manny100

It was top $. Clubs need to deal with players with respect. Adelaide showed no respect to Lever. That will be a turn off for players they want to recruit. Will they do that to me? They have promised me the world - will they get the deal done? Ask Gibbs. At least we took the pressure off Lever by dealing early. We showed the AFL world that we walk the talk. Better to get a reputation amongst players as a club who respects and deals fairly. The Crows need to be careful they do not lose their ability to acquire good players. I also think we treated Jack Watts with respect. Sometimes it pays to generate goodwill so I am ok with the price we paid.

We have a duty to talk Lever down and Watts up until trade season is over.

Hmmmm, value dropped a tad today, looked to big and slow for the smalls. Will not be tall enough or strong enough to play on the bigger talls. Lucky for him most teams have 3rd tall forwards and he can play the intercept role.

Yes, but they already have quality tall forwards, would struggle to fit him in the CAP and would need to trade good players away to get picks to trade for Hogan. Cannot see WCE interested unless they are prepared to give up Kennedy which will not happen.

Hoges is contracted until end of season 2017. Would want Neale plus a top 5 pick plus a first rounder the next year - so good is Hoges. Freo is ageing and could be on the decline. Why would he leave a club on the rise if his pay is ok. Plus Freo have to fit McCarthy and Hooker if they go there in the CAP. Cannot see it happening.

Callum Twomey on AFL radio during the trade period said that he genuinely believes that if not for his injury Weideman would be ranked No 2 in this draft. He is a big wrap for him. Most BF phantom drafts have him a fair bit lower. Watch for Callum's final Phantom update on the AFL website close to draft day. He usually gets close to the mark. I guess he gets a bit of information etc from clubs. So I am not surprised by Redlegs comments regarding his information. Backs up Callum's 'big' statement. on trade radio. If Weideman is that good then we would have to take him at pick 3, play him at FF and let Hogan slaughter the opposition as a higher CHF.

I would take him. Bigs are hard to get. If you trade for one you up big. So take one when you can. Mids are easier to get through the draft, trade and FA!!!! Hopefully Trengove recovers and gets back to best++. Petracca to come in, Kent back. Maybe Melksham and Kennedy. We have plenty of mids developing.

