Little Goffy

https://www.weekendnotes.com/cherry-farms-victoria/

I liked Balic as an option back in his draft year, but our picks were too high or too low to be a sensible match. Interesting that we keep on cycling through these fringe midfielder options, and mostly in the midfield-forward slot - Kennedy, Bugg, Kent, Melksham, Harmes, Neal-Bullen, Kennedy-Harris, Jones, Newton, Michie. I guess the club see it is a role that can be filled by non-star players, and where depth is important. Of those ten we've cycled through in just a few years, you'd only say Neal-Bullen and Melksham are convincingly in our best 22, but a couple of others are still prospects.

If we're comparing Lever to Rance, it is only fair to point out that Weidman is tracking about the same as Matthew Lloyd after the same number of games... we definitely should be anticipating a big round 1!

Is it just my impression or has this thread moved along at close to a post a minute? Incredible. Can a mod put a 'sticky' on the first page to update any actual news, just so nobody feels a need to slide through dozens of pages?

Spectacular! Now I can picture a time when I can go all-out and watch four Demon games in a single weekend.

Taking a moment to confirm Redleg's background is law, not medicine. I mean, obviously you're thinking of the remarkably similar treatment for tinnitus.

The joy of the disposal efficiency topic is that is has enough grey area for everyone to be right. Defenders have good disposal efficiency -> good disposal efficiency is a benchmark for defenders everywhere anyway -> the efficiency is a product of the circumstances getting it (open spaces, marks, defenders outnumbering forwards) -> good disposal efficiency is a product of the work rate of players running to present options -> we shouldn't look at DE% anyway, clangers are more important... Round and round we can go. And we do! From what I've observed, the biggest 'whipping boys' for disposal among the Demons are the McDonald brothers and Dom Tyson, and the three of them share the feature of sometimes delivering really terrible clangers, the kind of totally unnecessary turnover which catches everyone by surprise and turns a rebound into a panic scramble. These clangers have a big impact and, more than anything else, are highly memorable. The couple of times a game that Tom McDonald mysteriously, absurdly, manages to kick directly to an opposition player on their own are the single factor preventing him from being an elite defender, but with them he is definitely not one. That's how much they matter and while I don't like the vitriol, the cause is reasonable.

There were too Ajaxes (Ajaxs? Ajaxi?) in The Iliad. Couple of Burly Brutes, Ajax the Greater was physically the mightiest of the Achaeans. Ajax the Lesser was really only 'lesser' next to Ajax the Greater. Sucks to be him, I guess. Bit like being Alexander the Pretty Good. Also, I support Whispering Jack's sentiment - I've had an embarrassing kick around or two on quiet afternoons at Brunswick Street Oval and it really is quite picturesque. And you can always visit the little bourgeois-ironic shopping nearby. (Oh, I'm so poor, all I can afford is this old desk lamp from the 80s which I paid $40 for. #bargainhuntwins #authentic)

When your forward line has an average games (or games-at-club) tally of about 25, it would actually be pretty impressive if one of them had 100 goals to their name! But it does put into perspective some of our problems with converting inside-50s into good scoring opportunities. That extra edge of experience, confidence and game sense can make all the difference close to goal, where you just need a couple of things in a row to go right and where every step of advantage is a big deal. A good veteran key position player, at either end of the ground, is very hard to replace. Just ask the queue of players the Demons tried to turn into a successor for Neitz. I want more success now, I feel like we are underperforming right now, but any time I look at the list my mind goes to what should be a 6-8 year period where we don't have to think too hard about how we will replace this or that essential role, and can watch as maturity grows, especially in the habitually slow-burning key position roles.

Straight swap for Melksham. If the Swans try to play hardball about it, we can throw in Lamumba.

There have been times in life when I've been really, really awfully anxious. And there have been times when I've been enduringly, unshakeably unhappy. But [censored] I'm glad I've never had a condition which made me feel that way no matter how the rest of my life was actually going. Full respect to you and anyone else carry this with them, whether they want to share or not.

