Bonkers

Oliver & Petracca are currently averaging over 10 contested possessions a game. They are ranked 3rd & 2nd at the MFC and around 40th overall for the competition. Pretty amazing for young players who have played less than 5 games(grain of salt with Petracca only playing two games but I'm sure it will continue or even get better).

He's had less than one pre season & it was a 30 degree day. It's hardly a concern. I'd say it's a good sign he can get that much out of himself already when you take into account he's probably only trained for 12 weeks as a pro.

I really don't understand this line of thinking. If a player does his knee on day one it's an accident that is unavoidable. MFC recruited Melksham knowing he could be rubbed out for 1 or 2 years & we still followed through & paid the asking price which Essendon demanded from us. Your point regarding it only being a year out of his career is an odd one also. A very good to exceptional AFL player will play 10-12 years of good footy. An average player might get around 4-6 good years in his career & most will probably on average play a lot less. Having one year taken out of his career & not being able to train with the club is a blow that we could have minimised at least. I don't see how the trade can be judged a good one at the moment or glossed over as not a big deal now that Melksham will be out for a year. All these points are without even considering whether he will be a good player for us or not if & when he does get on the field. He has been ordinary at Essendon for a couple of years & if you ask Essendon supporters they weren't fazed to lose him. When I add all these points up it doesn't look like an astute piece of trading, but like all trades we can only view it after the players career is over. I hope for the MFC's sake it does work out, but on the face of it, it is looking like a bad trade.

Haha, footy isn't really that complicated is it!

Both ankles I believe? I'm not sure exactly what was wrong with them.

Sanderson commented that Weideman could be the steal of the draft. On talent alone he believes he could be a number one talent. If he was able to get some consistent footy together instead of being injured he believes that he could have been the number 1 draft pick. If we can get this kids body right then we may have our F50 sorted for the next 10 years.

Exactly. I'm not an expert but from what I've read the only knock on Parish seems his size & tackle numbers. Everything else he apparently does well. He's averaging 129 SuperCoach points a game & 29 disposals albeit at a lower level than AFL, but he can only beat who he's up against. I'm pretty sure Brayshaw & Salem averaged less at that level. He's been an All Australian twice. Not sure how we can really go wrong drafting this kid & how anyone sees him falling out of the top 5 let alone top 10.

Tom Scully was a Stingray, Petracca was from Eastern. Just saying.

That's actually untrue. There are tests that can be done to ascertain the percentage of fast twitch & slow twitch muscle fibres on the body. The percentage of high twitch fibres will determine how much muscle mass an individual can build up, the percentage of slow twitch fibres in combination with lung capacity & the heart will usually determine how well the individual can perform aerobically.

I don't think it's about immediate results. It's more about building your team around a nucleus of A grade talent. You have too look at it long term & back the recruiting team to find the right players. If they want to move up the draft order to get pick 3 they must be confident that player will be a 200 gamer to build a team around, otherwise I'd agree with you & say there's not much point. So far the new footy department seem to be right about Tyson, Salem, Petracca & Brayshaw so you have to back them in on this decision as well.

Whilst it appears there is nothing too much to be excited about I think the club is building the list in the right way at least. They are trying to fill holes in the list with players of a certain age profile that they think they can get a certain amount of service out of. Hopefully those players will reduce the holes in our list from the bottom 6 players in the 22 & make us a lot more competitive. I will admit that we could do with a star player being drafted but the reality is there is another 15 or so clubs that won't land any big fish this trade period either. Building our list around Hogan, Petracca, Brayshaw & Viney is a good start. Looks like we will have to be patient & see if the club can land someone like Parish to add to that nucleus of genuine A grade undeveloped talent & build our list around those type of players until we get closer to finals & become a "destination club".

It isn't official yet. The speculation is based on what Mahoney & Dodoro discussed via the media, that the trade would involve a second round pick. It may be that we are asking for a pick as well as Melksham etc.

Agree with this, we drafted in Vince for pick 20 odd, but we also drafted in Dawes for around the same. I think the Dons win this deal if its true.

Slobbo asked Roos directly whether Watts would be at Melbourne next year & whether he would be traded. Roos basically didn't deny it but went around the question by saying that we need to improve the list & all players are traceable. He says this has always been his approach to list building from his time at Sydney to now.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-trade-period-2015-jake-melksham-to-be-either-at-essendon-or-melbourne-in-2016-20150912-gjl0ka.html From the article it says that a contract hasn't been put on the table by the MFC but that Goodwin is interested. Hopefully if this goes further it is not for anything more than a 3rd or 4th rounder. Judging by our trading in the last few years we wouldn't give too much up for him(fingers crossed we wouldn't). Essendon have a history of being more than awkward to deal with at the trade table. It may be likely that the price we want to pay & what Essendon expect are a fair way apart. All speculative of course.

I can't remember who mentioned it on AFL360, but they were comparing Brett Kirk to Jack Viney. Roos believes they are similar in character & attributes. Different career paths obviously one from the rookie lost the other was an elite junior. The thing that stands out to me & obviously so many others is how hard at it he is. He may not be the most gifted in terms of skills, but I think he is a player you can build your team around like Hodge, Kirk & Selwood. Yesterday he was just as influential as Max Gawn & Bernie Vince, he may not have been heralded as the match winner but he definitely set the tone & was not willing to be beaten. It was an epic effort to destroy Selwood on his home turf. I hope it's the beginning of great things to come from Jack.

Very happy to have this young fella at the club. If he works very hard,is looked after & developed properly by the club, the sky is the limit for him. I'd say he could play a few good games on a half forward flank for us next year & hopefully push into the midfield later on if he starts to develop his aerobic fitness.

Well said. I'm hoping that he will gain a yard of pace after he has a full preseason. Hip operation recovery is probably still impeding his running.