See below Knightmare's (from big footy) description of Christian Petracca. He compares him to a Dustin Martin type without the personal issues. Says he is ready season one - we will of course have to wait until season 2!! " 1. Christian Petracca (VIC – Mid/Fwd) Height:186cm, Weight: 92kg, DOB: 04/01/1996 Recruited from: Eastern Ranges Draft range: 1-2 Best position/role: Rotational midfielder/forward. Strengths: Front half talent –Petracca can play both deep in the front half as a marking target and off a forward flank to a high standard when playing forward. Deep in the front half Petracca provides strong scoreboard impact and is an imposing marking presence with his 1v1 strength, overhead marking ability, marking on the lead and superior ability to read the drop of the ball. He can deep in the front half also win the ground ball. Petracca can also play off a forward flank and have a big impact, he can on a forward flank accumulate the footy in bunches, do damage with his footskills, present as a strong marking target, provide strong scoreboard impact and push up the field. Midfield talent – Petracca is an improved midfielder this year having improved his endurance and decreased his skinfolds. He has a nice mix between inside and outside game. He is a very good contested ball winner and stoppage player and these areas of his game can continue to improve given his size and strength. He is a strong ground ball winner. He is a strong tackler. He also has a rare power to him not only with his strength to bully guys inside the contest but some real explosive power where he can burst through a contest, come up with the ball and break away from the contest at speed. He also has excellent evasiveness and can sidestep guys and burst away with some real explosiveness. Some of his work inside by hand finding targets also is impressive. Outside the contest Petracca shows that he can find the footy but also use it really well utilising his damaging footskills and vision allowing him to find damaging targets up the field. Scoreboard impact – Forward or through the midfield Petracca provides strong scoreboard impact and is capable of kicking multiple goals and breaking games open with his scoreboard impact in any given game whether that be from set shots or in general play. Strength and power – There are not many 92kg midfielders going around and even fewer with the explosiveness and power of Petracca. He wins his own ball and can either burst through the contest or run around you with ease. He stands up through tackles and has the strength through his core and hips, he can shrug tackles and give a strong don’t argue. In the 1v1 contests he can take advantage of anyone who is not key position sized making him a matchup nightmare. Versatility – Petracca because he can play not only through the midfield but also on a forward flank or deep in the front half as a marking target gives you options and this versatility should also help him receive immediate senior games on any team. Footskills – Has an excellent mix between footskills hitting his targets around the ground with consistency, vision allowing him to find some really damaging targets in great position but also he has the finishing ability and set shot goalkicking to allow him to make the most of his opportunities in front of goal. I have also enjoyed some of his kicks to target while tackled showing that even when tackled he can still execute and find his targets. Marking ability – Few if any medium size types have the marking ability of Petracca. He has the 1v1 marking ability, contested marking ability and ability on the lead to take his marks and he has the strength overhead to take them consistently. He also reads the drop of the ball exceptionally well and uses his body well in the contest allowing him to effectively protect the drop zone making him incredibly hard to defend particularly if he can isolate a smaller player defender deep in defence. Weaknesses: Endurance – His endurance is building and has improved significantly this year to an extent where he can play the majority of game time through the midfield, and his endurance testing at the combine was good but if he hopes to eventually become a full time midfielder he will still need to put a further few seasons of work into building that endurance base. Skinfolds – Like with his endurance his skinfolds have reduced but his skinfolds still appear relatively high and also need to decrease further. Decision making ability – Petracca’s decision making ability while good most of the time can at times can leave something to be desired. Both by hand and foot Petracca with his touches generally looks to do as much meaningful damage as he can but at times as a result of this he can fail to recognise his limitations which can lead to a poor kick or handball and an overall lower disposal efficiency than he might otherwise have. What I expect will improve:I expect Petracca to continue to improve his contested ball winning and stoppage work and take that area of his game from good to eventually excellent. I also expect his endurance and skinfolds to improve. I also imagine his disposal efficiency to increase as he improves his decision making ability and better learns when he can do damage and when he needs to go the safe option. Who he can become? I anticipate Petracca to develop into a player largely similar to Dustin Martin but without the personal issues. I see Petracca mostly playing as a damaging forward flanker at first who will at times push deeper into the front half splitting his minutes between playing through the front half and midfield with those midfield minutes increasing as he improves his ability up the ground. When will he be ready to play? Petracca is season one, round one ready to play. He I imagine will start off season one mostly playing in the front half and by season two or three likely play more a split between forward and midfield minutes. How to best utilise him? Petracca today is best utilised at the moment in the front half because he is just so damaging forward of centre. The hope will be that he becomes more a midfielder but I would look for him to split his minutes between the midfield and front half long term as he is a rare weapon forward of centre. Interpretation of his numbers: Petracca well and truly has the performances on the board and is one of if not the best performed player in this draft class based on his form these past couple of seasons through the TAC Cup and U18 championships. He is finding the footy but also providing heavy scoreboard impact at both levels which such suggests he will provide both a strong immediate impact at AFL level but also that he will become one of the best to come out of this draft with those high production power midfielders who can provide heavy scoreboard impact of strong value to teams."

We need to go all out for Trealor. ANB, Stretch etc need more time to develop - but should be good. Riley and Mitchie unlikely to improve enough to be top players - but stranger things have happenned, Newton??. But give them a chance over the remainder of the season. Need more games in Harmes. Salem could be a star - but needs to get games under his belt. Trealor would give us an instant lift. We also have Trengove and Petracca to come in next year - basically new recruits. Should give the mid and forward area an immediate lift with some injury and form luck. We also will have Frost back - basically a new recruit - could play CHB and free up McDonald for a forward role without to much compromis to the backline. Kent will also be basically a new recruit next year - looked like having a breakout season early on!!!!!!!! He has pace, strength and power and will be a big boost up forward - if injury free!!! Salem by the time he gets back in the seniors will have missed around 11+ weeks - should be a bonus next year. Another scenario however is to get a mid FA next year and pick up a tall KPP with our first rounder. Picking say a Stanton may be a risk with the WADA issue still to be resolved.

