ChaserJ

Hird’s only (publicly) admitted to having amino acids administered, so as far as we know he hasn’t admitted the use of Hexarelin. Any allegations of unauthorised substances (presumably Hexarellin) being administered to Hird would be disputed. If there is any charge, he will have the opportunity to contest the charge.

I understand Roo is good friends with Goodwin’s manager. On this matter, I would back Roo to be more reliable than Vitamins McVeigh. Spike hasn’t been objective since the Reimers’ claims hit the news, and he has contradicted his own story on multiple occasions. Whilst I respect his loyalty to the club (we could have used this sort loyalty form some of our ex-employees during the tanking investigation), I don’t rely on him for balanced commentary on this issue. If Thomson remains in the clear, Bombers have an immediate replacement if Hird is relieved of duties.

Yeah, I'm impressed everytime I see Holman play. In a midfielders draft, I still don't have any of the pure inside mids in the top 5, but there are a number of good ones to be had later in the draft, & Holman's going to provide great value for someone probably from 3rd rd onward. Good size and likes contact.

Cheers mate, appreciate your thoughts. Nice to get a western perspective.

IMO he’s the best inside midfielder in this year’s group. A competitive beast. May need to clean up his kicking a little, but he makes good decisions and doesn’t stop scrapping. He’s dominated in a pretty poor Nth Ballarat side this year.

Thanks for the info PSD. I liked what I saw of Cripps at the champs and looks to have built some solid form since. I’m interested in a couple of lads who have been racking up the touches in the West, Brendan Lee and Shane Nelson. Saw a little bit of Lee when he was drafted by Essendon and largely playing for Bendigo. Looks to have a solid build and reasonable skills and strong inside, thought he was a bit stiff to be delisted after one year. Nelson looked draftable (certainly as a rookie), but has been ignored. Have you seen much of these two?

Will keep an eye on how this kid goes. What are your thoughts on Patrick Cripps?

I think the question surrounding Aish is a bit more nuanced than 'he's outside and will always be outside and we don't need that so we shouldn't draft him'. Yes we need a inside ballwinners, but we also need guys who can use the ball and make good decisions. We get crucified on turnovers week in week out. Aish works well enough in traffic when he needs to, which suggests to me that he can develop into an inside/outside midfielder. Plenty of high quality outsiders who developed their inside game to high levels, Judd being one of the most obvious. If we do pick Aish (or Kelly as other draft watchers suggest), we could get someone like Cripps at pick 18/19 or even a Dumont, Dunstan or Crouch if they slide. It's not all about pick 2 (or pick 1) for us. Aish has spent most of the year coming back from injury. Came straight back for the champs and was tagged throughout. He didn't dominate, but made the most of his disposals and remained influential. He's had three games for Norwood and has been named in the bests every week. Not bad going, and we haven't seen the best of him this season. If we have a priority pick before the 1st round, I lean toward taking Boyd. Our talent stocks are so mediocre, I don't know if we can get too cute when it comes to picking the best talent. Of the sides that would be obvious bidders for pick 1, Brisbane have the pieces I'd be most interested in. If Rockliff and their first rounder were on the table, I'd be listening. Some combination involving Rockliff and say Mayes or Hanley would be of interest.

Martin no.1 on talent, with Boyd and Hogan not far behind. This time last year I had Martin well out in front. Despite his very good championships, I still see Sheed in that 7-12 bracket in the draft. I have no doubt that he'll be a very good player at the next level, but not certain he has the ceiling of Boyd, Scharenberg Aish & Billings. Sheed is competent across a range of areas (without having an obvious 'elite' attribute) and a good decision maker, but looks one paced. Very left side dominant, and I'd like to see him work harder defensively. Whilst he showed the capacity to go forward and kick goals against Vic Country, he's yet to do so consistently at club level, so not sure whether he will be a regular goal kicker at AFL level.

Also worth keeping an eye on Dumont in this game. Could be the inside mid were after. Pretty sure he had 12 tackles to go with 18 touches in this game. Also of interest, ex-Dees jace bode and juice newton lining up for the redlegs and Ferguson for the opposition.

That is quite a list. Now how many of them would leave their clubs to join Melbourne? Why would a club trade away one of their best mids to draft another mid? Because apart from Boyd, scharenberg is the only point of difference who could go top 2, and he projects to be a utility.

I agree with you on all of those points. JT would have to have had a form of OP. It's not like he didn't have any pace when he was drafted (above average), but he's really struggling with his acceleration and not sure about his core strength these days (from memory he ran a 3.01 time for his 20m sprint at the DC). I'm on the Aish train all the way. His feel for the game is a level above most others in the draft, and I also believe that he has a higher ceiling than this years midfield group (which I still rate as pretty good). Billings would be right up there, but just would have loved him to have been fit enough to play more in midfield this season. Freeman's interesting. I've heard a lot about his ability to burst from packs, and he appears to have a good body for inside work already. Perhaps not the best decision maker, but there's a bit of good noise about him. I've been wanting to get to a few TAC Cup games, he might be another reason to get to a Sandringham game(they've got a few prospects this year!) .

