grazman

No Judd, No Kerr and No Cousins... injury concerns over Priddis, Wirrapanda and Embley still underdone... nope Collingwood for mine.

In cases like these you have to barrack against the home crowd! Besides it's kinda fun to watch Pies supporters get their hopes up and then have them crushed.

OK I'll blow my own trumpet here... at the start of the year I at least picked Geelong to finish in the four.... but I'd picked North for the spoon as well. Two years ago Geelong supporters were questioning the value of Bartel and whether he shouldn't be traded, last year they were hopeless, couldn't win and many of their supporters were calling for a clean out. Ling was too slow, Enright and Corey were OK, but not world betters.... etc. Many supporters crashed into despair at seeing a team many believed should be challenging for the top four, dwelling in the bottom four. As Allan Jeans once said 90% of the game is played above the shoulders....The change this year is that they play like a team - they play for each other. Let's get switched on for 08, immediate improvement can come from self belief and hard work.

I think the Heffernan rule relates to "new" contracts. By definition Bruce's contract is not new, because he has played one year of that contract now.

How good will next weekend be... I'll be happy whoever loses.

Ouch! I'm not sure I've heard of that one before.

What has he got H? It sure looks like OP, of course it might be an abductor, but watching him on Friday night it looked like OP to me...

He only wore it for one season... hence.. I really liked Matty Collins, but realistically does he deserve to be in the same company as those above? Nicho is best remembered for number 8, my personal favourite in 44 was one John Fidge... but see above. Big Carl whilst good, I only consider a part time Demon. Jacka was hard to leave out, the colour the flair, but alas too brief.... "It's better to burn out than fade away!" I'll take your word on the red, I'm pretty uncouth... but I do enjoy Taswegian beer.

According to the papers... we can add Meesen as a possible as well.

The 2007 Club Almanac has the list you are after. BTW anyone notice that certain numbers seem to be reserved for particular types of players now... or is that just my imagination eg: 2, (midfielders) 8,(KPP Back) 11, (ruckman) 27 (KPP Back)etc. 1. Denis Cordner 2. Robbie Flower 3. Garry Lyon 4. Norm Smith 5. Ox 6. Bluey Adams 7. Brian Wilson 8. Tassie Johnson 9. David Neitz/Brian Dixon 10. Ken Emeselle 11. Laurie Mithen/ Jim Stynes 12. Jack Mueller 12. Adem Yze 14. Ivor Warne-Smith 15. Ron Baggot/Stan Alves 16. Andy Lovell 17. Alan La Fontaine 18. Brian Roet 19. Ray Biffin 20. Matthew Febey 21. Don Cordner 22. Bryan Keneally 23. 'Pop' Vine 24. 'Tiger' Ridley 25. Don Williams 26. Greg Parke 27. Sean Wight 28. pass 29. Hassa Mann 30. Alby Rodda/ John Beckwith 31 RDB 32 Barrie Vagg 33. Gary Hardeman 34. Jeff White 35. Dick Taylor/Clyde Laidlaw 36.Andrew Leoncelli 42. Peter Walsh 43 Guy Rigoni 45. Matthew Whelan 47 Alan Jarrott

The most pithy and accurate thing I have ever read on this site regarding drafting Bob... absolute Gold!

Quite aside from all this is the issue of Matthew Kreuzer... most think he will go no 1, and he may well do... but listening to Ratten on the W/E he echoed some sentiments expressed by some other very knowledgable junior talent spotters that Cotchin is a very, very good player. I wouldn't be surprised if Carlton took Cotchin at 1 and then taking either Kreuzer or Henderson at 3. The problem with Kreuzer is he's a big boy playing against other boys....WA and SA prospects such as Luenberger can be easier to assess because they are often playing against men. I'm not saying that Kreuzer is the same as Josh Fraser, but it is easy to get carried away with the form of such players if they are more physically mature than their opponents, they find it harder to do the same thing playing against bigger bodies.

I had high hopes at the end of last year that MJ and PJ would take the necessary steps forward... alas, another year on, White is another year older and we still have two NQR as the support cast. I think one, maybe even both maybe on very shakey ground. News today that Brendan Lade has re-signed with Port... given the preoccupation with many clubs to get a winning ruck combination... there maybe a few ruck options in the trade period.... talk so far centres on the following big men that maybe on the move: Cameron Wood (possible) Darren Jolly (probable) Brad Moran (probable) Mark Seaby (possible) Jamie Charman (unlikely) Justin Kozitskinik (unlikely) I'd be interested in Seaby, but really have no idea what WC might want. I've always been of the belief that rather than use early picks on speculative big men that either late picks/rookie picks are a much better option. To be blunt though we are approaching something like a rucking crisis within the club. We still have Neaves as a Rookie capable of promotion and Holland capable of pinch hitting.... so what would you do? Personally I'd delist Jamar, trade for another top ten pick to get either Seaby or draft for McEvoy/Bellchambers. I can't comment too much on Neaves, but either way I'm keen to have five ruckman (two longer term prospects) on the list.

Friends of mine know Chris through his time at Shep. They don't barrack for or have any association with the Dees, but say Chris Connolly is one of the nicest, most genuine and funniest blokes you'd ever hope to meet - he also knows a bit about footy too. I'm absolutely stoked with the result of the process and the outcome... March on 2008.

I guess this is directed purely at the Sandy watchers amongst us, and specifically those that watch the twos. I've automatically got Heath as a delist because after two years he can't seem to cement a regular spot in the Sandy ones, but I wonder if like many others that isn't pulling the trigger too early. I understand that his 06 was ruined by injury... I also understand that some players take a little longer than others... so for those that have actually seen him play. Should he stay or should he go now? (If he stays there will be trouble, if he goes it will be double.... God bless Joe Strummer)

I for one found the post interesting Sylvinator... though I disagree with some aspects. You'll just have to learn to ignore some of the more juevenile responses. Jared Rivers was pick 26 in the draft.... If recruiters knew then what we know now... It's one thing to have the picks - another entirely to use them properly. We have an excellent recruiting team, we have conducted an exhaustive selection process to identify the right coach and both will have far more bearing on how we perform in the future rather than one extra pick and half a year of compromising your players competitive culture. The four clubs that have profited most from priority picks in recent years are the Saints, Freo, the Blues and of course ourselves.... notice any similarities.

I have no idea who we will pick, Kreuser and Cotchin will be the top 2, who Carlton grabs at three will be interesting...but I've heard some good things about Henderson.... I'd also like to trade to get at least one more top ten pick to get another midfielder, but that obviously means giving up some quality.

Good question...

NO!

Betts kicking five won't have helped his claims.

Warnock's still contracted for another year I think.... Danny Ward might be under the pump.

or Henderson or McEvoy or Morton, or Palmer, or .... it'll be a very good player.

You only have to draft three, so technically no one else... but you'd have to think Bode is a monty to be promoted. I'd expect at least another four or five delistings/trades.

They didn't say who his first opponent was, but his opponent in the second half was Marc Murphy.

Absolutely.