Whispering_Jack

Thanks - I'm relieved knowing that.

Anyone know how long to go till next year's rookie draft?

Clutterbuck and Tuck - now that would be a great combination!

Morning has broken ...

Yeah ... exactly. It's significant to note jayceebee31's pronouncement on The Freddie Clutterbuck Thread on the JT Board, that Freddie's recruitment to the MFC is unfortunately not going to happen. JCB's sources are usually impeccable and this means we'll thankfully be deprived of the entire genre of Checkeresque music that caused havoc with the youth of the early 1960s. This a good thing for all of us. There are those who maintain that the dance crazes of the Twist and the Clutterbuck were the catalysts for the unhealthy drug culture of the latter half of the 1960s (and possibly Melbourne's long decline which commenced at that very time). I think there's something in that theory. After all, who could ever forget the euphoric days after the release of "Let's Clutterbuck Again Like We Did Last Winter"? There were abundant danger signs in Checker's mystical lyrics, "Do the Clutterbuck, if you cannot get a kick" and "Run and run all day, That is how we play," that served to presage the insouciance of our playing list circa 1965/6. In other words, from then on, we were "Clutterbucked" as a football club. The only antidote to this curse is to get rid of players with overweight parents, make good choices in the rookie draft and feed the team with cheap bananas and, in that respect (thanks to those who have contributed to this thread) we're making good progress.

Unfortunately, the problem with that song is that you actually can understand the words.

Just guessing here guys but it's more than 50 years ago that the great Chubby Checker (who is apparently still with us) tried that sort of stuff and I don't think it's going to fly with the current younger generation.

Our batting line up is fast reaching the point where it's a one man team.

I like the cut of Marley Williams' jib. He fits one of the areas I think we're lacking in and I like the fact that he's a booming kick. I think the rest will probably come from the list of those who are training with us although Tom Sundberg, who was a teammate of Tom Couch at Collingwood, would be a handy addition in the midfield. The big lad Williams from Norwood EFL appeals as well but I haven't seen the rookie candidates at training so I'm relying entirely on hearsay. I suppose we'll know in a little over 3½ days.

Did we open with those two or is Hughes out?

There is no more tantalising combination in the world of Australian football than that of Kevin Sheedy and Kim Hagdorn of Sports News First - Sheedy reveals rookie draft plan This meaningless piece of blabber starts with the suggestion that Sheeds is "unlikely to use all of his privileged picks in the AFL rookie draft this month" (actually he can make up to five rookie picks which is about par for all 18 AFL clubs). The great man is so underwhelmed by the rookies on offer that he says he might only take one or two which suggests to me that his recruiting wunderkind Phil Sc ... er, you know who ... is already earning that 2 grand a week salary at the club. So, what does he do for the other 51 weeks? The rest of the article tries to make a silk purse out of the sow's ear that has been the GWS recruiting juggernaut of 2011 and promises more of the same in 2012 as it turns it's attention on the next player it can offer $1m a year plus 10% for the old man if a new position in the club hierarchy can be fabricated for him. Sheedy has also said that he won't spend big at the pre season draft citing " salary cap restrictions" . He says the club will target big-bodied players at the pre-season draft but the article does not divulge whether Phil Sc ... er, you know who ... has nominated (the Giants motto is, if you're going for a big body then go for the biggest). I love this time of year.

Rookie Draft Selections 1 - Greater Western Sydney 2 - Gold Coast 3 - Port Adelaide 4 - Brisbane 5 - Adelaide 6 - Melbourne 7 - Richmond 8 - Fremantle 9 - Western Bulldogs 10 - North Melbourne 11 - Essendon 12 - St. Kilda 13 - Sydney Swans 14 - Carlton 15 - West Coast 16 - Hawthorn 17 - Collingwood 18 - Geelong 19 - Greater Western Sydney 20 - Gold Coast 21 - Port Adelaide 22 - Brisbane 23 - Adelaide 24 - Melbourne 25 - Richmond 26 - Fremantle 27 - Western Bulldogs 28 - North Melbourne 29 - Essendon 30 - St. Kilda 31 - Sydney Swans 32 - Carlton 33 - West Coast 34 - Hawthorn 35 - Collingwood 36 - Geelong 37 - Greater Western Sydney 38 - Gold Coast 39 - Port Adelaide 40 - Brisbane 41 - Adelaide 42 - Melbourne 43 - Richmond 44 - Fremantle 45 - Western Bulldogs 46 - North Melbourne 47 - Essendon 48 - St. Kilda 49 - Sydney Swans 50 - Carlton 51 - West Coast 52 - Hawthorn 53 - Collingwood 54 - Geelong 55 - Greater Western Sydney 56 - Gold Coast 57 - Brisbane 58 - Adelaide 59 - Melbourne 60 - Richmond 61 - Fremantle 62 - Western Bulldogs 63 - North Melbourne 64 - Essendon 65 - St. Kilda 66 - Sydney Swans 67 - Carlton 68 - West Coast 69 - Hawthorn 70 - Collingwood 71 - Greater Western Sydney 72 - Gold Coast 73 - Adelaide 74 - Richmond 75 - Fremantle 76 - Western Bulldogs 77 - North Melbourne 78 - Essendon 79 - St. Kilda 80 - Sydney Swans 81 - Collingwood 82 - Gold Coast 83 - Adelaide 84 - Richmond 85 - Essendon 86 - Sydney Swans 87 - Collingwood 88 - Gold Coast 89 - Adelaide 90 - Richmond 91 - Sydney Swans 92 - Gold Coast 93 - Sydney Swans 94 - Gold Coast 95 - Sydney Swans

