Deespicable

Thanks for original report Saty. I was down there last week and was rapt to see that Salem was finally working more with the defensive group and your post confirms there has been a switch in thinking there since the camp. Whether that's because of Howey's injury or not I don't know, but it does mean we may have a left-foot option down back, which will stop us being quite so predictable with the hockey-style mentality of clearing the ball to the right side. It also gives him a chance of a game, because with Garlett and Petracca in side now, there's not much room for a small forward. And at the moment he's a fair way back in pecking order in midfield. Now he's battling for a spot with Jetta, Grimes and team balance of whether we want a third small defender or not.

No, he was pretty positive when players made right option or ran to make right option - Viv Michie was manning Tyson and when he got Dom with a great tackle and then delivered a great pass to a leading forward he got singled out. Dom was everywhere though and him and Nat Jones were clearly the two with the ball the most and the ones who kept getting free for the short spot-up. The loyalty issue means that Bail, Matt Jones and Grimes - three of whom many here don't rate - are going to be backed by Roosy until someone else delivers or they fail to deliver or get injured etc. I forgot to mention that Kent was in the partially injured list and therefore not in 14-on-14 game, but he looks like he's ready to go based on early non-competitive work and a series of sprints he did solo as part of his recovery. I was a bit surprised that Salem and Toump certainly aren't in the mix at this stage - even though they are obviously significantly fitter than last year.

Really enjoyed watching training today and the14 on 14 mini games were great to see and gave an indication of current thinking. At this stage there are no major structural moves - Howey is still being viewed as a defender. There were a lot of players being managed/nursed because of minor ailments. There was also the kid gloves approach to our young first-year brigade - nothing wrong with this mind you, but anyone who thinks any of our 18yo's are going to walk into the side forget it as they weren't allowed to play the mini-games. The only one who has a chance is Petracca - simply because he is so well-developed and is freakish and if he plays pre-season games, he is going to press the selectors into considering him as a small forward/sub option ahead of Kent and JKH and Salem and Toumpas. The other aspect is that Roosy is incredibly loyal to his core group - so Bail and Matt Jones are ahead of others, until the others earn their stripes and force him to reassess. Frosty played in the second side even with Tom Mc absent, which could have been because he was the only backman left that could line up on Dawes/Pedo/Jamar or it could be that he is another that will have to earn his stripes. Based on what we saw in the mini-games, the certainties in the side if we were playing this weekend would be as follows: B: Grimes Dunn Howe HB: Garland Lumumba xxxxx C: M.Jones Tyson Cross HF: Bail Pedersen xxxx F: Garlett Hogan Dawes (susp - susp Rd 1) Ru: Jamar Viney N.Jones Unavailable (regulars not training with main gp): Jetta, Vince, Watts, Tom Mc, Riley, Trengove, Gawn, Spencer plus all first-year players.

Interesting omissions in the Dees most popular players - where was Nathan Jones and JKH?

Good to see we went for a defensive left footer today with Mitchell White, although given his age, there's very little chance he will play in 2015. To me we urgently need a left-side defensive player and that means either Newton or Salem need to be given a crack at playing down back, which given the midfield depth we have, is probably the only way they will get a game anyway. My side for Rd 1 includes Watts, but I really can't see him surviving past Round 7 this year because after four winnables we have three hard weeks against sides that make you accountable - Freo, Swans and Hawks. And yes I agree with others that Howe has been placed in forward groups so far which suggests that the arrival of Lumumba means they are thinking of using him as the mobile fourth tall forward. Rd 1 side Defenders (7): Frost, Tom Mc, Garland, Dunn, Lumumba, Jetta, Salem Midfielders (7): N.Jones, Tyson, Vince, Cross, Viney, Watts, Grimes Forwards (6): Hogan, Dawes, Gawn (plus ruck rotation), Howe, Kent, Garlett Ruck (1): Jamar Sub (1): JKH or Petracca Such is the improved depth of midfielders that if entire squad is all available except Trengove, then the magoos could have Brayshaw, Riley, Bail, Toumpas, Mitchie, McKenzie, Newton, Harmes, Stretch, Neal-Bullen and Vandenberg all vying to be part of the VFL midfield rotation in Rd 1.

Definitely an Oscar winning performance by our recruiting staff - at least on paper. The guy almost everyone regarded as the No.1 pick - Petracca The guy we wanted most of all because he complements the club style and a great mate of Petracca's - Brayshaw The guy our recruiting staff saw heaps of because they were always checking up on Billy and a great mate of Billy's - Neal-Bullen The guy almost all supporters wanted and who fits the whole family club theme and is also a big - Oscar Mc. But whilst I'm elated, let's just wait and see whether they look the part when it comes to the real thing. One final comment - the big losers from tonight were JKH and Kent - they now have to beat Garlett and Petracca for small forward spots.

