Slartibartfast

As to you lefty! Didn't realise it was you. Did you know it was me when we chatted? Keep safe mate.

It was hot and windy, difficult conditions that we handled pretty well. Rehab: Vanders and Petty. Pretty much the same as last week. Joined all drills other than the zoning drill I will describe later. Jones and KK. Walked a few laps and then did multiple 100 metre runs around the boundary at about half pace. Neither looked at all inconvenienced. Hannan. Similar to Jones and KK except he ran straight line 100m working up from slow to three quarter pace. Did some specific exercises with one of the physio's concentrating on gait and agility. Spargo: unsighted Bennell: a late arrival and did some gentle boundary running. Tomlinson and Baker: walking That's it for rehab. All the other players did the full session other than Jackson, Rivers and Pickett who joined some of the drills and some specialized drills away from the main group. It was a "craft" day today from what I could tell. There was no match sim but many drills concentrating on specific areas. The main drill of interest was two "teams" practicing zoning and kicking within the zone. The players were continually telling each other where to go, where to stand and alerting them to opposition positioning. The "playing area" was about half the size of a soccer field. Other drills involved marking and spoiling exercises in a three man up situation. Still others involved kicking to leading forwards and there was some "loose" goal kicking practice. The session was only about 2 hours and not nearly as intense as last week, nor as long. The session was one where individual players didn't really stand out but Steve May's kicking is a thing of beauty. In difficult conditions he regularly found tight targets. Beyond that no player really caught my notice for either good or bad reasons. Pickett was there and moves really nicely, is clean with the ball and disposes well. He'll play earlier than many think, particularly if Bennell isn't available. Jackson continues to impress with his skills (and I only mention this because of the concern prior to draft). All in all a low key session in hot and difficult conditions.

I haven't seen enough of him Dazzle to know what the club might have in mind. I'd be stunned if he played midfield early and I think if he plays early it will be as third forward with ruck relief for Gawn. What I do think is this kid has some pretty unique talents. Someone call him a unicorn. Develop him properly, don't rush him and play him when he's earned it and is ready in a role that doesn't demand too much of him. ANB: my take on ANB is that he's a fair player in a good team but one who will struggle in a bad team (like last year). He's got skills that can prosper when there are good players around him but he can't make the play at AFL level. It's why he struggled last year. Gisberts: I don't understand why people continue to pot this bloke. It wasn't his fault he was picked early by an incompetent national recruiting manager and joined a disfunctional club. He won two rising stars, he earned Brownlow votes. He was an MFC player who after the arrival of Mark Neeld may well have suffered some mental illness issues. So how about we just get off the kids back, in another environment he may well have thrived, he could certainly play.

Just as a summary this is a list of the players not in full training due to some level of injury Jones Spargo Brayshaw?? KK Hannan Baker Petty AVB Bennell As far as I can tell that's about it. Of those, AVB and Petty are very close and Brayshaw is probably okay. Oh, and just another comment. I was very impressed with Tom Sparrow today. Was in everything and really looked the part. He's a solid boy and looks to have the body to play AFL now, he's aggressive at the ball and he kicks it quite well. There was a fair bit to like today.

Just back from training. I got there at 9.12 but I was late. They were already out there doing some warm up drills and gentle kicking. The first person I saw was Vanders. He did all the drills other than the match sims and a few of the specialist drills at the end where instead he ran 300m at a fair pace with Harry Petty. He looks in good shape. Petty also completed some of the drills at one stage taking a great grab over Preuss. Bennell and Tomlinson joined the rehab group at about 10 but I don't know what they did as I was on the other side of the ground. After a few handball keepings off type drills where unlike Wednesday there was "respectful tackling" they did match sims. It wasn't full on in terms of tackling but it was in terms of pace. And the news from the sims is "Jack's back". Vines was absolutely outstanding, got leather poisoning, was hard at it and added blind turns, good kicking, clean hand and great balance and agility to the sim. Melk had a great patch where he had it on a string, Fritter was on the end of a few, TMac marked very well and Weed held some good grabs. May's kicking is outstanding and Lever was also busy down back. Jackson and Rivers played the first sim and Jackson is so agile, found the ball in play and moves like a mid with good vision and execution including one blind turn and give off highlighting his work. Rivers looks likely particularly early. Clean, agile and a lovely kick. Neita and Hunt were opposed on my wing. Both were involved and Neita reminds me of a young Langdon with a better kick. I like what I'm seeing of him as he looks a natural winger to me (if there is such a position) and it will be interesting to see how he goes this year. One to watch. Another who impressed was Chandler. He's got a lot of good attributes with speed and agility being the standouts. He can kick too. The downer was Brayshaw leaving early although he didn't look too distressed. It wasn't a leg injury so I really can't add much. Hannan and KK were in rehab and not working very hard. These two don't look close to me. Jones wasn't there when I was but apparently walked some laps before I got there. After the second match sim selected groups did different things. But there were a number who literally ran off to AAMI not to be seen again. There was a clear emphasis on tackling again, Lewis was working with different players on goal kicking snaps and Stafford was working with Jackson on his kicking which looked pretty good to me. I could confirm what we know. Weed has really filled out and looks good taking some nice marks and kicking well. Oh, the other to be really involved was Hibbo. Ran well, defended and had a heap of it but for a lovely looking kick can he miss targets. He's done it his whole career with us so nothing much has changed. Lockhart was also impressive in patches and JJ also was involved. I left at about 11.50 when I decided the footy's were away but they were still going after 12. A long hard session with many of the players looking spent.

