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You want Bennell, but don’t want Murray because he’s a DH? That’s a pretty hefty double standard I would have thought.

The reality is that GWS has apparently offered us Pick 6 and their 2020 first rounder for Pick 3. This effectively gives them two top five selections while we go down three places in the draft order with Pick 6 and could possibly get a pick in the late teens in what looms as a highly compromised draft next year. If we were to accept that offer, we would be royally screwed over and our recruiting people would deserve our contempt. GWS need to work a lot harder, otherwise we take 3 and 8 into the draft or simply split our picks with someone else.

The AFL is likely to give melbourne a major boost by giving them to right to recruit from all the area between Victoria and Tasmania. A massive greatly undeveloped area.

I don’t think that’s right. Here’s an article from the NTAFL site which identifies Andy Moniz-Wakefield who plays for Darwin's Nightcliff club as being a "Melbourne - Darwin Region Multicultural Selection" and two other NT players Tyrell Martin and Ariki Lowe as AFL Next Generation Academy players. UNDER 16 THUNDER BEGIN NATIONAL CAMPAIGN This suggests that the club has put work into young talented players in its (now former) Academy zone. If the AFL has awarded this area to Gold Coast, it is reasonable to ask what happens to the players who were already part of our Academy and what compensation is Melbourne going to receive for the loss of this zone which has produced several AFL champions - the Riolis, Michael Long etc.?

Where's the box for NFI

His game sense, decision making and reflexes are all elite. He's able to work his way through contested situations and distribute perfectly either long or short. He's really strong in the air, is quick to mop up and ground level, and always uses the ball well. There's definitely a little bit of Trapper about his decision making and kicking. It's been a long time since we've had someone with elite kicking like Young at the club. Salem has potential, but he always picks a short option and his long kicking lacks penetration compared to others. Young will be an elite half back flanker for a decade. Perfect replacement for Hibberd. He'll help improve the quality of entry into our forward 50 so we start scoring better again. Need to get him at pick 3 IMO!

The NGA's have 2 parts: Indigenous and Multicultural. Indigenous talent was previously not assigned in Darwin. Multicultural talent in Darwin was split between the 5 teams with zones in other parts of NT. I'm not sure if that multicultural split still remains with the clubs and how it works if players are both Indigenous and Multicultural. What a farce.

I predict that Clarkson's top up strategy will fail, he won't win another flag at Hawthorn and he won't be coaching there in 2023 after the end of his current contract. I'll even double down and predict that Goodwin will coach MFC to a flag. Bookmark it.

Sydney will nominate Green, no question about it I think Adelaide will take Stephens and Freo will take Jackson Not sure who Sydney will take possibly Kemp as a big bodied mid to replace Kennedy I'd take Young at 3 and Kemp if available at 8. By bidding for Green we will ensure one Kemp, Ash, Serong or Flanders available at pick 8

Didn't tell us a whole lot we didn't already know, however: One thing that did stand out form the article is the 'time on ground' average for both players. I think Tomlinson is around 85% and Langdon at 86%. They compared this number to Scully, one of the hardest running mids around according to Jay Clark, and his TOG is at 84%. The idea here is that it will give our in and under mids more time to rest during a game, whether that be up forward or a spell on the bench, and will keep us fresher for longer, giving us the ability to play better footy for sustained periods rather than just short bursts.

What really struck me was how little time Young took to both spot an 'interesting' target and get his body organised to make the kick. The brain is working through the problem in front of him even as he is aware of what is going on closer around him. I'm a little excited and also enjoying thinking of past players with his ability. A bit of Trapper, a bit of Ooze?

This kids kicking is absolutely elite. Not only that, he is a good intercept mark and can make space. We need to keep pick 3 and take this kid. As others have said, 8 can be Kemp if he is still there or Weightman/Stephens if he is not. Cannot let this kid get to another club.