My dream draft would be to get Brayshaw, McCartin and Oscar Mc and then pick up the classiest player and smallest player in the draft - Caleb Daniel. Not only would he have cult following, he's elite in every aspect - skills, endurance (16.1 beep) and speed. Sure he's not going t take pack marks, but neither does Boomer Harvey.

Yes he's on the move - back to the forward line - that's the whisper. With Harry O he's no longer required as an attacking defensive option. So he will act as fourth mobile tall up forward.

The good thing about pick 40, which is actually pick 36, is that we hopefully get to take someone who slips through from the 15-25 bracket. Given how the phantom draft judges are rating the draft and assuming we don't take Lever at 3, we can take whichever tallish defender option like McDonald, Ramsay, Vickers-Willis, Keitel, D.Howe that slides through. Then when it comes to the rookie draft we still have two spots left for Tappy and Tyler.

More likely they realised that it is pretty stupid not to use pick 40 when you have it.

Are you aware we just traded in Jeff Garlett?

I have said on other threads before that if you watch the current videos, they are just highlights and almost all the players look like magic. So three key factors you have to take into account are: 1) What the kids personality like - only the club can really comment on whether players have already ruled out on the "no [censored]" policy. 2) Where the draft gurus have rated them - this includes club recruiting officers and the Knightmare's and Paige's of the world who watch games far more regularly than any of us - although they can all get it wrong, quite obviously. 3) If players are rated relatively equally, what positional needs do we have. This last one we all can comment on given we watch the Demon games and know our weaknesses. For mine, assuming we take Brayshaw as I'm sure we will, we are assembling a pretty strong inside-mid presence for future with Nat Jones, Viney, Tyson - so why would we take Weller as well? We have four listed ruckmen for 2015 - Jamar, Gawn, Spencer and King - so why would we take Wright for example to make it five? We have just picked up Frost to cover Frawley which gives us four pretty good tall defensive options - Tom Mc, Dunn, Garland, Frost - so why would we go for Lever? We have just recruited outside speed - Garlett, Harry O and Stretch - so why would we go for another classy outside type like Pickett or Laverde? We lack a classy left-foot defender - but Liam Duggan, Harrison Wigg and Corey Eills are all rated between 10-30 in draft so its a big stretch to claim one of them with pick 3. We have just lost Clark and while Pedo made a big improvement we only have two tall genuine forwards - Dawes, Hogan (sorry I don't rate Fitzy) - so why wouldn't we choose McCartin?

Jetta has been upgraded http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-10-23/georgiou-next-demon-to-go As a result we are in a tricky situation of having to decide whether to delist more players or just to waste picks 40, 53 and potentially a UFA or pre-season draft option like Port's Ben Newton which would be pretty stupid really given the lack of quality on our list now. As a result I can't see us keeping Tapscott and it is in our interests to delist one other contracted player (eg: Evans) and also move one other back down to the rookie list (eg: McKenzie) and take a chance that they won't be grabbed by another club, which is a pretty good risk policy given our current standing. What I don't understand is why this hasn't been done already? I get they have to wait and see what players become available by other club's cullings, but we still should be aiming to use pick 40 and 53 regardless. Is Tapscott away overseas and therefore Roosy can't speak to him personally yet. Ditto Evans.

At this point I reckon only five of the 19 are certain to be offered contracts - N.Jones, Howe, Salem, Gawn and Garland. The rest are wait and see how they go in 2015 before asking them to put pen to paper - and that's the way it should be. We are now in strife for this year's draft (may not be able to use pick 40 and 53) because someone decided to sign a stack of players that they didn't need to.

No in actual fact they only get the top 10 right when they do their final version of the draft because that's when clubs have taken into account a whole range of factors and their specific needs. If you look at the 2012 draft for example, Brodie Grundy was rated No.2 almost all year by them.

