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Showing results for tags 'Mike - there is hope'.
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This thread is purely for the blue sky junkies, of which I'm not always a member, but I need to dream. Also, despite this season being our annus horribilis, the following prospects aren't completely without merit. I consider this season over come grand final day and thus the curse of this season will also be over - just in time for trades/drafts. And I'm sick of talking and reading about tanking. Club politics isn't really my thing, even though I have contempt for some previous key stake holders. In another thread I've shied away from getting Cloke purely because of the cost, but today I'm going to embrace the idea on the basis that the list management team headed by Tim Harrington have carefully planned for free agency and can manage such a "purchase". I'm also going to assume that we get Viney in the second round. Possibilities: 1/ In - Cloke (Collingwood), Caddy (Gold Coast), pick 3, pick 4, Viney Out - Sylvia, pick 13 to Gold Coast 2/ In - Cloke (Collingwood), pick 3, pick 4, pick 13, Viney Naturally this thread isn't concerned with likely delistings or later picks/acquisitions, just pointy end picks and substantial ways of improving the list. The beauty of getting Cloke is that he costs nothing other than the wage. Team: Def: Nicholson, Frawley, Rivers H/B: Grimes, Tom McDonald, Garland Cen: Caddy, Viney, Toumpas H/F: Watts, Cloke, Howe For: Jurrah, Clark, Blease Rucks: Jamar, Trengove, Jones I/C: Martin, O'Rourke, McKenzie, Gysberts New: Cloke, Caddy, Viney, Toumpas, O'Rourke. While not perfect and still with room to improve, this is pretty much a spud free zone. You don't see names such as Bate, Dunn, Petterd, Morton, or teases such as Moloney and Sylvia. It also doesn't allow for others such as Taggert, Tynan, Strauss, Tapscott ... Toumpas and O'Rourke are very highly rated inside and outside contested ball winning mids with pace and elite kicks. Unlike Trengove they're quick and unlike Scully they're great kicks and will be stronger bodied. Toumpas captained SA in the u/18 national championships. Both are predicted to be top 10 draft picks. Most rate Toumpas top 5 and TAC Future Stars on Channel 9 ranked O'Rourke as they're second best prospect. Viney and Toumpas will add instant character and leadership qualities. Trengove and Grimes will welcome young leaders and mids of their ilk. Also, rather than being 17 year olds like Flower and Healy, or even schoolboy draftees of more recent times such as Andrew Walker, Callan Ward, Dangerfield and Jack Watts, these players will play nearly all year as 19 year olds. They'll not be 'A' graders overnight, but they'll impact our group with their class immediately. Note: all three of these guys have better credentials than the highly rated Toby Greene of GWS and he's averaging 26 disposals in his first year. He was a teammate with Viney at Oakleigh Chargers and another first round draft pick only last year. Every single supporter knows there are no guarantees with drafting, but assuming we draft well it's like having Beams, Shuey and Selwood walking into your club. I've seen Viney and his approach to football and the only other mid of recent times that I can liken him to is Joel Selwood. He has the same manic attack on the ball. We lack pace, but straight away we'd gain three young mids with pace. Look at the spine, or goal to goal line: Frawley, McDonald, Viney, Cloke and Clark. It has the potential to be one of the best in the league. Look at the forward-line. With the addition of Cloke I've put Watts back into the forward-line. The two best defenders go to Cloke and Clark, but the opposition have still got to cover Jurrah and Howe as other agile marking options, plus a 196cm Jack Watts. We still need a quality crumbing forward, but I've put Blease in there for now. That is a ridiculous forward-line to match up on. The back-line is a little top heavy, even though Garland and Frawley are good at playing on 'smalls'; and we need an elite kick out of defence, such as Suckling, or Guerra, but it's got the makings of a decent back-line. If you can't sway Caddy to come to the club then pick 13 may be retained and a dynamic and fast little player such as Ben Kennedy may still be around. He's a terric small with a booming kick who plays midfield and kicks goals. A midfield in 3-4 years of Jones, Caddy, Trengove, Viney, Toumpas, O'Rourke and possibly Gysberts provides a mixture of pace and hardness, and has the ingredients to be the envy of the competition. Obviously we may not choose Toumpas, or O'Rourke, but that's the type of quality that will be on offer. Forget Cloke's poor year. He's a gun key forward and we've seen enough to know that he and Clark would be a nightmare for the oppostion, especially with quality flankers around them. Supporters mustn't give up hope that we can draft well. At the top end this draft is quality, especially for midfielders. As Terry Wallace said on the weekend, we have a chance to do what the Saints did in 2000 when they picked up Hamill from Carlton, Gehrig from West Coast, and Riewoldt and Koschitzke with draft picks. Current first round mids/utilities gained from drafts: Hodge, Ball, Dal Santo, Hayes, Goddard, Wells, Judd, Murphy, Griffen, Cooney, Thomas, Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Selwood, Bartel, Deledio, Cotchin, Stanton, Thompson, Dangerfield ... Just look at the names. All of these players were first round draft picks. And you can add 'in demand' players such as Boak, Caddy and our own Nathan Jones as other first rounders. This year there will be players of similar quality and we have a chance to get two (three if we use pick 13), plus Viney if he comes in the second round. The possibilities to change the course of this club are enormous. Do other supporters share my belief that this club can be transformed quicker than a lot of the general public, or media commentators envisage ? Btw, I know I'm not the only supporter with this type of hope. I'm just one of many. But just as certain there will be some that consider such blue sky scenarios only fit for the land of the fairies. If we can't get Cloke we need some other mature key forward to improve our structures and to help Clark. I'm excited by the opportunities ahead. *If mods would prefer this thread on the draft board naturally they'll move it. I posted here because it's a mixture of blue sky with our core list, as well as drafts/trades.