The usual suspects will be considered for moving on, M Jones, Bail, Terlich. Looks like it may be over for Jamar and we may see Toumpas offered up for trade - unless he turns it around soon. Roos/coaching team will want to see what Stretch, ANB and Harmes have to offer for the future before deciding on which way to go at trading/drafting - how long will it be before they are high production mids?). They will want to assess the chances of Trengove re-establishing his career. Don't forget fit and in form he can play inside and outside to a high standard. Petracca is another player who likely can come in and have an immediate impact in the midfield as well as forward. If all these players can come up then our midfield should be ok. Given the number of young players on our list I would favour either a trade for an established gun high production mid or if we cannot attract one use our pick on a young KPF (risking one is available at our pick). We probably need a young KPF to come through.

We will trade Clark if he wants to go to the club of his choice. Swap for Labamba would be ok. Otherwise would be looking say 30+ given his injuries. What we really need is pick3 for Frawley!!!

If we get a compo pick don't rule out a trade with GWS or Swans. Despite what the Swans say Mitchell will be offloaded for the right deal. Swans get a gun mid in Heeney this year and another gun mid in Mills - and Dunkley next year. No one in their right mind would not give up a pick 3 or 4 for a guy who cannot crack it for a regular senior game. Mitchell and another player, say Rohan would probably be about right. The Swans would get Heeney and Durdin (they need a young developing gun key back). Anyway trading/drafting season should be entertaining regardeless.

Stretch a bargain 3rd Rounder. He is very quick and with Barry is an alternative to Blease who may not be around much longer. Toumpass is a different type of player and not as fast. The top teams are adding express pace, eg, Hill and Smith, Rohan and Jetta. The way the Lions are going we may well get pick 3. Petracca will go top 2 so that leaves us with a tall.

I agree best available at our picks. Luckily Brayshaw or Petracca should be available. Usually bottom teams are so ordinary kids that play outside struggle big time. Usually those kids that are already strong, talented and win their own ball do better at least early, eg Wines, Dunstan. Generally the very early mid picks distribute the ball well which is where bottom teams usually fail. That is why Roos is trying to build our mid area up with bigger body mids. Win contested ball and use it well - helps forwards.

Saw the draft analysis by Wallace as well. 85% success rate for inside mids makes sense. The top 10 go to the lower clubs where it helps if you can get your own ball. The early insiders can win there own ball plus dispose ok. That is why Roos is desperate to build the midfield with class inside mids who can get the ball to outsiders and KPP's. No doubt if he was there we would have picked Wines. No knock on Toump its just that the Team needed insiders way more than outsiders at that time. I expect Brayshaw or Petracca to be drafted at year end (if available at our pick).

Jordan Lewis on 'Future Stars' said Petracca had trained at the Hawks and that he was a quicker version of John Kennedy.

In the absence of wins drafting possibilities at least provides us with a much needed distraction. Looks like bottom 1-3 for us even with Dawes, Jamar, Garland and Gawn in. Best available for me whether its a tall or mid. I think we will get a priority which most likley will be mid first round or end of second round. If Frawley goes then a pick after our first as compo. If Carlton finish in the bottom 3 watch them heave Gibbs out the door to get an early compo pick. The other clubs will not be happy if both us and Carlton get an extra pick early as compo - compromises the draft again - one reason which will push any priority pick we get closer to the end of the first round. If Frawley does go we would not recruit a free agent as we would lose our early compo pick. Last year some other clubs wrote to the AFL demanding that no priority be given last season due to us having a good list but not developing it properly, ie we already have the cattle. I do not think the AFL can ignore a poor finish again.

This year will be very interesting. Plenty of talls and we will likely get a top 3 or 4 pick. I do not see a problem picking up a young tall at our first pick. We do not know the long term prognosis for Clark, whether Fitzy will develop into a good player. What if Frawley goes. Hogan has to resign. If you later trade talls get you get more - one reason I suspect GWS has loaded up on them. Plus this is a rare draft - loaded early with talls. GWS will be looking to trade again into another early pick. It helps balance their list age profile with quality as a bonus (from a very early pick). So we have options with our first pick. Plus Stretch as a bonus 2nd rounder as a mid/forward.