He's still not having a great impact, and still far too many clangers. But he is definitely improving game by game. As it stands, he is legitimately holding his place in the team, and has the credible prospect of improvement. As others have said, he needs to improve his kicking and the 'vision thing'. At the moment he's not cutting any holes in the opposition, and sometimes does tear a hole in us! But it'd be an odd day when a footy department cuts a player who is improving.

Just as well Lewis comes back this week... ... There's a punchline here... ... ... He's our most experienced ruck. Hitouts: Lewis, 444. Pederson, 196. Watts 137.

First for effective disposals! Nathan Jones equal second, too. Now I'm getting all warm and fuzzy.

Too true, and a very important presence in a team which generally has a large-volume of disposals with relatively little impact per disposal. It's like a mining project, with a whole series of small holes drilled and then the engineer comes along and sets the dynamite and boom! The small holes become big holes.

Let's just take a happy moment to reflect on what the rest of that draft's top ten included - Patrick McCartin Jarrod Pickett Jordan De Goey Caleb Marchbank Paul Ahern Peter Wright Darcy Moore (F/S) Nakia Cockatoo And from outside the top ten, the only really potent prospects to come through are - Jake Lever, Isaac Heeney (Acad), Jack Steele, Caleb Daniel. So, however things go, I don't think we'll left left feeling like we were the dud drafters that year, with Petracca, Brayshaw, Neal-Bullen, Stretch, and Oscar. Also grabbed Garlett, Lumumba and Frost in trades.

It's alright, just takes the pressure off Salem, Viney, Petracca et al. As far as going under the radar goes, the top marks have to go to Billy Stretch who has been excellent this year. 24 disposals a game, 9 of them contested, some tackles, some clearances, exceptional disposal (at 85%) just the one clanger to his name, and yet to give away a free kick. Just steadily fulfilling the promise. Sorry, I know this is a Clarence thread, but it is relevant as far as remembering that Oliver, while a monster, doesn't have quite so much pressure on him because he's not the only kid turning the club around.

If we got Jake Lever, we would be on the brink of list management nirvana - strong in every role in every part of the ground. Hawthorn's acquisition of Josh Gibson comes to mind.

McCartin has had a wretched run with collision injuries and concussions, so hard to say how he'll turn out. But then again, Petracca has already had a full year out and then some, due to injury. Can't help thinking that the Saints were hoping for a Riewoldt, and got a Koschitzke. Meanwhile, Melbourne were hoping for a Petracca and got a Petracca. The Barry Prendergast 'warning' comes to mind - never recruit on the basis of how you imagine a player might be if they change in the ways you hope they will.

Thank you for bringing that thought into the conversation, always nice to remember Eddie McGuire is still miserable and only going to get sadder. I don't think Collingwood or Carlton have made much progress on their lists for quite a few years now. Between them, all they seem to have done is keep on feeding the GWS beast. Carlton keeps bringing in bundles of semi-adequate or 'might be handy' players without much real quality being added. They have lost more 'sure best 22' players in trade in the last five years than they've gained. The deficit from losing Eddie Betts alone hasn't been covered. There's been a few good draft picks, like Cripps and Weitering, but at the moment the best they can hope for is the Richmond situation of loitering around the middle of the table, with the same 10 players getting all the spots in the best and fairest every year for a decade. Collingwood have grabbed Howe, Greenwood, Dunn, White, Mayne and Wells in trade or free agency, because obviously the secret to sustained success is to bring in more of the older non-leaders with no big game credentials. Interestingly, all their recruiting under the age of 26 has been from GWS. Adams, Treloar, Hosking-Elliot. And they probably paid 'overs' for all three, even if the first two have been core players since arriving. Two first round picks for Adam Treloar, and then Heath Shaw for Taylor Adams. Meanwhile, Melbourne have managed a total list rebuild. As for our trading - I don't see a lot of overs, and most importantly, we didn't move ourselves out of any top-end draft positions. Bugg - acquired along with a pick upgrade from 10 to 7, in exchange for a third and fourth round pick. Kennedy - A complex multi-club deal, our share was "Melbourne received Kennedy and picks No.29 and 50 and gave up Howe and Toumpas " Frost - traded from Greater Western Sydney to Melbourne in exchange for pick 23, with the Giants sending picks No.40 (Nibbler) and No.53 (O.Mc) back to the Demons. Garlett - Picks 61 and 79. Haaa ha ha. We'll have to wait and see how Melksham (pick 25), Hibberd (pick 29) and Lewis (pick ha ha bite me Hawthorn) turn out. Tell you what, all these trades go direct back to the Taylor stamp, the total absence of draft picks from 10-39. He must really hate that range.

