jabberwocky

Jack Watts is the Nick Riewoldt etc

I am not sure if he is our man, I do know that we have been tracking him for ages and have been speaking to him and his family several times recently so apparently we are still very interested. I am excited by a strong and wiry, hard working player with a mad attack on the footy who has a very good sidestep, great judgement and game awareness and the ability to mark the footy over others with arms that go up like giant testicles. A player like this who could perhaps make the transition into the midfield is hard to go past. I look forward to tracking his career wherever he ends up. The issue with the Prendergast years is that we took players in the first round who had glaring physical or mental deficiencies, players that were incomplete. From reports this bloke has the physical and psychological attributes necessary to do well.

I think this needs to be challenged on a couple of counts. He is at TAC level an exceptional footballer. In terms of talent I would not be surprised if he is rated by some recruiters as highly as Petracca. The modern game does not require outstanding pace to play in the midfield. In fact many of the top midfielders in the game wouldn't necessarily be defined as quick. You do need a great work rate, a strong body, good game sense and the ability to work in traffic amongst other things. Don't forget those qualities that took this bloke to an elite level in boxing. As mentioned earlier he also has an arm span of 204cm.

Not quick like Blease and Nicholson?

Really? We are going to compare picks taken in the 30s 50s and 70s to our horde of first round picks?

It's only because it seems incredibly obvious and I am genuinely surprised. You have changed your argument RP. Do you want the kids to go to the VFL or amend the TAC cup and increase the draft age? Earlier posts indicated that you want the kids sent to the VFL.

Those clubs exist to win senior premierships first and foremost, not to foster development pathways to the AFL. The colts may be able to cope due to the lower numbers of elite footballers and increased geography in WA. There is no way that the VFL could cope. TAC cup tracks many of these kids form 14 years of age, they are taught about diet, training, leadership etc etc. The system isn't perfect but neither is democracy. The failures of the TAC system are massively over-stated by a few here and is probably due to MFCScfS or whatever you call it. It is a very good system with a few flaws. If your recruiters are good enough then those flaws will be factored into your decision making. The fact remains that some here want to go from a system which is one designed specifically as a pathway to senior AFL football to one that is not. That is a backward step and makes no sense.

Nah mate, will have to walk away from this one in total amazement to be honest. i would be horrified if our kids only pathway to the AFL was via the VFL and fortunately it won't happen ever. It woauld be a crazy, backwards step. Improve the comp we have by all means.

There is no way that having kids go through to the VFL is a better system, in fact that would be a disaster. State teams will play the teams to win flags, not to foster development. Kids will be wasting away. We can't disband the TAC because of Barry Prendergast. We need to get better at working within the system. Honestly this is one of the more ridiculous arguments I have seen on Demonland, certainly from some of the more learned of posters.

There is no way on earth that that is enough. i have a bit to do with junior footy and that limited exposure will definitely lead to a failure in: 1. Preparing kids for proffessional AFL 2. Identifying the talent. The exposure is too short and the sample too small.

Kids will flounder, and yes the competition needs work. Where will the good kids play? Can't help but think that some of Demonland's wish to erase the TAC is based on our failure at the draft table. Seems like a silly reason. It's not the TAC cup's fault that we hired Prendergast.

Yes agreed but that is a failure of the competition itself, not because of the existence of it. What is the alternative? By all means adjust the TAC cup philosophies, even raise the age, but abolition of it would be stupid, and besides that it won't happen.

Erasing the TAC cup won't improve the standard, more likely it would do the opposite. You would still need an elite junior program for teenagers.

It's knee jerk RP We need class full stop all around the ground. We have mids (most are undercooked), we will continue to draft them and trade for them. I don't want to forego a Matthew Pavlich for a Brock Mclean if that's what it came down to. Conversely i don't want to lose a Selwood for a Jack Watts. And yes I know that drafting is a very inexact science, but making these judgements is what we pay Taylor to do......

Free range eggs avaialble soon $5 each dozen, pick up Ocean Grove.

I agree with most of what you say, but we have made significant investment in the midfield which I thoroughly expect to pay dividends. I really do this time . I bought 8 chooks the other day, they will start laying in another month or so. i am not going to buy another eight today because i need more eggs today. NB: I think JKH is a mid and will end up a very good one.

Surprised to keep reading this. I thought we would have moved past seeking instant gratification with draft picks. The players we pick are not likely to fix our midfield in 2015 and I realise that this is not what you are suggesting. We have been making investments in the midfield for the last few years, we need to expect a return on them this year and for that retuirn to grow incrementally over the next few. Jason Taylor needs to pick the blokes that he thinks are most likely to become champions, and i think he will.

Dom Tyson and Nev Jetta seemed to go OK. Kent contiinued to show serious glimpses. JKH exceeded expectations early but tired. Salem with limited preparation showed how good he will be. Viney and Toumpas didn't advance, Watts is Watts and others like Blease, Tapscott and Strauss aren't cut out for AFL footy. Howe spent the year learning about defence and I think is Roos pet project. The club has been poor at development but I maintain that most of the damage was done on draft day Ie recruiting players that had serious physical and/or psychological deficiencies which rendered them unable to compete at the highest level. I think the game plan was stripped back and the footy dept re-educated about footy. In these circumstances there will be some that are able to ride along, some that take time and others that fall away.

Mate. He was out of contract. PA put a contract in front of him. He chose to chase opportunity elsewhere, was delisted and made his way to Melbourne as a free agent, years ago he would have gone to us in the PSD. He was a required player by PA, but chose to leave. I am making no judgements on this bloke's value as a player, only stating the facts according to PA and Newton's manager.

The Yeti?

Would happen and does. In practical terms Trengove going to the rookie list is likely to make no difference to the player. He will be paid the same. He would just be providing an opportunity for another player to play football for MFC, which in his current state he is unable to do. It makes sense for both parties and neither party loses anything.

I would be flabbergasted if we did not use ND40. Surely something is in the pipeline.

Actually I think having a forward line with genuine marking targets and crumbers for that matter will increase the inside 50 count. We held on to the footy for too long in 2015 and too often largely because we were impotent much of the time. There was not a lot confidence in the forwards. A full forward line of Hogan, Garlett and Howe I expect would probably equate to quicker and deeper entries. That said I am not sure that McCartin is the right fit.

Yes but he wasn't "released". He was an uncontracted player that was offered a contract.

Is the "2017 Norm Smith Medalist" pushing our luck?