Whispering_Jack

This is the Sandringham squad for the reserves game tomorrow:-

Calder, Anthony

Cannon, Jack

Cute, the first two players on the list have had an Under 18 team named after them B)

The last time I placed a "tanking bet" was round 22,2003. Melbourne were playing West Coast and if we won we'd lose our priority pick,pick 3,Colin Sylvia.There was no way we were going to win that match and lose the priority pick.I made $235

We actually played (and lost to) Sydney in Round 22, 2003 but the principle sounds right. When Worsfold was interviewed on the news tonight he had a grin from ear to ear when he spoke of Kerr's woes.

I suppose making this prediction doesn't take a great deal of courage but I'm prepared to make it anyway.

Daniel Rich will win at least one Brownlow Medal at some stage during his career.

well has anyone heard any score updates or had any word of the game? i hanvt been following it myself but would love to know whats going on out there...

Lost by 16 points.

The reserves fared even worse failing to score a goal and losing by 11 goals (two years ago they at least kicked one goal at Ballarat!). Only good news is that Jack Grimes did OK.

Barry will have the details shortly.

Here's a good overview of the leaders of the draft pack:- YOUNGSTERS SHOW CLASS THAT WILL WIN THEM AFL SPOTS

The following article appeared today in the Amateur Footballer -

DEES CONTINUE STRONG AMATEUR LINK

The Melbourne Football Club has always had a strong link with the VAFA and that continues today with four players from their heart stopping win against Brisbane last weekend having represented a VAFA club at senior level.

Stefan Martin made his debut after playing 5 senior and 9 U19 games for Old Haileybury in 2006, winning the VAFA U19 (Blue) Best and Fairest.

Shane Valenti, playing his 3rd AFL game, played one senior game for Old Haileybury in 2005 and Simon Buckley played one senior game for Ormond also in 2005.

Cameron Bruce played for MHSOB in the late 1990's before being drafted, playing 18 senior games for the Unicorns.

James McDonald, who didn't play on the weekend, played for Old Xavs in 1996 and was part of that memorable premiership side, having been 1-8 at the half way mark of the season. Amazingly, James missed out on selection for the first match of that season and ran the water that day – how quickly things can turn around in one year.

Congratulations to Stef Martin on making his debut in only his third season of football. Stef was a highly promising basketballer who decided to give football a go for a year and play with some of his mates in the Old Haileybury U19's. After only 8 games (which he received 3 votes from the umpires in all 8), he was selected for the seniors. He missed out on being part of Old Haileybury’s first ever A Section flag due to a broken thumb but was invited down to Sandringham last season where he became an integral part of their senior side.

It was also great to see these players maintaining strong links with their former VAFA clubs. Both James and Simon were guest speakers at the Old Xavs and Ormond lunches respectively and all are regular attendees at VAFA matches.

I saw the second half of the WA v Tasmania game and was rather underwhelmed by Naitanui. He's tall, he has a great leap, he's fast and he tackles well but if you're going to draft a ruckman, you'd want him to be able to take marks and kick the ball well. The times he did get the ball he would handball. My preference would be Rich on what I saw today. Despite a heavy tag, he gathered the ball well, looked strong and has great disposal. Will be a top shelf midfielder.

by the Professor

From Tangles to Snake

One of the by products of the introduction of the new AFL club to be located on the Gold Coast will be a change to the draft rules which, in addition to allowing GC17 to pick a large number of local Queenslanders, will give the existing AFL clubs the right to select an additional two players on their rookie lists. This will bring to 46 the number of players on most club lists and will, in turn, increase the likelihood of a re-appearance of the number 46 at the Melbourne Football Club – a number not seen on a Demon since the 2000 Grand Final.

The number 46 is not a guernsey number at this club that is renowned for anything much although it was once worn by a man who became famous as a test cricketer and later as a television commentator and prolific author of books. As stated above, it was also worn into battle in the club’s most recent grand final appearance.

