DeeSpencer

Kicking in particular is so bad across the junior systems. Unfortunately I'm kind of a fan of the idea of letting kids be kids and not a tennis or soccer style system where any good kid at age 10 has to go to a sports school and train for many hours a day to refine their techniques. Instead it's a matter of drafting kids who either kick well or have enough good attributes and working on their kicking. Hopefully there's a balance that can see better refinement of kicking starting all the way in Auskick without ruining the fun of the sport for kids or making an industry out of it and forcing parents to fork out more for their kids when they already have enough to pay for. That said, there's definitely a role for AFL clubs to keep teaching and refining kicking even if all kids came in a good standard. No matter the sport you have to keep practising your skills in isolation. And for things like contested marking that definitely has to be taught at AFL level because the step up to playing against men and in strength and athleticism is so big. Plus even the big tall kids aren't taking contested grabs in the under 12's and maybe not in the under 14's. They don't have defenders good enough to stop them most of the time. So even if taught expertly it's only a skill they've probably learnt in the last few years and have never tested against bigger, stronger and faster opponents.

Rawlings got a group of 5 - Dawes, Pedo, Gawn, Oscar, Grimes for a one on one marking drill. Started with practising technique from behind. All about lowering your hip and leaning in to move the guy in front forward or at least hold your ground. Also practising the defender using a technique to roll their shoulders and spin behind to get back position. Interesting stuff. Filmed on the iPad with the best examples demonstrated to the group (including Weid and Hulett who weren't participating). Then they practised holding front position and marking under what Rawlings deemed 70% pressure with a whack to the shoulder blades. At one stage Grimes protected front spot with a series of well placed elbows behind to Oscar Mc that made Rawlings very happy. He was loving it. Oscar competed well the big boys and put his strength to the test. Pedo held a few grabs with strong hands. Big Duncan used his height to take a few nice grabs. The one disappointment was as usual Dawes, who just gets way too bogged down in the strength battle and can't push off, take a couple of steps and mark at full reach. When it works by dominating the strength battle he then just sticks his arms out marks unopposed, but way too often he didn't capitalise on winning the battle by going and getting the ball. After you've out bodied your opponent you have to either protect enough space in the drop zone to get to or jump up and mark clear of the incoming fist. I thought Rawlings was much too kind on him, he needs to practise marking on the move and wasn't. Anyway. Something interesting.

Did well in one of the running drills. Uses the ball nicely on his left, the right is good for balance and that's it. They haven't split up in to lines at any stage but I imagine he'll be playing high half forward/wing/mid. Won't be taking marks like Jamie Elliott from what I've seen. If he builds his tank and starts to handle the pressure better than he did at Collingwood then he'll be a nice pick up.

