whatwhat say what

mid.

add vandenberg and brayshaw to that list.

About the only thing I disagree with air conditioning's excellent post is this: MID KPD THIRD MAN UP MID KPD MID MID MID MID MID KPF MED FWD/MID MID KPF SMALL FWD RUCK MID MID MID MID MID RUCK/FWD i still think the first player named every week is your lock down small defender - someone who negates the dangerous small forward of the opposition. Because of the nature of the position I think of it as the 'first player picked' every week. In my time following the club our best have been Yeats, Steve Febey, Whelan and Jetta. Bartram could've been a ripper but his body let him down, plus we have previously had Hopgood and the godawful Kowal as well. So one position Grimes could have is that role, but I personally don't think he's good enough defensively or offensively - I remember Rockliff tearing him to shreds in Neeld's first year. I agree that he and Watts are skating on thin ice in terms of their careers - I certainly don't expect them to be at Melbourne in 2017 as they're both free agents at the end of next year...and the likelihood is I would let them walk too. 2016: SMALL DEF (Jetta) KPD (Dunn) THIRD MAN UP (Garland) MID (Salem) KPD (T. McDonald) MID (Melksham) MID (Tyson) MID (N. Jones) MID (Bugg) MID (Brayshaw) KPF (Dawes) MED FWD/MID (Kennedy) MID (Kent) KPF (Hogan) SMALL FWD (Garlett) RUCK (Gawn) MID (Vince) MID (Viney) MID (Petracca) MID (Oliver) MID (vandenBerg) RUCK/FWD-DEF (Frost)

Interesting that the media take out of it is 'Jake didn't want to leave'.

for me it's a hope rather than an expectation that he can get back to being able to play at an AFL level.

I think you mean 'can't be serious'. Watts is nowhere near either Gunston nor Breust. Of course, Melbourne is nowhere near Hawthorn either in terms of on- and off-field class.

i remember wanting talia and luke ball - call his bluff and leveragenhis leadership. vlad's pregnant pause announcing 'luke.............tapscott' was pure theatre. anyway, ancient history now.

i keep deliberately putting the fear of god in my carlton-supporting mates, equating their 2015 draft haul with our 2009 collection. i personally doubt that trenners can make it back personally due to the sheer amount of football he's missed, which is a damn shame, so gawn is the only 'winner' here. i really thought the gys was going to be something special.

his tap work looks good and his skillset looks not entirely awful.

jake lovett?

where's his highlights?

he looks okay. tap work is nice and skills aren't horrifically awful based on those highlights.

here's hoping he's as good as rockliff.

from all reports is an athlete who can jump and run a bit but has absolutely no idea how to kick whatsoever and is built like a rake.

I said this to someone a few weeks ago at work and they just laughed. We shall see.

Shame.

if a superstition and changing his number helps him mentally, it helps him. there's a certain bloke who wore a #5 and had a succession of knee injuries but his mental resilience got him through to the point where he was a best and fairest winner and a grand final player. robbie gray, who i know trac has also spoken to over the last year, similarly changed his number post-acl - it's just about a fresh mindset.

thought gysberts was going to be a star. thought brent heaver was going to be a star. thought sean charles was going to be a star. thought jurrah was going to be a star, and a pillar of the community, and inspiration for a legion of aboriginal players coming through. thought jakovich was going to be the greatest goal kicking full forward ever, and lead us to the promised land. thought northey was the man to take us to a premiership. the list goes on and on...

i love the idea of the grandson of the pies 58 steal coming to the dees. i really hope it's parish and weideman.

Yup. Scott Clayton continues his love for players who aren't midfielders or KPPs. It's why I think, if available at #6, they'll skip over both Francis and Curnow.

His kicking in those highlights reminds me of Cotchin.

That's interesting that he's gone Collins so early - most other pundits have him as end of first / start of second round. He looks a bit like Chris Lamb to me - big and strong but not agile whatsoever.

it's a matter of who falls where after that to determine who is available at #7. parish / curnow at #3 seems to be the way the tea leaves are being read, and then it's a matter of where francis, milera, weideman and oliver end up being selected. who knows, there could be a dark horse emerge like a riley bonner or someone like that to be touted as the most likely. think francis wiill go at #4 or #5 to essendon. from all reports, the dodo is a massive fan.

he needs a big season. contract year.

They won't, 1 and 2 are locked away. What we do with 3 and GC17 do with 6 will massively impact how the draft rolls out.