Jarka

I saw Morton put his body on the line at least a couple of times, so in a word, yes, he should be playing AFL.

Neither do you apparently

Ok sunshine, I'll play your little game. Who is it then and what evidence do you have other than the voices in your head?

So, who is our highest paid player? It's actually a very, very difficult question to answer.

The main problem with Bate is what's his best position? Curiously this was a big quesiton mark about him even before he was drafted... Add Dunn to that query as well. And Sylvia, screw it, throw PJ in that category as well.

Hard to argue with this

Missed Dunn, but I can understand why

"That meant they probably didn't always retain what was perceived as the 'best' or most skillful players in the squad" I'd call players who can kick as skillful, wouldn't you? The op specifically said that Brereton claimed that they didn't go for the skilled players, whereas I've heard him say on a different occasion that they specifically targeted these types. Sure a player can be both but you're missing the point.

Thanks Japaljarri, this should ease some people around here

I've also heard Brereton say that they only drafted kids who could kick, i reckon he forgets what he previously said. There's a bloke who loves the sound of his own voice

The age qualification date has been raised this year meaning it won't be a full strength draft. An example is that if it had of been last year then Watts and Blease wouldn't have qualified for the draft.

I want Bailey to continue to develop a team for the future. Winning is always good but this year it's irrelevant.

They looked more like a cross between caspar the ghost and Lawrence of Arabia than the KKK

So you agree that it's not as strong and not as deep?

erical is the guy on BF who has made this prediction, he does have some history with claiming to know Jurrah's family and having inside knowledge, let me explain... At the start of the year he created a thread on the drafting board stating that Jurrah was not happy in Melbourne and had left the club and gone back home, obviously this with complete and utter crap. Another poster said that he knew who erical was, a bus driver based in Alice, so it's plausible that he may speak to Jurrah's family on the odd occasion. Whatever the truth is, erical's first claims were bogus. His family may have said something like 'Liam is finding difficult in Melbourne' which is fair enough and plausible, perhaps the chinese whispers effect kicked in? Who knows, just take it with a grain of salt. I'd be rapt to see him play, but I can wait a couple of more weeks for him to develop his game more.

Perhaps, but you can't deny that the strength and depth of this draft is clearly going to be affected because of the increase of the age requirements.

I agree with the comment about Bailey, he has a long way to go before being considered successful. However you have to admit that he is showing signs that he appears to be better at developing a team than Daniher. Admittedly this hasn't been demonstrated by a good win/loss ratio, however he took over a team that had alot of holes in it. Something went horribly wrong during the Daniher/Cameron era, I always put it down to poor recruiting among other things but it's a discussion that has no clear answer

Are they now? I count 6 - 98, 00, 02, 04, 05 & 06. In 2000 we had a good year, except for a near record loss in the GF... The rest of our finals efforts were terrible. How many finals did we win after 2000? Our team was soft and crumbled as soon as the tempo stepped up which it does in finals footy. Half the competition participates in finals each year, that means some very average teams get in. Good teams are judged by their finals performances so go back and look at our efforts in 2004, 05 & 06 and come back here and construct an argument that we were a good side back then.

Ok, so perhaps our recruiting over the last decade hasn't been that bad... How then, do you explain the team's performance during that time? Those are the only facts you can truly rely on.

This years draft is not as strong as the last couple, they'll be a big difference between the top 3 picks and the rest of the top 10.

I don't expect him to dominate, but if he can play like he did today consistently then I'll be happy.

An interesting assessment of Richmonds list, but more interestingly comparing it to ours and the different approach each team has made. I think they're being a little too kind to us, we've really gone down a path that we no choice with because our senior players were not up to it. It's good to see that outsiders are beginning to believe though. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...5-19771,00.html

He's been described by some as the complete package, however that may be getting a bit carried away. Let's see how he goes this year.

We're currently a bottom four side, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. Of course I want to see the team win, but I want a premiership more than anything else, so what Bailey needs to do now is to play for the future, however he really doesn't have any choice because of the state of the list. We've got some decent kids on our list with potential but not many of them have really shown alot at AFL level, yet. I'm talking about Grimes, Petterd, Maric, Wona, Blease, Spencer, Strauss, Jurrah, Jetta, Bennell etc. We also have guys like Meesen and Newton who have serious question marks about them, this year is a perfect chance to decide once and for all if they get a spot on the list. Let's play them, what have we got to lose? It's not like they're taking the spot of a champion senior player. To those who say that top picks don't guarantee great players, I agree, to some extent. However, the draft process has changed, we know alot more about the kids than ever before and it's atually pretty rare that a top pick is a dud. Let's look at the top two picks in the last six drafts: 2008 - Watts, Naitanui 2007 - Kruezer, Cotchin 2006 - Gibbs, Gumbleton 2005 - Murphy, Thomas 2004 - Deledio, Roughead 2003 - Cooney, Walker Out of all of those players the only one I don't rate is Walker and Gumbleton's injuries have held him back, but if were we completely honest when fully fit both would walk straight into our current team. The vast majority would all be in our top 10 players, easily. We have a great opportunity to continue to develop our kids, to find out about some of our fringe players and to top up the list with some exciting talent. Basically this year we can lay the foundation for the future decade.

H is right, don't use the first pick on a ruckman, not worth the risk. Vickery is a little different though because of his ability to go forward but that's a different argument entirely. At this stage Scully, Butcher and Lucas would probably be the leading three, but as Jack Watts showed us last year a year is a long time in footy, best to have this conversation after the national u/18's comp. With regards to what to go for I've changed my mind a little. For example if Scully and Lucas look like the two best at the end of the year (I presuming we get a PP) then I'm all for getting them. I don't care what position we get, I just want the two best kids available. Two gun midfielders who have great disposal and can break the lines would make me very, very happy. Having said that, if Butcher continues to impress it would be hard to pass on him.