Dropped in from about 2:40 to 4. Missing: Hogan, Brayshaw, Tyson, Newton, Viney, Lumumba, JKH, Spencer, Garlett Laps: Jones, Vince, Trengove. Bernie at a steady pace, Nathan motoring. Trengove doing his own thing. Modifield program for parts of the session: ANB, King, Frost, Terlich, Petracca. Max King has a right wrist injury, was only marking with his left arm. Now the new boys. Oliver is a good size for a mid as we all know. In decent condition as well. He reminds me of Brayshaw last year, maybe a little heavier in the legs but otherwise he's a mixture of muscles and skinny, toned and untoned. Weideman is tall and light, but not too skinny. Same for Mitch King, looks like a young ruck but not really a beanpole. Hulett is a physical specimen, he's definitely the most ripped of the bunch, but not overly tall, there's a noticeable drop (even if it is only an inch) between him and Weid. Wagner looks more mature, strong in the legs, bit skinnier in the upper body. From all that I saw they did their own thing on the far wing. Some handball weave around a defender. Some kicking drills. Kicking 20m to a partner whilst swapping ends that tested the kicking as they progressively fatigued. Weideman kicks nicely for a tall, likes to use his left as well. King ok for a young ruck, better when fresh and for his age he's probably more advanced than Gawn and certainly more advanced than Spencer. Hulett probably the best kick of the bunch at least over short distances. Oliver isn't a bad kick, but did drop off a little when fatigued. They then did some interval running. Oliver led the bunch of them which is a good sign, they all stayed pretty compact over the 300m or so repeats that they were doing. After that they watched training. Hulett and Weideman took particular interest in the drill Rawlings was running with a group of talls practising contested marking. Oliver and Goodwin had what looked like a friendly chat, with Oliver threatening to take a hanger over Goody at one stage and having a laugh. It was more of the type of small drills for the main group. Mainly kicking or handballing under pressure. Some quick reaction and tackle drills as well. They spent a long time doing a drill where 2 players would get the ball in the centre square, work passed 1 play pressuring then kicking inside 50 to a 3 on 2. One half rotated everyone through the midfield players, whilst the other group used Salem, Melksham, White and ANB as the 4 in the middle and then rotated through the forwards. Melksham looked sharp and skillful. If his decision making improves he'll be hand from half back. Petracca, Kent and Vanders floating through a forward line was fun to watch. Anyway after a variety of drills with a competitive focus it was on to some repeat sprints through the centre square. I counted 26 in this group to start with. Nice to see Petracca joining in. A group of 6 - Kent, Oscar Mc, Smith, Watts, Dunn, Jetta split off to do repeat longer sprints around the boundary. Whilst another group consisting of Kennedy, Frost, Terlich, King went with Crossy to do longer runs than that, maybe 300m or so. Kennedy led that group in a good showing. Poor Max King continues to trail. I'm surprised they haven't pulled him out to do more and more individual work on his running. It was hot and very gusty which no doubt impacted the skill level, but the good players shone through whilst the kicking deficiencies in several others were highlighted. Frost and Hunt are two who have a lot to offer with their athletic traits but can't reliably kick drop punts. Given that pessimism is my natural state regarding the MFC I am little concerned that we are outsmarting ourselves with so much competitive training and the risk of injuries. We've already mounted a decent toll even if they are only minor niggles. I also worry we split in to too many random and individual drills that leads to a lot of down time between drills and splitting of the playing group. I'm not sure how they manage the continuity of message. As an example Max King and Dawes were doing some goal kicking whilst out of the main group. Dawes was doing the right thing as a senior player and giving king some advice in how to kick for goal in the windy conditions. Unfortunately, King is a very nice natural kick. He's got a solid rhythm and kicks the ball well. Dawes is anything but. So I'm not sure he was the right man for the job. Dawes continued to slice several of his next kicks out to the right as he is prone to doing whilst King slotted a few. Just a few observations. Plenty of good bits as well and nice to see the new guys in action.

The captaincy, injuries and too many games (and trainings) without fixing the flaws developing in his game meant he needed a total rebuild last year. Step 1: Fixing his body Step 2: Getting him comfortable with a reliable kicking technique that has more penetration Step 3: Rebuilding his physicality in regards to tackling and one on one defending He made inroads in all 3 last year and can keep doing so this year. Step 4: Greater awareness and ability to get out of pressure, counter attacking and handballing to advantage is the one I'm not sure about. Even when he came back in to the side he was a momentum killer with his decision making.

He doesn't read the play or move well enough in close to be a midfield tagger. His best attributes are his work rate and run and so it's either half back or wing for him. Besides not being a great kick his biggest issue has been that he's just too slow of mind to work his way out of trouble and doesn't have physical gifts to break tackles or evade them. He looks stronger and fitter this year, but if he can't get back to the tempo of AFL footy then I think his career will be over. Not many clubs will want him if we discard him.

In classic Rams fashion I expect a good showing this week, although not the win, the Bengals need to get back in the good books. Is it tank time if you lose this one? Go for a draft pick aiming for a QB +/- changing the Coach and GM? Or fight out the season aiming for 6-8 wins?

