sylvinator

Barry Prendergast just interviewed on SEN... Firstly mentioned that we filled a lot of needs the last 2-3 drafts, so we focused on best available. Said that Tynan is a half back flanker, who similar to Grimes likes to drop off and take strong marks in defence and can also rebound. Prendergast mentioned that, although it isn't the reaosn he was drafted, he will allow guys like Grimes to move into the midfield

A very good pick here, because it looks like he slipped a little (Phantom drafts usually placed him in the 30s) AND fills a very big need for us. Our current small medium defenders can be split into 3 groups. 1. Tapscott, Blease, Grimes, Bail, Bennel= all these players have played out-of-position as small defenders in their time at the club. Tapscott, Grimes and Bail should all be midfielders, while Bennel and Blease are not natural defensive players and should be more on a wing 2. Bartram= an average player 3. Strauss= a promising prospect, who has a future as a medium defender, but broke his leg late last year which will see him out for a lot of 2012 and may take 1-2 years to get back to his best, if he does at all We need a small defender to free-up category 1 players. Hopefully this kid is a big upgrade on Bartram

Not a big risk, considering pick 54 is a very low chance of finding a superstar 18 yr old, particularly in a very shallow draft. I just don't quite see what role we recruited him for? Is he meant to be a ruck backup? Jamar, Martin, Gawn, Clark, Spenser suggest not Is he meant to be a backup key defender? We've got Garland, Rivers, Frawley as starting 18 players, with Tom McDonald and Troy Davis developing. Not a need. Is he meant to be a backup key forward? We literally just traded in Mitch Clark, with Watts (196cm), Cook (196cm) and Fitzpatrick (200cm) developing I think the the most likely scenario is that Neeld is desperate to have a really really big crash-busting key forward to fulfill his gameplan. He went out and got Mitch Clark, but wanted another big framed key forward as back-up in case Mitch Clark goes down, or even to form a double-team big key forward due. Clearly, Neeld does not want Watts, Green, Jurrah or Petterd to play at full forward as the number one target in 2012. It really was a weakness for us in 2011. With Clark and Seller, that will never happen again I guess

We delisted the minimum number of players, because this is a weak and shallow draft and any player we delist has more value than pick 70ish We kept Bate on the list, because Neeld believes his value he can add to our team as a mature physical body is more valuable than a speculative pick 39 in a shallow draft (pick 39 would result in us not using pick 54, so really it's only a 15 spot upgrade, which isn't much than end of the draft). We traded for Mitch Clarke because we need a tall big target in order to properly implement Neeld's game plan. It gives Neeld the opportunity to play the style of game he wants us to play, and allows Watts, Jurrah and Howe to play in positions that actually suit their playing styles.

Someone has to play a shut-down role on the most dangerous small forward. Tapscott is moving to the midfield, Grimes is an attacking rebounder, Strauss is attacking rebounder as well and is injured till mid-year. Who else is going to play that role. Until we find an upgrade, Bartram is the best we have and therefore plays an important role

Great news. Lucas Cook and Jack Fitzpatrick will finally get proper development as true Key Position Players, which is what we need to fast track their development. Fevola is gone and it seems quite clear that Matthew Bate is trying to make a move to the midfield/wing next year. I also doubt Lynden Dunn will play as a key forward at VFL level, while Howe and Watts will definitely be in our best 18 if last season is to go by. Also, with Tim Mohr drafted to GWS, i'm hoping to see Tom McDonald and Troy Davis take on the responsibility of taking the best opposition forwards. Good news. On a side note, our Key Position stocks are finally starting to look healthy! Key forwards in the senior side: Clarke and Watts Key forwards developing at Casey: Cook and Fitzpatrick Key defenders in the senior side: Frawley, Garland and Rivers Key defenders developing at Casey: McDonald and Davis

Geoff Tunbridge was my year 12 Chemistry teacher back in 2005, he umpired the year 11 vs. year 12 footy match each year. He's now retired but was a cult figure at my school

