Whispering_Jack

I think Heritier is a no show again today.

What if it's a Melbourne v GWS grand final "rjay"?

This is all about Heritier finding a way out of playing a game that he's lost interest in and doing so with as much coin as possible. If he wants to get out with dignity he should make sure that the resolution is swift and he bows out silently rather than in the blaze of publicity created by the ridiculous accusations made about the club's treatment of his concussion issues.

AFL Draft Day 2016 is here and in a way I don't mind that the Demons have been relegated to bit players in today's proceedings. In the first instance, this year's draft is highly compromised by virtue of some poor decisions made by the AFL which strike at the very heart of the integrity of the competition. In that respect, if there is a time to be far away from the draft action, this is it. The first player whose name is called out tonight will be an Essendon player because the Bombers finished last in 2016. This is despite the fact that ten of their best and most experienced players sat out the season as a consequence of the findings in January by the Court of Arbitration in Sport that they along with many of their then teammates had violated anti-doping rules. The ink on the court ruling had barely dried when the AFL decided that Essendon would receive no sanction as a result of its role in those violations (other than the previous penalties for poor governance). The fact that the club's performance in 2016 would not truly reflect on the quality of its list was deemed irrelevant - hence a McCluggage or a McGrath will most likely become a Bomber this evening. The league's weakest club Brisbane won't even have second pick this evening. That will go to its love child GWS Giants which will be the power club of this draft. The Giants did a trade to get into this position so that it could chose a player before its academy bidding selections come into operation which is a solid move because they have a big crop of academy players at their disposal this year. The academy concept was brought in to give the northern states first access to talent in developing regions outside the game's traditional recruiting areas. The clubs in question were to be rewarded for nurturing such talent. The problem with this is that for some reason the Giants have been given the Riverina district as part of their academy region. This is an area that one could hardly describe as "developing" in AFL terms given that the game has been long established there and has produced plenty of champions. Wayne Carey, the Danihers, Paul Kelly anyone? What is even less understandable is the concept of the amount of "development" these clubs are supposed to put into players. The first academy member expected to be chosen tonight by the Giants is Will Setterfield, a star midfielder from Albury who relocated to Melbourne as a 15-year-old, attends Caulfield Grammar and played for the Sandringham Dragons this year. That's a long way from Western Sydney in my book. The Giants will most likely get Setterfield by using bidding points associated with their pick number 15 but should they even be going into the draft with that selection? When Lachie Whitfield and two former GWS officials accepted penalties in a deal with the AFL for their part in the scandal involving the hiding of the Giants’ youngster from possible drug testing, scandal (more than a year and a half after the event), it was thought the club would be sanctioned by losing a first and second round draft pick. GWS balked at that and have now been charged with conduct unbecoming over the role in the affair. What this has done in all likelihood is delayed the inevitable but given the fact that next year’s GWS academy crop is not likely to be as strong or as deep as this year’s, the club will have derived enormous benefit from its own stalling and from the snail’s pace the AFL adopted in this matter. If only, the AFL were as quick to decide on Whitfield as they were with the Essendon decision on the draft. Then there’s selection 19 which was recently gifted by the AFL to Brisbane as an end of first round priority pick on account of the Lions’ poor list – a decision that flew in the face of previous decisions made by the AFL on draft assistance applied for by other clubs, particularly Melbourne which had a far worse record than Brisbane when it made its plea for help a couple of years ago. The Lions traded the pick which is now in the hands of Sydney. So this is the most compromised draft in years – actually since the leg up the AFL gave its new franchises earlier in the decade. The draft itself is said to be not as strong at the top as in the past couple of years or as expected next year. The word is that the quality is deep and even. It will take some brilliance and a lot of luck for Jason Taylor and his team to produce the goods with only picks 47 and 68 at their disposal.

Titus unashamedly describes his own effort as "Easily the Worst AFL Draft Preview Ever" ... and yet, the way things are with this crop, he might prove to be closer to the mark than all the so called "experts". His secret is simple? He has never seen any of the draft prospects playing. ?

Among the late flurry of Phantom Drafts now that we're only one sleep away from the least anticipated draft in history from an MFC viewpoint - Callum Twomey's 2016 Phantom Draft Draft picks: 47, 68 (likely to use two selections) I wonder if CT reads Demonland? "After dominating the top of the past two drafts, the Demons will take a back seat this year with two later picks. The Dees have shown some interest in St Kevin's College product Oli Hanrahan despite not playing in the TAC Cup system. They have pulled a similar rein before (remember Jayden Hunt in 2013?). Some think Melbourne might need to add to its small forwards department, which could see the Dees have a look at West Australian product Liam Ryan, or maybe South Australian pair Kym LeBois or Tyson Stengle. A bid on Pies father-son pick Josh Daicos isn't out of the question at 47 either. Ruckman Oscar McInerney has caught the interest of many clubs and has been under the Dees' nose at the Casey Scorpions this year, but appears unlikely to be taken by Melbourne." THE SMOKEY (NUMBER 69) by Whispering Jack

No 2016 draft penalties for Giants over Whitfield case How very convenient for the AFL and its love child GWS that the decision on draft sanctions will be delayed to a time when the penalty would not be as severe as it would have been had they been imposed for Friday's draft. This is beyond a disgrace.

In the middle of all the concussion stuff didn't Heritier miss a game or two because he was grieving the death of Mohammed Ali? If that's the case and missing those games contributes to his inability to get a fourth season then perhaps he should join the Estate of the Late Mohammed Ali as a co-Defendant? He could even throw Donald Trump in as well because we know the President-elect is anxious to settle all litigation he's involved in before the inauguration.