I know Redleg's been hanging out for this - here it is:- Giants lead Pre-Season Draft 1 - Greater Western Sydney 2 - Greater Western Sydney 3 - Greater Western Sydney 4 - Greater Western Sydney 5 - Greater Western Sydney 6 - Greater Western Sydney 7 - Gold Coast 8 - Port Adelaide 9 - Richmond 10 - Fremantle 11 - Western Bulldogs

It's not an easy one given our injury situation but because this would be a one off I'd open with Dave Warner and Usman Khawaja. If they don't want to expose Ponting at # 3 the selectors might want to try Brad Haddin who has opened the batting in the 50 over game. As I said, it's a one off and Watson and Marsh should be back for Boxing Day. I'm all for trying things that are a bit left field in these situations. Probably has no chance of happening because Clarke has just declared his undying love for Hughes as an opener.

How's the diet going Redleg?

I'm a supporter of Phil Hughes and hope he can iron out the well-documented issues he has with his batsmanship but I'll go against the tide and suggest that Dan Christian should come into the side in his place. The rationale is that without Shane Watson (who probably won't be bowling much over the summer anyway) we'll need the extra bowler on a flat track like Bellerive, if for nothing else then to preserve our dwindling band of available pace bowlers from being overworked if the occasion demands. I'm not big on using spare parts bowlers like Hussey and Clarke for long periods in tests. The batting order could easily be switched around to accomodate Christian's inclusion and I think the team would be better off for the change. That said, Hughes will no doubt stay in the side and belt out a century on that pitch just to make me look stupid.

It's also the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour.

I'm starting to believe that the club thinks like we do about the rookie draft being far more important than the national draft. After all, why would they be uplifting Dan Nicholson and Michael Evans' numbers and leaving all of those important jumper numbers like 1, 23, 29, 31 and 33 available for the new rookies? I'm campaigning to give Freddie Clutterbuck the #29 made famous by Hassa Mann and Tom Couch has to be given #31 worn with distinction and pride by Seymour's Peter Garratt in 1976. But who will get Max "Tangles" Walker's # 1 and will someone get the number once worn by the GWS Giants' best midfielder James McDonald? Will they rest Aussie's number or give it away to someone else ... or even back to Aussie. By golly, I love rookie draft time!!!

Well, if we do draft from outside those training with us it won't be Brendan Fevola or Andrew Lovett. The stories of their demise has been well documented. I've heard that at various stages, poor old Kevin Sheedy was keen to get both of them across to GWS but the idea was swiftly knocked on the head by the powers that be who really run the club from AFL HQ. Sheeds wrote a book about giving sportsmen second chances and beyond and no doubt their presence would have helped him win the odd game or two. They would certainly have helped some of those young pimply faced 17 and 18 year olds learn the finer points of becoming AFL stars. Football in western Sydney will be the poorer for the edict that prevented these blokes from continuing their careers at one of the few places in the country where they would have looked right at home.

I reckon he might if he can score 17 first-class centuries including three in Tests in the next three seasons at that level.

I'm watching this and Pattinson's figures are 7-5-7-5. Incredible!

Now that it's really 9 days to go (and I'm assuming Redleg hasn't stuffed up his dates this time), I can let everyone in on the name of the ideal replacement for He Who Must Not Be Mentioned - SULLY LOOKS TO ROOKIE DRAFT Over the past two months I've been searching in vain for the right player to fit the mood of the person described in the song made famous by Adele. With this bloke, I think I've finally found the closest fit to that "Someone Like You" character.

The Nine Network has lost it. The camerawork has been ordinary and the last straw - leaving the game for the news at the start of NZ's second dig. Very ordinary.

Watching NZ bowl doesn't particularly inspire. I'm not a big fan of tricks like bringing on Vettori early. They've done it twice now in Australia's innings and in this case, it really indicates the ordinariness of their pace attack.

I think there's a fair amount of consensus around here that the rookie draft is more exciting and far more interesting than the national draft or the PSD and I think it should be promoted as such. How about us lobbying the AFL to become a bit innovative and to upgrade the image of the rookie draft so that it's actually held before the national draft? That way, the prestige of being the #1 national draft pick would be diminished and we probably would be spared some of those interminable daily self-serving propaganda pieces about He Who Must Not Be Mentioned fed to the media by the AFL and GWS desperate to improve the kid's image before he's nemed captain or vice captain () of the Giants. I think our very own Jordie McKenzie is a past #1 rookie selection and that's the image the game should be projecting. He's a nice, wholesome young lad. Honest and fiercely loyal to his club and teammates. The type of bloke you want to have with you in the trenches. How many days to go? Ten? It's worth the wait (I hope you haven't got it wrong this time Redleg)!