Chris Judd broke Carlton's 3.2km time trial record in 2007 with a time of 10:30 http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/judd-lapping-up-new-fitness/story-e6frg1wu-1111115169659 I'm say anything under 10min would be elite for an AFL midfielder. This is week 1 of pre-season. I'd expect every one of our midfielders by the end of pre-season to be looking to be under 10min 15 seconds. For the record, the i know for certain that the following players on our list run beep-tests above 15= Morton, Trengove, Bate, Dunn, Bail, Jones, Bartram, Grimes,

You're right, the back pocket and tagger is a role player. Won't get the accolades and definitely shouldn't use a compensation pick to get one... but imo it's still a hole in our side nonetheless. StKilda's Sean Dempster came 3rd in their B&F this year Geelong has Josh Hunt, who is an important player in their line up Collingwood have Toovey, who is a very important cog in the collingwood team Really good defensive players are important to team balance and every team needs some. We don't have any.

OK, so instead of starting another thread 'draft needs' i thought I'd post it here. I've analysed our list pre-national and rookie drafts to figure out the holes that need to be filled in our list. Our best 18 imo: Garland Frawley Grimes Blease Rivers Tapscott Davey Moloney Sylvia Howe Watts Petterd Green Clarke Jurrah Jamar Trengove McKenzie Int: Martin, Jones, Gysberts, Morton, Bail, Bennel, Strauss Depth: Bate (Flanker), Dunn (Flanker), Bartram (Back Flanker), Jetta (Mid), Macdonald (Back Flanker), Spenser (Ruck) Developing KPPs: Cook (KPF), Gawn (Ruck), Davis (KPD), Fizpatrick (Ruck/KPF), Mcdonald (KPD) Rookies: Evans, Nicholson, Lawrence I see the holes in our list as follows: 1. We need a genuine crumbing small forward. Only one on our list is Lawrence who is super speculative. 2. We need a genuine stopping back pocket who focuses on negating small forwards- i.e. strong defensively. We currently have none who can do this naturally- blease, grimes, tapscott and strauss should all be playing rebounding roles or midfield roles 3. We need a genuine tagger, not a makeshift one (ala Bail or Jones) 4. CLASS IN THE MIDFIELD Note what we do have: we have good ruck stocks. With the addition of Clarke and the KPPs we have developing, our Key Forwards and Key Defenders actually look pretty solid now as well. We have plenty of flankers and have drafted a bunch of rebounding defenders. So... The first 3 'needs' are role players, whilst not the most important players in the team, we are clearly lacking them. These 3 should be focused on in this years draft and rookie draft, since we have average draft picks and role players can ussually be found around 30s-50s. If we can find a great tagger, small forward n small defender this year, next years draft can all be about adding class to the midfield. Viney + 2 first round compo picks used on midfielders (adding 3 midfielders to our current crop) OR Viney + trade our compo picks for a star midfielder. Thoughts

I really like the idea of Petterd, Watts and Howe across CHF and the flanks. All 3 provide strong marking targets around 70m from goal, but importantly also have the athleticism to create forward pressure so that the opposition can't easily waltz out of defence (which is what happened when Bate and Dunn played across half forward). Green, Jurrah and Clarke should occupy the full forward line. Green plays his best footy as a goal kicker and is easily capable of 40-50 goal season, which is invaluable. Jurrah has such incredible natural goal sense, he should be given lots of free reign, but should be given as many opportunities to kick goals as possible. Clarke was brought in to be a big target at full forward- he will release pressure on Jurrah, will take the number 1 defender and always create a contest. His athletacism doesn't make his a lumbering giant either. Of coarse, I'd like to see the likes of Sylvia and Trengove spend time up forward, but should primarily be midfielders before forwards. Our midfield is so bad, we can't afford to have two of our best spending time at full forward when we have so many other options. Jamar and Martin will definitely spend some time up forward if we really want to stretch a defence with height. Also, for the record, I don't see how Bate can fit in to our forward line, unless he overtakes Howe or Petterd on a forward flank, which i see as unlikely. I'm also not a fan of putting Davey as a forward pocket. Davey just needs confidence, at his best he can be a really damaging wingman. The main missing link is a forward pocket. We've tried to draft a few over the years, but still haven't found a quality one. Wonaeamirri might not even be at the club next year, Jetta is a midfielder, Bennel a wingman, Maric delisted, Lawrence a rookie... we need to draft a quality one asap! Basically: Howe Watts Petterd Jurrah, Clarke, Green + ??Crumber?? Sylvia/Trengove/Jamar/Martin floating through at certain times

