DirtyDees DDC

good article by Colin Wisbey, but i have one concern. If Ball doesn't get his declared wish and is picked up by another club before Collingwood has their pick at 30, i'm worried he may go outside the AFL draft and head for the courts. Luke is not a dill, so he must know there is very little chance he will slip thru to pick 30. A court challenge might be the only way he can get to collingwood. Ihave no inside information. i'm just thinking of a case in the 80's - a swans player who went to St kilda? an italian sounding name?

haha. '..as talented as Watts and Jurrah'. good grief. i'm glad you're not asking for too much!! If anyone in this draft has as much potential as Watts and Jurrah, they will go a lot earlier than pick 11. Let's hope we get lucky again.

We can't finish number 1. We have a big game in China on Oct 17 and we must have a 6 week break b/w our last AFL game and our Shanghai shoot-out with Brisbane. So we'll have use our 'list management' strategies for another year.

It can take 3-5 years to develop a KPF. And it's not an exact science. Let's look at the 2006 draft. We picked Petterd at 30. Ricky's had an interrupted career so far this year because of injuries, but he showed a lot of promise against Port and Richmond. At pick 32 was a tall kid called Tippet who had serious injury issues at the time. And he came from Queensland!! He finally strung a few games together this year and he looks verry good. Adelaide had a gap in their list, so they picked a guy who had less potential than 31 other players that year. I believe there is a core of talls this year who all show potential and are worthy of selection at 11 and 18. I also see a gap in our list of forwards in 3-5 years that i don't see in our midfield or defence. And I don't see Bate as one of the key position forwards, but i may be wrong in a big way. Bate could do some serious damage next year as a running forward. You know the crazy thing with this draft? There is more interest in who we pick at 11, 18 and 34, than who we pick at 1 and 2.

Yes I think CC spilt the beans in this article. However he doesn't make the final decision. I don't know if he's just bluffing with Ball, but i can see why Melbourne would want a 25yo former captain with 140 odd games under his belt. Let's assume we don't pick Ball in the ND and we pick 6 rookies. Also assume we pick Mcdonald in the PSD. That will give us 19 players on the senior list who have played less than 21 games each. That's nearly 1/2 our list. 8 of this group have never played a senior game. Only 5 of the other 21 players have played more than 100 games, and 4 out of the 5 could be gone in 1-3 years. We will start 2010 with the most inexperienced list in the AFL. Luke Ball starts to become an interesting option. We will have a big bunch of kids who need as much senior game time as possible. The problem here is that the FD needs to win games (hopefully double our average of 4 a year for the last 3 years). Otherwise they will be out of a job. It's a juggling act. For example do we pick McDonald or Bruce on the HBF because of their experience and endurance, or do we pick Strauss because of his potential? If DB can get it right he deserves another year.

We may have no choice but to choose a tall key position player for picks 11 and 18. It looks like the middies will dominate the top 10, with Butcher the exception. That leaves a pool of 5-6 talls such as Talia, Black, Vardy, and Carlisle that are tipped to go before the second round. My preference is Black. He's mobile, he has basketball hands, and came equal second in kicking skills at the draft camp. They will also take time to develop. Looking at last years draft, only 2 of the 10 players picked b/w 10 and 19 played senior footy this year. We don't know if any of these players will be as good as Watts, Jurrah and Bate. But we don't even know how good Watts, Jurrah and Bate will be in 3-5 years time. I look at our current player list and see a screaming need for another tall option in 3-5 years besides Watts. Imagine Watts, Jurrah and Black being good enough to rotate thru the key forward positions. I don't know about Jurrah as a permanent FF. I'm old fashioned and i like the big KPF as a target. However the way the game is changing, we may have 20-25% of our players coming from indigenous and overseas backgrounds by 2015. We may regard Jurrah's body size as the ideal shape for a FF or CHF. I agree that Jurrah will be our no. 1 forward target next year. But i'd also like to see him on the wing. And in the middle. Can we clone him? Maybe he has a cousin?

