Harry Manback

I never really understood the whole "Melbourne supporters don't like the Dome" theory until the weekend- it's just a terrible, terrible place to watch the football. The seating on the bottom level is too low to the ground so you don't get a good idea of the space around the play, the seating on the second level is off limits to non-medallion club members (and dare say, away team club members) and you can't see the near boundary line from the top level. Serious planning issues with that place. Can't wait to get back to the 'G this Friday night.

That being the case, how do you explain all that drivel in the Jack Watts threads?? Damning evidence to the contrary, I would have thought...

Pick 30, National Draft actually. Nevertheless, agree with the sentiments.

Before being prodded by Caro that he believed Bailey would make a better assistant coach, Thomas actually stated that he believed Bailey was the best developmental coach in the game. With the current state of our list and the plethora of youngsters which we have drafted over the past three seasons, it would appear from Thomas' perspective that we are in pretty good hands, at least for the next couple of seasons anyway. Exactly. The Club was obviously more realistic about our prospects for the 2010 seasons than the majority of posters here on 'land. No doubt the excitement generated by adding another four top 20 picks to the list significantly raised the expectations of a team that has won only 12 of its past 66 games. The lack of AFL quality footballers that we drafted in the period from 2000-2002 has left a significant gap in the playing list, which is being accentuated now as these players would ordinarily be entering into the peak years of their AFL careers. The Club went down the developmental path because it became obvious in 2007 that the list we had was not good enough to deliver a premiership. Whilst the focus from a fan's perspective has shifted to the quality of youth that we have drafted since the 2007 draft (especially at the pointy end of the draft), the fact is that the ten top 21 picks accrued since 2007 have played a combined total of 70 games; Cale Morton has played 40 of them. There's still a lot of games and development to be put into this list before we start to see the results that we all hope these quality kids are capable of. Spot on. Bailey has stated time and time again that we need to develop and get the games into these kids we have drafted, and an unfortunate byproduct of this development stage is that we are going to see some pretty ordinary performances from time to time. It would have been counter-productive to what the Club is trying to achieve for the media and fans alike to be baying for blood on the back of every sub-par performance in a season where Bailey is coming out of contract. It has taken Bailey two seasons to completely rebuild the list through the draft, and he was never going to be able to prove either that he could or couldn't coach based on the results of this season alone. From that perspective I can understand the reasons for the Club offerring him an additional year to give him the best chance to prove that he can have success with the list he has put together. Nobody knows whether or not Bailey will be the best man to lead us forward beyond 2012, but one thing that is obvious from the weekend's performance is that this list still has a hell of a long way to go before it can seriously challenge the better teams of the competition, and the poor performance against the Hawks probably gave a lot of supporters a harsh reality check.

I'm hoping that Morton can eventually develop into a forward as his body grows and he develops more strength. Will be an extremely dangerous match-up with his height and running capacity, not to mention his ability to hit them from outside the 50m arc. I remember reading that he saw himself developing into a CHF in the long term, and believe he played that position quite a bit at Colts level. I'd love to see him start on a forward flank next year with the license to run up and down the wing and push hard into the forward 50 to create another marking target. His running capacity and ability to find space make him an ideal candidate for such a role IMO.

Very impressed with his highlight reel. The boy can take a grab. Was warming to the idea of taking him at 18 as he fitted a specific need, so was thrilled to see him last until pick 34. Fingers crossed he can get his body right and fulfill his potential.

Here is a pic from the Herald Sun of the new guernsey. The angle isn't very great but the larger Hancook logo is noticeable, as is the Reebok logo being moved on the neckline. Agree that there doesn't appear to be much of a difference in the colors, but regardless of the shade used it sure feels good to see these boys wearing the Red and Blue...

CC stated that the only tall the Dees rated for pick 11 was Butcher, and they suspected he would be gone by pick 8. He said that they were all about drafting "good AFL players", and would not just take a tall for the sake of it if they didn't believe they warranted to be picked there. I was pretty surprised when he told us that Gysberts was in the mix for pick 11, based purely on the fact that he had been touted to go in the 20s in most mock drafts that have been doing the rounds (and I was under the impression we would target someone like Talia, as had been predicted). BP and the team obviously believe that Gysberts was the best player available at pick 11 and there's no question they would be in a better position to make that call than the likes of Matt Burgan or Emma Quayle who predicted otherwise... The club also seems to think that his style of play will complement that of Scully and Trengove.

