RalphiusMaximus

You probably believe that dogs can't look up too don't you? I really love some of the myths that become gospel on message boards. Robbo was our best forward for years. He should have spent his entire career playing as a third marking option, not the primary target, yet he still managed to kick bags of goals against bigger and stronger opponents. He finished his career in third place on our all time goalkicking list, two ahead of Gary Lyon. Oddly, I never hear anybody taking a shot at the way he played the game. Sadly for all those poor folks who don't let reality get in the way of a good bias, Robertson was in fact a very good player and remained a highly effective forward to the end of his AFL career. His game did suffer from the lingering effects of a torn Achilles tendon, but even with this handicap (and having played only half the season) he topped our goalkicking this year. What I'm getting at here is that a player of Robertson's abilities would be at home in any team in the AFL. His mobility was only going to improve with a proper pre-season, which would cure the perceived weakness in his defensive efforts and if his output remained the same he would be good value to a premiership contender. 50+ goals from a third forward is gold. Imagine if the Saints had had that. For that matter, imagine if the Hawks, Dogs or Cats had had that. It is truly a shame that he wasn't given the chance to play with a contender that he so richly deserves. I hope that wherever he winds up next he can still find joy in playing the game, since he's provided so much to all of us.

Meesen showed a bit before he broke down again. He still has a chance in my book. However, if he misses most of this season with injuries he's out the door. We can't afford to carry him if his body won't stand up to AFL.

Nothing like the talent. We'll never see Newton make the ton.

I have mixed feelings on this. It is wonderful that he's been given a chance at AFL level, but now he has the double blow of having to pack his bags and move to Perth with the added slap of being on Fremantle's list. I would have been happier for him if he'd wound up with a local club with decent prospects. However, all in all being on an AFL list is a good thing, so well done I guess.

That's fine. We'll trade Newton for him at the end of next year.

Very good points. I think you are setting the bar higher than me when it comes to players having a big year. With these wto I am expecting something similar to what Grimes did this year. You can not say that he set the competition alight but he worked his way into the side and had a couple of seriously good games towards the end of the year. He is now a pretty solid first 22 player. I would expect that Straus and Blease will play most of the first half of the season with Casey but they should get 10-12 games later on and be showing why we drafted them by the end. Rising star nominations are not out of the question. To me, if they can do what Grimes did this year that will be a big year for them and will reward the faith that the fans have shown in two players we haven't seen on the field yet. It may not count as a big breakout year in which they become elite players, but at their age nobody expects that.

I'll answer that at the end of the 2010 season if it's all right with you :D You never know, he may grab his chance with both hands and become the player we were all hoping for after all.

The thing that proves this post to be nonsense is he notion that Collingwood will be in the Grand Final in 2014. Lets be realistic here folks. By then they'll be desperate to top up their talent pool and hoping to finish as low as possible. This will be made abundantly clear when they manage to scrape a loss to Richmond towards the end of the season with their entire forward line benched with injuries which will mysteriously vanish in the next week.

Odd really. It's an interesting topic, but probably has been touched on a few too many times in other threads. Or perhaps nobody is willing to put their thoughts on the line that far in advance.

Agreed. It's great to see that he's going to get a shot and this is a better path for him than as a rookie. He'll also find himself (agewise) as one of the senior players in the side. It will be interesting to see how he works with the raft of 17-18 year-olds coming into the club.

Look for an impact from both Blease and Strause. As with Grimes before them, an injury-hit first year followed by a breakout second now that they are bigger, fitter and stronger. I'm expecting to be impressed by them both.

The AFL has stated that they will not be giving any first round picks away as compensation ahead of those granted the GC. GC are guaranteed those picks. However, if they choose to do so they may trade any of their allotted picks to other clubs for contracted players. Miller would not get us a first round pick. If we were lucky, we might get a third round pick for him, but that's pushing things. I have no faith at all in the AFL putting fair market value on players who are poached in this manner. GC were looking at Morton from the MFC. Do you think for one second they would give us pick 4 as compensation, much less the pick 1 that he would warrant? More likely he would be rated as something around the 20 mark. They are using a formula factoring in games played, placings in B&F counts and brownlow votes to value players. The specifics of this formula are not to be made public, allowing them to fudge figures any way they wish. Such a system is inherently unfair and will hurt us if they manage to lure someone good up north.

