DeeSpencer

Anyone else checked out and liked Blake Acres' highlights. To me he looks every bit as good as Scharenberg and might be the best big bodied midfielder in the draft. He's got strength in the air, composure and neat skills. I'd say he's the reason why West Coast went back to 11 because they'll be happy to get either one of him or Sheed

A touch faster but the way Freeman plays is very Luke Shuey like as well with the way he accelerates with the ball. I thought more Shuey than Dangerfield

And you guys reckon McKenzie can turn the ball over! Cross is a butcher. But he's still a good pick up. Hoping by the end of next year we are in the same position the dogs are now and that a lot of our guys have learnt what it takes to succeed in this league. MCG compared to Etihad should suit Cross though, more space to run all day which is his primary strength.

The trade off is usually speed or stamina. Freeman has the speed. The stamina (even though he did a good beep) might still take a few years. I can see the Dangerfield comparisons but to me Freeman is risky. At his best he's Dangerfield at his worst is Blease. If our recruiters like him I'll back them in, but he'll need time otherwise he would've gone pick 2 with his speed.

More so Cooney, Boyd, Murphy forward or back, Dale Morris, Minson and Gia as the sub. That's 4 over 30 and 6 over 28. Can't really have any more and call yourself rebuilding and have young guys playing well. Same goes for Geelong moving on Pods and Chapman. The difference between that and Melbourne with Junior McDonald though is that when we moved on Junior it left Bruce and Green. The dogs still have other veterans.

We might well over take them at some point but in the end the teams are still pretty evenly balanced with plenty of deficiencies each. Consider the forward line. The dogs are bringing in Crameri as a very serviceable 3rd tall forward, they have Dalhaus as a crumber we don't have, Jarrad Grant is the point of difference player who can be horrible or very good like Howe. Their is a gulf of class between Mitch Clark and Tom Campbell but that's one position. Liam Jones can be as good as Dawes if he gets back on track. They have some decent mid sized and small defenders down back as well. So the holes are there but not gaping. And they have a true elite mid in Griffen, 2 very good older mids in Boyd and Cooney who have to be replaced but then legitimate depth of young talent - Libba, Wallis, Stringer, McCrae, Clay Smith, Hrovat, Hunter, Koby Stevens. That's 8 decent young players. Number 9 will be pick 4. Compare that to Melbourne - Vince is the veteran ala Boyd or Cooney. Cross could fit as the second veteran. Jones is the gun in his prime. The young talent list is Viney, Tyson, Michie, Trengove, McKenzie, Toumpas, ?Watts, ?Evans. Maybe we get to 8 as well with pick 9 the 9th in our young midfield talent. But the dogs guys have runs on the board in that they contributed to wins. I want to see wins from our young mids first. Libba also emerged as a future star. I'd love to see Viney, Tyson, Trengove or pick 9 show some star factor. Either way I wont use the fact that we have a young ruck who might make it and Hogan and Clark as clear proof we are better set than the dogs at this stage.

It wouldn't surprise me but it wouldn't impress me. Would be no change on field and off field would replace a popular team mate with a guy who can be a bit of a [censored].

Agree I would've preferred to Eagles to stay there especially if they were taking Sheed. I'd be happy if the pies draft Bontempelli, not because I dont rate him but he's up to 194cm and it's a long way to win a clearance at that height. He's going to have to play half forward and half back until he settles at least. We are already trying to introduce Watts and to a lesser extent Howe to the midfield.

I'd love trade period a lot more if we did that trade. If Dylan Shiel was in this draft he'd go pick 2 if not pick 3 or 4. You'd be getting a certain 200 gamer who can burst from clearances, kick goals, pretty much do all that you'd want from a midfielder and he'd do it right now. If it took Howe to move back up those spots then that's what it would take. Howe has a great highlight reel and some pretty unique aerial talents but more games than not he doesn't contribute to winning. A lot of crazy trades get put up in trade week. But trading pick 9 and a guy in Howe who hasn't cemented himself as an AFL player for a guy who could be described as the best young midfielder GWS have (considering they've had the top 3 and more picks in the last 2 drafts and preselection) is not crazy. Shiel is no punk.

