nutbean

get stuffed ...( sorry..wanted to join in the argy bargy)

it's gonna get ugly - I am prepared to be right royally shafted

There is a "Soundwave" broo-ha-ha going on. It has been cancelled for next year and looks like this year is under threat. Damn - I bought a new black t-shirt and have been in an anti-tanning booth ( makes me white and pastey) in anticipation.

Agreed but he isn't the first key forward coming into the comp with high expectations and won't be the last. When we are successful debut seasons from the likes of Brayshaw, Hogan, Petracca etc should be the icing on the cake - not the reason we are going to have a good or bad year.

This is absolutely it - You look at the Hawks last year - they wanted big seasons from Roughhead, Mitchell, Lewis, Rioli. Our expectation rose and fell on the back of a 20 year old forward who was in his first year of football.

I for one am only working off Weideman's footage I have seen when comparing him to Boyd but I would suggest that Weideman covered more distance in his clips than Boyd has in his career to date. IMO - To date, Boyd has been a lazy footballer - Weideman moves around the forward line which I like.

From the highlights packages his first instinct is the same as Viney - see ball get ball without hesitation. I am not suggesting other players are timid but there is a rare breed who do not wait for a play to unfold to make a move - their first instinct is to make the play. Oliver appears to me as this sort of player.

I am saying how about you quote my entire post where I concluded by saying " in my years of supporting I am now a believer that the club is the best placed I have seen in terms of development coaching to get the most out of the kids we draft.". Again - so it is clear - the inference in me being a believer is for exactly what I have seen from Brayshaw, Salem, Viney and Hogan ( I discard Tyson - not because I think he is not a pearler but because we had two years of exposed AFL form before we drafted him). And to me the litmus test will be the likes of Stretch, Harmes and ANB. They have shown glimpses ( as have many of our draft picks over the years) and I am now eager to have my belief justified by seeing them take the next step this upcoming season

I think you are overreaching - I was not just outright comparing Toumpas to Oliver. I was addressing Bandicoot's post where he was lauding the fact that Oliver had made a very good fist of it in the VFL as an indicator of what is to come and Toumpas had done EXACTLY that in the SANFL. So it is clear - in no way shape or form am I suggesting that Oliver will turn out like Toumpas. The point is good open company form is not necessarily an indicator that you will make it. Toumpas proved his form against men could not replicate it when he came to the big league. Conversely Hogan played good VFL footy and has replicated it. What is more impressive as stated elsewhere - is his commitment to dropping weight and getting fit.

After years of seeing Draftees fail I am definitely in the "Old Dee" camp of keeping my powder dry until I see some performances from these youngsters that merits confidence that we have picked some bona fide "guns". I will repeat - in my years of supporting I am now a believer that the club is the best placed I have seen in terms of development coaching to get the most out of the kids we draft.

Jimmy Toumpas played the last part of the 2011 in the SANFL and played in the Woodville/West Torrens premiership side in only his 5th game and I recall the same things being said about him. Having said that the biggest two changes at the club since Toumpas' drafting is the emphasis on developing junior talent from day one and Roos stated policy of zero expectations on 1st year players. If there is talent and upside in these draftees I have faith that the structures now in place will bring it to the fore.

Two completely different bands pre and post Green. So two concerts down this week and my legs are about to give out from jumping around like a lunatic. Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons were both superb.

Went very main stream last week and saw fleetwood mac - i have seen them 3 times before and they were very ordinary. I was dragged along and they have improved to a rating of "meh". Just too - well... icky for me...Christine McVie was great but Lindsey Buckinghamwho plays a great guitar is just a first class plonker. Went last night to see Florence and the Machine - Florence Welch has a set of pipes on her which is just wow - she was extraordinary.. Thursday seeing Mumford and sons Friday I declare bankruptcy.

Thats a good watch - Scully - caught a lot - turned it over nearly every time. Fitzy - looked all at sea Gaff - looked very composed Trenners - got a few touches.

My squeeze goes nuts over one song called My pal by God. 4 piece band from Melbourne - mid to late 80's - sadly two of the four members died of heroin overdoses. Great song..

Unexpected live shows gold. Saw Steve Poltz - knew very little about him other than he was with Jewel for a while - absolutely sensational - part folk part comedy - but his musicianship was fantastic. Also saw an Irish guy debut his album "Gallie" - he has been here four years, plays around the traps in Melbourne and is very good. Lastly - seeing Raised by Eagles next week in a "shed". Looking forward to seeing them but the "shed" phenomenon is interesting. It started in rural Canada where they were starved of any decent live music - so an enterprising farmer figured out that if he could get 100 people into his shed he could get some good talent to play and break even - it was never about money. There is a "Shed" in Maryknoll and Bones who runs it has had lots of good local acts play - The Stilsons, Jeff Lang, Suzannah Espie to name but a few. ( Maryknoll is a bit much for me though... eek..religion is ok for some but eek)

you didnt let the tape run too long and get a couple of episodes of Bellbird as well ? or maybe "to market to market"

Actually I noticed that through out his junior year at TAC his hair was immaculate. As soon as it was mentioned that he was likely to be picked up by us his hairy ..well...became messy. I don't like the look of that and I wouldn't draft him as I am afraid that after a two seasons he would seek a transfer to Essendon to get hair styling tips from Hurley.

Again, only relying on highlight reels, Parish does not miss a single target in the footage shown whereas Scully's footskills ( or lack thereof) were evident even in the "best of" footage.

I mentioned the folly of relying on highlight reels and maintain if you were to go by highlight reels then Francis is a no brainer. Hence the reason that you take the highlight reel with liberal dose of salt. Whispering Jack who obviously see a bit of underage footy said that Francis goes missing/ is inconsistent whereas Parish is in, under and about for the whole game/s. This is something that you can never ascertain just from watching highlight reels.

I wish I could find the actual quote but Roos is on record saying he has very little to do with draft selections. He says he has people to do that for him and whilst the whole coaching panel may discuss what the obvious needs and priorities are for the team ( ie mids - inside, outside, goal kicking ) I was left with the impression that if we wanted mids with certain traits Roos defers to the recruiting guys to pick the best available.

yes, yes and yes

Couldn't disagree more - thought Brayshaws highlight package was ok ... nothing more. It says nothing about Brayshaw and said everything about the highlight package. I mentioned it elsewhere but there was two Petracca packages and one made his footskills ordinary at best - the other made his footskills look sublime. The reliance on any of these packages is sheer folly.

I had dinner with Shaun Smith last year and on talking about his son he said he is a gun basketballer who played junior football but didn't have much interest now - things certainly change in a year.

Nah...he is used to receiving emails from morons.