MadAsHell

We had to as he was contracted for 2010, we could have only of drafted someone else if another club picked him up first. I was expecting Hawthorn to.

Archer was a natural defender and was more then handy when he went forward. And of course lets not forget the former All Australian Centre Half Back David Neitz, if memory serves me correct moving him forward worked out ok.

And if Gold Coast have trouble getting good players then what hope will GWS 18 have? First of all what player wants to move to Western Sydney and second of all what player wants Sheedy as a coach? A coach most people would agree hasn't kept up with the modern game.

No offence Davey36 but with that being your first post it will raise a lot of peoples eye brows, we'll see what Brad Gotch has to say about his game. I was at the Casey-v-Geelong match round 1 of the VFL and I was very impressed with the way he played. His second efforst and recovery in particular was very impressive I found. He's still some time off, but if what you say is true I'd suspect he either just had a very dirty day or might have been carrying something. Also I'm sure the FD couldn't of been so wrong in giving him the no 1 pick if his attitude is that bad, they do all sorts of psych tests and interviews and research before drafting players these days.

Same type Brad Miller was, takes majority of marks on the lead leading out to the wing and then looks to bring it back into the corridor, doesn't take that many pack marks like a John Brown, Wayne Carey, Koschitzke..... Or at least that's how I'd describe it.

It was about 34,000 at Eddies Hat Stadium, but that was pre the new stadium agreement. Not sure what it is now. I wouldn't be to worried about Melbourne's crowds. Ours are on the incease. It's North that's the worry.

Bate our hit up CHF.

Don't get me wrong I think they should be playing Watts also as they do need to get game time into him. However he shouldn't come in as our focal point in the forward line as he isn't the physical size to take pack marks and create contests (yet). That's why I think Rivers should go forward just for now and Watts can play a half forwad/pocket role. By 2012 onwards, that's when there'll be no excuses for Watts not to be creating those contests and play as a FF.

I agree with you 100% Clint. Not only was it a poor turnout for a saturday afternoon game in perfect conditions after they'd had a win and were playing against a team that they would have considered themselves a chance against, but the ones who were there made no noise. The loudest the crowd got was during the 3rd quarter when Melbourne had their run and the Melbourne supporters were making all of that noise. Personally I find the North supporters the most un-passionate and non vocal of all supporters.

I'd go with Rivers, reads the play well and is a good mark. He'd at least create a contest which we saw was seriously lacking on saturday. If Rivers didn't work I'd look to Garland and if one of those can establish themselves in there I'd then look at giving Watts a run along side them, wouldn't bring him in as our focal forward.

They're both out of contract at seasons end. I might be wrong but I believe out of our 46 players on the list, 26 are out of contract at seasons end!

This is a great idea, drop Grimes, the guy who was responsible for our 3rd quarter come back yesterday! He only got the gap from 46 pts back to 14, what a poor effort! Surely he should have won it for us himself! Possibly the most stupid thing I have ever heard????

My thoughts are that Jake Spencer may end up there next season. That's based only on the fact he's a Queensland boy and that with our ruck stocks he may feel there will be more opportunity up north.

While his 3 or 4 games were impressive and he showed some good signs I don't know if I would have called them great? Best case for Melbourne would be if he can play some really good games for Casey, Jamar has a slight injury late in the year and Meesen plays 3 or 4 impressive AFL matches late in the year, at least them it might boost any potential trade value he may have for Hawthorn or Port Adelaide (sides lacking in ruck stocks). Otherwise sadly to say he'd be 7th in our ruck pecking order. 1. Jamar (AFL 1 ruckman) 2. Martin (AFL 2 ruckman who can also play forward and back) 3. Spencer (VFL 1 ruckman) 4. Johnson (VFL 2 ruckman who can play forward and back???) 5. Gawn (VFL reserves 1 ruckman, injured but long term prospect) 6. Fitzpatrick (VFL reserves 2 ruckman, mainly a forward, and from Gotch's comments last week can also go back) I'm excited about this kid! 7. Meesen

6. Grimes (only player to give them run out of an overly tall backline) 5. Green (presented well and helped get them back in the game up forward) 4. Jamar (battled well against one of the 3 best ruckmen in the comp and probably took the points, just!) 3. Scully (after the richmond game his best for the red and blue) 2. Davey (very good in patches, didn't do enough however) 1. Bennell (gave them a lot of run, impressive outing)

I agree Bartram has been good since being back in the side, but not sure who else to drop before him. McKenzie and Bail need to come back into the side and although Bartram and Dunn have been good, I see them as the most obvious players to make way, I wouldn't go resting Trengove or Scully yet and they'd probably be the next players you'd look at. Given more thought about Juice I'm starting to have a change of heart about bringing him in and would probably keep Col Garland in ahead of him. Given that I'd consider doing something outside the box and throwing Rivers to FF!! We've got enough tall backs to cover him and if he was at full forward we know he's a good mark and reads the play well. He'd create a contest if nothing else which is what we seriously lacked yesterday. And just to add sorry, while I agree that Maric is yet to deserve a spot they need his creativity and forward pressure. Only other players would could do that are Davey (needed in the midfield), Wonna (still with Casey reserves) and Jetta (just back with Casey from injury).

