DeeSpencer

It's all about ladder position. But as North found with Luke McDonald this year it's not always a case of finishing lower on the ladder meaning you'll get better value for your F/S selection. I have a hard enough time picking what exact order I'd draft kids when it's a week before the draft and we have film, physical measurements and media commentary on all of them. It's way to early to declare Stretch a steal if we got him in round 2 or a waste if we have to use a first rounder on him. All I know is that father sons can be great value and are also good for the footy club and supporters as a whole. What I will say is that we are in the Paul Roos era of development and the Jason Taylor era of recruiting. It's about time we give up this idea that skinny kids are no good. Fyfe, Wingard, Lewis Jetta, Kieran Jack, Mundy, Gunston, Michael Walters, Brad Hill I could go on and on. With the rotation cap coming in players around the comp are shedding weight this preseason. And it might not be a coincidence that the two teams who were in the grand final (Hawthorn and Freo) are probably on average leaner than the two teams they beat in Sydney and Geelong in the prelims.

The most important thing I'd say is a game on the March 13-14 weekend. We have games on Feb 14 (too early and largely irrelevant) as well as games on Feb 28 (in Alice v Geel) and March 8 (v hawks at Casey). So I don't think we need players getting a game on the Feb 21 weekend. 2 matches is enough for anyone fit and ready to play as of Feb 28. Ideally the round 1 team play some part in both of those latter games but it might be that a couple of players get their first taste for a half or so on March 8 then need another brief outing for Casey the next weekend whilst others have the week off. I also think Roos probably has a liking for pretty decent hit outs in scratch matches and even more so for match simulation drills as part of training. By my reading/watching today might have been the first time players were divided up in different coloured training jumpers and I expect that to continue and for the defensive pressure to step up.

With consistent reports of him shaking the ball and his contract up at the end of the year I don't see the point continuing with Nicholson as a defender. He should be swapped to train as a forward and can compete with Bail and Byrnes (plus Tapscott, Blease, JKH) for the defensive small forward job. His elite endurance and good speed could allow him to develop in to a Matty White (Richmond now at Port) role and it's much easier for some players to put the ball between the sticks than it is to accurately hit up a moving team mate under pressure. Anyway I know it's off topic but I don't see how continuing with such a flaw will work.

But I'm pretty sure on his career trajectory to date that Karmichael will be back in one form of rugby by this time next year. It would take a huge leap for him to get back in the best 22 at GCS as their young talent matures and they add more (Jack Martin, KK). So in that way the only real benefit of him over Folau has probably been a little more buzz in the first year and the duration away from league. But I question whether Hunt going back to rugby makes much of a difference compared to an out an out gun like Folau. Of course if Folau had become a consistent quality AFL player that would be huge but what I'm trying to say is considering he didn't it's not such a huge loss that he's out.

Not overly concerned about Spencer being the only ruck if both Jamar and Gawn are on track to at least be pushing for round 1 even if Spencer gets the nod. He'll be up against 2 out of 3 of Hickey, Longer and Rhys Stanley. He's still capable of winning/drawing that battle. More concerned that we need at least 1 of Clark or Dawes ready to go and 1 of Clark or Fitzy ready to go so we have a back up ruck and some strength up forward. I see the logic in the one week post new years being 1 week of the season gone but I'd also say that's more for players who haven't done the pre Christmas training. Dawes had done a lot of fitness work off legs so I think he's still a reasonable chance (as long as he's on the track consistently even if it's rehab work) and Hogan and Clark had both done enough that it just depends on their injuries that are currently being nursed. Round 1 is March 22. Our last practice match is March 8. I'd say that anyone in full training by Feb 8 gets a shot at playing in that practice match (Not so worried about the ones in Feb on the 14th and 28th respectively). So that would be my deadline I'd say. Just around 1 month for Dawes, Clark and Hogan to be on track at least doing some of the main training and I'll be a lot more confident.

