sylvinator

Assuming Grimes moves into the midfield eventually, Garland and Frawley are our only truely quality defenders. Garland's pace, ability to play on small and tall, and drive from defence are important. He has a great nack for getting in the punch Garland in badly needed in defence

Could David Hale be the answer to our problems. Bailey has articulated very clearly that one missing link in the forward line is a big bodied tall forward. David Hale is 201cm, 103kg. 127 games, 117 goals is pretty decent ratio considering the guy has mostly played 50% forward 50% ruck. 26 years old, so definitely not too old. We really need a 2nd ruckman as well, so 2 birds with one stone. PJ is crap as a forward, while Hale is a genuine big target. I think Hale could possibly be the 2nd Ruck/forward we were looking for. Is certainly talented as a past top 10 draft pick. And most importantly, is on the outer at NM, so might be looking for greater opportunities. Goldstein and McIntosh are ahead of him in the ruck. Petrie ahead of him up forward. Probably wouldn't cost an arm and a leg

I'm a HUGE fan of Davey. I still think he's had a really great season. Some terrific games. I absolutely love the way he is able to be so creative and hits targets that most couldn't dream of. He has the odd turnover because he always looks to go through the corridor. When it comes off, which it ussually does, it is an extremely damaging possession. I love the way he takes the risks. He's our creative play maker.

Loved the bit the commentators highlighted in one part during the match, the Palmer (i think it was) and Scully were next to each other, and then Scully did a 300m gut run and was running powerfully and impressively, while Palmer coudln't keep up with him and was struggling behind buggered. I think Sculls will be untaggable because of his elite running ability. His handballing is very creative, and his kicking has really been good of late. Will undoubtably be an elite player

I think he's developing just fine. Probably similar to Josh Kennedy in the sense that he obviously had talent, but was labelled soft and outside in his early days. If you just look at him, it's very obvious he is still a kid, and has a kids body. When he gets a man's body (ala Frawley), he'll get a huge amount of confidence to be more physical. He will be a great player. Just a shame he couldn't really stamp himself yesterday by winning us the game

I was really disappointed for Watts yesterday. Had he slotted those 2 goals (half time siren, and 3 minutes before the end), it would have been his break-out game and everyone would've been super impressed. However, he choked, and now the constant ignorant ridicule continues for a few more rounds. Regardless, Watts is developing fine. 2nd season, has the body of a boy, but has great agility and skills. Will clearly become a very good player, just needs a bigger body and the right attitude

Leigh Brown played well this round... But he still only got 4 ruck taps... come finals time do you really want a back up ruckman who can't win taps at stoppages? Best case scenario is to have a guy like Ryder who can play really well up forward and in the ruck

It's really good to see that most of our depth players are playing in Casey, and that our best 22 is almost full strength. Really, i'd only look to JMcDonald, Pettard, Grimes, Trengove and maybe Warnock outside the current team. Hopefully Blease, Tapscott, Gysberts, Maric and Strauss can put pressure on the senior players are get a few more games by years end

agreed. Not many VFL players become elite afl players, wouldn't be putting huge amount of faith in drafting the next Barlow. Valenti was the best vfl player... he was only an average afl player. worth a shot i guess though, later in the rookie draft

I think people want Joel Macdonald dropped, because people want to see us moving closer to 'the best 22 of the future'. We want to see the depth players slowly shifted out, and the future put in. It is probably not based on form, because as you mentioned, Macdonald was good in all 50-50 contests, which was really important last week. Players i'd be happy to see dropped to Casey irregardless of form= MacDonald, Cheney, PJ- I don't see them in our best 22 when we are playing finals...

