Whispering_Jack
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Everything posted by Whispering_Jack
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By golly, that's right. And as nice a guy as JT is and as much as I want him to succeed in his comeback, we have really missed out on a gem.
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It was said at the time of the 2014 AFL National Draft that Melbourne was heavily into getting Lever who would have been rated even more highly but was coming back from an ACL injury. The word was that the club offered up Jack Trengove for a trade with Richmond just so that we could get in a position draft Lever (as it turned out the Tigers' pick would have been insufficient). It would be nice to get him to the club but can we do it?
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Just on the question of the club's intentions going into that draft, I was at the pre draft talk at the club with Jason Taylor and Todd Viney and they basically had it down to taking two of Petracca, McCartin and Brayshaw but the way they spoke it sounded very much like they believed the Saints would take the truck, spending a lot of time talking about Paddy's attributes. They even mentioned how he dealt with his diabetes and the need for him to manage it with rests during games. There was also the matter about Alan Richardson being close with the Petracca family and how he knew Christian from when he was a young kid. There is a lot to suggest that the Saints changed their minds in the eleventh hour. I think we might have lucked out on this one.
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Following Melbourne's win over St Kilda last week, a poster on Saintsational sparked some debate with this offering:- "Petracca is a gun who will be a superstar of the competition for the next dozen years. McCartin is an injury-prone, under-sized key forward who doesn't kick goals. He can take a great grab, but does little else. We are having to try to turn him into a lead-up forward because he isn't good enough in the goalsquare. I know hind sight is a beautiful thing, but there have been few more important decisions that the club has had to make over the last 6-7 years. It was crucial that we picked well at the 2014 draft. With the number one pick it was our biggest opportunity to pick up a star for the next generation: our next Riewoldt, Goddard or (dare I say it) Judd. From the media reports at the time Petracca was the clear number one choice in the lead up to that draft. If we were drafting on ability instead of perceived need it was a no-brainer. I understand our logic - we thought we needed a key forward - but McCartin is no Tony Lockett. I say this with all due respect to McCartin himself who seems a great young guy, and to our recruiting team who has generally done a great job over the last five years, but sometimes mistakes are made, and when they are we have to recognise them, deal with them, and only then can we move on. I think McCartin can and probably will be a really good player for us, but he won't give us what Petracca would have. As ever, I am happy to be proven wrong." I don't think he will be proven wrong but it's far too early to write off McCartin. Key forwards take their time in development. The discussion however, did mirror some of the standard debate generated here whenever we look at failed draft selections from the past.
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... and now that tyre company has not only lost lots of customers among Dee fans but also has the longest losing streak in Melbourne/ St Kilda games - 15. Losers!!!
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Virat Kohli ruled out of the fourth and final test.
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We need to read the fine print but it looks like a bit of a compromise compared with what I understood was originally mooted. AFL confirms changes to GWS Giants' academy
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With Mitch Starc injured, I reckon James Pattinson would have to be close to the best pace bowler going around. Let's hope our young pace bowlers can stay healthy for a change.
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If the report is correct and the changes are adopted it will finally be a case of sanity prevailing. Blind Freddie could tell you that a region that produced the likes of the Danihers, Wayne Carey, Paul Kelly and Shane Crawford to name a few isn't really a development zone and that the Giants were never deserving of the free access to players from this region under the northern states academy concept. This year's national draft would have been a farce with three top 10 players available to one club (and possibly one more if they were able to trade into an early pick as they did last year).
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Will the AFL bite the bullet and start taking action to make its draft a level playing field again? One club out of 18 can't have direct access ahead of the others to what could possibly be 3 of the best 10 prospects in the land. Why Greater Western Sydney should lose rich recruiting zone
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Here we go again. Chanderpaul father-son duo make history
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Most likely because it was way off topic, breached our rules and made a moderator angry. And now, can we not take this thread for a long walk. Please stay on topic.
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... but instead, the AFL took no steps to sanction the club in any way whatsoever after the final CAS decision found the 34 EFC players and former players guilty of an anti doping rule violation. In fact, the AFL had an immediate plan in place to lighten the club's burden during the period of the players' suspension by allowing it to supplement its list with top up players (with no assistance to other clubs that had lost players who had in the interim transferred from the EFC). Within that plan was its decision that notwithstanding that Essendon's record in 2016 would inevitably be adversely affected by the unavailability of players, most of who would be returning in 2017, this factor would not be taken into account in determining the club's position in the 2016 AFL draft. Hence, a gift of the first pick in that draft and improved position in other rounds in a draft already tainted and skewed by the academy system. Well done AFL. It was the least you could do after all those years and in particular the way your own Tribunal stuffed up the initial hearing into the doping saga.
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Just when you thought it couldn't get any more ridiculous this story keeps on giving.
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Where's O'Keefe been?
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Just listened to the tape and don't understand the drama. Nothing new and it seems to me that it demonstrates that the AFL and the EFC were doing their level best to make a deal that would have circumvented the anti doping rules.
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I'm reporting this to Adrian Anderson. He'll fix it all up ... no, wait.
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The Plaintiff in this case must think the Supreme Court justices are a humourless lot and in need of some laughter which is, after all, the best medicine. Another windfall for the legal fraternity from the gift that keeps on giving.
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Precisely.
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There's black and white and there are shades of gray in between. It seems to me that there's a conflict between the opinions of some of Gysberts' teammates if we're to believe what's been expressed here:- demoniac - "According to one of his Melbourne team mates he just did not have the work ethic required. Same team mate ask Gysberts to train with him in the offseason and do all the sessions in an effort to lift his endurance and intensity in preparation for pre season. Fair to say Gysberts did not quite commit." Vogon Poetry - "Gysberts was an introvert and was crushed by the hostile atmosphere generated by Neeld and his philosophy. This has been confirmed to me by both players and staff who were there at the time." Dean Bailey was Gysberts' first coach and had him for two years during which time the player showed he had the natural talent that made him a first round draft pick but also the limitations as mentioned in earlier posts. The off season to which demoniac is referring most likely was 2011-2 which is when Neeld took over the reins at the club so there were issues that were well and truly embedded by the time Neeld arrived. I would suggest that an introvert who had limitations and was already shunning the opportunity to take part in a regime of self-improvement would have fared no better under the coaching of Paul Roos or Simon Goodwin than he did under Mark Neeld and later under Brad Scott. The comparison between Gysberts on the one hand and Petracca and Oliver on the other is ludicrous because the latter two have already demonstrated their desire for self-improvement and are already showing the benefits of that. So who should we blame? Was it Bailey, Neeld, the hostile atmosphere in a dysfunctional club, poor recruiting and list management, "burn out", Gysberts himself or the tooth fairy? Upon whose judgement do we rely to make the call? I suspect that it was a combination of a number of factors and issues that beset him and indeed the club going back a number of years that led us to the uncomfortable period we've experienced since our last finals appearance. Thankfully, those days are behind us and to bring us back to the discussion at hand - the areas in which we have improved immeasurably are coaching and recruiting. Kelly is going to be a great player but the trade that netted us Tyson, Salem and ultimately Hunt (as Redleg has pointed out) works for me.
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The SA Under 18 trials got under way today -MCDONALD’S SA U18 TRIAL TEAMS For the record, the first trial game was close with the Blue Team beating the Red Team 11.6.72 to 10.7.67.
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