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Just been waiting for my coffee in Horsham and fell into conversation with the happy indigenous gent beside me in a MFC tee shirt. He turned out to be the very proud father of Kysaiah having a pit stop on the way back to SA. He wasn’t afraid to talk the boy up. Said he has a fantastic attitude. anyway I left him talking to Frank Giampolo (ex MFC footballer). Really looking forward to seeing this kid play

Yessssssss. My brothers mate! We are all pumped about this. Not super quick but apparently runs all day and an elite kick. Edit: apparently our media team think he's quick so maybe I'm wrong haha

And this is why Demonland has such great value. A fan discussion and story forum at its best. Thanks Bimbo.

I assume he is trying to say - we couldn’t prepare for what the season was going to demand due to many factors out of our control

"We just weren't prepared for what the game was going to demand". That is inexcusable on so many levels.

I'm certain Goodwin and his group would admit mistakes were made. It's hard to grow or improve if you don't make mistakes. And they were challenged by injuries like few teams before them, which is tough going considering the young list profile. Btw, this ''plan B'' talk is a load of crap. Everyone knew how Hawthorn played when they won 3 flags, they just couldn't deal with it. Clarkson didn't alter their game style in season, just as Richmond played to their strengths this year. Do you think Leigh Matthews had a plan B ? Ever heard ''From the Lips of Lethal'' ? Malthouse won a flag going around the boundary to minimise the effect of turnovers. He didn't suddenly start using the corridor during games they were losing. All clubs adjust their tempo at times during games, throw a 7th defender into the mix, match up on a dominant player who's got off the leash, move a tall defender forward, etc., but that's not having a ''plan B''. Flag teams don't worry about ''plan B''.

Being able to see all of the cables and wires under May’s TV isn’t good for my OCD.

How good was it seeing Greeny back in the Red and Blue?

From East Fremantle which is the same junior club as Luke Jackson! Goodbye go home factor.

Really happy with this pick. Perfect replacement for Hibbo. Can swing through the midfield as well. Had an outstanding junior career.

Thank you. For the dopes (and they are numerous) - Goodwin was referencing the operations and the fact that the entire midfield group had delayed/badly interrupted preseasons where they could barely do contesteted work before January (some February).

Remember the outrage when we recruited a fat draft bolter at pick 4 and everyone cried and bitched and moaned about him, and then he turned out to be a superstar? Ah, good times!

Goodwin on SEN this morning said that Jackson could be the first genuine midfielder at 200 cm. Makes sense.

As an aside, I loved seeing Brad Green back in an MFC polo. The guy is a club legend, and (as everyone knows) he has endured seriously tragic and unwanted life experience in recent times - and he’s handled it with true class, integrity and courage. In this context, it was really pleasing to see him welcoming Kysaiah to the club on the MFC’s behalf. We had an appalling season this year - but it’s reassuring to see that the professional and respectful standards that we’ve displayed in recent years are still very apparent from the club.

I had a chat to Luke Jackson today while on a break from work in front of AFL house and he is a friendly, easy going, and level headed kid. Was more than happy to chat and spoke genuinely about the opportunities at MFC and is smart enough to know he is a good fit for what our team need and is super excited by it including working with Max. Was going to chat more until a friendly 3AW dude jumped in (who was equally as excited for MFC as he was also an MFC supporter) asked him a few more questions. He has also spent a fair bit of time in Melbourne through rep sides for basketball and footy so aren't concerned by the go home factor with him at all ...

Hope he doesn’t defect to Geelong

In my view this is a very overplayed issue for us. It's easy to forget that in 2018 we were the highest scoring team in the comp but some margin. You don't do that unless you've got skill, move the ball quickly and know what you're doing. There was a lot made of the "chaos" ball but again that was overplayed. Last year we weren't fit, hadn't practiced and had around 15 injured most weeks. That led to our lack of speed and poise. I'm very excited about Jackson and Pickett. I think we've drafted well and safely over the last 5 years but we've lacked flair, particularly once Garlett faded. Now we have two very high octane X factor players, we have Bennell in the wings and we're fit for this time of year. It's all pretty positive as far as I can see. I don't get excited over highlight tapes usually, but these guys really do have some tricks.

