Marcus Drum

[Kong]

I've been meaning to ask this for almost the entire year, but what's happening with this guy?

He was highly rated in the Under 18s; captain of the Bushrangers, star key defender and - at one stage - potential #1 draft pick.

When he came to the Cattery, I assumed he'd at the very least play a few games in the position vacated by Tom Harley.

I haven't even heard anything about him since then, to be honest.

Is he on the outter; is he injured, has he gone backwards?

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

Has had a succession of injuries, most notably a detached retina which required surgery and kept him out of VFL contention for a lot of the year. Got a couple of games late but strained an Achilles which finished him for 2010. Expecting big things from him next year.

 

[True Blue Cat]

Suffered a detached retina during the season which sidelined him for awhile. Other than that there wasn't really room for him in the seniors when he was fit. Not sure on his form in the VFL when he was playing though.

*EDIT* I didn't know about the 2nd injury.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I've been meaning to ask this for almost the entire year, but what's happening with this guy?

He was highly rated in the Under 18s; captain of the Bushrangers, star key defender and - at one stage - potential #1 draft pick.

When he came to the Cattery, I assumed he'd at the very least play a few games in the position vacated by Tom Harley.

I haven't even heard anything about him since then, to be honest.

Is he on the outter; is he injured, has he gone backwards?

Detached retina (got concussed in his first vfl game under lights, well they thought it was concussion, then found out it was the eye). Missed 3 months, then on the way back, did his achilles. Then played 1 good vfl game, but injured his ankle, which ended the year for him. Was very good in the pre season matches (remember one practice match I went to at Gosch's where he did a reasonable job on Dawes) so I would think if he stays injury free this pre season, he will get a crack (assuming Scott is prepared to drop an older player of course).

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Suffered a detached retina during the season which sidelined him for awhile. Other than that there wasn't really room for him in the seniors when he was fit. Not sure on his form in the VFL when he was playing though.

*EDIT* I didn't know about the 2nd injury.

He only played 3 VFL games for the year in total, so can't really assess his form from that at all.

 

[Vdubs]

He's probably expected to be the depth player for us NOT requiring Laidler??? I mean, if we didn't have Drum, would we have made a bigger play to keep Laidler?

 

[Pure_Ownage]

He's probably expected to be the depth player for us NOT requiring Laidler??? I mean, if we didn't have Drum, would we have made a bigger play to keep Laidler?

Yes.

Although we didn't have much say in Laidler going.

 

[Turbocat]

Yes.

Although we didn't have much say in Laidler going.

Pure , don't you think we had a say in it? If really rated him , we could have offered a 3 year contract , xtra dollars whatever but I suspect when we match our ordered list with dollars paid , Laidler came in somewhere around 25-30. 2 games in two years hardly sound like he demands to stand next to Selwood.
If Carlton see him in their best 22 and pay him like he is their best 15 then good luck to them. He is another Prismall and will continue to be a fringe player unless he improves with senior experience.

I'd rather give games to boys like Duncan,Manzel,THunt that did enough to make us play him in his first year and I suspect guys like Weston with similar size and more pace , will have him covered before long. Whether Drum can be the guy too , we will have to see but hes shown a lot more the AFL than Laidler has

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Pure , don't you think we had a say in it? If really rated him , we could have offered a 3 year contract , xtra dollars whatever but I suspect when we match our ordered list with dollars paid , Laidler came in somewhere around 25-30. 2 games in two years hardly sound like he demands to stand next to Selwood.
If Carlton see him in their best 22 and pay him like he is their best 15 then good luck to them. He is another Prismall and will continue to be a fringe player unless he improves with senior experience.

I'd rather give games to boys like Duncan,Manzel,THunt that did enough to make us play him in his first year and I suspect guys like Weston with similar size and more pace , will have him covered before long. Whether Drum can be the guy too , we will have to see but hes shown a lot more the AFL than Laidler has

We didn't have much say when he was out of contract and decided to move on the second last day of trade week. In any case I don't think it's a massive loss. Re the original point, while the club would have preferred to keep Laidler, no doubt the fact that he and Drum were pretty much fighting for the same position, meant at least we still had, and have, an alternative, even with him leaving.