I think they need a new editor. Interesting little article though.

I said earlier in the year I thought we were good for 6-9 wins next year. Having seen the draw (and loved it) I think this is probably pretty accurate. I penciled in 8 games as very winnable with another couple of maybes. I think 10 would be a great year for the side, 6 or 7 probably underachieving. The year after that I expect us to be in the 8. I don't think this is in any way unrealistic. We won't make the top 4 because we'll still be playing kids against men for the most part, but the talent we've picked up in the last three years will be beginning to ripen. 2012 should see us in a very good place, assuming we've kept the core together. We'll have Morton heading into his mid 20's, Davey in his prime, probably Green as an elder statesman, and the rucks we've been developing will be coming into it. Watts and Jurrah will by then have had three years of playing together and should be working as a great team. Youngsters Viney and Stretch will be beginning to show their worth and our midfield guns will have had three years to gel. I'm thinking probably 4th to 7th that year. Beyond 2012, we should see ourselves as a chance at the GF. As far as I'm concerned, if we keep this list together there is no reason we can't threaten for most of the decade. The young guys we hope will star will still be at playing age when 2020 comes around.

On the (very) off chance that Newton and/or Meesen get picked up by other clubs, I would like to see players like Daw, Patrick or Grimes being picked up. Thorpe as an outside chance depending on how his foot looks (I'd take him if he were fully fit). Daw and Patrick in particular look to have a lot of raw talent and could be seen as long-term investments, which is precisely what the rookie list is for. edit: slight typo there.

I'd be thrilled if Grimes went to Richmond. He seems like a good kid and he deserves a shot. Richmond may be an aweful club, but at least he'd be in the system. He can always move to us in a trade in a few years.

He's going to look like the incredible Hulk in a few years. People will be afraid to go near him on the field.

Gawn is bloody huge! It's a good thing nobody asked him a question because he would've had to bend in two to reach the microphone.

Hughes has had no chances. He's never played a senior game. However most of the coaching staff have said at different stages that he is a part of their future plans. Given that there is now talk of using next years draft to elevate rookies, I would think he's going to find himself on the senior list in 2011. My 3: Bell Bartram Miller

I prefer Morton on the wing. Give him the role Richo played in 2008 and he'll dominate games. He just needs to add a few kilos of muscle and he'll be an almost impossible matchup. I agree that the 3 goals were a very nice indication of hi talent as a forward, but I think it was his demolition of Goodes that showed us his real potential. Let him run free and wreak havoc as he will.

The option will present itself quite frequently given that all of our forwards are of the "roaming up the ground" type. Don't be surprised to see them playing as link men and handballing off to the running player at around the 70m mark.

You are kidding right? We'd be damn lucky to have Newman even stop in once a month to do a session on skills. If you want someone recent who knows the role of a modern ruck you could always ask Jeff White to come back to the club.

I was totally blindsided by this. I'd only heard of him because one poster mentioned him as a shot at 11 (well done that man!). I never even considered him to be in our plans. He's a big lad, tall for a mid as has been mentioned. He has skills and can take a mark. He runs like a machine (although not like a Scully). He is also someone who has played with Scully for two years in rep. sides and clearly has a very good understanding with him. That sort of chemistry in our midfield is priceless. It will take a few years to be certain, but I can be hopeful and say he looks like cog that will fit nicely into the midfield machine we have coming.

As always, we require photographic evidence. Surely someone had a camera at this function?

Very interesting footage on youtube. Did anyone else notice that he appears to be Scully's go-to man? It looks like whenever Scully gets the ball in a mess of players he fires the handball out to Gysberts. Aside from that, I though the most impressive thing about that footage was his running. He may not be lightning, but if you watch the extended passages of play, he'll be involved in the 50 then again on the wing a few seconds later. It seems that we're looking for players who can move this year.