Adrian Bowden arrived at the club in 1966 from Hobart High School Old Boys at a time when the Demons were in steep decline after more than a decade as the VFL’s dominant club. Many of the stars of that era had left the fold and it was now a time for team building. An unprecedented total of twenty-two new players (five in the opening round) were introduced into senior football that year including Bowden who made his debut in the back pocket against Richmond in round 3 and wore the number 46 in 14 games that season. He played another ten games in jumper number 23 the following year, mainly as a centre half back, before returning home.

The next custodian of the number 46 was another ex-Hobart schoolboy in tall, gangly Max Henry Norman Walker who arrived from Friends School with a reputation of having some ability as a ruckman and as an opening batsman in cricket. He was thrown into the ruck on elevation into the senior team and played eight games in his debut season of 1967 before grabbing the number 1 guernsey at the start of the following year. Walker's football career was curtailed by his success as a test cricketer and "Tangles", niknamed for his unusual bowling style, retired at the end of 1972 after 85 games and 23 goals. He went on to represent Australia in 34 Tests as a medium pace bowler and handy tail end batsman.

Ray Sampson, brother of Essendon's Brian Sampson, joined the club in 1969 and managed just one game that season wearing 46. The next wearer of the number was another local in Geoff Harrold from Bentleigh-McKinnon Youth Club. He played two senior games before moving to Canberra where he had a long career in local football there.

Another hiatus of three years followed before another youngster from Bentleigh-McKinnon claimed the jumper for a brief career. Utility Glenn Walley played 3 games (2 goals) in 1975-6 before moving to Sandringham.

Peter Tossol, from Assumption College, Kilmore came up through the Under 19's and made his debut in round 6, 1982 wearing the number 46 jumper. He managed 5 games (4 goals) that year before changing to the number 21 for the remainder of his career. In all, he played 17 games for 20 goals to 1984. His brother John had played 2 games in 1981.

Like Max Walker, Tasmanian Michael Reynolds hailed from Friends School, Hobart and wore the number 46 on his debut at the club in 1983 and then again in 1984. A 186cm forward, Reynolds missed the 1985 season and switched to 21 in 1986 which was his final year. He played 22 games for 20 goals.

Local lad Darren Louttit from St. Peters East Bentleigh was at the club in 1985-6 and was the next wearer of the number 46. The 193cm key position player managed just 2 games before moving on to Fitzroy.

Matthew Mahoney, a 200cm ruckman drafted from Eastlakes (ACT) wore 46 in his debut season before switching to number 10. He made only six appearances to 1992. His replacement as wearer of the number 46 also wore it in his debut season only. Haydn Robins switched to the number 15 in 1993. The aggressive defender from Ringwood played 20 games (1 goal) before transferring to Richmond after two years at the club.

Hayden Lamaro, a half back from Euroa was drafted by the club via the Murray Bushrangers in the 1997 National Draft. He wore the number 46 in his two games in 1998.

The last player to wear the number 46 at Melbourne was Troy Simmonds who earlier this year represented Victoria in the State of Origin match. He was drafted to Melbourne from VFL club Box Hill and played five years in his debut season as a lightly built ruckman in an understudy role to Jeff White. He acquired the nickname “Snake” because of his unusual hobby of collecting reptiles. He also studied zoology. Simmonds stepped up in 2000 when White was carrying injuries but lost the number 1 ruck spot back to White when he sustained a knee injury. Simmonds fought his way back into the side for the 2000 grand final and is remembered as the victim of an ugly head high incident caused by a reckless bump from Essendon’s Michael Long who subsequently incurred a four week suspension. Simmonds recovered and played out the following season in Jimmy Stynes' number 11 but he never managed to grab the number 1 ruck mantle from White and was traded to Fremantle at the end of that year after 40 games and 7 goals. "Snake" later transferred to the Tigers where he remains their leading ruckman to the present day.

So the jumper number 46, worn last at Melbourne in a grand final, awaits a new owner and it could come as early as the beginning of the next season with the mooted expansion of AFL lists by two rookies. The number is not fashionable but still has managed to attract one or two handy sportsmen in the past. Perhaps the next one can emulate or even better the feats of "Tangles" or "Snake"?

by the Professor

From Tangles to Snake

One of the by products of the introduction of the new AFL club to be located on the Gold Coast will be a change to the draft rules which, in addition to allowing GC17 to pick a large number of local Queenslanders, will give the existing AFL clubs the right to select an additional two players on their rookie lists. This will bring to 46 the number of players on most club lists and will, in turn, increase the likelihood of a re-appearance of the number 46 at the Melbourne Football Club – a number not seen on a Demon since the 2000 Grand Final.