His impending free agency is one very good reason as to why it is different this year. Not really for the on field scenarios but certainly for his future. Previously the club hasn't wanted to trade Jack away for peanuts and Jack hasn't wanted to leave by forcing a trade. Both sides have been loyal. There's now a situation where either side can feign loyalty whilst exploring options for either a fresh start or compensation.

I think you are wrong on Oliver being drafted on upside. His run of form in the TAC wasn't just good it was excellent. He did more in half a season than most juniors, even highly rated ones do in 2 years. As for the second part that's an easy answer. He's an 18 year old country kid. The TAC system isn't designed to be like a junior tennis circuit full of young professionals. It's deliberately amateur to allow kids to stay at home and school, not travel long distances for training etc. That's why the northern academies have been so successful in a short time. Oliver wasn't in great shape because the majority of kids in the TAC aren't in great shape. They are just 16/17 year old kids kicking a footy. You do know Gus Brayshaw was a chubby kid as well right? The difference was his dad could independently set him up with Clarkson and the Hawks and get him a training program. Not to mention with an elite sporting background in his family he probably saw an AFL career as a goal not a dream. If Oliver's only been training hard for 6 months then so be it. We had Scully who was training hard for 6 years and all that meant was he was pretty much burnt out by the time he got to AFL.

It wasn't a trade period for game changers. Teams in their window traded for the likes of Yarran, Anderson, Howe, Aish, Toumpas, Freeman. It was a throw at the stumps trade period and for all his knocks Melksham isn't really worse than a lot of those guys. We were blessed to get Vince and Garlett, wasn't going to happen every year. I agree we've traded out a lot but I think we've brought in a lot with the 2 top 10 picks. I don't buy that just because someone finds out our rookie pick that their info was solid on the pick 3 decision. Combining what Jason Taylor said when he joined the AFL draft podcast and what he said about Oliver post draft I think they've been a fan of Oliver for a long time. Don't worry about Prestia and next years draft. We'll find a way to get the trade done if we can get him. 2017's 1st pick plus a couple of 2nd rounders will do it. Same if we don't get him, we can stock up on 2nd round picks and that's where you are just as likely to find the skilled run and carry types that we need.

If you compare with some of the bigger heavier key forwards who have had injury issues at some early stages in their first year: Boyd 9 games. McCartin 6 games. Hawkins 9 games. Patton 7 games. If he breaks through for 1 game he's likely to get a stretch of a few games, especially if it's late in the year at that junk time stage of the season. My advice would be don't play him until he's really ready and had a consistent run of form, not just one or two games but a month mostly in the best at Casey. Then when you are ready to pick him wait another week just to be sure! If all that happens by mid year then throw him in then. If not just keep waiting.

For the talls. Yes, maybe even 2 years and even longer for ruck depth. For the mids and half forward/half back we've got a few options. Grimes, JKH, Harmes, Stretch (who'd I'd have best 22, going for an extra runner over Frost), ANB, Newton, Mitch White, Michie all have something to offer as depth. Every one of those had at least 1 good game of AFL last year and should be better this year, particularly the younger guys. I'd add Kennedy to that list as well. There's some options for the midfield, forward and backline particularly if it's a matter of them filling roles they can perform. Oliver is another addition who should be able to come in and show a bit at some stage. And if he gets back out there Trengove might have something to offer at a minimum as depth. Wagner could surprise as well. With the talls it's a reliance on Spencer for the ruck, then probably Frost down back and combination of Pedersen, Dawes and Frost for the key forwards and 2nd ruck positions. Although Max King, Weideman and Oscar Mc particularly could be considered, all 3 should at least show something in the VFL. I'm much more concerned about the best 6 or so players being up to a high level (say Hogan, Jones, Vince, Viney, McDonald, ?Tyson/Salem/Gawn etc) and the next 10 being above average and able to step up when required than who will round out the bottom 6 spots. Freo finished top of the ladder carrying a few duds, Richmond have no depth and were 5th and even Hawthorn's depth isn't all that flash, they just play well in the system and fill the roles whilst some excellent players take up the slack if they are missing one of their many superstars.

