Pennant St Dee

Lets be more specific, Jon Ralph believes the Saints will take Petracca. Ffs people this is how rumours start when what was actually said is not reported correctly

I really liked the look of Petracca live and his appetite.Brayshaw looks a good solid mid with dual disposal which is often overlooked but very important at the next level. Do we keep the picks and take both with a view of a McRae Stringer type outcome or do what we did last year. I'm leaning towards the second option the but will trust the footy department

To all the hindsight draft genius's out there please enlighten us on who we should take in order to save the next reincarnation of Toumpas vs Wines. Jarrod Pickett had a blinder today in a losing side in the colts Prelim. With Meth Coast craving some midfield speed and size they may take him and bank on Blakely falling to their second round pick

I hate GWS and if Saints really want Mccartin then I would not be giving GWS Pick 2 so they can get hold of Petracca, I'd be trading Pick 3 just to put someone else in front of them who may be eyeing off Wright or Brayshaw. If GWS want Petracca so badly then I want one of their absolute guns in return that being Treloar or Shiel. About time we started becoming as difficult as some of the other clubs

Ziebell in Bastinac's place and it's a deal

I saw Judd play his one and only WAFL game, would love to see a Dees player do that from the outset

Bit hard to do otherwise considering Mcdonald was off loaded at the end of 2010 and Scully basically played less than a handful of games after 2010. It's not rocket science, other sides have been doing it for years

And they were good alongside the bigger and older mids. Scully and Trenners complimented each other well in 2010. Just playing devils advocate here but would Brayshaw and Petracca blossom with the older wiser heads of Jones, Vince, Cross along with Tyson and Viney with an extra year under their belts. That doesn't take into account Salem, Toump, Trengove and Riley hopefully getting a good run at it through preseason I do hope we have learned from moving Junior on and whilst he was no world beater Maloney took a tag and won a lot of clearances

On Saturday managed to clear some things and went to the Perth vs East Perth game. The main draft prospect on show was Clem Smith but I have kept an eye on Thomas SHANAHAN since last year and he made his senior debut for East Perth. Both boys were impressive but for different reasons. The game was very physical and there was a large amount of late hits and a fair degree of spite. Clem Smith was very impressive in a severly undermanned side and out of character for him he didn't get drawn into the spite and concetrated on going hard at the ball when the opportunity arose. He was very smooth with the ball in hand and seemed oblivious to pressure, not that he lacked awareness it just did not cause him to get rid of the ball at all costs and cause a turnover. The composure and I would describe it as elite disposal was very much a highlight on a bleak day for the Perth Demons Shanahan came off the bench halfway through the first quarter and for the first few minutes I would say his nerves and enthusiasm had him making several long runs to space or a contest in his attempts to get involved in the action early. As he became acustomed to the tempo he started to read the play much better and after about 10 minutes with Perth attempting to hold possession across half back, Shanahan backed himself left his man and intercepted the defender awaiting a pass on Half back flank, he played on running toward goal and as the defender came to him, I expected him to handball over the top to the forward heading towards the goal square but he calmly slotted from 25m out with his first kick. Shanahan spent the majority of the game at HFF but had stints in the middle and continued to find his own ball. My only mark against him during the game was a willingness to allow the senior players to much respect. This is not a bad thing and showed he was not just looking on building up impressive stats. On several occassions he was the first tackler when senior team mates would come in over the top and once the free was awarded he would allow the senior player to pick up the ball and take the kick. He ended the game with a disposal count which would have been in the high teens and two goals, which could have been at least two more. I saw two direct goals when he handed off to a senior player demanding the ball when he could have easily run on and kicked his own but this will come. Shanahan and Smith went head to head for a short period and Smith tried to unsettle him with some hard body work but he was unfazed and just got on with his game. He probably done enough to hold his place but a lot depends on what the Meth Coast want done with their players. Will be very interested to see if he plays finals how he deals with the lift in intensity but on what I have seen with him Colts to Reserves was an easy transition and he will be right up there in the WAFL ressies B&F and he did not look out of place in his first outing Smith - One of the best displays I have seen from him, a recruiter said to me once, you learn a lot about a player in a weaker team when they are being soundly beaten. As I said above Smith was composed, ball use was elite, all decisions made were good, plenty of 1% efforts, kept his feet in traffic and read the play well. Could have easily thrown the towel in and got involved in the spite but just got on with his own game, if he keeps that up will go in the Top 25

