Melon22

Got here 10 minutes in for the reserves and Stef Martin and Sam Blease playing, Max Gawn isn't.

I Stayed till about the 20min mark of third with Stef and Tapscott still playing. Blease played only the first half and was sensational, every kick he had was pin point and it was just great seeing him out there playing footy. Tapscott had a lot of the ball and showed great aggression at the contests. He started the game up forward but he moved into the midield in the second half where he got first hands at just about every stoppage, he also took two very heavy hits to the head one in the second qtr and one in the third, but he seemed to be okay and was running the game out well considering it was his first hit out of the year. Stef played at full forward and dominated his opponent in Kyle Hartigan but wasn't able to finish off his good work with terrible kicking for goal, I think he missed about 5 set shots badly that I saw and his only goal came from quick kick after he dropped a mark. He looked like he was limping in the third qtr and he had a good discussion with the physio but he was still on the gound when I left.

Blease just kicked his second after nice clearance work from tapscott. Blease has a laser for a boot tonight.

Good win by Casey, a few of the melbourne boys started to tire in the last quarter but Juice and Morton were probably melbournes best in the last.

Jurrah getting better by the quarter. Juice playing really well. Backline Is really struggling getting through werribee zone at times but when we do get the ball forward we look very dangerous

Bail was outstanding in the first half, he is taking the game on and his skill and decision making has been great. Fitzpatrick has been the other that has impressed me. His ruck impact has been minimal but his work around the ground where he can show his pace has been good Sylvia has probably been the best of the senior players, with Jurrah starting to show some form including a great chase and tackle that led to a goal for Casey looking for a more talented Casey to dominate in the second and rack up a big win. Stef, Tapscott and Blease are at the ground and will be playing in the seconds.

I agree with you rogue, while his energy and run do bring us something I didn't think his diposal and decision making has been as good as everyone is making out in this thread. It is only his third game and he is still getting the pace of the games but if Sylvia is coming back I think he is the player that goes out. Bail hasn't dominated a VFL game that I have seen and if he does get dropped I would like to see him use the confience gained in the AFL to dominate a few VFL games.

Happy with his contribution today, had limited game time and he made the contest a few times that led to goal chances. He offers us somthing different to what Miller, Dunn and Bate offer and he is competing with Spencer and Martin for a position in the team and I am happy to give him an opportunity ahead of those two.

It wasn't a real interview as such as they intorduced five draftees(Lucas, Melksham, Cunnington, Trengrove and Scully) with Gary having about a 30 second chat with each of them. Nothing intresting said and no information on the new draftees, just the stock standard I am fitting i really well and the club and all the boys are treating me well First time I have fully watched a footy show for about three years and I don't think I am missing much to be honest, Sam Newman has to go for me to watch.

Yet adelaide rated him top 13 at least and the word is they had him much higher. Just because CC(and BP) said so doesn't mean Talia won't be a star, Adelaide rarely have a bust in the draft and they are one of the biggest spenders in the AFL recruiting game. Their picks in the last couple of drafts Dangerfield, Otten and Tippert look the serious goods and I have a feeling Talia has landed at the right enviroment to improve his game. And thanks barry for the report, always good to see what the strategy was.

I would conisder him more of a natural KPP defender than a ruckman or forward, I have only seen him a couple of times but he hasn't been used much in the ruck that I saw. He is good value at this pick and he is definatly the project player of this draft for us, I don't see him contributing in the short term and I think he needs a lot of work on a lot of his game but he has all the right athletic attributes to make it.

While I feel we took him slightly high I don't think he would have been available at 18 so if BP really liked him he had to take him there. He is a very good footballer and to say what a bad pick it is based on Internet draft talk is a joke, I don't consider him an traditional inside midfielder either as some people have suggested, he is more a true utility. I have seen him play out of the goal square up forward effectivly and play the role of an rebounding defender extremely well. Basically this kid will play anywhere we want him to and he will do a job, the major query on his game was his kicking effiency which has dramatically improved this year. Here is some extended video highlights provided by the Eastern Ranges. GYSBERTS VIDEO In the end I am not dissapointed we take him, I would have maybe preferred a couple of other players but I am pretty happy we have him.

NT, Tassie, QLD(GC17 this year) and NSW play in the TAC Cup plus I watch the rest at the U/18 champs, furthest I go to watch a match is Geelong. I have seen full games of Lewis Jetta this year on tape, but Aaron Black I have only seen the AFL Highlights and couldn't tell you anything about him.