Yeah but Hunt has done SFA since his first year either. In reality the contract was all about year one of GWS anyway and just getting them in the papers and in the minds. After that every party would be happy for him to go and I bet the AFL is actually happy he went to union. Union will take corporate dollars from AFL (the rebels are a pain in Melbourne for that) but in reality will always have a niche in certain Sydney areas. I don't think the AFL are really attempting to down Union (or soccer or basketball or several other sports). The real fight is with league in Western Sydney and Issy bailing on Parramatta did AFL a huge favour.

Second best ball winner and consistent but not quite our second best I'd say. I expect Viney, Vince and Tyson to join Nath Jones as midfielders with more output than Matt Jones in 2014. Probably McKenzie, Cross and Trengove as well. Then Matt Jones will be fighting it out with Michie, Evans, Toumpas and Watts One thing about Matt Jones - as he's a good runner and reader of the play if he tidies up his kicking then he can rotate to the half back flank. With a lot of teams playing just 6 defenders you need one or two mids who can take their turn lining up on the half back line to spell the back 6. No one hates the contract extension. I'm just worried that we always seem to sign mediocre players to decent deals when they haven't quite earned it. All of Blease, Dunn, Strauss, Tapscott, Bail and Nicholson being contracted this year is a perfect example of that. It didn't matter much this year but in a couple of years we might have a few rookie promotions and lots of draft picks and not have as much space on the list that we would have liked. It's a bit like we are scared of everyone leaving when I'd rather back the club to keep guys and the players to play to an expiring contract.

Angus Brayshaw as well. Mark's son and JB's nephew so close NM ties but no F/S access. MVP for Vic Metro at the under 16's I think. Probably another who fits Roos' plan of often recruiting smart, diligent, level headed kids from strong football families.

Gee you sprout a lot of sanctimonious crap but I think that takes the lead. Like in every profession there's a few bad apples but if you do nothing wrong you are almost certain to avoid them. If you are drunk in a nightclub and being a tool you might find a bad cop but if you behave you'll likely not give them any reason for them to cross the line. Even in this case there's been no mention of police acting irresponsibly only the mention of one Campbell Brown.

I never wanted him at the MFC but after 1 big mistake in LA and only some other minor stuff over the course of his career I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as a person and thought he could have a bit of a media career and redeem his image. But after your horse has won and you are having a good night to start pissing off the cops and get arrested is just utter stupidity. It's hardly huge criminal behaviour but people disrespecting the cops really pisses me off so if his reputation stays in the gutter I'm not too concerned.

I agree on your points although I will say - The AFL wont be too annoyed about Franklin at the swans because it will keep them relevant for a few years and then GWS can take over. Ideally both sides are relevant and in the Sydney culture but if GWS are still years away you may as well have Lance at Sydney in the mean time. And secondly they built such a small stadium at the showgrounds because it's right next to the Olympic Stadium! If by some miracle GWS start drawing big crowds they only have to move the game next door.

Glandular fever isn't a thyroid condition. More likely he either has hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) which would leave him feeling very lethargic or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) which would make him anxious and jittery. Neither would be very compatible with your first AFL preseason. Both are usually treatable with medication but it's often not all that easy to find the right balance straight away. Hence a modified program would make a lot of sense. Yes I believe it was. I'm not sure if it's something they screen players for or not pre draft. But I could imagine that players could be healthy pre draft and then the increased load of a big preseason could knock around their bodies and trigger illness.

Funny how someone mentioned Gunston but no comment on the undeniable top key forward in Cameron. Of the rest Patton has done two knees and was never the most athletic. I see a lot of potential but he's coming from a mile back. I think he'll be like a Tom Hawkins. A big monster but never the most maneuverable and therefore if off his game he'll struggle. Daniher and Boyd are these new breed of 200cm types. They'll take a longer time to develop but both have that Kurt Tippett like ability to ruck and to just be too darn big for defenders. Boyd is stronger, Daniher more rangy. I'd be happy with either of them but the reason I like Hogan more is his versatility. He's got the fitness and agility that he can play CHF, FF, crumb goals, lay big tackles, out run big defenders, over power weaker ones.

