dtrinh

True, we definitely need players who have toughness but also the skills to go with it. Riley and Tapscott were tough players but very limited otherwise. Didn't get to see enough of Tapscott, but Riley was ferocious at the contest but didn't have the game sense or skills to go with it. A player like Viney would be an example of mix between toughness and skills. He still has a long way to go in terms of foot disposal but seems to be improving.

If you watch some of Curnow's highlights, some of his disposal, especially by foot is terrible. I can see the X-factor, big-bodied endurance athlete benefits but if he doesn't have average to above average disposal by foot is there a benefit of taking him with the view of turning him into a big bodied midfielder?

Just wondering where all this talk about Oliver came from. Had a strong end of the season especially in the TAC cup. Midfielders like Matheison played well over the whole season and in the championships well too. From all accounts seems similar kind of player but more accomplished? Hard at it, high accumulator, takes marks up forward and kicks goals. How come he has fallen down the charts so much?

As history shows, picking key position players at the top end of the draft is a difficult choice. They usually are standouts in their U18 season and their is no guarantee that they will succeed. Reiwoldt, franklin, roughead are a diamond dozen. Looking at previous drafts, we know that they take time to develop but apart form Hogan recently and Nic Nat: Boyd, Patton, Wright, McCartin. None of them have really stood up. Of course for some injuries have prevented that, but at this stage just small signs they may become ok AFL players. Melbourne took Lucas Cook who was considered All Australian- look where he is now. This year Weidemann and Curnow have only shown glimpses and haven't really dominated at their U18 level. Of course injury has prevented this, but still, there have only been glimpses of talent. Would we be willing to risk either one or both of these picks on highly speculative talls which may or may not succeed. Parish would be a much safer bet with another midfielder at this stage.

A bit hard considering both Wieideman and curnow played minimal football this year.

FB: Jetta Dunn Garland HB: Lumumba Frost Melksham C: Salem Jones Tyson HF: Watts Tmac Kent FF: Gartlett Hogan Dawes C: Gawn Vince Viney Int: Brayshaw Petracca Vandenberg Trengove/ ANB

Interesting to see where Howe plays in the Collingwood. I was a bit disappointed, with his athletic ability and fairly good foot skills thought he would be better played on the wing. I think they tried that at the end of last year.

It will be interesting to see how Toumpas goes in Port Adelaide. In a better team, might find that he improves a player. Can see him as someone helping Pittard coming off the half back line allowing for hartlett to come into the midfield.

Yeah interesting with TMac. He did have a great year at CHB in the first half of the season, main problem with him though is he can't lock down on the bigger FF. Mostly the lead up tall forwards. Roos did mention he thought Frost was going to be a Key Defender. At the moment with Dunn and Frost as the big men down there, would that free up TMac to become a CHF? Has a great tank, works hard both ways and can take a contested mark. Would be helpful having someone up there that would help JH, I don't think Dawes is exactly doing that at the moment. I like Dawes aggression at the contest though, since he isn't kicking goals or getting much ball around the ground would it be possible to push him back? Big ask and big risk but I guess he is bigger and stronger than TMac.

What would Fitz provide for the Melbourne list? He played one ok game as a tallback, at that not even the key tall back. At this stage we do have a few players ahead of him in that sense: Dunn, Tmac, Omac, garland, frost. Even Pederson can play that position. They all seem to be better options then Fitz.

Surprised Terlich didn't make the list

You know what you're going to get out of Melksham now, he has been in the system for a fair while, in terms of improvement it will be questionable if he can his game to the next level. Even though he was picked up with a top 10 pick at this stage he doesn't show elite capabilities, just a average- solid defensive midfielder. He may make our 22 next year- not guaranteed, but to improve your list you wouldn't want him there for 2017. He may be better than Bail and Riley but that doesn't mean much. Wouldn't you rather take a punt on the draft and see what Jason Taylor can find?

very average player... no chance

I would really like to see Grimes play through the midfield and add depth. He is versatile in this way as he can play back and through the midfield. He hasn't had much of a chance to prove himself through there. In the VFL he plays through the midfield and collects a lot of disposals. You can see similarities between him and Cross. Works hard, highly professional, doesn't have star qualities but is just solid. Hopefully he can develop further.

This is a bit random... but doesn't anyone rate Matt Wright from Adelaide? He hasn't been getting a game for Adelaide but I think thats because they're playing him in the wrong position. During the preseason games he played in the midfield and really dominated. As a player I think he's got some pretty good attributes: He is very tough and hard contested player, seems to love tackling and applying pressure, is quick and seems to be a fairly good kick. Just thought since he's a mature hard body, could be a decent pick up at the right price. Would definitely be better than: Bail, M.Jones, Aiden Riley, maybe Ben Newton and Viv Michie?

