DeeSpencer

A tick for versatility in the ruck. I considered Clark, but in the end when naming an 18 decided not everyone was going for a second ruck so why me! I think your spine lacks power. Down the spine when my boy Buddy gets firing are Morris, Reid or Ryder good enough to stop him? Up forward Clark and Kennedy both need room to lead. Kreuzer is coming off an ACL and isn't a power ruckman either, although your ruck depth means you can work big boys over.However, whatever power your spine lacks you make up for in the middle. But maybe your missing line breakers as well. With the rest of your smalls I'd say a weakness is that backline with the injury prone Gram and Hartlett and Toy on debut. Toy will be very good, but I'm happier with Swallow in a lesser role than Toy at BP against all stars. Goodes and Stevie J were a bit off their best in 2010, can they rebound or are they slipping? An interesting team, that I'd want to watch.

So I rearranged your team to how I think they would line up. I don't like Brennan or Davey as defenders. Similarly Salopek plays more half back and Ibbotson plays deeper as well. No doubt you have a very talented list of players (Lake and Jolly firs class big men for example) but there is something I don't like about the team. I think Goddard is wasted as a CHB, I much prefer him with the freedom of being a midfielder, even if he starts off half forward. I think Knights and Gumbleton are too injury prone and wouldn't expect much from Gumby next year. Fev is surely past his best. Brennan and Lindsay Thomas are inconsistent. I can't bag Brad Green, he'd be good for 50 goals! Jackson is best suited as a tagger, Ibbotson may or may not make it as a decent player. Despite having Davey I think your midfield lacks line breakers. Lewis and Murphy haven't found the next level as footballers, and putting Hanners as a rover is a lot of pressure on him. You've selected extremely good players, but I don't think you've created an optimal team. Anyone else agree?

Who don't you rate, Kennedy or David Swallow. David Swallow is arguably the most ready number 1 draft pick of the modern times, having played WAFL, VFL and being in an AFL system for a year. I'm super happy to have him and think he'll be awesome as a HFF/wingman which is where he would be in my team. Kennedy isn't anything special and I didn't rate him before this year but he improved as the year went on and ended up topping his teams disposals in both of Sydney's (closely fought) finals. He's a specialist inside mid but his career is tracking a bit like Jobe Watson and whilst he's a bit away from the elite inside mids (Hayes, Selwood, Bartel) I don't think he is much off Andrew Swallow, Mitchell even Watson. As we don't get a bench you don't want too many of the same types so I'm probably happier with Kennedy and David than Kennedy and Andrew. That said a Swallow brothers combination would have been perfect but HT ruined it!

Pick 174 - Mitch Morton (Rich) After not going early with the tigers I knew it would be slim pickings but I was happy with either going Connors or Grigg off half back or Morton for a spot in the forward line. Yes he's up and down like a yo-yo but I think he's got the talent and this year he found out what its about. It's make or break for him next year and I think he can cement himself as a talented half forward/midfield rotation player similar (not quite as good) as Colin Sylvia. He's only 23 so hardly a surprise it hasn't clicked yet. FB: J. Surjan (Port) N. Grima (NM) S. Hurn (WCE) HB: J. Kelly (Geel) L. McPharlin (Fre) J. Adcock (Bris) C: D. Thomas (Coll) S. Thompson (Adel) S. Hill (Fre) HF: M. Morton (Rich) L. Henderson (Carl) D. Swallow (GC) FF: A. Monfries (Ess) L. Franklin (Haw) A. Schneider (StK) R: M. Jamar (Melb) J.P. Kennedy (Syd) R. Griffen (WB) A lot of good teams have been put together, but I'm very happy with mine. The spine is solid, with Grima and McPharlin very honest defenders, Henderson a nice lead up forward CHF with a big tank and plenty of improvement to come, Jamar a top 3 ruck and Franklin the X factor. The midfield is led by the experience of Thompson backed up by a big body in Kennedy providing support to the class of Griffen, Thomas and Hill. My small defenders are good defensively and highly skilled. I would have loved another nippy small forward to poor on the pressure but I'm happy with 4 guys who can rotate in the middle, apply forward pressure and mark and goal themselves. Every player can win the ball and use it and I think this team would work very well together, not just be a list of gun players. With McPharlin I believe being the oldest at having just turned 29 I think this team would lose nothing over the next 3 years. It's also ready to go with a lot of players just entering their peaks (the exception being Swallow but I think we can accept that a number 1 draft pick midfielder is ready to go from round 1, especially when given the cover of this midfield).

