Whispering_Jack

The Saints used all of their picks today. Unless someone there retires or gets delisted, Carroll might be gorn.

Don't forget to watch - should be a fair bit about the MFC on the programme.

# 1 Jack Watts ... can I say, "I tipped this"?

I'm not sure about the strategy but it would seem that the club will be relying on its existing talls and therefore in the ability of the strength and conditioning coaches to build up some of our existing kpp's and in particular, players like Martin and Spencer. We still have pick 1 in the psd and a few rookie selections for the ruck types. I was disappointed we couldn't pick up another kpp but wrapped in getting Watts, Blease and Strauss - part of the future face of the Melbourne Football Club.

The only explanation for Rich to slide down to # 11 is that he's joined Al Quaeda and has been operating out of Mumbai lately. I think Burgo's gone troppo!

Thanks for that fantastic effort melbman. I was getting worried that we weren't going to be getting our usual fix of training reports now that we're out in the sticks. Keep up the good work. I hope to be able to make one trip down before Xmas (work permitting) but it's good to read that the team is enjoying its pre season on a proper footy ground. BTW - did anyone notice that there's a residential estate on Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road as you come towards Cranbourne that's called Strawberry Fields? Given the whacks delivered at this site by a previously banned poster who doesn't particulalry like us, I'm going to enjoy driving past the estate and humming that catchy old Beatles tune. It's much better than "All You Need is Love

I had a crack at the Phantom Draft at the Mates of Melbourne function and didn't realise until after I put in my entry that I'd left Chris Yarran out of the top ten. From now on, I leave Phantom Drafts to Burgatron (who has changed his mind again apparently) and to the experts on bigfooty. That won't stop me from making my preferences for the draft as follows: 1. Jack Watts - was in the Rich camp but I've read the tea leaves. It's Jack! 17. Sam Blease - liked the way he ran down players and followed up play when I saw him in the under 18 champs, made goals and set them up for others and I think the red hair will go down well at a club that produced Norm Smith as one of its most famous sons. 19. David Zaharakis - I want another player with pace and good delivery, who can run through the lines, is agile and has leadership credentials. From the Northern Knights so, if nothing else will keep good company with Jack Grimes. 35. Mitch Brown - I was going to go for Ryan Shoenmakers at #19 to shore up our prospects of getting Ferrari to sponsor the club but now that Volvo are on board for another couple of years, I've scrapped the idea. I decided to go for pace at both 17 and 19 so I'm hoping we pick up Mitch Brown to complement pick 1 and give us a double pronged tall man attack in a few year's time. 51. James Strauss - if you watch any of Jack Watts' highlights ask yourself who was it who delivered the ball directly to his chest or in front of his outstretched arms every time he got the pill? 64. This is effectively the pick we gained when CJ walked so I'm speculating on a smokie like Scorpions key defender Alex Silvagni because it would keep him in the fold at Casey Fields and getting a player with that name would really stick it up some of my mates who support Caaarton if he ever came good. Alternatively, Jordan Dodman, a former basketballer who's about 207 cm and is taller than Robert Warnock, heavier than Robert Warnock, has more hairs on his chest than Robert Warnock, will never appear in crappy video with no production values at all that masquerades as an environmental promotion for some crappy cardboard box company and he doesn't have a brother called "Matthew". 71. PASS I'm betting here and now that I'll get at least two of these right.

Welcome to Demonland - JACK WATTS From www.afl.com.au JACK WATTS DOB: 26/3/91 Height: 195cm Weight: 83kg Club: Sandringham U18/Brighton Grammar Bio: Watts is an athletic, strong-marking tall forward with pace who is an excellent shot on goal. He represented Vic Metro in 2008, winning the Larke Medal and All-Australian honours. Jason McCartney says: He's super quick, very athletic and that's the basketball background coming through. I'd seen bits and pieces [of him], but to see him play centre half-forward in the first game of the championships and the surety of his hands and the way he controls the footy sometimes was amazing. He has good decision-making, but the mark he took with a minute-and-a-half left in that game – he was three or four deep in the pack but he just clunked it and went back and kicked the goal that won the game. He's a super-intelligent kid and what we found was that what we were delivering to the other kids he finds a bit boring and mundane, so you have to challenge him. Watch highlights of Jack Watts in action More on Watts: * June 8 - Watts the goss, say recruiters - http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/watt...304.html?page=2 * July 4 - Metro trio prepares for last two - http://afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/2...px?newsId=62702 * July 7 - Young guns in focus - http://www.afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tab...px?newsId=62834 * July 8 - Watts a bit of pressure, asks Jack - http://www.afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tab...px?newsId=62919 * Oct 1 - Watts commits to 2008 draft - http://www.afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tab...px?newsId=68501 * Oct 2 – The four tops - http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/the-...2651177545.html * Oct 4 - Melbourne likes Jack Watts it sees in draft tests - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...5-19742,00.html * Nov 15 - Jack of all trades, master of one - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...3-19742,00.html * Nov 15 - Teasing out the talent - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...5-19742,00.html * Nov 15 - Jack Watts looking to muscle in - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...4-19742,00.html * Nov 23 - Top draft picks tell No.1 prospect Jack Watts to ignore pressure - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/spo...-19742,00.html * Nov 24 – Picks of the draft: Jack Watts - http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/new...375063498.html AFL.com video - http://afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/2...px?newsId=62650 2008 Championship highlights #1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGzqCIRgJLw 2008 Championship highlights #2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGzqCIRgJLw

