Whispering_Jack

Dana? You mean Voldemort has not only done the sex change thing but changed his name as well? That'll make him/her completely at home at the Gat now, won't it?

Paige Cardona is the rising star of draft experts. Here she looks at the Draft Bolters and Sliders.

If that is a genuine photograph of the person who can't be named then either the GWS fitness and conditioning staff have worked wonders with him since he left Melbourne or Stephen Dank's been doing some under cover work in West Sydney.

Welcome back Old Dee. Lots of things are happening on the site, at Melbourne and of course with the Essendon dope saga.For instance, were expecting a big announcement from ASADA later this decade. On the Essendon front they've gone and hired a new assistant coach to the golden boy who is now known as "coach for life". The name of the new assistant is Mark Needle about who Bomber President proudly said when announcing the appointment, "with a name like 'Needle', he was the perfect candidate". Apparently, nobody was game enough to tell him that Tanya Hird who took copious notes during the interview process is a poor speller. Little also revealed that the selection panel was forced to overlook the only other realistic candidate George Stoned because he announced his retirement immediately after his interview. Meanwhile, Herald Sun football manager continues to insist that the mothers of half the team don't exist.

This looks like a good resource for the draft ~ The Draft Hub

On what little I saw of him he looks lightly built and not ready for AFL. The TAC Cup clubs take a few overage age players every year and, if he qualifies, then perhaps another year at this level might hold him in good stead. Collingwood's Tom Langdon did exactly that at the Sandy Dragons in 2013 before getting drafted at 65 as a 19 year old and then had a very successful debut season with the Pies. And of course, Tyler could keep an eye on the young potential recruits coming up in the competition for us - the perfect recruiting scout.

