Drafting skillful midfielders

[Longy413]

Kepler was taken at 6 but we also took Stanton (midfielder) first round at 13. Stanont is clearly better than Tenace who was our likely pick at 6 if we didnt take Bradley.

I forgot about those two.

So if we include Jetta as being in the first round, we've drafted a midfielder in the first round of the draft every year since 1996, with the excluding 1997 when we took Bolts and 1999 when we weren't in the first round.

 

[RED AND BLACK SOLDIER]

Well that why i thought we drafted Jetta ,Hislop, Davey, Houli and Reimers last year. All pretty skillfull midifelders with reasonably good pace.We drafted Monfries as well with this role in mind but he hasnt done as well this year. He is still skillfull though.Same with Dempsey.
This year we look like having another shot at taking a decent mid with our first pick.
It is all very well praising Geelong for getting Selwood but it makes it a lot easier when you already have the player rated close to number 1 in the draft signed sealed and delivered with a third round pick.
We where a bit stiff , if they didnt change the priority rules we would have had Gumbleton and Selwood.
Seriously if you think that taking 5 midfielders in the last draft isnt doing something to adress our midfield problem then i dont know what is.

Hislop, Houli and Jetta are the only ones i see becoming mids, the other 2 will probably play forward in the future. Jetta will play forward for a while though until he gets his stamina up to scratch, i'd probably expect to see him in the midfield in 09.

 

[ant555]

Hislop, Houli and Jetta are the only ones i see becoming mids, the other 2 will probably play forward in the future. Jetta will play forward for a while though until he gets his stamina up to scratch, i'd probably expect to see him in the midfield in 09.

Reimers was drafted to play midifeld . He has been playing mainly half back with some time on the wing for Bendigo.
There is also no reason why Davey cant play the run through role on the wing that Lovett plays. He already pushs well up to half back anyway.

 

[Shane Hird]

Lets have some serious suggestions on who we could target from another club..be it any type of player,except ruckman.


Was listening to the Melb game on radio yesterday for a minute and heard the commentor say that Brad Millar's career at Demen land is finshed after the performance he put in.

Backman...project player? Tough nut and has loads of experience. Could just need a change of club to put his career back in line.


Same as McPharlin from Freo. Still hasn't re-signed and is out of contract at years end. Put him in our backline and could also play forward.

Just some ideas anyway....I havn't got time to follow all the available players and know who's up for trade. We need some class injected into the side.. a proven quality player that just matbe needs a fresh start.

 

[RED AND BLACK SOLDIER]

Lets have some serious suggestions on who we could target from another club..be it any type of player,except ruckman.


Was listening to the Melb game on radio yesterday for a minute and heard the commentor say that Brad Millar's career at Demen land is finshed after the performance he put in.

Backman...project player? Tough nut and has loads of experience. Could just need a change of club to put his career back in line.


Same as McPharlin from Freo. Still hasn't re-signed and is out of contract at years end. Put him in our backline and could also play forward.

Just some ideas anyway....I havn't got time to follow all the available players and know who's up for trade. We need some class injected into the side.. a proven quality player that just matbe needs a fresh start.

Would love to have McPharlin at Essendon, but i don't think Freo would let it happen.
I'd love Essendon to go after Daniell Bell, he's an exceptional fast back pocketman and IMO is a great defender. This is a player who i would want Essendon to put into the most wanted category. Alongside a few young quality mids, maybe Sam Butler, Brent Prismall, Rischitelli, Swallow Reily and Knights.

 

[monty1104]

Not a huge fan of McPharlin, but I'd love to see Miller at Essendon. He just seems like a quicker, more skilled Solly. We also need a good midfielder. If we can draft 1 it woild be good, otherwise some of the players mentione by R+B soldier are a good fit. I think we will be able to get a good midfielder in the draft however, since Richmond, Carlton and probably Melbourne will be after KPP, and will all finish below us.