Melbourne were never going to attract a big name player from any club for 3 reasons. 1. our craappy facilities 2. our perceived off- field weaknesses... huge debt, not paying full amount of salary cap because can't afford it, not spending much on the footy department etc 3. perception that we were years away from any kind of on-field success like premierships. We are much better placed now to attract a key forward or ruckman or whoever we want to chase. 1. our facilities are now awesome 2. Off-field there are no major concerns any more. 3. Anybody can see we'll be playing finals for 5-6 years straight form 2012. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that

Would trading for a ruckman be an option. I think Jacobs from Carlton would be a really good trade target. He's more than capable of being a 2nd ruckman, and I think has scope to develop into a number 1 scope as well. Would be competitive should Jamar be injured and is only impoving. Carlton would be open to trade, with Kruiser, Hampson and Warnock also at the club. Pick 30 should get it done? We need a 2nd ruckman, I'd give up pick 30 with the knowledge we don't have to waste several picks trying to develop one of our own. Plus, we'll have Gawn developing in the wings

Very true. Anyone who attended the draft event will tell you that Predergast made it absolutely clear that Joel MacDonald was an insurance policy in case Garland never recovered

If we can find a really awesome forward pocket (can we clone Davey?), our forward set up will be near complete. Potentially the only other missing piece is a genuinely huge key forward (Bazza Hall style). Bate, Watts as the mobile talls Pettard, Sylvia, Jurrah, Green as a the medium forwards who are difficult to match up on because they are good on the ground and in the air Dunn as a defensive forward to curb the influence of the Gilbees, Drummands etc, but all provide an option across half forward Bennel as a small forward? probably prefer Bennel up on a wing, and find a genuine cruming forward Loving this ground once Watts and Jurrah are fully developed

Oh, and btw... Anyone saying Maric won't be delisted because he has a contract... there have been plenty and plenty of demons players (and from other clubs as well), who have been delisted with a year to run on their contract. Could simply pay them out the last year of their contract. In Maric's case, I doubt it would be more than $70,000. The dollars saved from not keeping him on, and recruiting a base-payment draft pick instead probably outweigh the small amount of money in costs to delist him

I think that anybody listing Miller and PJ in their delistings should just accept the fact that these 2 will unfortunately be on our list next season. PJ- whether we like it or not, we need a second ruckman in case Jamar goes down injured. Spenser is a massive dud, Meesan injured/crap and Gawn & Fitzpatrick are 2 years away from even playing senior football. Until we bring in another good ruckman, PJ stays. Full stop. And that coming from someone who thinks he's pretty hopeless. Miller- has a big body and is in the leadership group. Leadership and a big body are two things that are held in a very high regard in a young and inexperienced team. He's decent enough depth i guess. Is pretty lucky, but I think he scrapes by with another 1 year deal. The process of getting rid of the dreck off our list takes a few years. Players to delist 2011 (assuming Bell, McNamara and Cheney delisted this year imo) - PJ - Miller - Joel MacDonald, unless he shows big amounts of improvement in skills and decision making - Martin, unless he has a break out season next year - Wona, unless he has a break out season next year - Maric, unless he has a break out season next year

I think Bartram and Dunn have really cemented their spots on the list, having finally found their niches. Bartram as a shut down defender/tagger, Dunn as a defensive half forward who is dangerous enough to still provide a target. I would delist/ retire: - Bell (hopeless) - McNamara (3 years on the list and too many players ahead of him in the same position) - Cheney (if we're serious about looking forward to a premiership we know he's not our man. a very limited player in a lot of areas) - J.McDonald (retired... body issues unfortunately seem to be catching up to him. Not many players go to 35 years of age) + delist the entire rookie list except upgrade McKenzie permanently. Perhaps re-rookie Spenser. That would mean we'd have space to draft 3 players, which is perfect for this draft. Most likely the picks will be 12, 30, 47. Also will allow us to rookie 5 players, taking a chance of a couple of speculative ruckman or VFL players

I really don't rate PJ. Don't really rate Spenser, Martin or Meesan either. Thank god we have Jamar. We desperately need a proper second ruckman who is good playing full forward

Watts was OK today. The problem is that he loses almost every 50-50 contest. This will change as he gains strength and experience. Patience is a virtue. Also, what's with people not recognising Bate. Thought he played really well today, worked hard. He marked the ball/found the ball 60-70m out from goal a number of times, which is a good CHF's game.