I'd like to ask him who he expects to jump out of the pack this year and surprise. Also, where is Petty pencilled in to play. Some really good questions suggested here, mine are mundane.....

I think this is a big misconception. Keeping players in the 2's and letting them learn their craft there rather than in seniors when they are not really ready for it is a big plus for me. Let players develop at their appropriate level and promote them when they are ready. Secondly we are not in "development" mode, we are in "win the flag mode". The player that is the most valuable to the team at the time plays. I hope we've passed the "give the kids a game to give them a taste" stage. We're better than that. A good moneyball selection for mine.

On drafting: Moneyball selection, very good depth and can play competent AFL footy. I support it. On training: He seemed mainly to be at the other end to me and by the end of training looked spent. Look he's the player he was at Essendon and will be the same for us. Good luck to him but I suspect if he plays the FD will be disappointed that Weed or TMac haven't kept him out (injury or form).

I could say autocorrect but I’d be lying. Jackson of course with apologies to the man himself. Perhaps I should change my name to Old Baghdad Bob.

I arrived at about 9.15 with things well underway. I won't repeat what Demonland has said about rehab and missing players only to confirm that TMac was doing gentle agility runs and small kicks in rehab when I arrived but didn't look in any trouble at all. The missing as far as I could tell were Jones, KK, AVB, Spargo. The drills included the "handball game" where you had to handball to a teammate and run the ball down the "ground" for a goal. A missed handball or a "touched" player with ball was a turnover. They did this at full steam for about 30 minutes and looked exhausted at the end of it. Then onto the ground sims and I'm not surprised some of the skills were off. The was gentle contact in the drills but no physical pressure. On the sidelines were a rotating group with a heavy emphasis on tackling technique with a coach I didn't know. There was wrestling and some exhausting looking drills one which included diving under a person's leg and then bunny hopping back over them. They seemed to do about 20 of these. The new boys were involved in all these but didn't do the match sim stuff. They finished with running. Most were doing 100 metre run throughs but Gawn, Preuss, Trac, JJ, Dunkley, Sparrow, Langdon and Brayshaw were doing repeat 300 metre runs around the boundary. JJ won each one in about 50 seconds. They did about 6 with somewhere between 20 seconds and two minutes intervals. I left when the footy's were put away shortly after. Some player observations: Trac. It's been said before but he looks in ripping condition and just looks a cut above everyone else with his speed, ball handling, kicking and agility. He stood out like dogs testicles. Joel Smith - trained well I thought particularly in the handball games. No sign of any residual physical issues from last season. JJordan - looks in really good shape. He doesn't look quick in a straight line but had no trouble in the handball drills finding space and executing. His running is great. Neita - first time I'd really seen him. Not what I thought. He's a half back flank/wing runner. Not a big body but found a lot of space in the sims although his kicking was a bit off. He wasn't the only one. ANB - boy, can this bloke run. Was in everything but no noticeable improvement in execution. Hibberd - how can someone with such a nice kicking action miss so many targets? He looks to have taken off some weight over the off season. Jackson - reports about his poor kicking have been grossly overstated. Kossi - will be a fan favourite. Didn't see much of him today as the young kids clearly being managed. Rivers - moved nicely and not shy. All he did today was good but I didn't see him under any pressure. Hunt - looks good but struggles to get involved. Sparrow - second in the runs behind JJ and was involved. Chandler - did some really nice things. Has pace, was sure with the ball and clean. Impressive Dunkley - the invisible man. Probably got heaps but just seems to be one of those players you don't notice. It was windy today and by the time they did the sims they'd gone hard for about 90 minutes. I'm not surprised they were a bit scrappy. But if Trac stays fit - get excited.

If AVB is fit he’ll be one of the first selected. You can take that to the bank.

What type of player is Sokol. Who would he replace in the best 22? How much coverage for the Sokol position do we have and how much coverage for the Brown position do we have. I think it's more about list balance than anything.

In my view this is a very overplayed issue for us. It's easy to forget that in 2018 we were the highest scoring team in the comp but some margin. You don't do that unless you've got skill, move the ball quickly and know what you're doing. There was a lot made of the "chaos" ball but again that was overplayed. Last year we weren't fit, hadn't practiced and had around 15 injured most weeks. That led to our lack of speed and poise. I'm very excited about Jackson and Pickett. I think we've drafted well and safely over the last 5 years but we've lacked flair, particularly once Garlett faded. Now we have two very high octane X factor players, we have Bennell in the wings and we're fit for this time of year. It's all pretty positive as far as I can see. I don't get excited over highlight tapes usually, but these guys really do have some tricks.

