Watts Jurrah Dunn?

Mcveigh is top 40 in the afl for contested possessions and top 60 for clearances. Not sure which Matthew bate you are talking about? I think we all agree that with kennedy, jack, bolton, bird, hannebery and Parker as the inside midfielders we clearly have a long way to go in this area. Magner, mckenzie and couch are extremely limited IMO. I'd have no problems ending up with Viney, O'Rourke, Graham and Hrovat.

I would like to work Jordan Murdoch into a trade for Gysberts. 189cm line breaking midfielder. Thumping left foot kick. The ideal modern wingman. Was pick 48 in last years draft so I'm not sure what the right deal would be, but he certainly has some of the traits we are after.

Not as shite as our list management & recruiting over the past 10 years. You're obviously a typical Melbourne supporter who thinks the the sun shines out of the backside of all our players. You probably maintain Luke Williams and Juice Newton deserved another year. Time to pull your head out of your backside mate and start questioning these decisions. Why our hands are tied this year with Morton and Davey? Atrocious list management. Because 4th in the Melbourne football club 2012 best and fairest is such an amazing achievement? A defender that spent the second half of the year struggling at half forward came 5th FCS - should we sign rivers for 3 more and turn him into a key forward? McKenzie is heart and soul, no doubting that, but he's an extremely limited footballer who wouldn't get a game in a top 8 side. if he is a regular in 2015 then we will almost be extinct, we must be going that badly. 2 years would have been more than enough. It's not as though he was going to get a scully deal from an opposition club.

Obviously Wellingham benefits from Collingwood's star studded midfield, but he is still a good midfielder, probably a B Grader just like Nathan Jones. He has spent a lot of time this year on a Half Forward Flank so we know he is not one dimensional like Moloney. He could become a better player with more midfield time and more responsibility. He also comes from an elite club and is the right age to give us 100 games of service while Trengove, Grimes, Viney, Taggert, O'Rourke/Toumpas etc continue to develop. $600k is overs but as proven by offering Mackay $2m over 4 years, we are going to have to spend big on a B grader to get anyone across. $600k is probably only $100-$150k more than what Moloney earned this year. Stef Martin is the perfect trade-bait now that we have signed Jamar for 3 years. He is a ruckman first and foremost. He has never dominated a game forward or back - only glimpses. He needs to go somewhere that he can be the no 1 ruck and spend only 20% of his time forward. We must trade Martin this year because another season rotting at half forwrard, jumping at contests with one hand like a basketballer will only diminish his trade-value even further.

Giles averaged 14 disposals, 3 marks, 22 hit outs and a goal a game in his first full season, with absolutely no support. He kills jamar in everything except hit outs, and is 5 years younger. Staggering that GWS are supposedly keen on an established ruckman. Just as staggering that we signed jamar for 3 more years when you could get someone like Giles on the cheap.

Mate you must have absolutely no understanding of other clubs and opposition players if you think we could get gumbleton and a pick for Petterd. That is laughable.

We all tear our hair out at how bad the culture and standards have been at the MFC now for 10 years. We have been constantly told this year that we are only now becoming an 'elite' club and 'training with match-like intensity'. Rivers has been there during this entire period, and just like Moloney, Green, Jamar and Davey, is supposed to have been a leader and driven the standards. When Neeld demoted all those guys it was a clear statement he expects for that to now happen from Grimes, Trengove, Jones, Clark etc. I think the writing was on the wall for Rivers when Neeld threw him forward, as Sellar is better at playing on the dinosaurs and can ruck, and Frawley and McDonald are 10 year defenders. Throw Watts and Garland into the mix as well as '3rd tall' defenders. I'd wish Jared all the best as I think he can be easily replaced back there.

This kid hasn't been given an opportunity at North Melbourne due to their plethora of zippy midfielders and half forward flankers (Harvey, Thomas, Campbell, Harper, Garlett, Adams) but he is exactly the sort of player we need. Spend 10 minutes watching some of his highlights and you will see that he has great pace, is a lovely kick, and there is no doubting his courage. He has a better highlights reel in his first match than what Tapscott and Bail have produced over their entire careers. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ben+speight&oq=ben+speight&gs_l=youtube.3..0j0i10l9.469.1547.0.1672.11.7.0.0.0.0.281.281.2-1.1.0...0.0...1ac.1._UdtTrwipJQ He looks as though he would fill the zippy half forward role much better than a 28 year old Jared Moore or Shannon Byrnes whose bodies are not up to that role anymore. Offer Speight 3 years and greater opportunities. Send North Melbourne a 3rd round draft pick. Get it done MFC.

If these quality VFL kids have ever nominated for the draft before then surely we would be trying to pull of some sort of Ahmed Saad type trade with GWS?

Great post, tonatopia. Sheedy for 2-3 years would have really hardened a lot of these soft, precious kids up. Dare I say it, we probably wouldn't have drafted as many of them as we have. Look at the terrific job he has done at GWS. I genuinely believe they are closer to a flag than us, particularly when you consider Neeld will turn over 20 players in the next 2 years. It really is staggering that we bring in a media personality for a few weeks every few years to pick a coach, then let him leave back to his media commitments.