The number 46 is not a guernsey number at this club that is renowned for anything much although it was once worn by a man who became famous as a test cricketer and later as a television commentator and prolific author of books. As stated above, it was also worn into battle in the club’s most recent grand final appearance.

Adrian Bowden arrived at the club in 1966 from Hobart High School Old Boys at a time when the Demons were in steep decline after more than a decade as the VFL’s dominant club. Many of the stars of that era had left the fold and it was now a time for team building. An unprecedented total of twenty-two new players (five in the opening round) were introduced into senior football that year including Bowden who made his debut in the back pocket against Richmond in round 3 and wore the number 46 in 14 games that season. He played another ten games in jumper number 23 the following year, mainly as a centre half back, before returning home.

The next custodian of the number 46 was another ex-Hobart schoolboy in tall, gangly Max Henry Norman Walker who arrived from Friends School with a reputation of having some ability as a ruckman and as an opening batsman in cricket. He was thrown into the ruck on elevation into the senior team and played eight games in his debut season of 1967 before grabbing the number 1 guernsey at the start of the following year. Walker's football career was curtailed by his success as a test cricketer and "Tangles", niknamed for his unusual bowling style, retired at the end of 1972 after 85 games and 23 goals. He went on to represent Australia in 34 Tests as a medium pace bowler and handy tail end batsman.

Ray Sampson, brother of Essendon's Brian Sampson, joined the club in 1969 and managed just one game that season wearing 46. The next wearer of the number was another local in Geoff Harrold from Bentleigh-McKinnon Youth Club. He played two senior games before moving to Canberra where he had a long career in local football there.

Another hiatus of three years followed before another youngster from Bentleigh-McKinnon claimed the jumper for a brief career. Utility Glenn Walley played 3 games (2 goals) in 1975-6 before moving to Sandringham.

Peter Tossol, from Assumption College, Kilmore came up through the Under 19's and made his debut in round 6, 1982 wearing the number 46 jumper. He managed 5 games (4 goals) that year before changing to the number 21 for the remainder of his career. In all, he played 17 games for 20 goals to 1984. His brother John had played 2 games in 1981.

Like Max Walker, Tasmanian Michael Reynolds hailed from Friends School, Hobart and wore the number 46 on his debut at the club in 1983 and then again in 1984. A 186cm forward, Reynolds missed the 1985 season and switched to 21 in 1986 which was his final year. He played 22 games for 20 goals.

Local lad Darren Louttit from St. Peters East Bentleigh was at the club in 1985-6 and was the next wearer of the number 46. The 193cm key position player managed just 2 games before moving on to Fitzroy.

Matthew Mahoney, a 200cm ruckman drafted from Eastlakes (ACT) wore 46 in his debut season before switching to number 10. He made only six appearances to 1992. His replacement as wearer of the number 46 also wore it in his debut season only. Haydn Robins switched to the number 15 in 1993. The aggressive defender from Ringwood played 20 games (1 goal) before transferring to Richmond after two years at the club.

Hayden Lamaro, a half back from Euroa was drafted by the club via the Murray Bushrangers in the 1997 National Draft. He wore the number 46 in his two games in 1998.

The last player to wear the number 46 at Melbourne was Troy Simmonds who earlier this year represented Victoria in the State of Origin match. He was drafted to Melbourne from VFL club Box Hill and played five years in his debut season as a lightly built ruckman in an understudy role to Jeff White. He acquired the nickname “Snake” because of his unusual hobby of collecting reptiles. He also studied zoology. Simmonds stepped up in 2000 when White was carrying injuries but lost the number 1 ruck spot back to White when he sustained a knee injury. Simmonds fought his way back into the side for the 2000 grand final and is remembered as the victim of an ugly head high incident caused by a reckless bump from Essendon’s Michael Long who subsequently incurred a four week suspension. Simmonds recovered and played out the following season in Jimmy Stynes' number 11 but he never managed to grab the number 1 ruck mantle from White and was traded to Fremantle at the end of that year after 40 games and 7 goals. "Snake" later transferred to the Tigers where he remains their leading ruckman to the present day.

