sylvinator

honestly mate if u dont know who Robert Walls barracks for then u must never watch the footy. that knobjockey has the uncanny ability of bringing his team into the commentary at every opportunity, it actually makes me sick

disagree- i think i we need ruckman by end of 2009---- White- retired Jamar- delisted- he's not good. theres a reason y he got dropped this week. he averages like 5 possies a game! Spenser- history shows he'll most likely be delisted. Meesen- who knows. atm could go either way. could easily end up as nothing So, we'll have: P.J- not a number 1 ruckman. most likely to be a B.Holland type forward who rucks 5min a qtr so, i think ppl who stop thinking about 2009 season, rather start thinking about 2010! if we start looking to the future now, our 2010 ruck division could be: R.Warnock Naitanui P.Johnson now that's a 10yr ruck division.

I completely disagree with this thread. Pathetic thread which lacks any insight at all and also seems to completely lack research. There only 4 teams who have vying for bottom 4 position! Freo have lost their last 3-4 games after leading at 3/4 time. they are not far off. they will start winning games very soon and with games at home in subi, are bound to win a few. As for Essendon, have you even looked at their draw.... They play WCE twice, Melb, Freo, Carlton and Richmond in the run home. basically they play all the bottom teams. With Lucas and McVeigh getting back to full fitness, i have a feeling they will start winning games. WCE just thrashed Adelaide. they are not that bad... plus have Beau Waters, Butler and Kerr to come back into their side. I think we still have a strong case for the spoon unfortunately (or fortunately if you take the perspective on draft picks). As for the Palmer comment---- Palmer looks great, however cannot compare to Morton who looks like a skinny runt, yet seems to consistently kick a goal a game and rack up 15-18 classy disposals. Morton is developing beautifully. if u look at his physique you would legitimately argue he is 2-3 years away from senior footy, yet still seems to look at home at afl level. Too early to start wishing we picked up a different player when Morton going swimmingly.

the best part is that we have Sylvia, Pettard and Dunn to come into the starting 22 (I have faith in Dunn). And Grimes and Maric are 2 top draft picks who are yet to debut. we have some youngsters coming in. At the end of the year we'll add 3 more high draft picks and we won't be in as bad a position as most ppl would like to think

Ofcourse it all depends how they all go the last 3 months before being drafted. I remember Palmer broke out in the national championships late last year! He then continued on his form by playing a number of high 20 disposal games in the WAFL. ATM, Rich isn't doing very much at WAFL level. if he continues getting 10-14 possies each game then who knows ... but then again he could break out and play some awesome WAFL games which would put him up to number 1. Same goes for Hurley, who is playing rly good footy ATM. Naitanui seems to be doing awesome in the WAFL averaging 13 possies, 5 tackes and 1 goal a game as a young ruckman playing Swan Districts. This is fantastic return. If he comes out and dominated the championships there is no doubt in my mind he should be number. If Naitanui comes out in the second half of the year and plays some great games, and dominated the championships, then we'd be absolutely NUTS not to pick him. He could easily be a once in a generation player who freakness brings 1000s to the game. He could be an absolute superstar. For those who think Rich is a sure bet to be a superstar, i think you'll find the Bryce Gibbs was similarly hyped up pre-draft as being the absolute standout gun midfielder in the draft. 3 years on he's hardly played a good game and if anything will become a good player, rather than a superstar.

If we did draft Hurley, he should definitely be groomed as a key forward. Key defenders: Warnock, Garland, Frawley, Rivers, Martin, Carrol True key forwards: Miller- plays well up the ground and isn't a goal kicker. Bate- plays well up the ground and isn't a goal kicker. Robbo- is 29 yrs old. need to look to the future Newton- looks like he's lost the plot. doesn't have the attributes (slow, lacks intensity, skills below his knees shocking) forward line looking very thin- we need to draft a gun forward asap

Disagree. there are 2 standouts this season- Rich and Naitanui. Either one could legitimately get picked number 1, so number 2 will get an awesome player. Hurley as the best KPP in the draft will be a champion also, so pick 3 wouldn't be a total disaster either. anything lower than that ill be thinking what a waste of a bad year. and YES, this is the proper year to bottom out. this year get a priority, even next year we can still bottom out and have the normal picks unaffected. Only in 2010 will the draft picks be harder to get...by then we should be climbing the ladder.

