Gator

It's everything. The size, pace, agility, aggression, skill, and best of all he makes really good decisions in a split second. It's great to see a player with such footy nous.

They'll all be regulars by round 3/4. Their all best 22 now. Their best footy will come after the age of 24.

I'm not sure of Petracca's pace. My Brother doesn't think it's explosive, but he's quick enough and just so powerful. He's also an elite mark. The comment was that despite his 186cm, he could play full forward and kick plenty of goals. He also noted that he certainly isn't a lazy trainer. He's fully switched on.

My Brother told me this afternoon that he'd pay to watch Petracca train (he was at Gosch's today) and that he's the most exciting talent he's seen come to Melbourne since Jakovich. Best of all, they're all different and will complement each other. Petracca, Oliver, Brayshaw and Viney will be as good as it gets in 4 years time.

You can still get $15 at Sportbet.com.au

Some people are self effacing. You're reading too much into his comments (I know you're being jovial).

Looked at Parish closely and I'm rapt we chose Oliver. Parish will be a good player in time, but he's a mile off competing against strong bodied mids (who he didn't come up against today).

We get it. You're fazed.

Others brought him up.

The AFL investigated the Essendon saga and obviously found Goodwin had no case to answer. As an assistant coach he wasn't in charge of "governance". If you weren't "fazed" I doubt you'd be bringing it up. I'm genuinely unfazed.

Unlike Jordie, you want the ball in Oliver's hands. That sweeping handball on the wing to the player in space epitomises his composure and footy smarts. He's a different type of player, but he'll be as good as Brayshaw. Gawn, Brayshaw, Oliver, Viney, Salem, vandenBerg, Tyson, Petracca will be a formidable group in years to come.

Of course it was peronal, whatever that means. Baggie and I often disagree at the edges, but usually concur with the bigger stuff. Not always, but usually. So what did you think of Oliver on Friday ?

He lives in Canberra... Btw, did he ever answer your post re his assertion that Hogan is a mercenary ?

Nah. I'd had a couple of lovely reds that night if I remember correctly (maybe one too many) and the sight of a Jordie McKenzie look alike was too much to bear, especially as I was then keen on Parish. In the cool light day I thought I'd better take a closer look. It took nano seconds to realise my previous offering was moron worthy. Aghast, I quickly retracted and have been a "Clarriefier" ever since.

OK. They're penalised substance abusers, who were deemed to have acted inappropriately within a systemic injection regime. How about peptide cheats ?

And you would know that I retracted that comment within 24 hours of making it. You can't retract being a simpleton.

Naturally, you're welcome to it, but your assessment is rubbish. Having taken him at pick 3, clearly the club agrees. Why you don't at hold fire on your views until you have at least some exposed form with the MFC is beyond me.

Why would you question it ? Clearly you don't know, so back the recruiters until you're in a position to make an informed assessment. His footy smarts in congestion look elite to me, albeit not yet exposed at AFL level.

(Re-post, as I responded to the incorrect poster) The following is from an article linked at the bottom: “The thing that stands out for me is his competitiveness. The club wants guys who have a crack and compete for 100 percent of the game. He’s certainly one of those blokes,” Brayshaw told aflplayers.com.au at last week’s AFLPA Induction Camp. “The guys have already given feedback that he’s a super competitor and we want to play with him because of the way he goes about it on the training track.” I'm not sure what you expect from an 18 year after 10 weeks on the training track, or why you think he'd be "starring", but it appears the players and club are happy with his progress. http://www.aflplayers.com.au/article/new-demon-oliver-at-home-with-the-brayshaws/

He's had a vastly superior career and he's certainly more talented. Right now they're on about par, which is why they've got the same present rating. I'd still have Cotchin ahead. Hope that helps.

He does everything better. That's not a slight on Jones, btw. He also kicks more goals. The most Jones has kicked in a season is 16. The most Selwood has kicked is 30. I highly rate goal-kicking mids. He especially reads the game better, is harder and makes better decisions. And no, it doesn't mean Jones isn't hard too. Viney is as hard as Selwood, Jones isn't.

Talk about cherry picking. Jones has been in the system and half of that time was rubbish. Cotchin has his faults but is a vastly superior player.

No, Cotchin is more talented and has performed at a better level over their careers. Given the choice of both footballers I'd take the one who has performed better and has a higher ceiling. You got caught out saying "Wow", etc. because you struggle to analyse basic concepts. Other posters then have to waste time spoon feeding you until the penny drops. You then complain that you're just expressing an "opinion". But no, you were ridiculing another poster who was using sound judgment free of bias. Let's look at another measure, i.e. Brownlow votes: Cotchin already ranks 5th on Richmond's all time list with 100 (153 games). Jones is doing quite well with 56 (201 games). Cotchin is second on Richmond's all time list for average votes per game. Jones ranks 36. Cotchin has 19 BOG's. Jones has 6. Btw, Jones has also only had one A-grade season and his first 5 years were crud. By any measure Cotchin has been the better footballer, but you keep deluding yourself.

Firstly, Jones played all of 2015 as a 27 year old. Secondly, 28 is STILL in your primes as an AFL footballer. It's peak prime. While I agree that Cotchin has played in better teams the Tiges are still bog ordinary. He hardly has this huge advantage when he's one of the first tagged every week. Deledio is never in the trenches with him and Martin plays high half-forward with occasional forays into the middle. They're still trying to improve their midfield. Cotchin has made AA on the back of one brilliant season. His team DID NOT play finals in the year he made AA. Jones has never made the squad of 40. Yes, I did point out that Cotchin is more talented. So what ? He is. That isn't "changing" a story, it's an observation. One you say you share. Seemingly stats don't matter when they don't favour your argument. Imo, there IS enough of a difference to show who has had the better career to date. It's not a huge difference, but virtually all the key stats favour Cotchin (virtually no difference in tackles). Cotchin is a B+ footballer and Jones is a B+ footballer. There's not a lot in it, but there's enough evidence on talent and stats for me to conclude one is better than the other. Especially when Jones was a chump for the first 5 years of his career. I expressed a view that I'd take Cotchin ahead of Jones. Big deal. It's just MY opinion. Your reply was "Wow. You started out at least trying to use reason, now it's just getting silly." It was a stupid reply. But it was a reply befitting your standard contributions. I also agree that Jones offers intangibles from a captaincy point of view and he's improved his leadership over the last couple of years. My opinion was based more on football. The option to swap isn't realistic, so I didn't take captaincy into consideration when stating who I'd take.

Yep. If you can't perform in finals you're as useful as a cold pie. Cotchin should get more chances to redeem himself and Jones will get another taste of finals action, if not this year then next.