Bay Riffin

by the look of Plapps Casey report he still has things to work on (maybe defensive running??). If you went by the report you would think Brayshaw, ANB and Hunt are in the mix for next week.

i think the time has come to be inventive and put Dunn or Garland up forward if only to give the older heads a new lease of life and keep the opposition guessing. Garland would be a good defensive forward who can also take a grab.

They are expert at jumping us then holding us at arms length for the remainder of the game. be nice to get an early jump and keep them under pressure. Which Melbourne will rock up?

He has missed a lot of footy in the last two years. The club will want to get continuity in his training, and hopefully get a full year of playing under his belt. He desperately needs that with a young body. Hopefully his confidence will grow to run out games properly. He should be nurtured through as we have Dawes, Pederson, Frost, Hullett, Max king as options before him at the moment.

excellent kick of the football. natural reader and disposer of the ball. Free agency gave Hawthorn an absolute gem for their premierships, right where their weakness was. not sure if you've watched him play to say that comment.

Lake always had absolute elite disposal, Gibson is a very neat left footer who hit up targets well. frawley is an excellent shut down defender as was shown in the grand final.

I believe it. its not as though it was AFL training. teenagers who love sport will stay out all day kicking the ball around. doesn't always have to be hard at it.

KEEP TRAINING IN THE WET. Carey in his last book mentioned how it was a cornerstone of his development. When ever it rained growing up his older brother would take him out on the oval and they would spend up to 8 hours training in the wet. till it was too dark. if you could master that, handling a dry ball was so much easier. and I remember watching him in the wet he would dominate, and still not drop the ball when most would. Let it rain !!

if you look hard enough you can find racism, even when it's non existent apparently.

I have no problem with trading out a second rounder for a 100 gamer. makes sense as most overrate draft picks anyway. but I thought the timing of this was poor. we targeted a player just before he was up before an international doping body, outside the hands of the AFL. could we have targeted other 'decent' half back types with a 4 year deal? footy still seems like the old school 'mates' situation. just bring in those you know. until you get to top 4 that is. Given we lost Howe I fee we have weakened our experience level now. and that was in our control.

he is a classic case of a player who would be good all the time if everyone could play their role like him. I hope we do improve to at least the 10 win mark to see how he goes when we are very competitive. at times like the Carlton game howeverhe was pathetic in his lack of chasing. just literally gave up.

good point. We need someone to map all the piano shops in Melbourne and inform the club so Petracca doesn't walk past them.

I knew as soon as someone else knew we had a player, that we had a player.

No doubt he has the capability to become a good player. he has brain fades but like N Jones goes 100% and will eventually work out a way. is a good long kick and has a bit of old fashioned grunt in him.

I can see him getting games early and his positive is he racks them up at VFL level so has a fantastic attitude. My Collingwood mate loves him and didn't want him to go.

Go back and look at Buddy's under 18 year and see his body of work (or lack of). I think you have to go a bit on instinct here. Look at Salem, and see if he was getting much of the ball in his first 10 games. he was getting low possessions, but they could see what he could become. Based on the last 2 years, I trust Taylor to pick the right player. I was more concerned if we picked up Parish whose body of work is unquestionably good. but how will that slight frame go against Watson, Pendlebury, Kennedy, Cripps etc? too often its proven the bigger bodied players gain confidence quicker for mine.

yes he looks a terrier but I think he is decent depth (above Matt Jones but below Brayshaw,Viney, Vandenburg, Vince, Jones) as he also has his deficiencies. That is agility and height. Speed is ok but not express. kicking looks ok over short distances. he looks a link player, clever, but won't be a 'yardage' player like a Brayshaw, roosting it over the oppositions press. looks like a poor mans Viney to me. his grunt is very good though.

what do you mean he wasn't on the radar ? how do you know that?. the journos had Melbourne and Essendon interviewing and all over Oliver. just because he came on in the second half of the year doesn't mean clubs did want him. sounds to me if we didn't take him, he was gooooone by pick 9.

Looks a gun, although I've never seen him. or heard of him.

we picked up a ruck in the main draft. that makes 2 developing rucks on our list with Gawn and Spencer.

I think Vandenburg is the hardest of the lot, the on'es that hurt the opposition the most.

Heppell is a lot bigger than Toumpas.

I don't quite get your thinking here. I would feel more like that is was Essendon who have picked Parish who looks very good but so slight and there only midfield in their first 4 picks in the top 30. Oliver has played well against men and shone at junior lever, big bodied and looks likely to play in his first year. Weideman I think was selected on gut feel as a very good footballer who has been injured. but who knows he may get to have a full season for Casey. and as a tall with Dawes and Hogan ahead of him, is that such a bad thing? We are picking bigger bodies so we don't have to wait for years.

I agree. When he pushes up into the 20s I think we will have a genuine gun on our hand. reminds me a bit of Libba Jnr who I rate as the top young midfielder in the league (well equal with Cripps). very attacking but ultra defensive as well. just a natural footballer. can break lines and seriously roost it 60 metres forward. lets hope we can develop the new young guns the same way so he doesn't become the number 1 tagged player in the team with too much pressure.

based on these highlights, I have made the decision to re-draft Jordie McKenzie at pick 3. smooth as silk on the run and very good goal sneak. highlights don't lie people.