Nascent

I've seen this written a few times and can't say that I agree with the sentiment. We may have the 8th "live" pick but by all reports Mcdonald was widely rated as a top 6 recruit in this years draft and that the kangas, while paying a high price, aren't paying overs for his selection. Tom Boyd is a lock for #1 - do we now have pick 7? Common opinion on here, as you have highlighted, seems to suggest that Aish, Scharenberg, Kelly and Billings are a lock or close to for the top 5... by your reasoning, with them eliminated and McDonald committed, does that mean we effectively have pick 3? That probably sounds harsher than I intended it, just my view that McDonald not being accessible to us isn't to our advantage. Now if a club had committed to an Ayce Cordy bean pole type ruckmen with a father/son selection before our pick, I would be ecstatic.

Another element to consider is that compo picks could be removed as of next year.

Cheers for all the work you put in Nasher. I had a bit of trouble trying to log in, took me multiple attempts to finally get on. Changing pages seems to log me out as well, not sure if anyone else is experiencing issues like this. I'm using site2 address at the moment because demonland.com is still down for me so perhaps that's the issue?

Right you are Spirit of Norm Smith. If we end up with a mid first round draft pick from trading, I hope we seriously consider this kid. (Josh Kelly testing extremely well as expected) Josh Kelly and Nathan Freeman impressed in the running events at this week's Draft Combine Nathan Freeman Height: 181cm Weight: 85kg Club: Vic Metro/Sandringham Dragons/Dingley Position: Midfielder/Forward Player Comparision: Patrick Dangerfield 20m sprint 1. Jonathon Marsh (2.78 seconds) 2. Nathan Freeman (2.82) 3. Daniel Flynn (2.83) 4. James Sicily (2.84) 5. Karl Amon (2.88) 6. Jack Leslie (2.90) 7. Richard Bourne (2.92) 8. Tom Cutler (2.93) 9. Jake Barrett (2.94) 10.Darcy Byrne-Jones (2.94) Repeat sprints 1. Nathan Freeman (23.62 seconds) 2. Darcy Byrne-Jones (24.06) 3. Jonathon Marsh (24.18) 4. Daniel Flynn (24.25) 5. Josh Kelly (24.31) 6. Nick Bourke (24.31) 7. Daniel Cox (24.31) 8. Louis Herbert (24.38) 9. Tom Langdon (24.45) 10. Tom Vandeleur (24.49) 3km time trial 1. Josh Kelly 9m 32s 2. Nick Robertson 9m 46s 3. Jake Kelly 9m 51s 4. James Tsitas 9m 54s 5. Darcy Byrne-Jones 10m 6. Nathan Drummond 10m1s 7. Eli Templeton 10m5s 8. Alex Pearce 10m6s 9. Kade Kolodjashnij 10m10s 10. Nathan Freeman 10m15s Beep test results 1. Billy Hartung (level 16.6) 2. Jake Barrett (15.6) 3. Alex Pearce (15.5) 4. Eli Templeton (15.3) 5. Darcy Byrne-Jones (15.2) 6. Nathan Drummond (15.2) 7. Jake Kelly (15.2) 8. James Tsitas (15.2) 9. Josh Kelly (15.1) 10. Nathan Freeman (14.10) Some articles on Nathan Freeman Draftees in focus: Nathan Freeman Freeman-a-dasher

Cheers mate, safe to say I've been guilty of a bad prediction or two.

Don't trust me old dee...? And a tweet from our own Nathan Jones:

Don't forget the "Jamie Bennell will be our Andrew McLeod"

Count me in. I'm actually half fit for a change so I shouldn't be stuffed until at least the second quarter

We are not an attractive proposition, but if he has the talent and desire then he will be getting regular senior games which may be just enough to entice a promising young midfielder to us.

True, the NEAFL is not a strong league but his performance was against the Swans reserves. Would have thought he fits the fringe player category quite well.