Garland is an interesting one. As a one on one defender he is usually quite dependable and has done the job on several occasions this year. There are probably two main knocks on him I think. 1. He provides hardly any benefit for us on the offence. Surprisingly as he is quite athletic. 2. Although he helps spoil the ball well and sometimes comes in third man up, he doesn't do this consistently enough and he doesn't seem to take intercept marks. Jeremy Howe for example has played that role when playing in the backline quite well. If he does go third man up, he does have the confidence to either intercept mark or go for the spoil depending on the situation. His intercept marking is definitely important for rebounding forward. Difficult because we have too many players in the backline that can defend but doesn't provide anything forward. McDonald although tries to be offensive shouldn't be the one doing it, Garland seems to mainly bomb it long when going forward and Dunn is similar. Difficult one to put a finger on because he has been one of our most consistent one on one defenders this year.

There is a reason why we haven't promoted any of the following: Jordie McKenzie, Aiden Riley, Mark Jamar, Jack Fitzpatrick, Mitch White. Jordie Mckenzie: at this stage of his career he is a tagger, doesn't seem to make good decisions and doesn't use the ball well. At the moment, Jack Viney is taking his poisiton in the team and it should stay that way. Aiden Riley: we've watched him play a few AFL matches this season. At this stage I don't think he has shown enough to warrant his selection. Viv Mitchie is a better player and has been knocking the door down. Mark Jamar: who does he replace in the team. Apart from Carlton's game, Max Gawn has been in very good form. Jamar can't play at full forward, so who's position does he take. Jack Fitzpatrick: has strung together only a few good games, without being outstanding. Played one good AFL game and then player an absolute shocker. Who's position does he take down back? Mitch White: still a rookie, he is showing signs so hopefully he can further develop. Still has only played a number of senior VFL games this season, so is it too early to promote him? These players are the ones pushing for spots in our senior team. This is our biggest problem... where is the competition for spots? Even though players play well in the VFL for casey they aren't pushing that form to senior level or they just aren't good enough. Only players that add depth and even then aren't quality players are Rohan Bail and Matt Jones.

He did but it seemed like he impacted the contest more and more often then not he was able to dispose of it. This year he's impacted less, got caught more.

Not sure if it's because he's playing with an injury, but Dom Tyson seems like he has lost a bit since last year. Last year in tight he always looked classy and always had more time and managed to get out of traffic without being caught. This year he seems to find some space but gets pinged for holding the ball a lot more. Hopefully next season he can return to his 2014 form. A very important player and could be an elite midfielder if he keeps improving.

I don't understand Melbourne's forward movement. I understand that lack of skill means we do have to kick it down the line a lot, but what difference is that compared to under Mark Neeld. You watch other teams play and if they take a mark on the wing and they can't find a free player forward they always have defenders free and can switch the play hopefully getting the forwards moving into space. I don't understand why Melbourne can't get defenders free for the switch. Too often we are on the wing, can't find a forward so just bomb it long. That game plan is really not going to get us very far in relation to improvement. Today there were times when they tried to look to centre the ball through the corridor. It's a good sign but it's just sad that our skill level is sooo terrible they can't hit targets like 25 metres in front of them. Hopefully the pre-season is heavily based on skills and improving our kicking efficiency.

I'm not sure that Hunt would be a good idea. He's only like 3 games back from a long term injury and we are all raving about him. All the young kids like stretch, ANB etc had to play well in the VFL for at least a solid month before even being considered for the AFL team. Hunt has only shown glimpses in two games and we are thinking about giving him a game. I'd say Roosy would want to see him play at least a few more good games before being considered.

I think with Grimes it would be best to develop him in the midfield at Casey so keep him there for the rest of the season. I think he's been in limbo because of his positional changes. He started off in the midfield a bit who floated back, we remember the brave Grimes that would push back and go up third man up in defence. Ever since he's been pigeon holed as a back. I think we should develop him more in a Luke Hodge mould. He is definitely not as good skill wise but he reads the game well, he is hard at the contest, is willing to tackle, can play as the 'tagging' sort of player which then helps free Vince up more. When needed I think he could play as the floating backman to help our defence. With JKH, it's tough, he's only been back from injury for two games, his first being the sub. Give him more games, before he went down he was looking good working with kent and gartlet as the small forward rolls.

Wondering people thoughts on jordan schroeder? From the geelong system, won the liston trophy, hard at it midfielder.

I'd definitely prefer Mitchie over Riley at this point. I know Riley brings a lot of grunt but he's also quite a one type player- apart from being hard at it he really doesn't have much more scope. Unless he overtake McKenzie as our tagger then Mitchie is a much better option. Looks like a good decision maker and seems to be able to have a decent kick on him too!

Wow the latest highlights of brayshaw on AFL.com are very impressive. Strong at the contest and his kicking is ridiculous. Seems to be kicking it to advantage of players a lot. Hitting players on the lead, kicking it to advantage to allow players to mark and keep running. I think he will be a star!