Whispering_Jack

And on that note we move on to post match discussion.

Same board member who told me three weeks before the Kreuzer Cup that Fev would be shipped off for surgery because Carlton couldn't afford to win any more games that year? Told me they were after Kreuzer and an even "bigger fish".

Not that far off kick-off time. This is a game that I know I will last the entire journey. That's because I'm going to the sponsors function afterwards. I'm therefore depending on the boys to make it interesting.

I'm not arguing, just responding. Must every discussion on this board automatically be an argument?

Beg to differ. I thought his performance yesterday was half reasonable and certainly one of his best since joining the franchise. The problem was that it still wasn't enough to put him in his team's best players although, under their system of voting, should earn him 4th place in the club champion award again. The one who escapes scrutiny from the media must surely be the coach who couldn't even snaffle a win against a club that's clearly disinterested and almost certainly won't win again this season. Also, why did the MFC have to endure a tanking inquisition for seven months when St. Kilda is allowed to omit its best player by a mile on the spurious grounds of "soreness"? Were we not accused on the basis of leaving out Colin Sylvia from the Jordie McMahon game (for disciplinary reasons)? And I'll bet the Dockers don't have to kick a goal after the siren to win today.

Phantom form guide And just a side note on SA's domination of junior footy. Their Under 16's are leading Vic Metro at half time by 11.9.75 to 0.1.1.

The "respectful" part is important as is the need to get our recruiting strategies up to speed where they've been poor in the past. Incidentally, you improve your list not only by trading but also by recruiting free agents and drafting new players. Then, as pointed out above, you need to develop what you have.Whilst I think we did well from our overall recruiting last year, I didn't like the way many players were kept in a limbo in the lead up to the free agency/trade period. That plus the effects of the long running tanking saga and ultimately Neeld's poor handling of the team contributed to the disastrous collapse of confidence among the playing group at the start of the season. I'd like to believe that our new recruiting chief Jason Taylor has plans in place and is already working on a programme to get us the best recruits, particularly in the midfield. The focus should be firstly on targeting players that fit our needs (I hope Adams is considered as one of them) and then working on who might be put on the trade table if and when the time comes to make deals. But you don't throw the baby out with the bath water by allowing players to feel unwanted by prematurely enabling the speculation to begin. I'm sure Taylor has also been looking at the availability of the list of free agents and the best under 18 and more mature players in the state leagues. The club should also be pushing the agenda of trade/draft assistance because as long as we're being thrashed on a weekly basis, we're harming the competition's bottom line. So it's not all trades and yes, we need to be more respectful of those on the playing list if we're to develop a successful culture. The Chris Johnson/James McDonald/Brad Miller/Cameron Bruce departure scenarios need to be made a thing of the past.

The Bulldogs will test my theory about them playing out the season for draft position. Saints would have struggled with Riewoldt but without him, it could be very ugly although his loss is balanced a bit by Koschitzke also being out. Gold Coast lost half its team with Gary Jr being ruled out although it will test the rest of the talent in this team. Without the best player in the comp to contend with Beamer should have a day out and no doubt someone on 'Land will revive the thread about him being such a big loss. I would like Norf to make a bit of a run for the finals like they did last year. Of all of the contenders outside the 8, I reckon they might be a show if they can get their act together when things are tight late in a game. With the position of the Bombers in doubt, a 9th place finish could see a team make the finals. Go Port! The game of the round is on tonight and if they break the Kennett curse (which I think they will), the Hawks will be strong flag favourites. Then there's us and the Swans which will be a better contest than we thought it might be a month ago.

Fascinating reading Fawad Ahmed's journey from terrorist target to Test cusp

Can't see Faulkner making it. Siddle will probably get the nod because of his work horse capacity but does he move the ball enough on English pitches?The noise is also that Nathan Lyon gets a nod. The only other omission I'd like to see is Inverarity.

Massive win to Collingwood unless they throw in a set of steak knives to even it up. All we need now is for Chilliboy to return to the fold and the next six months are going to be sheer bliss!

To avoid igniting any further discussion on player weights, I should add that the details given above for Smith are outdated and applied at the time of his induction to the AIS/AFL Academy. According to the Perth Football Club website he now weighs 74kg.

