Dee-licious

I did mine and picked the 5 Melbourne players first. Then found it very hard to pick the other 17. There are so many really great players in that 40 and huge that we have 5 of them. Such a great sign because guys like Walsh, Brayshaw, Kings, Anderson look like being greats of the game.

Taj is really interesting. We know that his coaches rate him highly (press clips at the start of the year). We know his team mates do (voted captain). He is getting it done each week in the disposal count (but no indication of DE or CBA). He is good enough to be in the WA squad and WA squad watchers have him in their best 22. But none of the Vic track watchers who we rely on for intel (Cal, Knightmare, Sheehan) have seen him play for 2 years. It’d be great if we could get a read on him for our own interests, but would be one that slips through because we know clubs put less work into F/S and NGA as they know they cannot get them anyway - so enough to know where they are bidding (interviews with club recruiters the last 2 years). id love him to be a jet, but who knows???

Glad I’m not the only one going insane over this.

Teams up - but to save you time - Weid, Hibbo, Chandler, AVB, Jordan, Melk, and maybe Daw must be travelling with us as not named.

We’ve had 17 players play 17-18 games this year. And Petty isn’t one of them. We haven’t really changed it up that much, so I’d be surprised if we have more than 1 change. Highly likely it is 0 Changes. yes, id love to rest a few players, bring in my personal favs, and drop my whipping boys, but we’ve played the same 18 odd players for the better part of 4 years now - I’m not expecting us to change off the back of an ‘ok, not great’ game. 0 changes for me. But if I’m being emotional, I’d love to see Harmes take the week off and love to see Bowey get a run (but that’d mean we’d be dropping pig and I don’t see that happening).

Within the first couple of minutes.

Daniel Turner is a key defender at Murray Bushrangers. Is 18 and according to his coach has grown to 194. Averaging 18 disposals and is in the NaB team of the year from Afl draft . Com - and can kick.

Yep - and I watched it all to see them cover the dees. Waste of a couple of hours - could have watched the game again

Hore might have been put to season so we have flexibility with mid season draft.

Expanding on @daisycutter Taj: He can be nominated wherever and we get a 20% discount on the 'points' he costs. So if he goes pick 17 it is about 1000 points, with a 20% discount it is 800 points which can be matched with picks 25 and 51. It doesn't matter where he is nominated, we can take him. Mac: Needs to be bid on pick 20 or lower. So lets say pick 21 (878 points - 20% discount, so 702). We would need pick say 42 and 48 to match the points. This is where it gets harder though. We would need to have 4 list spots open to be able to have 4 picks in the draft to use the points. So we then wouldnt have a pick in the draft and have 2 list spots open for SSP (like we did with Daw and Smith). We can have more rookies etc. so it is a little easier to manipulate, but you cannot stockpile picks like teams used to. If Taj got so good in the championships that he went number 1, we could go into deficit and pay the points with next years pick moving back in the draft based on the number of points we owed. In short - we can have them both as long as Taj proves he is good enough to get drafted and Mac proves he is not a top 20 player. What a weird situation to be in.

As a positive, there were a lot of injuries in that squad, so hopefully there are a lot of guys who are going to take those top 20 spots. He is also a project, so they tend to fall. And bar Jackson and Naitanui, ruckman really arent taken high. It is feeling touch and go now and there is a lot of season left.

Knightmatre’s review of Mac in the game Mac Andrew won fans with his final quarter performance for the AFL Academy. With his getting pummelled, Andrews not only continued competing, but dominated once inserted into the ruck during the final quarter. His leap, ruck craft and soft hands stood out and screamed long-term AFL ruckman, and he routinely outleapt his Geelong rivals and tapped the ball down to the advantage of his midfielders. His touch below his knees and tackling suggested further promise. A Melbourne Next-Generation Academy prospect, Andrew at 200cm, 77kg will require time developing. As he develops physically, because of his mobility, skills, clean hands below his knees, and reading of the ball in flight and contested marking, he has the scope to develop as a key forward or key defender before transitioning into a ruckman. The developing tall managed nine disposals, three marks (one contested), two clearances and five hitouts. If Andrew continues developing and attracts a bid inside the top-20 in this year's draft, Melbourne may be the first victim of the new Next-Generation Academy rules which state that those bid on inside the top-20 cannot have their bid matched.

