DeeSpencer

I hope we are compensated. I'm not sure if it's possibly under the salary cap/CBA but I wouldn't mind our players being compensated either. That said this period probably encompasses the usually Australian Open time we spend at Casey anyway. Plus the camp. Plus the last week of December and first week of January they usually have off. So all up 1 extra week at Casey. Probably the same week Roos wasn't even in the country for last year.

Overlooked in the draft. Chopped from the rookie list when it seems he played some seriously good games of footy for a rookie in his first year. http://www.aflplayerratings.com.au/Ratings/Player/119906/James-BATTERSBY Has to be: 1. He doesn't want to be a rookie and wants a main list spot with another club or to get paid more to play state league footy OR 2. He has some attribute that will stop him ever playing AFL footy - Size - doubt it, 178cm isn't that short - Speed - again, doesn't seem too slow - Kicking - no way - Physicality - doubt it - Attitude/Work ethic - this could be the one

Would have to be for the recruiters to pick. That said some overlooked father sons have turned out to be very good players. Langford and Kennedy were both available at some stage and now look the goods. Sometimes slow developers who desperate want to make it are more valuable than skilled players who don't. Personally I'd expect him to end up with a rookie spot at Sydney or Freo before coming to Melbourne.

I'd rather Jesse Hogan than Rohan and Jetta. I'm pretty sure Hogan would've at least got a touch in the grand final.

Consensus wrong picks: Toumpas, Blease, Tapscott, Morton, Maric (all rated where we took them) Bolter wrong picks: Cook, Strauss, Gysberts (all 3 of these guys were likely rated 10-20 picks below where we took them)

Have you (or anyone else) seen the movie Draft Day. It's a horrible NFL sponsored movie that came out recently where a GM trades for the top pick giving up a ransom of picks, then take the player he would've at pick 10ish anyway, then somehow (through complete BS) manipulates the draft to get back to exactly where he would've been anyway plus an extra pick for a running back to make the coach happy. Either way it's similar to your theory! I like your plan, but why stop there. My plan is grab Petracca and Brayshaw, both showing a heap in their first year and turning us in to a destination club as players see the opportunities that Jones, Tyson, Viney, Petracca and Brayshaw could bring. All of a sudden we sign Will Hoskin-Elliott who becomes the next Nat Fyfe and he doesn't even have to put his skinny frame in the guts. Instead he plays wing and half forward. Oh Dangerfield jumps on as well. Then in Dangerfield, WHE and Petracca we have 3 unstoppable forwards/midfielders who rotate at will. All Dawes and Hogan have to do is create space, chase, tackle and bring the ball to ground. Garlett, Kent and JKH are sniffing around the forward line as well. Oh and Bernie Vince and Salem become AA rebounding defenders and Jeremy Howe is the ultimate utility who kicks 50 goals whilst playing half his time on a wing and a spare defender. Gawny gets injured in the prelim and Jake Spencer kicks the winning goal of the grand final on the run from 50 out on the boundary.

As a half back: The game got fasted, the Geelong team got slower = harder decision making and more defensive responsibility finding him out As a tagger: Geelong lost more contested ball, Hunt was shown really only to sneak off and kick the occasional goal on his man but besides from that not do much around the ball. McKenzie has pretty much never run off his opponent to kick goals, but as a tagger around the contest is likely to provide more than Hunt in terms of actually getting his hands on the ball and laying tackles.

Low risk. Very low reward. I'd rather Brown but even then as a rookie. Let's get 3 fresh kids in with 2, 3, 40. From there be it 53 or PSD we should analyse just what is available. I don't see the point of rushing to sign a delisted guy. If someone wants them they can have them. If we are giving a guy a second chance lets make sure of it and make him earn it over the next month before the drafts. Picking up Tom Gillies types just waste everyones time and effort.

I'm not at all a Grimes fan, but expecting Lumumba to be a composed player from half back is equally fraught I think. His kicking and decision making aren't improvements on Grimes. His run is an improvement on our midfielders. I'm hoping Grimes somehow finds a yard of pace and burst in preseason which sees him play with more time and confidence as he did as a young player. Failing that I hope we have some amazing successes in the draft or rejuvenate a few players (Watts, Toumpas etc) and then Vince can go to half back....or Watts or Toumpas or we find a forward and Howe stays back etc.

