Its Time for Another

5 weeks ago I would have perished the thought of him going. But after 5 rounds the team is starting to play so well as a total group and with him not really contributing above and beyond so far, I could see us prospering if he choses to go. Let Freo stuff up their future List Management by paying overs for one player. There's been enough evidence to show it doesn't work either way. The Hawks prospered without Buddy. They just changed their game plan to have more goal kickers. He and Tippett haven't exactly transformed the Swans who lost Mumford to fit Buddy in the cap. They are great players but there are 22 in a team. Judd didn't do much for Carlton. Ablett is the exception but on the other hand the Suns dependence on one player has probably held back the development of the team as a whole. I trust in Mahoney, Viney & PJ to manage this for the best long term outcome for the club. If worst came to worst the way Freo are going we could end up with pretty healthy compensation. Picks and players. Maybe a Lachie Neale deal. Who knows. I would still be really upset if he goes but the Sun will rise. Scully taught me that. Would be ironic if the Scully pick just kept on keeping on. First Scully, then he turns into Hogan, then Hogan turns into X. Let it not be so. He's part of the group now.

If he'd played against Essendon on Daniher we'd be 4-1 instead of 3-2.

Just smiled at the thought of Clarry deciding to get on here and have a quick look at what Demonlander's are saying about him and his response. WTF!!!!

I'm also in there when I get down there. Sense of humour?

No. 3 is underrated and something the really elite midfielders seem to have. Think Judd, Ablett, Selwood. Very hard to tackle and knock off their feet. As others have pointed out this isn't Parish it certainly looks like it is Clarry.

Where did you see or hear this? Any idea what the something most draftees don't have is? Maybe his looks?

Are you being serious? He said he didn't expect to be drafted and went at pick 4. Now he's saying he' s not AFL ready and would be happy with a couple of games. I wouldn't read any more into it than he appears to have a lower opinion of his potential than many others. He looks to me to be a kid who will let his footy do the speaking. He'll probably still be speaking like this when he's accepting his first Brownlow.

I'm going to do my best not to take notice of how the Toump goes this year. I wish him the best and a great career, I just don't want to see it happening away from MFC. As for Clayton Oliver, I'm not going to spend his career comparing him to Parish. I've already given myself enough angst doing that with Toump v Wines. These comparisons are irrelevant to the team out on the field each week playing for the MFC. Everything I've read from the training threads so far seems to be saying that not only is a beast of a competitor but he's got a nice burst of speed to break open games and his skills sound like they're better than I'd thought. Looks like a very solid all round package. Who to compare him with? My mind kept wondering to Dangerfield when I first saw footage of him. Last year I thought the trac and Brayshaw were the surest midfield picks we'd had in this rebuild era. I'm feeling the same way about Oliver even though he came from so far back at the beginning of last year. Time will tell.

Surely that's all in keeping with being a Dr Gonzo. Not relevant.

Turner compares him most directly with Joel Selwood who is 182cm. 181cm would be even more effective at doing that Joel Selwood arm raise to get the highest high tackle count in the league. Mind you Parish is 13kg's lighter.

If he gets picked at 3 it's because they believe he'll be able to produce his best consistently enough to be worth it. Frankly who has a clue this year other than professionals who have watched them over a number of years. I trust in Taylor & Co. The more I read the less clear I am. Our picks are a lottery this year. Any of a number of players could end up being the best in this draft and others could be dudds. We won't know for about 3-4 years. Big bodies like Oliver and Curnow might impact early while we might have to wait a few years for Parish. Actually that sounds a hell of a lot like Toumpas. Aaahhh! I rest my case. Who knows.

Any idea how accurate he has been in the past couple of drafts. His choices are interesting. Not sure I agree with them but frankly who knows in this draft. You'd have to have watched them personally to have an idea. I trust in our recruiters. Seems nearly all of them have question marks. Gotta trust in Taylor & Co to work out who to gamble on. Seems to me Parish, other than being small, is the least gamble in the 3-10 range of the non Academy boys.

That's my one fear about him. Sounds just like all the reports of the Toump as a junior. I remember seeing him sitting on the bench in the Darwin game year before last in tears. He just couldn't get into the game. Something didn't look right then. I reckon he was very hard on himself and destroyed his own confidence with pressure of being no. 4 pick and it's importance to MFC. He'll probably come good with that monkey off his back. That outstanding talent as a junior doesn't disappear. Anyway try again with Parish and hope he can bulk up enough to be competitive as a senior. I figure the fact he's got pace which we need so desperately will put him ahead of any others at 3.