Thanks people. Jasmine Rose. Soon to be posting as Whispering Jasmine.

A baby girl for Andy (Demonland) Mother and baby (8lb 5oz) both fine!!!

Shane Tregear made his debut for Sandringham seniors early in the season against Frankston and played some impressive games as a clever forward flanker and in a forward pocket. He came from the Sandringham Dragons via Brighton Grammar (I wonder who else has those credentials ?) and wore the number 19. He was injured during the year and played 9 games (10 goals). He's 180cm 68 kg and was born on 27 April 1988.

One thing that struck me about Dean Bailey was his steely determination to do things according to his plan to build the club from the ground up with youth and that came out clearly in his very blunt and definitive statement about Ben Cousins. To some extent he was giving the same message that St. Kilda gave a couple of days earlier in their explanation as to why they weren't taking him except Bailey has been resolute on this issue from day one when he first walked into the club while the Saints have, for several months during the Cousins saga, been acting as if quite the opposite applied. This is what gives Bails a huge tick in the credibility box which, given that he has to deal with a list of 44 or 46 young men from different backgrounds, will be a major plus for the club in the long run. This doesn't necessarily guarantee success as a coach – his coaching style will only be truly tested when the team he is building develops more down the track - but the building blocks are definitely there. Bailey also reiterated his disappointment with Chris Johnson and his decision to leave the club. What disappointed him was the simple fact that, in a one on one situation, CJ simply would not commit himself to playing for the club, thinking he had better opportunities elsewhere. I really believe the dramatic events of the day when CJ left were more for the benefit of the Melbourne team – to instil in them the importance of a high level of commitment which their coach demands from his players – than for CJ who was, by then, clearly a lost cause. I’m puzzled about how CJ came to the conclusion that he had more opportunities at a club like Carlton which is openly boasting about its pretensions to be a top four club than at Melbourne which is the current wooden spooner and, according to the pundits, is favourite for next year's spoon as well. Perhaps CJ has been dealing with people who may not be as honest and as forthright as our coach? On tomorrow's draft, BP made an interesting observation on the Fremantle situation with its apparent dilemma over taking Rich or Hill. He held the view that it was difficult to understand why the Dockers were thinking that way based on the roles of each player at the national carnival. Rich was always the main midfielder who was first to get a tag while Hill was the one who was doing the tagging for WA. I found that an interesting way to look at the situation.

And you can't name names around here. There is a Supreme Court injunction protecting these "names" for very valid legal reasons which go beyond the realm of pandering to public curiosity so please be very careful in any discussion on this subject matter. On the other matter of unsubstantiated reports about test results, that's exactly what they are at this point in time. They should be ignored.

Haydo saved me a lot of trouble. He has nailed down most of what was said over the evening on the public side and his report is accurate and illuminating. I also stayed back and chatted with Cameron Schwab and Dean Bailey but missed out on speaking privately with Barry Prendergast (Haydo must have button holed him in a corner). I'm assuming nothing that was said during our discussions was off the record so I'll reiterate that BP and CC were extremely careful not to give away the # 1 selection but if they went on the sentiment in the room which was 98% for Jack Watts then it's a foregone conclusion. However, I personally wouldn't be disappointed with Naitanui - BP spoke glowingly of his abilities, what he can do and how he might revolutionise the game by the way he plays. In answer to a question about the go home factor, BP said it didn't concern him and noted that NN's mother had pointed out that while they've been living in Perth for a number of years, Melbourne is a lot closer to Fiji (which they visit from time to time). He also gave his assessment of who some of the other clubs might select in the first round. In answer to a question I asked DB about development of our younger players he said Kelly O'Donnell, our development coach, was dedicated to the improving and developing our players. He also said that the early start to the pre season was important this year because it was necessary to teach the players how to go about their pre season. Last year we had a disrupted pre season but this year it's different. We have for e.g. a new weights coach, a Bulgarian, who started off just teaching the players how to do their weight training. It was only when they learned how to properly hold and lift the weights etc that they could gain maximum benefit from their programme. He is already seeing a number of positive results with people like Matty Bate and Michael Newton. DB also indicated that it was unlikely that we will be taking any recycled players on Saturday (and that rules out Tom Hislop). It's youth all the way. Cameron Schwab is very impressive. He said that the club will develop a business plan to become successful off the field - it won't be the same plan adopted at Freo. We have to be patient with sponsorships but he's confident we will end up with a good sponsor.

