his running ability more effectively. Balic is a talent and I think could be an excellent player in a few years.

Because I don't trust the bloke. He's turned up here as the Watts stuff took off and went from being totally harmless on the issue to claiming he is Watts' uncle. Then he has to think about sticking with the Dees because, you know, he's supported us for 9 years which is the length of time Jack has been with the club. This is purely my opinion, but Chewy is a troll. I wouldn't believe a word he types on this forum. Hence, why I encouraged him to 'jog on'. I'd never use that turn of phrase with posters who have been here for a long time or shown themselves to be quality contributors to these forums. He's neither.

You remind me of an old moderator who was all vocabulary and no logic. Of course you will mute me. Your long winded answers are taking up too much time and my short responses are cutting through the bs. I've muted everyone who has a better argument than me as well. It just hasn't happened yet.

Super excited to see Tom up forward next year. He is a good mark, has real strength and strong endurance. I can see him top 5 goal kickers in the league. 50-60 in very achievable. A solid pre season with the forward coaches will see him improve even more

Watts was a pea heart, pure and simple. He could have been a very good player, but was soft in the air, tackled with his arms, treated training like it was one big excuse to laugh, showed little to no intensity and yet it was always someone else’s fault. But hey, he was a nice guy....

What Norm Smith would have done with Jack Watts is a hypothetical zombie topic. Please stop.

I went to one of the preseason games at Casey and they had him start in the guts for the first 5 mins of each quarter before drifting forward. Had his hands on it every bounce, I can see what you see there

Hear Hear !! Might just get myself some new boardies.. quite like the Cactus ones

Which was traded to them, by us, along with Kyle Cheney, for the pick that drafted TMac.

Liam Ryan I'm guessing will be this year's Nakia. More precisely: not this year's Nakia, but the 'Nakia' of Nakia's draft year. That is to say, he will go pretty early. Nakia.

Advice taken rpfc. I'm retiring with 'general soreness' and won't face another delivery in this thread. There were some wild bouncers early on, but I expect it'll all be pretty much repeat stock balls from here on in.

I'm not a Robbo fan, but that is a very good article. Another fun stat ? Watts has 13 Brownlow votes from 153 games. Oliver has 15 from 35.

Ron, a protege of Norm, has often said he doesn't give any plaudits for natural ability. His attitude is that you didn't earn it, it was gifted to you by your parents. He wanted players that would make the most of themselves. Ron was also famously toughest on his most talented players. I don't think Jack would have made it through half a season under either Norm or Ron.

Because IMO he is exactly the type we're screaming out for and I'm hopeful he'll be there at our first pick. Again, didn't set the world alight at state level but I saw him in Geelong's first final against Gippsland and he was super impressive. I think it's a good thing if he slides. Played most of the year at HB for the Falcons, is lightning quick with a precise left-foot and great spatial awareness. But what impressed me most in that final were his defensive efforts and his desire to scrap really hard when the ball was in dispute. I was expecting to see a player of his profile to be predominantly outside but he recorded 6 tackles in that first final, spoiled with intent and you could clearly see he had the hunger to defend hard as well as attack. Really good sign. I think he could be groomed to play wing at AFL level. I love him. Should have his own thread and sorry to derail this one.

Mate, we are all in the pub across the road. There are a few still out on the ground falling over in the dark. Let them be.

Bobby, let it go. For your sake and ours mate. It's over. Jack's gone.

From what I've read Sydney, Collingwood, Geelong and Port were interested in Jack. Jack decided in week one of trade week that he wanted to go to Port but couldn't announce it as lose ends were being tied up. I took this to mean the trade picks and the portion of salary to be paid by Port. So I for one believe you that Jack had other offers. I heard WB's Football Manager, Chris Grant yesterday talk about Stringer and why he was being let go. Unlike mfc he made it clear the issues were best kept in-house as they wanted to treat Jake with dignity and respect. The same cannot be said of mfc's coach, captain and football manager. Their public critique of Jack was constant; a very harsh way to treat a loyal albeit imperfect employee who is being exited. People say everyone knew Jack's deficiencies. Probably true but our club didn't need to keep reminding everyone of them and certainly not after the deal was done, which Mahoney did. Not sure what was going on inside mfc but deliberately devaluing one's asset isn't very smart in my book. Despite all that, our Jack held his head high and did not once comment on what mfc was putting out to the public. He took it on the chin. He was gracious, respectful and showed goodwill to the end. You must be a very proud uncle, Chewy.

