DeeSpencer

He won 2 out of 3 games at the highest level available for him to play at and had 30, 28 and 24 touches in each of the games and was named in the best. Seems he didn't back it up at TAC level but he did produce when needed. Again if we look at dominant Under 18 championships we need to look no further than Morton and Watts but it's not bad production http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-06-15/top-prospect-boyd-injured http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-06-28/metro-duo-shine-but-sa-wins http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-07-03/metro-take-top-billings Personally I just wish Lewis Taylor came with a few more cm's because he has amazing talent, it's just hard to pick a 175cm guy with pick 2.

Thanks for the insight. Although I disagree a bit about the phantom drafts, they start off very rough but by the time the draft happens they are usually pretty accurate. Look at EQ's from last year, pretty much spot on - http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/the-pick-of-the-crop-20121117-29jct.html

Only for a guy like Shuey or Rockliff who would fit in that list. You also have to consider there's no Jack Martin or Jesse Hogan in this draft so our pick 2 is really equivalent to a pick 4. If this was an untouched draft we'd be looking at one of Hogan, Martin or Boyd and probably not trading the pick. The names in pick 4 aren't nearly as consistent as pick 2's.

24 touches and a goal without a clearance is pretty good work. Shows he knows how to win the ball outside and get involved in play. And you don't want him mixing it inside too much with bigger bodies. Another preseason and a little more bulk without pushing him too hard and he'll add to that side of his game at league level and I'm sure will do very well against his own age. I wonder if their are any plans to maybe get him down to AAMI park in the preseason... or even more controversially send him to boarding school in Melbourne and let him have a Jesse Hogan/Jack Viney type year in Melbourne. If Hoges and Toumpy move out he could actually move in with the Vineys at our football factory.

This is a positive sign. He'd be wise to keep that same policy for his entire career. My thinking on Garlett is the guy has talent but regardless of off field stuff I only see him as a forward, if a guy struggles with fitness at 19 the chance they become a full time midfielder is pretty rare. I agree with the theory of recruiting mids who can play forward much higher than forwards who can play mid. From some footage he looks much more a running player than a guy who can also do well overhead like the best small forwards ie. Michael Walters. Seems to me based on talent alone he'd be a more polished version of Dean Kent but maybe the midfield potential and hardness lean towards Kent. He'd also be a project on the field and off. All up I'd be keen to have him but I feel like we'd find on field talents who are just as good up to the third round of the draft and maybe he's a chance for a late pick. The kids becoming a victim of his own hype I feel. The clubs are using the off field stuff to try and dampen the hype around him on field because they aren't sure he's up to it that's my read on things.

You know those two sentences contradict each other. The saints will trade Hayes, Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Montagna and the rest of their team before they trade Jack Steven. He's untouchable. Involving pick 2 if necessary??? It would take 3 pick 2's to get the saints even interested. It would be like us trading Nathan Jones.

That's why he's gone there. Free for any extra curricular behaviour without people following him around. And if he misses the girls he probably only has to get the word out he's on 10 mil over the next 9 years. They'll come running for cash if not celebrity. The story of Buddy deciding Sydney might be right for him after media started camping outside his house after he crashed his car is horribly ironic. If he wasn't doing 90 in a 50 zone and about to lose his licence then the car accident wouldn't have been a story and then the media wouldn't have been outside his house.

Shuey for pick 2 and I'm happy. Class ball user and ball winner. Only concern is injuries and therefor you could justify a sweetner on the trade, maybe our 3rd round pick for their second round pick could work. But right now I'd take the straight swap. If Shuey is strong enough on coming home in 2015 then the eagles would have to consider our offer of pick 2 because they are unlikely to get a better one when he's out of contract and they lose the leverage.

If Bailey retired the Hawks could be interested in someone like Jamar to go with Billy Longer. They certainly wont give us anything for him though considering they'd be taking his contract off our books

Maybe we should focus on trading pick 20 and the Sylvia compensation pick be that pick 21 or 41 for guys like Myers, Henderson, Michie and Greenwood or whoever else we can find if they'll be best 22 midfield. Pick 2 might just be too hard to trade without an obvious out of contract player keen to come back to Victoria.

Rockliff's 3 weeks training out at Casey must have sure left a positive mark! By the way I think Brisbane would turn down pick 2 even if Rockliff was desperate to leave which I figure he isn't. They are going to have picks poring in for Longer, Dochery, Yeo, Karnezis and Polec. The last 3 should get second round picks. Longer should get a first and Docherty should get something between 15 and 25. Maybe our trade isn't Rockliff but is Brisbane and we are trading pick 2 for a whole bunch of first and second round picks that we can disperse for reasonable quality players.