I'm certainly not saying you look at it as a positive attribute on it's own. But more you look into some of the kids who meet the profile and drill down and you can find what you want. Absolutely no surprise when you look at the profile on Teddy Richards - discarded by Essendon on his last chance at Sydney when he made it. Kennedy who got snubbed by the club his grandfather made relevant. Smith who was a late rookie pick up and talented cricketer who had to grind and grind to work on his skills and speed to even get a chance at Sydney. These aren't the kids with the silver spoons. These are the kids who saw what hard work and opportunity can create. But I agree with your post except about it being miraculous that the kids score 95. Better overall gene pool, much higher spending on infrastructure and teaching and resources and the set up of scores, as you said it's a business. It would be a miracle if they failed.

Different with different schools. Caulfield have done it for years - hence Tom Bugg, Dylan Shiel, Chris Judd, Brendan Goddard. Scotch did it only rarely up until about 2000 I think when they did it every now and then. Usually scholarships were given based on overall merit and circumstance ie. brilliant footballer (or footballer and cricketer in the case of Nick Smith) but also smart kid with good aptitude and from a background that would see his parents struggle with fees. After 2000 Haileybury went on an arms race. Hence guys like Tom Lynch (Adel) and Tom Scully and plenty of others. They ended up winning some APS premierships with teams of kids brought in purely for footballing experience. It corresponded with the changes in private school funding that funded the schools based on the parents post codes. Therefore Haileybury with thier campus in Springvale Road managed to get a bunch of kids (Particularly chinese and indian background) who live in outer eastern suburbs that are not as affluent as the traditional suburbs from which APS school kids live in ie those around campuses in the Toorak, Brighton and Kew areas. That meant increased money for them so they thought of a way to funnel it into promoting the school and getting more students and what better way than to trumpet your football team. The other APS schools responded to this increase in scholarships with Melbourne grammar getting in Tom Hawkins and Xavier Ellis. Scotch went down the Indigenous scholarship program (Cyril Rioli, Nathan Djerkirra, Liam Jones) and Grammar soon followed with this plan. Not a bad idea if you ask me because it serves as much needed cultural education to the rest of the students as well as Indigenous leadership and football development for both the kid and the school. Anyway back to the question the kids do play school footy but the standard isn't up to TAC footy and the TAC coaches get quite upset - which itself is a joke because the kid has every right to play for his school if he chooses. I can't speak for every school but I know some how now gone for a balanced method where if the kid is a high likelihood of getting drafted he will now train much more with the TAC team than the school team and will play a mix of TAC and school footy until the championships and then the TAC finals. Which in a way is a shame as I know the kids love playing with their mates. Also little known fact is the recruiters allow for a kid to be at boarding school to carry a few extra kilos than one at home. And when an out of shape Cyril Rioli had no interest in participating in draft combine drills some teams frowned upon it whilst the Hawks knew what a good hard preseason would do and what he could produce.

The lack of faith in Cam 'Sausages' Pedersen disturbs me. Where is the love for this dashing rebounding defender? But seriously Bruce would be worth a thought in the PSD. Best to probably play it cool and not let our interest bubble until the end of trade week if the deal doesn't happen with the saints. That said the dogs must have some interest as well. I rate Talia, but Austin for back up and Roughead I'm not convinced on. I think they've got a mobile ruck/forward at full back when he should in the ruck/forward position!

Exactly. Not sure he's any better than Evans or Matt Jones. Although his kicking which isn't amazing is probably better than M Jones and he has a bit more speed than Evans but probably not the same competitiveness. So I'd take him if they want a swap for rejects but they wont want that. They'll want a top 35 pick which we dont have anyway. They should send him up to Brisbane who could do with some bodies in his age range just so they dont replace all of the 5 that are leaving with second and third round draft picks.

