Little Goffy

Trade week objective - a selection in the top dozen or so, advancing from 18. Pick 18 might get us a great slider. Pick 12 will get us something we absolutely definately want. It gives us a shot at one of the few truly promising talls, or Cyril Rio... I mean Lewis Jetta, or Gary Rohan who the clubs rates very very highly. We kind of start looking at a whole new level of 'sliders'. If pick 35 can be advanced to something in the 20s, that's a definate goer too. Our picks after 35 are confetti for decorating trades, or for facillitating 'career trades' for some of the fringe players. PSD 1 has to be held on to. It's just so useful to have the option of uncontracted players, and the time to hunt down the super-smoky. Note that the new rule allowing rookies to be traded (to another club's senior list) might as well be named the 'Shane Valenti Rule'. Miller is trade bait, as he simply is not progressing at Melbourne and talls are needed by a few clubs out there. The magic 1-2, I'm with the majority at this point. Tom Scully - ought to help our midfield along to a new level. Jack Trengove - more power to the midfield, but also adds to the goal scoring options. We are going to have a devasting, versatile and long kicking HF line capable of contributing strongly to midfield roations and delivering penetrating inside 50s to our highly agile tall forwards and smart crumbers.

Just putting my name on the 'Keep Rivers' list. He's not good value as trade bait, but he is good value as a player, and immense value as a leader.

Hmm... regarding the membership numbers, and the comment that it would be nice if they all turn up - I think the progress next year will be in attendences more than in memberships. I guess I'm thinking ' it will be nice when they all turn up'. But back to Scully. Given the kid is already established as a determined trainer, diligent and keen to learn, I reckon the club could quite easily just drop him a few basic tips on methods and how drills work at the club, maybe point him to a personal trainer/weights program of a friend of a friend of a current physical prep coach, that sort of thing. It'd be all he'd need to get him into the right structures. And for the record, I've never been quite happy with people comparing him to Chris Judd, though I understand it's more a matter of 'level of impact expected' than style that people are referring to. From the various pieces of footage that I've seen, and the descriptions of people who know better, he seems more of the Ben Cousins type of player, run all day, make smart extractions or be the second handball from a ruck contest that gets it open, run all day some more, navigate cleanly from congestion, spot teammates in better positions, all of that. Besides, Judd is overrated these days, anyway.

Any chance Jackie Chan will come along to a game sometime? Between the Kaspersky sponsorship and the sputtering legacy of our 'China Strategy', I'm sure we could make it at least look like a legit spruiking! Actually I'm sure Kaspersky would love to reinforce awareness of their sponsorships/spokespeople by having them together - 'What do these things have in common?' Also, I think it's sad that Jackie Chan missed out on AFL, growing up in the very different culture they have up in... Canberra.

To lose $800k now, in such a manner, would be the unequivocal death of the club. All support for Debt Demolition would vaporise, the AFL, MCC and all other contributors would never be able to back us again, and the fans would turn away in disgust at both the gambling fixation and the sheer recklessness of the club leadership. I wouldn't make that bet even if it was a genuine 50/50 chance and the odds were still $12. The important thing right now is to recognise that the Melbourne Football Club is turning a corner. We don't need to look at miracle cures or white knight benefactors, we need to work hard and smart on a day to day basis. There was something Cameron Schwab said recently that struck a cord with a few people, forgive me if I get the quote slightly wrong - "It's not about doing exceptional things, it's about doing things exceptionally well"

There aren't enough 'Smiley' icons on the internet to express how things went with Jurrah's jumper auction. It got a bit of momentum going, thanks to 'The Fork' and others. In the end not only was the jumper successfully purchased for the Yuendumu community, but the surplus pledges paid to have some representatives come down to accept it at an MFC function, and a few thousand dollars made it's way to the Mt Theo community program as well - the local youth leadership program. We did good. Thanks for bringing it up so we can bask in our pride some more! Hopefully the connections built will stay strong and we'll have more of this sort of thing in the years to come.

In my scenario, we're advancing BOTH pick 18 to 12 and pick 35 to 29. It's a pretty damn good improvement of draft position for one player, and is based on the assumption that Port really want a new, strong bodied, ruckman, and that Carlton are really keen to add Boak, and that they can't offer eachother anything much directly. We're getting a premium as the middleman in that deal. I understand the concern that picks even late in the second round will be less than gold, but I think that actually makes the shift from 35 to 29 even more useful - might get us into the stronger pool for the remaining players of interest, rather than scraping for possibles. Certainly by pick 5o or 60, I'd be saying 'bugger it, elevate a rookie, keep a PSD pick and see if we can pick out a smoky with the extra weeks of scrutiny'.

