Whispering_Jack

Follow on imposed against Sri Lanka on day 2 at Christchurch. Could be over early tomorrow. Perhaps we could exchange opponents and play the last test against NZ?

Not enamoured with the BBL but congratulations to Klinger (105no) - and he got his ton with a 6 off the last ball of the innings AND he's a big Demon fan!!!

We do the same thing with our players.

At least we've always known that when Joe Cocker leaves this mortal coil, it would be straight out of the bathroom window. [cue: picture of a bathroom window from the frog]

You can mourn his loss but leave your hat on.

All booked.

Cool for me RL. Do you want me to ring the proprietor and ask him to cook up some smoked otway pork hock or knuckle (say 1kg) to help you with your paleo diet?

Why can't we just celebrate the fact that we have just drafted a player considered by the majority of AFL recruiters and many other judges of junior talent in the sport as the finest and best young player in the land? Why can't we then enjoy the fact that we have as coach of the club a man who is well paid and respected and who has in the past moulded some very good footballing talent into a premiership winning combination? Everything that happens in the future is entirely in the lap of the gods but for now we have just picked up Petracca, a handful of well regarded young talent and a few players of ability from other clubs, a couple who have performed well before at the highest level. They are what has been added to our list to help us move forward. That's the reality of the present and what we have now and in this current climate.

Thanks for your input as well - as for "groupthink" (a) you use it often and in an inappropriate context, and (b) you used it in this thread when you responded to jabber after he asked you for an example of it. Happy to differ with you on this because he debate you produced in your evidence was sober and even if there was some rationalisation it bore no resemblance to the wrist slashing and emotional 180 degree turns noticed on the Saints' thread. You picked a poor example to use. Incidentally, I think the Saints did well in the draft and their fans should be happy with the outcome.

I followed the link expecting to see some evidence of "groupthink" about Sam Frost as a player and in particular, to find anything remotely resembling the hysterical about face of many Saintsational posters over McCartin's selection at # 1 instead of Petracca. Instead, I found some vigorous debate centred more on whether or not the deal struck for Frost was a good one for the club. Like some at the time, I thought we had possibly given away too much for the player but the outcome in terms of who we picked at 40 and 53 looks good to me at the moment. Of course, we won't know for some time. You really need to ditch this groupthink line. It means little in this context, does nothing to add to debate and anyway it's not borne out in the discussion you provided by way of example.

Wednesday it is then. Thanks folks. (BTW: another good reason for not doing Tuesday is that I think Wongs might be closed on Tuesdays )

Thanks for that 'bub'. Anyone else think it would be a novel idea to have a daily countdown?

Anyone know how many days there are left till the PSD and rookie drafts?

Knightmare on Christian Petracca ~ Knightmare on Angus Brayshaw ~ Knightmare on Alex Neal-Bullen Knightmare on Billy Stretch ~ Knightmare on Oscar McDonald ~

Knightmare on Christian Petracca ~

Early in this thread I cited one of the leading draft watchers Knightmare and we've done well based on his assessments:- Our five new players tonight all feature prominently in his 2014 draft power rankings. There are 18 clubs in the competition and we have 5 in Knightmare's top 30 including the top two:- Best few on list quality 1. Christian Petracca (VIC – Mid/Fwd) 2. Angus Brayshaw (VIC – Mid) Capable contributors 23. Oscar McDonald (VIC – KPD) 27. Alex Neal-Bullen (SA – Mid) 29. Billy Stretch (Melb – F/S - SA – Mid/Fwd) Knightmare also had Brayshaw and Petracca at 2 & 3 and Neal-Bullen and McDonald at 21 & 22. Stretch was a father/son.

Check out the big, fat boofhead at the GWS table. My informant at the venue tells me he's already broken two convention centre chairs and they only sat down 20 minutes ago.

The Clark/Landsberger Phantom Draft The Emma Quayle Phantom Draft The Brett Anderson Phantom Draft The Paige Cardona Phantom Draft The trend seems to be going in favour of the Saints picking McCartin and, as many have commented both here and elsewhere, we are going to end up with two of the best three young talents on draft day. We don't know how it will end up once the players drafted join their clubs but the vibe and the Mabo in me are saying it will be a good result for us. The ones we need to nail now are 40 and 53 and of course, a couple of handy rookies next week.