So in a nutshell you say we should bid on Green to deny GWS an additional pick even if we rate Jackson higher. I say we should just take who we want and let the cards fall. There are 16 other clubs as well as GWS Rusty, we need to be the best we can be, not sacrifice outselves for the whole competition. Anyway I've had my say.

Rusty we want Jackson (by all accounts). If we select him it's because we want him. If we want Green we'll bid on him. Our primary objective is to get the best player (by our judgement). We are not going to bid on Green just to stop GWS getting one more player. One more good player to GWS is like coals to Newcastle. Playing games with you're draft picks and bidding will find you out. If Green is as good as you say some will bid on him early. If not he's not rated by others as he is here.

Why wouldn't other clubs pick Green if he was best available at the spot. It means GWS will have to use more of their picks for points and if they don't match the bid the other club gets Green who is best available. It's a no lose situation for the bidding club. We won't bid on Green because we want Jackson and we suspect GWS won't match. Sure we deny them a pick but we miss the player we want. That's just dumb.

Rusty you've spent a lot of time looking a vision but you are missing something if you think we are solely drafting a ruckman. He's a high possession winning tall who Taylor believes will play forward. We aren't drafting a ruckman. It's frustrating that there is a lack of vision of him playing forward but Taylor has seen him do this multiple times. You're flying blind, he isn't. Again I haven't seen Green play but I see in two phantom drafts now that predict he is unlikely to be bid on until later in the top 10. These guys are professional recruiters, they want to keep their job so they do as well as they can. If the first (say) 8 clubs don't bid on Green then how silly would we be to do it. This draft speculation is lots of fun but we are amateurs with only part of the information and vision the recruiters have. Time to trust their judgement.

Hey @Axis of Bob how did we do? What did you think of our strategy and were you surprised at the draft order. While you're at it, tatts numbers please!!

Well Demonland has a lot to answer for in that case: 2019 AFL draft First round: 7pm - 9.30pm Wednesday November 27 Second round onwards: 7pm - 9.30pm Thursday November 28

What!!!! I'm due to go out!!! Ahhhh..........................................................

I'm not sure why I'm responding to this because the first bit of information is but a click away and the second point just rot. Cameron was in the rookie draft and Betts was in the PSD. Neither have been in premiership teams. Either was Robbie Flower but perhaps you're not a fan of his either. Teams win premierships not players. Have a think about that and a lot might fall into place for you.

Too many here are evaluating Jackson on the basis he is only a ruckman. If that were the case I'd agree it's a silly pick. But Jason Taylor said that towards the end of the season he saw Jackson play forward and was impressed. I imagine he was impressed because as a "ruckman" he kept getting the ball as a forward and having an impact both in the air and at ground level as the good tall forwards do. IMO we are looking at Jackson more as a forward than as a ruckman. We might think he will go into the ruck when needed or when Gawn retires (many years yet) but we are planning for him to be a forward first. The lack of vision of his forward work is frustrating. Many here have seen him play ruck (either live or through replay) but none have really seen him play much forward (with apologies to Chaser and Pennent), so the negativity is really based on a wrong premise or lack of knowledge. Jackson is a forward come midfielder (I know he's not a midfielder but he follows up and gets the ball at ground level) come ruckman for mine. In other words he could be anything but is very likely to be something. Too many clubs are interested for this to be a misplaced pick. I'm loving this draft. We look like getting some really interesting and potentially exciting players and having said all that we still don't know what picks we'll have with the genuine possibility we'll trade pick 10. What a great nights entertainment tomorrow.

I can understand the concern at taking someone like Pickett at pick 10 but perhaps we are just a bit ahead of the curve. Charlie Cameron and Eddie Betts are two of the most influential small X factor forwards of recent times and neither were taken in the National Draft. Small forwards, in a lot of cases, have been taken late because of the reasons mentioned here. But good ones are match winners. If the Betts and Cameron drafts were done retrospectively they'd both be in the top 10, perhaps top 5. If we take Pickett it's because we believe he can have the same impact as other elite small forwards. If we are right we've got a bargain, if not we'll be one of many clubs that have a miss with a pick in that vacinity. Personally I hope we take him unless someone we really rate slides. I believe we have a good list, as Mahoney said our list is pretty much set. We don't want for a lot as long as our (the FD) evaluation of players is correct (Weid and Petty succeeding for example). The other thing is that many here overrate pick 10. It can throw up some guns but it can also throw up some duds. All pick 10's are guns when drafted but there are a lot of duds amoungst them. We have been crying out for X factor for years. Many here have lamented we don't have it and now as we look like getting it many have gone all gun shy.

Thanks for the reports Scoop, much appreciated. Vanders? Joel Smith?