whatwhat say what

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.

Patton or Boyd in 2015 / 2016 please. Even if Clark does retire mid-year I would imagine his salary will still be on our books until then? If Frawley (and Dunn) go at the end of 2014, we should have plenty of the mandatory 100% cap to throw around.

it's unlikely that that will happen at the end of this season, i reckon. next season is more likely, with the announcement made this year.

if we do finish at the bottom, there should be a few suitors trying to land some of the kpp fodder on offer. hopefully we don't lose a game for the season - roos' magic! - and we're looking at taking billy stretch at pick 18 (or later, if there's compo picks).

i presume he means 'on the inside', with fosdike, mcveigh, kennelly etc providing the run. i don't care what anyone says, sydney were thrilling to watch in the mid-00s. i used to go see them at the scg all the time and they were exciting to watch, as well as being tough as.

Really looking forward to seeing how he goes against North at Docklands. It's clear he puts a lot of pressure on himself to perform, and in the wake of the near donuts last week, here's hoping he just goes out and enjoys himself. Good luck to him.

I don't think anyone is calling him as finished in his first year, just that there's genuine concern as to what it is that he's bringing to the game so far.

Agree with Ben-Hur. His neat kicking is reminiscent of Montagna or Camporeale, but he doesn't have the burst speed of either player. As an outside mid to not have genuine pace is a big weakness, not to mention the lack of 'oomph' that he has in his game so far.

oh, mad bad. when i read it last night i thought you were saying jimmy t's first year was sensational, which i just couldn't understand at all.

further to my disagreement that toumpas' first year has been "sensational" - he has regularly ducked his head in contested situations (against gold coast in particular he was poor before being injured) - his tackling attempts are often one-arm reaches rather than dedicated attempts - he doesn't one-two run as outside players should, i.e. he doesn't get the ball, dispose of it, then make himself an option further afield - he doesn't look remotely fit enough (see the photo posted on the mfc facebook page of him in a recycle bin ice-bath? he's nowhere near as ripped as other players, and looks a bit porky) - he's not quick for an outside player players i can think of off the top of my head who've had better first years than him in 2013: - jaeger o'meara (the kid is a freak) - ollie wines - brad crouch - lachie whitfield - sam dwyer - jamie elliott - sam mayes - nick vlastuin - jake neade and that's just 2013. melbourne players who i can think of off the top of my head who've had more impressive first years than him in recent times: - nathan jones - clint bartram - matthew bate - jamie bennell - jack trengove - tom scully - cale morton - ricky petterd irrespective of his hip injury, we were told he was 'ready to go' by nearly every story on him prior to the draft. he looks far, far away from that. the damning fact for me is that cale morton produced superior football to toumpas in his first year in 2008, when we were probably even worse than we are in 2013. fortunately, from what we've seen he is a very nice kick, but he has a long way to go to be what i was expecting we were getting when we drafted him. a sensational first year? not on your life.

Gotta disagree with that.