Totally off the mark. Geelong have several star players in their midfield. Bartel and Selwood are both in the best 10-20 players in the AFL, James Kelly is a star in his own right, with All Australian this year. Plus Chapman who played a lot of midfield this year. To win a premiership you need AT LEAST 2 midfielders who are considered in the best 10-15 players in the entire AFL. Look at every premiership team in the past 15 years and they have at least 2 midfielders who in that year were in the best dozen or so players in the league Without a great midfield, we will not win a premiership.

I'm quite interesting in Dempster. He would walk into our 22 as our best negator by a country mile. Would be our best tagger or our best small defensive defender, take your pick. He is a solid clubman, has a strong work ethic and plays the team role that is required of his. Every team needs a midfield tagger, and at the moment we don't have one. We've been using Bail and Jones in the interum to teach them some lessons, but we don't want that next season.

Cook, like pretty much all 196cm skinny KPPs, is not going to be fully ready for AFL before he is 21. He probably won't be a force at AFL level before 23. He is currently 19. He needs to keep developing his game, just like he did this year at Casey (preferably playing Key Position without scum fevola). We will enter our window in 2-3 years. At that stage we will have Cook, Watts and Clarke as 196cm+ KP forwards. That can only be awesome for our club

BLOODY AWESOME get by the demons for many reasons. However the main reason I'm stoked is this... Mark Neeld clearly has a a specific game plan and style he wants to implement. He knows we have many holes on our list and many roles he needs to be fulfilled but doesn't have the cattle at this point in time necessarily. Clearly Neeld told the board that to implement his game plan, he needs a big target, both structurally AND to allow his to use Jurrah and Watts in the positions he thinks will most benefit the team. We have now got this big target and in doing so have given Neeld the best opportunity possible to succeed as a coach.

We have one of, if not the worst midfields in the competition. We don't come close to Carlton, Geelong, Stkilda of Collingwood. Our defence is strong, with Frawley and Garland 2 10-year stars to base a defence around. Our forward line has the makings to be great as well, with huge talent in Jurrah, Watts and Petterd, Clarke also makes a big difference. However, until we get a great midfield we will not make the 8. In my opinion, we need to add two bona fide stars (I'm talking Pendlebury & Thomas quality) IN ADDITION to our current crop to become a great midfield. Hopefully we trade our 2 Scully Compo picks for a midfield star + Viney could do to the trick nicely? Sylvinator from The Netherlands!

The 'Melbourne Culture' issue is an issue worth exploring. I actually believe very strongly that every club has a distinct culture, which is driven by the senior players and recently retired past players. I actually am fairly certain Melbourne has a very very poor culture. No players absolutely driven for success. Too many happy to go along without doing the hardyards to take the leap from good player to champion. Scully is a rare bread. He will work and work and work towards success. He accepts no less. It's the type of culture obssessed with getting the absolute best out of yourself which our club can build itself around Scully, Trengove and Grimes- 3 players who take pride in being the best, preparing the best and doing everything it takes to become great players. Scully would lead them all.In 3 years time, Scully captain, Trengove, Grimes, Frawley, Jones and Mckenzie. Now that's a leadership group. Green is a poor captian. Not a natural leader. Davey isn't a natural leader either. Both are not onfield leaders either. Scully could well turn our club around and introduce a new culture and brand of leadership. If Scully does stay, he will be well worth it.

It's not contrary. Schwab's point was we COULD match a $1m offer, BUT that we wouldn't because it would stuff up our list management completely

That's exactly what I'm saying. At the start of the year everyone already was screaming out how this kid's going to be the best player in the comp in 2-3 years and that he is a number 1 pick and extremely valuable bla bla bla. He would have been offered just as big a contract then as he is now. In fact, I'd argue that there's even more doubt over his ability to become a star now, with half his season ruined by a knee injury, than there was at the start of the season

One thing out of this whole saga is certain. If Scully signs with Melbourne and reveals that he never really contemplated a move to GWS, then the decision to hold off talks all season must have been the worst decisions by a player/player manager of all time. Why on god's earth would you put yourself up for constant criticism, have your brand and name dragged through the mud, be under constant pressure at 19 yrs old... when your value was just as high at the start of the year than it is at the end. That is the only thing that makes me think Scully is gone. The decision to delay contract talks so long under constant attack is so very stupid in this situation if he always intends to sign with Melbourne, that no one would make it.