How about Patrick Karnezis? Pick 25 in the 2010 draft, is a 190cm and 88kg midfielder. He has played 21 games but has only played 3 this year despite dominating in the reserves. "Brisbane Lions youngster Patrick Karnezis has staked his claim for a return to the senior side in a stellar performance in the NEAFL on Saturday. Karnezis was the clear standout with 32 disposals and four goals in the Lions' 33-point win over the Sydney Swans." Around-the-leagues-dons-trio-star

Cam Pederson on 3 years was a poor decision. Unsure why we went so hard for him since we secured both Dawes and Hogan in the same trade period. I guess Neeld was writing off Watts and Fitzpatrick. Rodan, Gillies and Sellar will all be delisted at the end of the year, Byrnes has one more season to go and will be delisted then. In my opinion it is highly unlikely we will attract a high profile player via trade or free agency. I wouldn't be opposed to offering 2 year contracts to players many have suggested on here like Viv Michie, Anthony Miles, Mitch Hallahan and Shane Savage (although he is getting games now). Midfield types on the cusp of their teams best 22 that may want to leave for greater opportunity and wouldn't be expensive to get via trade. However, I have no idea if they will add to our midfield engine, or end up as the Casey support squad. Above all else, we need a Geelong 2007 moment where the whole group mentally decide to pull the finger out.

I'm pretty sure he is good mates with Toumpas, which I guess is neither here nor there. Once a player gets drafted they rarely keep allegiances to their club they supported growing up. We just have to hope we can provide him with an environment that he can see himself grow and experience some success in the mid to long term. That's going to be the challenge in keeping every draftee, not just the interstate kids.

I'm not sure I understand your argument. Are you saying that "player x" who had better form than "player y" in the U18's will always be a better player come AFL?

Strauss I believe is contracted for next year, however it wouldn't surprise me if he asked to be traded for more opportunities. Whether he gets them is up for debate, I believe I read a rumour on here that Carlton is interested? If he does leave, I think it will be on par with losing Chris Johnson. Having said that, I would have liked to see Strauss played more as a winger. He has a nice turn of speed and is one that could actually deliver it to our forwards lace out.

Prime prospects: Matthew Scharenberg Brief video and article on a likely top 5 pick

Loyalty-keeps-max-at-the-dees “So why I was so happy to sign was because when I had my two knee recos, I became a supporter and I went to every game. I went to every single one – even the ones interstate I travelled and I did a few things over there. You become really involved in the club and a big supporter, and that helps with where I’m at now." Love this quote, sounds like he is another Demon through and through.

Lol, well perhaps one thread on here would be

Hasn't he improved out of site this year. I followed him closely last year and wasn't all that impressed with his ouput... although he was nursed through his first year and got the green vest many times. If Toumpas can have a follow up year similar to Wingard's then Demonland will be a much happier place next year.

Really depends on your definition of soft I guess. I've seen him hit contests hard and at the bottom of packs. I've also seen the toughest players the AFL has to offer squib a contest at some point or another. This includes Hodge, Mitchell, Hayes, Bartel, Selwood, Franklin, D Martin, Ablett, Swan, Watts (hehe), Boyd, Goodes, H Taylor, N Reiwoldt, Chapman, and on and on and on and on.... The only ones I haven't seen anything but 100% commitment to each contest time and time again is J Brown and our own Jack Viney. I think you need to re-evaluate your definition of the word soft, and I would suggest that 90%+ of AFL players wouldn't fit it.

Going by the training video, Pederson, McKenzie and Viney have all made the trip up north. 25 are up there at the moment with the intention of those not required for the game to be flown back down on Saturday morning to play for Casey.

Nascent 2.2 This album has dominated my car cd player for the past month or so. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pPBTtsgIWNM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Edit: hmmmmm, can't seem to get the video to embed properly. Any suggestions?? Link below works... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPBTtsgIWNM

Small interview with some in-game footage for those that are interested. Aish shoulders the draft burden

Here's the win stats for every team over the past 7 years. I haven't included finals or mentioned draws. Geelong: 123/147 Collingwood: 103/147 Hawthorn: 99/147 St Kilda: 86/147 Sydney: 84/147 Adelaide: 77/147 North Melbourne: 74/147 Bulldogs: 71/147 Carlton: 70/147 West Coast: 70/147 Essendon: 69/147 Freemantle: 69/147 Brisbane: 58/147 Port Adelaide: 57/147 Richmond: 53/147 Melbourne: 34/147 GC: 11/59 GWS: 2/37 I've highlighted the Bulldogs record as they seem to be generating a bit of discussion over their eligibility for a potential priority pick.

We have won 34 out of a possible 147 games in the past 7 years. If we jag a few wins in the run home, I don't think a record of say 38 out of 154 is going to change the AFLs thinking too much. If they decide that we warrant draft assistance, so be it. If not, they may as well scrap it altogether as no other team would qualify... that is unless GWS continue like they are for another 5 years.