Chuck him in the locker next to Tom McDonald and let him be mentored on his fitness and professionalism. They'll be more good numbers available by the time he's ready to play consistently!

Sounds good enough to me. The media love a good story about Oliver being a bolter when I'm sure the consensus recruiting opinion would've had him top 10. We know Weideman will take a while, that's why we got him now so we have time. If you get 1 sure thing key forward ie. Hogan you've done well, there's no way we'd be lucky enough to find another. Even number 1 picks like McCartin and Boyd aren't sure things, same with the Dixon trade to Port that gave GC then us the pick that eventually was traded up to get Wedieman. No problems with speculative talls in this draft given the lack of depth and given our list needs. Maybe a shame no one slipped to our 3rd pick but in a few years we might be pretty happy we took the talls and gave them time. I'd prefer skilled but slow than fast but no skills. We need speed but probably need skill more. The Hawks have never had a great deal speed from half back but have always loaded up on skills and reading the play and hence they are so adept at intercepting and rebounding. They have a heap of speed on the wing and half forward lines and that should be our focus for future drafts.

I think the semi professional style of footy up there lends itself to those short kicks. A lot of local footy looks like that, you either go the short accurate kick or the long bomb because that's where the players are. No one is leading or running for a 50m penetrated kick! There were some decent marks in that video, plus a few nice tackles and ground ball pick ups. He's about the same size and shape as Hodge, kicks on the same foot with a similar style and did a few tough things. Of course it's stupid to compare him to Luke Hodge. But we may as well aim high. There's not much point in comparing him to some dud. That said I'd be pretty happy if he could be as good as Taylor Duryea. Is that a more realistic answer?

I think the players have it right. Injury free Salem, Tyson, Kent should all have good years. We haven't seen the best of Vanders yet although the expectations shouldn't be too high. Same with the cheeky suggestion of Hogan. No doubt Lumumba can and should be better, the question will be whether it's good enough to arrest the slide on is career or not. Grimes and Dawes are in similar positions where they can't really be much worse, the key for those 2 is they are starting preseason in good shape. Then of course Petracca. He might have to go back to Casey a bit and work on his game but there will be moments at least when he does fantastic things. Edit: Forgot Trenners. Even if he only gets back to VFL this year that's a huge achievement and would lift the players. If he's getting a regular game and doing a few nice things in the VFL that's great for this year. If he makes it back for an AFL game then that will be awesome.

I wouldn't except... are Philly just completely rubbish? Like worse than even we could possibly think? Have they given up completely, maybe tanking for a QB?

Yep the importance of coaching certainly helps create equality because bad head coaches get fired (and often then resort to being very good coordinators) and good coordinators get hired away from teams and it helps share the knowledge around. And free agency helps as well. Unlike in the AFL where it probably hinders equilisation. That said the teams in small markets that can't attract free agents besides huge contracts probably aren't helped. I'm so impressed by what Vic Fangio has done with the Bears defense. They were all time bad the last couple of years. Today we had 2 high priced OLB, but nothing but journeymen and rookie/2nd year types at every other position on defense. Houston and McPhee are getting paid, and Willie Young is making 3 million dollars but no one else is making more than McClellin on his rookie deal (and he's probably overpaid!). It's a bunch of bargain pick ups with the same scrubs who were rubbish the last two years and Fangio has brought them together and made them competitive. That said I'm not frustrated that the Bears have kind of wasted a year where they could've made the play offs in a reasonably wide open NFC. After the Panthers and Cardinals it now does look like every spot is up for grabs. I still believe the Vikings and Packers are in some order the 3rd and 4th best teams and the Giants might be 5th best, but it's going to be a fun ride down the stretch for a lot of teams in the NFC I think.