Really interesting question. Of course I'll follow Jack at PA but I feel very attached to, and excited by, the playing group at MFC. I would love to see them be successful and would love to be a part of that. The young men i have met at MFC are undoubtedly ripping young blokes. And i happily admit to having a pretty severe mancrush on Petracca. He could be anything. His lower body strength reminds me of some of the absolute greats - Matthews, Ablett Snr & Jnr, Voss. His ability to keep his feet while he's ripping the ball out of the scrums our game has become infected with is unmatched by anyone in todays game. So my attachment to the team is f#*%ing hard to let go off. But there's one more bit of information that i should disclose that makes it a little difficult for me to maintain the level of support i have given over the last 9 years. You see my son, who lives with Jack, is actually Jack's cousin. And you know what that means. At the very least i will barrack for the Dees whoever they are playing (excluding PA of course). Even against 'my' club prior to my conversion to the Dees (the Saints). And when he plays against the Dees, if Viney, TMac or Jonesy happen to give Jack a good whack around the ear I'll be there cheering them on and encouraging them to do it again. Hahaha. Little 6astard deserves it every now and again.

We'd be stiff not to get Bonar.

As would I. I think those four will go fairly early in the second round. Domic impressed me in all the games I saw of him. (Think it was three). He was heavily involved in all of them and there was one game in particular against Murray at Ikon park where he kicked a handful playing mid. He doesn't look particularly flashy but consistently finds the ball and does everything 'well'. Hard to see any glaringly obvious weaknesses. Farrell I saw twice and whilst he didn't have a huge impact, there were definitely glimpses of quality and high level attributes. He was quick, possessed great agility and a nice left-foot. Probably wasn't involved enough in the games I saw, but was also moved around a lot positionally which I could see made it difficult. Had some nice moments, just wasn't dominant. Of the two, I imagine Domic will be snapped up before Farrell. Just my guess. Hard to say. As I've said, some of those names are more highly rated than others. I just gave that list because I was asked under instruction to report on a few of those names which indicates the club was/is interested. It depends on what we're after player-wise. For our pick 29 - If we land any of Ling, Floyd, Miers, Garner, Mclean or Domic I'd be happy. Ling and Garner are highly rated half-backs. Personally I'd love Ling as I think he has the capacity to play wing and possesses what our side needs. Speed and foot-skills. For a player of his size and slight build, he showed great competitiveness and aggression at the ball and man which was a big + given he looks typically outside. If we landed Ling at 29 I'd be stoked but I reckon he'll be gone by then. Miers is a small forward from Geelong who kicked a bag in the granny and was always dangerous in the games I saw of him. Floyd is a wingman who was prolific for Geelong this year but I'd prefer Ling for his versatility. Mclean a big forward/ruckman for Sandy who would be a decent second-round choice for a back-up forward/ruck. Had one big game that I saw of him but drifted out of some games also. Domic a reliable midfielder that we may target for depth. Does everything well without having a super standout quality. Just a smart player though. Impacted in most games I watched of him, great tank and had an amazing game against Murray when GWV came back from a 40+ point deficit at three-quarter time to win the game. Domic kicked the first three of the last quarter and played midfield all day. Carried his side. Pick 31 and and 36 - I'd have a crack at Jack Petrucelle if he was still there at either pick. Jack Petrucelle was definitely the most eye-catching of that group and has infinite potential but also poses a risk given how raw he is at this level. X-factor player who played both deep forward and through the midfield for the Knights. I saw him feature against SA in one of the state games where he was fairly quiet, I don't think he played any others although I may be wrong. But on a few occasions at TAC cup level I saw some amazing moments from him. Some incredible pack parks and some amazing blistering runs that resulted in goals. He frequently drifted in and out of games however, but there's a lot to like and I'll keep a keen eye on him wherever he ends up. Farrell, Stoddart, Federico or Murphy are the others I'd be happy with. I think we need to keep targeting players with foot-skills and running ability but who also possess the right competitive mind. Farrell, Stoddart and Federico are similar players. Half-back/midfielders who can run and kick really well. Stoddart probably less physical than the other two. Murphy is the cricketer/natural sportsman who's a versatile tall that we may opt for. 47 - For two smokies who didn't feature much/at all at state level would be Mynott and Porter. Both impressed me at Tac cup level and I reckon both have great potential and were unfortunate not to feature heavily at state level. And just on that, I can see now how difficult it is for recruiters. Oliver similarly was overlooked for Vic country but look at what he's been able to do at AFL level. I'm not comparing Mynott and Porter to Oliver, but it's clear that some boys are incredibly unlucky if they don't play well either at the state trials or in their first games at state level. Mynott is a class player and I reckon he'll do well in an AFL environment. My two bob.