So the jumper number 46, worn last at Melbourne in a grand final, awaits a new owner and it could come as early as the beginning of the next season with the mooted expansion of AFL lists by two rookies. The number is not fashionable but still has managed to attract one or two handy sportsmen in the past. Perhaps the next one can emulate or even better the feats of "Tangles" or "Snake"?

I agree. Good luck with the function and let's hear from all the Ballarat Demons on Sunday about how the function went and how the Demons played.

I've received the Sandringham Reserves team lists as follows for the Reserves game:-

NORTH BALLARAT v SANDRINGHAM

Sunday 6th July - Seniors at 2:00 pm

AUSTAR Arena

SANDRINGHAM

Calder, Anthony (Local Interchange)

Cannon, Jack

Cleeve, Stuart

Curcio, Michael

Fleming, Andrew

Gallagher, David

Gilchrist, Rennie

Gilder, Brad

Gribbin, Daniel

Grimes, Jack

Hardiman, Maddison

Johnston, Marc

Johnston, Tomi

Kondarovskis, James

Lockwood, Scott

Lyall, Nicholas

Martyn, Guy

Monaghan, Sam

Plymin, Jarrod

Sargent, Daniel

Shakaib, Hiwad

Spencer, Jake

Teasdale, David

Torcasio, Christopher (Local Interchange)

Vickers, Jack

Weetra, Isaac

Jim Stynes made his first official match day address as Melbourne Football Club President at the Club's President's Lunch at the MCG on Sunday. Read about it HERE.

I don't pretend to know either Jack, I expect him to play... although maybe you can confirm as to whether he looked less than interested last weekend? He's been dropped from the senior side (MFC) twice now, rumours on another thread is that he's out of the leadership group as well.

I assume if a player is selected in the 18 set positions then he'll play on Sunday. There are only five MFC players in this category, leaving 11 Demons on the extended bench. Seven will be left after Melbourne finalises its 22 players for the Brisbane game tomorrow evening but only a maximum of four will play in the Sandy seniors (barring unforeseen injuries etc). That means it's possible that Cheney, Newton and one other Demon plays in the Sandy 2's and a few of the Sandy boys who struggled and were easily brushed aside by Port Melbourne play senior football. Doesn't make sense for Sandy and doesn't make sense for Melbourne. I guess there's half a season to go and what was once a very good relationship will be over.

Yze on an extended Sandy bench... interesting.

Sandringham team selection doesn't make sense to me these days.

A TEST FOR THE MEMORY BANK by Scoop Junior

On a great day for footy in the nation's capital, the Melbourne Football Club went down to top four fancy the Sydney Swans. It was a game that probably won't last too long in the memory bank.

As good sides do against lowly opposition, the Swans killed off the contest early with a barnstorming start. They kicked the first five goals of the match and, in doing so, put paid to Melbourne's hopes of an upset victory. During that opening period, the Demons struggled to get their hands on the ball, taking until the fifth minute of the opening term to register their first possession. While it is symptomatic of a young side to go missing at times, this trait is one that the Dees have possessed for far too long and one that has punishing effects as opposition teams pile on the goals with ease dutring such periods. Richmond did it in the second quarter last week with an eight-goal burst; this time it was the Swans.

To its credit, Melbourne did fight back in the second term to make it a more even contest. A few goals to each side kept the margin at five goals, with the Demons' improved tackling and pressure making it more difficult for the Swans to score. After half time, Melbourne lifted another gear and for the first time in the match started to produce fluent attacking football. So efficient were the Demons during this quarter that nearly every forward 50 entry resulted in a score. The Dees closed to within 11 points but a late goal to Sydney extended the margin to three goals at the final change.

While Melbourne was in the game at three-quarter time, catch-up footy takes it toll. The energy expended in reeling in the deficit was too much for the young team and a lift in application from the Swans resulted in a dominant term for the Sydneysiders. Melbourne could hardly generate any offensive pressure and the Swans' high-pressure high-intensity style wore them out as they fell away to a 40-point defeat.

