whatwhat say what

pick 7 please - it's the 'lucky' pick. last twelve years have seen: aish, wines, haynes, caddy, sheppard, rich, palmer, selwood, ryder, lewis, mackie - only genuine 'bust' would be tenace, the year after mackie. cats have done pretty well out of the pick.

anyone can bid on him, but the swans will match it with their first round pick.

Sounds like there's some talented midfielders in the mix. Three of the four clubs below us - Brisbane, Carlton and Richmond - should all look to recruit a 'tall' at the end of the year. Who knows with GWS. Personally, I love the sound of Brayshaw. Everyone seems to rate him as a dual-sided hard nut.

Has composure and class, doesn't mind getting his hands dirty, has a big kick on him, straight-lines the ball. Have we ever had a midfielder at Melbourne do what this kid is doing in his first few games for the club? Don't forget, he was barely a player for GWS - 15 games over two years, with his second season ruined by injury. I can't quite fathom how impressive he looks. Loved Mitch Clark's tweet yesterday saying he reminded him of Simon Black and Luke Hodge. Yes, please!!

see mitch clark's tweet? compared him to luke hodge meets simon black.

also, his dad max works for the club. speaking to someone who follows this stuff closely, he said if we do end up with pick 3 or so then at this stage he expects we'll be taking brayshaw. he also expects mccartin to go #1 over wright, as he's a genuine kpp forward / defender with wright being more ruck-forward than forward-ruck.

The 20 players to watch at the NAB AFL U18 Champs Interestingly, Peter Maynard, who works for the club, has a son available for selection this year, and Cal Twomey rates him in the top 20. No mention of Billy Stretch. From what I've heard about Maynard, he's a bit like Luke McDonald for North - clean with the ball coming out of defence. i can't believe the way that sydney (and presumably gws?) gets access to the best players from nsw/act via the academy in much the same way father-sons are eligible. heeney is meant to be a very good footballer.

Oh, and Vince. My god, a depth of mids!!

Plus Viney. When was the last time we had three mids as the first-tagged option??

I suspect it might've been Scharenberg, and given his foot injury we might've actually dodged a bullet there.

there is a hell of a lot to like about this kid.

Dropped a mark, gave away a goal in the first 30sec of the game. Not the most auspicious start.

For those who are curious, Sam Durdin is playing for West Adelaide tonight in the Foxtel Cup. Wearing #60. Looks tall but skinny.

Goddard.

Wright has been tipped as a top pick in this year's draft for a couple of years. If we somehow fail to get access to him I'll be very surprised, and I couldn't see us letting him go if we did end up with pick 1. He is a big unit, with big wraps on his competitiveness and - most importantly - his skills.

So to those who know their stuff, would it be Wright, Brayshaw and Petracca as top three at this stage? North will want Brayshaw given his connection to the club you'd wager. I reckon we could get another decade outta Boomer Harvey as our best mid...

Should've got one last year.

And the Big Men Fly.

more likely to have more than one than not at this stage, you'd wager.

hope someone takes jake long, just to spite the peptides - he's eligible for father-son this year, but they've been stripped of being able to nominate anyone.

He looks a good n.

As someone said to me during the week - which top-rated player can we ruin next?

That's certainly what you'd expect if things continue the way they are - as others have said, we may be in the 'fortunate' position of having three early picks if Frawley bails on a big money deal. Good grief it's depressing.

Wright seems to be the consensus #1 pick this year, but from those who've seen him is he a forward / ruck or ruck / forward? What sort of comparison does he have to a modern day player? I'm hoping it ain't Kruezer!

Given that it looks like this years draft is loaded with talls, who're the teams likely to be wanting early picks to try to nab them? Adelaide - absolutely they would, but they're not going to want to trade the likes of Dangerfield, Sloane, Crouch for them, and who else on their list would be that desirable? Brisbane - probably, but outside the three R's and Handley, who else is there as kids that they'd be prepared to give up? Carlton - absolutely, but for the third club in a row, there's little currency on their list to demand a top 3 pick outside the free agent Gibbs. Collingwood - might be a chance, with a surfeit of good midfield choices, perhaps a Sidebottom would be an offer, but wouldn't we want Beams in preference for instance? Essendon - have talls, but will they need to inject class if 15 or so players are suspended? Fremantle - my guess is their eye is on Hogan as a tall, not a young Vic or SA boy Geelong - would love to get Wright, I'm sure, but would a Duncan / Varcoe / Guthrie or some secondary combination be worth pick 1? GC17 - a big chance, with heaps of midfield depth, and I'm sure they'd love another key forward / ruck man of genuine class GWS - unlikely given their surfeit of talls Hawthorn - Frawley is their man, not a youngster, as they chase premierships over the next 3-5 years North Melbourne - absolutely a chance, but outside not Swallow and Ziebell I'd wager they'd be more likely to offer up the likes of Atley / Cunningham, and is that worth a top pick? Port Adelaide - would probably be in the race just to spite the Crows in a chase for Durdin, but their premium mids wouldnt be on offer, more likely the likes of Moore, O'Shea, which is clearly not enough Richmond - absolutely I'd say, with Riewoldt and Vickery not the greatest combo known to man, but could likes of Ellis, Conca, Vlastuin be prised free? They're the guys they really need the most St Kilda - would love it, but I'd be backing them to finish down with us with access to a top pick regardless Sydney - unlikely but you never know, would love to get Hanneberry personally, who may be looking for a change of scenery West Coast - unlikely Western Bulldogs - probably the best chance, but early indications are they'll have an early pick - and would they be prepared to give up a father-son like Wallis? Best chances of wanting an early pick but not having access to one themselves for mine would be Adelaide, Footscray, Richmond, Gold Coast and Carlton.