on 5 nov Billy2803 posted this message: "At the risk of being shot down in flames, I have had it on good authority that there is a big announcement from the MFC next week. At this stage, that's all I've got - I'm sorry. So, because of that, does anyone have any SERIOUS thoughts on what this could be. I have been told it has nothing to do with players, it is considerably higher up than that. Sorry folks, it's all I can get. I've never been the rumor-starting type, just thought I'd pass on "something" that I have heard. Can't even name the source. Sounds like a bullsh!t thread, but we'll see what happens." Is this the big announcement? If so, it's a great story. Well done Dees. Our publicity department is working overtime.

Interesting quote in Jacks' article. 'So, what are his expectations for 2010? "I think I'll play up forward. Highly doubt whether I'll be the main forward this year. Just my body, that sort of thing. Try to snag a few goals while I'm at it," he said. "I've got to get my body right, the aerobic fitness at AFL level is just unbelievable. I've got a lot of work to do." No surprises here. He still needs another year before he holds down a key forward positon. Look at Kurt Tippet. This is a possible forward line for next year. Hf Bate, Miller, Jurrah FF Watts, Johnson, Wonaeamirri. This is not a long term list. However it does put 3 big experienced guys next to 3 pups who've played less than 20 games each. Bailey has a tricky job next year. He has to develop players and also remain competitive and win games.

He may also free up Aaron Davey from spending 1/2 the game in the defensive 50. I've heard various reports about McDonald's kicking. Is he good enough to take the kick-outs? That would be one less job for Aaron.

The Luke Ball saga reminds me of the line from Groucho Marx - 'I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member.' It's reported that he wants $500,000 a year and his preferred teams are the Woods and the Dons. It's also reported that he will sit out a year and go overseas if he doesn't get his way. I doubt this. I think he and his management are bluffing. A year with no salary is too much to lose, and it's possibly against the draft rules. It's also unprofessional because it wont work. Some like Voss will call his bluff and pick him. If Luke had made himself available for the PSD, we would have grabbed him. Without a doubt. He would have been a terrific replacement for Brock. I can understand why some fans are keen to pick up Ball in the national draft, but what if he's not bluffing. Would you still risk a pick at 11 or 18?

So Ball wants to go to essendon or collingwood, and Melbourne is being 'actively discouraged' from recruiting him, according to this mornings news. That's OK. Now we know where we stand. Should the FC still indicate publicly that we might pick him at 18? We could force Essendon to pick Ball at pick 10. This sounds like a strategy from 'Survivor'.

It looks like most of the first 10 picks in this draft will be Midfielders, but there might be at least 5 - 6 talls in the second 10 (black, Carlisle, Vardy, Talia, Griffith, and Panos). If we pick a KPP at 11, we might be very lucky and get Vardy at 18. If this morning's news is correct, it wont be Luke Ball. The Herald Sun reports that Ball has chosen essendon or collingwood as his preferred destination, and Melbourne is being 'actively discouraged' from selecting Ball at pick 18. There is talk that Ball might take 12 months off if selected by certain clubs. If this is true, then this should be the end of the 'Luke Ball to Melbourne' saga.

Have a look at our 2010 list as it stands. There are 33 players on that list. Have a good look. How many players on that list could hold down a key forward position in 3-5 years time? Answer... ONE!!! Jack Watts. Not Bate, Martin, Jurrah or Garland. They are needed elsewhere. We don't have a back-up if Watts gets injured. That's why we need to go for a KFP player at pick 11 (assume Skully and Trengove go at 1 and 2 and Butcher in the first 10). At this stage it looks like our best options are Black, Carlisle or Talia. I don't know if there is a standout selection between these 3 players, so I just hope the FC gets it right. As for pick 18, I'd prefer picking a ruckman like Vardy. Jamar is 26 and the only other ruck options in 3-5 years are Spencer and Martin. This draft is about setting us up for the next 5 -10 years.

