nutbean

that's Colonel to you....

I never guarantee anything but if you have a look at his attributes - knows how to find the ball ? check - makes good decisions ? check - hard as nails ? check - good defensively but also runs forward to kick a goal - check - solid mark - check He only needs to slightly lift his disposal efficiency when he is clear - he fluffs the odd kick There aren't many aspects of his game that he is deficient in. So besides injury and unexplained form slump where he stops finding the ball I feel more comfortable about him continuing to deliver than for example a Morton after his first couple of seasons (wait until he bulks up and is able to put his body on the line more etc etc)

You are showing your age Saty - it's called a sleeve.

I don't think Howes disposal is fantastic but in my eyes it is far superior to Terlich which I see as his main flaw. What I like about Terlich is he gets to where the ball is but I see the major difference between us and top clubs ( besides lots of talented footballers) is disposal. We turn it over way too much and I think Terlich is a much bigger part of that problem than Howe is.

Interesting question as we have had footballers who have looked for a season and that's about it. I'm less dismayed by the likes of Strauss who in my eyes never looked like he would set the world on fire than Morton who was promising in his first couple of seasons and then regressed from there on in. Tyson indeed could be a one season wonder for us but at least he has exposed form at the highest level as opposed to the draftees tearing it up the kiddies pool which is the TAC. For that reason alone I was an advocate for trading off a high draft pick for a talent at another club.

1. Probably yes - but they are only appropriate today - tomorrow is the big unknown 2. see point 1 ! 3. see point 1 ! 4. This is the thing I am most excited about - The development vs recruiting debate has been done to death. This debate will be have much less relevance in the future because we have now invested heavily in this area and I think we will give our recruits every possible chance to be developed properly 5. see point 1. 6. Who knows You did forget to factor in the club that players get recruited into. It must be easier developing at Hawthorn where 1. you have established senior stars to mentor you 2. The team is so well drilled and skilled that anticipation of what will happen makes your job easier. If Mitchell and an lesser light from another club are going at a ball - you may make space as you would back Mitchell to win the contest. Opposition players may either join the contest or take a wait and see what happens approach not having the same confidence in their teammate 3. I have used Gunston as an example before - he had a couple of years to further develop under Roughy and Buddy being the third tall. Took the third best defender and found himself the player most likely to be free as more attention was paid to his better credentialed teammates. I would suggest Hogan will take the best defender next year - welcome to the big league !

We got lots of "Average" and just "above average" footballers on our list - we need a lot better than that. Again I ask - are you going to be satisfied if both Petracca and Brayshaw turn out to be just above average footballers ? Jack Watts is an average to just above average footballer who has played 95 games. Happy that we took him with draft pick one ? Understand that I don't give a rats where a player is taken in the draft. I am excited to get what appear to be talented young footballers into the club. I understand though that one of them could be Chris Judd or conversely an Xavier Ellis.

Agreed - but to then to take the next step and suggest that because these underaged, immature kids have performed a certain way in an aged limited competition with other immature and under-developed kids that it will automatically translate into stellar AFL careers is not only mistake but in so many case proven not to be true. I'll pose the same question to you as I have posed to goodoil - look at the players taken in all the drafts at picks 1-3 that I posted. Are you going to be happy if Petracca and Brayshaw turn out to players like these ? I will pick one player in particular - would you be happy if Brayshaw turned out to be identical to Masten ?

Answer me one question and I will stop. Will you be happy if Brayshaw and Petracca have similar careers as all the players I listed ? (on Masten you picked one stat - talk to Eagle supporters about Masten - As an opposition supporter i would love Masten to have the ball 40 times a game as it will means we will get the ball 40 times straight away)

Pass on them ? No Get excited about them ? Yes. That's where I draw the line. Many just overhype young draftees. "Ready to go day one" is probably the one that sticks in my craw the most..

Geez I wouldn't like to cross you and actual get malice !

You know I have never seen you and Matt Burgen in the same room at the same time....just sayin...

Jeremy Howe is the pick I like. Although he was on the radar - he was consider a speculative pick at best - possible to go very late in the draft or even rookied. We went against "popular wisdom". We liked what we saw and took him earlier than expected.