 

[ant555]

If we are going to discuss players we can pick up then we need to look at players we will be able to get cheaply. We havt got a lot of players we could trade that could genuinly attract quality players.
We probaly shouldnt mess around with our first round pick. There is a real chance of picking up a quality midfielder with it. There is a group of them including Cotchin, Plamer, Morton and Matsen that may well be available when we have our first pick. there is also a case for picking Rioli who is a good midfielder .
On top of this we will need to know what pick Daniher will go at and if we are going to pick him. I know the club/recruiters have kept a line of contact with him and seem keen on him. What we will have to evaluate is what is he worth ? can we afford to go with a second round pick ? Personally i hope we dont have to as i still think he is a later second rounder or third round pick.
That leaves us with maybe pick 2 and pick 4 for trade if we where to go that way. Then we have to look at players

McPhee seems to be the first mentioned. Im sure he is attractive to other clubs but what would his value be ? would they ask questions about why we signed him for 3 years at then end of 2006 and then put him up for trade one year later. Would he attract a second draft pick and Miller if Melbourne where interested ? Would we get a good enough player from that draft pick.
Who would we get for him in a straight swap ?

Lovett would be another who you could look at. He would have some value to other clubs.

I couldnt see us getting much for MJ , maybe a third or 4th round pick from someone but i dont think they will be lining up. Most would proably take a chance of pciking him in the PSD if they where really interested.

Ricky Dyson is another who would probably have some clubs looking but once again going with the above theme he wouldnt be able to attract any really big offers. Maybe 3rd or 4th round picks.

I wouldnt think that Bolton and Lee will attract anything.

Johns may atract some small interest.

Lonergan wouldnt attarct a trade unless someone was really keen on him. You would simply just draft him late or rookie draft him.

Bradleys stocks wouldnt be extremely high. Not many clubs would be lining up for players who are struggling with their skills and have proven to be ordinary under pressure in the back half.

Im not really excited about trade time at all as i just dont see what we have that will attract much. We are more than likely to make a few minor trades if any.

If we could get Miller for cheap i would seriously look at him.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

What about Luke Power?

There was talk about him coming back last year.....

Maybe Brisbane would like to deal seeing he still has a bit of value.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

And FWIW if Carlton get the priority pick and say we finish 10th-8th I think we should trade away our first pick because the cream of the midfielders will be gone.

Trade for a skillful midfielder.

 

[monty1104]

There seem to be a few midfielders who could push for top 10 selections this year. Also, of the teams that are finishing below us, alot would be looking at KPP, so a good midfielder or 2 might slip down the order a bit. But if we could trade for a ready made, young midfielder, I wouldnt be against it.

 

[Darealrath]

McPhee seems to be the first mentioned. Im sure he is attractive to other clubs but what would his value be ? would they ask questions about why we signed him for 3 years at then end of 2006 and then put him up for trade one year later. Would he attract a second draft pick and Miller if Melbourne where interested ?

I think we could get a mid to late first round pick for McPhee. If we could I'd do that trade. Then if our own pick is not in the first half dozen and there is a real standout midfielder we want who we know won't drop to us I'd seriously consider trading our 2 picks for 1 higher up in the draft.

We desperately need a gun midfielder. Desperately. I like Watson, Stanton, Winderlich and Nash and Monfries, Houli, Hislop and Jetta have all shown potential but I can't see any of them becoming a multiple AA type. It is killing me watching Selwood because he is just what we need - classy, skillful, good inside and out and hard at it. We don't have any that has that all round game. Gumby might turn out very good but modern footy is so much about the midfield that he'd need to be a star to justify skipping over Selwood. Bit extreme examples but carlton have Fev firing and are still crap whereas WC have had a rubbish forward line and still dominate. The difference is the midfield.

 

[RED AND BLACK SOLDIER]

I seriously think we should try and get Daniell Bell, i think Sheeds was interested in him a a year or 2 back i think, unless it was just rumours (i cant remember exactly). I'd love to see something like this happen McPhee and 3rd rounder for Bell and Miller. Ant, what do you think Bell would be worth, do you rate him?