Farmer kicked 3 in the Colts last weekend with 16 touches.... DeClase 25 and 18 and a goal. Raak seems to be an overager? And yes Freeman is the other really interesting one. Clearly talented enough, it was always about his body. I wonder if someone takes the punt and see if he can still make it?

Very interesting. Spargs had to be loving life. It kind of reminds you how very few games we’ve won in the past decade. Even Trac and Brayshaw aren’t on positive terms.

He had a really good game which is when the articles were written and then has been good but not setting the world on fire. Interesting to see what happens with the championships, because he'd be a few down the line for the ruck spot for Vic Metro, but those in front of him are 19 and should be taken mid year.

Yes we have traded our first round pick, but Taj Woewodin (mid) is averaging 20 disposals captaining East Fremantle and featuring in the best. Not first round material by all reports, but sounds like a good chance to be drafted. Mac Andrew (forward / ruck) is going alright for Dandenong Stingrays and is still out of top 20 conversations. If he gets bid on out of the top 20, he is ours. And then we have (worst case) pick 11/12 in the mid-season draft if there are any 19 year olds running around that we like to look of. I'm not too worried about not having a first rounder (as long as we make finals...) this year due to a legit NGA, father-son and mid-season draft pick.

North Melbourne have a review up on their website. Nothing about our players though.

From facebook (his name is Trevor): After getting out ti about a 28 point lead, NM came back and Casey in front by 11 at 3/4 time. 9.8.62 to 8.3.51. No Petty after half time. Melks, Daw and Rosman amongst the goal kickers that qtr. Hibbert solid in defence. Melksham continued to get plenty if the ball as well as Vanders. Pretty slippery so lots of skill errors. Final score 12.9.81 to 11.7.73. Goals to Rosman , Daw and Bedford that qtr. I think Risman kicked 3 fir the game and impressed

It smells to me like we aren’t happy with our wing options. That Baker and Harmes didn’t do what we needed and Rodman isn’t there yet. See how this bloke goes, no harm no foul.

Positives are far and few between, but they are good ones. Bowey has maybe had 15 already? And only one (around his body) has been ineffective. Laurie also very composed. They are both really good footballers. They know where to go and they hit targets. Rosman is not quite there yet. His skills and what he does it good but the natural footy sense isnt there yet. Petty is outstanding in the backline - only him and Bowey back there doing anything. lots of intercepts. Farmer would look better in a good team, he's going ok. Bedford doing Bedford things - a lot of chasing. Bradke going ok. Browne is cited, but not doing a lot? Neitchke was very good before going off in the second quarter.

Nothing at all. Even the full draftee list on the Herald Sun doesn't have heights.

I am a big fan of Spargo, but the side step and the agility that Laurie has is better than Spargo's. Which is fine, Spargo has a lot of other talents as well. In terms of heigh - 179 and 175cm. If we compare that to Richmond: 179: Rioli, Stack 178: Lambert, Short 177: Arts 175: Bolton, Prestia 173: Baker I was shocked to begin with, but the more I've watched, read, and thought about it, I think the boys will be ok. We do have the tall boys to help them out. I do share your excitement for Rosman though - what an interesting prospect.

Very true. Played HB and wing in his underage year and was setting himself for more midfield time in 2020. Laurie was forward and wing but setting himself to go into the middle in 2020 with no Rowell and Anderson for Oakleigh. So it’s really hard to know how good they are in a range of positions for us. But there is a half back, wing, and forward position there if they want it.

A nice read: https://afl.draftcentral.com.au/2020/05/27/marquee-matchups-joshua-clarke-vs-bailey-laurie/ Other thing that I keep reading about Laurie is that he set himself to play finals in a really hard team to crack last year (Oakleigh with Rowell and Anderson) and got there and had an impact. Ended up as one of the best on ground in the grand final and it was his best game all year. Clearly an upward trajectory and works hard.

This is really worth a read: https://afl.draftcentral.com.au/2020/06/02/marquee-matchups-jake-bowey-vs-errol-gulden/ The more I am reading about Jake, the more I am realising, sheesh I know why he went round 1. NAB league in 2019, he was one of the reasons the Dragons made it so deep into the comp. Named in the best across the Dragons' year, including in the finals. Named in the best in the Futures game as well in 2019. And the thing I keep reading is that he is a winger, not a forward. Maybe Taylor does know a thing or two.