Mark Jamar. Who else would want him!

Anyone else think this guys a bit of a spud. Just not a very smart footballer. Can kick but doesn't use the ball well. Doesn't win a heap of the ball. Isn't really a forward, inside mid or outside mid. I'd take him for a third round pick because he's ready to go and would add something but I would kind of be hoping he gives us 50 decent games over the next few years but then gets pushed out by more talented players.

He's got a solid background but he's President. He has to be across all aspects. I presume a football subcommittee or football director is appropriate as well. Can you blame me for wanting extra football knowledge on our board in light of recent times.

Picked a good time to get out. But we do need at least 1 replacement on the board with football knowledge. Paul Hopgood? Anthony Ingerson? Back to Leoncelli? The big man David Neitz? Would like to see someone go for it.

I don't want another pick. The club doesn't either. They want prime mature footballers who can perform. And I'm not at all scared of FA but it's time to reassess how we deal with it. We are 0-3 so far losing Moloney, Rivers and Sylvia. We have to get on the front foot to secure Frawley. As for those saying we can just match the contract well that might have been an option but this Franklin deal has shown that a club is not at all scared of the "restricted" FA and have plenty of ways to deal with that problem.

Why not just hire Dew and use our President and leading employment lawyer Bartlett to defend him in Sydney's case against him. The President wanted the club to be ruthless, here's his chance.

I don't think you need a gun key forward, but come grand final day you need a forward to stand up and make a difference. For Hawthorn it was Gunston. For Freo, with a better start they way he played in the second half and based on talent it would be Michael Walters. I think Freo are almost a lock for the grand final next year, whether they win it will come down to things like injuries and luck.

Salary cap seems to go up by 500k every year. Dustin Martin just got 500k a year and Franklin just got 1.1 million a year or realistically more when you imagine they wont be attributing that much value to him when he's 35. Frawley plays on and usually does a damn good job on Franklin. Mumford just got 600k and he's fat and got dodgy knees Trust me Frawleys name will be everywhere for most of next year and will be a huge drama until we sign him. Daisy Thomas has shown you can miss a whole year injured and still people will cough up the cash. Make Frawley an offer he can't refuse now and get some good news. Plenty of others can sing on next year if we start improving.

Time to offer Frawley a 5 year 4 million dollar deal now before he becomes next years version of Franklin as the biggest name in free agency and walks out on us. Sydney were sniffing around Franklin this time last year, so clubs will be all over Chip now. I'm tipping Gold Coast would be keen, GWS probably, Hawthorn to replace Lake and probably more. Has to happen.

Operation find a midfielder who wants it and a club who wants pick 2.

A lot of blame on Sylvia leaving can be attributed to Neeld. If we had a coach who actually saw us win some games over the last 2 years Sylvia would be tempted to stay. If we had a coach that didn't ship off Sylvia's best mate in Moloney but actually got him committed to doing his absolute best to play 2 way running hard and contested footy we probably would've seen Sylvia stay. But Neeld went down a road of youth and getting rid of under performers instead of rehabilitating them and that's fair enough. He just didn't expect us being so bad obviously. It really doesn't take much for us to become a destination club. Sure we wont be preferenced over the big boys and top 4 but if we just get out of the bottom 4 then we will have the cash to bring some decent fringe players along for the ride.

That's my dream. Finding 7 better than Sylvia probably isn't all that hard. He was the definition of mediocrity as a midfielder. But as a flanker he offered the potential to be a good versio of one of the other 5 mids you need each week. Ie Sydney's version of Bird, Mitchell, Bolton, McGlynn. Now we hope Roos can work magic with guys like Kent, Bail, Taggert, Tapscott and Blease

On what basis does it guarantee 3. If all is going pear shape he'll bail. Roos is a smart operator but the guy is also very good at looking after Paul Roos before anyone else.

Obviously if Freo could afford him considering they brought in Pearce last year and have some guys on big coin then that tells me their offer (and subsequently ours as well) wasn't over the top. It's good to see we didn't try to sell the farm for a guy who obviously wasn't that committed anyway. Unfortunately that also hurts us in compensation, but I really hope we get a second rounder. I'd say we use our third round pick on Viv Michie. He only got 1 game for Freo this year and will only fall further down the pecking order with Sylvia there. Averaged 25 touches a game in the WAFL this year, has plenty of class, I think he'd be interested.