RalphiusMaximus

Shouldn't that be FOUR TIME PREMIERSHIP PLAYER Martin Pike?

The OX Pre-Knee.

I think he was being talked up as a first round pick a while ago, but these things change during the year.

I suspect Watts and Howe will both be forwards this time. We have enough defensive cover for now with Lamumba, Dunn, Tommy, Jetta and Garland. What we need is to score half a dozen more goals each game and that means giving Hogan some help up forward.

Great to watch, but still lacking the Kent to McDonald play.

This just makes me sad.

Yep. It's been thrown about for a while that Trenners is out for the year so one Rookie is basically an automatic upgrade. They offered that to Evans and he turned it down and retired instead.

Seems pretty nervous there. With luck he'll get lots more practice and relax a bit.

To be fair though, Bartram worked damn hard and became a reliable kick if not a good one. He at least got to the point where he could take the safe option and get it right. The issue with Grimes is more mental than anything. It's when he has too much time that he overthinks things and winds up messing up. When he's under the pump I find he's a better decision-maker and hits his targets better, probably because he's just taking the option that presents itself and not trying to finesse things.

I hear there's a kid called Jake somethingorother who might be worth a look. You might have heard of him?

Yeah, more wobblers than helicopters.

Today on SEN they were discussing snakes and ladders. Lots of impartial commenters had Melbourne going up. Funny thing was the Carlton supporters saying they were a shot at the top four, but you always get that.

Funny, I was looking at those highlights and thinking that his kicking needs work. It looks very sloppy, lots of helicopters. The highlights showed the ones that went through, but I wonder how often he misses. I have a sneaking suspicion that he's going to really struggle playing in a faster game against opponents who he can't brush aside. Hope he proves me wrong, but all in all I think he's further off than White.

Very nice kick on the lad. THe highlights make him look amazing, but that is what they are designed to do. He shows a lot of courage in them, doesn't fear exposing himself to take the mark, throws his body in when spoiling. From the interviews and comments posted above we can take two negatives. One is that he has issues with his body. Like a few before him, he could be a talented kid who can't get on the park. Secondly his beep is good but not great, so he probably needs to work on his tank and his running. Given the pro's he showed, he looks like a very good rookie choice, and if he can get through the two years without breaking down he'll probably be a great addition when he's promoted.

Outlandish it may be, but I've now heard this rumour from two unconnected directions. Might have a bit more traction than we think. That being said though, we only have two rookie spots and there are some decent young players who would kill for one of them.

I really don't care what Hawthorn offer their players. Jones has clearly stated his wish to be signed away to Melbourne for the rest of his career and we should be jumping at the chance, not quibbling over an extra year. Given that ever other senior player with any market value at all has been counting the days until they could go to the Hawks or Cats this is a huge moment for the club and we need to grab it with both hands.

I honestly don't remember the last time I was completely happy with a draft like this. I don't have any questions about any of the picks. We've had nothing but positive feedback from the media and pretty much all of them have us as clear winners from this year's crop. I'm even thrilled with the one I hadn't looked at previously in Neal-Bullen who seems to have the same combative streak to him as Petracca and Brayshaw. This young midfield we've put together really does seem to have the potential to match anything in the league within a few seasons.

THe coaches have talked for several years about creating competition for places and pressure on the guys in the side. Now we have it.

You've listed Stretch twice, plus Jetta was promoted. I think we have two rookies left in Harmes and King right now, so two spots left.

In case people have forgotten, this is the write-up from Cardona's phantom draft: Hellishly good pickup at 53.

Huh? Oh, Got it. I wasn't paying that much attention to their picks.

The same for me. I was waiting, absolutely sure we'd be calling him at 40 if he lasted. I was gutted when they didn't and then somehow he slipped all the way to 53. I have no idea how that happened except that a few players were available later than anticipated due to a few surprises from Carlton and the Doggies. I have to give credit to the team for getting things right given that he did fall all the way down and we still got our man. Obviously they had a pretty good idea of how things were going to pan out.

Looking again at the footage, how good was that fend?!?! He just shoved the dude away to make enough space for himself in the middle of a pack.

At least two of those babies are physically ready to go. We've had Petracca compared to Dustin Martin quite a bit in terms of his physicality and power although I think he shows a bit of Dangermouse in the way he attacks the contested ball as well. Brayshaw is seen as a bit of a cross between Mitchell and Wines. In both cases we're talking about players who were ready to go when they were drafted. I wouldn't be surprised to see them both in the side early on.

Looking at the highlights I'd say it's his kicking. he seems to have great hands and good acceleration away from the packs, can mark and tackle well, but I only saw a couple of kicks hit their targets in that highlight package. In traffic he actually looked a bit like Moloney with the blind turn and boot it forward. That's something that will need a lot of work once we get him to the club.