The knocks appear to be on Dunstan's pace and a question on how much development is in left in him. It seems that most clubs are looking at more pace in their midfielders this year. It shouldn't be discounted for us either. I immaediately think of Trengove struggling to keep up with the contest and move around the ground with any great pace for the better part of two years.Like Wines he has a man's build, which won't be a competitive advantage at senior level but helps. He doesn't spread from the contest quite as well as Wines did at the same stage in their development. His left foot reminds me a bit of Tappy's (not quite as powerful), just gives it a thump. Dunstan's been doing very well in Woodville WT's reserves team and must be close to a senior call up. He'll move back up the rankings if he plays well for WWT's senior team and can allay some of those concerns. Someone will get a massive discount if he gets to the second round.

In addition to Terlich, who was a premiership teammate of Aish at Norwood last year, and Clisby, who had been playing for North Adelaide. I keep hearing that his dad was still a very good footballer who would have made a bigger name for himself if he didn't choose career over football.

Maybe he physically became a smaller man after looking at big Jim in the eye and lying (OK, I hold onto things too long). Looks like Dan Hannebury has been on the anti growth serum too. It’s perhaps too early to draw anything from the figures relating to the boys drafted by GWS, but interesting to note the differences in weight put on by the boys in Sam Blease’s draft year in comparison with him. I always viewed Blease and Hill as similar types, and was hopeful that Sammy would develop into the player the Hill has become. They were almost identical when drafted, but now Hill (who is no Hercules) has out on 10kgs to Sammy’s 5kg in the 5 years since. Bastinac’s put on 9 in one less year. Probably best to ignore the samples from Essendon for now… Whilst this is a small sample, I suspect that this is reflective of our recent development programs I comparison to other clubs. Hamish Hartlett- 182cm, 74kg Now - 185cm / 83kg Sam Blease - Midfielder - 183cm, 72kg Now - 184cm / 77kg Stephen Hill - Midfielder - 182cm, 72kg Now - 182cm / 82kg Jake Melksham 182cm / 70kg Now - 186cm / 84kg David Zaharakis - Midfielder - 180cm, 73kg Now 185cm / 85kg Ryan Bastinac 183cm / 74kg Now - 184cm / 84kg

I liked the way Aish handled the tag. Whilst his numbers were down (his preparation has to be taken into account, as well as the managing of his load), what I did see was a willingness to increase his defensive involvements. From recollection, Cotchin got frustrated with the attention he received from McGinnity before getting worn down. Aish kept working hard to try and find other ways to contribute to the team even if he wasn’t the primary playmaker. What he did when he had the ball was something else. His efficiency was elite. This stat can often be distorted by players who might hit a lot of safe, short targets, but in Aish’s case his involvements were often medium to long distance passes that directly led to scoring opportunities for SA.

Shiel, no chance. Adams is out of contract and looking to come back to Victoria. GWS may be prepared to take Jamar in return as opposed to losing him to the draft. Either way, I'd like to club to make a big play at Adams.

No doubt that Aish will need to put on some size (as most 1st year players not named Oliver Wines do), but Aish’s got very few holes in his game and is off the charts when it comes to poise and decision making. He gives himself more time than most to pick the right option and has the skill to execute under pressure. He weighs in at about 72kgs at 183cm tall. Just as a point of reference, a quick comparison with previous players of a similar ilk drafted: Marc Murphy 179.1cm, 74.7kg Dale Thomas 182.8cm 75.2kg Bryce Gibbs 187.4cm, 77.6kg Travis Boak 183.3cm, 76.4kg Trent Cotchin 185.6 cm, 79.5 kg Hamish Hartlett 184.1cm, 76.6kgs Stephen Hill 183.7cm, 68.9kgs

Yep, the prevailing view on this year’s draft pool is that it’s shallow. There's plenty of quality (especially midfield) for the first two rounds, but it’s going to be highly speculative after that. I think what we do with our second and third round picks this year will be far more important for our list make up that our first pick. Unless we do something ridiculously left field, whoever we get with our first pick should be productive, if not a star. We’re in the position where we really can’t afford to get the others wrong. Taylor’s got too much quality to slide to the second round. If it wasn’t for his height, I think he’d be a sure thing to go top 5. Smith’s a bottom ager, I look forward to seeing how he develops from now to draft time next year. Not sure if our recruitment team would do it, but if Garlett was around for our second rounder, I’d snaffle him. I wouldn’t be surprised if a team takes a flyer on him in the first round. Talent not in question with that boy. Hartung’s an elite kick too. A very good player who could go anywhere from the fringes of the top 10 through to somewhere in the 2nd round.

Action Jackson strikes again: http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/list-manager-tim-harrington-made-redundant-by-melbourne/story-e6frg1zl-1226669043748

Boyds very much a full forward. Hogans played some good football down back for Claremont colts and could do it at afl level if required.

Vic metro got up by about 3 goals today. 29 touches to Kelly, wa forward Jonathan marsh looks like a bolter with another eye catching performance.

Also don't get why aishs size means he cant be a leader. Already has leadership in spades. Still the standout mid in the pool. A lot of talk about hardball winners being a requirement, id argue we need a player with poise and the ability to execute and hit targets. Kellys been good so far, purely outside runner, immaculate kicking skills. 26 touches last week, getting a few this week. Boyd kicked three early but in a moonboot after hurting his ankle.

McLardy resigns http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-president-don-mclardy-stands-down/story-fni5f91a-1226663852725

As we've seen over the last 2 years, injury can always deplete your stocks in a flash. We're stocked now, but how do we see our current KPP's performing in 3-5 years time when Boyd would be expected to command a regular spot? Will he be better than what we have currently?