Hopefully for the last 5 games, Cook can have a go playing as the focal point. Fev can play second fiddle and help Cook to learn his craft in the position he'll be playing in the future

Like most people, I'm totally over this whole thing. I've actually found myself more and more indifferent as to whether he stays or not. If he leaves to GWS, we absolutely can make the best of a bad situation. Sylvinator's plan: Step 1 Trade 1 comp pick + Warnock + (Dunn or Bate or Morton) to GWS for O'Meara. I can't see any other club being able to beat that kind of offer, a valuable compo pick which can be used for 5 years, Warnock will be solid full back for a start-up club, Dunn or Bate or Morton are pretty solid footballers, definitely too good to rot in VFL. LOSE: Scully, Warnock, Bate GAIN: 1 Compo pick + O'Meara We'll get a super talent in O'Meara who, if drafted in 2012, would be rated top 3 for sure at the moment + another first round pick we can use for the 2012 superdraft! Step 2 Having saved paying Scully $600k, and still with a $1m hole in our cap having front loaded lots of contracts in recent times, use that cash to make a huge play for someone. One option that looks REALLY appealing to me is to throw $400k-$500k at Tom Lynch from Gold Coast. There must be some Victorians playing for Gold Coast that want to go home, and there's no way Gold Coast can pay them all big bucks. Tom Lynch looked really really good as a first year 198cm key forward. He's the exact 'type' we need because unless Watts and Cook, who are skillful roaming forwards, Lynch looks to be developing into more a moster forward once he bulks up. Gold Coast have Sam Day and Charlie Dixon as key forwards that they need to pay the big bucks to before Tom Lynch. CONCLUSION Let's get excited about turning a horrible negative into a positive. If Scully wants to go to GWS for money, so be it. If he stays, good. if not, the club is bigger than one player

GWS are forced to trade the four 17 year olds. They don't have an option of keeping those players. I reckon we should trade: - 1 comp pick + - Warnock (best key defender not playing regular senior AFL football in Australi imo. With Frawley, Garland, Rivers, Troy Davis and Tom McDonald he's not important for us but would be valuable for them) + - One of Dunn, Bate or Morton (none of these guys are really in our best 22, Morton still has the most upside out of those 3) For O'Meara. LOSE: Scully, Warnock, Bate GAIN: 1 Compo pick + O'Meara = not a terrible result at all. That's making the best of a bad situation. We'll get a super talent in O'Meara who, if drafted in 2012, would be rated top 3 for sure at the moment + another first round pick we can use for the 2012 superdraft!

I've been looking around the competition for young key forwards and I think I might have found 2. Firstly, this kid Jack Watts. Is in the right age bracket, is 196cm and runs 20m in 2.8 seconds. He's shown great improvement this season, will only get bigger and strong and could take the competition by storm. Secondly, how about a young kid Lucas Cook. Only drafted last year hasn't played a game yet, but has shown some terrific signs at VFL for a stick thin KPP. 196cm, has a frame to put on muscle and is a very smart footballer. Knows how to hit a target and can take a mark. As a bit of a smokey, how about we trade for a kid called JAck Fitzpatrick. He had glandular fever and injured in his first 2 season but should be over them by next year. Is 201cm key forward! Exactly what we need to develop. Is the right age bracket. All 3 of these young guys will be peaking when we are coming top 4 in 2-3 years time, so perfect age bracket. Imo, trading for these kids is wayyyyy better than continuously discussing the same old spuddish piles of poo like Tom Hawkins and Jesse White. And I'd also much rather talk about Watts, Cook and Fitzpatrick than speak about the most promising young key forwards from other teams that are under contract and the other club would never release them (Kurt Tippet and Josh Kennedy) What would it take to get it done?

If we win any of the next 4 games it will be the best win of the last 3-4 years by a mile. Huge chance to show how far we've come. Let's finally claim a scalp!