Here is my top 30 players, this is just were I rank them with no position or need agenda. I am aware I have favored the TAC Cup players as that is who I see every week but I can only go on what I see. 1. Tom Scully 2. Jack Trengrove 3. Dustin Martin 4. Ben Cunnington 5. Gary Rohan 6. Anthony Morabito 7. Daniel Talia 8. John Butcher 9. Kane Lucas 10. Ryan Bastinac 11. Jake Melksham 12. Jake Carlisle 13. Lewis Jetta 14. Bradley Sheppard 15. Luke Tapscott 16. Jordan Gysberts 17. Troy Taylor 18. Ayden Kennedy 19. Koby Stevens 20. Mitchell Duncan 21. Max Gawn 22. Ben Giffiths 23. Andrew Moore 24. Dylan Robertson 25. Nathan Vardy 26. Travis Colyer 27. Jesse Crichton 28. Allen Christensen 29. Sam Reid 30. Jamie Macmillan I don't have Aaron Black in here because I haven't seen him play and the only time I have seen him is in those AFL highlights which always look good.

Here is my guess, 1. Scully 2. Trengrove 11. Griffiths 18. Gawn 34. Colyer 50. Patrick

IMO if Max Gawn didn't get injured he would have been considered a definite first round pick, he was the easily the best ruckman I saw all year and was very dangerous when up forward. The other highly rated ruckman Vardy looks sensational for 10 minutes than does nothing for the rest of the game and is only adequete in the ruck. I just don't rate Vardy that highly but with so few quality Rucks in the draft clubs will have to jump early to get them. I am going to sound like sound a like a smart arse for saying this now after Burgan but I have been thinking for the last couple of weeks that Gawn would be a good pick for 18, at pick 18 we have taken three very good footballers already and I would be thinking that this should be our risky pick. I think that we should take Gawn if available, if he isn't available than Griffiths should be next in line. Both of these guys have an injury risk(In Griffiths case a HUGE injury risk), but these two players have probably the two biggest upsides to them in the whole draft. If Gawn comes good we have our number 1 Ruckman for ten years and with 4 picks inside the top 20 we are able to take the risk.

Doubtful Ryan will last beyond pick 20, he has speed, endurance and a lethal kick. It wouldn't shock me to see him taken in the 8 -12 range but I see more probably see him going around 18-24.

Maybe next year for Luke as he isn't eligible this year, and I agree that Barry has a huge headache choosing two great talls but not for the reason that their are so many to choose from.

I would consider taking him with a fourth round pick or a rookie but I don't think he has what it takes to be a dominant AFL forward. He has more muture body than most of the guys he is playing against and if you watched the last couple of games you would know most of his goals have come fom him pushing off his opponents with strength, I don't think he has the pace or endurance to be a very good AFL forward.

I would think that would be about spot on. I really like this kid, in one word he is a competitor. Loves to crash into bodies, but he also has a touch of class about him which I really like. Had a pretty disappointing game against Eastern, hopefully he bounces back has a pearler against GC17 on the weekend and gives the Melbourne brains trust something to think about.

I don't think it will, I think the worry is that he might not of gotton over his knee but I think the last few weeks have proved his has his spring and zip back. Saying that you would like to know about his past injuries to see if he was just unlucky or he has a body type that is injury prone.

I watched Eastern Vs Geelong in the TAC today and just thought I would mention Ben Griffiths who kicked 4 goals today and looked really impressive, he is a big unit at around 197cm and he should be at least in consideration for our second pick. He has been off the radar for a top ten pick due to his injuries and those who saw him at the U/18 champs wouldn't of been impressed but he seems to just be gaining in confidence every week and could be set for a breakout finals series.

I am amazed at that you all think he has better skills than Nik Nat and Jake Spencer, there is a reason the highlights package doesn't show where the ball is landing after he kicks. He tries to avoid kicking as much as Nik Nat does. He is most likely heading for a rookie list, but someone might love the upside and take him late.

At this stage I would think that none of those players mentioned will be available for our second round pick, with the way Carlisle and Talia played in the Champs and the lack or real quality talls in this years draft I can see them going first round.

The Herald sun had a article the day after the draft where a Journalist sat in on the pre draft discussion, we where looking at a KPP in our third and fourth round picks but none that we rated fell to our picks. I don't agree with drafting players just because they are KPPs.