Yeah I can see that. The very best kicks have the ability to loop the ball up over an opponent and have a team mate run on it as well as being able to flatten out the ball and spear it. I hope he can do both. The well weighted kicks are handy to put it in front of forwards, but to nail accurate kicks in to the corridor he'll have to flatten it out. Still looks to have a kicking edge over most of our list which is nice!

Tapscott and Gysberts were terrible picks. The first had a body that was never going to work at AFL. The second didn't have the heart for it. And both came to the wrong culture to really end their chances. That said, the issue wasn't really the 09 draft alone, it was that it came on the back of the 07 and 08 drafts walking in to the same under funded, under prepared and downright terrible footy club. We weren't complaining about the draft class at the time, nor were we at the end of 2010 when we thought we were on the right track. But whilst things looked good on field we were going further down the dunny behind the scenes. We ruined most of these guys careers before they already started and Gawn might be the only one to survive it because he was rehabbing his knees and otherwise kept away from the slop fest.

What I've heard from Essendon supporters is they would've taken Oliver if we took Parish. What I'm not hearing is who they would've picked if they had the choice between the two of them, or if they would've taken both and not Francis. Given Watson was a bit of a pioneer in the big bodied midfielder type and is now the wrong side of 30 (as is Goddard) I wouldn't at all be surprised if they wanted Oliver more. Either way. Maybe the more important question is had we have taken Oliver this year at pick 6 could we get a player better than Weideman with our first pick next year? I doubt it. Unless the answer is a confident yes then we've done well to bring both kids in now and can get a head start on development.

The number of guys establishing themselves as best 22 combined with the ladder position in a few years time. With our last recruiter it became very clear that very few of his picks were shaping up as long term prospects. No doubt injury played a role. But by 2012 it was clear that the guys from the 2008-2010 drafts Watts, Blease, Strauss, Bennell, Jetta, Gysberts, Tapscott, Cook and Davis (those last two didn't look very likely in the VFL) just weren't shaping up. Watts did (and still does) have some potential. Blease and Strauss had career altering injuries, Tapscott as well. And obviously with more time Jetta turned it around and Bennell might've been a handy depth player to keep as he is at West Coast. And of course the team wasn't lifting after 2010 and due to all the failures they went from lifting in 2010 as Bailey got the best of a group that Daniher left behind with guys like Green, Moloney, Jamar, Davey to getting worse because those guys were never the right age or talent level to sustain a side. Add in the restricted drafts and Mitch Clark's injuries/illnesses and you see why we ended in such a mess. Under Taylor we've recruited a bunch of guys who look up to AFL and perform well at VFL early in their careers. We've found talent deep (which is something we did well at under BP). We've found high end talent from the picks. That said with the 3 talls and the raw midfielder this is JT's gutsiest draft. If we get 1 A grader (be it Weideman or Oliver) and 2 consistent starters from this draft we will have had a huge draft. The next challenge for this group of recruiters is adding some more speed and skill, but I'd be shocked if we've haven't go the base of consistent performers right. If we haven't assembled enough talent to produce a decent midfield with some competitive talls then I'd be really disappointed.

Just a guess but the clap might have been for Petracca entering the main training group for the first time (even if just for patches). Is anyone else worried about Gus or know what's up for him? We cooked him too much down the stretch last year. Hope it's just a small thing that comes good soon and he can get back in to full training.

Both. I recall seeing a mention of Weideman replacing Petracca last year as the go to man in Eastern Ranges forward line as Tracc moved in to the midfield. Not to mention they must know each other from school and presumably would've played with each other at some stage.

The wing for a slow, below average fitness midfielder who isn't a great kick? Don't think the wing is his go. He'll be in with a shot for round 1, but will need a long term injury to play and unfortunately for Viv's sake I hope we don't have one. We do have 4 rookies now who must all be in with a chance to play, none of them are super raw projects. So we must have liked Hulett in the national draft otherwise having 5 rookies would've given us more freedom to play them.