Bonkers

Didn't really think it was that hard to grasp recruiting a player who is performing, but is not on a high wage or getting an opportunity? The concept isn't that different to value investing or put simply shopping for a bargain. Makes perfect sense to do it. Sydney have recruited senior players that fit into their system of play via the draft after other clubs didn't value the players released / traded. If the price is right & they will add quality to your list the question is why wouldn't you? The club has to make immediate improvements to the list & drafting a whole heap of 18 year olds isn't going to have the immediate impact that recruiting good senior players will. As long as they don't give up any 1st & 2nd round picks to do it the club should benefit.

He was a good captain but hardly a great captain. He lead by actions yes, but I don't know if he had the insatiable hunger & drive of someone like a Ron Barassi or Brett Kirk who demanded players met a minimum standard or they were letting their mates & coach down. I'm yet to see any captain of the club over the last 10 years demand these sort of standards. At least Grimes & Trengove will carry out their coaches instructions. Hopefully with time these two will become more demanding leaders in terms of installing a hatred of losing. Trengove already leads the club in terms of all performance indicators so he is leading by setting the example, whether or not he can grow into a demanding leader on field is yet to be seen. Still early days.

Good talent identification as well as development. They are good at recognising what skills & traits at below U18 level will translate into AFL. Eg clean skills, appetite for contested football, football smarts/IQ. Also what wattsup has stated helps.

Pretty hard to be responsible for a re-build in which you haven't laid the foundations & footings for. The one thing I would say the board was accountable for was not addressing the andrews report quick enough & also replacing Leoncelli. However we all know how that ended so I think it's best to back the current board/admin as they have put us in a strong financial position off field. There aren't any viable alternatives IMO.

Except the previous football dept wasn't put in place by the current board or admin.....

Tough life being an a AFL footballer! Staggering really.

I'm not arguing with the quality he can produce, however your comparing him to Judd. IMO he is nowhere near it & needs to consistently perform to be mentioned amongst the greats of the game. So far he hasn't done it.

I love it how people make generalizations about players based on flavour of the month. What we are seeing of Rioli is nothing new. Rioli & Dew ripped Geelong apart in one quarter in the 2008 grand final & were the reason IMO that Hawthorn won the game. It's not like Rioli has just popped onto the scene. Rioli is in & out of games, shows flashes of brilliance, he has always been capable of taking a game apart however hasn't been able to put it together consistently. If he can put consistent form together over one or more seasons & stay injury free maybe he can be mentioned in the same sentence as Judd.

Fast twitch & slow twitch can not be altered. Muscles can only be conditioned which can help strength, power & endurance. Aerobic capacity is in relation to everything to do with how your body uses oxygen whilst operating/exercising outside the lactic acid/anaerobic threshold. Eg jogging. The players would operate in aerobic & anaerobic systems during a game. I would imagine most training would be on their anaerobic fitness but there would be a mix.

Why do you think they have drafted so many left foot players? Because so many left footers in particular are good kicks! They were ahead of the trend.

Hawthorn have been recruiting players with good disposal under pressure & players who are aggressive/hard at it since Clarkson arrived. It's not really a new story in footy, it's almost a pre requisite for any new recruit IMO. Might be a good thing that Viney spent time at the Hawks as he would have a fair idea on what type of players they looked at. It may help him in his new role.

Yeh if their form warrants selection I agree. But I think the mantra of getting games into kids under dean bailey is one of the reasons the kids haven't developed as they would have at a club like Geelong where they were made to earn it & had good habits instilled into them. I think what Neeld is doing at the moment is looking at the more experienced players & exposing which of them he will keep. Once he's drawn a line through some of them I'm sure some kids will get games if their form warrants selection.

What's your point?

I'm pretty tired of the club giving games to kids that haven't fully earned their crack at AFL level. It's one of the reasons the club is in the position its in. If the club has drawn a line through the player they are replacing in the side in terms of they won't play for the club again then I can see a case for playing the kids. Otherwise make their performances at VFL level demand selection. I'm happy for Neeld to play the harder bodied players until he has made his mind up about whether they are required players or not.

Not a bad summary. I still have doubts about Stef Martin. His awareness & kicking are attrocious for an AFL player, I don't know if that area of his game will improve enough for him to make the grade. I've noticed most people want Bennell gone, however he is one player on our list that can effectively hit a target by hand & foot. He has speed also. What he needs is hardness & to find the ball more. Perhaps he needs confidence & some belief instilled into him.

Say one team rates Viney the other doesn't. First pick could go on Daniher & then they have the option to pick Viney also. If they only had one pick not numerous & the next team didn't rate Viney we would get him as a second rounder. Under the former rules did teams have more than one bid or was it one bid & then the bidding moved onto the next club down the order of the draft?

I think its pretty rubbish that a team such as GC/GWS gets to have more than one crack at the father son picks. The system should be whoever has pick 1 gets to select one player who is eligible for F/S & then the bidding moves to the 2nd pick to nominate a player & so on. This rule change has the potential to stitch us up, or am I just being paranoid?

Who are the hardest, fastest & most skilled Mids under pressure in this draft? Wines is one, Viney is another. Who of the other Mids fall into this category? Martin looks skilled & is also lightning quick however I think there would be question marks over whether he could impact contests consistently at AFL or in finals with that frame. What's Tsoumpas inside ball winning ability & pace like?

There is little you can do to keep the weight on when all you can do is eat through a straw!

There was a lot of hype about this upcoming draft running pretty deep. Considering our position on the ladder I can see the club using more than 5 picks. We could probably upgrade Magner & Nicholson, thats 7 changes at least. A couple of players may be demoted to the rookie list. Recruit two free agents makes 9. The club will obviously try to bring in mature players that can fill a role on low salary. Personally I'm predicting a pretty large clean out.

Damien Hardwick would disagree regarding the 10 players. 2010 they made 12 list changes.

The comparison to Kirk was in relation to maybe not being the most talented but getting the most out of himself & others.

He has the ability to win possessions & consistently rack them up wherever he has played which is not a bad place to start when becoming a good footballer. It's more about attitude, application & leadership with Grimes. Brett Kirk didn't have any elite traits either, look at the footballer he became.

Don't know much about Trent West as a player, so it's hard for me to comment on whether he is worthwhile recruiting or not. I like your thinking though, it's a bit outside the norm so points for that. I'd prefer the club concentrated on building an elite midfield first as it's number 1 priority & then draft for a Ruck or KPF when the time to challenge for a flag arrives. In the mean time we can draft & develop key position players hoping that one will develop into what we need. IMO the most important thing the club needs to address in this draft is the type of player we are aiming to recruit in terms of skills, elite mentality & physical attributes.

Definites: Bate, Dunn, Green, Spencer, Jetta, Bartram, Macdonald. Maybe: Morton, Martin, Petterd, Jurrah( court case pending)