Hannabal

I completely agree. There's no way the club will end up on 5 wins. We'll be the laughing stock of the industry. They just won't let it happen.

I'm not sure that I completely agree with these noble sentiments. 1. If you're on a Melbourne list I expect onfield output (and yes I know there are no guarantees) 2. He'll better serve his community if he's successful (I don't need to be told that success can be measured in different ways). That said, if he doesn't ultimately succeed I'm sure his community will still be very proud of him. If he doesn't make it unfortunately he won't be by his lonesome ! But there's no more pressure on him than any other late draft pick or preseason hopeful. Ultimately, he's been given an opportunity. He has a spot on the list ahead of someone else. And I hope he can forge a career for himself as well as the club that gave him this opportunity. It's more important to me that he makes a name for himself on field than he enjoys his time here. Otherwise he's just taking up room.

It's pretty clear that the club sees his future as a midfielder, however, I've got no doubt that his best footy this year will be in defence. I'm happy to leave him in defence this year and have him train in the midfield next preseason.

Voss, Chris and Brad Scott, Ashcroft, McRae, Black, Lappin, Bradshaw, Lynch, Akermanis, Leppitsch, Hart, Power, Keating, White, and Chris Johnson are all premierships players that forged terrific careers. They also all played in a wooden spoon team. Things can change. By the end of this draft we need to be able to identify a core 14-16 players that we believe can develop over time into a very successful AFL side. Who can we confidently predict will form part of that nucleus right now ? We're 5-7 years away from the possibility of a flag, but from a talent point of view we need to be well into the journey of identification. NB: the Lions side of '98 had lots of young talent but also lots of off field issues which affected their season. Nonetheless, they still only won 5 and a half games. The following year they came third with 16 wins, so there's no doubt that '98 was an abberation and didn't reflect their true potential. So in some ways I accept that it's a poor example. Nonetheless, a spoon was had.

Our kids are the future. They need more games not less.

How people can not have Bennell as an inclusion is beyond me. Especially when we're playing a quick side.

You've got to read more. I posted this in another thread: Let's look at the debuts of all no. 1's since 2000: 2000 Nick Riewoldt - rnd 15 3 disposals no goals 2001 Luke Hodge - rnd 5 13 disposals no goals 2002 Brendan Goddard rnd 4 11 disposals 1 goal 2003 Adam Cooney rnd 1 8 disposals 1 goal 2004 Brett Deledio rnd 1 9 disposals no goals 2005 Marc Murphy rnd 1 17 disposals 1 goal 2006 Bryce Gibbs rnd 1 11 disposals 1 goal 2007 Matthew Kreuzer rnd 3 16 disposals 2 goals I'll throw in Justin Koschitzki (pick 2) rnd 3 5 disposals no goals

I agree. Strauss will be a class AFL player. He and Jurrah were the two highlights for me.

He won't get a kick on Monday now.

Let's look at the debuts of all no. 1's since 2000: 2000 Nick Riewoldt - rnd 15 3 disposals no goals 2001 Luke Hodge - rnd 5 13 disposals no goals 2002 Brendan Goddard rnd 4 11 disposals 1 goal 2003 Adam Cooney rnd 1 8 disposals 1 goal 2004 Brett Deledio rnd 1 9 disposals no goals 2005 Marc Murphy rnd 1 17 disposals 1 goal 2006 Bryce Gibbs rnd 1 11 disposals 1 goal 2007 Matthew Kreuzer rnd 3 16 disposals 2 goals I'll throw in Justin Koschitzki (pick 2) rnd 3 5 disposals no goals It's been a pretty modest output from most recent no. 1's, so we should keep our expectations in perspective. Just for interest I've added a few first round Dees debut games: Colin Sylvia rnd 5 1 disposal no goals Matthew Bate 11 disposals 1 goal (debuted 18 months after being drafted) Nathan Jones rnd 17 17 disposals no goals James Frawley rnd 9 7 disposals no goals Cale Morton rnd 1 13 disposals no goals Jack Grimes rnd 22 8 disposals no goals Addam Maric (not first round draft pick) rnd 17 9 disposals no goals I'll be very happy if Jackie boy has 10+ disposals and kicks 1 goal. But in reality whatever he does won't faze me. Prediction: Jack Watts rnd 11 15 disposals 3 goals

Then you've answered why he's not in the team. By itself it doesn't warrant an inclusion.

