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I’ll attempt to answer this. In a former role in my life, I used to manage a very large legal team at a major bank which controlled significant spend on legal firms each year just after the GFC - circa $35m each year. I headed up (and controlled) this spend for 5 years. That attracted significant interest. And, quite obviously, invitations to various things followed - bull sharks to a fishing trawler. Who cares you might reasonably ask? Well, I didn’t. I didn’t give a flying stuff. BUT - there was one moving part which was relevant. I was based in Sydney, and I was known to be about the only person in a relatively senior out-sourcing gig in NSW who was passionate about AFL. Everyone else liked rugby union, or cricket, or just themselves. I was known to be a Demons tragic - relevantly, I didn’t sell out. ? GWS had just started up in Sydney, and it was keen to attract the interest of Sydney’s corporate community. They tried admirably but they received little to no penetration. In the early days at least. Anyway, as a result of being the only dude who was vaguely interested in AFL at the time, I was invited to, and attended, a lot of GWS’s corporate functions, all of which were exceptional. I heard Mark Williams speak at several of them, quite often for ages. He was just SO freakin impressive. He gets this stuff. He’s charismatic as all hell. He’s a great motivator. He’s experienced. He’s a visionary. He’s a legend. Like many here, I thought he was an absolute tool with his antics after the 2004 Grand Final. And then I heard him speak regularly from 2009 and beyond - I heard him a lot in fact. Don’t be confused here, this guy’s the real deal. He’ll make us great. The likes of Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca, I expect, will hang off his words. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this boring and conservative club has just shown so much vision and confidence. I saw the appointment whilst causally looking at my wife’s Insta account - I just can’t believe it. Thought it was a joke at first. We could very well win the flag next year. Just sayin’. It’s time to get around this club. Everyone has to sign up. Force your next door neighbours to do so as well. It’s time to show some heart.

When you order a Clayton Oliver off Wish.com

Very good player. Extremely clean and a great, quick decision maker. He's small but still tough and an excellent kick. Played wing, mostly, last year but could easily play as a small forward with his quickness and ability to create goals.

This is a terrible take. You're essentially saying that attracting good people is an indication of failure and that trying to bring in good people is an indication of weakness. Should we be not trying to attract good people? You're just trying to shoehorn this information into your own personal judgement of Goodwin. Anyway, I'm very happy with the appointment. He's different from most, but he's a great teacher and an extremely knowledgeable football person.

Bomber Thompson and Hardwick were the same though, then their clubs put better people around them. It is a coaching panel for a reason. One person cannot do it all.

"Yes but you see Goody, the final 8 system was a joke back in 1998. We belted you in the first week of the finals and our reward was being put into the harder part of the draw while your Adelaide mob got a 2nd chance and a free ride into the Grand Final. I will never forget that."

Yes. It finishes next Monday.

How good's SEN? "Matty Rendell thinks Sydney will pick Grainger-Barrass here" Sydney pick McDonald SEN deletes tweet ?

No joke. Choco took on an aging B Grade amateurs team that was middle of the road in his first season and struggled under the weight of injuries and retirements the following year. The team was unsuccessful but he nurtured a number of players during that season who are going to form the foundation of a very good team in the not too distant future. That’s exactly what development’s about. At the same time he himself learned about a very different community and ultimately about himself. In many ways, I believe he did the same at Werribee. Perhaps, his own development over the past couple of seasons will hold him in good stead at Melbourne?

People posting as though they have any idea about how this kid plays based on some highlights, his weight and height. Welcome to the MFC, Jake.

Might be small, but super user of the ball, clever at ground level... makes sense to me. I'm also not in the game of judging picks until they've been on the list for a few years, so hardly going to bother potting the club before we've seen the outcome.

What do we desperately need?? decision making, kicking skills, creativity we have two great kids that have that. To those counting centimetres, you might look at the Tigers list to see size does not always matter. When the ball is in your hands, your height does not matter

Did you hear about Mahoney going and Choco coming in before it happened? Didn’t think so. We don’t leak and haven’t for years calm down

Still 4 picks to go or 17 hours until our next pick.

I know we've been in dire straits, but I didn't expect to lose Mahoney for nothing and get Chocs for free.

i worked with choc for a bit a decade or so ago he is a brilliant football mind and an absolutely wildly unpredictable personality

With all these phantom drafts out these are a few things I've noticed to watch for tomorrow night: * If Cook gets past Fremantle's pick he appears a fair chance to get to our picks * If Laurie gets through GWS' picks he appears a good chance to get to our picks * If Macrae gets past Adelaide's pick 9 he seems a good chance to slide far however no one has him getting to our picks, but most seem to have him getting close, could we trade up? do Richmond still consider trading their pick if Macrae is on the board? * Holmes seems unlikely to be available at pick 28, Richmond, St Kilda, and Hawthorn all very interested * If Hawks are very interested in Holmes would they consider not matching a bid on Downie? who do they rate higher? * If Hawks bid on Campbell at pick 4 watch to see if Sydney will match a bid for Gulden at our picks, they will go into draft deficit next year if they do * bit of interest in Bowey if we keep our second round pick and Holmes is off the board * A few scenarios had me thinking (Adelaide and GWS swapping picks is one) could Perkins slide all the way through to our picks? * nearly ever single phantom draft has us taking Carroll which is very exciting, but you never know still keeping my fingers crossed

Oh for the days when they did the top ten backwards.

