RalphiusMaximus

He's certainly worth a closer look, which is exactly what we're getting by having him train with the team. I'd be happier if we had a couple of other young prospects training with us as well so there is some basis for comparison and possibly to let him know that he's not a certainty. If the powers that be think he's worth the effort, that's enough for me. They have the track record for me to back their judgment. It would be great to see him playing for us in round 1 if he can pull himself together (physically, mentally or both ;p )

Put them both on three year contracts with the same conditions and they won't care.

He's a fair player but I don't think he's quite up to the AFL. Good luck to him if he can convince a club to take him.

There's a good chance that Butcher's name will be read out in the same three picks as the other two. 2- Trengove, 1- Scully, 11 - Butcher. We'd all enjoy seeing that.

Still plenty of time to delist some more players. It all depends on who's up for grabs in the various drafts I would think. I'd love us to make a play for Liam Patrick although at 21 he may be a little too old for a project player and he'll take a few years to get up to AFL standard. However the problem would be leaving him for the Rookie Draft. GC17 could easily snatch him with their raft of free picks before we get a look. The only realistic way to get him would be a late ND pick or the PSD. Anyway... 1 & 2 - Scully and Trengove - I don't really care what order as long as we get them. Morabito is still an outside chance but I think Trengove has firmed and his leadership gets him over the line. 11 - Best available tall. Talia or Butcher would be nice. 18 & 34 - Go for the risky/talented options. Griffiths, Temel and Daw are all possibilities. If they want a safer choice for 18 I'd say Vardy. Our ruck brigade is still not great and he is real quality. Should be around at 18. Many people want Grimes for 34 and I couldn't argue with that except that it would be going for a certain fair player rather than a chance at a brilliant one. PSD1 - Someone out of Left Field. We've had success twice with this and things always happen in threes. Also the crop of delisted players, while talented, seems to be very flawed. Many of them are serious injury risks and there seem to be some attitude problems. I'd prefer to see us pull a real talent from obscurity and give them a chance. Liam Patrick is an option, as stated above. There are sure to be others.

Honestly, I think it's a bit of a non-event. Luke Ball is a good player and apparently brings plenty to the club off-field, but he's not in any way a necessity. We have a very good midfield group coming up and if we did get him we'd no doubt be facing the same issue as with Brock in a few years. Where can we put him? Realistically, he'd be good for helping us win a few more games short term but I can't see him being a feature in a premiership side when we have Scully, Trengove, Grimes, Straus, Blease, Morton, Moloney etc... He might make the bench or emergency list, but that's about it.

So if it takes 4-5 years to turn teh guy into something special that would be about right for our premiership tilt right?

Agreed. Far too many of his kicks were to contests or to an opponent's advantage. I've only seen limited footage, so I can't really judge but I don't think I've seen a long pass hit a teammate cleanly in any of his highlight packages. Could be the factor that costs him the no. 1 spot. Trengove's footage is interesting. While his kicking looks much better as far as style goes, he didn't hit too many targets himself in that package. However the technique looks loads better. I think his footage showed him more to advantage because it showed his strengths in fast running play while Scully's didn't show us enough of his stoppage work, so perhaps not fair to compare the two on these packages. Whichever one is taken first, we look like getting some really good talent.

White was one of the best rucks in the league until needless rule changes crippled his game. Sadly, the same rules are still there to ruin the chances of anyone who plays like him as well.

Very interesting write-up posted. Seems to me that he may have issues with being too big. Trying to move that amount of weight around a footy field could account for his injury concerns. However if he can avoid hurting himself he could be very handy.

Yeah, just found that. This one can close.

Just saw this from Nathan Jones on Twitter. "Solid running session @ dendy park ... Youngster James Strauss was impressive this morning ... The kid is fit!!" Very good to hear about one of our young guys.

I base that comment on his height and weight as listed. He's close to 100kg isn't he? For such a young guy to have that much weight already is telling us something. Compare that to the other prospects around his height and it makes him look massive.

Absolutely thrilled to have West taking on the stoppages. We'd have a hard time finding a better man for that job and the timing is perfect with Scully about to join us. Can you think of a better person to be mentoring him?

Easy. In the parking lot before the game

I know nothing of Griffiths other than that he's absolutely huge. But if the recruiters felt he was worth a look i'd have no problem with them taking him a little earlier than they might have in other years. Same for quite a few other players. I think there is a lot of potential in this draft, but it's going to be hit and miss as to whether any of them pan out. Lots of good athletes with some real size, just not a lot of great footballers yet.

I like it. We should have a win against Freo. Not happy to be playing on the other side fo the freaking continent, but at least the second round match vs Geelong should be somewhere local.

If there was ever a draft to take a punt with some higher picks it's this one. We can land three very good players with 1, 2 and 11 so why not take a risk with 18?

I'd be thrilled to see Robbo playing for Carlton or anyone else. He has plenty of goals left in him and he deserves the chance to play in finals again which Carlton can give him. I can't see him getting them to the GF, but they will certainly benefit from having an accurate scoring option in their forward 50.

Also bear in mind that there has been little to no interest from the public in a team in West Sydney. This area already has two sports they are mad about in Rugby and Soccer. I think they will struggle to attract players to a club with no real prospects of a significant supporter base. There will be some sellout types (like the ones flocking to Carlton right now) who will go for the money wave their premiership hopes goodbye, but I think serious footballers will prefer to stay with clubs that have a hope of success.

Is that to keep him in line for the rising star in 2011?

Even he admits he has to put on some weight.

Anyone know if the T-Shirt is available in Australia?

This may seem an odd question, but where are you getting this information? I've been looking around and can't find a fixture anywhere. When is it due to be released to the public?

Bruce is going on the veterans list, so that frees up a spot on the main list as well. He will take the veteran spot formerly occupied by Robbo. That plus the four players delisted from the main list give us room for 5 at the moment.