Defensive for the Future: Key defenders: Jarrod Rivers- proven quality backman. Colin Garland- extremely young and raw and will only improve Matthew Warnock- very inexperienced, will only improve James Frawley- see Garland. in 2 years i expect big things Key defensive monster to take the Browns on the afl...: Stefan Martin Running backs: Bell- i hope will improve. has the attributes but not the smarts atm C.Johnson- can't crack it into the team Sylvia- makeshift backman, but showed promise there Pettard- showed promise there Cheney- too young to tell McNamara- too young to tell As everyone can see, we have the potential to have a strong defense of the future, but atm it very much depends on how these guyz develop. We still need a monster defender, and if Martin doesn't come on we may have to draft another one. A couple of running defenders would also be great.

what about Mclean and Bruce. Though both were outstanding. Agree Bate had awesome game

i think what this club needs is stability. 1) we need to move into our home asap 2) we need to find a permanent training base asap 3) we need to consistently get 30,000 members (surely quite atainable- on 28000 in a shocker yr) 4) we need to find a strong board, and minimize staff turnover--- high staff turnover always indicates weakness if we do these 4 things then 90% of opposition clubs' arguments against us go out the window. then, the last thing we need to do is turn around our financial positioin. this is the hardest thing, but i think we'll find that with the other things in place it'll probably all come together. sponsors will be more likely to come to us. A saviour (ala Dick Pratt) wouldn't hurt either let's be honest.

don't rate Gram rly. would prefer pick 17

It's quite sad that we have noone really capable. however i think it has to be Cam Bruce. sure he has poor disposal, BUT... - he is our best player - he plays out of the middle (not so much this season though) - he gets the ball alot - he runs his guts out all day which is good example to others all the others in our leadership group have major major defects. Mclean would be great except he simply isn't good enough a footballer to be captain

Bailey is clearly trying to build a defence of the future. he's clearly trying to mould the players that he rates. Seems as though he's trying to develop Garland, Frawley and Rivers as 3 key defenders. I dont have a problem with dropping Carrol, bc if these 3 guyz are gonna develop as future key defedners, then they need to be played, moulded and developed in that position.

Monfries - has terrrrrible disposal. Is pretty short, not particularly fast and has shocker skills. To prove my point, he wouldn't be in Essendon's best 28 players. The only reason why he's playing atm is bc of injuries. My mates who are Essendon supporters hate him. McPhee - is an ok player, but has been really really bad this season. In fact hasn't been playing his best footy for 2 yrs now. He's basically a flanker, and i dont see him as an improvement at all on Sylvia, Miller, Bate, or Dunn. Stanton - I rate the kid. He's only 21 and getting number 1 tag each week. but his role has changed this year- he no longer plays in the midfield, more across the flanks n gets easy disposals. His possessions are almost completely ineffective and his disposal has deterioirated ALOT this year (which has been quite surprising to me). Turns the ball over consistently... If we're gonna trade then we shouldn't be looking at Essendon. I'd more be looking at team's like Hawthorn (Dowler, Thorp or Boyle???) or Geelong (Varcoe, Prismall???), or some kid trying to get back to Victoria (R. Warnock??)

i would be 100% against getting counsins. sure he's a great player, but... 1) he's 31 yrs old...he has 2 yrs left in him max. we are not at the stage of development where we should be picking up old players. 2) he will bring a bad vibe/bad culture to the club. he epitomizes what's wrong with football (and drugs in football)...no thank you. the only positive for drafting him is that he is supposedly the best trainer going around, so the younger players could learn how hard they have to train in order to get success. this, however, is not enough of a reason to pick him up