Everyone looks better in the red and blue.

Hoky feck this is huge news. I rate him extremely highly and have a mate who plays at Werribee. Reckons he's one of the best coaches he's ever played under.

Great pick! Bailey Laurie Height, Weight: 179cm, 78kg Profile: With impressive speed, agility and evasion, Bailey Laurie impacts games as a small forward who can push through the midfield for periods. While his movement stands out, he lowers his eyes and finds inside 50m targets by foot, is an excellent front-and-centre crumber and provides second and third tackle efforts. (Knightmare)

HEIGHT: 194cm WEIGHT: 84kg POSITION: Tall Forward/Wingman DRAFT ANALYSIS: “With an incredible package of speed, endurance, size and match winning ability, Rosman is one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2020 AFL Draft pool”

Are you suggesting the Cats took a player they didn’t want or know about until a phantom draft or a leak. WOW! You don’t think much of one of the best recruiters of the last 20 years.

Hmmmm Bowie. Ziggy Stardust. He will now be known as Ziggy for me ?? Small man syndrome. Blood nut. Son of a Saint. Must be one angry dude. I like him already. He needs a super unorthodox number to go with - let's go with 67 or similar and leave it there forever. Just as a post script - I have absolutely no insight whatsoever into this bloke - but it just feels right ??

Horses for courses. Or, in this case, jockeys.

Patience...they're still sorting out the Treloar deal.

That’s not where they keep the hand sanitizer!

Teaching accuracy in goal kicking is one of his hobby-horses. We really need that!

With the full review, we have taken some big steps. If we can get the best out of Richardson, Williams, Goody and Yze, you would have to think that is a pretty strong group to lead the club. Getting these guys to have clearly marked out territories and actively supporting each other will be a challenge, but the potential is huge if it works. No egos, but a common goal of success will be nice.

We’ve been going for four hours. The 2020 AFL National Draft is starting to rival the American election for length of time taken to reach a finish.

All good mate. Mahoney will get us back into the first round.

Runs like the wind, but is still very raw. Would have been interesting to see him with an extra year of footy but there's a lot to work with. But that speed/endurance combo is rare, especially so at 6'4-5.

Massive bio here https://afl.draftcentral.com.au/player/fraser-rosman/

He’s on with his wife. She’s reading him comments from Demonland so he can figure out who to take next.

This is pretty crazy. What evidence is there that we were actually interested in Holmes other than CT's phantom draft, which although it had us picking him also stated "Holmes would be a genuine surprising inclusion in the top-30, but it is not beyond the realms.". If it is truly that surprising then maybe we weren't actually interested? Maybe we knew Geelong were interested but had no picks this year, so leaked that we were interested, to try and get them to trade in before our pick 28, and the story ran from there? I note that although he had St Kilda taking Bowey, CT also linked us directly to him, rating him as one of the best kicks in the draft and noting that he can play wing or small forward: sounds perfect for our needs. CT also wrote we would be "looking to see if Bailey Laurie is still available" for our pick 21 too.

Praying Carroll is there still at our next pick. Bowey would have been available still at our second round pick. Poor strategy by us IMO.

What is your evidence anything was leaked? Pretty common knowledge how players are rated and which ones specific clubs are interested in.

Happy to bring in a couple of players who understand how to get front and centre, and can read the fall of the ball off a contest. Seems an unnaturally rare skill these days.

We've been crying out for quality ball-users in the forward half. Now we have two. Rotate them forward and up the ground and we'll look a lot more dangerous.

So to be even clearer - not since 2001 has a number one pick won a flag with the club they were drafted to. ? struggling here. Should I keep digging? *dig up stupid

You could probably watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended version and make it just in time for the Dees first pick.

Good to see Melk on the track well before the senior players are due back. Also great to see Yze marshalling the troops and back in the Red and Blue.

Another aspect of Williams wanting to, and now joining the MFC is that he’s an astute gauge of football talent and potential, and saw he could not only add value, but that there was sufficient talent there to go all the way. augers well

It seems Choko has some fire in the belly and a point to prove. Perfect timing.

Absolute friggen masterstroke by the Dees. In one day remove the last remnants of the dark years in Mahoney and bring in a known winner in Chocco Williams, i haven't been this excited in years. We are going all out it seems, hell bent on a flag(s) lots of knowledge, wisdom and Discipline in Chocco he looks very energized and appreciative of the opportunity to pass on his learnings in the game. Congratulations to the Board for handling it with such distinction.

Experience has just walked in the building...Yze now Williams to go with Richardson. A wealth of footy knowledge and finally some real experience. It's been our weakness in the FD. edit: did I say I was excited??? you bet I am.

Take note those who continue to bemoan our club sitting on their hands, based solely on the presumption that it hasn't been reported in the media.

Not unexpected, as I said on the rumour only thread, fairly well known he'd applied for the Essendon position and who could blame him when the position was vacant and our FD was under review. As others have said 13 years is a long time and despite being maligned on here by posters (many of whom also question Taylor) I think he has performed well in his roll. Thanks for your service Josh