Our 9 Victorian home games were: 3 - Sunday 3:20 2 -Saturday 7:40 1 - Monday (PH) 3:20 1 - Sunday 4:40 1 - Sunday 1:10 1 - Saturday 1:15 It's logical that the night games, public holidays and 4:40 games are difficult to get to for country folks on the trains. The 1pm games on a Saturday or Sunday shouldn't be. I'd presume the 3:20 Sunday games are a problem as well, which is a shame because for the club they are usually free to air live on Ch7 games. Gill said they would try to get more Saturday 2:10 MCG games next year after going away from that fixture (as it's great for live audiences, no good for TV). So hopefully that helps. From a personal point of view I'd rather Sunday games (so I can watch local footy on Saturday) although I'd certainly rather the 1pm than 3pm (Or 4:40) especially in the middle of winter. Unfortunately 2pm, ie the time footy should be on, isn't an option, it's been sold.

They'll only film it in SD though so the best to hope for is upgraded SD I believe? Not an expert though so feel free to correct me

That photo is from 2007. Since then it's been more like this

Port have good broadcast facilities (I presume with all the finals they have there), have a following and are usually very good. Similarly Williamstown and to a lesser extent Werribee (who have half of North's leftovers anyway). But Frankston, North Ballarat (also with some North players) and Coburg, good luck to them for sure. I guess if ratings improved like the SANFL and the commercial networks can potentially pay a higher price then the VFL should make sure every club gets a bit of chance. Who's in charge of AFL Victoria again?

I'd say so. I'm not sure how on the radar he would've been anyway. Not when we'd have to trade something good to get him. Certainly now we have the first live PSD pick we'd be chasing anyone of quality we can find out of contract to tank their negotiations and come to us. But not before. I did really like the idea of Lyons, particularly last year. But looking deeper I'm not convinced he'd offer us anything more than what injury free Riley and Michie should offer in 2015. He's not tall, not fast, not particularly skilled nor is he that Nath Jones or Jack Viney level of inside ball winning animal. Riley might win a clearance or stick a tackle better than him, and Viv might take a mark or kick a goal better than him.

Pros: - Probably more coverage of the AFL aligned sides - Less Phil Clearly and David Rhys Jones - Possibly more production and camera angles etc Cons: - More ads - Have to change from foxtel to DTV on the telly - Eddie McGuire's company running the thing Unlikely to result in more Casey games I'd say. Instead of making the decisions based on 'public interest' they'll make it based on commercial interest. Therefore I'd expect to see a lot of Collingwood, Richmond, Essendon VFL, Carlton Blues and Box Hill Hawks. For a 15 team comp in an 18 round season you'd hope the VFL would make it each club gets 1 home and 1 away game televised as a minimum.

FB: Dunn Frost Jetta HB: Grimes McDonald Garland C: Vince Jones Lumumba HF: Kent Dawes Salem FF: Garlett Hogan Howe Foll: Jamar Tyson Cross Int: Viney, Watts, Pedersen, JKH Casey: FB: Georgiou HB: Hunt ***** Terlich C: M. Jones Riley Toumpas HF: Bail Fitzpatrick Barry FF: Gawn Foll: Spencer Michie McKenzie Int: King Harmes Stretch Just looking at how things line up in terms of depth and for Casey. We can cover the tall defenders from the senior side (can easily take a tall out and have plenty of height) or using Pedersen back as well as Georgiou. Very little depth in the small defenders if Howe is forward though. Options of midfield replacements in terms of talent coming through isn't great but the draft (particularly pick 2) should add to that depth. Some hard working types who may have a little improvement as well as a sprinkling of younger guys who could step it up (Toumpas, Michie, Barry). I very much expect at least one if not both of picks 40 and 53 will be spent on speed and skill types.

My mail says Evans is gone but haven't heard anything on McKenzie and I think given he's a good culture guy around the club and has actually played AFL (even in a very limited taggers role) I expect they wouldn't move him on in contract. If he cuts out the ridiculous turnovers he'd be back to having a future at AFL level, if he doesn't he at least has a role 'captaining' Casey. I'm really hoping our VFL set up under a new coach is a lot more successful and enjoyable this year and has guys getting more positive reviews as they fight for a spot.

