Demon Disciple

If we do draft Scully and Trengove and in a few years time Viney, and should they all become good players, then our current midfield crop could do with some trimming IMO. Sure there are the oldies in Bruce and Green, but don't exclude the likes of McLean and Jones either. Moloney is having a great year and is safe. Of the 4, Bruce has no trade value IMHO, Green should finish his career here, Jones and McLean offer the greatest value of all 4 and both would be immediately off set if we were to draft Scully and Trengove (both walkup starts to our midfield, come round 1 next year). The likes of Moloney, Bruce, Green and Sylvia could fill the void of the experience lost by trading Jones and McLean. Neither are great with disposal and aren't quick either. Of the 2, i'd let Jones go before McLean, as McLean has greater leadership and Jones' trade value would be greater.

Hopefully Watts will develop into a Miller+Bate type (but only 1000 times better), in which he will present and lead up the ground. Jurrah just needs to be given freedom, enabling him to be Jurrah-esque 100% of the time. If we need a more traditional FF, then we draft one (Panos would be a good fit, should he slip. Plus the pair of Panos and Trengove drafted together might make it a little more comfortable for them settling into Melbourne, ala Jetta and Bennell).

If we are able to pick up all of Scully, Trengove and Panos in the draft, it would be quite a coup for our club, as it would address both areas in which we need quality players. With McNamara hopefully coming on, this also adds another KPD to the list allowing us to free up one of them to go forward. One can only hope that this will come to pass.

If we were to have picks 1,2,18,35 in the ND and pick 1 in the PSD, plus elevate Valenti to the senior list, that would allow us to trade/delist/retire 6 players. Given that the draft is considered (shallow/weak) i think this is how many picks we will use come draft time (maybe using pick 52 in the NAB draft - maybe).

Jamar is our #1 ruckman by the length of the Flemington straight. Martin would only be a minor pinch hitting ruckman. Meesen, well the jury is still out on him (it would be nice for him to become serviceable). PJ has gone backwards massively this year (would not complain if he was traded/delisted). As for Spencer, the guy just can't play football. And don't give any of this ''he's a 19 year old from QLD, give him time, he'll develop'". If you can't kick a football, no amount of teaching and developing will correct it. A player must have some level of skill before coming to a club, Spencer has height and that's it. He can't kick, can't handball, gets few tapouts, is slow around the grounds and is not tough enough. Anyone hanging their hopes on Spencer lifting our ruck stocks are simply kidding themselves. How many more years must we waste with this dud, before everyone else sees it??? He makes PJ look like Dean Cox in comparison.

on the cards? it has been cemented now. Not Good

There'd be an absolute number of players willing to tag. if that were to be the case!!!

winning the wooden spoon no longer carries the amount of shame as it used to. What it means now is that you get the first pick in the draft (if no PP's apply). I believe tanking would still exist, even if the PP's were removed. For instance, say there is a kid in an upcoming draft that is head and shoulders above the rest, similar to this years draft, teams will still tank games to get the #1 pick to draft said kid. Removing the PP's will take away elements of tanking, but will not totally eradicate it from our game.

If Melbourne were to gain a PP and our round 1 pick would be 3, what are people's opinions on a possible trade of our #3 pick (probably Trengove) for Dangerfield from the Crows? Would it be, 1 - a good trade for us & 2 - would the Crows do it?

Yes, i reckon he might have played his last game in the red and blue also. It is extremely disappointing, given the year he had last year, he just hasn't come on and injury hasn't really curtailed his career either (he's been given plenty of opportunity). If he were to play a couple more games, i wouldn't mind seeing him given a go at FF, you never know. His trade value would have diminished as well, and if he goes Melbourne are certain to pick up a ruckman in the draft/trade period.

I see your concerns Dappa, but remember he is still only an 18 year old kid. People don't stop growing until they are around 22 years old. And i'm pretty sure that Neita was only 191cm tall.

Yes, have to agree with you condemned, and lets not throw away one of those picks, which we do need for future success, on a dud like Sandilands. There is nothing wrong with investing in youth! Onwards and Upwards, DD

Makes perfect sense rpfc. Take 1 step back then 2 steps forward, not 1 step forward and then 2 steps back (or god forbid, just staying in the one spot). I like the cut of your jibe! Short-term pain for long-term gain. Onwards and Upwards, DD

Yes, i find it extremely hypocritical of Malthouse to come out and be against tanking, given the filth obtained a PP in 2005 under suspicious circumstances. One can only remember fatty 'McChins' McGuire stating before the final round that colling#@$% would be celebrating should they lose to the Crows at the G. Funnily enough they went on and lost by over 100 points, whilst being very close to making finals in '04 and getting in in '06. But let all those sooks complain, we have won 11 games in the last 3 years (probably 12 after Freo). That is why the PP was set up in the first place, to aid teams like us get back up the ladder. If we lose a few friends along the way, so be it. It's about time this club stopped trying to be the 'nice' club and put itself first every time. Call it unsociable, but it won the Dorks a flag, so why not us?!

