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sylvinator

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Everything posted by sylvinator

  1. I like Moloney's passion for the club, and apparently his boxing camp is a really amazing initiative. However, I will be very disappointed if he were to be captain for the simple reason that he is NOT good enough a player to be captain of our club, as we move into the top 8, then top 4, and eventually aim for premierships. Moloney plays an average game at least once every 3-4 weeks. He is easily tagged, and easily frustrated. Don't get me wrong, he's a valuable member of the top 18, but is not captaincy quality imo. And I'm also not saying you have to be a superstar to be a captain, but you do have to be very consistent if you're not a superstar (think Maxwell, Watson etc) I also agree with those who say he doesn't present well to the media, appears barely articular at times. But for me, that is only a sub-reason why I prefer Brad Green to be next captain of Melbourne.
  2. Robbie Campbel is insurance in case Jamar goes down with injury. Full stop. He will not be playing afl next year if Jamar plays 22 games, and that would be ideale. If Jamar goes down, and we are forced to play Stefan Martin or Dunn in the ruck, who'd get killed, we'd lose matches bc of it, and it would stuff up how our midfield operates. That's why a competant mature age ruckman is an important back up. To me it was very obvious we were going to take a mature age ruckman, and I have no problem with taking Robbie Campbell. The fact he's a quality person with leadership skills is obviously an extra bonus. In fact I noticed Prendergast consistently emphasise outstanding character traits with regard to many of our draftees, it is clearly an important aspect of drafting
  3. Interesting comment in Barry Prendergast interview, that the numbers really fell our way in the rookie draft, picking up blokes we weren't sure would still be around. Obviously that's great news. However he also said that 'the numbers didn't really fall our way' in the national draft. Imo, that was a reference to the fact that Tom Lynch went pick 11 (ahead of our pick 12), and O'Shea went at pick 53 (ahead of our pick 54). Also, in order to ensure other clubs between our pick 33 and 51 didn't get Howe, we probably took him a little earlier. I'm not saying our blokes in the national draft won't be great, but it is an interesting comment nonetheless.
  4. Wasn't he a mad richmond supporter, maybe that's where the richmond rumours started. Anyhow, he will not leave after 2 year. If he does it will be COMPLETELY unprecedented. He knows we are building a group that are going to be special. We're going to be a powerful team in years to come, and we also have the means and ability to pay him very well in the process. Nothing to suggest he'd leave
  5. Awesome news. With 2 years of access to professional training and staff, he'll be an absolute jet by the time he's ready to play. Considering his physical build, if he plays a full season of vfl in 2012 (like Swallow and other GC recruits did this year), he'll be ready to play round 1 2013.
  6. If i remember correctly, he played quite well against the doggies this year, in one of his two matches.
  7. Interesting reading the bios of the players training with us. 2 medium forwards and 3 quick outside midfielders. Definitely gives an indication of the type of players we are interested in. I would have thought we've got enough medium forwards, but clearly the club really wants to stock up on forward line talent this year, having previously beefed up our defence and midfield. I wouldn't be surprised to see PJ redrafted, there's no doubt we need 1 mature age ruckman as insurance if Jamar goes down... Giles the best option that I know about
  8. I think Bate's career thus far has been underrated... I agree with you he's done more than Dunn thus far. However Dunn played more than 5 good games last season. Even the games in which he didn't have high stats, he played some terrific roles as a defensive forward, shutting down some awesome rebounding defenders. That role doesn't win a lot of plaudits or statistics, but if played well can be one of the most important roles played in the team. To me the fact that Dunn also has outstanding goal sense is just icing on the cake. By the way, imo, the problem with Bate is that he hasn't had a full season for a while, and unlike some other players, when Bate gets injured he often takes 3-4 matches at least to get his mojo back. Some regular intervals over the last couple of years have really set him back, but if he had a full pre-season and played 22 games I believe he can be a terrific player
  9. Bate is the one who I most agree on. Picking 3 tall forwards, considering we already have Watts, Jurrah, Pettard, Dunn etc... and the fact he really trailed off towards the end of the season... he will really need to lift next year. I've always been a Bate fan, I think he just needs a full pre-season and continuity, but he really needs to pull his finger out Don'e agree with Dunn. He found a niche this season and is now structurally important part of our forward line.
  10. Our FD has been linked to crap players before in the media, but it has never come to fruition. Our FD is very single minded about our strategy moving forward. Going for Hansen would be a complete 180 degree turn on the direction the club has been taking thus far. We've delisted Robbo and Miller and they are both better players than Hansen. Hansen is a crap player, never was a particularly good player, and I will be completely stunned if we even seriously consider him.
  11. Really impressive video. every one of his disposals is intellegent, well executed and putting his teammate in a better position. Also some strong marking and kicking for goal. Clearly a good height, he will develop the size within 2-3 years... happy with the selection
  12. Prenders confirmed a recruiter came up to him and told him he was waiting for Cook only a few picks ours. Cook may not be the 'sexy' pick of the draft, but he was widely rated by recruiters who know their stuff. I'm happy we got a player who is rated very highly, has a lot of elite attributes (endurance, kicking left and right, handballing, marking, kicking for goal) and fills exactly a need in the team. As Prendergast said, 'you want the ball in his hands'
  13. Davis sounds pretty well physically developed by the sounds of it, should be able to push for selection pretty early on, IF he's capable
  14. Bailey in his interview confirmed what I originally thought. McDonald is the type of player that has suddenly become very valuable because of the new substitute role. He is able to ruck AND play as a key forward, which will allow us the flexibility of not playing two 'true' ruckman. That is the way the game is heading
  15. If anyone wants a very clear explanation of the balance between needs and best available, just listen to Dean Bailey and Barry Prendergast's interviews of melbournefc.com.au. They both made it clear that had a better player fallen to our pick, they did have the flexibility to go with a midfielder or a flanker... however this draft had good depth for talls, and we needed talls, so we were able to balance needs without compromising best available. For the record, Bailey confirmed they had knowledge that Howe would NOT be available at pick 50, and Prendergast confirmed that another recruiter told him straight after the draft they were waiting for Cook only a few places after our pick, so he definitely woudln't have been available at 33.
