Lord Travis

Lol great thread title! Id take Watts. While I am of the opinion that the midfield is the most important part of a team, I think it's important we take this opportunity to take Watts. Our up and coming midfield is decent, our forward line is rubbish. We need a tall forward more than anything else by a long way. The fact that Watts is also rated as possibly the best talent just adds to the decision to take him. I wouldnt mind having a star midfielder though. Travis is the closest we've had in my time, hence him being my fav player. And now Brock is lol This will our last top(ish) pick for a number of years though, as the news teams get dibs on upcoming drafts, and you'd hope we have moved up the ladder too. Just makes the choice even more important to get right!

Just saw it too. What a champion. I must say, Richmond are a different outfit this year. They're finally starting to play some decent footy (after many many years of being pure rubbish). Not only that, I have a fair few mates who are Richmond supporters, and they all seem alot more mature this year. Maybe not being at the bottom of the ladder has meant they arent so agro all the time now! Thanks to the guy who donated anyway. Really warms the heart to see someone do something like this for the love of the game and tradition. Great stuff!

He has been named in Sandys best every week since he's been there, and is the only player in the entire team to do so. What more does he need to do? The bench is really tough to pick this week

When I saw the title of this thread I thought "oh [censored] he's been done for drinking etc too". Glad it isnt so! Jones is really struggling with the tags this year. No doubt about it. He's actually been the most disappointing player in the team this IMO. But there are reasons for this. One, I had very high expectations of him leading into this season because I love the way he goes about his footy. And two, he has no Brock, no Junior, no Moloney around him. Green is playing along the HB line, and Bruce is thrown where ever he is needed. Therefore Jones has had no support in the midfield, as he is the only one constantly there. There's no consistency with players who play there. They're being brought in for a few matches then dropped or injured. All the top teams, their midfields play together for years and gel. We dont have that (yet), and Jones is the only one who's constantly there. So I can forgive him as he is a young player being forced to shoulder a responsibility and load that is far greater than he should. With more support from players around him in the future, and added experience and maturity, I expect he will overcome the tagging situation that's been forced on him at times this year. My criticism of him is this. And people will probably disagree here. But I dont think he gets enough cheap uncontested kicks. When I say that I dont mean sitting round chipping it back and forth in the back pocket. I mean that he doesnt present an option around the ground or find space. He just kind of heads to where he thinks the next contest will be and hope theres a pack he can smash into. Jones has only ever got over 25 disposals 3 times in his career. He needs to get more ball around the ground like Brock does. While he goes in hard, he also works into space around the ground and helps move us forward (with his very underrated kicking skills). Jones gets all his disposals are under pressure, and thus get butchered alot as either to noone or floaters. When he actually has a little time and space he isnt as bad a kick as he appears. He's delivered a few nice passes inside 50 this year. Posters here may say "well thats not his role", and theyre right, but IMO Jonesy needs to do that to take his game to the next level as a player.

Im hoping Blease or another quick midfielder will be around with our second pick in the late teens. Big player with our first pick, quick mid we've needed with the second :D

Correct. Cant wait for 2009 when we will be clear of all this crap and have gotten rid of a few more old timers. Should be exciting! :D

My point is Bailey has said you reward players on form. He needs to do what he preaches. In Yzes 3 games he played, he was in our top 3-4 for the first two IMO If any of our youngsters picked up 25 touches, 3 tackles (2 rewarding in holding the ball and frees for), and 2 goals...we'd be screaming what a star he is. Yze just gets called selfish. We were down by about 2 goals with a few mins left and he took and shot from about 50 out on the run with no free men available to him. He scored a behind. He was blasted on here and called selfish for that. To me, I saw that as him taking the game on and trying to stand up and lead us over the line. But nope, one sided view of him here. I'm the first to admit he will not be around next year. But we should also reward form like the coach has stated. Davey has come straight in after a mediocre VFL match with 14 touches and a few tackles. Yze picked up 21 touches and 12 tackles and was our best yet again. See what I'm getting at here? While we play the youngsters to move forward, it seems unfair to not reward the player who's working harder and performing better just because he is old. Players deserve some faith from their club for their loyalty and effort. I seem to remember Yze turning down bigger $$ offers from a few clubs back around 02-03 when he was AA and still a star of the competition. Shouldnt we be rewarding that sort of stuff to show the youngsters if they work hard and are loyal, we will play them until the end and thank them for their service? I happen to know for a fact, being a friend of a promising young Melbourne players (stalk my facebook if you're that smart), that they do not like the environment at the club and have asked to be traded at years end if possible.

