sylvinator

Allen Toovey! You don't need 22 superstars to win a premiership. You need 5 guns + at least 9 very good players... the rest can be disciplined role players

If he does go into the national draft, i'd definitely offer him a big contract for 3-4 years and pick him at pick 12. He's EXACTLY the type of player we need. Would much prefer a powerful, pack marking premiership CHF who's very young (23), over an 18 yr old CHF who might be a gun but might be a dud and has some attitude problems (Darling).

Because they want to stockpile future picks to set them up for strong positions in future drafts. If they use the pick in 2012 draft, it becomes pick 10, which they can use in addition to their 1st rounder. Geelong could use it this way as well, but they are in premiership mode and want to draft players for now. Gold Coast on the other hand, has 9 of the first 15 picks and has no need for another pick around 25 win-win

Pretty much exactly the same. Bennel, Jones, Wona, and Bail the unlucky ones. And i'm hoping Tapscott, Gysberts and Blease will play plenty of games next season. Having only 3 on the bench is a real [censored], it really will be the death of the 2nd ruckman. Not happy with Martin, but I guess he's the only real option as back up ruckman

I wouldn't. Hughes was first drafted onto our rookie list 5 years ago! in those 5 years, he's played 2 games. Looking forward to next season, i don't think he'll play even 1 game, considering he is in direct competition with Green, Pettard, Jurrah, Bate. Even Sylvia, Tapscott and Maric would play half forward before Hughes. Are we going to have in on the list for 6, 7 or 8 years without playing at senior level? He's a nothing special player

Compared to other very fringe players that have been traded, we've done on par with every body else - Laidler essentially for pick 53 (+ 4 spots upgraded 41 to 36) - Jonathan Griffin for pick 61 - McKinley for pick 86 - Chris Tarrent for pick 55 (+ 1 spot upgraded 43 to 42) - Nathan Djekurra for pick57 And us... Cheney essentially for pick 52, bc we are not going to, and were never going to use 66. On market value we did fine. Cheney is not in our future plans, so no point playing him next year. It's worth noting that Laidler would have played much more if he played for a lowly team, Geelong have been going to premierships the last 4 years and they have an absolutely awesome backline. I wouldn't be saying Laidler= dud

I think we'll do very similar to last year with Meesan and Newton, who were both contracted, but were delisted & re-rookied so at least we didn't have to pay out their contracts and get nothing in return. What we'll do imo is Delist PJ & McNamara and re-rookie them. We should have no problems in getting them in the rookie draft, they would not be on any other team's radars. That way we'll use pick 12, 32, 49 and 52 in the national draft. We'll also have room to still make 3-4 rookie selections, since McKenzie & Spenser upgraded, Meesan and probably Healy & Hughes delisted, maybe Newton delisted as well

We currently have space to use pick 12 and pick 32. If we want to use pick 49 and 52, we'll need to delist 2 more players

We essentially got more for Cheney than Freo did for Tarrent

I can 100% confirm that this was not the case (source= interview with his manager Alex McDonald). He was told he wasn't going to play much next year and wasn't a big part of future plans. He asked Melbourne to be traded in order to get more opportunities else where. Nothing wrong with this trade. Frees up a spot to use pick 32 and don't really lose much

decent trade. Cheney would not have played next year and isn't in future plans. Not quick enough to match small defenders, not strong enough for tall defenders, not skillful enough to be a rebounder! At this stage we only are able to use pick 12, Cheney departing now allows us to use pick 32! If 1 or 2 more players depart we'll then use pick 50 and 51 also, which are decent picks. Cheney is not a part of our future, so no biggie at all

Bartram is relatively quick, strong and has elite endurance. His physical qualities were never in question. It was his decision making which was the number 1 worry, and the FD has mitigated this limitation by turning him into a much more defensive small forward, who is told to always take the easiest and first option. Bartram increased bc of increased confidence in his role in the team and an improved 'quickness' of thinking

Just some more confirmation by Emma Quale that this year's draft is a weakened draft, albeit a strong weakened draft. Question: How do you view the strength of this draft compared to 2008, both in terms of the elite talents and also the depth of the first 30-40 picks? How much has the Gold Coast's priority access to the nations under 18s before this year affected the quality of this draft? Answer: "I think he depth is fine, it’s easy to come up with 50 names that seem draftable, which is a good sign. I think the top three are standouts and then it evens out, but there are at least 20 names I’m convinced will play good senior footy, barring mishap. If the 17-year-olds that the Gold Coast signed were in this draft pool, it would be the best one I can remember, and I’m not exaggerating. Guys like Josh Toy, Maverick Weller, Luke Russell, Trent McKenzie and Brandon Matera would all be genuinely pushing for top 10 spots." So basically, 5 of the top 10 prospects from this year's draft are unavailable bc they've been signed by GC. Add to that, Liberatore and Wallis both top 20 prospects. Good to hear it's pretty even from pick 4-20. It means we should get a quality player at pick 12, and hopefully a second one at pick 32. Also, I think 'best available' is way too simplistic a strategy and Prendergast has been quoted several times that he often has to operate by best available for the given position you need.

At the moment, yes, but you can bet your house that we will open up 1-2 more spots on the list before the national draft. There is absolutely no chance we'll be going in on draft day with only pick 12 PJ, Tmac, Cheney and Martin probably the players most at risk

I like Kyle, but he's not quick enough to take the best small forwards, and he's not skillful enough to be an attacking rebounding defender. Would probably spent next year at vfl level. In terms of medium defenders, he's behind Bartram, J.Macdonald, Grimes and Bruce. Also, guys like Bennel and Bail would be put to half back before Cheney would be put in the team. It would goodwill by Melbourne to trade him considering he's in contract, but has asked to be traded for more opportunities. I'm not against it, if we can get a pick in the 50s (considering that's what we originally drafted at).