I've always liked Jamar, despite the long stretch of ordinary performances. I think it would be unfortunate for us if he left now, as I think the injuries this year have masked a good step up. So, assuming the double scenario of Jamar wanting to go home, and Boak also wanting to go to Carlton... it's starting to sound like we'd be the merchant in some on-trading between Carlton and Port. Boak to the Blues, Jamar, 18 and 35 to Port, we get Blues pick 12ish and 29ish. Port - Give Boak Get Jamar, 18 and 35. Blues - Give 12 and 29 Get Boak. Demons - Give Jamar, 18 and 35, Get 12 and 29. Port are being well compensated for their quality mid taken at pick 5. Carlton are getting another quality mid at a good price, right on the preferred age group. We get the extra space on our list to promote Spencer (hopefully a direct replacement) plus 12 goes close to guaranteeing we can pick up one of the handful of quality big men in this draft, where 18 would have been too late for sure, for the truly good prospects. In a shallow draft 29 is a very useful step up from 35, too. Everyone gets what they want. Best multi-trade ever signed. Gimme a list manangement job, I say

The point of interest for Robbo's last two games is .... Games Goals Lyon, Garry 226 426 Robertson, Russell 226 422 Two games to play, four goals to get. Someone tell the cheersqaud, someone make a banner, let's celebrate the milestone as Robbo becomes the Demon's No.3 all time goalkicker.

I think the trouble comes from people who just flame out because it makes them feel big. Especially when they've had a few drinks, it's shortly after a game, and they are trying to make glib comments to sond smart and decisive. It's why I really hate the 'three word analysis' threads. But each to their own. One of the reasons it's particularly annoying having this sort of commentary online is that you can't see the person and see that they are a prize [censored]. In a pub, if someone starts flinging [censored] at you, you know their a scrag right away. Some of the other club's sites are much more bitter and twisted than Demonland, to the point of some posters being obviously in need to psychological management.

I really hope the plan is to go with just a few picks in the draft, but keep them right at the pointy end. I.e. trade out 35 and a player for an advanced pick, or even a deal like Miller, 18 and 35 for Sydney's pick 7 (the magic pick, remember). By any account I've read it's a shallow draft with solid talent up to mid second round and then a major drop off. Promoting Valenti would certainly be better than using the same slot for pick 50-something. I think both Valenti and Spencer need to be promoted in order to keep other club's hands off them, since they can't be automatically re-rookied after the two years they have already had. The first pick in the PSD is always handy. Gives us that extra time to consider it and come up with a secret gem (last two - Jurrah from the outback and Martin from the amateurs, not too shabby!) So we've already accounted for the retirements of Whelan, Wheatley and presumably Robertson before we've even been into the main draft. Some of the 'real' picks will have to be found from trading players like Miller, and from the delisting of unlucky young players like Bell, Bartram and Buckley. I'd love to know how many of these guys we might be able to re-list as rookies in the way that West Coast picked up Steven Armstrong. A two-year rookie contract to them might work as a nod to 'we'll give you time to get your body right and see if you can develop again'. Because next draft and for a few after that, we'll be thrilled to have quality rookies we can promote when the draft for all the non-marketing-tool clubs starts at the second round.

I think that's why people are struggling so much with the draft thread, too. So many kids who just can't be judged yet.

We have a huge volume of talented 18-23 year olds, plus this year's intake. We have relatively few older players who are critical to the team, and I mean even in the 25ish range. We will only occassionally be losing 'core' or 'irreplacable' players of the next fve or even seven years. After that we'll see a wave of retirements from our current 'demographic bulge'. Remember that the compromised drafts of 2010-20?? will mean that other clubs won't be able to rebuild through the draft the way we have, and all clubs will be keen to collect tthe Brent Prismall types, decent looking players who aren't getting a chance at a power club. It also means that the 'penalty' of later draft order for top ranked teams is less significant. Meanwhile, we'll have the swell of talent that gives us the luxury of focusing on improving our picks, ie, late 1st round plus fringe player for slightly earlier first rounder. Throw in a few highly anticipated Father Son Selections (fingers crossed) and we're flying. Think about that age group we have so much faith in - seven years from now Cale Morton will be 26. He'll barely be peaking! Might not even have a Browlow by then. If these kids are as good as we feel they might be, good enough to win one premiership, then the fact is we're looking at a period of sustained success like no other since... ourselves. The stars are aligning for us, all we have to do is crush West Sydney and the Gold Coast.