IN: Bail (if fit), McKenzie (if fit), Maric (will need to provide Melbourne the x factor in the forward line now without Petterd & Jurrah), Newton (need someone to provide a target and capable of taking a pack mark). OUT: Petterd (inj), Bartram (stiff), Dunn (stiff), Garland (stiff, but could do with a couple of weeks in the VFL to get back to top form). FB: Frawley, Warnock, McDonald HB: MacDonald, Rivers, Grimes C: Bruce, McKenzie, Davey HF: Sylvia, Bate, Bail FF: Green, Newton, Maric FOLL: Jamar, Moloney, Jones INT: Bennell, Martin, Scully, Trengove Other peoples thoughts of changes?

Well it's only 10 days away now and I'm getting excited to see who our 22 will be that run out onto the park on April 27 against the Hawks? From what I've seen (intra club match and match against West Coast at Casey) and heard (media) here is what I expect our 22 for round 1 might look like: FB: Frawley, Warnock, Bennell HB: Jo. MacDonald, Rivers, Green C: Scully, Moloney, Davey HF: Trengove, Miller, Petterd FF: Bate, Martin, Maric FOLL: Jamar, Bruce, Jones INT: Grimes, Ja. McDonald, Spencer, Strauss EMERG: Cheney, Dunn, MacKenzie Three debutants for round 1, down 1 on last year but a team that I think could be capable of an upset???

As it stands right now we can use picks 1, 2, 11, 18 & PSD 1. Look out for the names Bartram, Cheney & McNamara. I'd expect at least one possibly two will get the chop if the club wants to free up pick 34 and also elevate Spencer.

Sad to see Bartram go as I really liked him but unfortunatly someone had to go and he was out of contract. Would have rathered Melbourne trade Bell & Newton during trade week to clear spots on the list but this is the way it's gone. Good luck to Bartram and I reckon he'd be a good fit for North Melbourne next year.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see where Jetta goes I agree, could be as high as 7 or as low as 20 IMO. I know West Coast are tossing up between him and Lucas. I had Troy Taylor in at pick 28, or were you refering to Mitchell Taylor? As for Balck I agree there's a strong chance we may draft him at pick 18, I think it depends on who we draft at pick 11.

True, they are the players that I'd like to see at Melbourne but I think there's a very strong chance it could pan out this way. Port have shown over the years their preference to draft South Australians over other states players due to the go home factor, eg Hartlett last year at pick 4 ahead of Rich. Which is why I think there's a strong chance they'll take Craig, also it's been well publiciced their desire for ruckman and they didn't do anything to address that during trade week. As for Jetta getting to 18, I agree will be a tough ask, but if some teams are put off due to the fact they'd be drafting a 20 year old instead of a 18 year old then he'd be in with a chance of falling through.

Ok now that the draft order is finally set here's my prediction up until Melbourne's final pick. 1. Tom Scully (Melbourne) 2. Jack Trengove (Melbourne) 3. Dustin Martin (Richmond) 4. Anthony Morabito (Fremantle) 5. Ben Cunnington (North Melbourne) 6. Gary Rohan (Sydney) 7. Kane Lucas (West Coast) 8. Luke Tapscott (Port Adelaide) 9. James Craig (Port Adelaide) 10. Koby Stevens (Essendon) 11. John Butcher (Melbourne) 12. Matthew Panos (Carlton) 13. Allen Christensen (Adelaide) 14. Daniel Talia (Sydney) 15. Jordan Gysberts (Western Bulldogs) 16. Nathan Vardy (Port Adelaide) 17. Jake Carlisle (Geelong) 18. Lewis Jetta (Melbourne) 19. Andrew Moore (Richmond) 20. Aaron Black (Fremantle) 21. Jessie Crichton (North Melbourne) 22. Travis Colyer (West Coast) 23. Bradley Sheppard (West Coast) 24. Derrick Wanganeen (Essendon) 25. Ben Griffiths (North Melbourne) 26. Nicholas Winmar (Essendon) 27. Sam Reid (Brisbane) 28. Troy Taylor (Geelong) 29. Jake Melsham (Adelaide) 30. Joseph Dare (Collingwood) 31. Mitchell Duncan (Western Bulldogs) 32. Max Gawn (St. Kilda) 33. Myles Sewell (Essendon) 34. Dylan Grimes (Melbourne)

1. Davey 2. Moloney 3. Sylvia 4. Frawley 5. Bruce

As usual I agree with you 100% HT. Rivers is a very, very, very good defender and spiritual leader at our club, the fact he got this season under his belt puts him in good stead for next year. I'm looking forward to seeing Rivers back to his 2004 form next year, my favourite player at the MFC!