Exactly. Ditto. Agree. I think Kemp is a Dangerfield type who don’t come up too often. I’m all for the risk of taking Kemp at 3. If he was injured he would have pushing up to Rowell/Anderson as likely no.1 pick. I can understand choosing Hayden Young at pick 3 (4- depending on pick swaps or nominating Tom Green) as he is the type of ball user we desperately need But if Kemp was available at 8, you CANNOT pass him up. Simply too good. Tall. Fast. Great kick. Midfield. Goalkicker. Sure you have the wait out 2020 while he recovers but huge huge upside for start of 2021. He would be (on form at national championships) into our best 22.

Not that I have massive hopes for this, but I believe they’ll try Joel Smith in that 3rd tall position as he’s very agile and a strong mark. We saw it in the JLT before injury ruined his season. I also believe that we think we can get greater goal output from some of our mids. With Tomlinson coming in we have the option of having him take the back up ruck rather than TMac, which robbed us of goal power up forward. And we can also rest Gawn up forward for greater periods of time as a result. With May and Lever fit, and a tall in Tomlinson on the wing, it makes our reliance on Gawn to plug those holes in the defensive 50 a lot less critical. People may not rate Tomlinson but I think from a structural point of view he will prove absolutely vital and will free up a lot more options.

The only quality forward available in this trade period was Elliot. He chose not to come. Others like Jenkins, Bruce etc would not have added anything and weren't worth pursuing. They could indeed have been seen as a backwards step. I think the club have done all they could to address deficiencies on our list. Adding run on the wings allows our mids to spend more time forward, it allows Brayshaw to play where he plays his best, it allows Oliver to spend some time forward and develop that side of his game. We go to the draft and hopefully take 2 quality players who can add more to our forward half and or better delivery inside 50... So whilst we didn't add any class KPF's to our list non were available. We go in looking for improvement in Tmac, Weid, Trac, Fritsch forward, game plan, fitness & delivery. I think many we will be pleasantly surprised, some even eating their words.

Serong looks great but when you see Youngs kicking... you cannot help but wonder how many opportunities would open up downfield. Some of his dicision making is sublime and cannot be taught. You never know, Noah Anderson might still be available at 3.

Or possibly he feels that the player we're eyeing off at 8 this year is better than anyone we'll get in the next draft? Given that Kemp won't play next year you could regard him as next year's draftee. His quality would put him well in the upper ranks of next year's group. I look at that footage of Kemp and I see good burst pace and plenty of power. His attack on the ball reminds me a little of some plays David Schwarz made in his day where he burst through tackles. Obviously this kid isn't another Schwarz (wouldn't it be awesome if he were?), but he has power and explosiveness and he can kick. We keep talking about how the club plays it safe with their picks. This is another kind of risk, and we should back ourselves in to manage him properly and get a star out of it.

Iirc, there were plenty on here keen on Butcher. Never a more appropriate player name...

Seen him play two games live. Answers to your questions below. Does he get his own ball? Yes. He can definitely win his own ball, and played a few games inside midfield. Is his kicking overall elite? Yes. His kicking overall is elite. He's unquestionably the best kick in this draft class. His kicking is very accurate and well weighted both long and short. His long kicking has good punch and penetration. To compare kicking to a current AFL player, think Shannon Hurn or Daniel Rich with his ability to punch the ball forward. Marking ability? Intercept marking is one of his strengths. He's very competitive in the air, uses his body well and times his marking/spoiling well. He reads the play very well. Doesn't have an enormous leap, but more than adequate. Is he teachable? He seems a smart kid, often directing traffic out of the backline. He seems very teachable. Leadership? He shows genuine leadership. As above, he is often directing traffic across halfback. He also takes responsibility in key moments as evidenced by 'the kick' in the tweet in this thread. If I had to compare him to an AFL player it'd be Luke Hodge from early/late in his career where he played as a general across halfback. Young has shown he can play midfield, but he's best suited across halfback. Strengths are kicking and marking and he has great gamesense and composure. He's the best option at pick 3 IMO.