Wouldn't be totally surprised to see Warnock traded to Carlton, perhaps for their 2nd rounder. Too good for vfl, and although would be really good backup, I would think that we would shift Stefan Martin back to 100% concentrate on being a key defender, also McNamar is also on our list. Alex McDonald on Tradetalk radio just said Kyle Cheney has asked to be traded to a club bc of opportunity and that Melbourne has been open minded in trading him to a club that is interested in him. Some interest in him and might be a trade late on monday.

I was unsure at the start of the year, but he was a handy player. Considering we have Garland, River and Frawley are all 192cm+, MacDonald provided a really great strong bodied mid-sized option and ended up taking Warnock's spot in the side bc we would be slightly too top-heavy if we had 4 192cm+ players. I also agree that I love the fact he almost almost wins one-on-one contests. I used to hate how regularly we used to concede goals from strong contested marks from opposition forwards when the ball was bombed in. Now, with Frawley, Garland, Rivers and MacDonald, we almost always get a spoil in and make the ball hit the ground.

Yep, the only 2 players that the GWS would genuinely chase hard and would genuinely hurt us if we left would be Sylvia and Scully. Like Davey, Jamar, Frawley etc, these 2 are critical to our success going forward, and should be signed on 3 year deals hopefully

I think these top 50s are worth looking at. It can be very enlightening as to how many elite players you need to win a premiership... Looking at Aussie Gun's list of best 50 players this season as a rough guide... Collingwood: 4 in the top 20 (Swan, Pendlebury, Didak, Thomas), including the number 1 player. Geelong: 4 in the top 20 (Ablett, Selwood, Chapman, Bartel), including 3 in the top 10 St Kilda: 3 in the top 20 (Goddard, Hayes, Montagna), they have a 4th champion in Reiwoldt who is ussually top 5 in the league Western Bulldogs: 5 in the top 23 (Lake, Cooney, Boyd, Griffin, Cross). Very noteworthy that no players in the top 9 and imo they were not genuine premiership contender Conclusion: The be a genuine premiership contender, you MUST have at least 4 of the top 20 performing AFL players in the league, including at least 1 in the top 5 MFC: - a great effort for 3 in the top 50, but Green @ 25, Frawley @ 30 and Jamar @ 42 are pretty reflective of where we sit. We're not going to even make finals until we get 2 players in the top 20. - Notable missing players this year are Sylvia and Davey, both of whom should be top 30 if they play the entire season fit and healthy. The real question for everybody, is who will be the 4 players in the top 20 and 1 in the top 5 in our premiership contending team in 3 years time?! My guess is: - Sylvia @ 5: big call, but if he can play a full season, fit and firing, in a successful winning team, he should be our didak - Frawley @10: He is so big, fast, strong and confident in the knowledge that he can smother his opponent and provide run out of defence. Expect improvement every year for next 3 yrs. Our Lake - Grimes @ 15: If he improves the way I think he'll improve, there's no reason why in 3 years he can't be our Pendlebury. A midfield spot is beckoning - Scully @ 20: In 3 years time he'll be bigger, stronger and more experienced. His drive for success will se him improve every year, and I see him having a Dale Thomas like season in 3 years Notable omissions: I doubt Green, Davey or Jamar will be dominating in 2013, they'll all be into their 30s. Young players who could surprised me: Garland, Jurrah, Watts, Trengove, Morton. All have the talent, will they 'make it' by becoming stars of the comp?

answer found within... http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/103951/default.aspx

I now assume we have finished our trade week exploits... i'm quite happy we're doing nothing, I don't understand why so many teams are swapping and trading for average fringe players (McKinley, Grigg, Houli, Tambling etc), we are going to continue relying on the draft, which is good. Spots available through: - Miller - Bell - McDonald (technically the spot opens up by Bruce being moved to the veterans list) Coming in: - Spenser - McKenzie - pick 12 - pick 32? - pick 49? In order to use our 2nd rounder (pick 32) and 3rd rounder (pick 49), we'll need to delist 2 more players. At the moment the players you would suspect would be in serious trouble would be - PJ... still unsigned, but now that Hale trade didn't go through, does he get a life line? - McNamara... i believe he's contracted, but if we really want to use pick 32, he would have to be a little worried we'll just pay out his contract - Cheney? Another contracted player, he's going to China I think he'll almost definitely stay - Maric & Stefan Martin the two other guys who will have their spots scrutinised - ??? who else could go to open up spots.

Don't think it was Hale or Spenser. I mentioned this in another thread, but Cam Schwab in his stream a few weeks ago said Spenser would definitely be offered a contract and that the clubs rates him and hopes he'll develop into a very good player one day.

The club appears to rate Spenser highly. Cam Schwab in his stream a few weeks ago went on for a couple of minutes how he thinks Spenser is a beauty and, although he was raw, would develop into a very good player

Sure, both FD's were seeking to acquire his services... but do you really think they rated him THAT highly? I'd suggest not considering the final trade... The final trade appears to be: (source = afl website) Hale + pick 52 ----> pick 29 + pick 71. Basically, pick 29 was considered by the Hawks FD to be over the odds for Hale, so the Kangas had to sweeten it by allowing the Hawks to upgrade pick 71 to pick 52!

You decide. One group of supporters have been suddenly talking up Hale all week, miraculously appearing out of the woodwork just as Hale is put on the trade table and they obviously want as good compensation as possible for him. The other group has maintained the same position throughout all 2009 and 2010. That while Hale is a useful player, he never turned out to be the player they hoped he would be, and now plays just as regularly in the vfl than he does at afl.