Axis of Bob

Our first rounder for this year is Weideman. You can't look at this draft in isolation.

There is also a chance that we knew we could always do the trade for this year's pick, and were just waiting until late in the period to do it in case a really interesting opportunity came up in the meantime.

Also, not doing that deal has meant that they haven't been able to do other deals. In the past we have done the deals quickly, allowing us to look at trade period as a whole. Essendon have sucked at trading because they have only looked at deals in isolation. Given our desire to do fair deals over last period, I'm happy to back our club's judgement on this at the moment.

Even the sole Sam Wiedeman thread, a player we drafted less than 48 hours ago, is hijacked to become another Jack Watts thread.

If you get a chance, do yourself a favour and watch the first quarter of the AFL Academy vs Northern Blues match from the beginning of the year. Wiedeman plays at CHF and is the dominant big man of the ground, taking 5 marks and kicking 2 goals. He could probably have grabbed another one or two with better delivery. What stands out is that he marks the ball in a range of ways; he's not just a lead and mark player or a body on body player. Instead, he took marks leading straight up at the kicker, marks bending his lead to space, jumping over the top of players, in a one-on-one push and shove, and pushing back hard into an opponent to mark in front. It makes it much more difficult to defend because you can't just play him one way, but you have to protect a range of options. He'll need to build up his running significantly, but he was supposedly in the top couple of runners at Eastern a few years ago, so I suspect he has at least some natural endurance to him. But if he can get his running up then he could be very dangerous with Hogan, because they are both players who can beat you in a number of different ways. Both players will need a multi-talented key defender to look after them.

The thing I like about Oliver is that I think he has the attributes to be a better than good player. That's not to say that he will, but he has the attributes. He obviously has the power in his game, which is great, but he has the ability to beat players using his sidestep in traffic. He is actually able to create his own pocket of space where there is none, and this often separates good players from really good players. For example, Bernie Vince is a good player but that's all he is. He gets the ball in congestion and gives it off quickly or hacks it forward, both of which are legitimate options for a good player. Whereas Pendlebury is a really good player. He can get the ball in congestion and then beat an opponent to create space for himself, which means that his clearance is now an attacking opportunity with clean possession retained. Oliver looks like he could create opportunities from contested situations with his combination of power, agility and composure. I'm not saying that he'll automatically be a superstar, but I'm certainly feeling bullish at this very early point. And if I can't be bullish now, when can I be!

FWIW, he averaged 6 tackles a game in the TAC Cup this year. For comparison's sake only, Parish averaged 3.

I like that he clearly looks like a talented player, but he had almost no fitness base and looks to be carrying a bit of weight still. He should improve significantly, I would think, given AFL preseasons to trim down and get his running capacity up. But his stoppage work and ability to create space and time for himself seem to be excellent. The highlights look great, but they always do, however I think need to be looking for snippets of him doing things that are a bit special, which I think it does.

Same. I still think he'll be a good player but not what you'd be hoping for at with pick 3. Heppell is an excellent endurance athlete and is 189 cm. The frame is not what worries me, it's his running.

I think Viney has genuine pace and power in his first few steps, but I don't necessarily see that with Parish. Parish looked like he gets his space because he's already moving at the stoppage; I wonder if he's going to be able to do that at AFL level with the extra numbers and opposition size.

Riley Dunn, David Trotter, Luke Molan and Clayton Oliver OR Brett Deledio, Chris Judd, Brendan Goddard and Darcy Parish. You choose which type MFC should pursue.

McKenzie, Valenti, Stark, Oliver OR S Burgoyne, Rioli, Deledio, Parish. You choose which type MFC should pursue.

They are poor numbers. If we're looking for a partner for Hogan, who runs his opponents into the ground all day, then I'd want to exploit that by matching him with someone who would do the same. Having a key forward that can't run makes us predictable up forward and easier to match up on. I think I'm coming around to the idea of selecting Curnow based on type (since I haven't seen them play), because getting the right forward structure will be harder than adding talent to our pool of midfielders. If we take Curnow, that leaves Parish, Milera and Oliver on the board with 3 live picks until our pick 7. Unless Essendon picks 2 midfielders and Gold Coast one, then we'll have one of those guys .... although it will depend on how we rate them. I think there will be midfield options at 7. Plus, I know Taylor rated Lewis Taylor, who is tiny, so the idea of getting a player like Gresham may not seem beyond the realms of possibility at 7.