Carlton and Richmond only need 2 more wins each to stop them from stealing the number 1 pick and there are 16 rounds to go and neither of them have played us yet...so im confident that we won't have to worry about them. Freo i think will be ok. they have alot of talent in their team. they'll beat us this week most likely. that only leaves WestCoast. if we get pick 2 and get 'left' with Daniel Rich, i certainly won't be upset. it's a win-win as long as we can get one of the top two picks.

when looking at this list, it is clear that our list structure is just terrible. However, in 2 years time it can be remedied, IF we draft well for the next 2 years. we have a worrying amount of +29 yr olds, however only White can still be considered a fundamental crucial player. Over the next 2 years, every one of the 30 yr olds is going to be taken off the list except for possibly Robbo, Bruce and Carrol may survive another 3-4 years. of the players over 24 years old, Miller, Warnock and Jamar probably won't be on our list in 2 years also due to delisting (or move to Qld in Millers case). in 2 years time, we are going to have one of the youngest lists in the afl. the only players who will be over 26 will be Green, Bruce and Carrol (and Maybe Robbo and Wheatley)...that is what our list structure needs to look like if we're going to have a proper rebuild to push up the ladder. One of Green or Bruce should also be traded at years end if we can find someone stupid enough to offer a draft pick between 10-15. Our drafting over the next 2 years (and the development of our previous 2 years draftees) is going to be absolutely crucial

yep that's right. pretty lucky if you ask me. i'v got some close friends who are essendon supporters who are absolutely [censored] themselves bc they assume that theyll probably be bottoming out over 2010-2011... now that's reason to worry

“The eligibility age for the National Draft will increase by four months, so that the player must turn 18 on or before December 31 in the year of that Draft. This will not apply until the 2009 AFL Draft.” People, we're talking 4 months!!! jeez calm down. if we finish last we will still get a priority pick in 2009 (pick 1 and 2) so what are people worried about. look at the last few years...only a couple of the top draft picks in each draft pool are 17. and they are not even arguably the best players from those pools. we will certainly be able to pick up a couple of superstars in 2009 if we finish down the bottom. look at previous years. 2007 draft- cut off birth date- December 31st 1989 MATTHEW KREUZER May 13 1989- available TRENT COTCHIN April 7 1990 CHRIS MASTEN May 2 1989- available CALE MORTON January 18 1990 JARRAD GRANT July 6 1989- available DAVID MYERS June 30 1989- available 2006 draft- December 31st 1988 BRYCE GIBBS March 1989 SCOTT GUMBLETON 3 August 1988- available LACHLAN HANSEN, 17 August 1988- available MATTHEW LEUENBERGER, 7 June 1988- available TRAVIS BOAK, 1 August 1988- available SELWOOD, 26 May 1988- available MITCHELL THORP, 25 December 1988- available 2005 draft- December 31st 1987 Marc Murphy, 19 July 1987, Dale Thomas(Gippsland Power), 21 June 1987- available Xavier Ellis(Gippsland Power), 28 February 1988 Josh Kennedy(East Fremantle), 25 August 1987,- available Scott Pendlebury(Gippsland Power), 7 January 1988, Beau Dowler(Oakleigh Chargers), 16 December 1987- available we will not be affected at all in 2008 draft. very limited in how we're affected in 2009 draft. and by 2010 we'll be back up the ladder. perfect! this is much worse for clubs looking to bottom out 2010 and 2011 rather than us

i don't really see us as being so disadvantaged by these changed. imho, we are looking at spending this year and next down the bottom before we start pushing up the ladder. so all that really matters is this years draft and next. this years draft- no disadvantage next years draft- not such a big disadvantage. if we qualify for a PP, then we will still get pick 1 and 2. the only difference is we cant pick 17 yrolds. who knows, maybe the best 2 players will just have turned 18 anyways...not all top draft picks at 17 yr olds. by 2010, when we start going up the ladder, is when the draft is ravaged by the new team. the team who should be worried is Essendon. When Fletcher, Michael, Lloyd and Lucas retire all at the end of 2009, they are looking at a couple of years in the bottom 4. they are the ones who will suffer, not us. i think we should consider ourselves lucky they we are bottoming out just BEFORE this is all happening.