Only just noticed, we should add the two 'season long' results - Finish with a % greater than 100 Finish with more wins than losses. An odd one we knocked over last year thanks to Clayton Oliver is 'have any player experience more wins than losses in a season', last held by Lynden Dunn in 2006. Something I would love to see (and definitely counts as an embarrasing record) is removing our set of three players (Jones, McDonald and Watts) from the list of 'worst winning percentage' of current players. They are between 27% (Jones) and 29% (Watts), and would need to push to over 30% at least, to clear the list. For Jones than would need maybe half a dozen wins without a loss. Coincidentally, Jones is also the individual current player who has played in the most losses (162), despite being as much as 100 total games short of close rivals Robert Murphy (161), Kade Simpson (160) and Nick Riewoldt (157). This can be easily corrected in just a few games. Taking Watts, McDonald and Jetta off the current list of 'most games without ever playing a final'. Watts currently tops the list, and we MUST break the run this season, Watts moves onto the all-time list as well as onto the all-time list of most games prior to playing a final, even if we do make it next year.

Personally I'm a big fan of the 'high-low' draft strategy that the Taylor-period Demons have leaned towards - on the one hand using genuinely early selections and making them stick, and on the other hand being ready to 'churn' the late picks, giving multiple chances each year to bring in 'possibles'. High-low drafting under Jason Taylor: 2016, first pick at 46. 2015, picks 4 and 9, then 42. 2014, picks 2 and 3, then 40 2013, pick 9, then 40 At the Demons, Jason Taylor has never used a draft pick from 10 to 39. Anyway, sometimes it isn't just who you take or pass on in drafts that matters, it is who you keep or de-list. I don't think with our current administration we'll be seeing errors like the 7-year career of Michael Newton. Again that points to recognising the value of late picks and keeping them turning over. If a player is not going to deliver AFL quality, then they are not valuable to an AFL team, even if the replacement might be even worse, you can't rate below zero!

I took this as a challenge, I think I felt a compulsion to get a lid on. But really, even after looking over a whole lot of top picks and players in recent years, there just aren't many cases. I've done a run-through of the other 'teen star' contenders, I would be quite happy to have them be Oliver's peers and equals! The obvious 'set' of stars who managed to dominate a few games even as teenagers includes - Fyfe, Martin, Selwood, Bontempelli, Macrae and Cripps Others worth noting - Toby Greene, Harley Bennell, Chad Wingard, Oliver Wines, Isaac Heeney Lance Franklin managed two bags of six in his second season, but it wasn't until his third that he really took off (game for game, Hogan is a mile ahead of his curve ) For the record, saturday's effort was definitely the best individual game so far from anyone in Oliver's draft.

For me, it's Essendon and Carlton. These two clubs have been at a disproportionate share of our important moments in the last 20 years, right from the 2000 finals to the 2016 shock losses. I'll come back and edit this post later with a listing of the significant moments.

Funny story - The Sydney Swans have been fined $20,000 for failing to properly update the central database of what injections and treatments two players received, ...on one occasion, ...although they did have detailed internal records which were readily available for cross-checking. So, let's see... Essendon... some 40 players, about twice a week, for at least 6 months, with no internal or central records kept. 2080 incidents x $10,000 an incident = $20.8m fines, minimum, if my quick maths is right. And that's just the central record-keeping side, not the failure to keep internal records at all. And of course, the record-keeping problem at Sydney was entirely involving common and explicitly WADA-approved injections. Y'know what, I really hate the Essendon Football Club. For everything they stand for, but most of all the 'we're so hard-done-by' whinging and the strutting around like they've successfully come through a period of being victimised.