Taken at pick 125

9 Richmond picks so far means (barring someone wild carding a Richmond player) I've got my free choice of them last, so will save that pick. So down to Port. 8 - Boak, Gray, Pearce, Chaplin, Cassisi, Salopek, Hartlett, Carlile gone. Considered a second ruck in Brogan, their most reliable player in K. Cornes, young CHB Trengove and injured/unfit trio Rodan, Ebert and Motlop. In the end went for a solid back pocket in Surjan who should do a good job most weeks. Pick 167 - Jacob Surjan (Port) FB: J. Surjan N. Grima S. Hurn HB: J. Kelly L. McPharlin J. Adcock C: D. Thomas S. Thompson S. Hill HF: A. Monfries L. Henderson D. Swallow FF: ______ L. Franklin A. Schneider R: M. Jamar J.P. Kennedy R. Griffen

I know you put a limit on games but I still think Cornelius should make the list. He's a good young full forward (another part of the Fevola story is that this guy is missing out on senior games which is a shame for his development).

Also considering he's staring right at me in your picture there!

Pick 154 - Jed Adcock (Bris) FB: _____ Grima Hurn HB: Kelly McPharlin Adcock C: Thomas Thompson Hill HF: Monfries Henderson D. Swallow FF: ______ Franklin Schneider R: Jamar Kennedy Griffen The guy seems to spend half his time injured but is a very classy player when fit.

How much work does Watts do with someone like Frawley on his tail. Because if he's going half pace and still executing with Frawley on his back then I really couldn't care! I think the FD will slowly try to ramp up his intensity, but he's got a long career ahead of him and this is his first full preseason. It's good to know he's going out there and looking very clean with his training even if its not at the 110% that is required. Jurrah doesn't seem to cop much heat for not training the house down because we all cut him break. Yet as soon as Wattts doesn't look like he's training at full intensity he gets a wrap.

Don't you mean skinfolds not BMI. If it was done on BMI Moloney would be king of the fat group from now until 2015. Trengove looked like he had high skinfolds when he returned, but also looked very strong so if high skin folds early in preseason is the price to pay for added bulk I'm not disappointed.

The players who get whipped the most are the ones who are inconsistent or seem to keep getting games regardless of form. Hopefully this year with a good spread of depth and without an established best 22 as such that players either find a level or consistency or find themselves out of the side. I've never found much join whipping players like Newton or Bartram for his kicking. Rivers is an interesting case because he seems to have days when he is on and days when he's not so great. Sometimes I get into Bate, other times I just realise he's slow, he can't pick it up below his knees and he can't see targets unless that are 60m away on his left or are big white sticks. Overall I hope the team can find some improvement and have regular wins, that way no one has to suffer our wrath!

My thoughts. Bollinger out: fair enough Hilf + Johnson in: Hilf had one bad test, deserves to be in squad and only missing out if the wickets aren't meant to swing. I don't like the re inclusion of Johnson - but he is a test performer so I won't go all high horse on it. There's too much to complain about to worry about what they are doing with MJ. Doherty Out/ Beer In: We don't seem to have a spinner in the country who is up to it. We need a plan going forward on how to address this. All I want from the selectors is some kind of plan. Ie. were going to go horses for courses for a while, or where going to give everyone a try, or were including this guy and that's how its going to be. I hope this Beer dude can field. North out: had to happen Smith in: BAD! if he's going to be an all rounder or spinner the pressure of walking in now to bat at number 6 will ruin his bowling development. They've pushed the trigger too early in searching for a replacement. Both Hussey and Khawaja have first class averages of 50+. Hussey has an average of 55 with over 10,000 first class runs. Khawaja is technically organised, 24 and not in hopeless form this summer. Blooding youngsters is fine, but you have to give them a chance. Now Smith is in he needs a big chance, even though I think at 6 he is destined to fail. Man it sucks that McDonald got injured. Hughes In: He's had some success at test level and a good first class average. I'm willing to give him a shot as his only competition is Marsh, who despite some good scores of late is not up to it.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/the-quiet-boys-night-that-turned-into-tears-and-accusations-20100811-11zt2.htmlSchneider estimates he had between 17 and 23 drinks that night. ''I don't forget things but I was a little bit drunk,'' he said.

