Pepe Dee Pew

I imagine Sylvia would be a very dangerous forward with that quick lead, exceptional strenght and good form - if he could get some dam good delivery. He was recruited from the TAC system as a forward who can play mid. LJ is quick and elusive. If he develops as expected and he gets fed like a baby by the mids he could be anything. Bate also has talent that could be bought out by good delivery. I reckon our mids and running backs are not doing the job properly. So I think a couple of elite A Grade mids would make a big difference. These days with delivery you do not need to be 195 - 200 cms to be a good forward. Put a couple of elite mids in and some development in Bennell and Grimes a forward line including: Watts, Bate (191cm), LJ, Sylvia, Garland(?), Wonna could end up being very dangerous.

If we can answer which comes first, chicken or the egg our top 2 picks should be easy. Are our mids the reason our forwards look crap or are the forwards that bad they make our mids look like crap deliverers of the ball. If the mids are not up to it then Scully and Trengove. If the Forwards are not up to it then Scully and Butcher.

All the very best on your journey Jim. Certainly puts footy in perspective.

Totally agree longsuffering. Recognition after a good deed encourages others to do the same. Mistakes made that are not in some way punished by the team or coaches give permission for the whole group to make mistakes. Thata what the bench, a spray, Reserves team and icy early morning swims are for.

Liam Pickering'a view is that a KPP must go if available. Plenty of mids in this draft. With GC and WS will not get a chance to get one for years. I think it may also depend on how the club sees Watts, LJ, Bate, Garland (Bailey has plans for him up forward and Martin as a pinch hitter developing. If the club is happy with those listed above i think we get best available which most likely is Morabito who may develop into a forward anyway.

Butcher may not be ready for a couple of years. Needs developing. But if the experts at the club rate him then he will be picked up at 2. I think the club will go for Morabito at 2 as he is a ready made wing/mid and at 190cm and well built may develop into a Pavlich type of player.

WA comfortably. Liam Pickering said if a good BIG BLOKE's available pick him. Evidently Butcher has had some injury problems. He mentioned the Hawks 2004 draft and with GC and WS coming in not many chances to pick up a tall. Plenty of mids in this draft. Gee Morabito just kicked a good goal. He is 190cm, quick, strong, looks like he coild pack even more kg on. Good he develop into a leading forward or play both mid and forward. He will be class with the ability to rip sides apart.

Jason McARTNEY says Morabito pick of the WA v Vic Country game. Rates him as having X Factor.

Put a couple of gun mids in the team and Bate will improve dramatically as will Morton who will eventually spend a bit of time forward.

Bailey may try to develop Wona and Maric, Grimes, Jetta into mids. If just a couple come up trumps then off we go. If Butcher is assessed by the club as capable of playing good AFL footy then we should go for him at 2. Read on BF that Scully is AFL ready now. If the club wants 2 AFL ready players them Morabito or Trengove will be a chance. May have to be patient with Butcher

Scully is apparantly a lock in at 1. From what i read on BF Morabito's stocks are rising. Big, quick, acceleration factor, can kick goals and they say AFL ready. Does anyone know his height and weight? Is he a possible forward. Currently plays wing for the WA team.

I would go for Butcher at 2 and back it in that we get a good mid in the 2nd round or preseason. Also some of our good picks over the last 2 years may turn out to be guns.

Looks like we will get the first two picks WCE will surely win 5 games now. A lot depends on how the club thinks Grimes, Wonna, Maric, Strauss and Blease will develop. If they think these (or some of them) guys will come up as class mids then i think it will be Scully and Butcher.

Scrutinise is fine but judgement should be made on a longer term basis in terms of how the list is progressing in development. For example the club may judge at the start of next year that the list is capable of winning say 7 games. Winning less depending on injury ect may be seen as a coaching failure.

I say go the the best available no matter what. I agree with whoever said gun mids will make Bate look like a gun. Bailey said he hope to develop Garland as a forward (he came to us as a forward). Also Martin is being developed as a utility who can play both ends. Better not to be obsessed with picking up a tall forward. With GC coming in and compromised drafts better not to take risks - go best available. Read an article in the HUN today say Scully , Trengove, Morabito and Butcher as a group stand out above the rest. So we should get two guns out of this draft. Agree with Whispering the real winners will be the top teams eg Cats who will package up 2 or 3 almost over the hill players for top draft picks as GC will need 'strong' players straight away. This could extend Cats dominance a few more years. Now that Worsfield has been extended at WC for two years expect them to tank so we will get picks 1 and 3 - likely. But they most likely will go for Morabito as first pick.

It is totally stupid to judge a coach on 2 weeks of football. Anybody with half a football brain knows that it is going to be a long and sometimes painfull process to rebuild a football club. Gerard is just creating a media 'fuss' for his own benefit.

Given the club is launching a new Debt Demolition later this year, ie need $$ and that they introduced Watts for a home game i reckon LJ will debut on a home game day soon. He will help lift excitement for the day and we may get a few extra come in to see his debut. In any case this season is now just about getting a few games under the belts of our first and second year players players. We need to make sure we manage our expectations of these players.

See my earlier post. Tigers are now officially tanking. See their OUTS!!

It will be a very interesting 2nd half. The tigers basically need to tank for business survival. With the GC and WS coming in - 2 dud drafts they need to win 4 or less - that way they get a priority after round one this year and if they as expected are crap next year they will pick up a priority before round one. So the competition for the spoon will be interesting. If the tigers decide not to play most/some of theie older players then they will finish bottom no matter how hard the team tries.

We can call Carlton what we like but they effectively got a good chunk of their salary cap breaches back from that loss. That win effectively was the same as us receiving a salary cap penalty. Who is the better off??

Maybe Dunn will tag Murphy.

According to the commentators Bate is Number 2 in the AFL for goal assists for the season to date. So he must be doing something right.

Can't find link but found this link basically saying smart list management will see a bottom finish this year and a tilt at the flag in a few years. http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/afl/our...an_refuel_tank/

Article in todays HUN. This years draft could be the weakest in 10 years. Partly due to the AFL increasing eligibility birthdates. Sheahan says that some may pop up at/after the Champs. Speculation we may see more trading this year. The top two picks will be very valuable indeed.

Agree btdemon. We will most likely get a top 2 pick and maybe even a priority. But results from our 'top' picks will not be known for a few years yet. This years draft combined with picks from the last two should set us up for an era. Watts should proviude a target but he will take another 2 pre seasons to get some body size. I note that Morton has grown to at least 193 cm's. Hopefully he can muscle up in the next couple of years and develop into a good third tall up forward. I agree we are in desperate need of a gun mid. We should rectify this in this years draft.