Tasmania has 500,000 people, most (of the relevant population) of whom already watch footy on TV. Western Sydney has over 2 million people of which very few watch footy on TV. Hobart has only 200,000 people. They could provide a consistent crowd of 20-30,000 with games split between Hobart and Launceston maybe in a 7/4 or 8/3 home split but it's not like the AFL is consistently giving up massive crowds by picking GWS over Tasmania. AFL players would probably gladly live in Hobart, I don't think that would be an issue at all. Simply the population of Tasmania limits the viability of expanding the competition to move there. It would be incredibly stupid. What Tasmania has done is right, get teams to play matches in it's 2 biggest cities. Long term they should be trying to capture the Kangaroos for good and make them their team. Not saying I want the roos to move but that's really Tassie's biggest hope. The AFL in hindsight would've loved to have got in to Western Sydney before soccer but in reality the game wasn't as stable 5 or 10 years ago as it is now. Soccer was always going to be successful. The real battle will be against the Western Sydney rugby league clubs and against Sydney sporting culture. If we ever want to get to 20 teams in the AFL it will take at least 3 successful clubs in Sydney I would think. The AFL should start getting struggling Melbourne clubs (us, the bulldogs, North) to play games in Northern Sydney, Gosford and Newcastle rather than Darwin, Alice Springs or Cairns.

I'm a McKenzie fan. I think he'll bounce back from an injury interrupted and poor 2013 to a very good 2014 as an important player. Long term I'd love to use a more skilled player in the tagging role but first things first I'd focus on developing our defensive game and shutting down other teams and that means using our best tagger. I don't think we have another player who is suitable as a tagger who is better than McKenzie. To be a tagger I think you need the following: - Top 10 endurance at the club - Enough speed to stay defensive side - Good tackler - Good reader of the play - Hard and durable So it's McKenzie tagging for me. The only others on our list who fit that criteria are probably Vince, Viney, Tyson, Nathan Jones and Cross. I think all of those guys are better utilised trying to find the ball. Evans and Matt Jones might be possibilities but I don't see them being nearly as effective as McKenzie. Michie's played 1 AFL game, it's too early for him to be forced to tag. When/If we get 12 midfielders better than McKenzie then one of them can be our tagger. Right now we don't have that.

Well I am hoping he only means trade period and therefore Tyson, Michie, Vince and maybe Riley but yes it would be a fair case of MFCSS to think that none of those guys can give us better service than Cross. Either way it's a bit irrelevant to this thread. But I am expecting Cross to be a bit of a love-hate guy over his 1-2 years with us as a players. His kicking will frustrate as will his lack of speed with the ball, but his work rate and courage will impress. I'm hoping a new club reinvigorates him, he was a bit hard to watch in some earlier games with the dogs this year

Rance is a good one because other teams deliberately let him get the ball when the Tigers are chipping it around in hope of a turnover. He's an above average full back at stopping key forwards but it's miles from elite. I can understand Shaw as it's based on stats. Monfries I don't get. Might be that 7 goal game he had at Geelong or something was worth triple points?

Hoping with some help that we have Grimes and Nathan Jones in this list of "statistically elite" players at the end of this year. I can see Grimes averaging 25 touches from half back and Jones the same in the middle and doing more with them this year. I expect Viney and Hogan to join them in time. Plus I'm pretty excited about Dom Tyson. Can't write off Trengove, Toumpas or Watts either. Frawley is an elite stopping defender but probably doesn't get enough footy to make this list and Clark is a unique talent. That would make 10 elite players.