Trent Rivers is good mates with my brother, so I'm hoping he goes to the Dees. Unlikely he slips that far, but you never know. I'd also love Jeremy Sharp, reminds me a bit of Jayden Short which is the type of player I think we need to develop to replace Hibberd. I think I'm leaning towards one of the WA kids as it would always be good for Jackson to have one of his mates there with him. Plus they won the championships so they must be pretty decent players.

I was pretty disappointed with the club this year like everyone, the coaches, the players the admin, it was just a very poor year full of amateur mistakes, wrong messaging, underwhelming leadership and quite frankly a rather sickening response to a poor exit coming off a good year. So i applaud the changes, the desire to make amends and the fact we have not sat on our hands and just expected we will bounce back. Goodwin is a relatively young coach, and all coaches face challenges, he did this year and im sure he will have learnt a lot, Richo will be a great addition to teh club. The Recruiters have identified areas where we could be better and gone and got players, Jury is out on Jackson for me, but i will embrace it, i love teh selection of Pickett, its a need we have. Im now prepared to let the last 12 months go and throw my full support behind the club. The past is behind us and the future in front of us. Go Dees.

Clearly talking about injuries, and not being able to get a core playing group together on a continuous basis to develop that cohesion further.

Another poster mentioned the word "opportunistic" earlier and having listened to the comments coming out of the Club, I believe they have been very strategic in their drafting. The club never expected to have 2 picks as high as this in this years draft and prior to our poor showing this year thought they would trade for needs (which they have) and would take best available in round 2 and 3. The surprising opportunity has allowed them be a little more speculative and take a greater risk vs greater reward approach. If neither of these players reaches the level you would expect of such early picks I think we still have a solid team (and they should be solid contributors), with a great ability to succeed. If these two players become what I hope they will, it might just be the last two pieces of the puzzle that allows us to have sustained success. So many posters on here have asked/encouraged the Club to be bold, well they have been and I cannot wait to cheer all our new players on.

He is literally the type of player we as supporters have been calling out for and now the pick we use is too high? Build a bridge, and go support another team if everything is going to be negative. Welcome Kozzie I dare say you will be a fan favourite very quickly and shut up some of these key board warriors pretty quickly.

Simon Goodwin on Melbourne's struggles this year: "We just weren't prepared for what the game was going to demand right through the summer for a variety of different reasons and from that we lost all our cohesion and ability to put a game style that was identifiable in place." Simon Goodwin: "You just try and work through (form slumps) methodically and keep people believing in the process and understanding you can work your way through it. Deep down you're thinking 'this is going to be hard' but internally you just want to get on the board." Simon Goodwin on Luke Jackson: "This kid is just a unique player, he's different to a modern-day ruckman but where the game is going, we don't see him as just a ruckman." Simon Goodwin on Luke Jackson: "We see him as a guy who can play forward and we see him as the first player who could potentially plays in the midfield at 200cm. He's just such a talent and a unique type of player for our game. It's too big of an opportunity to look past." Simon Goodwin on Harley Bennell: "We're really excited about Harley, he's certainly trying to turn his life around. He's 27 and he's still got a love of the game, he's emotional about where his footy has been and where he wants it to get too and he doesn't want to waste it." How further advanced are Melbourne compared to this time last year? Goodwin: "We've got nearly a full playing group out there training to a real high level which is completely different to this time last year. We didn't even have our players back right now (last year)." Goodwin on the potential of player challenging score reviews: "I think it's healthy and there's a lot of sports around the world where you can challenge umpires on a range of decisions. I think it's a good initiative and the players will welcome that."

This was where the well known draft watchers had Rivers in their power rankings: Draft Central: 13 Knightmare: 20 Cal Twomey: 23 Looks to be a good get at pick 32.

Great get for us and will be nice to see a Rivers across halfback in red and blue again. He’s a good size to mop up in the back half and has a neat kick on him. Welcome to the club Trent!

We only scored under 80 six times in 2018, and it was against Hawthorn, Richmond, Port Adelaide, Sydney, Geelong (EF) and West Coast (PF). Three good teams (although we were still runaway victors in the EF with a score of 10.15.75, accuracy a big factor in the low score) and three bog averages teams.