For the Dees, Matthew Bate performed exceptionally well from limited opportunities to boot four goals. With the team limited to a paltry 30 forward entries, Bate did well to make the most of his opportunities in kicking the biggest bag of his career thus far. Brad Miller worked hard at centre half forward and Paul Johnson was particularly influential in the third term, leading up and showing a clean pair of heels to his opponents. Like Bate, Austin Wonaeamirri made the most of his opportunities to boot three majors. It was a great effort in the circumstances, given that Melbourne's lack of forward entries and dearth of big marking targets provided few crumbing opportunities for the little blokes.

The midfield was well beaten by a more experienced, hardened outfit. With the likes of Kirk, Jude Bolton, Buchanan and Goodes, the Swans have a multitude of seasoned premiership midfielders who more often than not overcome what opposition clubs throw at them. The young Melbourne midfield was no match, coming up desperately short in the clearances. Brock McLean was nullified by Kirk, Bruce didn't see a lot of it and Jones lacked his usual output. Aaron Davey was quiet for most of the game but played a ripping third quarter, which was one of the main reasons for the Dees’ resurgence during this term. Melbourne looks a different team when the ball is in Flash’s hands, as he not only breaks the lines but delivers with pinpoint accuracy.

On a brighter note for the Demons was the performance of Lynden Dunn, who restricted the dangerous Goodes to 12 disposals. It was a fine performance from Dunn, who has now had the better of Goodes, Foley and Swan in the past three weeks. What I like about this list of scalps is that these three players all possess pace, an attribute seriously lacking in Melbourne’s midfield. Dunn's ability to match them adds another dimension to the midfield. However, he now needs to learn how to find more of the footy himself and to provide an attacking influence if he wants to establish a permanent spot in the midfield.

Brad Green and Paul Wheatley played well sweeping out of defence, with the formers' sure hands and crisp disposal helping to set up the play, while Chris Johnson played one of his better games for the club, nullifying the hard-working O'Keefe and using his sound kicking skills to initiate attack off half back. Colin Garland was effective without dominating, playing a decent game on O'Loughlin, while fellow young key back James Frawley did some nice things although he is still a number of games and many kilograms away from holding down a key position. Matthew Warnock, who has been somewhat of a revelation in recent weeks, was comprehensively beaten by Barry Hall. The Swans' spearhead had far too much strength and know-how and had he kicked more accurately would have booted 8 goals.

In the end, it was a decent effort to limit the margin to 40 points, given Sydney's fast start, their dominance at the stoppages and the limited forward 50 entries from the Demons. While still nowhere near the elite teams, Melbourne's skill level has improved drastically since the early rounds (admittedly it couldn’t get much worse!) and this was highlighted by their efficiency in scoring, particularly in the third quarter. However, Sydney was well below its best for periods of the game and the match did indicate a number of key areas where the Demons need to improve if they are to move up the ladder in the coming years.

Nevertheless, this honourable loss will not harm Melbourne's prospects of securing the number 1 pick in the National Draft, a draft which the Dees must extract some top-grade talent if they are to improve their list for the future. Despite the improvement since the early rounds, Melbourne lacks the talent of the top clubs and the best way to address this is with early draft choices and astute drafting and trading. With games against the impressive Lions, the second-placed Bulldogs, Fremantle away and the Kangaroos in the next for weeks, a win looks a fair way away, which is not all bad news given the draft prize of finishing near the bottom of the ladder. Despite only one win for the season thus far, it does promise to be an interesting final nine weeks!

Melbourne 2.2.14 5.3.33 10.5.65 11.8.74

Sydney Swans 7.2.44 10.5.65 12.10.82 17.12.114

Goals

Melbourne Bate 4 Wonaeamirri 3 Bruce P Johnson McLean Miller

Sydney Swans Hall 5 Buchanan Mattner O'Loughlin 2 Goodes Jolly Malceski R O'Keefe Playfair Roberts-Thomson

Best

Melbourne Green Bate Dunn P Johnson C Johnson Wheatley

Sydney Swans Hall Kirk Mattner Jolly C Bolton O'Loughlin

For another view of the game from our man in the nation's capital see - IT'S A HORROR MOVIE

Votes have been collected and update of polling will be published tomorrow with our official match report from Scoop Junior.

