Dr.D

At this stage our first pick is at pick 31 in a draft that is stacked with talent and suggested to be the best since 2001. Lady luck wasn't on our side with Lever doing his acl so trading our first rounder away this year for him has back fired. But I think Jason Taylor and Josh Mahoney will try and trade their way into the first round. I think we could package our pick 31 with our first rounder for next year to get a pick around pick 12. Alternatively, we get on the front foot and trade out players. Trading hogan out to freo or west coast would be something I would entertain. As i think he will go back anyway, so may as well cash in now. Freo have pick 6. So hogan to freo for pick 6 and their next season's first rounder sounds fair to me. I wouldn't like to trade Hunt, but goodwin doesn't rate him and he isn't getting a game. Hunt may even request a trade. He would net a 2nd round pick. These are the only ways I can imagine getting back into this years draft and mark my words, we will definitely attempt to.

got plenty of the ball but had barely any influence on the game

i've made my point on Gaff before but a slow outside player that is poor defensively isnt what we need. was barely in their best 22 last season if we want to be honest about his form. tell me how in games against collingwood and hawthorn where we were exposed for leg speed that Gaff is going to help us

He's a gun. his work ethic is really high. I can't imagine that he'd come cheaply though.

i agree but Taylor would have a big say too. mahoney and co. wouldn't go around trading picks away without knowing the draft pool back to front

Yah, a mid 2nd rounder and yes you mention Jack Graham/Bolton and Stewart but there were far more busts than makes in that draft. After shai bolton, was Mclarty, Begley, Atley, Willem Drew, Declan Watson, Josh Williams, Josh Rotham, Sean Darcy, Josh battle, Brennan Cox, Harrison Macreadie, Kayle Kirby, Tiziani, Jacob Allison, Quinton Narkle, Patrick Kerr, Brad Scheer, Cam Polson etc..the list goes on forever so pick 29 in a draft means that we got him next to nothing in my books. Especially for an AA defender.

Yeah, it's not really supposed to be about who we missed out on. Not the point of my thread but I would say that Baker was picked up to be an immediate impact player considering he is an advanced age mature recruit. I agree to early to say on Weideman, that's why I have him as a potential miss as he is a regular at vfl at the moment.

I think it's time this guy starts getting some recognition. Recruiting managers are vital to the prospect of winning a flag so lets have a look at it. Keeping in mind that it's easier to get the right pick with higher picks but as we all know you can still get them wrong (Cale Morton, Watts, Tapscott, Strauss, Blease, Maric etc.). Since Jason Taylor joined Melbourne he got off to a rocky start with a bar fight on an overseas footy trip but since has done the following (along with some help of Josh Mahoney at the trade table): Brought in: Salem, Hunt, Tyson, Harmes, Garlett, Frost, Petracca, Brayshaw, Lewis, Hibberd, Neal-Bullen, Oscar Mcdonald, Melksham, Oliver, Hannan, Fritsch, Spargo and Joel Smith. Potential Misses: Kennedy-harris, Stretch, Weideman, Mitch King, Hullett, Dion Johnstone, Oscar baker. Here is his breakdown: 2013 AFL Draft: Traded Pick 2 (Josh Kelly) for Pick 9 and Dom Tyson. Pick 9: Salem Players before him: Kolodjashnij, Aish, Luke mcdonald, Scharenberg. Players after Salem who we could've taken: Cripps, Zac Jones, Acres, Matt Crouch, Zac Merrett, Rory Lobb, Nankervis, Barrass, Ben Brown, Fantasia, Sicily. Pick 40: Jay Kennedy Harris Seems to be a bust so far. I actually like him the most times I've seen him but for whatever reason he hasn't made the grade yet. Pick 57: Jayden Hunt Players after Hunt: No successful picks after Hunt. Rookie Draft: James Harmes Players available after Harmes: Charlie Cameron and Jake Kelly were the only good rookie selections in that years rookie draft. A lot of busts. Draft grading: B Salem, Hunt, Harmes and Tyson are all best 22 players with Hunt just out of form and Tyson always having divided supporters. Overall, I think it was a mistake to trade pick 2 but his choices of Hunt and Harmes brought his grading back up. 2014 AFL draft: Brought in Jeff Garlett for pick 61 and 79. Brought in Sam Frost and pick 40 and 53 for the loss of Pick 23 Pick 2: Christian Petracca Proving to be a gun. Needs to work on his kicking but his overhead marking and spark around the contest is invaluable. Thankfully Stkilda took Mccartin at 1. Pick 3: Angus Brayshaw Took a while to get going with his concussions but is now proving his worth as an inside mid. Pick 40: Alex Neal-Bullen I love this guy. Is a competitor and works really hard. Pick 42: Billy Stretch. An outside player who can find the footy. Not a bad depth player. His kicking needs work but he could become a decent wingman if given the opportunity. Pick 53: Oscar Mcdonald: I thought the idea of another McDonald down back would give me a heart condition. His first season and a half was very rocky and his decision making and skills were very ordinary but his confidence is growing and even though he is capable of being a bit slow in mind and pushed off the ball too easily he is playing well this season and making the easy options. Rookie Draft: Pick 2: Vandenberg Pick 20: Mitch White Draft grading: A Got most of the picks right. Garlett has been a gun for us since being recruited and Oscar Mcdonald is progressing well. 2015 AFL draft Brought in Melksham for pick 25 Brought in pick 3, 10 and 43 for pick 6, 29 and following years first round pick 2015 AFL draft Pick 4: Clayton Oliver Taylor did place a bid on Sydney swan academy player Callum Mills but Sydney thankfully matched. Pick 9: Sam Weideman Pick 42: Mitch King Pick 46: Liam Hullett Rookie Draft: Pick 6: Wagner pick 24: Viv Mitchie Pick 41: Joel Smith Draft grading: A If it wasn't for Oliver I would've given this about a C but he got Oliver right and he's going to be a 300 gamer. He was a draft bolter with not as much exposure so it was a great choice. Especially considering the top 10 that year does not look strong: Schache, Aaron Francis, Ah Chee, Weideman and Weitering. And whilst Parish would have been tempting he hasn't set the world on fire. 2016 AFL draft: Brought in Jordan Lewis for next to nothing Brought in Michael Hibberd for next to nothing Pick 46: Mitch Hannan Pick 64: Dion Johnstone Rookie Draft: Pick 8: Lachlan Filipovic Pick 25: Tim Smith Draft Grading: A I'm giving this an A due to the trading and also for the selection of Mitch Hannan who i rate highly. Also, the first round pick we traded to boost up the draft the previous year were used on Will Brodie. 2017 AFL Draft: Brought in Jake Lever for the loss of 2 first round picks Got rid of Watts for pick 31 who was used on Fritsch Harley Balic for pick 66. Pick 29: Charlie Spargo Pick 31: Bailey Fritsch Pick 37: Harrison Petty Pick 48: Oscar Baker Draft grading: A Lever is going to be great for us for a long time despite the rocky start. Spargo is proving to be tough and smart with the ball and an accurate kick for goal. Fristch was brought in for Jack Watts which I think should have been given an A+ on that trade alone. I don't want to turn this into a Watts thread but Fritsch is already a far better player than Watts and shows that having a small frame is never an excuse for not attacking the ball or man. Fritsch has complimented our forward line in his first season at the club.