There's a young kid who I've been watching closely on Foxtel's coverage of the AFL Under 18 Championships and who I think might have a role to play in changing Melbourne's future fortunes through this year's draft. However, if that happens, he won't end up as a Demon. Smith was selected yesterday as a member of the All Australian team (on top of being named his state's MVP) but, because his birth date is 3rd February 1996, the Western Australian is not eligible to be drafted at November's AFL draft meeting. Clem Smith was a member of an AFL indigenous player tour to South Africa last year - WA teens leap into the limelight following which he was named in the 2012/3 AIS/AFL Academy (Level 1). He was described in the Academy's profiles as follows:- AIS/AFL ACADEMY PROFILES A member of the Perth Colts (WAFL), Smith toured New Zealand with the Academy earlier this year and starred in their 16.5 (101) to 7.16 (58) win over a representative side, the NZ Hawks. Smith displayed explosive pace, drive and skills in the Under 18 championships and, on what I saw, was well deserving of his AA honour as a bottom age player. He will no doubt be well sought after in the future by AFL clubs because players of his flair and ability to cause damage to the opposition are rare. Which brings me to why he could play a role in Melbourne's future draft fortunes. Smith's birth date puts him in the same range as Jaeger O'Meara, Brad Crouch, Jack Martin and Jesse Hogan - the four players selected over the past two years in the GWS Mini Drafts. The first two are already turning heads in the AFL and have received rising star nominations. If another mini draft was held later this year, Smith would be the #1 target of many AFL clubs, especially those that already have strong lists with very few immediate needs. Such clubs would no doubt relish the thought of being able to stockpile a player of Clem Smith's talents while developing him further for a year at VFL or similar state level in 2014. Many clubs have expressed opposition to the idea of simply giving Melbourne priority picks to get it out of its current playing list predicament but I sense that there would be less resistance if a prize like Clem Smith was on offer to them by way of trades for players and/or draft picks to the Demons. And Smith is not the only young prospect in AIS/AFL Academy ranks who would attract attention and become available if the AFL decided to give Melbourne draft assistance through a GWS style mini draft. The following are among the Academy members who fit the bill for eligibility for such a draft and who also made their respective state squads for the recently completed championships:- Jesse Watchman (West Adelaide) 196cm, 91kg Peter Spurling (Glenelg) 199cm, 85kg Bohdi Walker (Gippsland) 182cm, 82kg Jake Lever (Calder) 190cm, 82kg Ryan Lim (Claremont) 186cm, 75kg Warrick Wilson (Swan Districts) 187cm, 72kg Liam Griffiths (Ainslie) 183cm, 78kg Lachlan Weller (Broadbeach) 179cm, 71kg Liam Dawson (Aspley) 188cm, 78kg Matthew Hammelmann (Morningside) 196cm, 84kg Most of them would be unknowns at the moment except for the scouts at AFL clubs who would be smacking their lips if they knew there was a possibility of recruiting Clem Smith or one or two others on this list.

THE SMITH FACTOR by Whispering Jack There's a young kid who I've been watching closely on Foxtel's coverage of the AFL Under 18 Championships and who I think might have a role to play in changing Melbourne's future fortunes through this year's draft. However, if that happens, he won't end up as a Demon. Smith was selected yesterday as a member of the All Australian team (on top of being named his state's MVP) but, because his birth date is 3rd February 1996, the Western Australian is not eligible to be drafted at November's AFL draft meeting. Clem Smith was a member of an AFL indigenous player tour to South Africa last year - WA teens leap into the limelight following which he was named in the 2012/3 AIS/AFL Academy (Level 1). He was described in the Academy's profiles as follows:- AIS/AFL ACADEMY PROFILES A member of the Perth Colts (WAFL), Smith toured New Zealand with the Academy earlier this year and starred in their 16.5 (101) to 7.16 (58) win over a representative side, the NZ Hawks. Smith displayed explosive pace, drive and skills in the Under 18 championships and, on what I saw, was well deserving of his AA honour as a bottom age player. He will no doubt be well sought after in the future by AFL clubs because players of his flair and ability to cause damage to the opposition are rare. Which brings me to why he could play a role in Melbourne's future draft fortunes. Smith's birth date puts him in the same range as Jaeger O'Meara, Brad Crouch, Jack Martin and Jesse Hogan - the four players selected over the past two years in the GWS Mini Drafts. The first two are already turning heads in the AFL and have received rising star nominations. If another mini draft was held later this year, Smith would be the #1 target of many AFL clubs, especially those that already have strong lists with very few immediate needs. Such clubs would no doubt relish the thought of being able to stockpile a player of Clem Smith's talents while developing him further for a year at VFL or similar state level in 2014. Many clubs have expressed opposition to the idea of simply giving Melbourne priority picks to get it out of its current playing list predicament but I sense that there would be less resistance if a prize like Clem Smith was on offer to them by way of trades for players and/or draft picks to the Demons. And Smith is not the only young prospect in AIS/AFL Academy ranks who would attract attention and become available if the AFL decided to give Melbourne draft assistance through a GWS style mini draft. The following are among the Academy members who fit the bill for eligibility for such a draft and who also made their respective state squads for the recently completed championships:- Jesse Watchman (West Adelaide) 196cm, 91kg Peter Spurling (Glenelg) 199cm, 85kg Bohdi Walker (Gippsland) 182cm, 82kg Jake Lever (Calder) 190cm, 82kg Ryan Lim (Claremont) 186cm, 75kg Warrick Wilson (Swan Districts) 187cm, 72kg Liam Griffiths (Ainslie) 183cm, 78kg Lachlan Weller (Broadbeach) 179cm, 71kg Liam Dawson (Aspley) 188cm, 78kg Matthew Hammelmann (Morningside) 196cm, 84kg Most of them would be unknowns at the moment except for the scouts at AFL clubs who would be smacking their lips if they knew there was a possibility of recruiting Clem Smith or one or two others on this list.