A few quick observations. The most recent lot of videos under Cal Twomey's "who's your clubs first pick" only highlight their best play, so based on this there are about 10 guys who are magic. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-10-26/your-clubs-first-pick The original videos that were done on the U18 carnival highlights included all the flawed play so you could get a better gauge on what the kid is like. SA won the U18 carnival, yet not one SA player is rated a top-10 chance. Either they were a great team coached by a great coach or the wise judges are a bit anti-Croweaters. Having said that, our club has had a history of mucking up with SA players dating way back to Diamond Jim, so I am glad we are avoiding them. If you look at recent drafts there always one player who comes charging up the rankings and like a horse with a late rush of money on, invariably they are a good choice. Bontempelli went from 10-15 to 4 last year. Pendles went from 15-20 to 5 in his year. Richmond fans will tell you this logic went out the door with Tambling, who Terry Wallace promoted from about 10-15 to 4. This year's big mover so far appears to be Nakia Cockatoo who was ranked 40-60 in early phantom drafts and is now even being talked about as a 10-15 pick. By next week he'll probably be top 10. He was injured for much of the year so his highlights package is based almost entirely on the MCG Grand Final day pre-game and you can't help but be impressed by his pace and skill. Given he's quite tall for a midfielder and would fit our NT promotional requirements, then I hope Roosy has met his family, although ultimately I imagine we will overlook him with pick 3.

It would seem we need to get rid of at least two more, otherwise the whole point of bartering for picks 40 and 53 is wasted. We may need to invoke the devil's alternative used in the past for Newton and others. Advise two contracted players they are delisted but that their contract will be honoured and they will be taken in the rookie draft. The danger of this is that another club could draft them prior to our rookie picks, although with the following players, there is no chance of that happening as we are the only club that rates them and their age makes them untouchable as well. Jordie McKenzie - I don't really see anyone wanting a 24-year-old tagger - albeit a hardworking one. Matt Jones - Not too many 27yo's who have played just 42 games get another go. Michael Evans - He's only 22 and given his kicking would have to do a great sales job to a WA club and if they jumped to get him, so be it. You could easily add Rohan Bail and Dean Terlich to this list and neither is going to be snaffled. I'm sure there's plenty of others that Demonlanders want to get rid of, but all of them would have a little bit of currency to another club.

Side for majority of year - assuming fit squad. B: Jetta Dunn Frost HB: Howe McDonald Salem C: Cross Vince Lumumba HF: Garland Dawes Viney F: Garlett Hogan Gawn/Pedo Ru: Jamar/Spencer Tyson N.Jones Int: Grimes, Brayshaw, Kent, Riley Emerg: Kennedy-Harris, Watts, Pick No.3.

I am a little worried that Saints may decide they need a pure midfielder (given they have a forward/mid in Billings) and pull off a shock for Brayshaw. But the Saints need players everywhere, so I'm sure they'll go whoever they rate the best prospect. Obviously we will take whoever is left out of Petracca or Brayshaw with pick 2 but the real intrigue now is who to go with pick No.3 and it seems a wide open race. We drafted a key defender in Frost, so we may not be thinking Lever. Two-metre Peter's U18 coach wasn't exactly effusive about him, although athletically and talent-wise he has huge potential - but worried he may not have innate hardness - ala Jack Watts. McCartin's highlights aren't great and his end of season form when he came back from injury wasn't exactly earth-shattering, so I'd like to hear from others who have seen him in full flight. Is there a Bontempelli type currently rated between 5-15 that we should be upgrading (The Bon was tipped to go 8-15 at this stage last year before a late flurry) - Laverde, Weller, Duggan? Can't see us going Pickett after we have already gone Garlett and Stretch. Can someone who has actually seen those kids play more than once please comment on their abilities?

Oh, I forgot that there is one more downer from the trade/draft period. We have another year of Jack Watts being the hottest topic on Demonland!

I actually rate our trade/draft period so far about a 7/10. As I said in original post, the only negative is that we looked like we weren't getting back into the second round and the club could argue they did, as they got back pick 40, which is the last pick of the second round. I would have liked us to have traded out at least one of our non-performing contracted players, but on the other hand, showing loyalty to a senior group (except for their treatment of Jack T) does have some benefits for mindset (just look at the James Mc situation). I am not sure what miracles others wanted, but we were willing to offload 2 and 3 for a quality mid and we weren't able to tempt anyone - not that surprising given we were second bottom and lost our last nine games. What we have to hope is that we finally get lucky with picks 2 and 3 and that they turn out even better than expected. The focus now turns to delistings and Blease and Strauss have already been told. A decision on Tapscott, Evans (yes I know he's contracted for another year) and the rookies comes next. At this stage we have created room for three picks. Out: Frawley, Clark, Byrnes, Nicholson, Clisby, Strauss, Blease (7). In: Lumumba, Frost, Garlett, Stretch (4) Jetta needs an upgrade as well, so I would imagine both Tapscott and Evans will be given marching orders. I suspect decisions on Harmes, King and Georgiou will also be on hold for a bit and I'd expect only at least one of three to be moved on and it could depend on who we get with picks 40 and 53. If we get Oscar McDonald with pick 40 for instance, then Georgiou would be an obvious delisting for list balance. The other shock as yet, could be delisting a player with no currency to other teams (eg: Jordie McKenzie), and committing to redrafting them as a rookie. That scenario could be necessary if we get excited about an uncontracted free agent who has been delisted and want to nab them pre-draft.