Some basic descriptions of some of the guys we've been talking about, so everyone is on the same page, courtesy the 'Under-18 eye-catchers' reports of Jason Mcartney during the championships. Matthew Panos – Kicked three goals playing at centre half-forward. He took eight marks, including three contested, and had two scoring assists. Matthew has strong hands and presented well all day. His finishing in front of goal was exceptional and he also has good acceleration. He was hard to stop on the lead. Draft eligibility: 2009 NAB AFL Draft Jack Trengove – Jack is the South Australian captain. He was outstanding with 31 disposals, 13 contested possessions, six tackles, eight clearances and six inside 50s. He's got a mature body, kicks the ball well, is well balanced and makes good decisions. Jack played in the midfield and as a lead-up half-forward. He loves a contest and was ferocious with his attack on the footy. Draft eligibility: 2009 NAB AFL Draft Tom Scully – Was best-on-ground. He has a fantastic work-rate and when others were starting to tire, he was still working and running. Early on, he wasn't as clean as what he normally is, but he settled in pretty quickly. His hands in close were unbelievable – they were lightning and able to find teammates in space. Tom finished with four clearances and 33 disposals, including 23 handballs. He hardly missed a target with his hands. Draft eligibility: 2009 NAB AFL Draft Now, given that we are contractually obliged to select one NT player every draft, here's a couple of troppo prospects we might look at second round or later if we're lucky. Troy Taylor – No relation to teammate Mitch, he wears the lime green boots and plays like someone who wears lime green boots. He has got some Daniel Motlop about him. He is brilliantly quick on the lead and can take some spectacular marks and kick some great goals. He's got the bells and whistles and it's exciting when it gets in his area. He has some great natural talent. He has kicked six goals from three games. Draft eligibility: 2009 NAB AFL Draft Roland Ah Chee - Roland had 33 disposals, 11 marks, five clearances and six hard-ball gets. He pretty much did everything. I've seen Roland play at under 16s level and in last year's under 18 champs. He looks like he's got himself a lot fitter this year, as his work-rate against Tassie was outstanding. Roland really willed himself on to the contest. He has debuted this year in the SANFL and has been consistent at reserves level. Roland was also a very talented tennis player. If there's one thing that the TAC Future Stars Phantom Draft did, it's reassure me that there will be a good few options available at our second round pick, and that trading a player and pick 33(ish) for a higher pick would be a good call. (I.e. Miller to Sydney, they'll love eachother!)

Only when they aren't playing for Richmond.

Father-Son Rule is now pretty simple. We nominate an eligible draft nominee as a father-son selection. Other clubs may bid on the player, and we are then obliged to use our next available pick, AFTER the pick the other club nominated, to secure the player. If we choose not to do so, then the other club is obliged to take the draftee in question with the selection they nominated. So, if another club rated Grinter Jnr at, say, 25 and our next pick was 37, then we'd take him at 37. If Viney Jnr was rated by another club at 7 and our next pick was 12, that's where we'd have to take him. Unless of course we traded our pick 12... in which case it just drops to our next one. As always, there will eventually be some kind of manipulating the system controversy one day.

Uhh... the low number of interchanges may have something to do with the three players out for the game, plus the one who missed about a half sore and only came back on because there was nobody else to rotate with. Nothing to see there, I'm afraid.

Debut 2009 - Jetta, Bennell, Watts, Jurrah, Spencer, Cheney, (Not counting Meesen) Debut 2008 - Grimes, Morton, Maric, Weetra, Martin, Valenti, Wonaeamirri. I'd reckon Weetra is the one you're missing from 08. And to think... the 2010 debut list, given the high picks from 2008 draft who aren't likely to come in this year and the various picks from 2009 draft, will probably be just a big and perhaps even better. <thunder rumbles in distance>

My dream is Morton will be a 193cm Robbie Flower Robbie did lead the goalkicking for a few years, as well as killing the wing. And he was a skinny dude, too! Tenuous, sure, but I like to dream. Certainly I think Flower would be an ideal mentor for him.

I wonder, has Scully ever not been tagged? Not many teenagers are given quite that much attention. Throw that together with the amount of work Scully does in close anyway, and the kicking efficiency is pretty good. And yes, looking at under-18 stats, you'd have to say that there's a general 10% improvement within a year or two at AFL level, though obviously there are plenty of exceptions. Part of this is just the way the game changes. Remember also that we're talking about a kid with a berserk determination to improve, at the Judd/Buckley level, so set him up with a couple of AFL level coaches and he'll just bloom and bloom.

After last week's effort from everyone, the only reasons to drop a player would be suspension (obviously Sylvia) or to rest them. Resting looks like it could only really apply to Morton and Jurrah. Personally I'd like to see Jurrah keep going, he doesn't seem to be slowing at all, to me. Morton I love, but psychologically if he would understand that he is only being rested rather than 'cut', then I think a week or two at Casey might help him refocus. Bell is someone I always want to see come good. Something about him always seem right, even when he's doing things that seem so wrong. Dunn deserves a shot. Half forward, negating. If Jurrah gets rested then I'd have Newton come in to see if he can get a few positives out of the season.

When I said Jack Watts has supported Melbourne since high school... You know he is in high school now, right?

Brock Mclean did not support any club as a kid, so that he wouldn't have any torn loyalties when he was drafted. (Not kidding!) I think that counts, in as much as the Demons are his only ever club. I know Jack Watts has supported Melbourne since he was in High School...

Martin is smart enough and diligent enough to do it. If he started to look like he wasn't developing towards that, then it'd be worth narrowing his role. But if he can do it, well, let's not put any barriers in the way!

I've pointed this out on another thread too. 23,000 is as much as 8,000 more than we would have been likely to get against this opponent, in this weather, after those last few weeks, and in this extraordinary round. So let it go, huh?