I think Yze will get a call up. I still find it astonishing the amount of [censored] he cops on here. Fact he is he has achieved more than 95% of our current list probably ever will. He may not be the way going forward, but he is one of the stars of our past, and one of the most influential demons for me to watch growing up as a kid. I still remember sitting there at the g with my dad as a kid when he first burst onto the scene and noone even knew how to see his name and we were all yelling yze!!! (pronounced ye-zee) lol If Baileys picking on form like he says he is, then Yze has earnt the call up with 12 tackles and 17 1%ers!! He's in the ebst every week, and if thats not work rate and defensive pressure that earns a call up, then nothing is. Petterd still isnt up to match fitness yet. Give him a few more weeks to build on that and then get a few games under his belt late in the year.

Morton Moloney Buckley PJ Brock Jones With Green Bartram Bruce as rotations through backline/midfield depending on match ups Really cant wait for Moloney to be back next year. Before his injury, I think he showed he was really stepping up as a vital cog in the midfield and also a decent leader onfield aswell. His passion is unquestionable, and his aggression, long kicking, and willingness to take on the opposition are things he does well to set the standard for the youngsters. I also thought his tackling and 1%ers were alot better this year. I remember one match he had nearly 10 tackles and a few sheperds too. I think Baileys been working abit of magic here after a spray or two and some behind the scenes tutoring of sorts.

100% correct Goodvibes. PJ is actually one of the fastest at the club for a straight line run. Sherman didnt use his brains there. If he had zig-zaged abit he wouldve easily got away from PJ as he has fantastic agility and PJ wouldve slowed alot having to readjust his line. The issue here was him not using his brains. Full credit to PJ anyway for a great passage of play :D Sherman is quick, he breaks lines, and when on song is a fantastic offensive weapon. His 2006 was seriously good. Think he kicked 17 goals as a running HBF/midfielder and was gathering 20 or so damaging disposals a week streaming forward. A great return for anyone in his position, especially considering his age at the time. A combination of horrible injury and poor form coming back from it thus far have led to these talks. He is talented, and Lethal has been trying him in a few different roles this year (tagging, HFF, BP etc). I doubt Brisbane would let him go for anything above say pick 25-30, which is why its doubtful we'll get him, and I wouldnt want to give up one of our teen picks considering this is a very good draft who would could get a steal with at that price. Fact is he has alot of potential, but would be too costly for us.

Dont even know what this was for? When did he strike him in the game? Even if it was a laughable reprimand, Im getting so sick of Sylvia. Never has one player frustrated me so much!

Dont agree with Freak on much recently, but I see some merit in getting Sherman IF HE IS CHEAP. I wouldnt give up a high pick or anything for him. He was fantastic in 2006. Cant argue that. Last year he suffered a really bad infection in his leg, and they nearly had to amputate it! So the fact that he is coming back from an injury that severe is credit to him. He s still working his way back to form and fitness, and has had to do so in a new role being thrown about as a tagger at times. Is he out of contract come years end? PSD possibility. If not, then Id trade for him if theyd give him up cheap. No big loss if it doesnt work out though, as there will be othr players available from the sounds of it.

Davey Miller Bate Wona Robbo other The other being Watts (or whomever we draft as a forward). If he (draftee) is too raw, then put Sylvia there. Newton is gone. Useless IMO

Bad luck to him, as he's having a great year and is possible AA. Hope he recovers well and rests up.