CC said our targets for pick 18 were Aaron Black and Luke Tapscott - he said they really liked Gawn but thought he'd be taken before 34 so they would look to target Fitzpatrick at that pick. When both Gawn and Fitzpatrick were available at 34 they chose Gawn as they believed Fitzpatrick would be more likely to last until pick 50, which he did. There really was some good insight into what the club was looking for and which players they would be targeting with their specific picks- we've all seen the recruiters bring out the old "we couldn't believe he lasted til pick y as we were considering him for pick x" line, but watching the draft unfold and seeing the picks fall precisely as CC suggested they would was something else.

I think the story went that both Blease and Strauss were after 17 and couldn't work it out between themselves so went to CC for some mediation of sorts; they were subsequently handed 46 and 47 respectively and told to earn their stripes... Unfortunately both got injured so didn't really get the chance to do that but I would assume both would get a number upgrade for next season. I always have liked the number 13 for Blease, can see him running around on the wing causing havoc for the opposition much like Ooze did in his early years.

Picks of the Draft: Jack Trengove

The Dees will be holding a draft night event at the Hugh Trumble Café at MCG. Draft Event Details Sounds like a pretty good initiative from the club, no doubt looking to capitalize on the excitement generated from having the top 2 picks.

Brilliant.

Spot on. Even with the apparent shallowness of this years draft we should still be able to get someone pretty decent with pick 18. I'd much rather take a punt in the draft on a kid who could potentially give us 10 years service, and look at picking up Thorp in the PSD as he fits the age profile and is a KPP.

Picks of the Draft: Tom Scully

I really hope the Dees are considering Thorp for the PSD. Notwithstanding his acrimonious departure from the Hawks and queries over both his body and attitude, Thorp was a highly rated junior and at 20 years of age fits in perfectly with our youth drafting policy. He is also a 194cm KPF who would fill a significant need in our team structure. I'm not disputing the fact that he would be coming across with baggage and there's every possibility that the Hawks were justified when deciding he was not worth the trouble... However, a new environment together with the reality check he would have no doubt received upon getting delisted may just be the catalyst he needs to get his act together. The Dees should invite him down to pre-season training and get a first hand look at him to assess his attitude, ability to interact with his potential teammates and see exactly where his body is at. We have absolutely nothing to lose - the worst thing that could come of it would be that all the reports about his body and attitude are correct and we can just leave him for Richmond in the PSD. At best, he could deliver on the talent that saw him selected at number 6 in the 2006 draft and become a valuable member of our push towards that elusive 13th flag... Judging from the tone of this thread I doubt this post will receive much support, but I believe Thorp is a far more exciting prospect for the MFC than Luke Ball and really hope the club does its due diligence in deciding whether or not he is worth the risk.

A new logo perhaps? Bringing back the Demon....

Jurrah didn't nominate for the National Draft, but was given special permission to nominate for the PSD and Rookie Drafts. I doubt we'd be that lucky again. Stefan Martin is a better example of the type of player that would be available in the PSD.

My thoughts exactly! Saints are obviously investing heavily in pace but I think they have missed the mark with Peake. There's no way he could have broken into the Saints side this year. Depth player at best.

12-16 sausages... Not a bad article, certainly has come from a fair way back to make it to the AFL. Could be worth a look if nothing else pops up for the PSD...

This is a pretty good deal all round. Essendon would be thrilled to secure pick 16, and Lovett is the exact type of player the Saints need- besides Montagna, they have very little midfield pace and his ability to break the lines will add another string to an already long St Kilda bow. Also has the versatility to play as a defensive, goal-kicking forward, and you would assume the type of environment that Lyon has established at St Kilda could only help a player with Lovett's baggage. Both teams have done pretty well with this one. Wouldn't be surprised if Lovett is the Saints missing link.

Nice article from Emma Quayle... Scully's waiting game

Funny to think this time last year we would have jumped at the chance to trade Sylvia for pick 11 and sign Brock for a further 2 years... How quickly things change. On this season's form Col is our most important player. Great news.

Some potential tax complications with such a scenario I would have thought...