Jarka

Picking Bradshaw wouldn't be about winning games, well next year anyway. It would be a decision based around helping develop our young forwards for the future. Watts & Jurrah would have learnt alot playing beside someone as good as Bradshaw, it would have fast tracked their development. However, Bradshaw doesn't want to go to a developing club like Melbourne or Richmond. It's the same as Ball, why pick someone who has no interest in playing with your club? Great idea worthy of discussion but it's unlikely that a player like Bradshaw who has no allegience to the MFC would sacrifice the final couple of years of his playing career to assist our development.

He still has another year to run on his contract, if we delist him a then we have to pay him out. The new rule was brought in to allow clubs to have 'mature age rookies', meaning we could delist him and then take him as a rookie. This effectively allowed us to get Gawn & Fitzpatrick, these are the two 'talented kids' we picked up. I think the club did pretty well tbh

He played all year last season then picked up an injury for their first finals game and then didn't get picked for their second. He then requested a trade back to Victoria, they were unable to get it so he decided not to extend his contract. I prefer that version because they didn't delist him

Cheers, thanks for sharing. Morton putting on 5kgs is good news, hope it continues

The way I see it it's a good thing. Hawk members get in for free will increase the size of the crowd, it will be a great way to start the year financially

Well, I guess we now have a Grawp so why not a Dumbledore & Potter?

This could end up being a great pick (as with any pick) but the video footage of this kid are very impressive. It will be interesting watching Gawn and Spencer fighting it out for a spot.

Missed this comment when I first read the thread but imo ice baths would do a good job in waking anyone up. I think the medical profession should look at this as a standard international treatment of CFS.

If Jaded misses out because she is crude then you better strike my name out as well. Give her the thumb, more than happy to have my name attached to another body appendage

I'll take the thumb

Interesting pick. At first glance he looks like he has the attributes & abilities to make it. Tall, agile, fast, good mark and can kick, but for various reasons he hasn't put it all together yet....and I repeat...yet. I'm actually fairly excited by this kid and what his potential is but I'm not going to expect anything for at least 3 years. He's going to be one of those types that need at least a couple of seasons development. If he makes it then great, but at the late pick he was taken if he doesn't come through it's not going to be a big loss.

Most of the better teams defence's looks good for one reason, their midfield controls the games and doesn't allow direct ball movement into the area. Defence starts in the middle (and sometimes the forwardline). We've got all the talent we need to have a good team, we just now need to develop it properly.

I'm pretty happy with this pick, and I can put up my hand and say that I was one of the few to previously say that we shouldn't go for a tall at 11 just for the sake of it. As for the pick itself, it's reasonable to suggest that we were hoping that Melksham would have fallen to 11, but in the end he was too good a player for that to happen. Lucas was the other main possibility here, good player but query over his disposal and he's also from WA. McMillan-Pittard & Jetta were probably also discussed but I'll presume they wanted someone who can go through the middle as well as kick goals. Stevens & Bartlett may have also been in the mix but the reality is that they were always going to slide for various reasons (injuries). If you look at the collective mock draft comments on Gysberts they're full of comments which were unsure & had mixed feelings. Basically most people were unsure on his ability and potential. Some stated he had poor disposal while others were impressed with his skills. You have to remember though that the majority of the mock drafts authors are amateurs who don't see many games. There are only a few who I read and take seriously. 'Group think' is a common theme. People look at our forward and dont see a dominant big forward so they presume we have a weakness there and will try to rectify it. But they don't delve further and consider the talent we've got coming through, the planend structure and the style of footy the FD wants the team to play. It's basing a decision on only 20% of the facts, you're bound to get it wrong. Did I predict Gysberts at 11? Hell no, it was a surpise to me like everyone else, but on reflection and looking at his videos it makes sense. I love all of our picks, although Troy Taylor would have been great but we just don't have the room.

A big thank you to everyone for these updates and info sharing, greatly apprciated

Personally I love seeing losers posting on opposition forums trying to troll, you realise how sad their lives are when they resort to such pathetic actions. The facts are that the pies won their last almost two decades ago, so if you are old enough to remember it then that says even more about you.

I would love to have Ball at Melbourne, however it would mean missing out on a pretty dcent kid at 18. Perhaps someone like Troy Taylor just to put into perspective. I see positives for both scenarios so I'm really not fussed which way we go, I respect Ball's playing ability and leadership qualities but I also back the judgement of BP to pick up a quality kid - basically I can't lose

Short answer - No Long answer - Hell no

Lack of interest in the cricket is also due to how poor the West Indies are at the moment. It's difficult to get excited about them

Nathan Brown to Richmond perhaps?

That doesn't explain why Ball wants to go to Collingwood, who tanked to get Pendlebury and Thomas /shrug

I don't quite see the Judd comparisons, although he is very 'Cousins' like. We are very, very lucky to be in a position to get both Scully and Trengove, we weren't the worst team this year.

Nice opening post & fwiw I agree.

I agree H, spot on

But we've spoken to his manager, it clearly states that.

Don't put words into my mouth, I wasn't referring to you with that comment. I was referring to those that were carrying on because Ball apparently turned his back on us. Clearly I'm not embarrased at all by my comment. Melbourne stated on several occasions that we were very interested in getting him, if the MFC required a way out then all they had to do was to deny that he was in a plans right from the begining, in reality we chased him hard.