Batram Martin Bell Rivers Garland Johnson Id say Martin fullback on the monsters Garland as CHB for the more mobile forward Rivers 3rd man up loose Bell for medium sized forward Bartram for the small forward Johnson as the rebounder. Id also put Brad Green or Ricky Petterd in place of CJ as the rebounder. Or Green in Rivers position as loose man around CHB (which lets face it he has been this year due to Rivers constant injuries) Think Warnock has been OK this year, but not sure if he will hold his spot for the future with other more talented players coming through. Whelan to interchange with Bartrams role on small forwards depending on match ups. I still think Bell has a place in the backline as he is usually pretty tight defensively on his opponent. Has just been poor rebounding this year. Bode to be delisted please.

No point trading him. He is 27 (?), too old to hold much value. We'd never get anywhere near what he has been/will be worth to us for the next 2-3 years helping the new young defense coming through. He's having a good year, but shanks a few kicks. The way I see it, when you're getting 25+ touches most weeks, you're entitled to shank a few.

Essendon will likely draft Hurley this year. They'll have Hurley FB, Ryder CHB, Gumbleton CHF, Neagle FF, for the next 10 years barring injury etc We will likely have Warnock FB, Garland CHB, Miller/Bate CHF, Watts FF It's pretty even for the spine there IMO. We have a far better midfield crop coming through currently, but you never know. I think we're ahead too, but the Dons are performing better than I thought they would and their gameplan could certainly become a successful one in the future as their players get a few pre-seasons and years experience under their belts. I think in 4-5 years time we'll both be top sides playing vastly different footy.

Great to hear Grimes is getting through games and showing glimpses of his immense talent. Sorry to hear Sandy having such a poor run this year

Morton gets to the right spots. He sees the play before it even happens. Once he puts on some more weight he will be able to compete well one on one, and also start laying more tackles and going in harder in the centre square. He will also get used to the pace of the game and learn how long he has to dispose of the ball so he doesnt get rushed as often. He is still young and learning people. The reason he was drafted so high (and the reason he won the Larke medal last year for best player of the champs) is his disposal is top notch and he knows how to find it. Alongside Cotchin, he will be regarded as the best of his draft.

Wow im good B) People bagging Bells game today, you realise he played on Brad Johnson for alot of the game, and had him pretty well covered? He certainly wasnt our worst today. Get off his back. Juice was ok with poor delivery, still got alot of work ahead of him though if he's going to be an AFL footballer. On a completely unrelated note, did anyone see Trent Cotchins game vs the Eagles? That kid is really special. He will mesmerize people in the future that's for sure! Pity he wasnt around at pick 4 Still pretty happy with Morton

Thank god Bode was dropped. Really poor footballer with little upside. Predict Newton to kick 2 goals from 7 touches and 4 marks. Morton to have 21 touches and a goal. Valenti to rack up 9 tackles.

Bode needs to be delisted. He is rubbish and will never make the grade. Looking forward to Morton returning. Hopefully his confidence is up and he has a great game.

That tattoo is awful. Lucky he's a star or Id lay into him some more

Tess is right. He is eligible this year. His partner in crime in the midfield Scully is not eligible until next year though. Maybe you just had the two confused. Scully will likely be a high pick in next years draft. Blease will likely go somewhere around pick 15 this draft from what Ive read thus far. I hope he falls to our second pick, as he is exactly what we need IMO. A pacey wingman with good skills and a good work ethic. Some of his second efforts on Weds were superb and he kicked a fantastic goal in the last quarter! Needs to put on abit of size still though before he can play at AFL you'd think. If we could get Warnock, then draft Watts and Blease, we will have gotten ourselves a good young ruckman, key forward and pacey midfielder, which are the 3 key areas that need addressing. Could be a great draft for us this year :D

Bring back the 90s demon plz k thx bai