Axis of Bob

Midfield.

I like Dr Who's random quotation mark generator.

Firstly, I haven't seen many quick mids without pace. Secondly, Viney is exactly the sort of player we would be after. Exactly. We are after ball winning midfielders - guys who get first hands on the footy at stoppages and win contested ball. We have a game that relies a lot on our stoppage work and contested footy. Viney is the best player in the draft at this, from all accounts, and we are guaranteed to be able to get him. We need to be able to get our hands on the footy. We have outside runners from previous drafting needed. Now we are looking for class ball winners. Or, to be honest, any class genuine midfielder.

GWS? No, Richmond is the real threat.

Dr Who, Given that you've been lurking on the board for the last hour and a half yet still refuse to answer the question (I even went to the trouble of bolding and underlining it so that you saw it), one can only assume that you actually don't know. You are speaking a lot but have no idea what you are saying. Unfortunately it is left to other posters to read. The only victim in this is your credibility as a poster ........ again.

Then answer the question. Who would you trade and what would you trade him for? Give an example of a satisfactory deal. Put it in the following form: "Melbourne trades: Player X / Draft pick X Club Z trades: Player Y / Draft pick Y" I will take a future failure to answer the question as an admission that you have no solution. I wait with eager anticipation.

So your plan is to get rid of Jamar to free agency. Jamar for, effectively, nothing. Good work "exploting their weakness". That'll show them!!

True. Who would you trade and what would you trade him for? Give an example of a satisfactory deal. Put it in the following form: "Melbourne trades: Player X / Draft pick X Hawthorn trades: Player Y / Draft pick Y"

And his opponent? Who was he? How did he go? What sort of influence did he have? He's killed us more than once in his career.

Really? What was his role today - do you know? How has his role changed since last year? I thought he was reasonably good today.

You said "And FFS Morton stop being so lazy you can't be arsed hitting a target by hand 3meters away." Blaming Morton for missing a handball by saying that he "can't be arsed hitting a target" is completely mindless. What you are saying is that he thought about hitting the target, but instead made the decision to not bother to hit the target. Do you understand how silly this is? You have a default opinion for Morton (that he's lazy) and are just attributing any error he makes as being a result of that. It's wrong and it's mindless. You didn't think about it, you just said it. It's mindless. Hence it being mindless bashing. You do it all the time.

It probably says that you aren't very perceptive.

Morton was good. He was good last week too. A skill error is not laziness - it's a skill error. Give the mindless Morton bashing a rest.

I'm just worried about Richmond poaching Scully.

Morton was nowhere near our worst and actually provided the team with something that we sorely lack - run. When we struggled badly with the spread from stoppages and contests, Morton ran bloody hard to provide and option. He had one or two turnovers, but that's all people remember. His hard running was actually very important and missing from many of his team mates.

Ha! I was up at that point watching us as we were collapsing. All I was hoping that they'd bowl badly to Hilfy and he'd smack a quick 30 odd. Harris batted very well and Lyon was fantastic! I was waiting for the moment when Nathan Lyon was going to surpass Siddle's highest first class score of 45. The way Lyon was batting it looked like he'd get there comfortably too. I'm still not exactly thrilled with our tail (despite their performance this match). Before this match Harris averaged 10 with that bat, Siddle 15, Hilfy 15 and Lyon 8. We are fine if these guys batted from 9 on, but we lack a real number 8 who is capable of playing long innings. They are all capable 'Brett Lees', but not many 'Mitchell Johnsons'. Pattinson should become that number 8 in time, as he looks very accomplished, so I'm not as worried as a long term issue.

billy, edit your post and remove my name immedaitely, then, you can post an apology to me on this thread.

I have no idea what happened inside the club. That's the point. You cannot make concrete claims about what happened because you don't know either. sue clearly put up a hypothetical alternative to demonstrate to you that you don't know what happened. Did she believe it? Probably not, but she understood that she didn't know ..... which you did not understand. Exactly.

Why?

Good post. I agree with most of what you say. I also agree with the outcome. The balance of the ledger has also been tipped further that way for me by our poor start to the year, where our draft picks will be earlier than maybe expected (although it's only round 2). It's a high quality draft, by all accounts, and it's a midfielders draft too. There are some quality midfield prospects around and they are generally easier to pick. We are lucky with Viney, because he's a high quality meat axe that fills a void in midfield. With the other picks I would be looking at more complete midfielders who are capable inside but also really good spreaders from stoppages. But does this affect the culture in which these players will develop?

Prendergast said, during the 2009 draft night, that 'pack size' was important. He's right and it still is. It's about being able to move the ball forward from stoppages, and stoppages are always important because you can either win territorially or win with possession which can be good for any plan. Also, the press means that there is plenty of space over the back and it's a matter of getting the ball past the press quickly. That means either winning an outnumbered contest inside the press or forcing a stoppage (ie, winning territorially) or moving it through the press uncontested with run or ball movement (ie, winning with possession). The first one requires big bodied inside midfielders, and the second one requires skillful and pacy runners. To be able to adapt to the game we need a balance of players.

It's interesting. But we are already starting to see teams beating the press. We saw what happened when we tried to chase after the prevailing trend - we went for big butts because of Brisbane in the early 2000s, but then the game started going uncontested and we were stuffed! Very few of those players are still around. The aim is to look at players and select those which are adaptable - those that will have a role to play in any side. These players need to be able to run, win the footy and use it well. Watts will be a top class in any era. He can run, win the footy, great size and exquisite user of the ball. Will he end up as a power forward or as a midfielder? It doesn't really matter because he'll be a star in either role as he gets bigger and his endurance improves. Everyone is enamoured with Buddy as a big power forward, but really he can't mark the footy unless he's one on one - yet this is some sort of deal breaker for Watts? Blease has done one preseason since he was about 15 or 16 and has improved his running ability enormously this year. But he still needs plenty of time to get this up to standard. His aerobic base is so low that he would be struggling to breathe at times last year after playing a few minutes as a loose man in defence for the Casey reserves! He's a player who needs time, because he will be the sort of player that good teams need to break the play open (in any game style). Speed athletes need time to improve their aerobic capacity to AFL standard, like we have seen with Dale Thomas, Colin Sylvia, Aaron Davey, Brett Deledio, Trent Cotchin. Chris Yarran etc. Blease's injuries haven't let him do that yet. Bennell has heaps of talent, but doesn't win enough of the ball. At the same age Aaron Davey, another speed athlete, couldn't even get on an AFL list! He has shown glimpses of real quality, but just isn't doing it enough. That is something that often comes with maturity and confidence. Teams are already starting to beat the press. What's the next phase? Hawthorn kick through it, while other teams are running through it. Teams are trying to move the ball really quickly, and that requires players that run quickly and kick with penetration. We have those players, but these are the players that take longer to develop. It's very fashionable now to kick our list after some losses while they are adapting to a new defensive game. However these players are there, but will take some more time. They also need some quality around them to make their qualities more valuable.

Exactly. The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

Exactly right, RTG. Tapscott has some really good talent. He has great ball skills, is aggressive, wins hard footy and is a beautiful kick. But he hasn't really done a preseason yet due to injury. I'd love him in the midfield, but he hasn't done anywhere near enough running work in his time at Melbourne for this to be feasible. He hasn't yet, so he will be limited in the number of roles that he can play.

I didn't say whether or not I'd keep him. I don't know who he was playing on (possibly a variety of roles). What I am saying is that I have no idea what he was asked to do, so it's hard to tell how well he played in relation to that. My feel is that he struggled, though, considering he was subbed off!!