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- May 2, 2006
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- East Fremantle
Melbourne clearly made some big moves in the offseason, with the departures of Oliver and Petracca and, to a lesser extent, Judd McVee.
Steven May has been banished to the shadow realm(dunno why they didn't just pay him out but that's neither here nor there), so Turner will get more opportunity and Brody Mihocek has been added to bolster their KPF stocks.
They're in a bit of an interesting spot. Clearly they are looking to build for the future, having taken multiple first rounders in the last 3 drafts, however they still do have plenty of experience on the list to transition a bit more 'on the run' unlike West Coast and Richmond, who both spent significant draft capital(WCE Kelly, Rich, Hopper/Taranto) to have another crack at a flag. Having said that, they still have the third oldest list, although that's skewed by Gawn, Melksham, May, Campbell, McDonal and Mihocek, most of whom will be gone in the next 2 years.
Having said that, looking at Melbourne midfield now that Petracca and Oliver are gone, it's definitely taken a big hit. Yes they brought in Steele as a mature body but he's not going to propel them into contention.
Looking at some of the proposed best 23's going around, their midfield looks quite slow, Steele, Culley and Langford not known for being speedsters and the loss of Petracca will exacerbate this further, as champion data had him as the number 1 'speed of ball movement' player in the AFL last season(according to Hoyne on SEN last Friday. This certainly explains the interest in Humphrey and it'll be interesting if he does look to get traded to the Dees again this trade period. Jiath should provide some dash off HB also.
They do have some good young talent they've been stockpiling, so I don't think it'll be WCE levels of shitness for a few years, but they definitely some high end talent to boost a number of areas around the ground.
In terms of position and player types, I probably rank it like this:
1. Speed - Winsdor's got some toe and K.Pickett is pacey(not sure about Pickett #2 although from what I've seen, he isn't slow). Probably need some more speedy players around the ball and on transition(Jiath?).
2. KPF - Van Rooyen has been a slow burn and Jefferson has been on the list for some time and and is yet to have any meaningful impact at AFL level, hence the acquisition of Mihocek. One if, or both, the Williams at WCE could help in this regard. Both are capable tall forwards and can pinch hit in the ruck and will be behind Reid and CDT for opportunity but can certainly hold their own at AFL level.
3. KPD - Need a replacement for Lever to partner with Turner for the next decade. Would be hoping Jed Adams can develop to be that player but it wouldn't hurt to draft an extra to develop behind him. Perhaps Jefferson or Kentfield could be tried back there?
Throw a blanket over the rest.
Thoughts?
Steven May has been banished to the shadow realm(dunno why they didn't just pay him out but that's neither here nor there), so Turner will get more opportunity and Brody Mihocek has been added to bolster their KPF stocks.
They're in a bit of an interesting spot. Clearly they are looking to build for the future, having taken multiple first rounders in the last 3 drafts, however they still do have plenty of experience on the list to transition a bit more 'on the run' unlike West Coast and Richmond, who both spent significant draft capital(WCE Kelly, Rich, Hopper/Taranto) to have another crack at a flag. Having said that, they still have the third oldest list, although that's skewed by Gawn, Melksham, May, Campbell, McDonal and Mihocek, most of whom will be gone in the next 2 years.
Having said that, looking at Melbourne midfield now that Petracca and Oliver are gone, it's definitely taken a big hit. Yes they brought in Steele as a mature body but he's not going to propel them into contention.
Looking at some of the proposed best 23's going around, their midfield looks quite slow, Steele, Culley and Langford not known for being speedsters and the loss of Petracca will exacerbate this further, as champion data had him as the number 1 'speed of ball movement' player in the AFL last season(according to Hoyne on SEN last Friday. This certainly explains the interest in Humphrey and it'll be interesting if he does look to get traded to the Dees again this trade period. Jiath should provide some dash off HB also.
They do have some good young talent they've been stockpiling, so I don't think it'll be WCE levels of shitness for a few years, but they definitely some high end talent to boost a number of areas around the ground.
In terms of position and player types, I probably rank it like this:
1. Speed - Winsdor's got some toe and K.Pickett is pacey(not sure about Pickett #2 although from what I've seen, he isn't slow). Probably need some more speedy players around the ball and on transition(Jiath?).
2. KPF - Van Rooyen has been a slow burn and Jefferson has been on the list for some time and and is yet to have any meaningful impact at AFL level, hence the acquisition of Mihocek. One if, or both, the Williams at WCE could help in this regard. Both are capable tall forwards and can pinch hit in the ruck and will be behind Reid and CDT for opportunity but can certainly hold their own at AFL level.
3. KPD - Need a replacement for Lever to partner with Turner for the next decade. Would be hoping Jed Adams can develop to be that player but it wouldn't hurt to draft an extra to develop behind him. Perhaps Jefferson or Kentfield could be tried back there?
Throw a blanket over the rest.
Thoughts?