Surprised Redleg hasn't raised this here but on another thread he described former test fast bowler Rodney Hogg as follows:- Of course, I immediately made the connection between Hogg's line of work and the food of choice of the posters around here. Hoggie was also recently the guest speaker at the Casey Scorpions debt demolition luncheon and, since then, Jesse Hogan has been getting bags of goals for the Scorps. I think the man should be patron saint of the no T$ no BS society.

One of the only reasons I watch GCS games is the presence of the best player in the competition. Reckon the bookie' odds would have gone haywire this morning.

To be fair to young Tom, his win/loss record wasn't too bad when he played for a real AFL club and not a circus troupe. He played 21 games for us in his debut season and we won 8½. He also played in a few wins in the following year before settling for the tinsel, sawdust and the money.He might get his break today when GWS plays the Doggies who I suspect might already have more of an eye on draft position than anything else and are still in mourning for Julia's demise for the Prime Minister's Cup. Given they acquired those picks through tanking clever list management, they're now receiving their due reward. One thing you can't blame Brock for is the fact that the ship went down. I thought he was one of their better players last night although I must say he thoroughly deserves having a megalomaniac as his coach.

Mine is that the ineptitude runs deeper and goes back further in time through Dean Bailey's tenure and right back to the last two or three years of the Daniher regime. What I hope is that the lessons of this period are learned and applied when the decision on the appointment of the next coach is made.

Concluding the series on the AFL PROSPECTUS Top 25 draft prospects, we start with a player from the strongest state for under 18 talent at the present time. Alex Spina​ (North Adelaide, SA) 179cm, mid-forward plays like Robbie Gray. Small forwards with pace to burn are a valuable commodity at AFL clubs these days. Lewis Taylor (Geelong I8) 173cm, mid-forward plays like Brent Harvey Not sure if Freako's comments will help this player's cause. Dwayne Wilson (Sturt, SA) 177cm, mid-forward plays like Danyle Pearce

You mean to say that he sells bananas?

Anyone else enjoying the sight of Mick Malthouse looking a bit like a stunned mullet during the second quarter tonight?

2013 NAB AFL Under-18 All Australian team Backs: Zak Jones (Vic Country), Darcy Gardiner (Vic Country), Liam Dawson (Queensland), Clem Smith (Western Australia), Matt Scharenberg (South Australia), Kade Kolodjashnij (Tasmania) Midfielders: Billy Hartung (Vic Country), Dom Sheed (Western Australia), James Aish (South Australia), Toby Nankervis (Tasmania), Luke Dunstan (South Australia), Josh Kelly (Vic Metro) Forwards: Ben Lennon (Vic Metro), Cameron McCarthy (Western Australia), Jack Billings (Vic Metro), Lewis Taylor (Vic Country), Tom Boyd (Vic Metro), Darcy Hourigan (South Australia) Interchange: Mitch Honeychurch (Vic Metro), Patrick Cripps (Western Australia), James Battersby (South Australia), Lloyd Perris (NSW/ACT) Coach: Brenton Phillips (South Australia) Assistant coach: Adam Sanders (Tasmania) Sheed's Larke Medal

Need to find out the cause of the falling out wouldn't we?

We are coming off a long period of time in which the club has come under considerable criticism about the way it treats its favourite sons. It goes back to the Daniher period, continued under Dean Bailey and Mark Neeld and is thought by some to have had a negative impact on the playing group over the past few years. Sure we can speculate on what we have to give away to get the draft picks/midfielders we so desperately need but let's also take care with our people and not look upon them as cattle to be done away with when it suits. That's the attitude that contributes to allegations of a poor culture that's wracked our club over the past three years. We need to be better than that.

Precisely, so it was a set up.