It's Naitanui or Watts - Barry Prendergast won't add to that until Saturday!

Now that would definitely be chaos! I can't believe that Daniel Rich might possibly fall in favour to fifth ranking. I still regard him as the best player on what I have seen of the players available and the one most ready to step into the AFL and succeed straight away. I just hope he's not there when the mongrels at Carlton are ready for pick 6 - we'll never hear the end of it from Blues fans.

I'd compare Mitch Brown with well ... er ... Jack Watts. Actually, I haven't seen enough of either of them to come to that conclusion but I have this theory that what it would be a good thing is we were able to develop two young tall key position forwards together so I like the idea of drafting someone like Brown or McKernan as a forward to take his place at some time in the not too distant future in the same forward line with Watts. Associated with that thought is the fact that the introduction of 2 extra boundary umpires is going to have repercussions on how teams are structured in the future. It might be that ruckmen will have more specialised roles and not be required to go too deep in defence or forward and clubs will be relying on their talls to do some of the ruck work at the stoppages. Not sure how that will work with defenders minding their opponents and doing ruck work but I'm certain that coaches will figure something out because it used to happen in the good old days.

An interesting example of the chaos theory and how it applies to the draft is the fact that Burgo changed his selections on the afl website today as follows:- So Burgo reckons that a change of selection at # 3 can affect the entire make up of the draft. Suddenly Tom Lynch who was going to Melbourne at # 17 is off to St. Kilda at # 13 etc, etc, etc. That's chaos and tells me that we should be prepared to expect anything on Saturday morning.

Just opened yesetrday's mail and had a good read of the club's annual glossy magazine. The highlight for me was an article by Marty Cox who works for the MFC and whose writing skills aren't used nearly enough by the club as far as I'm concerned. Marty used to write a lot for Demonology and his article on Colin Garland was terrific. I like the suggestion that, with the number of rising key defenders and the return of Jared Rivers, Garland might find a spot in the team's forward line and I look forward to that idea being trialled in the NAB Cup.

Not really. How do we know St. Kilda shafted him? The press release is basically ambiguous and I doubt we will ever know exactly what happened during St. Kilda's board meeting tonight.

I doubt that Burgo is going to have Cousins going to St. Kilda in Saturday's draft.

I was present when CAC made the admission and it wasn't specifically directed at Molan but rather, he conceded that it was probably an error selecting a key position player at that stage of the draft (which was what we needed badly at the time) in preference to a midfielder like dal Santo who was picked later in the draft. Let's not forget as well that Armstrong had shared in the Larke Medal for best player in the Under 18 championships so he wasn't a bad pick up either. He just didn't move forward after suffering the physical and emotional trauma of being caught up in a suicide bombing in Bali. So two out of those three selections had unusual injury problems. We'll never know how good Molan would have been had he not suffered those horrific injuries. I saw him kick four goals at FF in a quarter playing for Sandy at Frankston against strong opposition when he was recovering from the second set of injuries. He marked well and kicked accurately. Problem was that he was injury prone because within a couple of weeks he was out with another injury. During his last few years as recruiter at Melbourne, I thought CAC seemed a bit reluctant to draft the really tall KPP's (possibly as a result of his experiences with Molan, Rogers and 426) leaving us in our current position where we simply have nobody up forward capable of mixing it with the big boys of the competition now that Neita's retired.

That's right. You can write your own ticket on Melbourne for the flag in 2009 according to the bookies as divulged by Dwayne Pipe on 3AW. Carlton are equal 4th at $16.00 along with Collingwood behind Geelong, Hawthorn and the Doggies. Good thing I'm not a gambler.

According to the papers today we're asking the AFL for $2 million which should just about cover our operating loss for 2008 and fair enough given the aweful roster they hand out to us every year. I wouldn't hide the fact though - it's an important part of proper corporate governance that the stakeholders are aware of the true financial position (unlike some other clubs which transact their business through paper bags and cardboard boxes ).

BL2381 (another of pringle's brothers) is also a big chance to play.