If we finish last they can have a look for Bontempelli

Late Pick or Rookie I nominated as worth a look in last years draft was Tom Shanahan from East Perth's Colts side. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-10-20/thomas-shanahan He did very well in the WA Combine but was overlooked. One of the few East Perth kids kept on with the spots being limited due to the alignment with Meth Coast. I've again seen a bit of him this year and he has been banging down the door with plenty of BOG performances in the two's. He has been named in the emergencies a few times this season but not cracked a senior game yet. Finally I believe this week he will make his senior debut tomorrow. I don't think I'll be able to get to the game but will see if I can find out how he goes. Still rate him and think in any other WAFL side he would have been given a debut a lot earlier in the year. Not sure how it works with the SA alignments but over here some on the Meth Coast list are not performing well in 1's or 2's but due to being on their list they have been getting games ahead of some of the more talented younger players who didn't manage to get drafted for various reasons. On what I saw last year and this year still IMO worth a good look at, I mentioned last year I thought he had a very good inside game but he was played more as an outside mid. This season he has shown his qualities at winning his own ball on the inside and his tackling/pressure acts improved a lot.

Yes fookin hilarious! 2 more talented kids running around in the NEAFL for 2 years until they or Shiel, Treloar, Coniglio, Whitfield or whover else they pick up are traded off in a couple of years for more Top end picks God I hate that club and the AFL for the way they set this up

Chaser what's your thoughts on Reece Mckenzie, seems to be getting some publicity lately and may be the late bolter in the style of Hill, Watts, Martin, Bontempelli

Rare commodity and one of Sammy Mitchell's great talents

Who says North want Brayshaw, apart from the family connection can't see any other reason. They have no problem with ball winners what they need is outside game breaking class

Think Petracca could be a good fit when you take into account Roos team at Swans who had 10-12 players who rotated through the midfield and off either Half Back or Half Forward. Petracca has shown the ability to be able to work on his tank and run through the middle

Who cares honestly the draft has not saved us, finish as high as we can and take the best player available. It's about building a winning culture

Depending on Frawley leaving and possible compo, 1 for today and 1 for tomorrow, trade 1 and keep 1. You never know another Tyson like deal sees us with two first round picks and one definite ready to go. That would IMO be a very good outcome

Blakely will not be available in the second round, standout for WA through the championships which says a lot about his makeup playing in such a poor side. Overtook Walsh & Waterman as WA'S best mid. His stocks are rising fast and with Swans entrenched in the WAFL top 2 a good run in the seniors for the rest of the season could see him possibly go top 10. Has been named in their seniors for tomorrow's game against Claremont

Goddard

When I watched him against WA at Freo Oval he looked really polished but rather laconic, reminded me somewhat of a Jack Watts type in the way he seemed to just stroll through the game without really imposing himself. He reads the play very well and has good positional sense but I have some doubts on his intensity at the next level as when he went to a contest or to tackle an opponent I didn't see that absolute mongrel and desire to nail his opponent. On what I saw he is bigger than Watts with a body type which looks like it will build up easier. For mine he is no certainty to go top 10

So one rising star nominee will change everything, you are fookin unbelievable

STMJ I saw him play against WA and did a write up about the game in the U 18 National Championship thread, I'd heard of his a speculative 2nd rounder prior to this and he really caught my eye that day when I actually went with the intention of seeing Brayshaw

have Sydney invested heavily or have the AFL invested heavily into these Academies. who invests in TAC cup if it is the AFL the argument of giving each club a zone academy could be argued WAFC who are the licence for both WA clubs put money back into development in WA but no first access to these players

Ross Lyon would love him over Dawson, he is quicker, he is a better kick and his decision making is better. Lyon relied heavily on Dawson at Saints and is doing so again at Freo He is there to beat his man nothing else, if he does happen to find the ball he is just told to kick it long or feed off to Johnson, Ibbotson, Hill and when at the Saints it was Dempster, Gram, Fisher and Nicky Dal. Mcdonald is not the defensive problem