I agree with you mostly. Morton was the logical pick at the time. At the time of the draft Morton was rated top 3 by most clubs, so when he slipped to 4 it was the logical pick. Rioli and Dangerfield would have been the other choices, however I still maintain that Morton will be a gun once he develops a big body. Has played some awesome games in his short career and is still only 20. Looking at that, Watts could still be an inspired pick. In 3 years time I still have faith he could be the best from that draft. To me, the real test of whether we will take that extra step isn't whether we nailed the top picks, which I think we have, its whether we nail the late first round draft picks. - Maric at pick 21 - Strauss at pick pick 19 - Blease at pick 17 So far neither of these 3 have done anything for a variety of reasons, including form and injury. If all these 3 become duds, it will hurt us. If these 3 become great players, it will push us to an extra level. I'm still ruing not picking up Tayte Pears who was a couple of picks after ours

I think we need to keep Garland down back, we need quality defenders.

We've certainly developed our list a lot over the last 3 years. We're starting to see where different guys will play, and who is capable of taking us to our next tilt at the flag. Superficial onlookers always immediately say our forward line is the problem, but I thought I'd try a different way to look at it. Categories: - Core players: guys who we think are/will almost certainly be a gun, or at least very good players. Players you can rely on and build your future team around. - Good players: guys you think will make it as good AFL footballers, playing a role in the starting 22 each and every week going forward. - Depth players: guys you wouldn't ideally want in the 22, but will play a few games to fill gaps when needed NB: I haven't included Bruce or JMcDonald because they're 30+ and won't be playing in 2 years and I also haven't included Daniel Bell because he is a certainty to be delisted. Because this is a mixture of what our list currently looks like and what it will look like once our young guns develop, there is an element of prediction involved with our younger players. Defenders: CP= Frawley, Grimes GP= Garland, Warnock, (Strauss? Largely based on personal prediction) DP= Rivers, Joel Macdonald, Bartram, Cheney, McNamara, Martin Midfield: CP= Scully, Trengove, Davey GP= Moloney, Morton, McKenzie, Blease, Gysberts DP= Jones, Jetta, Bail Forwards: CP= Jurrah, Watts GP= Bate, Sylvia, Green, Petterd, Bennel, Tapscott DP= Dunn, Wonaeamirri, Miller, Maric (Fitzpatrick? project player) Rucks: CP= Jamar GP= DP= PJ, Spenser, (Gawn? Project player) Obviously this is largely based on personal opinion, however I think it highlights an interesting point. Many of us take it for granted that we have a very strong defence, and a developing forward and midfield. However from this analysis: Defence: We have a lot of options (lots of depth), but are light on quality moving forward. This would be exacerbated should Grimes move to the midfield. It looks like we are lacking in quality half back flankers who can provide genuine drive and rebound from defence and could really use another quality big defender as well Midfield: Our midfield looks to be developing very nicely, with a nice balance of inside and outside players. Could use some more top echelon talent, perhaps one more gun core player would finish the midfield off nicely Forwards: Actually looks like we have a lot of really good quality here going forward. Our top 8 players in core and good players are very strong, in fact probably the strongest of all positions. I think our fully developed forward line is very promising! This makes me think that counter to my initial belief that our defence is set, and our forward line is a rabble, it could be that we need to put more work into our defence. Needs going forward: - at least 3 more 'good' defenders + hopefully 1 more 'core' defender - one more 'core' midfielder - one more 'core' forward, preferably a small goal sneak which we completely lack - obviously another 'good' ruckman Thoughts? Does anyone else agree that it could actually be our defence that needs the biggest injection of talent moving forward?

down to our last $767,000, after having a debt of $5m 2 years ago. I'm all for it, one last ditch effort could eradicate the debt forever. Becoming debt free is one of the last pieces of the puzzle considering we now have great facilities, 2 homes (Casey and Olympic park), a strong sponsorship deal, 33000 members and are bursting with on field talent! Hopefully the club will never have to go to its members for money ever again

I'll say it again. Can we just play our players in their best position, where they play their best footy, which allows them to play to their strengths. Rivers should not play forward, Martin should not be forward, Strauss should not play deep in defence, Dunn should not play in the midfield as a tagger, Miller should not play in defence.

Can somebody post the list of remaining uncontracted players. I couldn't find it using the search function. With Frawley, Garland and Pettard signed, most of the important young guns are locked away. I'd like to see how many other really important youngsters have yet to sign. Watts and Bate are the only 2 I can think of off the top of the head