In the event that the decision is made on H's retirement at any time over the coming months, then the solution for the club in terms of what to do with its list would be simple. Replace him with Joel Smith by way of an upgrade from the Category B rookie list. We won't be found short of a player and have additional space to find other Category B rookies.

I have a copy - read it three times. It needs an update but we need to win some flags first.

If we're looking for a player who's tall and swift and who models his game on Jesse Hogan, then this kid could fill the bill at pick 68 ~ Athletic tall Lewis Young turning heads after standout draft combine ...

To his credit, you have to admit that he's been the most consistent player in this whole saga.

When you boil it down, it's all relative.

My Foxtel Guide isn't telling me that.

The weather bureau is forecasting the hottest day of the year on this side of winter but, according to the club's website, training starts at 11:00am. Training Times Monday, November 21, Gosch's Paddock - 11:00am The full complement is due back today.

I would argue that Cohen deserved to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature along with Bob Dylan. An enormous loss.

I don't want to let the cat out of the bag but I can reveal that we're working on the No T$ No B$ straight jacket as we speak.

Fair enough. VP - I think we've been the eternal optimists about our young prospects. I temper my expectations a little these days because I've learned from the lessons of the past. I still remember a group of Demon fans salivating after Michael Newton performed party tricks and kicked a swag of goals for Sandringham one day in the mid 2000s and look how that turned out. Incidentally, my observations on Joel Smith were based partly on observation and partly on statistics. None of his stats were sensational - not even in his best game.

The Phantom Drafts and Top 20 and 30 best player lists are coming in thick and fast but of course, many Demon fans aren't interested because our first player selected is going to be around number 50 and possibly a smokey from out of left field. However, some are saying that this is going to be a somewhat deep draft with one or two highly thought of players drifting down to that level. It's going to be interesting to see how things pan out and I wonder how close Emma Quayle is going to be to the mark - Emma Quayle's Top 30 draft rankings

Ernest. We know your life story. I suggest you go fishing and let the rest of us worry about the draft and our own mortality.

I know the club has a high regard of Smith but the figures don't bear out your argument. Smith's preliminary final game was his best for the year statistically. He scored 79 dream team points that day and this was matched by him only once after he recovered from his groin injury and that was against Coburg when the team won by 14 goals. His next best was in the 60's in his first game back from injury against Sandringham. He was well behind the team average and wasn't getting named in the best players or polling votes from the umpires. I didn't go back to check his stats pre injury - I saw enough to say he was patchy. He's a good prospect and has come back in good nick but let's not get too carried away just yet.

I noticed that my print edition of the Herald Sun article "Hawks eye forward with late pick" mentioned above didn't include the paragraphs about Ollie Hanrahan so here is what it said about him:- "St Kevin’s Oliver Hanrahan is also shaping as a smoky selection, despite only playing school football. Fremantle, Geelong and Melbourne are all expected to consider the half-forward late in the draft, while Western Bulldogs and St Kilda first showed interest mid-season. One scout on Friday said Hanrahan was “excellent around goals and a Taylor Duryea-type long term”. While his omission from the TAC Cup is a concern for some, St Kevin’s director of sport Luke Travers believes it could be a positive. “I think his advantage will be that because he hasn’t come through the system, he’ll be easier to coach and to mould,” Travers said. “Most clubs get to the end and pass on picks. Why pass? He might be the diamond you find in all the coal you dig out.” Hanrahan’s stocks swelled with an impressive game at Geelong Grammar and kicked four goals in an APS representative match."

Spot on even if one doesn't agree entirely with his rankings. I like his thoroughness and he's very close to the mark in his assessments of those players who I have seen play either in person or on replays of Natuonal Under 18 championship games I've seen on Foxtel. For those who think our # 1 priority is a developing young ruckman, Quigley's pick 50 sounds a reasonable option.

On the same note Emma Quayle is writing a series of articles covering the needs of each of the AFL clubs for the upcoming drafts:- AFL draft 2016: club-by-club guide, part two The Demons have got themselves into a position where they have no pressing needs and could afford to trade (largely) out of the draft. Hibberd will add some power, pace and one on one ability to their backline while Melksham should be another solid midfield number coming back from his suspension. Then there is Jordan Lewis, who, by the end of his three-year contract the club almost needs to be struggling to keep his spot. That will mean their young midfielders have progressed as expected. The club could do with bringing in another tall defender to start developing; it's difficult to predict who will be around when they start picking but Mitch McCarthy has a lot of spring, energy and overall athleticism and could complement the McDonald brothers well. Brennan Cox and Jack Maibaum are two others – whether they make it to the Demons' first pick is questionable – and they could look at bidding for GWS academy player Harrison Macreadie, who reads the play well and gets to where the footy is but after an excellent 2015 season has slipped down the order this year. Melbourne see Mitch King progressing as a ruck prospect, but could look at bringing another in given how long they can take to play. In Petracca and Oliver they have two young midfielders with power and pace; a touch more speed in that part of the ground could be useful. If any club bids for Josh Daicos it could be Melbourne, while knowing Collingwood will match, and it would be no surprise to see them bring a true crumber in. Really though, they have drafted well for a few years in a row, and have improved their list through Hibberd. They're well placed to simply call out the first names on their list when it is their turn to choose.

Yes ... we saw Joel Smith play what was probably his best game for the Scorpions in the Preliminary Final but that was one out of the box. For the most part, his season was a learning experience and his form was patchy but I doubt that the club expected anything less from a young bloke making the transition from one sport to another. The good news is that he appears to have come back in great shape which gives him the best possible chance of breaking into the team. Thankfully, the club has at last started to invest in the potential of Category B recruits. Perhaps, we might try out an Irish player again.