Couple of updates I've heard on bigfooty that sound reliable. Round 1 GWS v Sydney will now be a traditional fixture. First round will be a split round. No games can occur at any of the cricket venues due to earlier start with no NAB cup - MCG, Adelaide Oval, Gabba, SCG all ruled out Richmond v Carlton will kick off round 2 Port v Adelaide round 2 at Adelaide oval The Kangaroos are likely to get one of the Friday night matches to kick off the season either week 1 or week 2 expect it to be against a high drawing club - Collingwood, Essendon etc. So out of the 9 games expect 5 or 6 to be at Etihad, one maybe at Geelong, one in Perth, one on the Gold Coast and GWS v Sydney. Obviously Geelong would be a nightmare in a lot of ways. In other ways if we are going to have our customary thrashing may as well be at Geelong. If we compete and don't lose by much (Say under 8 goals) we might take a lot from it for round 2. About the best we could do is Gold Coast up there (would be tough), Carlton, the doggies or St Kilda at Etihad. Wouldn't be surprised if it's the saints so at least one struggling side gets an early win on the board. I'd actually prefer either of those than us hosting a game at Etihad, that would be bad football wise and financially. Expect round 2 for us to get an interstate team at the G - West Coast, Brisbane or GWS would be my tip.

Bolded = certainties in my opinion FB: Clisby Frawley Garland HB: Terlich McDonald Grimes C: Watts Jones Vince HF: Trengove Dawes Howe FF: Byrnes Clark Hogan Foll: Gawn Viney McKenzie Int: Tyson Michie Toumpas S: Kent One thing Roos has traditionally done is when players came to Sydney he played them and stuck with them through some form dips. Josh Kennedy's first half a season was mediocre at best. His second half had him on target for one of the better mids in he comp. I expect Roos will stick with Michie and Tyson and to be honest on talent I think it wont be much of a question anyway. In the same way I expect him to stick with Watts for a long time as he's changing positions. The counter to that is young guys like Kent, Toumpas and our draft picks this year wont necessarily see a lot of playing time if the impression is they have things to work on in the reserves first. Again I think we a preseason improving their bodies that Toumpas and Kent both made enough ground through the 2013 season to start in 2014. Backline: 3 talls pretty obvious. Grimes a lock for HBF I feel. The other small defender spots are up for grabs. I hope Roos goes away from the conservative selection of Lynden Dunn to sit in a back pocket on some semi-dangerous forward and offer not a lot else. Time to be more aggressive and back in Terlich and Clisby and whoever else we have. It highlights the need for that 190cm versatile player to complement Garland (how good would 2 Garland's be - one to attack one to lock down defend) but at the moment we don't have that player. Neither Clisby and Terlich are perfect but they play with the right attitude. Go for the ball, tackle hard, attack the game. Terlich should be able to improve his defensive game and Clisby might always be a bit small but he plays with good spirit. Midfield: Even with our additions our midfield isn't flush so really it's about picking all that we have and letting them find roles and positions within the rotation. Evans and Matt Jones are probably the only legitimate mids we have that I've left out but again I expect them to pressure for spots - it's unlikely everyone will be fit all the time and these two both have the ability to rotate to half back as well so look out for them. I'm still on the McKenzie bandwagon and I'm not going to explain why I think Roos will like McKenzie for the 100th time or why I like McKenzie. Forwards: Hogan, Dawes. Obvious. Mitch Clark as the second ruck to give us maximum run in the midfield and also to allow him to show his around the ground talent is pretty obvious to me as well. Wouldn't be a surprise to see him not do that role early though and toss up between a second ruck (Jamar) or Fitzy but I don't want to play them as well as Hogan and Dawes, it's too tall. Other forwards are hard - not the use of midfielders with class and good hands - Trengove, Michie as forwards. Expect to see Evans, Vince, Watts, Toumpas, Viney all play half forward as well. That's the way rotation works. So really I'm left with 2 guys who will play majority forward and it's Howe and Byrnes with Kent the sub as a forward/midfield type. Howe is pretty obvious. With some solid coaching he can be the goal kicking weapon who can play full forward, half forward and on the wing. But he needs improvement. I'm a Byrnes fan and went with him in the team instead of Kent or another mid because mature bodies and fitness will be important in Roos' plan. He can win the ball at a contest, he can chase and tackle and he showed some ability to find and use the ball in space (and kick a load of points)! It's up to Kent and Blease to tip him out.

