Axis of Bob

If your information is good enough to declare that Freeman to us is a certainty, then what will you do if this proves to be incorrect?

And what if he isn't?

They are only short highlights, but I really liked the way he moved. He was able to work very easily into space, not unlike another 6'3 West Australian kid we used to have on our list.

We only need to pick him once.

Not a lot of attention being paid to Acres, but every draft watcher has him in their top dozen or so. Was injured during the year and playing colts in Western Australia, so he is very much 'out of sight out of mind'. Tall midfielder or flanker that runs really well, uses it very well and has a lot of class. Definitely suits the way we've traded. Given all of this, why wouldn't we draft him at 9? Thoughts?

Still a bit of a smokey for our 3rd pick, according to sources.

If you can't run ......

Given that Collingwood (and Taylor's former boss, Derek Hine) have picks 6 and 10 (with only us and Brisbane having live picks in between), I would be surprised if we heard anything at all about who we might have our eyes on. We will just have to sit and wait.

The first paragraph is the evidence. The conclusion that I have drawn from that evidence is that I don't think that Sheed will be any better than a good ordinary player. What is your evidence for Sheed being a jet?

Heppell and Pendlebury move very differently. All they have in common is that they were high picks and that they are left footers. Pendlebury makes space for himself better than anyone in the league with subtle movements. Heppell is an outside runner who is very clever with the ball, especially by hand. Both of these things are queries I have about Sheed. Sheed appears to lack these innate skills that turn a solid player (Sewell) into a top player (Pendlebury). I compared Sheed in style of footballer to Brad Sewell. Why? Because Sewell is a good footballer who does many things right to a moderately high level. I see the same with Sheed. I have given evidence to back up my view. You just said my view was silly, and left it at that. Please provide some evidence, if you wish to argue the point.

I don't remember his being touted as a top 10 pick either. That's my point. Good player, but you'd expect more if you were drafting in the top 10. Pendlebury's highlights reel was great. His ability to buy time for himself, as well as his quickness inside packs, has made him the star that he is. Sheed does neither of these things and is also 3 inches shorter (and physically mature). Heppell was a completely different style of player. He was a hard running half back distributor, not an inside clearance midfielder. Plus he was far less physically mature than Sheed is.

I will preface this by saying that I haven't seen much of any junior players this year. Sheed will need to become an inside clearance player at AFL level to be really good. I'm just not sure he has the quickness or innate ability to make space for himself in close to become a top level clearance mid. At AFL level you don't have the space and time that you get at under 18 level, so you need a few tricks to be effective. These might be in terms of size, ability to feed the ball quickly, agility, ability to buy yourself time with the footy or speed. I just see an honest footballer who does a lot of good, boring things to a decent level. Many compare him to Priddis, but I don't think he has his tricks. Priddis has very quick hands, which makes him effecting as a stoppage mid, which I didn't see in Sheed. He's very meat and potatoes, but does appear to have a high level of maturity (physically and mentally in his understanding of the game). But I don't think that this production will translate as well at AFL level. I think it would be spending pick 9 on Brad Sewell. I wouldn't do it.

I know that there are Dangerfield comparisons being throw around left right and centre, but I think that the comparison might be better made with Swan. He's not silky smooth but he is a great, powerful athlete. But, his major strength is his ability to go ultra hard for bursts and then rest. Freeman won the repeat sprints very comfortably at the combine. It's that sort of unique ability that gives you the chance of being better than just a good AFL player. As long as his kicking is not 'Nicholson' bad, then I'd be very tempted. But I'd also be very happy to grab either KK or Lennon. After getting our hands on some quality inside ball winners (plus Jones and Viney) I think balancing it with a ball carrier would make sense.

It would exceed mine too. I think that it would be money, but I think pick 2 is the chip that no other team can match. Shiel will know that if he nominates us then the deal can be done, which can't be said of most clubs. But clearly Dylan will become a very rich man if he comes to us.

Yep. It appears that we've been chatting and that he's coming back to Melbourne either now or at the end of his contract. It's just a matter of whether or not GWS want to trade now or later. We just have to make a fair offer.

You went too early. You got impatient. Any decent troll worth his salt would have waited until he threw that bait out there.

I think GWS would be looking for the flexibility of pick 2. They could use pick 2 to trade on to other clubs for players that they'd want. I think that McDonald's value to us would be higher than GWS, purely from an off field/culture POV. I don't think that they'd be happy to do a swap of McDonald for Shiel. From a Melbourne perspective, I would do the deal. I love McDonald, but I think that the ceiling of Shiel is far higher as a damaging, goal kicking midfielder is far higher. The problem is that I would find it very hard to release a really good person from our club when we are trying to build a strong culture. If I was GWS I would be asking for Frawley.

It'd be a big call, GV. I'd certainly give away pick 2 for Shiel. Actually, I'd add a sweetener if it got the deal done. Shiel is quality. Aish is also quality, but Shiel is mature and we know he can do it in the big time. If Shiel is contracted, we might need to give a little bit extra to get the deal done.

And in my opinion that didn't actually happen. I think you have no information and are just an attention seeker. You relayed a rumour and, after a positive reaction, you are trying to keep riding that wave of self worth. But you have nothing and your rumours are getting worse and worse as you try to scrape the barrel of attention. Hey, don't shoot the messenger.

This is a load of rubbish. If I was to post a link to a video that a friend of mine sent me, and that video happened to be of 3 naked people beating a child with a corpse, what do you think would happen to me? What would the reaction be? By passing on the information (the 'message') you have made a conscious decision to do so. If people tell you that your rumours are rubbish and that you are a tool for posting them, then they are completely within their rights to do so. By doing the sort of stuff you have been doing, you invite scorn upon yourself. This is a community of people. I will treat everyone with respect until I deem them not worthy of respect, and this is the same online and in the physical world. If you're a tool, you'll be treated as if you're a tool.

I was. In all seriousness though, he's a very talented player. I hope he is as good for us as we think he will be.

No [censored] policy.

If Perris is only being offered a rookie contract, then there is nothing wrong with Roos telling him that his AFL club would put him on their senior list.

Really happy for Jamie. He has some weaknesses, but he has a huge amount of talent and seems to be a hard worker and a nice kid. I wish him well.

He's a contested marking monster. But that's not what is going to make him a dominant AFL player - it's his running. He's got such a massive tank that he just works his opponent(s) into the ground. This helps him get into one on one contests where he can just monster his (exhausted) man. He's Jonathan Brown, but 18 years old and playing for Melbourne.