Onya Kozzy!

I'm told we cooled on Young due to him going into his shell on the rare occasions he was up against it. And mids/flankers being available in every draft all throughout - opportunities to acquire unique players like Jackson are also rare. We don't expect to have selections this early in the draft for a few seasons now. Sounds like an astute decision to me.

AFL are looking at halving half time break. Going to 10 minutes instead of 20 minutes, as reported on 7 News. To take place next season. I don’t know how much it’d impact players. Would impact my ability to slot a beer at half time.

There are a lot of self proclaimed draft experts here - I’m not one of them, but if we were keen enough on Kozzie to have used pick 8 originally (and no-one knows for sure if this is the case), then Rivers is a free set of steak knives. Seems like they executed a good trading strategy.

Rivers is best mates with Jackson. Should reduce any potential go-home factor.

Knightmare: Melbourne pick 32 = Trent Rivers. A surprise to see Rivers drop this far after talk he would go somewhere around 20. Displays class off half-back and can win it when pushed through the midfield. A good pick here. #AFLDraft

Have these two ever been seen together in the same room? Hopefully he drives us straight to our next flag.

This is a magnificent post. A solid burn. Exactly. Something the Eeyore brigade would not consider before potting everyone in the club, and other supporters.

What you're describing is exactly what ANB was to us in 2018. He was a big, non-spectacular part of our success with a number of games hitting the exact numbers you'd be looking for out of your high half forward: Rd 2 - 21d 1g Rd 4 - 22d 1g 6t Rd 8 - 23d 2.2g Rd 9 - 17 d 4g 5t Rd 10 - 23d 3g 6t Rd 11 - 25d 1.2g 5t Rd 12 - 19d 1.1g 6t Rd 17 - 17d 2g 5t Rd 19 - 22d 1.1g 12t Rd 20 - 22d 2g EF v Cats - 20d 1.3g 9t (and if you rewatch this game, he brought the heat very early and was key to our big 1st Q) For the year he kicked 27.19, averaging 1.1 goals a game at 17 disposals and 4.7 tackles. For an undersized roaming HFF, that is high output. Does he make perfect decisions? Far from it, but his ability to move from contest to contest and use his endurance to get goal scoring opportunities is unmatched in our side. Like many others, his demise in '19 was another reason we couldn't replicate our 2018 form. He needs to bring this form again and make it consistent over a period of years, but I do not understand the constant criticism of him and why people cannot see his value.

Think you've taken that the wrong way mate. Can see how that could happen when it's just in text form though.

I was listening to the Sydney recruiter (forget his name but it was an interesting one) on the AFL Draft show prior to the draft and he made an interesting point. He was asked if they would bid on Green and if not why not. His response was pretty simple, if they wanted Green they would bid on him. You want to call the name of the player that you want at that spot, because if GWS don't match the bid and your bidding just to force their hand, then you might miss the player you actually want and end up with Green. Made sense to me.

The fact he supports the players challenging score reviews says a lot.

The new center bounce game plan revolves around spiking the ball forward, volleyball style, until we get a player in the clear to have a shot on goal. instead of the average disposals per score of around 30 (not sure of the source), we're going to bring it down to less than 5, and really blow score sheets apart!

Aaron Davey says hi.. so so we went after Jamie Elliot and ended up with Pickett. That's a great get IMO. And we save around $700k a year...

Compared to last year it has been a pretty weak draft for names. Now that I've seen his full name is Kysaiah Kropinyeri-Pickett I'm completely sold. Who's down with K.K.P - yeah, you know - me.

Will those Auskick games be rebranded as Auskick-X?

Haven’t changed my favourite players on here for a few years. Just did an addition. I’m having visions of Cyril in attack and Byron in defence. Excuse me for a moment. I’ll be back in a little while.

Urgh. Anyone but Carlton. He's going to be a gun I reckon.

Welcome aboard KP, You're one of us now and have my full support. Surely he gets #36

Not sure he was the best talent available at pick 10, but he’s a demon now so he has my support. Welcome to the club Kozzie and hope you tear it up in our forward line for years to come!