Of course Mogg would be a great chance to succeed at AFL but unless we create another expansion club who is going to pay him significantly more than his rugby contract (ie. 1mil per year) to find out? What I was trying to say is that alternative sport and international recruiting has been around for decades. If AFL clubs and lists could afford to be expanded to 100 then we'd have all sorts of extra athletes in the game.

I think what Theo was trying to say is that Barlow was a dominant VFL player prior to getting his chance. On the other hand Matt Jones was a decent performing VFL player who had only just graduated from local footy to VFL reserves then VFL seniors. It's hard enough going from dominant VFL player like Barlow to top level AFL player, how unlikely is it that Matt Jones goes from relative anonymity in the VFL to a household AFL name?

I don't get the point of the article or the thread really. Jesse Mogg is a fantastic athlete, but so was Issy Folau. Unless you get them early enough, for long enough and with the right desire it wont matter. The biggest return on investment for the league is to try and get these kids in to the NSW and QLD junior development pathways - hence why 2 teams in QLD and NSW are so important and growing junior participation is the key. Hawthorn did a few preseason camps over the years in NZ I think and possibly have a more ambitious recruiting approach their than other clubs but rugby/NZ based athletes for international rookies isn't a new phenomenon. It's just about finding an athlete good enough to take the chance on and the wealthier clubs will have more opportunities to try that. Anyway the league is currently littered with players who grew up playing little AFL footy. The number of kids who played a year of juniors, focussed on a another sport then played one year of TAC before being drafted is huge. There's cricketers (George Horlin-Smith, Jake Carlisle), basketballers by the bus load and kids like Jeremy Cameron who when 16 or 17 thought he'd have another go at footy and was a star. Same with internationals from Ireland, US, Canada, New Zealand which is great. But it's been over 25 years since Jimmy Stynes came out and I'm not aware of another Brownlow medalist since who was international or a high level athlete in another code who switched to footy.

Essendon got done for rookie prospects training with them before the draft unless they got done for another issue. I believe Father Son Prospects must be different because the Bulldogs had Libba and Wallis training with them for various periods many years before anything was made official with those 2. Maybe there's a permission to train for father son process that we've submitted for. I'm not worried that we are doing anything wrong as it's not unusual.

On Monday he was running the 300's with the first group which is promising. Earlier in preseason I noted he was training like an AFL player now not a kid. Others went further and got a bit excited but I wasn't at that stage yet. Body wise he's still lean but has a much more AFL look to him than a skinny kid. I'm expecting some good showings at VFL this year based on preseason and probably consistent VFL seniors performance. Last years I'm not so sure about this guy thoughts but lets reassess in a year or even two have kind of changed in to more hey we might just have something.

Whoa that's a big call. Jones can find the footy but I don't see the ability in close or even that kind of level of accumulation around the ground. For a comparison of Matt Jones I'm thinking Matt Rosa (WCE), maybe a little more inside version of Farren Ray (St Kilda) or a little less class but similar to Mitch Duncan (Geel), maybe a Sam Gibson or a Shaun Grigg type. I'm thinking of midfielders who do the job each week without being amazing inside clearance players (or taggers), or class outside ball winners (with speed or skills) or massive accumulators. I think the reality is those sorts of players either knock the edges off some of their deficiencies or make way for better players over time.

That's not really true in reality though. All players do much the same running and skills work as far as I've seen. Super unfit players get put through extra running sure and poor skilled players probably do more remedial skills work but you can't take guys out of the drills that work on game plan and fitness for excessive skills training when they are already getting it. The truth is that Bail and Nicholson are on our list because they have enough positive attributes to counter out their poor kicking. They aren't on our list because the club thinks they can just magically learn how to kick and then they are top line endurance players. Look at it this way. Mitchell Johnson obviously did a huge amount of work on his accuracy to get rid of his greatest liability (in his horrendous wayward spells he was so good at). But he also had to overcome injury and build up fitness as well as keep working on his good attributes (short balls, express pace, shape back in to the right handers, ability to bowl sustained spells).