Dees hold draft night event

[stabler]

To capitalise on the popuarity of the draft, the MFC will be holding a night at the MCG on November 26th (draft night) with guests Chris Connolly, Barry Prendergast (recruiting manager) and Jack Watts. The draft will be monitered live and dees fans attending will be the first to hear from our new picks.

more info here:
http://www.melbournefc.com.au/event detail/tabid/7547/default.aspx

I know this will only appeal to Melbourne fans but i think this is a great inititiative by the club and i was wondering if this sort of thing was a first? Also it seems atleast from a dees fans perspective that the draft is becoming more popular each year and i wonder if this will become a common occurrence for clubs, particulalry those with early first round picks, to host similar events. Of course the Gold coast and WS may stall things for a couple of years.

I can see draft night growing in stature and becoming a major event on the AFL calender in years to come. Are excitement levels the same for opposition fans or is it somewhat watered down by the fact melbourne has picks 1 &2?

 

[Wizard]

To capitalise on the popuarity of the draft, the MFC will be holding a night at the MCG on November 26th (draft night) with guests Chris Connolly, Barry Prendergast (recruiting manager) and Jack Watts. The draft will be monitered live and dees fans attending will be the first to hear from our new picks.

more info here:
http://www.melbournefc.com.au/event detail/tabid/7547/default.aspx

I know this will only appeal to Melbourne fans but i think this is a great inititiative by the club and i was wondering if this sort of thing was a first? Also it seems atleast from a dees fans perspective that the draft is becoming more popular each year and i wonder if this will become a common occurrence for clubs, particulalry those with early first round picks, to host similar events. Of course the Gold coast and WS may stall things for a couple of years.

I can see draft night growing in stature and becoming a major event on the AFL calender in years to come. Are excitement levels the same for opposition fans or is it somewhat watered down by the fact melbourne has picks 1 &2?

Why are the Dees so excited? Its not like there is any suspense over who they are taking at 1 and 2.

 

[Captain Jack]

I think it's a great idea for the wooden spooners, but I can't see such as event holding much sway in 4-5 years for Melbourne when we are in Finals contention.

The only reason why the Draft has been so popular amongst Dees fans the last 2-3 years, is because we've had nothing else to cheer about.

 

[stabler]

I think it's a great idea for the wooden spooners, but I can't see such as event holding much sway in 4-5 years for Melbourne when we are in Finals contention.

The only reason why the Draft has been so popular amongst Dees fans the last 2-3 years, is because we've had nothing else to cheer about.

Yeah thats understandable (kinda sad really) But it also seems like there has been unprecedented media interest in number 1 picks ie Jack Watts, and perhaps this was largely fuelled by us, but it certainly seems like the hype was at fever pitch. Plus the TV coverage of the draft this year would also suggest it's popularity is at an all time high.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Why are the Dees so excited? Its not like there is any suspense over who they are taking at 1 and 2.

For them I suppose it's the equivalent of unveiling the Premiership Cup to supporters.

 

[Lach72]

For them I suppose it's the equivalent of unveiling the Premiership Cup to supporters.

It's what they worked for all year

 

[TradeDraft]

I think it's a great idea for the wooden spooners, but I can't see such as event holding much sway in 4-5 years for Melbourne when we are in Finals contention.

The only reason why the Draft has been so popular amongst Dees fans the last 2-3 years, is because we've had nothing else to cheer about.

Spot On when your team is not Good, The Draft gives you Hope

 

[crowsarethebest]

Pretty sure Richmond did something like this last year or 2 years ago.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

um, Melbourne board?

 

[Captain Jack]

Pretty sure Richmond did something like this last year or 2 years ago.

haha well let's hope that our hope is more vindicated than theirs turned out to be. lol Richmond

 

[TradeDraft]

I can see draft night growing in stature and becoming a major event on the AFL calender in years to come. Are excitement levels the same for opposition fans or is it somewhat watered down by the fact melbourne has picks 1 &2?

