Dappa Dan

Exactly. ie, better than McCartin. lol His first season he was doing great in the VFL. I think leading their goalkicking before he started getting some games with the Dees. That's more than Paddy's done. And yes, since you made the point, that's enough to keep him. We all know how it works for 195cm players. They get a pass for a few years while their bodies develop. You're expecting midfielder returns on a player who's the same height as Jeff White. Check out the Adelaide Lynch's stats for the first few years of his career. Two years at Saints doing less than what Weed's done so far and they made the same mistake you did. Traded him to Crows for peanuts, who gave him 12 months, after which he exploded and is now a key part of the best attack in the game. Getting good took Watts about 5 years, and he's the same height. Gawn took longer. There's really no point in drafting these kids if we only give them 24 months to start winning games off their own boots. They can't all be Hogan.

According to the radio today, heaps of interest in McCartin, and Saints desperate to keep him. If McCartin has value, Weed has even more. He's younger and has done more. I'm sounding a bit like a broken record, but since the Tom Lynch (Adelaide) trade a few years ago, teams will be very cagey when it comes to trading KP forwards 23 and under... I suspect also the 2018 draft which is stacked with tall forwards might play a part in teams' plans. That's well into the future of course.

Then we'd need a replacement for Weed. We're thin on for KP forwards. Hogan for future, Pedo for the next few years. I'd love a third to rotate in so we can free up Watts to roam far and wide. Hulett not looking to good at this stage. In reality we probably need 2 more while Weed develops. Reid is the obvious target there, and if the papers today are to be believed, McStay as well. He's a KP defender, but has played forward a lot. I think he was recruited as a forward possibly.

Demonland is a weird place. Lewis' kicking has been sensational all year, certainly in our top 5 or 6 kicks, but apparently he can't kick anymore. He's roundly been seen as a leader even by the current captains. But according to demonlanders, he's not a leader. Apparently he's slower now, and yet he gets high disposals every game. Maybe he was never that quick to begin with? 'Landers have even been sooking about how he doesn't lead or fly the flag of MFC, despite the fact he chose, out of 17 clubs, to come to us. Oh and he's arrogant, to boot. Even though A: He's earned it... and B: Arrogance and confidence are great agents in Aussie Rules football. One's we haven't had since Lyon retired. We knew what we were getting. A former star on the decline, who at 50% is still better than most players at 100%. Get a grip.

lol Gotta give a man credit when he admits fault though. Just putting my hand up. The only player I ever said will never ever make it. Jamar. 12 months after that, All Australian.

Class act fence... my boy o-hizzle made me proud today.

Yeah. If you look at our midfield, Jones, Vince, Lewis are getting on. Oliver, Viney, Tracca are A grade. We definitely needed Brayshaw as much as Lever. In fact, in a couple of years, we'll need to have found 4-5 really good midfielders. Harmes, Melksham, ANB could carry some of that weight.

Yeah that's why I said I thought it was unlikely. But you never know... Funny things happen in trade weeks. What if someone wanted Kent, ANB etc... Suddenly there's room.

Most are going to say no. I would go for it for the right price tho. Trouble is, the right price is a third rounder, which they'd laugh at. That and we have forwards galore that need games. I reckon he would go well under a different coach, like Bevo. Also the Ablett thing might see Motlop moved on, not necessarily to Gold Coast, but in a three wayer like the Clark/Varcoe/Lamumba deal. So Motlop, could we reform him into a rebounding defender? I have a bit of a theory about the Cats that's rattling round my head. I reckon raiding them for players is a good idea. Why do they seem to have only two guys that anyone's scared of? Selwood is a star footballer... but I really think, given some of the smack talk that's come out of his mouth aimed at Viney and Jones, that he has a massive, massive ego. Leigh Matthews style. In an environment where Danger is such an immense talent, and Selwood is such an ego, I wonder if it's the place for a young player to feel like he can become a superstar. To take a game by the scruff of the neck and express himself. I think it's imperative that 22 guys are given the confidence to feel like they can go for the high mark, kick an impossible goal. In other words there should be 22 leaders... the Cats in the Bartel era were exactly that. The current Cats seem to have so many talented kids that don't do that, but pass off to Selwood and Danger and let them do it. I know with teams, so often, it's really not a team, but a team of blue collar types, and then a few guys that really do 80% of the work. That's one of the reasons I love the team currently as the leadership of Viney and Jones really does bring in their team mates, rather than demand the ball and attention themselves. It's usually about the team mate more than themselves. Take a Motlop and put him in a team where he's given the privilege of being able to play his own game? Yeah. He might work. I don't think it'll happen though. We're actually a tough team to get into at the moment and going forward. And we also have a few specific needs.