  16. Anyone who listened to Dean Bailey's and Barry Prendergast's interviews on Melbournefc.com.au... They gave a really exciting and in depth description of Howe... one thing that stood out was that Bailey said he knew Howe wasn't going to be there at 50. So, just because we haven't heard of a player, doesn't mean the recruiters aren't well aware of him. I'm really excited about Howe, because if he does a good pre-season, he should be able to play round 1, considering his age and physical capabilities.
  17. Looking at that list gives me great confidence. We look pretty much set across all areas. Probably could use 1 awesome half back flanker + another couple of midfielders + a lightening quick small forward and we're pretty much set. Maybe 1-2 more ruckman to develop off the rookie list. But none of these needs are in any way urgent
  18. We've got space for 6 rookie spots i believe, so we have flexibility to re-draft McNamara, get a mature age ruckman + get 4 other players. We hopefully should be able to find 1-2 of this group of 6 that end up in our best 22 in a couple of years.
  19. Agreed. We need some insurance in case Jamar goes down, so 1 really competitive mature age ruckman is on the cards...
  20. I think the forward/ruck is becoming a really important position with the new interchange rule. Can no longer afford 2 'true' ruckman in the 21. We now have Fitzpatrick and McDonald developing as key forward who can do ruck relief. I don't expect to see McDonald play for a while
  21. We've now stockpiled an enourmous amount of forward talent, and in every single shape and size. We are developing an ultra dangerous combination of forwards who can take an overhead mark and be equally dangerous at ground level. At 20 years old i'm hoping to see him in action next year
  22. He sounds and looks like the new age defender that we love at Melbourne- Garland and Frawley. Quick, good mark, good spoiler, sound skills and a bit of dash. I definitely think we needed another key defender developing, with McNamara being delisted and Martin being trialled in different positions. Hopefully he becomes a Barry special.
  23. and for the record, i don't believe Barry skipped past any players that were 'better' than the guys we took at our picks. Recruiters sort players into 'bands' of quality. There might have been up to 3-4 players at every pick that were in the same band, which means the club rated their talents relatively equally... and then the choice probably comes down to who of the 3-4 options would fit best into the team's structures, needs and culture. The only thing I got slightly disappointed with, was not picking up Patrick McCartney as pick 33 (he went to Carlton at pick 34). We obviously wanted a key defender, which we got in Davis, but McCartney looks like a really great talent at 196cm, and perhaps Howe would still have been available at 50. But then again, who knows if Howe would've been available, and we got the guy we obviously liked in Davis, so who am I to judge
  24. I always get a some mixed feelings when we draft 3 players i know nothing about, but looking into the players we drafted, I'm very content. With 3 tall forwards, we've now got an enourmous amount of talent in our forward line. Considering we've stocked up on midfielders the last 2 years, and our defence is looking super strong with Frawley and Garland, it looks like we've got all the talent we need to take us to finals. - Cook looks like he's a serious talent, great kick, very good mark in one-on-one, runs across the ground smoothly. He also has versatility and at 196cm, he's the height of the type of KPP we need - Howe is 20 years old and could come straight in and make an impact. He looks like a massively upgraded version of Danny Hughes, and considering we kept Hughes on our list for 6 years or whatever, we clearly feel that this kind of a player is important. I love the fact that we've now got several player who are super dangerous in the air, but equally dangerous at ground level (Jurrah, Howe, Pettard, Green) - Davis is apparently a super quick 192cm defender, and we know that Melbourne LOVE that kind of defender (think Garland and Frawley). Pace for a key defender is critical these days, and while i don't know much about him, I think we definitely needed 1 KP defender developing, since we now really are down to Frawley, Garland and Rivers (and Warnock) as our only key defender options. - McDonald has versatility to play forward and ruck, but is 194cm. I think that this type of player might not have been drafted 4 years ago, however with the new interchange rule coming in this type of player suddenly becomes really important because you can play 1 ruckman, with McDonald/Fitzpatrick type player can play as a key forward + ruck relief We've now got 6 rookie spots to fill. I think 1 mature age ruckman could be on the cards, just in case (Giles anyone?). Perhaps stock up on a couple more mids and half back flankers. Maybe a lightning quick small forward?
  25. We needed a big, lead up forward who can take a contested grab and still contest once the ball hit the ground... and we got our man in Cook. He fills a definite need + according to Barry he was also best available, so we've got to be happy with that. All-Australian CHF, the kid undoubtably has talent. His highlight package is outstanding. He looks to be a great mark in a one-on-one situation, looks a great kick and a smooth mover. Barry will also love his versatility, and at 196cm, if Howe, McDonald, Jurrah, Fitzpatrick and Watts have the tall forward set up covered, he could become a great CHB also. Will take 2-3 years to develop, but a sensible, exciting pick here.
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