This is where I disagree - Go back as far as 2000 and one in the top 3 are not "good to better than that footballers" and that is my point. Below is a list starting from 2009 of footballers taken in the first 3 that are average footballers ( I started at 2009 as I dont judge kids until they have hit 22) - do you think we should be getting better than "average" from a top 3 pick ? Some of these have had injury concerns but they still have not been better than average 2009 - Scully, Trengove. 2008 Watts ( some will argue highlight reel Niknat but he has been better than average) 2007 Mastin Kruezer 2006 Gumbleton Hansen 2005 Ellis 2004 - all three better than average - Griffin frustrates the life out of me - his good is great, his average is very average. 2003 - Sylvia, Walker is patchy at best 2002 Brenan - loved his highs - but geez he had some stinkers 2001 - Judd/Ball Hodge - all really good ( interestingly that there are some real stinkers in the top 10 after them). 2000 - Koschitzke Ask yourself - do you think any club that took these guys would say that these have been really good top 3 picks ??? The majority are good picks but one in three aren't. So history tells me that one of Petracca, Brayshaw and McCartin are going to end up like the footballers named above - are you going to be happy with that ?

Another snapshot at draft time with absolutely no idea on how it would play out down the track.

Tappy only had one moment in the sun as opposed to Col who did tease us a lot more but i do concede the point of how games are played make a difference to certain players. I think game style will also be a problem for Howe unless he can add more tricks - hence Roos playing him in defence. When a game is open and quick it will suit his style as he will be able to be isolated one out with his opponent and outmark him on most occasions. When the game becomes slow and crowded he is in trouble as his run at the ball is quite easy to block and shepherd meaning his major weapon being his leap and mark is taken out of play.

That's where we have always disagreed on Sylvia. I have seen him tear games apart, tear quarters apart and tear "plays and minutes " apart. To my mind if a player can do that on an infrequent basis ( and few too many can) then the only thing stopping the player doing it on a frequent basis is attitude. I for one had expectations on Sylvia which obviously were way too high as he did not deliver with any consistency.

I don't have an S key on my keyboard ( doh!)

I hope he is like his father - slow, thighs like treetrunks, couldn't jump - and an absolute champ....

Seriously ? Then you are better than all the recruiters and journalist combined. The last draft where the top 3 picks have made an impact befitting top 3 picks is the Judd,Hodge,Ball draft. I have discounted the last three drafts as it is too early to pass judgement on these kids yet. (my judgement is not based on whether they have no impact at all - but whether they have been in the top echelon of footballers - for example - I think Xavier Ellis has been a bust at 3 - but I think Luke Ball, although no champion was a more than serviceable footballer)

Sylvia's career has been a disappointment to me. I think Sylvia is the same sort of example as dozens of others over the years. Snapshots of very talented TAC footballer with little knowledge as to whether they will go on and be A,B,C or F grade footballers. These snapshots suck supporters in. It is not that recruiters, journo's don't see enough of the junior footballers. The problems is that we are selecting 8 week old puppies and extrapolating what they will be like as 4 year old dogs. The issue is not that Brayshaw and Petracca are wildly overrated - it is the timing of it. I am excited by the fact that they seem promising but surely posters have seen enough of draft picks from all clubs who look promising at draft time that don't progress to temper their "we really nailed it" and "ready to go day one" pronouncements.

He continually got beaten in the air as a forward early in the season as he was blocked and shepherded from going for his marks. He also didn't work hard enough to lead up to take marks in front of his eyes so he become too predictable and an ineffective forward. The move back was good for him as it forced him to work harder. Whilst not a complete success, given more experience, I think his time back will make him more effective when he does get swung forward.

Don't get where he is going? Read through the McCartin Bradshaw petracca threads and some are suggesting that it doesn't matter who we get as all 3 will be really good footballers. History tells us that at least one won't be. So many are seduced by gushy reports and a three minute best of package which is taken over a season or two. I hope the draftees will be all they are hyped up to be. But I won't be yelling "we nailed it" until we have actually nailed it. If you think the post was about Sylvia then you have missed the point of the post.

You make it sound like he was an abject failure as a backman this season. I don't think he was and I don't believe the coaching staff do either judging by his finish in the bluey. ( take into account that he was putrid before he was switched to the backline)

nah..I dont buy into this whole - "if we hadn't drafted X we could have had Y". He just seems like a really determined with a drive to succeed and I just loved the way he interviewed after he was drafted.