 

[Daytripper]

I seriously think we should try and get Daniell Bell, i think Sheeds was interested in him a a year or 2 back i think, unless it was just rumours (i cant remember exactly). I'd love to see something like this happen McPhee and 3rd rounder for Bell and Miller. Ant, what do you think Bell would be worth, do you rate him?

Surely you can't be serious ?

McPhee is worth about pick 4-8 in this draft.

Thank god some posters here don't have any say over our list management.

 

[dave_27]

Same as McPharlin from Freo. Still hasn't re-signed and is out of contract at years end. Put him in our backline and could also play forward.

The bloke is over rated and struggles with his foot skills.

No thanks.

 

[RED AND BLACK SOLDIER]

Surely you can't be serious ?

McPhee is worth about pick 4-8 in this draft.

Thank god some posters here don't have any say over our list management.

Deadly serious. Bell is better than McPhee, he's faster, better disposal and a better defender than McPhee (IMO) and is what we need in our team to replace MJ. So he'd be worth about the same as McPhee, so how exactly would we be getting ripped off?

 

[Boris_Bewick]

Surely you can't be serious ?

McPhee is worth about pick 4-8 in this draft.

Thank god some posters here don't have any say over our list management.

Couldn't agree more.

Miller is one of the most underperforming players in the league.

Wouldn't mind a look at Daniel Bell, but only for relatively cheap. He has taken steps this year so would be worth more than previous seasons.

Some of the McPhee trade offers mentioned are ridiculous.

 

[Boris_Bewick]

Deadly serious. Bell is better than McPhee, he's faster, better disposal and a better defender than McPhee (IMO) and is what we need in our team to replace MJ. So he'd be worth about the same as McPhee, so how exactly would we be getting ripped off?

Surely you can't be deadly serious.

McPhee is an AA best and fairest winner. Taller, more athletic, more versatile, more everything than Bell. Give me one game to watch that would convince me that Bell is better than McPhee. I guarantee I could find many better games by McPhee.

Bell is an okay player, yet to prove himself, only a couple of years younger than McPhee. He's had an okay year, but McPhee has had great years before, and is having a good year and is not even near his peak of what he can do.

If he is what we need to replace MJ, Then why would you want to trade McPhee for him?

 

[Daytripper]

Deadly serious. Bell is better than McPhee, he's faster, better disposal and a better defender than McPhee (IMO) and is what we need in our team to replace MJ. So he'd be worth about the same as McPhee, so how exactly would we be getting ripped off?

Daniel Bell is about the equivalent type player to Jay Nash.

Compared to McPhee he is poor overhead, has no 'hurt' factor and from what I have seen of him can't be moved forward. He may look to have better disposal but thats only because he gets a lot of uncontested ball. McPhee does a lot of his work in traffic therefore its harder to pinpoint passes 100% of the time. That said, he isn't that bad anyway.

How is Bell a better defender ?
Who have been his direct opponents this season ?

You need to quantify some of these statements.

McPhee is 24, Bell is 22.
When Fletcher and Michael retire can you please advise who will be our experienced older head in defense ?

McPhee is worth about 5 Daniel Bell's and why you would want Brad Miller is anybody's guess. He is a poor mans Josh Kennedy (and thats saying something).

 

[Darealrath]

Miller is one of the most underperforming players in the league.

Agree. He's in a side crying out for a CHF or a key back and hasn't been able to cut it. He wouldn't improve us at all.

 

[Jex]

Miller is a terrible player.

We stuffed up 2 drafts (2000 & 2001), but otherwise we've recruited pretty well. We've gone for plenty of mids with top 20 picks...Rama, McVeigh, Davies (oops), Harvey (oops again), Winders, Stanton, Monfries, Dempsey, Jetta and Hislop. Rama would be our no. 1 midfielder today if not for his health issues.