Well. No. That's not a fact. That's an opinion. We have a lot of improvement left in us in the midfield, that much is true. But we've been smashing clearances, contested ball and tackles all year. We're one of the best sides in that regard. When we lose, it's not because the midfield is't pulling its weight. Another opinion: Our inside fifties have been appalling. We get slaughtered on the rebound every week. Our wins were on days when we curtailed the influence of opposition HBs (Saints), or when we were against sides that made errors when slingshotting the ball (dons). If we can hit a target going inside fifty consistently, THEN our results are different. Hence why Jesse up and running is of so much importance.

That's what I'm thinking. The team has great depth throughout the whole list. Most times when we turn up our worst six are kids with great potential who can't play 4 quarters yet. Often they're not stars, but we sort of already have the talent at the pointy end. Hogan, Oliver, Trac, Viney, Gawn... I'd pit them against any teams best five in two years. That's I think why so many are in the Lever camp. We don't need to do a Salem/Tyson trade. We don't need to roll heaps of players into the team to get a list together. If we do go for a big time free agent or trade, make it a Lever type., but failing that... I really hope the club develops the players we already have. I have a bad feeling that if we did get May, we'd have to give up our first rounder... likely to be around pick 8-10... or even worse... We'd have to trade away, say, a couple of Kent, Harmes, Spencer, AVB or ANB... Each one of those guys could go on to play 100 games. ANB and Harmes possibly a lot more. That's just bad numbers for us. Giving up players with big AFL futures in terms of games played and potential, for just a few seasons of a good player.

In the couple of years before his ban, I had him in fantasy and he was an incredible ball winner. I hadn't watched him closely, and had imagined he wasn't much of a ball user. Anyone who got it that much and I didn't know who he was must slaughter it. When he was traded I couldn't believe we only gave up a second rounder. Still can't to be honest. Literally hasn't played anything but great games for us. The only negative is that if he played the first four rounds like he did these four, he'd be in everyone's All Australian side. As it stands though, I'm thinking he'll be ignored. Any excuse to squeeze players out.

To each their own. I don't have him rated that high. Plus I don't like the idea of going two years with only one pick in the first 2 rounds.

I'd be furious if we [censored] away a first rounder. If we're not gonna go for a seasoned pro and pay up for him, I want us to look further afield and take a punt. Someone like Sam Day who woulc come cheap possibly, given his injury history.

Yeah. In terms of quality, it's Lever all the way. A lot depends on what happens to the existing guys. You never know when they might make like the Brown boys and free agent themselves away. I'm for the May signing. Would get us very seriously considered for finals. But in terms of age profiles, I'd really love to see us stash a Talia type away and wait 3 years. The real red meat on the list is still 19-22. Speaking of Lever. What does the Hartigan signing do?

That's our big problem Dazzler. 3 rebounding KP defenders. No big gorilla killers. 3 of the same kind. My heart tells me unless Frost somehow morphs into a 2-metre-player killer, one of the three will have to go out. I would have nominated Frost, since he's not a skill player... But man he's been absolutely lethal on the rebound.

They're already complaining about a lack of tall forwards. lol

I think there were bites, but none significant enough... and before it got interesting and late in the piece, Watts stayed out of nowhere. I remember thinking at the time it had something to do with the collective bargaining mess. Bit like Hogan. I think given roles that players play, and flexibility, Watts could net a late first rounder, and that's not just a positive demons supporter carrying on. It would require him playing well the rest of the year. He's only had 2 bad games the last two weeks and has been great the rest of the year. He's very much a cream player. Put him in a side playing well and he'll really produce. My problem with him is he's just not tough, and can't mark without another 10 kilos. On the positive side he was awesome last year, has been super this year. The league is onto him now, and the media has watched him closely and seen his workrate get bigger. Has a huge engine now. And with his unbelievable kick and versatility, he'd be super attractive. Just look at what happened with Vickery.

It makes sense because it won't take a first rounder to get him. I'd prefer the next rance, but that would cost too much, or take too long to develop. Getting affordable solid defenders as the Hawks have done over the years with Gibson, Frawley and others is a good call as long as we're a destination club and we don't have to give up too much. We have a core of 12 or so guys who are very young that HAVE to be kept. I have a bad feeling we'll be shirting one of our best to get things going. lol at people suggesting trading Kent. No value to other clubs. Watts has value, as does Tyson. I'd prefer to keep Tyson. Having a crappy year, but has won games for us off his own boot in the past. Watts is the interesting one. If you was floated, clubs would come from far and wide, and we could get some really juicy stuff for him.