we won't be affected at all this year. how will we be affected in the 2009 draft if we qualify for a priority draft pick?

ive said this for a long time, but i think frawley will be a gem. people must be patient with budding key defenders. noone should expect a key defender to be able to consistently beat their player in their first afl season. what i look for in frawley is his attributes. He is bloody quick, effective kicking and handballing skills, strong over head, a good spoiler...but most importantly he is 193cm with a frame where he could stack on the kilos after a few preseasons. some of his spoils this weekend made me happy. some of his driving runs the week before were good. it wont be too long before he puts it all together. we must keep playing him

Laycock is a lazy footballer. i have some essendon mates who absolutely hate him. we don't want him. Next year our rucks could be: White, R.Warnock, Naitanui, P.Johnson, Jamar, Meesan and Spensor.... seems like a lot true. however keep in mind that by the end of 2009 White- retired Jamar- delisted Meesan- delisted as a waste of a trade. not a footballer, only an athlete. Spensor- might be delisted...let's be honest 95% of rookie drafted ruckman end up getting the chop therefore we'll have Warnock (22), PJ (24), Naitanui (19) and Maybe Spensor if he comes on. .... now imagine if we draft Rich instead of Naitanui, and don't target Warnock. By end of 2009 our rucks will be: PJ and Spensor and we'll be forced to give Jamar another contract.... If that's the case we'll prob probably end up having to use atleast 2 draft picks every year until we finnally find a good number 1 ruck. If we're clever we'll fix the problem now, and be set for the next 10 years. Naitanui is a must. he looks like an absolute freak. our midfield is also coming along alright for the future with Mclean, Sylvia, Jones, Grimes and Morton to form the core in the future- +we'll probably draft a couple of midfielders using pick 17 and 18

Noone under the age of 24 who has talent will be traded. I mean seriously, what is the point. if they are young and have talent, then we want them on our list! what's the point in trading davey for pick 15, so we can get a guy only 4 years younger who might turn out to be a nothing. If people are clever, they should be advocating to trade guyz like Bruce, Robbo and any other 28+ yrs old guy we have. good move by us trading Johnstone. he's getting his standard 16 possies and a goal every game as brissy and being servicable. he's 28 and by 2 years time he'll be about to retire, while Grimes will be in our starting midfield.

Moloney was actually rly good on the weekend imo. maybe not necessary all in this week because you can't make too many changes in one go... but by 2-3 rounds i'd like to see these changes. out: Jamar, Warnock, Bell (totally out of form), Dunn (totally out of form), Miller (isn't the future), Bartram (totally out of form), Morton (looks like a future champ but is just too skinny to play a full season. looks like he's about to snap in half) in: Valenti, Garland, Buckley, Maric, Martin, Bate, Newton Bailey said he's try to develop a team for the future and this is it... B: Nathan Carrol, James Frawley, Simon Buckley HB: Paul Wheatley, Jared Rivers, Cameron Bruce C: Brad Green, Brock McLean, Shane Valenti HF: Matthew Bate, Michael Newton, Colin Sylvia F: Aaron Davey, Russel Robertson, Austin Wonaeamirri Foll: Jeff White, James McDonald, Nathan Jones I/C: Adam Maric, Coliln Garland, Stefan Martin, Brent Moloney EMG: Daniel Bell, Lyndan Dunn, Clint Bartram keep in mind i'd like to still see Cale Morton to play 13-14 games this year. but he just needs to get some size on him. i feel scared for him sometimes haha. btw...i don't blame robbo and carrol for our poor performances. i can't see any fullforward or fullback succeeding with our midfield