Thanks 'oil. Well, she's at odds with Chris25 who recently released his updated phantom draft (still no detailed profiles). He selects Bampton at 40 which would suit me - and he also has Gore available at that choice. I think his top four is about right to with the Saints taking Petracca, us getting Brayshaw and Lever and the Giants getting McCartin as their replacement for Boyd. The Saints get their KPF with their second pick and we unite two brothers with pick 53.I don't think the two Macs will end up in the same team (not even sure that we'll use 53 in the draft or at all yet) but I'd be happy with this (noting we would then take Nev as a rookie upgrade in the 80s) - Round 1 1. St Kilda - Christian Petracca (186cm, 92kg midfielder/forward from Eastern Ranges, VIC) 2. Melbourne - Angus Brayshaw (187cm, 86kg midfielder from Sandringhan Dragons, VIC) 3. Melbourne - Jake Lever (192cm, 84kg defender from Calder Cannons, VIC) 4. GWS - Patrick McCartin (193cm, 95kg forward from Geelong Falcons, VIC) 5. Collingwood - Lachie Weller(181cm, 71kg midfielder from Broadbeach, QLD) 6. GWS - Jordan DeGoey (187cm, 82kg midfielder from Oakleigh Chargers, VIC) 7. GWS - Peter Wright (203cm, 102kg ruckman/forward from Calder Cannons, VIC) 8. Gold Coast - Jayden Laverde (189cm, 82kg midfielder/defender from Western Jets, VIC) 9. Collingwood - Darcy Moore (199cm, 93kg defender/forward from Oakleigh Chargers, VIC) 10. Geelong - Jarrod Pickett (180cm, 68kg midfielder from South Fremantle, WA) 11. West Coast - Paul Ahern (181cm, 77kg midfielder from Calder Cannons, VIC) 12. Richmond - Liam Duggan(183cm, 76kg midfielder from Western Jets, VIC) 13. Fremantle - Sam Durdin (197cm, 87kg defender/forward from West Adelaide, SA) 14. Adelaide - Hugh Goddard (196cm, 93kg defender/forward from Geelong Falcons, VIC) 15. Gold Coast - Kyle Langford (190cm, 73kg forward/defender from Northern Knights, VIC) 16. North Melbourne - Tom Lamb (192cm, 83kg forward from Dandenong Stingrays, VIC) 17. Essendon - Caleb Marchbank (193cm, 85kg defender from Murray Bushrangers, VIC) 18. Sydney - Isaac Heeney (186cm, 82kg midfielder from Cardiff, NSW/ACT) 19. Carlton - Corey Ellis (185cm, 76kg midfielder from Western Jets, VIC) 20. Essendon - Jarrod Garlett (177cm, 73kg midfielder/forward from South Fremantle, WA) 21. St Kilda - Jackson Nelson (187cm, 80kg midfielder/defender from Geelong Falcons, VIC) Round 2 22. St Kilda - Reece McKenzie(196cm, 100kg forward from Northern Knights, VIC) 23. GWS - Keenan Ramsey (193cm, 86kg defender/forward from Port Adelaide, SA) 24. GWS - Jack Steele (186cm, 82kg midfielder from Belconnen, NSW/ACT) 25. North Melbourne - Nakia Cockatoo (188cm, 84kg midfielder/defender from NT Thunder, NT) 26. Western Bulldogs - Josh Glenn(179cm, 78kg midfielder/defender from Central Districts, SA) 27. Western Bulldogs - Connor Blakely (186cm, 81kg midfielder from Swan Districts, WA) 28. Carlton - Oleg Markov (186cm, 69kg midfielder from North Adelaide, SA) 29. Gold Coast - Mitch McGovern (191cm, 84kg forward from Claremont, WA) 30. Collingwood - Brayden Maynard (186cm, 88kg midfielder/defender from Sandringham Dragons, VIC) 31. Hawthorn - Declan Hamilton(183cm, 68kg midfielder/forward from Port Adelaide, SA) 32. West Coast - Brenden Abbott (185cm, 92kg midfielder/defender from Claremont, WA) 33. Richmond - Connor Menadue (188cm, 69kg midfielder from Western Jets, VIC) 34. Fremantle - Clem Smith (178cm, 67kg defender/midfielder from Perth, WA) 35. Adelaide - Alex Neal-Bullen(182cm, 77kg midfielder/defender from Glenelg, SA) 36. North Melbourne - Damien Cavka (184cm, 79kg midfielder from Calder Cannons, VIC) 37. Sydney - Ed Vickers-Willis(190cm, 82kg defender from Sandringham Dragons, VIC) 38. Sydney - Jack Hiscox (184cm, 74kg midfielder from Sydney University, NSW) 39. Western Bulldogs - Daniel McKenzie (183cm, 77kg midfielder/defender from Oakleigh Chargers, VIC) 40. Melbourne - Peter Bampton (182cm, 83kg midfielder from Norwood, SA) Round 3 41. St Kilda - Christian Buykx-Smith (193cm, 82kg defender from Gippsland, VIC) 42. Melbourne - Billy Stretch (181cm, 70kg midfielder from Glenelg, SA) 43. Adelaide - James Rose (186cm, 78kg forward/midfielder from Sturt, SA) 44. Brisbane - Liam Dawson (188cm, 81kg defender/midfielder from Aspley, QLD) 45. Western Bulldogs - Caleb Daniel(167cm, 66kg midfielder from South Adelaide, SA) 46. Western Bulldogs - Brenton Payne (193cm, 76kg forward from Western Jets, VIC) 47. Geelong - Cory Gregson (175cm, 72kg midfielder from Glenelg, SA) 48. Collingwood - Harrison Wigg(179cm, 74kg midfielder/defender from North Adelaide, SA) 49. Hawthorn - Dean Gore (183cm, 86kg midfielder from Sturt, SA) 50. Hawthorn - Tom Read (200cm, 92kg ruckman from Sturt, SA) 51. West Coast - Dillon Viojo-Rainbow (185cm, 80kg defender from Western Jets, VIC) 52. Richmond - Jaden McGrath (179cm, 73kg midfielder/defender from Bendigo, VIC) 53. Melbourne - Oscar McDonald (196cm, 88kg defender from North Ballarat, VIC) 54. Fremantle - Mac Bower (190cm, 77kg defender/forward from Norwood, SA) 55. Geelong - Bailey Dale (182cm, 70kg midfielder/forward from Dandenong Stingrays, VIC) 56. North Melbourne - Tyler Keitel(194cm, 86kg forward/defender from East Perth, WA) 57. Port Adelaide - Ben Edwards (192cm, 73kg forward from Glenelg, SA) 58. Sydney - Brydon Hodgson (185cm, 79kg midfielder from Murray Bushrangers, NSW) 59. Adelaide - Daniel Nielson (193cm, 90kg defender from Eastern Ranges, VIC) Round 4 60. Geelong - Daniel Howe (191cm, 84kg defender/midfielder from Murray Bushrangers, VIC) 61. Carlton - Toby McLean (179cm, 70kg forward from Oakleigh Chargers, VIC) 62. Essendon - Aidan Anderson (182cm, 83kg forward from Swan Districts, WA) 63. Brisbane - Harris Andrews (198cm, 91kg defender from Aspley, QLD) 64. Western Bulldogs - Zaine Cordy (192cm, 80kg defender from Geelong Falcons, VIC) 65. Carlton - Josh McGuinness (189cm, 72kg defender from Lauderdale, TAS) 66. Gold Coast - Tom Faul (187cm, 86kg midfielder from Ainslie, NSW/ACT) 67. Brisbane - Daniel Butler (181cm, 79kg midfielder from North Ballarat, VIC) 68. Hawthorn - Hugh Beasley (190cm, 86kg defender from Oakleigh Chargers, VIC) 69. West Coast - Lukas Webb(186cm, 80kg midfielder/forward from Gippsland Power, VIC) 70. Richmond - Sam Bennett (189cm, 80kg defender from North Ballarat, VIC) 71. Essendon - Matthew Goodyear (185cm, 77kg midfielder from Calder Cannons, VIC) 72. Fremantle - Matthew Hanson (182cm, 73kg midfielder from Western Storm, TAS) 73. Geelong - Dougal Howard (195cm, 88kg forward from Murray Bushrangers, NSW) 74. North Melbourne - Brett Turner (183cm, 79kg midfielder from West Adelaide, SA) 75. Port Adelaide - Nick Jackson (195cm, 86kg defender from Aspley, QLD) 76. Sydney - Abe Davis (193cm, 90kg forward/defender from UNSW-Easts, NSW/ACT) 77. Hawthorn - Matthew Uebergang (193cm, 87kg forward from Ipswich, QLD) Other Picks 80. GWS - Jeremy Finlayson (195cm, 84kg forward/defender from Hills Eagles, NSW/ACT) 81. Brisbane - Josh Clayton (190cm, 80kg forward/midfielder from Sandringham Dragons, VIC) 87. West Coast - Alec Waterman (183cm, 89kg midfielder from Claremont, WA)

