Lord Travis

Fluff piece. The club is handling him well though. Didn't give up much to get him and he's been given a one year contract to show he can get himself right and start developing. He'll need to prove himself to earn another contract. He's quite a talented player when fit and if he can stay fit physically and mentally he can break into our best 22 IMO. Would be a good half forward flank/midfield rotation. Hope he makes it as he's a good size and has some decent skills.

Looks like they're easing him back in after 6 months off. Hopefully that means they've learnt from previous foot injuries at the club destroying careers. We need him fit and firing during finals next year.

Finally. We need him to step up and IMO he is best suited to playing midfield. If he can put it together, he could be the outside polish we need.

I believe in the previous training thread there were some posters who were getting stuck into him for whatever reason and he said he's had enough of it and is going to stop posting training reports. Hopefully he returns to post some training updates. Your posts are always appreciated @Satyriconhome!

The foot injury seems quite serious. He's now delayed training start until mid January. That's a 6 months lay-off before resuming training. Let's just hope the club give it the time it needs and get it right. Foot injuries can derail careers, as we've seem with numerous players the last few years, so I hope the club medical staff have learnt some lessons and earn their keep here. A fit and firing Viney is one of the keys to our premiership success.

The Good: We finish 6th, making finals for the first time since 2006. We finally beat North. Our midfield becomes one of the best in the league, and teams struggle to combat our pressure around the ball. The rebound from our backline becomes a real weapon, with Hunt, Hibberd, Brayshaw, Salem and Jetta causing head-aches. Bugg surprises many as a pesky small forward and becomes best 22. Christian Petracca continues his rise to stardom and makes the AA squad. Kicks 30+ goals for the season and is the match-winner in a few games. Dom Tyson has yet another top 5 finish in our BnF to remind everyone why he is an important part of our future midfield. Clayton Oliver becomes recognised as a bonafide star of the competition, finishing 5th in the Brownlow and making the AA midfield. Gawn stays fit and plays the full season, reclaiming his thrown as AA ruckman. The Bad: Jones, Vince and Lewis all struggle with the pace of the game and lingering injury issues. 2 of the 3 retire at years end. Tom McDonald forward doesn't work out and he returns to the backline. This exposes our lack of quality tall forwards and increased pressure on Hogan. We continue to struggle against big forwards. Frost's form deteriorates, Oscar struggles to develop further, TMac heads down back but his form fluctuates and Lever is left to try and steady the ship in more of a shut down role. We endure another year of media speculation about Hogan returning to WA, after he has a mediocre year form-wise. We lose to Richmond after controlling the majority of the match again. The soft-underbelly lingers. While we finish 6th, we could have finished 1st-2nd if not for losing winnable matches against lesser opponents.

When rumours circulated we were into Baker I was worried we'd use our first pick on him and thought it was the wrong move. Turns out we landed him with our last pick at 47. He's definitely got great pace and agility, question will be how it holds up under AFL level pressure. Though his highlights look excited, there is bugger all defensive pressure in the NEAFL and it almost looked like they were playing touch footy at times He doesn't mind laying a tackle though and looks competitive so he'll give it a red hot crack. Of all our draftees this year I'm hoping Baker makes it. He's got exactly what our midfield needs: pace. Welcome Oskar!

Happy with this pickup. I was hoping either him or Bailey would slip to our first pick and we landed Spargo. He's a talent. Decent pace, great agility, great competitor, can rack up ball and chime in with goals. He'd be perfect to play up forward for the first few years of his careers to partner up with Jeffy. He could be added to the midfield rotation over time or own a small forward role. Though he's small, he's a competitor and take down his share of bigger players over his time. Welcome Charlie!

I reckon that's bang on. Garner and Petrucelle are tipped to go around our mark, and suit our needs for outside pace and class. Coleman-Jones as a long-tam forward/ruck option, and Baker as another with pace but less rounded than the other two. I hope Bailey lasts until our pick as I reckon he will develop into a really fine player and would love him in red and blue.

Haven't seen this kid play other than the usual highlights clips, but surely a 19 year old who couldn't even crack it onto the list of the worst team in the AFL isn't worth blowing our first pick on?! If someone like Bailey or Spargo is still available, I'd hope the club drafts them.

As for Liam Ryan, I'll quote myself from earlier in this thread. He'll go as a late/rookie pick to a WA club. I'd hope the club don't bother with a 21 year old who has serious attitude and application issues. He would not suit the modern AFL game where defensive pressure and hard running both ways are now a requirement. He'll never make it at AFL level IMO.

