drdrake

Howe reminds me of Danny Hughes and I rated Hughes just couldn't get his body right. Is Jack Watts the next Garry Lyon he may be the next step ladder for many marks of the year.

I like the players we drafted it seems we are getting players in that can cover and compete for the same spots. When you broke our list down we lacked tall forwards we draft 3 that add options and depth to this area. If you look at our list now it has a good balance Tall Forwards: Watts, Cook, McDonald, Fitzpatrick, Newton Mid to Tall Forwards: Jurrah, Dunn, Petterd, Bate, Green, Howe Small Forwards: Aussie, Tapscott, Maric, Bennell Midfielders: Scully, Trengove, Gysberts, Sylvia, Bail, Blease, Jones, Moloney, Mckenzie, Morton, Jetta, Davey Ruck: Jamar, Martin, Spencer, Gawn Mid Defenders: Grimes, Macdonald, Strauss, Bartram Tall Defenders: Rivers, Garland, Warnock, Frawley, Davis A number of the players can play different roles but I put them where I think they will mainly play. We have 6 rookie picks taking a couple mid size defenders, a couple of midfielders and a ruckman and another tall we really balanace our list.

If this happens will the club be able to sell the naming rights, the position would be great for any company to get maximum exposure.

There is always a number of opinions regard players that we should take. Our forward structure doesn't look bad, I agree it would be great to land a strong body key forward but it is also important we get the best possible players that can supply good quality ball into our forward line. You can draft Jonathan Brown but if you can't get the footy to him it would be no use having him. IMO we still have areas we need to improve but the most evident to be is improving our transition from defense into attack, we still struggle getting the ball out of our back half and we still need to improve our ball use going into our forward 50m. If a highly skilled HBF is a better footballer than a tall Forward I would take the HBF and take the risk later in the draft on tall forwards. Our forward line has many options to kick goals, we need to improve the quality of the delivery and get more good footy delivered inside our forward 30m, not just inside the 50m arc but good quality delivery deep into our forward line. I will be happy with any player we draft at 12, he will be a good footballer.

Is 191-193cm considered tall in AFL terms, I would have thought more midsize then tall.

[if you are going to play midfield then you must be able to play offensively and defensively. I dont think there is a role for a purely defensive tagger in the game unless they can win and use the ball well. And who out of the list of the more talented options that we have in the midfield misses out on a spot?? And in regard to your issue, it why I put forward Bail as a potentially better option longer term.

I would like to see Bartram back in our midfield as the defensive tagger, IMO he is the best on our list to fill this role. The issue we have is Bartram is also our best small defender and we need him to play in the Back Pocket on dangerous small forwards. It's funny most, me included had Bartram gone in 2010 now he is very much an important player.

Is he a slightly taller Col Sylvia?

Bartram has a huge tank, don't forget he ran with the best midfielders and did a great job for his first couple of years.

I still think we are a big chance to get a mid size defender. We need someone back there with good footskills, we have Grimes, the club is hoping Strauss can step up but on the foot skills side we are average at best in our back half. Considering so much of our attack comes from our rebound IMO the club will be on the look out for a highly skilled defender.

You will see the first 2 picks from last years draft start to impose themselves on games. Scully and Trengove will have big 2011. Who needs a big 2011 Morton and Watts, both these guys have a huge upside and great talent, time to show it on a consistant basis.

I am starting to love the Dean Bailey attitude, you don't want to be at the MFC see you later, this is our offer this is what we believe you are worth if you don't like it close the door on the way out. Credit to Bruce this is stability if he stayed with Melbourne and had an average year he was gone, he goes and gets a 2 year deal thats another year of good income. If I was offered a one year contract worth 300,000 and another company offered me a two year contract worth $250,000 per year I would take the two year deal.

If I was McDonald I would be [censored] off at Bruce, if the club knew Cam would do this Junior would be running around next year. The club had to decide which veteran to keep. Bruce leaving is no issue except we only can add a rookie and Davey is still two years away from the Veterans List.

I tend to agree, we have hype around our club all we need is to get a run of wins early, which the draw has given us every chance to do, and more people will come to watch our games. Winning is the key if we start well we will have higher attandance figures for 2011, if we start slow we will have no chance. Our off field hype has kept the interest in the club over the past 2 years, next year the on field performance needs to continue to drive the club forward

The AFL has given us a draw that gives us every chance to play finals. Over to us the fans to turn up. We have every chance of in our first 8 games, dare to dream we could be 8 and 0 instead of 0 and 8

Two sides to a fixture, the playing side we have every chance to play finals with the teams we play, the commercial side good TV coverage but we will rely on winning many games to get our homes crowd levels high. The off field has been the strength of the club over the past 2 years, over to the on field side to draw crowds

A Thursday, must be Easter Thursday, that would be great if true, with no game on good Friday.

I was a red leg member but upgrade to Trident the last couple of years. No offence but I found the Red Leg members a little on the old side and the Hassett room sometimes reminded me of a retirement village. I have found the Trident side a little younger, the bar is good and you often find yourself drinking with Past players and officials as the Presidents Function is right next door. I have sent an e-mail to the club, asking that they make the Jim Stynes Room in the olympic stand our Social club it is a great spot to have a drink and watch the footy.

It's easy to defend when you have 18 players in your defensive 50. Our transition from defense to attack has be ordinary, more to do with skill errors then our game plan. Our midfield is developing, I think we get ahead of ourselves a little in 2010 I assess our midfield as 5/10 but with the improvement in Scully, Trengove, Gysberts, Blease and co should be able over the next few years push that rating to a 9/10 but again based on potential.

Our off field team is smart. You would assume the AFL would be picking up the Tab or a least some off it, we still aren't in a position to send our entire team off to an overseas training camp, this is our training camp, the game is a side show.

What about adding to the old boy dream team by adding Jamie Shanahan or Anthony Ingerson

Neil Craig is know for his ability to condition players. Todd Viney has a background in conditioning professional sport, his experience with Hawthorn, Adelaide will make him very valuable to our club. It is amazing what a little bit of cash can do for a club, you can start to invest in the future rather then continue to pay for the past. It is amazing the bond that seems to be with the players that played together through the late 80's and the 90's. They have all come back to the club and seem to be working together to achieve the premiership that we all want.

This is my best 21 + 1 as of Round 1 next year Bartram Frawley Rivers Grimes Garland MacDonald Davey Sylvia Trengove Dunn Watts Petterd Aussie Jurrah Green Jamar Moloney Scully Gysberts, McKenzie, Morton Bail To show our depth here is what missed out Strauss Warnock McNamarra Bruce Martin Bennell Blease Jones Jetta Tapscott PJ Bate Gawn Fitpatrick Maric Spencer

What a very positive point, we have used to trade week to our advantage to get these two very good players and off load one player who looks to be finished and the other who can't get his body right.

Thats just rubbish, we missed out on an average player because North wanted a pick in the 20's and the club did what they had to do offer our second round pick if it wasn't enough we walked away. One could argue Hawthorn should be in a better ladder position than Melbourne next year and their list has top 4 potential, our isn't yet.