It's probably worthwhile at this stage to take a look at Knightmare's latest power rankings*:- KNIGHTMARE 2014 DRAFT POWER RANKINGS: Best few on list quality 1. Christian Petracca (VIC Mid/Fwd) 2. Angus Brayshaw (VIC Mid) 3. Isaac Heeney (Syd Academy - NSW Mid) 4. Darcy Moore (Coll - F/S VIC KPF/KPD) 5. Patrick McCartin (VIC - KPF) 6. Reece McKenzie (VIC KPF) 7. Connor Blakely (WA Mid) 8. Peter Wright (VIC - KPF/Ruck) 9. Jarrod Pickett (WA Mid/Fwd) 10. Jake Lever (VIC KPD) 11. Jayden Laverde (VIC Util) 12. Kyle Langford (VIC Util) High level difference makers 13. Jack Steele (GWS - Academy - NSW Mid/Fwd) 14. Lachlan Weller (QLD Util) 15. Nakia Cockatoo (NT Util) 16. Hugh Goddard (VIC KPD/KPF) 17. Jordan De Goey (VIC Mid/Fwd) 18. Sam Durdin (SA KPD/KPF) 19. Jarrod Garlett (WA Mid) 20. Liam Duggan (VIC Util) Capable contributors 21. Connor Menadue (VIC Mid/Def) 22. Corey Ellis (VIC Util) 23. Caleb Marchbank (VIC KPD) 24. Oscar McDonald (VIC KPD) 25. Toby McLean (VIC Fwd/Mid) 26. Dean Gore (SA Mid/Fwd) 27. Alex Neal-Bullen (SA Mid) 28. Paul Ahern (VIC Mid/Fwd) 29. Billy Stretch (Melb F/S - SA Mid/Fwd) 30. Damien Cavka (VIC Mid/Fwd) 31. Peter Bampton (SA Mid) Best of the rest 32. Brayden Maynard (VIC Util) 33. Liam Dawson (Bris Academy - QLD Util) 34. Caleb Daniel (SA Mid/Fwd) 35. Josh Glenn (SA Util) 36. Tom Lamb (VIC Util) 37. Touk Miller (VIC Mid/Fwd) 38. Daniel McKenzie (VIC Def/Mid) 39.Harris Andrews (Bris Academy - QLD KPD/KPF) 40. Jeremy Finlayson (GWS Academy NSW KPD/KPF) 41. Jack Hiscox (Syd Academy - NSW Util) 42. Daniel Howe (VIC Util) 43. Clem Smith (WA - Util) 44. Edward Vickers-Willis (VIC Util) 45. Mason Cox (USA Ruck/KPF) 46. Conor McKenna (IRE Fwd) 47. Will Fordham (VIC Mid) 48. Brett Turner (SA Mid/Fwd) 49. Nic Newman (VIC Def) 50. Blaine Boekhurst (WA Util) The Next 10 51. Pat McKenna (VIC Fwd) 52.Billy Evans (VIC Mid/Fwd) 53. Brett Eddy (SA KPF) 54. Edward Langdon (VIC Fwd/Mid) 55.Nathan Drummond (VIC Mid/Def) 56.Brenden Abbott (WA Util) 57. Garrett McDonagh (VIC Def) 58. Billy Gowers (VIC Util) 59. Jaden McGrath (VIC Mid/Fwd) 60. Aidan Anderson (WA - Fwd) * for an early version of Knightmare's power rankings refer to the first page of this thread. *

The Saints would have to be rope-able if the news and the circumstances in Sam McClure's tweet have been leaked by a club insider. It's not a good look for the club to be taking pot shots at a high draft choice and, as I mentioned elsewhere it could also backfire badly on them. I don't believe the AFL would be happy about it either. The fact remains that for at least the past 6 to 8 weeks there's been a familiar tone in draft circles suggesting the Petracca will go at # 1 and he will be followed by Brayshaw. If the latest rumour is fact then we get both of them. I was just getting used to the thought of us getting Brayshaw and McCartin and now this. To have two strong mid sized players of this calibre coming onto the list really gives our midfield stocks a major boost and it's also a major game changer in terms of what the club will do with the two later picks at # 40 and 53. It would be interesting if Reece McKenzie was still available at 40.

Tweet from Paige Cardona:-

Isn't this also a thread about a cheating low life (admittedly one about whose existence some are attempting to expunge from their minds)?

In four days time it will be about five years since we called out the name of the little rat who gave rise to this thread. Surely, you're all sick of not speaking any T$ or B$ by now and it's time to close the thread down?

AFL Draft Pick Me: Christian Petracca has AFL-ready body and is set to be the No.1 draft pick

And all you want to know about the draft prospects ~ http://m.afl.com.au/draft