With the Pies having there 1st Pick at 30, There is not a Massive Excitment about the Draft

 

[stabler]

With the Pies having there 1st Pick at 30, There is not a Massive Excitment about the Draft

lol. Yeah fair enough. I imagine Port will hold some event with all their early picks, probably in a caravan or something. with SEN on the radio.

 

[The Smaller Warrior]

lol. Yeah fair enough. I imagine Port will hold some event with all their early picks, probably in a caravan or something. with SEN on the radio.

haha

I think this is a great idea,

Perhaps even get the Draftees to attend later in the event? Or would this not be possible?

 

[_RT_]

Pretty sure Richmond did something like this last year or 2 years ago.

Richmond used to hold draft preview nights where the club would discuss the upcoming draft with members and give a bit of an incite into who they would be looking at taking. All in all a very informative night.

 

[JA27]

scully and trengrove, melbournes versions of kaka and ronaldo. would be happy with 50,000 & 80,000 fans turning up.

all for this type of thing, just hope too much pressure isnt put on them, but this year at least there are two of them and both midfielders as well.

 

[Selective Retention]

Richmond used to hold draft preview nights where the club would discuss the upcoming draft with members and give a bit of an incite into who they would be looking at taking. All in all a very informative night.

Was it the year that you ended up taking JON? I'd love to know what the pre draft spin from the club was on that one!

 

[Selective Retention]

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211405&highlight=Richmond&page=2

I found the thread. As a Cats supporter got to love those medical reports. SJ (trade to pies falling over), Selwood and Varcoe. Shows how much luck can play a part in the draft and footy overall I guess.

 

[Spluff]

Was it the year that you ended up taking JON? I'd love to know what the pre draft spin from the club was on that one!

Considering JON was rated by everybody, it shouldn't be too hard to find what people were saying about him?

 

[Colonel Obvious]

To capitalise on the popuarity of the draft, the MFC will be holding a night at the MCG on November 26th (draft night) with guests Chris Connolly, Barry Prendergast...

Would have thought he'd be doing something other than a cocktail party that night... Melbourne's future is in safe hands.

 

[melbournemartin]

Interesting. Surely they'd get the Melbourne draftees to come to the event later in the night.

 

[davo99]

Hey Guys sorry for intruding to you're board but does anyone no what time the draft will be held? is it in the morning or at night

 

[demon48]

Hey Guys sorry for intruding to you're board but does anyone no what time the draft will be held? is it in the morning or at night

Starts at 6:30pm. Being broadcast on Fox Sports.
Disappointed, as I don't have pay TV. Was really hoping they'd show it on ONE.

 

[davo99]

Cheers mate i thought the draft is usually in the morning strange timeto make the boys wait all day to be drafted

 

[Demon 16]

I dont think its only Melbourne supprters who are interested - although maybe this year Melbourne has the most interest.

Even years when we havnt had particularly high draft picks Im always interested in who the top players are and who my team will select and end up with. I think it has the potential to become a smaller scale brownlow medal type production.

The NBA draft is a huge showpeice and I can see the AFL draft becoming similar - and teams with high picks, particularly number 1 will capitalise with marketing and events such as this.

 

[Vader]

The NBA draft is a huge showpeice and I can see the AFL draft becoming similar - and teams with high picks, particularly number 1 will capitalise with marketing and events such as this.

But (as has been pointed out elsewhere) there's no comparison between the AFL draft and the NBA or NFL drafts. The NBA & NFL draftees have all come through their college system, where the top players are household names. These games are televised each week and the players are well known.

Compare that to AFL games, where the bulk of players come through the TAC Cup - with crowds of what? 1000 on a good day (note that I've never been to one so I'm just guessing)? The top half dozen or so usually get a little bit of media coverage, but the rest are completely unknown to the general public. Only the most extreme fans (eg BigFooty fanatics) would have a clue who they are.

TV coverage has been tried before and it's always failed. There's just isn't a sufficient level of interest out there in the general public. Foxtel have decided to broadcast it this year and we'll all be interested to see how it goes. Ch7 used to broadcast it "live" but they had to give up. Ch Teen tried doing a 1-hour wrap later in the afternoon (which I considered to be the best format), they too gave up. Lets hope the Foxtel effort succeeds.