 

[Turbocat]

We didn't have much say when he was out of contract and decided to move on the second last day of trade week. In any case I don't think it's a massive loss. Re the original point, while the club would have preferred to keep Laidler, no doubt the fact that he and Drum were pretty much fighting for the same position, meant at least we still had, and have, an alternative, even with him leaving.

I think we pretty much agree. The club probably prefer to keep everyone but there are so many places adn every year tough call have to be made. I doubt Adam Varcoe would be an easy choice but I think club has to make annual choices and Laidler was considered a guy who would get the dregs of the cap , thus we didn't offer him a contract earlier or infact an increased one. The club acknowledged that Carlton were after him last year so they knew others were looking at him 12 months before , so I don't really rate the last two day thing that much. In my mind , if the club really wanted him they would have signed him up after a another club was chasing him or played him thru the year more.

 

[jim boy]

Detached retina (got concussed in his first vfl game under lights, well they thought it was concussion, then found out it was the eye). Missed 3 months, then on the way back, did his achilles.

Not to mention the irregular heart rhythm before he did his retina. Must be having some sort of competition with Ottens.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I think we pretty much agree. The club probably prefer to keep everyone but there are so many places adn every year tough call have to be made. I doubt Adam Varcoe would be an easy choice but I think club has to make annual choices and Laidler was considered a guy who would get the dregs of the cap , thus we didn't offer him a contract earlier or infact an increased one. The club acknowledged that Carlton were after him last year so they knew others were looking at him 12 months before , so I don't really rate the last two day thing that much. In my mind , if the club really wanted him they would have signed him up after a another club was chasing him or played him thru the year more.

Well the selection was based on Bomber not wanting to drop his loved players, so I don't think we can read that the list management team didn;t rate him. And as for contracts, I get the feeling the Ablett thing disrupted a lot, after all we had a fair few senior players still unsigned post season.

Anyway, besides that I do agree with you, the club probably wanted to keep him, but didn't rate him as a future star, and hence wasn't prepared to pay overs to keep him (which I agree with).

From what I've seen of Drum last year, he definitely has as much, if not more, talent than Laidler, so apart from being annoyed about pick 53 being unders, I'm ok with the situation. Whether he (Drum) can fulfil that potential of course, is another matter.

Not to mention the irregular heart rhythm before he did his retina. Must be having some sort of competition with Ottens.

Yeah forgot about that too. Seems like he may have caught the Ottens disease. Pity, the times I talked to him at the VFL he seemed like a top bloke, and really passionate about the side, so I hope he can make some inroads this year.

 

[rocker_oz33]

this guy must have something to add the team,the cats normally dont trade for players since ottens.l do hope he gets over his injury's and adds something to the team.

 

[InnocentBystandr]

Anyone know how he and Chris Scott got on at Freo? With Chris knowing a bit about him, would Marcus have a greater or lesser chance of playing in the seniors?

 

[Vdubs]

Anyone know how he and Chris Scott got on at Freo? With Chris knowing a bit about him, would Marcus have a greater or lesser chance of playing in the seniors?

At least he's been kept, unlike Laidler, so that's a start. Not complaining about Laidler, just stating the fact

 

[maxy87]

As far as I am aware ( dont quote me on this!) Drum was unhappy at fremantle and wanted to come home for a fresh start. I don't believe it was fremantle that didn't rate him but rather it just not really working out. A mate of mine that grew up with him reckons he's the goods but he'd hardly say he's crap so take it as you wish. Personally, I think there must be something Wells and co. like about him to want to trade for him. Appatently Geelong wanted to get him in 2005 but were beaten to the punch by freo

 

[moond0g]

At least he's been kept, unlike Laidler, so that's a start. Not complaining about Laidler, just stating the fact

hardly relevant when this happened before scott was appointed. also add in that laidler wanted out, not us really wanting to trade him.

 

[tremors]

Will be a quality contributor in 2011

 

[David the Cat]

Drum may be a revelation for Geelong next year. You can forget his 2010 because injuries gave him no chance to play into form.