Jamar - one dimensional ruck man who has had one terrific season in 9 years at the club. He has struggled with injury this year and is already looking so slow. Doesn't offer anything once the ball hits the ground, and can't rest forward. McKenzie - an absolute battler who tries his heart out but can't kick over a jam tin and can't run out of sight - two pretty important elements in modern football. What on earth was our 'wonderful' new football department thinking giving these blokes three years each? I understand they're both great guys but surely 2 years would have been more than enough. When you combine these decisions with the FD's obsession with blokes like Bail, you really have to wonder what's going on at this club.

Watts, Gysberts, Bate, Bennell, Morton, Blease, Strauss, Green, Garland, Cook, Jurrah, Nicholson, Martin, Davey, Fitzpatrick. A third of our list has no appetite for the contest and/or no c@#t. Just a team of nice guys. I'm not sure how you fix this but all I know is you wouldnt want to go to war with any of these blokes. I hope Neeld is absolutely brutal, because watching Crowley manhandle Jones all night with no support from any teammates was embarrassing.

If I was a full time recruiter I could find you 50 mature aged players from state leagues around Australia that are better footballers than bail and mckenzie. There's plenty of Sam Gibson's out there and we invest years on fumbling spuds that can't kick.

Spot on. I honestly think that Paul Seedsman from Collingwood and Toby Greene from GWS, both recruited last year as very light players, have both put on more weight in 12 months than Watts, Morton, Cook and Gysberts have in years. Seeing Watts next to Taylor Walker yesterday, it is staggering to think Watts has now completed 4 AFL pre-seasons. Stuff their foot skills - lock Morton, Gysberts, Watts and Cook in the gym for the next 6 months and don't let them touch a football.

Royal is a VFL standard coach. Spencer and McKenzie are VFL standard footballers. It's no wonder we got smashed. Thank goodness Sloane didn't play.

Some trades I'd like to see happen, which keep our first 3 rounds of draft picks are: - Stef Martin for Wellingham - Sylvia for Luke Parker - 4th round pick + Ricky Petterd for Matt Campbell - Cale Morton for Koby Stevens / Andrew Strijk - Late picks for Brett Meredith, Levi Greenwood Realistic targets for free agency: Jordan Russell Ricky Dyson Shannon Byrnes Danyle Pearce Nathan Foley Quinten Lynch

Oucher, I also heard this from an AFL club scout. Gold Coast are huge on him, and I suppose they have enjoyed grooming and developing O'Meara and are keen to do the same with Martin. It is going to be a scary midfield in 4 years with Martin, Bennell, Swallow, O'Meara, Prestia etc. I don't think this draft is quite as strong as it was touted, and I suppose they see Martin as next years pick 1 and are happy to use pick 2 to get it. Just from the little bits I've seen, Martin also has a lot more tricks than Toumpas and O'Rourke, who are the type of players Gold Coast would be looking at with pick 2 this year.

You are right - they can still bid and would obviously keep ND pick 2 to use in the Mini Draft if we matched their Viney bid. But I don't think they will given we could just let Viney go and then take Jack Martin in the mini draft by giving GWS ND pick 3. Huge risk if Gold Coast are as keen on Martin as it sounds.

I'm hearing Melbourne will get Viney in the 2nd round as GC will use pick 2 on Jack Martin, and therefore will not bid. GWS won't bid as they can't risk losing Whitfield with pick 1, and can't bid pick 2 as they won't officially have it until the mini draft order is completed later in trade week.

Too similar to Strauss for mine. Just a nice, timid kid with a reasonable turn of speed and beautiful kick. Not sure he has that 'I'll die before my opponent kicks another goal on me' competitiveness that Neeld loves.

I think Sylvia for Parker (Sydney) would be a win win. Might take the swans to a flag and we'd have a 10 year inside midfielder. Not even halving those contests and getting out marked by Dempster twice in the third was a disgrace. Never gets a kick against decent sides.

The trade that landed the Saints Milera and Saad was an absolute masterstroke. From memory they gave pick 20, and got Milera, Saad and pick 25 from GWS. All of a sudden with these two and Jack Steven coming on the Saints are a quick side. The Dees must do something similar with our pick in the low 40's and/or Bate, Petterd etc. I'm not sure how Tim Harrington still has a job when he was the 'List Manager' of a list with more holes than Swiss cheese.

You're kidding mate. Please don't stick up for Melbourne's recruiting. It can't have been any good for us to still be this bad. Gysberts and Cook would have to win Brownlow's to make up for the jump that Darling and Jetta have on them.

Pearce is exactly the sort of player we should be targeting. Any midfielder that can run and kick would be a welcome addition. Will play next year as a 27 year old but would certainly add some pace and class for 2 seaons.

On the topic of kicking, could someone tell me why an AFL side would have James Frawley take the kick in and James Strauss standing 5 meters away getting ready to shepherd the man on the mark? Amateur hour.