With the Griffin deal done and Giants looking to get Petracca via a swap of pick 1 for 4 and 7 with St Kilda, perhaps it's time for us to give getting Dylan Shiel one last shot as their midfield is now pretty stocked up. Given they have lost Boyd, may lose Giles, they would have to be a little interested in talls - namely Jack Watts (even though he plays small) and Jack Fitzpatrick. We now have Lumumba's pace to cover Watts and to play his wing with more panache and Fitzy would not be required if all our bigs are fit. Throw in pick 23 and we'd get the deal done without losing pick 2 or 3.

Yep agree with everything you say. The only caveat I have, and Satyr is best to know the answer to this, is that I hope our coaches have implored him to do additional tackling training in the past and got no where with him. I also hope that the club has made him do regular boxing sessions as he plays as if he's [censored] scared. Assuming they have already gone down those obvious paths with him, then I have no problem with his exit, because you can't really teach desire and aggression - you can only try to overcome a players fears. I also hope for Jack's sake that he goes to a non-football playing state like Qld or NSW, so that he can not face the obsessive interest that has followed his path at Melbourne. It will also allow him to finally rid himself of the Nic Natanui comparisons. Trading him really is a win/win for everybody - he may finally get a chance to show his undoubted talent and given we have drafted Harry O and Garlett we don't need his pace anymore - although he rarely used it. An early second rounder would be a bonus for him now.

Ok, so we are getting close to the end of the trade period and I thought I'd give my view and ask you to add yours. As it shapes at moment, we appear likely to pick up Lumumba (as part of Clark deal) and Frost (for second rounder), so comments are based on these deals going through. Big ticks: 1) Footy department decided that we needed pace (at last) - Garlett (short term), Stretch (long term) and Harry O (quality on way). 2) Footy department decided that we needed to give ourselves the best chance at getting a superstar and kept picks No.2 and No.3 (sure we offered them up for Dangerfield who clearly would have fitted the superstar category, but it looks like we will have two stabs at obtaining a future gun (yes, I know we have cocked these sort of picks up in past five years, but eventually we have to get one right). 3) Footy department recognised we are a little light on for key defenders with loss of Frawley and picked up Frost (deal still pending, but highly likely). Little ticks 1) Footy department did not pay overs for Garlett and second rounders for Lumumba and Frost appears pretty much on the money as to their market standing at moment. No tick (just ticked off) 1) We have not traded out any of our under-performing contracted players to get back into the second round. While this policy represents great loyalty by Roosy to the four guys we all talk about on other forums, it means we are not playing the business game. As a result (because we will have no pick from No.3 through to about No.70) we now have no chance of getting a host of players including two that we should have been especially keen to try and get. Exhibit A: Oscar McDonald - a tall defender/forward who we know comes from good country stock because he is the brother of Tom. He is tipped to be a late developer like his bother and expected to be taken about pick 40. Exhibit B: Nakia Cockatoo - a quick, skilled tall midfielder from the NT. I have said this before, we should by now have set up an academy in the NT and we should be owning the area. Instead we just take the money from the NT government and put very little back into the community up there. As a result when potential role models like Nakia come up, we can do nothing but watch them walk away and get drafted by other clubs. Nakia is expected to go anywhere from pick 20-40, so again we will miss out on someone that might have become our promotional wildcard in Darwin and Alice Springs. My final comment is on pick No.2 and No.3. Whilst we all know that Roosy has been keen on Angus Brayshaw for some time and his highlights show that he fits the tall, tough midfielder description to a tee, who should we be taking at pick No.3 with him? I have watched highlights of the key kids from the carnival matches and I've got to say I am not majorly impressed with what McCartin or Peter Wright did, yet I lean towards Wright because of his potential ruck ability with the Russian most likely being one year away from retirement. But does anyone have a clear view on No.3 (don't say Petracca, he's off to St Kilda).

Yep, sorry about that - an honest mistake and not a case of Gone Garl. We need outside speed and so Garlett will get a chance to cement his spot and prove he's not a has-been before the next generation like Stretch arrive.