At 191 cm and highly skilled Drum has the opportunity to cement a place in the Geelong backline and my tip is he will do just that, barring injuries. A top ten draft pick as I recall...so fingers crossed he can play to that level.

He is mentioned as weighing 87kg, so perhaps a little more bulk would be a good thing, while keeping his pace and mobility.

Blew my Travis Varcoe trumpet long and loud last year. Might make this guy my next prediction for big things....though I have feeling Taylor Hunt could pip him at the post!

 

[Pure_Ownage]

As far as I am aware ( dont quote me on this!) Drum was unhappy at fremantle and wanted to come home for a fresh start. I don't believe it was fremantle that didn't rate him but rather it just not really working out. A mate of mine that grew up with him reckons he's the goods but he'd hardly say he's crap so take it as you wish. Personally, I think there must be something Wells and co. like about him to want to trade for him. Appatently Geelong wanted to get him in 2005 but were beaten to the punch by freo

I think that's essentially the accurate picture.

He won the BFYP in his first year at Freo, so clearly the talent was there, and always there. By my reading of it, he was playing well up until 08, after which he got sidelined by Harvey's youth policy (not having a crack, because I think he made the right call, it saved his job and was good for Freo) which made it hard for him to get a game, and obviously coach and player didn't get on too well because he didn't play again until late 09, after he'd made it cleat he was going home. From the Freo supporters I talked to at the time they thought he was talented, they were just annoyed with his attitude, which I think was largely homesickness.

We weren't beaten to the punch as such, because he went at 10 in 05, and we didn't have a pick until 15 (Varcoe). But no doubt Wells rated him, or he wouldn't have traded for him.

I reckon he's got some talent for sure, my worry is whether he'll get any opportunities this year, because they'll probably only come if Milburn or someone else is injured, but if he gets a chance, I think he will play some good footy.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Anyone know how he and Chris Scott got on at Freo? With Chris knowing a bit about him, would Marcus have a greater or lesser chance of playing in the seniors?

Good question. I'm not sure whether he was his line coach since he played back and forward, and it's hard to know what he thought of him...we don't really know. It will be interesting to see how that side of things pans out. You would think he'll still be reasonably objective though...i.e. whether he does or doesn't get a chance will largely be based on a full pre season and nab cup form, rather than other factors.

 

[maxy87]

Pure_ownage agrees with me on two threads! Just made my day

 

[Asty]

I reckon he's got some talent for sure, my worry is whether he'll get any opportunities this year, because they'll probably only come if Milburn or someone else is injured, but if he gets a chance, I think he will play some good footy.

Obviously needs to find a spot to break into.
If Mackie has another ordinary season he could come in there if we are looking for someone to take a mid to tall forward?

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Pure_ownage agrees with me on two threads! Just made my day

No worries

Most of what you say is worth agreeing with, like most people around here (apart from TMA/forrest/_me_), which is what makes this place great.

Obviously needs to find a spot to break into.
If Mackie has another ordinary season he could come in there if we are looking for someone to take a mid to tall forward?

Possibly...although I think (or maybe I'm just hoping) missing finals plus new coach will be the boot up the backside Mackie needs and he'll have a good year and not get dropped again.

I don't expect Milburn will play 22 games at his age, and that's where he'll get a game. He's also a chance to get a game for any Scarlett is injured/rested-against some smaller forward line type teams I can see us going in with Lonergan Taylor and Drum (assuming Scarlo is injured of course) because he is more versatile matchup wise whereas Gillies and Lonergan can both only really take talls.

Josh Hunt could also be under pressure if he doesn't lift.

 

[maxy87]

Ha ha yeah thought i was having bad run for a bit there. Dont worry, I always try to keep it rational.

Would really like to see him play some footy this year. Good thing is we have some versatilty with lonergan and mackie seemingly able to play at both ends. As you also pointed out P_O Drum has played forward too so we have some options.

Given that the decision to keep Dasher was made prior to the appointment of Scott, it may well turn out that if fit, he could take his spot if form permits. Love Dasher and the fact that he was able to play in the flags, but I would hope he is used as a solid backup option for injury/poor form