Thanks Graz. Your votes are included in the chosen group of three.

This week's weighting = .6491.

I have not seen anyone salivate nor offer two draft picks and upwards of $500k p.a. ... but many just recognise where he is at current and believe he has great potential at 21 in a maturing physique.

Did I say that such an offer had been made?

Touche H. However it might be wasted on those who could most benefit

If the MFC board was salivating over Warnock like some of the posters around here, we'd end up having to give up our top two draft picks and pay him an annual salary upwards of $500k .

I prefer LL's approach of keeping the lid on him. At this stage he's potential only although the upside could be substantial if he matures like his brother has this year at age 24.

I suspect that there's an element of self-preservation in his knocking of Melbourne's proposed move to Casey Fields. The City of Casey lies down the freeway from where the Hawks are establishing themselves at the old VFL Park in Waverley. So right down the line from where the Hawks have a new base there's going to be an AFL club presence in the fastest growing population wedge in the state and one of the three red hot residential growth areas in the country i.e. that part of the world from the City of Greater Dandenong, to the City of Casey across Cardinia Shire and into Gippsland. If we set up there we will be well placed to pinch a lot of potential Hawks supporters because this would otherwise be closest to their territory.

Kennett might look like a dropkick but he's not being dumb here. He's trying to protect his club's territory.

By the way, the two other major growth areas in the country will also soon have an AFL presence by way of the next two clubs - GC17 and WS18. The move to Casey will hopefully reestablish us as M1 so up yours Jeff!

If we can get Warnock in the PSD draft, i say we seriously look at Watts.

You have to take into account he has grown up playing basketball as his no.1 or equal favourite sport with footy, which means with his upside once he is fully dedicated to footy should be enormous.

Of course no individual is ever going to be a team's saviour. This is a team game and the saving of the Melbourne Football Club is dependent on several on field and off field factors. Our on field team is in its development phase and there are a number of players around in the 23 and under age group who we will be looking to improve rapidly over the next 2 - 3 years. A couple of good trades and some good draft selections will help but one kid, no matter how good, is not going to make a significant difference, particularly in the short term. Whoever we select with our first pick (whatever number that might be) is going to be made aware of this the minute his name is called out.

Most of you seem to have forgotten what Carlton supporters were like before their team fell on hard times.

The interesting sidelight to the Carlton resurgence under Pratt (and there's no doubt that it is a resurgence and that it was indeed, based in part, on ill gotten gains*) is the renewed arrogance of the Carlton supporter.

FCS, they've won two games in a row (thanks to tanking and the excellence of a player who was bought for 30 pieces of packaging material) and you'd think the bastards struck the El Dorado carboard box mine or something. On Thursday evening I went out to a function and had the misfortune of being stuck between two Blues supporters who were convinced that Pratt was the messiah and their team was on its way to at least a 3peat of the Brisbane variety of 2001, 2002 and 2003. After about 15 minutes of listening to them crapping on ad nauseum I asked whether the Blues had enough player depth to sustain a long winning run and they looked at me as if I'd just arrived on earth in an alien spacehip.

They finally came up with the name of one player from outside the current team who might add to it if he came back from injury and that was Andrew Walker. Their good young players are all in their A team which is effectively the team they're running ATM. I said that if they had at least half a dozen of their A team injured constantly for the past 2 years (which is a conservative assessment of where Melbourne has been since late 2006) the conversation would be centring on whether they should be drafting Naitanui or Rich or both at the end of the year.

The following morning the news about Pratt broke. Today, I'll be supporting the Bombers and I'm looking for a 1 point last gasp win thanks to a Scott Lucas snap that goes through with the final siren blaring.

Please make it happen!

* there is a precedent to this in the days of John Wren and Carringbush but that's another story.

well spotted, mcnamara named on field in both sides...

zomer in both sides (bench for the 1sts)...

plymin in both sides (on the bench for the 1sts)...

dean on the bench in both sides...

and spencer named in both sides.