Former hawthorn coach Peter Schwab was guest commentator during one of Jack's VFL matches this year. He was impressed, but he also suggested that jack should watch Nick Reiwoldt and model himself on Nick's work effort and gut-busting running capacity. I think he has terrific potential and I would still pick pick him over Natanui, Rich, and Hurley.

Hang on. If we finish 16th, don't we get another priority pick? That would effectively give us picks 1 and 5 in the 2010 draft.

Mmmm. promising list, and throw in pick 34, 50 and PSD1. But who is your tagger? I reckon we need someone like Clinton Jones.

Has Anyone got an answer here? Also, If they stay on the rookie list at the club for 2010, then we will have a very strong side at Casey Scorpions. Even without Valenti. Interesting to note that the 3 melboune listed players who played in the the 2009 final for the scorpions are now de-listed. Newton, Valenti, and Zomer.

I think we need a plan B for the PSD in case Ball is not available. If the best available are Joel Mcdonald, Welsh and Mcphee from the Dons, and Mitch Thorpe, then I would prefer Thorpe. He's a young tall forward and we have a may have a vacancy in the key forward position. I don't think we'd get him at 34 or the rookie list. Good move getting him to train with us. We can check if there are any issues with fitness and attitude. As for Ball, the papers indicate he hasn't re-signed with st kilda yet, and may still be considering his options. Does he have to decide by this friday?

Do we need a spot in the 22 for a designated tagger, such as Jones of St kilda or Cameron Ling? If so, who will it be? Is lynden Dunn up for this type of role (he did a good job on pavlich in rd 20) or Bartram? Or could Moloney be turned into a tagger? I'm thinking about Bartel's key role in tagging Lenny Hayes in the GF, and Ling on Del Santo.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Watts spend some time on the backline next year. Melbourne may develop him like Hurley at Essendon. It would also give Garland a chance to go forward. If Davey spends more time drifting forward next year (good move - he only kicked 9 goals in 2009) then there is a vacancy on the backline for a mobile midflielder who can kick the footy. Perhaps Maric could fill this role if he has a good pre-season.

Totally agree. If Luke wants to play for Melbourne then he can do that very easily by nominating for the PSD, and we will pick him up. Good. If he doesn't nominate for the PSD then he doesn't want to play for the 'Dees, and there is no point in wasting picks 11, 18, 34 or 50 for him.

Have a look at our ruck selection. Nearly everyone has picked Jamar as No 1 Ruck. No big surprise. He's tall, strong, fit and at 26 is coming into his prime as a ruckman. He only played 7 games this year but was clearly our best tall option. He kicked 5 against Carlton and monstered Natanui. We could get at least 3-4 good years from the big Russian. He would provide terrific support and plenty of shade for our new army of midfielders. So why did we only offer him a one year extension on his contract?

Assume we pick Scully and Trengove. Backs: Bennell, Frawley, Garland, Rivers, Warnock, Mcdonald, Grimes. Midfield/on-ballers: Jamar, Davey, Moloney, Morton, Blease, Bruce, Scully, Trengove. Forwards: Sylvia, Bate, Green, Watts, Jurrah, Wonaemirri, Martin That makes 22. Backups include Jones, Petterd, Strauss, Maric, Jetta, Dunn, Miller, Johnson, Cheney, Spencer. These guys will have to step up and replace Mcdonald, Bruce and Green in the next 2 years. I didn't take long to pick the backline. We just need someone who can take the kick-outs. There are a lot of options in midfield and you can throw in Sylvia, Grimes and Martin to help out. Trengove and Scully reportedly have great stamina and need lots of gametime. So does Sam Blease. Can we afford to pick up Luke Ball and still develop our list? The forwards were tricky. We are currently scratching for options in the key positions. So we may need to use picks 11 and 18 to get a promising key position player. Look at Kurt Tippett. He was selected at pick 32 in the 2006 draft. Bring on 2010!!