Folks, I'm going out on a limb here, but I think there's a lot we can learn from our cousins in the football fold (albeit the round ball version). They know how to look after an injured player with speed and absolute care

Petracca + Leoncelli = Petruccelle.

I honestly think that is the answer.

There was no provocation. You said we paid overs for Lever so I asked you a question. Since when is asking reasonable questions provocation ? But anyway, it's silly to quit over 1 point. I have many more than that. Show a bit of Wattsy style mental resilience. Imagine what he's been through. Throwing in the towel over a lousy point ? Get a grip.

A great clubman and bloke. He was thrown into AFL too early - a familiar refrain of the past at the Dees - but he become a very good defender with neat skills, courage, and a brilliant reader of the play. His last act is one of sacrifice for his beloved Demons. Another who went through the crucible of those 2008-2013 years with us - for those that went through it - I am starting to realise it makes you a 'burnt on' Demon.

If 2017 was fairly even ..I predict 2018 will be mind bogglingly more so. Im not sure there will be a clear cut top 4 teams...nor even a clear cut half D of cellar dwellers. I think winning ...for ANYONE ...will be hard to keep up as a roll in 2018. On that basis though I reckon we should/ought/bloody better had....improve , it might be just marginal in terms of numbers though the efort required would suggest more so.. Just my take

Quotes of Trade Week: It is difficult to negotiate when you are not prepared to walk away from the deal. And Best not to tell the world what chips you are prepared to play before negotiations even start. Backing down is embarrassing. A few clubs can learn those lessons for next year!

I don't think it's official until he's been on the Demonland podcast.

I have a huge soft spot for Col personally, so I'm glad the club has found him a suitable role. His journey from kid in Tassie who nearly had to give up footy because he couldn't get a lift to training, to the handy, gutsy defender he was during the Bailey era, to almost the posterboy for the down trodden during the Neeld era - it's been quite the ride. At his best he was quick, desperate, always put his body on the line and could play on tall or small. All the best Col, hopefully this is the start of great things.

Bring back Dom Barry. Quick and can tackle.

How many genuine A graders are in the top 10 picks on average? Say, over a 10 year period. Many would be surprised how few there actually are. Maybe 20-25 out of a 100. That's 1 in 5 or at best, 1 in 4 (top 10 picks) That's just the reality of the actual results. I created a thread about it a few years ago. Within the OP I provide a link to all the ND's from 2000 through to 2009. So there's the 10 year sample size. How many genuine A graders? Forget B grade players or 150 game players ... only genuine A graders for the sake of the exercise. Oliver is well on his way to becoming a genuine A grade player so that's why I wouldn't trade him easily ... let's all hope that Lever ends up the same. Here's that thread (again) ... Bad Luck or Bad Recruiting