I think GWS v Sydney is a confirmed round 1 fixture these days. I wonder if the AFL will go for a Sunday night game? They didn't this year at Easter and Sunday nights flopped but for round 1 before a public holiday it actually makes sense. No such thing as too much footy on TV come round 1. Ess v North as a rivalry makes the most sense for the best commercial game from what's left. The 5 Vic clubs are already fixtured so we aren't getting a big commercial fixture. I'd actually rather avoid a belting from North or a dispiriting MCG loss to the Saints, Dogs or interstate team. Never keen to travel to Perth in April either. Really I'd be all for going to Adelaide and taking on a South Australian side and putting up a good effort (win or lose) before returning to a home game with some confidence. The other team you'd like to play early in the year is Essendon with players accepting an ASADA ban.

The foot injured contributed to the slide, as did the fact it was a very good draft with 20-30 really nice prospects so clubs weren't going to spend too highly on a little fella. But read the following and you'll see Taylor was rated exceptionally highly and was one of the best junior footballers in the land. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/geelong-falcons-star-lewis-taylor-will-miss-the-rest-of-the-season-with-a-foot-injury/story-fni5f3kt-1226706002803

I cbf'ed looking up the stats but I remember Hannebery getting a taste whilst he was at school then straight in the team the next year. Parker similarly. Brayshaw has the height, strength and size to play very early. And the fitness if he gets through preseason. If we do recruit him he'll be treated the same way in JKH in that he'll be given the opportunities in preseason to push his case. I believe he's born in the first week of January and finished school last year anyway. So he'll be ready to go for a big preseason. That said he's not even locked in for us anyone. So no point naming him in prospective teams. And when it comes to any young talls we draft I wouldn't expect to see them in the team any time soon.

I think that's pretty much everyone's ideal forward line, with a 2nd ruck on the bench and midfielders rotating through that half forward spots. If we do draft McCartin or Wright I expect both of them to see significant time in the VFL. When it comes to Howe I wouldn't be surprised if he's still in the backline. His intercept marking is a weapon and he's our best kick from half back, no matter how sad that sounds. Lumumba I think will move between wing and half back and Frost and McDonald may even be forced in to a bit of friendly competition to nail down spots. A lot depends on the form and fitness of Dunn, Garland and Grimes and whether they are effectively moving the ball from the backline. If they aren't then I expect Howe will be back there in an instant.

By the way, look at the graph in this post. 23 and 40 compare pretty well. http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-history-of-pickflation.638451/page-4#post-35376498

The Membrey situation is interesting. With academy picks and rookie upgrades the swans have nothing they want to get from St Kilda. I don't think they would've traded. But the possibility that Sydney fills its list and then Membrey became a DFA could've happened, although it doesn't seem to go that way. Funny how that was a threat before the end of the trade period but not after? What seems to annoy me is that we were caught on the hop with that. We should have seen that coming and therefore potentially got a better trade. Or seen through it and held our ground. In some ways it does look like we will need 2 picks in the draft regardless (after 2 and 3) so splitting 23 in to 40 and 53 plus getting Frost is somewhat reasonable. I would've preferred if we split 23 with a 3rd club in to something better like 35, 45 and 50 and sent 50 to GWS. It's not that useful for them but they could've packaged it up with other picks and got higher in the draft.

Hope we can find a (very) part time role for him just in some aspect of development or leadership, maybe even just as Jack Watts' personal coach! Always thought Goodwin should take the midfield coach role. Ben Matthews does the stoppages still. Thought Stone might've been kept in a development job under Bretty Allison but definitely thank him for a good years service and we move on with largely the same team of well credentialed coaches.

If we had Zac Dawson we wouldn't need McDonald or Frost. He's unco as hell and looks like a clown but he rarely has goals kicked on him. I can't see how anyone who's played footy at any level doesn't appreciate how Zac Dawson is the annoying red head step child tall defender that exists in every second team at local footy, he's just the AFL version. It doesn't take a great coach to look at Adelaide's list and see they have one good shut down medium/tall defender which is Talia. They have no locked in 2nd or 3rd tall defender. Hence Watts and Dawes playing very well against Adelaide this year as Talia went to Frawley. You also note a lack of hard at it, physical players in Adelaide's backline (and several other spots in the team). Poor Sloane, Dangerfield, Walker, Thompson and a few others take some heavy hits for a lot of the team. So Cheney fits that aspect as well. Adelaide rate Cheney because he fills a need. It's the same reason we rate Lumumba