Is that Oscar the muppet or Oscar the pist?

If that's a veiled reference to a certain departed player and the royalty who replaced him, let me express my disappointment about you holding up the general standard of this thread.

The first of the AFL's series on high draft hopefuls ~ Going places: When draft young gun Christian Petracca said yes to footy and no to an NBA dream I thought you really had to be exceptional to make it in the NBA (even as a point guard) if you were only 186cm tall.

@theagesport: CRICKET I Windies abandon India tour over pay dispute | http://t.co/GOPiQ81q3C The way the Windies have been going lately I'm surprised they were getting paid at all.

One thing I noticed about Paige Cardona's latest phantom draft is the lack of South Australians. She has more Western Jets players in her top 20 than players from the winning state in the National Under 18 Championships. Sam Durdin makes it in at #10 and her next player is Alex Neal-Bullen at 23. Harrison Wigg (39) is the only other Croweater in her top 40. Sturt's Dean Gore doesn't even make her list. Knightmare rates him as a "high level difference maker". Either the coach of the SA Under 18 must be a genius to have put together a winning team from the material he had at his disposal or we are grossly underestimating the ability of youngsters from that state in favour of our own. I commented about the lack of love for South Australians in another thread. I hope our recruiting people are on to this - I'd hate the SA clubs to benefit from the Victoriacentric mindset that some people have towards this draft.

Paige Cardona's Phantom Draft has us taking Angus Brayshaw and Paddy McCartin with picks 2 and 3. She has Jake Lever going to GWS at pick 6 but I have a feeling that he will be a strong contender for our pick 3.

It's always worthwhile coming back to this thread from time to time to see how certain players were looked upon at the start of the year before the draft manouevring began. With the regard to the Prospectus 25 some of them have already been taken as father/son or academy selections, some remain high on the radar and a couple have dropped off. Interesting.

More importantly, how many hours to go to the end of trade week?

Pakistan choke with a 2 wicket maiden final over from Glenn Maxwell. You wouldn't bet on a result like that, would you?

Looks like we have Pakistan's measure ~ Glenn Maxwell blasts Australia to a series win over Pakistan in Dubai

Redleg can forget the daily countdown to the draft now because the way we're going we won't have a pick.

Anyone know what's happened to James Muirhead, the promising leg spinner who played well in a couple of International T20s last year but is now back playing district cricket only?

I must confess that I don't recall previously coming across Luke McAlister's work but his comprehensive phantom draft makes good reading ~ Luke McAlister's Phantom Draft He has Christian Petracca going at # 1 and here are his pen pictures of the players he thinks will go to us if we retain # 2 & 3:

Phantom form guide: October update Swans' academy selection Heeney is highly regarded. Petracca, McCartin, Brayshaw and Wright are the ones most fancied to fill Melbourne's current leading selections at 2 & 3 (assuming we keep them).

The greatest player ever to wear that number for the club, without a shadow of doubt

Top AFL Draft prospect Christian Petracca proves his midfield credentials

Shifter believes there are four prospects worthy of a #1 pick in the draft ~ Four players worth No. 1 pick in AFL Draft says Kevin Sheehan This probably won't deter us from seeking a trade of our top pick if the right player is presented but, on the other hand it would be tempting (if we knew we were going to get them right) to pick up two very elite youngsters if we managed to get # 3 for James Frawley.

I watched bits and pieces of the game and was impressed with Lachie Weller (brother of Maverick) who is a definite top 20 prospect at the coming national draft. If Melbourne does another Tyson/Salem deal this year, then I can see him as a possible prospect along with Oakleigh Charger Jordan De Goey or Calder's Paul Ahern. The other player who stood out among the potential draftees was NT's Nakia Cockatoo who has been injured for most of the year. .In all probability Cockatoo is somehow related to the Cockatoo-Collins twins who were at Melbourne in the 90s. Cannon's midfielder Nick O'Kearney who has was a ball magnet for them in the TAC Cup finals starred for the AIS Academy as did Sydney's likely academy pick for next year Callum Mills. Now that the AFL has ruled out special assistance for struggling clubs I regard it as an obscenity that the Swans can have free access to a player of his quality and I believe the clubs should fight against it for the coming year. Sandringham Dragons key forward Harley Balic looked good and kicked a couple of goals for the AIS.