Given the crazy money that's starting to be thrown around for teams to trade in Key Forwards. Think Boyd & now Dixon, who is an ok but not outstanding player yet & the play for McCarthy you'd think if Weideman was there we'd probably take him to set us up for the future as at some point we're going to have to get another key forward.

Don't think it will make a difference in the end. Either pick would have been used for Bugg. We wouldn't have had either left over.

Of course the irony here is that those of us who were hoping the players got the book thrown at them will now be hoping they get a slap and are available for round 1. I can't get my head around how we seem to have paid full value for him and got no discount for the fact that he has a real risk of a 12 mth or 2yr ban.

Good points Bing. Hadn't thought about the previous provisional 6mths. Would be mad not tn take it again straight after last round. I have same thoughts about ban plus I reckon they'll take into account exceptional delays. So they could well be ready by start of the season. Taking the provisional now is a bizarre one as it counts as ban time although apparently they can still train with the club. Didn't they do that last summer. So no real loss. Just can't compete

Still don't understand why we are taking the risk for a player like him. Ryder & Carlisle even Crameri are very good players probably worth the risk. He's not in that class

I don't think that advice is possible. I know a few involved on the legal side and they aren't saying that anything that would suggest anything other than the hearing will decide that.

How are we going to be feeling if he gets rubbed out for a year or possibly 2. I can't understand why a team in our state would choose to take a gamble like that. Even with him being paid by his old team while he's suspended we have given up a pick, will be a player down and then have a player who hasn't played for 1-2 years. Can't understand why this makes sense for us. On a side note I know the view of their lawyer is there is no new evidence from the original trial and therefore completely confident that they will get off. Says there just isn't the evidence to find them guilty. Personally I don't agree. But either way, why gamble when there is definitely a risk there. We are doing the Dons a favour by reducing the number of players they might lose if they are all suspended. They should bloody be giving us a pick.

I spoke to Miller about him over the pre season. He had him in the forwards group. He said he reminded him most of Dustin Martin. Very strong, strong overhead mark, good goal kicker, pack buster. He thought he might be a bit inconsistent like Martin. The biggest knock on him is his lack of a tank. He's already been running for about a month and is already building into speed and agility running and its August. How much running will he have done before the pre season even starts. The amount of running his going to have done before the pre season even starts might end up being a blessing in disguise for an extra dose of tank building.

Instructive about where the Club's at now compared to the past. PJ came in and his first comment was what a lack of experience there was in all areas of the Club. Neeld put together a bunch of raw coaches many of whom hadn't even been in the AFL system. That means in turn none of them had a broad network of contacts. PJ brings in Roosy, he has a massive network of contacts himself. He brings in experienced people around him, including George Stone who's been around as long as anyone and obviously has a huge network of contacts that stretches to this scenario. Those contacts contact George, he tells the Club, the rest is history. Another example is Dane Rampe at the Swans. Couldn't get picked in any Junior NSW Rep teams, went to Melbourne played with Williamstown, Dogs said they liked him but didnt' pick him. Went back to Sydney, gave up on the dream, played at UNSW. Roosy's son was playing in the same team, he sees him, tells the Swans and bingo they get another unbelievable recruit because of the network. Clubs like the Hawks have these networks and have been using them for years. We are just starting to get ours and its starting to reap rewards already.

Actually I read or saw an interview with him and he said his Ainslee Coach was friends with Georgie Stone and rang him and told him to come and have a look. It would probably have been Kelly O'Donnell or someone else in the Dept that did the actual looking. Georgie was a bit busy doing something else. ie Coaching the midfield.

Ha! I love it. Don't worry I looked for all the reasons we didn't want him either in case we didn't get him and I have to say you've done a better job than me and on the other side spent time finding all the reasons we did want him if we did get him. I also couldn't be happier. Petracca is definitely a safer bet than Paddy. Paddy could end up being a Roughead and if he does good luck to a fellow cellar dweller team. But we could well have the next Dangerfield without getting Dangerfield. And have the money to get Jeremy Cameron next year who there's obviously no comparison with big Paddy. So could be a triple win.

Make that 3. 2012 draft wasn't too shabby either. Hogan Toumpas (Still think he is going to be a gun. You don't lose the skills you came in with. You just battle injuries, bad coaching, loss of confidence. Roosy will fix him) Dawes Pedersen (Who would have thought. I admit I was having fits over this choice) Jack Viney Dean Kent (Starting to look like he's going to be a really good player) Matt Jones ( Has done his job until decent players arrived. Don't see him getting a great deal of game time anymore) The rest including Terlich were junk picks so didn't cost anything to go in and to go out.