Is if possible we split the pick?

I've only gone backwards from my younger days...

Definite NO. Casey needs one on their list, even though it probably means they play top heavy with Preuss, their ruck and Bradtke all in the team together.

It's very unlikely that our overall fortunes in 2020 are going to be dictated by who we pick at 3. When was the last time even the Rising Star winner was decisive in a team's season outcome? I'm tipping almost never - maybe Joel Selwood in 2007.

Weekend Special (Monday 2.00am) France Ligue 1 Monaco vs Rennes Monaco (Win) & +2.5 Goals Match Score $2.60

Butcher was a lock for pick 2, twelve months out from the draft. Top 3 going into the U18 season were Scully, Butcher and Lucas... Things can change very quickly with these kids.

Now we know what happened to Stretch and JKH

Yes i am sure that he had his way with Miss G, when she briefly sauntered her way into Melbourne on that ill fated sojourn. He may well have been the cause of her demise whilst here...

In the U.S.A "Mer De Glace' would have almost certainly been disqualified as it cut across runners in the straight before it was clear. But they have more stringent rules over there. The actual racing is far cleaner over there as a result. But over here the luck can often run your way when winning. As it stands Lane copped a suspension but the $150k winning percentage (plus sling) will sweeten things and more than cover the $20k fine. And the punters (including myself) collect. Beau Mertons & Michael Dee also copped suspensions from the race. But the same thing happens a lot in these big races (with crowded fields) It stands to reason that jockeys are going to take chances. You win some, you lose some. The jockey on 'Best Solution' last year (Patrick Cosgrove) copped a suspension despite the horse winning the race. The only real detterent for riders taking undue risks would be to bring in more stringent penalties (like in the U.S.A) ... but that won't be happening in a hurry DZ. So it will be more of the same where some of the winning punters will feel they've got some payback whilst others will feel aggrieved. That's racing.

If I'm reading this correctly it seems that the concern relates more to what we do if either or both of our main spearheads gets injured again more so than whether we have enough tall targets sans injury. However, we shouldn't let our fear of the unknown (injury) distract us from the far more important issue of everyone playing and executing their role as instructed. Yes, it's that old chestnut of system versus personnel again and for me it's by far the best contingency for troops that fall during the next campaign. Having now addressed the issue of outside run we can reasonably expect to see the ball being delivered inside fifty more swiftly and more often, thus allowing our forwards (whoever they are on a given day) better opportunities to lead and mark into space. However the need to either recruit or develop a quality crumbing forward is crucial to having the multi faceted forward line we require for the coming season.

My understanding is that Darwin was never our zone. We have Central Aust/Alice Springs

Brilliant staying performance by Mer. Well done to the ‘landers that were on it. Was on Constantinople and it put in a real eye catcher for the Melbourne Cup. Watched the replay and read the stewards report so no bias kicks in before judgement. It was unlucky but you make your own luck in this game. Should be a quality two weeks coming up.

We never had Darwin as a zone, it was always seen as too good at developing players to be a zone...except as a sweet gift for the Gold Coast Banana Splits. Our Zone is Alice Springs, I think. Home zone of Liam Jurrah. Can’t think of another player developed out of there???

Young is already a better ball user than most at our club. I think young would be clear third. His foot skills alone are better than a wuick dash. Ash appears to turn-it-over quite alot. Serong would be great too. Tough decisions for the club but they have better information on thses players. We can only guess.