Geelong are the current benchmark. Their best midfielders are Ablett, Bartel, Chapman, Corey, Ling and Selwood. All except Selwood have played 100+ games and are in the prime of their careers. In a couple of years, our midfield should be great. Right now our midfield lacks depth & experience and only time can improve the situation.

Stanton has struggled since his ankle injury and Winders and Hird have been missing through injury. Davey's speed and defensive pressure has been missed badly as well. We've lost games because we haven't been able to cover those loses. Dempsey has missed a vital development year. All except Hird are part of our long term future. Slattery will be a great tagger, but will have to learn to win more of the ball. Jobe has been sensational in the middle 3rd of the season. Hislop, Jetta and Houli have shown good signs in their 1st season. To me, the future of our midfield looks bright and from a future needs perspective, Gumby was the right choice (as good as Selwood is).

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

^^^^ Well said Jex.

I agree that in time our midfield will be good but astute drafting can fast forward that.

 

[DaSawx]

We do have some pices in place, with Watson, Winderlich, Stanton, Depmsey, Nash ect we have a combination of skill and pace and natural ball winning ability, unfortunately their experince ranges from 2-50 games, none really near their prime, and we still need to add some hard runners

 

[RED AND BLACK SOLDIER]

Daniel Bell is about the equivalent type player to Jay Nash.

Compared to McPhee he is poor overhead, has no 'hurt' factor and from what I have seen of him can't be moved forward. He may look to have better disposal but thats only because he gets a lot of uncontested ball. McPhee does a lot of his work in traffic therefore its harder to pinpoint passes 100% of the time. That said, he isn't that bad anyway.

How is Bell a better defender ?
Who have been his direct opponents this season ?

You need to quantify some of these statements.

McPhee is 24, Bell is 22.
When Fletcher and Michael retire can you please advise who will be our experienced older head in defense ?

McPhee is worth about 5 Daniel Bell's and why you would want Brad Miller is anybody's guess. He is a poor mans Josh Kennedy (and thats saying something).

I disagree with you, Nash is unaccountablle, where as Bell is quite good at stopping his opponent, simple. Bad comparison
When iv'e seen him play, he spoilt nearly everything and was always right behind his man because he is so quick. I can remember the game when he played on Lucas and was doing a pretty damn good job until he went off injured. I have to agree with you, McPhee's marking is better but IMO he's got most other areas covered. McPhee was good on Thomas one the w/e, he seemed to be right behind Thomas spoiling everything that came his way, and i was quite suprised because i havn't seen that from him in a while. Im sure Bell could be moved onto the wing and use his awsum pace there if he wanted to, but if managed to get him i'd rather he played ion the back pocket where he plays his best football. Does McPhee eveb have any "hurt factor" anymore? Well i guess he must, turning it over the would hurt us as a team alot eh. As long as Bell stopped his opponent that's all that matter in my eyes.
As for Miller, although he is playing pretty poorly ATM, if Melbourne wanted to get rid of him then i don't think it'd be such a bad idea getting him for a late pick and see if he could turn things around at a new club. It's not like i'd want Essendon to go out of their way to get him, but if we were in the situation where we could get him for near nothing it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

 

[Pumper Rubberfunk]

Agree Selwood although the whole world now knows he is a ripper, could have been our choice opposed to another tall in Gumbelton. Picking Selwood would not have been a huge risk as we already know his Bro's could play a little, and just like buying a Danehill at some stage you will always get your money back ..I thought we could have held off for a Gumby as Lloyd and Lucas have another 3-4 very good years left..

 

[ant555]

Surely you can't be serious ?

McPhee is worth about pick 4-8 in this draft.

Thank god some posters here don't have any say over our list management.

I dont think he is , there are some midfielders in this draft that will go between 1 and 15 or so that i belive will be better than McPhee.
McPhee knows how to find the footy and can mark well but he hasnt got an extremely quick footy brain and has struggled to fill specific tasks he has been given at times.
I wouldnt see anyone giving up anything before pick 12 for McPhee.