Axis of Bob

I'm not even going to bother pointing out the series of errors you've made, since this crap has all been done before. But I think its fair to say that your post is not rated highly.

Would not do it in a month of Sundays. I have concerns about Hawkins.

With a slippery ball? Besides, the ball wasn't reaching the goalsquare and we needed to find a way through half forward.

How many premierships is a team without its top 3 key forwards going to win? You don't lose by 19 goals due to poor tactics. You could lose by 5 goals, but not 19.

We used the same tactic with no tall forwards last week and scored quite freely. You need to create that space to run into if you don't have anyone who can take a grab which is why we had a lot of people up the ground. If we put a token person up forward then you take away that space and Geelong zone back very easily to the long ball. It's a tough ask when your 'marking' target up forward is Paul Johnson. Just shows how important Miller has been to our structure.

Which matchups do you think were atrocious, N3000?

How's your strike rate on the "inside word" going Haydo? How's Sheeds?

I don't see why people care. It's just a jumper. It differentiates you from your opponent.

I agree that DeBoer is far too high. From what I have seen of him his ball use is not good enough for a first round midfielder. I, personally, would be reluctant to draft him at all, particularly in Melbourne's position. I don't think Port will be his destination either, as they generally focus on players with skill as a prerequisite. Naitanui is a risk, but I find it hard to have him out of the top 4. A ruckman's kicking is not especially important, and it is not deplorable just lacks polish. From watching him there is so much about the game that he doesn't yet know, and at worst you will have a competent ruckman. I don't think Lisle will go that high. I just don't see the explosive athleticism. I also wouldn't be surprised if Hurley slipped further for the same reason. Banner is small and doesn't use the ball overly well, so I would be surprised if he was a first rounder. Yarran looks too high. It wouldn't surprise me if he was named in the first dozen. He's a real talent, with a magnificent kick and class as a midfielder/forward. I do enjoy seeing these, though.

Junior has the work ethic and attitude that Bailey will want to keep around the club as he tries to change the culture of the playing group. Junior is a shining example of how Bailey wants the team to act on and off field, with his selfless defensive running, tackling and super hard running. Also as a professional who keeps getting the best out of himself. Junior is still very worthy of a spot in our side for all these reasons and his ability to instill these selfless, team oriented characteristics into our younger players. Our culture has been crap for years and Junior is the type of players that should be used as an example of what it should be. Hopefully so many players pass him by next year that his example is made in large parts at Sandy.

Jared Rivers didn't touch the ball on his debut against, IIRC.

Personally I wouldn't draft Hurley inside the first round. On top of that he has no role to play in our team, so it would be a wasted pick wherever we picked him. Everyone is raving about him, but unfortunately his lack of speed really limits where he can play on the field. It's like drafting Nick Smith again, as an example. To the same end, I worry about Jared Rivers when he returns given his lack of athleticism. You can only play these players (slow key positions players) in a few spots. In defence you can play them on the opposition gimp (as Hurley did in the under 18 Championships playing on resting ruckmen and Rivers does for us) or you can play them as a pack marking forward. but the game is moving away from the slow tall forward, as you can see by how much more competitive we have been since Robbo and Neitz were injured. But Hurley, for all his skill, hands and strength, is too slow to play on the modern footballer the way the game is played now. He is a very good under 18 player and probably a very good VFL player. The big plus for him is how well he uses the ball, which may have some teams using him as a sweeping tall. But I wouldn't pick him up in the first round.

Frawley was excellent. Played on Cornelius who couldn't win a contest against him and had one touch until Carroll was moved onto him. It wasn't like Cornelius was have a dog of a day and kept dropping the ball or wasn't being used, it was just that Frawley was on his hammer every time the ball came in and spoiled. Frawley was composed with the ball and looks to be very comfortable at VFL pace.

I can see why Ash doesn't think Reimers will become a gun. He's got a bit of class and is a very good kick, but he hasn't shown that he can be anything but a 2 goal a game outsise opportunist finisher. To be a gun he needs to do something in the midfield. He's got a bit of talent, but I haven't yet seen anything that will make him a gun. Essendon's main problem (other than a bookend defender) is that their youngsters are all good honest players with none looking like they are likely to take the step to being a genuine top liner, although Ryder has potential. They've got bulk youth, but the top end is not breathtaking.

As the midfielders get faster and cover more territory, clearances have become far more important. One of the easiest ways to get the ball into your forward line quickly (which is the aim of the coaches) is to take the ball away from a stoppage to the one on one contests up forward. Getting the ball around the ground as a ruckman means much less to a game than you think as ruckmen are generally stationary with the ball (ie, have to stop and kick) and will have to give it off to a running midfielder if they want to move the ball quickly. As such, Jamar is the right ruckman for us at the moment and Johnson may never be a truly effective player. Johnson is poor in the ruck contests because he lacks the presence and aggression of a real ruckman, while Jamar is good in the ruck contests and provides good body work and presence at ground level in the stoppages. I actually really like big Jake Spencer for the same reason. It's really hard to find aggression and size in ruckmen, and Spencer has both. Johnson has size but no aggression or presence.

Errrr, bump. Have opinions changed from people after the carnival? Jarka, can you now see that Rich is far less risky than Naitanui?

But Garland wasn't picked with pick 1!!

The big issue with Fergus was that he turned like the Queen Mary and was slooooow. Jack is like lightning and has the agility of an elite basketballer. Completely different kettles of fish.

DemonSG, I'm not giving my vote one way or another at the moment (although I lean towards Watts), however the reasons Naitanui has been in and out of the side is due to his involvement with the u18 Championships - not due to form. He is also named in the best players pretty regularly.

I think Hurley is further away than most people think. I very much doubt that he would be thought about amongst recruiters in the top 3.

The consultants put in place the leadership model and the process. The players just voted on who they thought fit the mould. I actually think that the process is good in the long term because it is based around changing the culture of the group. The leaders are those that the players see as leaders, not those given a title. The fact that they have changed their leadership group from Yze/Robbo etc to Green/Rivers/Moloney etc is a massive step forward for the playing group.

Depends what you want from a ruckman. Bailey obviously values strong bodywork around the clearances rather than what happens around the ground. And Jamar was outstanding last time we played Brisbane.

We actually have room for 3 promoted rookies as we have Neitz (can be replaced because he retired due to injury), Robertson and Moloney as candidates for the long term injury list. Both Aussie and Valenti remain elevated.

They are the 3 things that most people who have seen him play a lot note consistently as concerns. It doesn't mean he's not an exciting prospect, but he's by no means flawless.

I was looking at STAR key forwards, not simply long term key forwards. Cloke is no star (and was F/S), Thompson is no star, Bradshaw was drafted a looooong time ago (1995) and I don't think is a star (but is probably closest of your list) and Burton is a small forward, not a key forward. If you want to stretch the boundaries you could claim Brad Miller who was picked at 55. I'm talking about star key forwards that you can build your side around. You can't build a side around any of the players you mentioned. However you could build a side around the players I mentioned. My list is supposed to be exclusive, because there are not many around. But let's add your players to the list (well, not Burton as he isn't a key forward, and assuming Cloke would have been drafted after pick 12, and assuming that they are star key forwards). That means that only 5 out of the 12 star key forwards were drafted outside the top 5. Still incredible. I don't think everything can be explained by stats, but that many star key forwards drafted inside the first 5 would be a pretty freakish coincidence.