Yeah but I like him, and he's 4 years younger than Milne. I think I read in the paper he was asked if he had been drinking on the night of the Lovett mishap and said he had 16-18 beers. I enjoyed that. Where as Milne with his lisp would drive me up the wall.

And with Jackson gone my list of Richmond players gets down to practically zero. I think I'll save them for last now and take the best of whats left. Pick 147 - Adam Schneider (StK) - Gram failed the medical and Milne failed the interview. FB: _____ Grima Hurn HB: Kelly McPharlin _____ C: Thomas Thompson Hill HF: Monfries Henderson D. Swallow FF: ______ Franklin Schneider R: Jamar Kennedy Griffen

He's 26! He had a horrible year with injuries but surely its a bit premature to right him off as his body giving up on him. He hardly plays a collision game like a CHF, I fully expect him to be back in form this year. He's right up there for one of my next 2 picks. Or am I bluffing

This is just the funniest sentence I think I've ever read on here.I don't identify with any particular faith but I'm all for a chaplain. Sure their religion might interrupt their message occasionally but give me someone who's dedicated and committed to their work instead of a counsellor. You can get a counselling degree out of a cereal packet.

Spewing you took Hartlett E25! Pick 134 - Josh Kennedy (Syd) FB: _____ Grima Hurn HB: Kelly McPharlin _____ C: Thomas Thompson Hill HF: D. Swallow Henderson Monfries FF: ______ Franklin ______ R: Jamar Kennedy Griffen

Pick 126 - James Kelly (Geel) FB: _____ Grima Hurn HB: Kelly McPharlin _____ C: Thomas Thompson Hill HF: D. Swallow Henderson Monfries FF: ______ Franklin ______ R: Jamar ______ Griffen

Damn you! I wanted Banfield so much, he was the player I wanted from Brisbane more than any other, was just waiting until a suitable pick.

That weight was never right. He was an elite runner before he entered the AFL system, he was never 91kg. His weight might not have changed too much since he got to the club but he has defenitely added some bulk this year.

Thanks for the report Bhima. I won't get drawn into the speculation on Moloney or Cook because it is just that. Can I ask about Maric, Petterd and Morton. I want to know if Maric is still 'flying', if Petterd is 'back' and if Morton has 'stepped it up'. Also any word on the WA rookies - I didn't expect them to be there yesterday but I wonder if they will make it on Friday. If Nicholson has the physical attributes (speed and endurance) to play AFL early, but his kicking needs improvement, what does everyone think about playing him as a tagger. We lack a designated tagger and lack players with the right combination of speed and endurance in our midfield to do it. Jones was found out in the role last year. It should be pretty hard to break into our midfield, and he might also struggle for a look in down back, but the tagging role could suit him.

+1Quite a few of us obviously very keen on Varcs. Lets hope his preseason injury dints his influence! Might have to go with Matty Cokes instead.

Pick 114 - Wildcard pick - L. McPharlin (Freo) The Master's Team: FB: _____ Grima Hurn HB: ________ McPharlin _____ C: Thomas Thompson Hill HF: D. Swallow Henderson Monfries FF: ______ Franklin ______ R: Jamar ______ Griffen I decided it was time to take my second key back. Tossed up going for a more natural full back N. Brown, Carlile, Dawson, Thompson or any other good defender - Tarrant, T. Williams, C. Bolton, Grundy, Gibson. But at the end of the day thought Grima is versatile enough to play full back and McPharlin just has an edge of class on most of those.