Whispering_Jack

Uncertainty continues over this year's number one pick I haven't been following the Under 18 championships as closely as I have in the past but I have the main games on Foxtel IQ and have watched snippets. It's clear that Paul Roos proposes to inject more midfield strength into the list so Brayshaw and Petracca stand out above the rest of the pack as midfielders and we could get both depending on what happens with James Frawley and if a suitable swap a la Tyson/pick 9 for Pick 2/pick 20 something can't be arranged. Stretch with a second round pick sounds pretty much par for the course. We would probably need to pull in a tall KPP in trading to cover the loss of Mitch Clark.

And here it comes ... Winning isn't everything

Well it got worse in the second half. I think it's time for certain parties to come to grips with a forgotten art.

Is two kicks, five handballs one mark and 1 tackle in half a game worth $25k?

I don't believe it was that great a career move by the Wiz but don't blame his management - they got him a lot of money and the story I heard was that he picked up a packet to sign on. Did Melbourne try hard enough to keep him here? I don't think they did well out of the trade either.

Last week's TAC Cup Future Stars Rolling Draft:- 1. St. Kilda Patrick McCartin (Tall Fwd) Falcons 2. Brisbane Peter Wright (Tall Fwd) Cannons 3. GWS Giants Christian Petracca (Med Fwd) Ranges 4. Richmond Jarrod Pickett (Mid/Sml Fwd) Sth Freo 5. Melbourne Angus Brayshaw (Midfielder) Dragons 6. Western Bulldogs Sam Durdin (Tall Fwd) West Adel 7. Carlton Tom Lamb (Tall Fwd) Stingrays 8. West Coast Clem Smith (Sml Def) Perth 9. Adelaide Jake Lever (Tall Fwd) Calder 10. Gold Coast Caleb Marchbank (Tall Def) B'rangers Draft order based on positions at start of Round 14 #TACFSrollingdraft

It is according to ASADA. I got 50% off for co-operating with the authorities and another 25% off for making sure that a certain rat didn't play for GWS on Sunday.

I'm back having served my two week suspension from this thread and see nothing's changed.

You're right. It was Mark Taylor - still no respect here for the great Don Bradman. Perhaps, we should stop retrospectively at 37 pages which represents the combined IQ of all current residents of the Gat?

I notice that this thread is approaching 452 pages which was Sir Donald Bradman's highest first class score. Surely, the time has come for us to do a Matthew Hayden and put an end to this thread at that number of pages to honour the great man?

Highlights - Round 4 NAB U18 Championships

Following on from Tom Langdon's stellar introduction to the AFL - TAC Cup's19-year-old rule blossoming in 2014

Another early Phantom Draft and some interesting observations on this year's main prospects - Paige Cardona's Phantom Draft.

Will be unusual playing Norf at a venue other than Etihad too.

Articles on the weekend's games:- Plenty of the Wright stuff in Vic Metro win South Australia 1.2 4.8 5.10 10.12 (72) Vic Metro 3.4 7.4 10.6 13.8 (86) GOALS South Australia: Hone 3, Hamilton, Neal-Bullen, Press, Read, Spurling, Tahana, Wigg Vic Metro: Langdon 4, Payne 3, Wright 3, Brayshaw, Langford, Miller BEST South Australia: Wigg, Neal-Bullen, Hone, Johansen, Stretch, Gregson Vic Metro: Wright, Petracca, Brayshaw, De Goey, Langdon, Viojo, Vickers-Willis, Ellis Quick, smart, skilled: Lonie stars for Vic Country Western Australia 0.1 2.2 2.4 5.5 (35) Vic Country 4.6 7.7 11.8 14.13 (97) GOALS Western Australia: Stewart, Pickett, Watson, Bevan, Nelson. Vic Country: Lonie 4, Butler 3, Webb 2, Wilson 2, Parish, Nyuon, Marchbank BEST Western Australia: Blakely, Hardisty, Winton, Watson, Dent, Smith Vic Country: Lonie, Dixon, Parish, Tucker, White, Nelson, Cunico

Our first TAC Cup Future Stars Rolling Draft for the year and they have a bit of a surprise player at the top:- 1. GWS Giants Christian Petracca (Med Fwd) Ranges 2. St. Kilda Patrick McCartin (Tall Fwd) Falcons 3. Brisbane Peter Wright (Tall Fwd) Cannons 4. Melbourne Angus Brayshaw (Midfielder) Dragons 5. Bulldogs Sam Durdin (Tall Fwd) West Adel 6. Richmond Jarrod Pickett (Mid/Sml Fwd) Sth Freo 7. Carlton Tom Lamb (Tall Fwd) Stingrays 8. West Coast Clem Smith (Sml Def) 9. Adelaide Lachlan Weller (Sml Mid) Broadbeach 10. Gold Coast Caleb Marchbank (Tall Def) B'rangers Draft order based on positions at start of Round 13 #TACFSrollingdraft

You have to admit it sooner or later guys. The loss through injury of Shannon Byrnes who was our leading goalkicker earlier in the season has been a massive blow to the club.

Actually my advice for Mick, if he were to ask me for it, would be to stay right away from Magpie players. If word gets out it could tarnish his reputation.

Check out whose jumper is handing in the restaurant behind Mick and Dane in the snapshot close to the bottom of the article - Magpie Dane Swan star guest at Mick Gatto restaurant fundraiser Methinks with Mick on side, that #5 will be safe to continue his coaching career for many years to come once he serves his suspension in two months time. All it takes is a friendly word in the ASADA ear from Mick and everything will be sunshine and roses.

KNIGHTMARE'S OTHER EARLY DRAFT PROFILES

Personally, I would be gobsmacked if the other clubs allowed us to pick Billy Stretch in the third round.

KNIGHTMARE'S ROUND 3

KNIGHTMARE'S ROUND 2

KNIGHTMARE'S ROUND 1

One of the most comprehensive of the phantom drafts is the one produced by Knightmare on bigfooty. He usually comes out early in the season and then reviews his work on a regular basis. There's always food for thought in his work and, as he's posted an update this week, I thought it was a good time to look at what he's thinking at the halfway mark of the season. He starts with his 2014 draft power rankings: