Is North Melbourne passing on Logan McDonald going to be the 2021 version of the Bulldogs passing on Buddy for Ryan Griffin

[BronCrow]

Melbourne took Cale Morton ahead of Patrick Dangerfield in 2007.

Their biggest blunder since they took Ken McGregor over Pavlich!

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Or taking Patrick Dangerfield over Brad Ebert?

On a serious note, every club including Port Adelaide overlooked Matthew Pavlich in the 1998 draft. He was drafted at pick 4 in 1999. Richmond overlooking him in the 1999 draft for Aaron Fiora is a much bigger blunder.

 

[ferball]

The bonus with Phillips playing in the midfield is he'll be back on par pretty quickly. McDonald will have his regularly fluctuations in form as a young key forward, but he's undoubtably started well and looks an astute draft pick. He was rated up with JUH in the eyes of some, but recruiters are far more hesitant to pull the trigger on key forwards early on in the draft.

Phillips isn't Tambling. He isn't soft, and plays the kind of game where at his peak you'll back him in for 25-30 and a goal each week. Was rated pretty closely to Rowell and Anderson in his 17th year, and no reason why he wont be a very solid mid for North, injuries permitting.

We should have bid on Campbell first (like the hawks did) then taken Phillips. If we got Campbell... well what a spew... he reminds me of Wayne Schwass. There will always be good key forwards around. Build a good midfield that can deliver and top line KPFs will want to play with them.

 

[ferball]

Given Dodoro I understand it better than most. Ive seen decades of draft mistakes. Didn’t want Parish at the time for similar reasons.



Phillips over McDonald is taking McCartin. All and sundry rated McDonald higher just like all and sundry rated Petracca higher.

Sometimes the crowd is wrong.

I think Phillips will be something special and was pleasantly surprised when we drafted him.

 

[ferball]

This is one of the dumbest threads of all time.

There is a thread on this main board about pointless aggression and its trying to focus on the dumb* niggling that is everywhere in the game these days.

This thread is the BF version of that dumb* niggle.

 

[Nutjob]

Looks midget like. Needs another person next to him for reference lol

Oh ok... Maybe we could put an undersized Lachie Neale or Tom Mitchell next to him.


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[HeeneyIsAGun]

Well let's wait and see how Phillips turns out. A bit worrying that he isn't being selected if North was so desperate to get him though, whilst Logan has forced Sinclair and McLean out of the Swans side pretty easily. I dont think North's midfield OR forward line is good enough currently to keep a top 4 draftee out.

 

[Nutjob]

Well let's wait and see how Phillips turns out. A bit worrying that he isn't being selected if North was so desperate to get him though, whilst Logan has forced Sinclair and McLean out of the Swans side pretty easily. I dont think North's midfield OR forward line is good enough currently to keep a top 4 draftee out.

He had an injury through preseason and only played his first full praccy game last weekend. It’s the first full game he has played in 18 months.

No one is worried.


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[fnerd]

Being a Perth boy he was lucky not to be sent into the mines when he was 8 year old and forced to work 16 hours a day covered in coal.

Coal? ,LOL-
That's predominately the s**t resource they dig up over your way.

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Oh ok... Maybe we could put an undersized Lachie Neale or Tom Mitchell next to him.

If you want to make a case for a short stocky players being effective in todays game it's currently Butters and Gulden. Genuinely make their teams better, cover the ground beautifully and thrive in chaos. Hopefully he has a similar impact, but based on his attributes, he appears to be the Mitchell/Neale type than an explosive chaotic forward who can pinch hit in the middle. Neale/Mitchell are great accumulators but don't strike fear into the hearts of opposition coaches.

The thing they all have in common is they've all been taken outside of the top ten of the draft because some types are harder to find and more valuable when you get them right.

None of that is saying he won't be good, just that often the biggest risk with high draft picks is playing it too safe.

 

[SnusCG]

Or potentially looking forward we got the better player. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge, especially when you consider Phillips hasn’t played a game.

Phillips bottom age stats stack up with both Rowell and Anderson in their top age year in the same side. Let’s see the kid play before we call it a blunder.


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That was actually a genuine consideration I had about him pre-draft - He was playing third fiddle in the most stacked team behind Rowell and Anderson that year. It seems unlikely he was copping much, if any, attention from opposition teams during his underage year. I was interested to see how he would handle playing as the go-to midfielder in his draft year but obviously never got the opportunity to see it.

But recognising he didn't play all of last - it's still odd that a guy who was touted to have a great work ethic and leadership qualities is as far off it in round 1 as he was/it. The same excuses didn't seem to stop Lazzaro (Geelong boy) who looked really good the other night against us. Given guys like Cunnington and Anderson were injured and Higgins was traded I was expecting him to be a sure starter

Intrigued to see how he goes as the season continues, but with you guys having traded out Ben Brown last year, the decision to not draft McDonald was an odd one.

 

[Shadow89]

I think they were keen on Kelly but Oscar Allen at pick 21 was too good a deal to pass
up. Turned out to be the right move.

That's true, but, they could have picked Allen at 13 and Kelly at 21, and the whole conversation changes (they also probably win the flag in 2019 too IMO). Brander at 13 is where it all came undone - but hindsight is always a wonderful thing, haha, and I am definitely not complaining as it allowed us to clean up from just one draft pick

 

[Shadow89]

Sometimes the crowd is wrong.

I think Phillips will be something special and was pleasantly surprised when we drafted him.

There is a thread on this main board about pointless aggression and its trying to focus on the dumbfu** niggling that is everywhere in the game these days.

This thread is the BF version of that dumbfu** niggle.

Phillips will be a good player - that's not what is being argued here. What is being argued is, why pick a very good mid with your first pick, when you then take another very good mid in Powell 8 picks later, and add another decent mid in Lazzaro later on in the draft...when you literally have no forwards at all right now?

You trade out Ben Brown, Comben is perennially injured, Goldy will retire in the next couple of years, Larkey is decent but can't hold a forward line down himself, and Walker is decent as a defender - but was never a good forward.

Your forward line at the moment, is basically Larkey, Walker, Zurhaar, Thomas, Mahoney, Stephenson and Turner. Maybe Garner whenever he's fit, but you're operating on scraps at the moment, and it's pretty much dysfunctional when it comes out of the midfield.

Compare that to your midfield for at least the next few years, in Anderson, Simpkin, LDU, Cunnington, Phillips, Powell, Lazzaro, Dumont, Polec and Hall.

But let's say your management team knew you'd finish Bottom 2 again this year, give you're rebuilding - that's a definite factor. There's only one problem though...the top end of the draft is all mids this year. If you were looking at rebuilding properly, well you have no chance at getting a key forward as good as McDonald this year, because there are none in this draft that are on that same 'generational' level.

Phillips again will be probably be a very good player, but structurally, your pick is going to be in the range of a mid this year, so you could have just gotten someone as good as Phillips to fill that role, and gotten a generational key forward in McDonald. It just makes no sense at all, and is seriously baffling to a lot of us (even North supporters too), who just can't see why your board and recruitment team would pass up such a golden opportunity to secure a key pillar for their rebuild.

It's not about Phillips, it's about a baffling decision by your recruiting staff, that a lot of us just cannot make sense of - hence the thread.

 

[ep2018]

That's true, but, they could have picked Allen at 13 and Kelly at 21, and the whole conversation changes (they also probably win the flag in 2019 too IMO). Brander at 13 is where it all came undone - but hindsight is always a wonderful thing, haha, and I am definitely not complaining as it allowed us to clean up from just one draft pick

Yep, got a whole heap of middling draft picks which you ended up having to trade for Cameron. Had you not had those picks GWS would have rolled over and accepted FA compensation. Funny how it works sometimes.

 

[ep2018]

Perhaps Phillips was good pick after all, I can easily see Eagles or Freo luring a once in a generation forward back to Perth in a couple years, especially if North are still spudding it up in that time.

 

[telsor]

You do realise that Hawthorn also passed on Buddy ?

They also spent the next 2 drafts using high picks on key forwards (Dowler & Thorp, both pick 6), suggesting they weren't completely confident in their choices coming good.

They also spent a lot of time looking at Thorp and seemingly missed the other key forward he was playing alongside, although you'd think it'd be hard to miss the outgoing cousin of Nick Reiwoldt, Jack.

Which isn't having a go at Hawthorn's recruiters so much as pointing out that it's a very hit and miss game, and missing a pick (and even not really knowing what you've got until a few years of development has passed) is hardly unusual.

People thinking they know the hits and misses from the most recent draft after 2 rounds are dreaming.

 

[Substance]

Without posters like Cadillac making thinly veiled troll threads, fueled by their hatred for certain teams, bigfooty would lose a lot of it's pep.

 

[tonygeeks]

I watched L McDonald play a couple of WAFL games live and really liked the way he played , he has a very versatile style and gets his goals in different ways. I don’t think he’s a genuine tall target style of fwd but more of a versatile finisher

10/10 on the eye test for a young player for sure , so I was definitely in the Roos have stuffed it camp. Then I watched young Tom Powell play with such poise and vision and was very impressed so if Phillips is a better player than him you would be VERY happy

I know the Roos have gone very analytical with their drafting so Im not so sure now

Will be an interesting storyline to follow

Give me a break with the old ‘ it’s 2 games FFS ‘ sooking though , what the hell is BF for if it’s not footy chat and opposition team needling


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[Shadow89]

Yep, got a whole heap of middling draft picks which you ended up having to trade for Cameron. Had you not had those picks GWS would have rolled over and accepted FA compensation. Funny how it works sometimes.

You say this, but, you're forgetting the two picks we get back from GWS and Essendon, which at this stage, are both a fair chance of being Bottom 6.

I went through the history on this, and basically, we ended up drafting TK at 24, and then could basically end up with Jeremy Cameron, Cooper Stephens and Pick 24ish in the 2021 draft, for that Pick 24. Can't do much better than that

**********************************************************************************************************************

(just to show how everything transpired, as posted earlier on our board)

We draft Tim Kelly with Pick 24 in 2017
- We trade Tim Kelly to WC in 2019, for Picks 14, 24, 37 and a Future 1st (ends up as Pick 18 in 2020 draft)
- We draft Cooper Stephens with 2019 Pick 14 (16) from the Eagles
- We trade Pick 24 (Pick 27) to GC for 2020 Pick 11 (ends up being Pick 15 in 2020 draft)
- We trade 13 (15), 15 (18) and our own 20 (25), and get Cameron and as it currently stands, Picks 21 and 22 back (likely to be something more like 22 and 24 at year's end, IMO)

We end up with a 6 pick downgrade of our original Pick 15 (ends up being 18) to Pick 24ish. Essentially it means that the Eagles Future 1st becomes a Future 2nd and drifts to Pick 24ish.

****Note: The 11th hour trade of Pick 20 (Pick 25) for Essendon's Future 2nd (Pick 22ish), is our own pick, so is not part of the Kelly haul and can be treated as a separate trade.*****

So in totality, we end up with Jeremy Cameron, Cooper Stephens and 2021 Pick 24ish, for 2017 Pick 24.

*************************************************************************************************************************

Not looking for a sh*t fight on this, just demonstrating how sometimes picking the 'right' guy, can have a flow-on effect in terms of your draft/trade acquisitions moving forward.

Allen is a champ, and will be one of the best forwards in the very near future. Has everything, and can play basically every key position on the ground - def/fwd/ruck.

With that said, Allen at 13 and Kelly at 21, would have basically let you keep all your draft picks, and possibly netted you the '19 flag. It's all a bunch of pot luck, but it has made a huge difference in both of our clubs and their trajectories, when it comes to drafting/not drafting Tim Kelly.

 

[Kozzie_Magic]

When it comes to all-time draft blunders, Melbourne don't get the credit they deserve for the 2009 catastrophe.

1. Melbourne: Tom Scully... a mediocre mercenary who took the big coin on offer from the Giants after just 2 years at Dees-land
2. Melbourne: Jack Trengove... played 86 games, but never reached his full potential due to a nagging foot injury
3. Richmond: Dustin Martin... one of the greatest players of the modern era who has led the Tigers to 3 flags

Scully and Trengove were better than timid Tambling... but fancy having 2 chances to pick Dusty and not taking them?

Neeld would have ruined Martin

 

[B4Bear]

Well let's wait and see how Phillips turns out. A bit worrying that he isn't being selected if North was so desperate to get him though, whilst Logan has forced Sinclair and McLean out of the Swans side pretty easily. I dont think North's midfield OR forward line is good enough currently to keep a top 4 draftee out.

The kid played his first game in 18 months last weekend. So the club should pick him in the vain attempt to satisfy the idiot media and even bigger idiots that infect this site.

Any other pearls of wisdom you would like to bestow upon NMFC?

 

[The Gong]

The kid played his first game in 18 months last weekend. So the club should pick him in the vain attempt to satisfy the idiot media and even bigger idiots that infect this site.

Any other pearls of wisdom you would like to bestow upon NMFC?

Move to Tasmania

 

[Dazb86]

North should have 3-5 cracks at an early pick in the near future. They won't be too worried.

 

[The Gong]

North should have 3-5 cracks at an early pick in the near future. They won't be too worried.

That is a quality backhanded compliment.

Early draft picks are great if you get it right. They aren't a magic wand though.

 

[Psicosis]

That is a quality backhanded compliment.

Early draft picks are great if you get it right. They aren't a magic wand though.

Northern Academies are though.

Imagine being able to take risks with your first pick knowing that you have the safety net of two more first rounders.

 

[Sentinel]

It would've been far too confusing to have two L. McDonalds playing for the same team

That's exactly the reason why we traded Lachie Young to North.