Correct. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-11-22/taylor-has-list-of-names-ready-to-go States no rookie picks and will use 4 picks in the draft.

Really hoping Zac Bailey makes it to our picks. He’s a perfect fit for us IMO. Not only is he quick, but he fits the competitive type that Goodwins panel is assembling/developing. He’s great with contested ball but has the pace the break through/away from packs and could play outside earlier in his career. Not sure he will last to our pick but I’m crossing me fingers he winds up in red and blue!

Stretch is a renowned good trainer and prepare himself well. He is in ripping knick!

While Balic was at the back of the pack, he was also only a few steps behind Petracca. I don’t see anyone having a go at Trac though as he’s a fan favorite. As I said, it’s no cause for concern at this stage. If Balic doesn’t put in the work and improve over the next few months then it’s a different story.

Strong around the ball, good pace, looks to release team mates with solid handballs while drawing contact from opponents. Only query at this stage is his kicking. It's inconsistent, but I don't think it's a skill issue, I think it's a composure issue where he hasn't learnt to slow down the last step or two to steady for the kick. I think it's due to inexperience and not knowing his limits yet. Could be fixed and would be a good option with any of our picks if he's available.

That's likely a result of not being in a professional club environment for a while. He played one WAFL match in early June and then came home to Victoria again after being granted personal leave by Freo. Prior to that he hadn't played since Round 4 at any level. He's likely coming off a low fitness base having not been at a club properly since April. No cause for concern, he's over his injuries and preseason is there to build fitness and strength. He's only got a one year contract so he'll have to bust his ass to get another contract with us in 12 months time.

He's a dud with no weapons. Next!

Great news to have big Maxy signed up for a few more years! As long as he can keep working hard and stay fit, he makes a massive difference to our side. While we missed him around stoppages, more importantly we missed his marking power around the ground. It's good the club is able to get these key players signing extensions early and not worrying about them walking like in previous years. We're on the up!

Ling seems like the best fit for us with our first pick at 29. I only hope he lasts until then. Needs to get past Geelong in the early 20s. He's got speed, decent skills and decent amount of aggression for tackles and contest for a predominantly outside player. He'd be great a fit to develop with our current culture.

Saw him play mid year, was match against Peel. He would've had maybe 7-8 touches, kicked a run of the mill set shot goal and doubt if he laid a tackle. Wouldn't have even known who he was if it weren't for the chatter surrounding him as he'd booted a ton of goals to that stage of the season. He was seriously unremarkable that day. Based on that match I saw of him, he'll be a rookie pick at best and likely never make it AFL level. He has seriously poor work ethic. He refused to work up the ground when it wasn't working up forward, he didn't chase or put on any pressure at all when his opponents won the ball, he stood around hands on hips and not bothering to lead if a defender went anywhere near him. He makes Jack Watts look like Nick Reiwoldt on steroids in terms of work rate, effort and hunger. Not surprised to read Pennant St Dee's post saying his club Subiaco had to send someone to pick him up or he wouldn't rock up to training etc. I'll be disappointed, shocked and disgusted if the club drafts him after weeding out players with poor attitude and work ethic over the past few years. He's already 21 too, so as a mature age player you'd hope he had developed that work ethic and desire to make it.

He has average speed, offers no defensive pressure and offers bugger all around the ground. He has a great leap on him and is a decent shot at goal, but he lacks far too much in other areas. He’s worse than other similar types currently on our list. There’s a reason he’s been overlooked in the draft before and a reason he’s being spoken about as a late pick or rookie pick. There will likely be a big go home factor with him too so I hope the club doesn’t bother with him to be honest. There are other better, well rounded options for us to target.

He doesn’t put on any defensive pressure or work hard for his team. Hats why he was overlooked. He ca kick a bag if given space, but likely won’t have much impact at AFL level IMO. Will be a late pick air most likely a rookie pick to a WA club.

He’s the perfect fit for us. He’s everything we need in our midfield. Outside pace, good agility, good kicking skills, bit of aggression so goes when it’s his turn and lays a good tackle. Hopefully he falls to us at pick 29 but being a Geelong boy I don’t think he’ll slip past Geelong in the early-mid 20s.

Hopefully we win a flag by 2918! I’d like to see one in my life time, and preferably not have to find a way to live 900 years for that to happen