Tom Scully is the #1 pick by a fair margin, but then the #2 pick would be Jack Trengove by a fair margin. Trengove is easily the #2 pick ahead of the likes of Butcher, Morabito, Lucas, etc..... Hopefully though, the WA teams do not pick up kids from out of their state. If we were to finish bottom of the ladder (IMO Freo will finish 16th) then we would be stupid to not take both of Scully and Trengove.

Well Trengove recently was BOG a few weeks back, and then again this weekend in the SANFL for Sturt. Wouldn't mind taking him with our no.2 pick.

It doesn't matter if the priority picks are taken away, tanking will still exist. Even without the PP's clubs near the bottom of the ladder near years end will want to 'list manage', so they can get the highest possible draft pick. Point in case, Scully is seen as the clear no.1 draft pick in this years draft. Without PP's, there will still be a race between clubs like us, Freo and WCE to try and get the no.1 pick to draft him with. Tanking will never be totally eradicated, as a team that is not in a position to play finals will 'list manage' and play the younger kids to give them experience, in order to fast track their development, for a team to fast track their own development in order to compete in the finals. Like posted on another thread, tanking can be classified as occurring on match days, outside of it could be deemed as 'list managing'. In order to prevent tanking perhaps extremely harsh penalties should be applied, but then how does one go about classifying what a 'tank' is. Therein lies the problem, and it will never be totally eradicated.

Yeah sure it's great, but remember, our biggest challenges in teams trying to out tank us will come against the tigers and Roos. I won't start getting excited until we are 3-16. Looking at that makes me a little sad, but i know that it is a necessary evil. 1 step back to take 2 steps forward. Onwards & Upwards.

As my brother said last night, the point of being the number one draft pick is being the first to have your name called out on draft day. I reckon it's a great idea to have it on a thursday night, but why only on foxtel??? It also annoys me when the FTA stations covered it in their news of being live across the nation, they forget to tell us that it is only available to foxtel subscribers. But hey, as long as it's broadcast live on radio i'm not bothered. And i am not a fan of this countdown from 10-1, what a load of crock. Just call it like they always have, the reason why draft day has become such a huge occasion is also because the current method is working just fine. If it ain't broke why fix it.

I am the type of supporter that, no matter what the merchandise looks like, i will always wear my colours to the football. Therefore, i voted no to 'would you be more inclined to purchase and wear Melbourne merchandise to games, if a better range was available'. Also, what ever happened to those Melbourne head bandannas that were skinny and long and you tied around your forehead (nothing like the bandannas worn by bikie gangs). I had 2 of them ages ago, one red and one white, i loved 'em and have since been devastated as i still can't find them. Get them into the Demon Shop now!!!

Not to rain on your parade, but if we were to be giving up a priority pick, it would before the first round not after it. All the more reason that we need to gain such a valuable pick. Forget the additional good player, imagine the amount of supporter revolt should those in control at MFC decide to be too proud and ultimately too stupid to gain the priority pick. Looking at the pro's and cons of this priority pick. If we are to get it, sure the player might turn out to be a dud, but then again (and lets remember it's scully) he is more likely to become a very serviceable player. If we do give up the pp (god forbid), we will never know what could have been. In conclusion there is nothing to lose if we gain the pp, but there could be a huge amount to lose if we are naive enough to skip the pp. There is only cons should we skip it, and only pro's should we gain it.

I cannot for the life of me understand why Cheyney isn't in the team every week. When he has played he has been very very good. But then Bailey sends him back to Casey. What more can he do to get a regular gig in the team? It's frustrating for me, so god only knows how Kyle is feeling.

I would like to think Flash gets his temper under control before he is considered a possibility. Too many times he just has a brain melt when the opposition targets him. If he wants to become a very good footballer he needs to understand that he is going to get tagged and he needs to not only know how to break a tag, but how to deal with it mentally. If he were to get rid of these occasional errant snaps, then he would be just as good as any other candidate. The captain needs to display on-field leadership as opposed to off-field leadership. This is why i think that the McDonald captaincy, whilst pulling the heart strings, was not a very good one, IMO. Unfortunately his best and worst are starting to widen at an alarming rate and should have retired last year (the game has gone well and truly past him). Sure, it's great if a player bleeds for the club, but what's more important is on-field leadership. Players who don't display as much on-field, but are excellent off it can be put in the leadership group, as that's what it is there for. ATM there aren't too many that spring to mind when it comes to a standout on-field leader.

No.

Right you are rpfc. The 18 players you send out on the field will do their utmost to win. Players don't tank, they are to competitive in nature to do such a thing. It's all about the match day committee and Bails. Of the 31,000 members of this club, it would be a 20:10 split in terms of those in favor of 'list managing' to those against such a move. Either way there will be quite a few annoyed people come years end through the action the MFC have chosen to take. If common sense is to provail, then one would always chose the lesser of two evils (in this case, only having the 10k disappointed members as opposed to 20k who would be calling for blood).