Well there it is! Based on the 4 minute highlight clips that we all form our options from he is our man!!! Did not want that highlight reel to stop. I read that he is a great intercept marker too as well as pretty courageous and willing to out him body on the line. Isn' it strange, reading into all the media hype pre trade period and before gold Coast got thier charity package I had the Impression this was a pretty shallow draft I can now see us taking two very solid players capable of playing 200 plus games for the club. The only worry is we can get caught in drafting for needs e.g weightman unless our scouts who should have been watching the under 18s all year and would know much more than us(not always gaurenteed to be correct though)... Also players who may not translate to afl, (small ceiling players) we need to look for players with elite ball use and decision making as well as predict the ability for them to continue to improve and mature into star afl players. GREAT WORK DEES, love the idea of sacrificing next year' first rround in a draft full of academy/ father sons for this year' group of boys.

Rather roll the dice on a cheap Bennell then an over priced Martin or a DH like Murray - tho a cheap Murray might be worth a roll too

it'd party hard

now if we can land martin, bennell and murray that would be a pretty good outcome.

Ideally I'd like us to go after both of them.

Well done Wadda! Outstanding dividend all things considered. Hope you got a decent percentage (or more) I've watched both races a few times (Everest included) and I'm just blown away at how both winners won. Always one to appreciate excellence. 'Yes Yes Yes' is the story though. It's the sort of thing that happens in Europe for 3yo's. A Star is Born (but for how long?) Because the Everest is not an official Group1 race the connections may have to race it on to maximise it's value at stud. But that may not matter when considering how commanding a performance it was. To beat that field the way it did was something else. Amazing! Track record to boot. We witnessed a fantastic 3/4 Mile. The Everest is on the map, good and proper. And the doubt I had (even though I backed it) on 'Mer' in the Cup was the barrier. But it was a walk in the park. Money for old rope. Way too good. Will watch the race again for your take on Constantinople.

Managed to get the tri on the Cup by standing out Mer and Constantinople for first. Somehow i managed to leave out Con for 4th in my FF. Oh well. Constantinople was the run of the race i thought and i immediately got on for the Melbourne Cup.

Harley Bennell would be a hell of a lot cheaper and if he can get back to his best, and that’s a big if but at his best he is twice as good as Martin

Gone Young and Stephens. Young at 3 - best kick in the draft. Will be an elite half back. Could also play midfield if needed. Stephens - best outside midfielder in the draft. Will provide run and kicking on a wing or any flank.

I don't think he's the right player for us. I certainly wouldn't pay above average AFL wage for his services.

I would not trade out of pick 3. [censored] GWS. Kemp at 3 and one of Flanders/Serong at 8. Kemp will not get past Sydney.

I'm OK with this trade: my sentiment is that he'll be worth more to Hawthorn than to Melbourne. In other words, Melbourne attained more value from trading him than holding on to him. To start with, the balance of probabilities suggests that Frosty's value has peaked and now was the perfect time to offload him and for Melbourne to attain maximum trade value. Let's assume that the injury gods smile upon us next season and May and Lever play most games. This would possibly mean that Frosty spends quite a few games playing for Casey. In this scenario, he'd have almost no trade value. Maybe the injury gods will spoil us again, but you tend not to win flags by playing conservatively. My other sentiment is that it's human nature to overvalue what you current possess. I hope that our list management can overcome this bias and have made a balanced decision, based on a wide range of information.

Not on the footy field I hope.

Comfortably top 22 when fit imo and takes the place of ANB Baker and a few others. Comfortably. Agree he has this season to get it right before moving him on. A month is an exaggeration. He is our modern day Tingay: Talented and impactful enough on the team that you give him that extra time, just can't get his body right. At 27, statistically he is only just moving into his peak both from a skill and physical perspective for an AFL footballer. Agree 3 years was overkill but he definitely deserved a contract extension after his end to 2018.

Freddie Clutterbuck for one season only.

I'm happy to put my hand up. 2 year deal, minimum wage (I'm happy to take a hit on what I'm on now). A couple of years of free tracksuits, dieticians, personal trainers, and any free goodies that some of the stars are happy to throw my way. I won't even request a trade at the end of next season or the one after. Also happy to put up with 2 years of fan criticism on Demonland. Just call me the modern day Lucas Cook.