flamindees

I think ANB has done more than enough to justify his place on the Senior List for another two seasons. We're a much better football club now than what we have been in years - a better culture and a considerably stronger best 22 which is much harder break into and then even harder to maintain you're place. If by the second half of his fourth season, he's still not a best 22 player, then you would be thinking aboot moving him on. It's a luxury we haven' t had for a long time - the ability to be patient with our young guns and let them develop in the reserves with occasional games in the seniors over the first three or four years rather than being immediately thrown to the wolves and expected to be the club's savior- being good again is taking a bit of getting used to!!!! Having said that, he definitely needs to add another string or two to his bow in order to become one of the best 22 and be more than just a back up inside mid. He comes across as very coachable and I'd like to see Brendan McCartney and the midfield coaches work some magic with the likes of ANB, JKH, Salem, Joel Smith and Mitch White and try to convert them into competent, AFL standard outside mids / wingmen. Clearly our two way running and run and spread are still major areas of concern that need to be significantly improved. I do think with another pre- seaon under their belts, the added fitness and better understanding of the game plan will allow the likes of Brayshaw, Oliver and Petracca to get to the outside much more easily and often to receive and run and carry - I cannot wait until these three have a break - out game on the same day - the opposing team won't know what hit them!!! When it comes to adding speed and class to our midfield, we need to getback into the first round and to do that, I'd like to see us do a deal with Brisbane where we package up Salem,our 2017 first rounder, our 2018 second rounder and any ( or quite frankly! ) all of our fringers, the likes of Dawes, Dunn, Grimes, Garland, Lamumba, Mitchie,;Newton, Terlich and unfortunately Trengove ( most if not all of whom would see plenty of senior action for the Lions next year!) and in return we would receive their 2016 first and third rounders and 2017 second rounder. With pick two we can possibly take this year's best outside mid / wingman - Sam Petrevski- Seton looks like he could someone really special, as does Ben Ainsworth. If there's any of our emerging young guns that I'm not overly invested in, it would be Salem and if Brisbane want a good player from us in order for this trade to go through then he would be the one gun I'd consider tradable. I do think if Christian can get his thyroid condition under control, get his fitness up to AFL standard and starts stringing together multiple senior games, he'll become a very dangerous weapon for whomever he plays for- I just am not confident his body will do the right thing by him - we may be better off trading him in for somebody who is similarly talented but is healthy. As for the backline it appears a forgone conclusion that Hibberd will be traded in.I'd rather we didn't go after Hurley as I believe he will cost too much, instead I'd prefer it if we brought in one of Nathan or Mitch Brown as a free agent to backup O&T Mac and Frosty. As far as a backup for Max goes,it's fairly slim pickings - I think eventually Mitch King could be good but you'd have to think he's at least three years away from being able to do the job - we may have to scour the state leagues in order to find a suitable backup for Max. As for Max King, I think he's a goner- perhaps if he's still available when we have our last pick in the Rookie Draft we may take him again. If all else fails, so long as they're free agents ( preferably DFA,s!) Ivan Maric or Zac Clarke could be viable short term options. So what I'd like to see happen in the Draft/ Trading period is: Round one: Petrevski- Seton/ Ainsworth Round two : Hibberd ( Trade) Round three: Outside Mid Round three: Ruck / Forward Round four: KPD Upgrade: Wagner, White Free Agent: Nathan Brown Mature Age Recruit / DFA: Ruck / Forward Delist, Retire, Trade: Dawes, Dunn, Grimes, Garland, Max King, Lamumba, Michie, Newton, Salem, Terlich and Trengove. If Lamumba, Salem and Trengove could get their bodies right and Garland could get his confidence back and reduces the brainfades and if Max King somehow finds himself back on our Rookie List and finally starts to show some marked improvements, then they may be worth persevering with. The others as far as being on Melbourne's senior list is concerned - are done for. That being said, it would be great if any or all of them stuck around and kept playing for Casey as I think a strong Scorpions side can only be good for us. [censored]!!! What a ramble - sorry - Go Demons - win our last three matches and finish the season with a winning 12 / 10 record and send Roosy off in style!!!! PS: Does anyone know if we can purchase 2017 memberships yet ?

I agree it is however,if the only knock against him is that he missed all but an exhibition game in his draftyear, then I simply don't believe it's a good enough reason to rule him out for consideration at a pick as high as three. He's big- bodied, posesses explosive pace, an excellent vertical leap- to be so impressive physically at the combine tells me that he is well and truly over his leg injury. Moreover, his skills on both sides of his body are exceptional, he's a linebreaker, a two way runner, extremely coachable and comes across as somebody so professional and team-oriented that I consider him to be a relatively low go home risk. In the end I believe he may actually end up being the best of this draft, so when it comes to risk vs reward, I believe tjat he is worth the risk.

Would be very pleased if our draft ended up looking something along the lines of: #2 Angus Brayshaw #3 Nakia Cockatoo #40 Oscar McDonald #42 Billy Stretch (fs) #53 Caleb Daniel #83 Neville Jetta (rookie upgrade) Then in 2015, hopefully we can select Jake Lovett as a f/s without giving up our first round pick, as well as getting the best available forward we can, whether that be via free agency, a trade, or through the draft.