The other way of looking at it is that we were trying to trade next year's pick for a top 10 pick this year, and giving a little bit extra in moving 6 to 3 was mutually beneficial based on who Gold Cost were hoping to draft. If you think about it this way, we may not have specifically earmarked a player for pick 3. That's not what I think has happened, but it's possible.

An interesting article for those who were upset that we were paying too much for Melksham and thought we should be paying 'hardball' like St Kilda. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/how-harvard-helped-the-dangerfield-deal-20151031-gkno93.html

How can you like the look of him? You haven't even seen him! That said, actually having seen him play could well be an impediment to your judgement.

They are OK highlights. They show that he has a good sized, mature body and is much more powerful than 17 year old kids. I'm not sure it tells me a lot else. But, if you want to treat yourself, these are real highlights: Real Draft Highlights

Currently the only videos are from an amateur watcher piecing together play involvements (good, bad or indifferent) from two games that were televised in the National Championships. Parish only has one game of involvements in Geelong where he only touched the ball 9 times. You are seeing those 9 touches in a game where he was a bit down (The previous game he had 24 touches and was BOG. The videos are not highlights. The highlights will be done by the AFL closer to the draft.

Mahoney has said this trade period that we are not yet a destination club. However, as we improve, we will become a destination club. We have targeted a player and acquired him with a minimum of fuss. What does this say? This tells Dion Prestia, Jaeger O'Meara or whoever we are trying to get, that if you choose to come to the MFC then you will be able to get here without a fuss. It says that the club will do the right thing by you to ensure that you aren't screwed over and potentially thrown into the pre-season draft. Can St Kilda say that? Why hasn't Essendon been able to land anyone decent? Look at what Hawthorn is doing to get Carlisle; they're just getting the job done without a fuss. If you were a player choosing between us and the Saints, would you choose the team that may potentially throw you under the bus or will you choose the team that has shown that it will get the job done for you?

You're you're going to keep throwing your toys out of the pram and acting like teenage girl because of the potential influence by people who are no longer at the club on decisions made by completely different people? I'm sure there's a meme around to explain how ridiculous that is.

Melksham for 25 is a fair deal. He's a relatively young, talented player who has played over 100 games of footy, so Essendon have already done all the donkey work for us. He is also a much more talented player than your average AFL footballer, and could fill a very good role for us in an area that we have been poor in for a number of years (providing line breaking run from half back). When I think about his recruitment I keep thinking about Rhyce Shaw. Shaw was an inconsistent wingman who was always in and out of the VFL. He was traded for a 3rd round pick to Sydney, who gave him a specific role in defence to use his run. At the time everyone was laughing at Sydney for trading for Shaw, since he was always derided by Collingwood supporters. Shaw took this simplified role, along with his added experience, and played nearly 150 more games with Sydney, including finishing 2nd in the B&F twice. Melksham has talent and speed, and has been underperforming for the last two years at a basketcase of a club. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that a move to a better club, along with a simplified role across half back, would see Melksham become an important member of a good team. Certainly there is a better chance of him doing it than pick 25 (or whatever it becomes). You certainly couldn't pick up a player with his talent in this draft with pick 25.

Melksham is a mixture of good and bad, but his good bits of play are the type that we really lack and are hard to get. He has good pace and excellent movement in contests, which allows him to break out of contests into space and move the ball quickly. The best teams can break into space and that's where a lot of the scoring now comes from. Melksham can do some things that make you rip your hair out but he has a skill that we lack, in an age group that is important. If he becomes the quality midfielder he was drafted to be then great, but if not he becomes a mature role player to bring a unique skill to our team.

Melksham isn't/wasn't slow. There are knocks on him as a footballer, but he is a really good runner who moves very well. If we are going for him it will be because we think he is a better footballer than he has shown himself to be at Essendon. He has good attributes that would be help him be part for an AFL team, as he's quick, has good endurance, moves well and is versatile (and only 24). For a team that lacks run, these are attractive attributes. Remember how much people were laughing at Sydney for taking Rhyce Shaw? His background was very similar.

What is also influential is our ability to polish off the tail quickly. It Mitch Starc + New ball + Tailenders = Carnage

This thread wasn't on the front page and I thought that was disrespectful to Jesse Hogan. I love how he has 21 touches, 9 marks and 3 goals, which may well be as good a game as a key forward has had for us in a decade (and probably the most complete forward performance in the AFL this round), yet supporters are neither shocked nor surprised. I think we supporters may be getting 'superlative fatigue' with Jesse. He's a 20 year old playing his 7th game. He's just just phenomenal.