If they get pick 1 why would they overlook the best kid in the country ? And in recruiting circles there's presently a clear standout. If they get pick 1 they'll choose Scully.

The second mistake was the stated crowd attendance from last year's match. It was over 59,500, not 56,000. And I keep hearing commentators say on radio that it was around 40,000-50,000.

I've read many posters on here say it's "unfair" to Martin. I disagree. He may be unlucky, but it's not 'unfair'. It's all about the team and the best matchups to win a game of footy. One of the reasons he was thrown forward in the first place was because he was squeezed out of the backline by Warnock, Rivers, and Frawley. Yes we needed a player capable of versatility, as our key forward stocks are poor, but I believe that in the main it was because of a top heavy backline.

Scully is an absolute lock at no.1 this year no matter who has the pick.

And already Jimmy's doing some texting !

Well hella****nlooya. I love Bailey and his understanding of the benefits a QB debut brings. To see Watts in a Melbourne jumper will be one of the great sights in football. My happiest day since November 29, 2008.

Yes he is. And read all posts. We've covered the puerile 'fairness' angle.

I suspect you're directing this post at me: You'll note that I haven't addressed the issue of his exams. There are enough people in his life that currently care for his well-being, and what's best for his schooling, without me chiming in. My viewpoint has been purely from a football perspective. And I see enormous merit in him debuting on Monday. I'll let you, the footy club, and his Family worry about his exams and make appropriate decisions accordingly.

Hughes is a rookie listed player and Newton has had countless chances to cement a position and failed. If a decision to play Watts ahead of him gets up his nose he only has himself to blame. He's had chances galore. The benefit of getting games into Watts is plain for all to see, including listed Melbourne players. The added benefit of experiencing a game such as QB has been likened to the value of 10 standard home and away games. The club has to make judgments all the time. And this is one of them. Could it get another players nose out of joint ? Quite possibly, but that happens often when you've got 40 listed players. The bigger picture is to fast track the development of an exceptionally valuable commodity. Most understand this.

Clearly it's not completely about form. Firstly, Hughes is a rookie and secondly Watts would be considered in the top 2 valuable players on our list. The ability to get some games into him is invaluable for his development. So it's reasonable to expect that decisions to play him now won't be entirely predicated on form, but with one eye firmly fixed to the future. And a little bit of hype surrounding QB doesn't go astray. That said, Watts has racked up 20+ possessions from a wing the last two weeks with ease. He's done it in such a way that it hasn't looked outstanding, just languid and professional.

I can't quite understand why you wouldn't want Watts debuting in a big game when Melbourne is centre stage in front of a captive audience. If he's ready he should be play and what better place than the G in a significant match. Have a bit of faith that this mature kid is special in many ways and not just on the footy field. Brereton made his debut in a Final and later revealed he had a mindset that he was born for the biggest stage. Most champions do. I'm sure that there were many Hawthorn supporters at the time that would never have considered making a 17 year olds first game a Final. I don't expect Watts to star and have modest expectations, but I don't have the precious and conservative attitude of some that post on here. And I also don't want to coincide his debut with a match renowned for poor attendances in an attempt to boost crowd numbers. Big stage or crap game versus interstate side ? I'm staggered people would suggest the latter.

As a matter of fact I am

You may be right and yes Richmond are also a concern. Supporters would be naive to think that clubs won't want to take advantage of this draft before GC and WS.

No it's not just you at all. I've got no doubt that West Coast will be doing everything in their power to ensure that they too receive a PP. Worsfold spent a considerable amount of time talking about 'list management' on Saturday morning on AW when the question was raised. Good picks and getting games into kids will fast track their success. It's not rocket science and Worsfold isn't stupid. Whether they can orchestrate such a scenario is another thing. They don't have a lot of room to move.