Whispering_Jack

The problem with that is that we will probably need to keep 21 or whatever aside for Billy Stretch under the f/s rule. Hence, why I maintain that we should apply for draft assistance for which any other club would be entitled based on our record over the past eight seasons*. If we ask for it and beg nicely we might be given a pick at the end of the first round of the draft which brings a Tyson-like trade back into play. Otherwise we would have to trade out another good player which is unlikely because we simply don't have that sort of trade material. In a way it's a pity we haven't given the likes of Blease, Strauss and Tapscott the opportunity to prove themselves on the big stage.* if we win more than three games out of the remaining seven we might have to have a rethink.

Thanks Goodoil. It's going to be another interesting period for the club. I never thought back 3 or 4 years ago that we'd be dealing in such early draft picks but that's life.

Also on Future Stars, Terry Wallace went with his Rolling Draft but based it purely on players available and not on what teams in particular positions might have as needs. He has Petracca (the Larke Medallist who polled in every game he played) as his number 1. 1. Christian Petracca 2. Darcy Moore 3. Isaac Heeney 4. Paul Ahern 5. Angus Brayshaw 6. Patrick McCartin 7. Sam Durdin 8. Caleb Marchbank 9. Peter Wright 10. Jake Lever

I hear what you say Goodoil but I disagree that a player of Petracca's ilk wouldn't fit into our side as a half forward among the names you mentioned in our forward set up. Firstly, that line up hasn't been travelling all that well (albeit without Hogan), secondly, the players you named are all talls and you need variety and the 186cm strongly built man child weighing in at over 90kg who tested at 2.9 for the 20m looks to be the explosive type we need (apologies to A o B who seems to disagree).Petracca was interviewed today on TAC Cup Future stars (immediately after a session where Angus Brayshaw demonstrated his kicking style) and he interviews impressively. He has a combined football/basketball background (he was in a state junior team with Dante Exum). He rattled off some impressive figures from AIS testing (agility, speed but noticeably didn't mention endurance). The endurance part doesn't worry me although we've had some failures at the club in this area (Gysberts, Jurrah) because if you're prepared to work hard at it you can definitely improve that area markedly in a relatively short time. So I would have him in the forward mix in year 1 with a view to turning him into an elite and damaging midfielder by the end of year 3. I don't think we're going to win many more games this year and our likely finishing position is somewhere between 15th and 17th. That means there's a fair chance we're going to have picks 3 & 4 (Frawley compo) and our finishing position would probably entitle us to apply for draft assistance under the rule that replaced the priority pick (but we'll probably not apply because, although we qualify, the AFL is still intent on continuing to punish us over the tanking fiasco). I get the point about trying to do another deal similar to the one that secured Dom Tyson and Pick 9 for Pick 2 and whatever and, it's not for me to judge ATM because I don't know enough about the players in that 10 - 20 range. I can't see anyone in there that suggests to me that he would be the star we're looking for (if he were that good, he'd be much higher up the rankings anyway). However, I think all this lends itself to a good 4½ months of speculation and we're shortly going to open up our trading & draft board. Anyone have any ideas for a name (last year it was something like find a friend for Jesse Hogan, so there may be some reluctance about personalising the board name). Anyhow, in the absence of a you beaut trade, I'm with Petracca/Brayshaw & Stretch as f/s. There are 18 clubs and about 18 All Australians available in this draft. If we can snare three in one draft, we're travelling at about the same as when Hawthorn did the same in the middle of the last decade. Hopefully, it will get us the same result.

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.