Crazy. Every team gets some silly stats for some kid that's just joined the comp. We all know these numbers can be altered. Ellis for example at Tigers had so many disposals early on they thought they had a player. Dalziel is another famous one. What I love about Clarry is his resistance to naysayers. It even appears on the page. People are TRYING to find a knock on him and the only one they can find is that he doesn't kick that much. Firstly it was a lack of pace. Something that he's shown he's not encumbered by. I don't believe necessarily that he can play through a tag just because of his game type. If it can happen to Sloane it can happen to Clarry. However... The things he has ingrained in him, that are either impossible to teach or very hard to improve... they're all there from day one at league leading standard. The effortless touch. Speed of hands. Accuracy. Vision. These aren't things that can go away with a knee injury. Or lessen as he ages, like pace does. We've seen guys like Simon Black and Sam Mitchell play the slow guy quick hands role... But did we see them this young? Sam Mitchell needed a season using only his wrong side before he got drafted mature age. Also Clarry can play this role for a long, long time.

More statistical fun... Footywire is great. Shows you rankings for all the stuff you want to know. Click on Clarry and you get this... I know they sort of make their stats look pretty to get you to come back. But regardless... this is the kind of All Australian stats that only Hawks and Cats got in the last 5 years. Ranked 10th in Total Goal Assists Ranked 1st in Total Handballs Ranked 7th in Total Disposals Ranked 8th in Total Tackles Ranked 6th in Total Supercoach Score Ranked 19th in Total AFL Fantasy Score Ranked 4th in Total Contested Possessions Ranked 2nd in Total Effective Disposals Ranked 9th in Total Clearances Ranked 1st in Handballs Per Game Ranked 7th in Disposals Per Game Ranked 9th in Tackles Per Game Ranked 7th in Supercoach Score Per Game Ranked 4th in Contested Possessions Per Game Ranked 2nd in Effective Disposals Per Game Ranked 9th in Clearances Per Game 2nd in Effective disposals. This isn't after a big 3 weeks. This is after 8. He's 19.

If you don't have mates that are dyed in the wool Bombers supporters, I can highly recommend befriending some. Just be careful though. You might overdose on smugness, like me.

I didn't think I'd have to spell it out to someone on these boards as often as you, and as well travelled, Toumps overtook Wines very late in the piece before draft day, 2012. Olly took over Parish as the guy we were taking in the same way a couple of years ago. I didn't compare the players. Blind Freddy can see they're completely different types of midfielders. I'm talking about how on draft day, we're supposed to take Parish... he falls to Dons, and they all were VERY quick to suggest we'd "done another toumpas." Not just that, we had 3 and 7 and they had 4 and 5... This was always going to be a Demons vs Dons draft. It's awesome. We get to say we out drafted them.

Ugh. I'll say it again. I didn't misread Oliver. I always thought we had a beauty. What I'm saying is, Dons fans at the time had Parish ahead. Parish first game: 25 disposals, 5 marks, 6 tackles, 6 clearances. Then the following week he kicked a sausage against the demons, 22 touches, 8 tackles, they won and he got the nomination. I still thought Olly was better. But at the time, Dons boys didn't. The discussion wasn't about my rating of Olly. It was about bragging rights. At the time, Parish was marginally ahead according to dons fans. My point is, for now, the discussion is absolutely put to bed. Redo the draft today, Oliver goes #1. And not just that, I'm confident that over time he'll stay that way possibly with Weitering to take over based mostly on the rarity of talls. Make sense? Actually it's brilliant now. Whenever they start crowing about Parish, I just sit back and smile, take a sip of my pint and whisper "Clarry." They all go quiet.

As always with these things, when you make the comparison, you need to quote stats or some hard data to prove your mates wrong. By round 2 Parish was looking like the media Darling, kicking goals... People hadn't really gotten excited about how ridiculous Clarry's hands are. You'd better believe the Dons supporters were up and about when we lost to them with Parish playing well as well. I always had faith... but at the time, you know how it is, I couldn't beat them over the head with him. Since then Clarry is right now, at minimum, on any reasonable football followers AA bench. Hasn't played a bad game. And it's not just handballs. He's tackling like a maniac, kicking goals of the week. And the football purists who don't do stats... they really notice what he is and how he brings players into the game. He's Simon Black like.