Gawn hasn't done a preseason yet. Remember he did a serious hamstring injury last preseason that required a slow rehab and then when he did come back he was playing a lot of time at Casey forward and in the AFL forward. They deliberately nursed him in to the season and Minson got hold of him in that last quarter. But again Gawn had Minson covered for the first 3/4. It was also a wet night with lots of stoppages and Minson is probably the hardest running ruck in the league. He powers up and down the ground and then wrestles like heck at a stoppage. Gawn then competing very well against Pyke and Mumford and against Dawson Simpson in the wet in Geelong without tiring.

Steady on. It's hard to keep track of who's out of contract here yet alone at other clubs.

I'm not paying to read that crap but in fairness to Neeld Jack Watts did need to lift. Notice Roos' comments on Watts. I haven't really heard him praise Watts at all. Just talks about his talent and finding a role for him and sticking with him. Very even and consistent but behind closed doors I think Watts will be given equal parts carrot and stick and that's what he needs.

It's not really fair to be labelled the ugly twin of those two. Good footballers, but that's where their god given talents finished I'd say.

Yep already got Michie and Tyson as guys yet to prove themselves at AFL level. Wouldn't want to add Mackay if it was going to cost us to do so.

Vince and Swan have been mates for ages. They'll go out and drink every now and then. Maybe have a couple too many in the off season and during the bye weeks. But they'll train hard and play hard. I'm not too worried. Of course you have to do a lot of things right by your body to play AFL, but really when it comes down to it it's the hard training and playing hard that are the most important things. If Vince wasn't responsible during the season and didn't train and play as hard as he does he wouldn't have made it to where he is in his career. Same for Swan.

Did you read the thread or just the title? In my opening post I made it very clear this isn't a private v state school thread, and most of the posts in this thread were either discussing the OP or taking the mickey out of private schools. The point of the thread is simply to point out a trend in success of private school/TAC players from certain TAC teams that Roos has had success with.

Because they still get their man at 11 and get Elliot Yeo for free. Makes as much if not more sense than us going from 2 to 9 and getting Dom Tyson for pick 20. Both of these trades (and the Collingwood and GWS ones) are derivatives from the NFL system of draft day trading and moving down the draft (New England Pats the king of this move) in order to get more quantity of good picks rather than 1 higher pick OR moving up in the draft to get the specific player you want. Of course it's much easier in the NFL where you have draft day trading but obviously the clubs have their likely draft orders in their head and are doing the home work now and seeing who they will get. I think making the early call and saying Collingwood are moving to 6 just for Bontempelli is wrong, I think they are moving to 6 to secure one of the guys who they think are a top 3 or 4 talent in this draft. Considering Boyd will probably be number 1 on their list as well as in the draft they just need some difference in the next 4 picks and they'll get who they think is a top 3 or 4 talent which is scary. We are obviously confident of getting one of our top 4 or 5 talents slipping to 9 as well.

Depends which angle of the West Coast/Collingwood deal you look at. West Coast see it as getting in Yeo for nothing really as with pick 11 they'll still get the guy they want which tells me they have keen interest in either of the West Australians in Sheed or Acres. Collingwood on the other hand seem keen enough to move 5 spots forward and take their pick out of whoever slips from Aish, Billings, Scharenberg or make sure they get their man whoever that may be.

I just dont ever see him as an elite clearance player. That title goes to Viney in time. Trengove is an accumulator. He gets the ball through work rate and footy smarts and then uses it cleverly. I don't know if he'll be elite but I see him like Steele Sidebottom but stronger overhead marking. Which is why I think he will be played on a rotation between half forward, wing and some time in the centre square. And of course I expect him to bounce back and be a very good player, probably averaging low to mid 20 touches a game and kicking some goals as well. You have 3 centre square midfielders at any one stage right? That's a total of 300% game time. I see Jones doing 70, McKenzie (tagging) 70, Vince 50, Viney 50 that's 240. Michie, Tyson, Trengove share the rest.