i haven't forgotten how bad gaff was last year. he was soft and uncompetitive and offered no spread. maybe he was injured i'm not sure

I feel like this is a wind up. Oscar McDonald becoming an AA defender. Please tell me this is a sick joke? Is this coming from all the Jack Watts fans that said he was going to be AA this year etc. LOL. you guys have lost your marbles.

Guys that make stupid mistakes aren't AA defenders. Yes, you can get away with it in the midfield but you have to account for your field position when making decisions. He has terrible footy IQ. Thankfully he doesn't cross goals like he used to but like I said in a previous post he doesn't know when to rush it and when to play the boundary. He doesn't understand the momentum of games. He doesn't have awareness for whats around him. The only positive is that I've barely noticed OMac this year which is only a good thing considering the horrific things he can do.

Oscar McDonald has definitely improved from last season. There's no doubt. However that doesn't mean that I trust him at all. He is still very weak in 1 on 1 contests and is prone to some brain fades and lack of awareness (much like his brother in his first 5 years at the club). Oscar has decent foot skills and I've been happy with his overhead marking so far but he needs to continue to keep it simple and not bite off more than he can chew. He doesn't show great footy IQ. He doesn't know when to rush the behind, when to play the boundary line etc. And you can't teach footy IQ. He also gives away silly free kicks such as pushing Daniher in the back when he has already run under the ball. This are all the things that cause me worry.

stuff it, you got to risk it to get the biscuit. As much as jurrah was a failed experiment the enjoyment that he brought to us over a small period of time was so good to watch.

how good does james worpel look not exactly the player we need but we will go for best player available. he looks just the type that jason taylor needs.

well considering I rate cyril higher than Lever. Lets not forget cyril helped hawks win 3 flags I'd go Cyril and every other player from 2007. so thats 10 combinations and then Dangerfield is also better so I'd take Dangerfield and any other player in 2006 so that's another 10 combinations. So that's a sub-total of 20, plus i'd probably prefer Docherty and Phil Davis so in total there are 21 combinations that i'd prefer over 1 jake lever.

We definitely bent over but I would've been more disappointed if we didn't get Lever at all so I'm happy with it. Adelaide are now my most hated team though. The way they acted in this off-season plus their pathetic effort against the eagles which kicked us out of the finals.

I believe they will be giving us a late first/early 2nd round pick back to equalise that trade LT

you can say that..if you think that oscar mcdonald is likely to win a friggin brownlow. lol! i'd say lever is a 95% chance of earning AA honours at some point in his career. Oscar Mcdonald 0%. if you want me to rephrase i'll say you compared Lever, 'a likely AA in the future, who has already made the AA squad, to Oscar mcdonald.

wrong. he has regularly shown to be a deer in the headlights and a poor decision maker.

If you're in the squad at 21/22 years old then it's fair to assume.

Did you just compare Lever, a future AA who has already been named in the AA squad to Oscar McDonald who so far has yet to prove he belongs on an AFL field? Yikes!

18ish? thats assuming we win the flag. i think pick 13 is closer to the mark. so it would be: out: pick 10 (this year), pick 13 (next year) jack watts in: lever, pick 18 (this year)

So i had a look at pick 10's in the last 10 years of national drafts, this is who clubs got: Chris Egan Marcus Drum Nathan Brown Dangerfield Phil Davis Melksham Gorringe Sumner Cockatoo Nathan Freeman Makes me feel a bit more at ease knowing that only 2 of those players (Danger and Davis) justified their drat position. So if we have to cough up more, so be it. Lever is a ready made gun for the next 9 years

I'd rather be a club of our word. We offered it so we should stick with it. We don't want to stoop to Adelaide's level. All the clubs are watching it too

watts and pick 10 to the pies for pick 6. pick 6 and 27 for lever. Watts is a glorified casey player so i think a deal like this is fair.