12 named on the bench in the 1sts. 4 need to go up to the mfc, means 8 on the bench.

four more need to be cut and 5 players are named in both sides. that means, either all five could play in the 2nds and newton come into the 1sts. or all five could play in the 1sts and newton plays in the seconds.

their is still a spot there floating around...

Sandringham desperatley needs to win tomorrow's game against Port, as a loss will severely diminish its chances of making the top four. The Zebs are entitled to play a maximum of 12 MFC listed players under the VFL's stand alone rule. There are twelve Demons left in the current squad of 26:-

Daniel Bell, Simon Buckley, Kyle Cheney, Addam Maric, Stefan Martin, Tom McNamara, John Meesen, Cale Morton, Jake Spencer, Shane Valenti, Adem Yze and Trent Zomer

Will they all play?

I think they will with the possible exception of an additional emergency to go to Canberra (Valenti?) and Zomer who showed last week that he was fringe senior VFL at best at this stage. I think it would be pathetic if McNamara went back to the ressies after being named in a set position in the firsts for his first senior VFL game.

That leaves the door ajar for Newton to come in if fit but, if that happens, it would leave a mystery about his non selection in the first place. I personally would like to see him playing because his presence in a game at this level always adds to the game's interest and excitement.

I want Rich because he's exactly what you can't get at pick 70 - quality, skillful genuine midfielder. Ruckmen can be picked up anywhere, and Naitanui is also a risk. Plus I believe that star midfielders are infinitely more important than star ruckmen, as shown by past premiership teams.

Bob, very few of us have seen much of Rich and therefore are relying on third party accounts about his ability. There's no doubt that he must be good and that his disposal is excellent because that's what everybody from recruiting scouts to the so-called observers" on bigfooty are saying about him. However, we haven't heard very much about what type of midfielder he is and in particular about whether he has genuine pace (which our midfield mix is desperate for IMO). If Rich as a junior was in the same mould as Brock McLean and Nathan Jones and turned out to be one paced, would it make any difference to how you rate his importance as a draft proposition for Melbourne?

I'm entirely with Hannabal about getting NikNat now. I went off to see sandy yesterday. We need a player who will be dymanic. Zomer looked lost. Meesen is a lost cause (he waits for things to happen and played dumb). Jamar we all know his strengths and weaknesses. We need a tall with brains. We all know they are extremely rare. Getting a key forward outside the top 10 in the draft has historically proven fairly hit and miss (my thanks to Axis of Bob for previous research). If Niknat looks as if he could play forward, then it would be unspeakably good to get him.

There was an interesting panel discussion on 3AW yesterday about the forthcoming draft and the concept of "list management" and/or "tanking" by clubs in order for them to finish up high in the draft.

One aspect of the discussion revolved around the effect that this might have on the integrity of the competition. If a club sent some of its better players off for early season ending operations, this would not only affect where the club finished but also could have a major influence on the makeup of the finals. In these days where we have a jumbled up AFL schedule, it's possible for e.g. to play the same team twice in the last 7 or 8 rounds. If your team was in the running for a top 4 spot, its course would be made much easier by playing a team that had virtually given up on winning games. One of the commentators even suggested that it's about time the AFL had "the balls" to do something about it although one wonders whether it could do anything or even whether it recognised that such a problem even existed.

The other part of the discussion was interesting with the general consensus being that getting the first choice alone was usually not enough and sometimes counterproductive because these players were coming into clubs that didn't have the proper "culture" to develop. On the other hand, there was the view that players like Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer etc. would be establishing their own culture at Carlton with the assistance of Chris Judd who was also recruited in part through its lowly placing (read "tanking" last year and add $). I think it was Dennis Cometti who said he had seen some footage from some Under 18 interstate games and considered it would take a while for the three main WA guns - Naitanui, Rich and Yarran to become good AFL players. He didn't seem all that impressed.

On the other hand, closet Demon fan Mike Sheahan revealed that he met Paul Williams at last week's Nathan Buckley function and the MFC assistant coach told him he had seen Naitanui and was confident that he'd be the real deal in the AFL. I suspect that if we had first choice today we'd take him with open arms and without much hesitation although I'm not so sure that Axis of Bob would agree with the decision as he favours getting an elite midfielder.

How do we get that Chanderpaul out?