Unofficial Preview Under 23's Adelaide vs Port Thebarton Oval, Saturday February 29, 11.50am, AFC Media live stream available

[Crow till I die]

Thats where teams like the Pies with Grundy, have a massive advantage.

If NicNat plays every game this year at his normal par level, he can carry the Eagles to another flag such is his dominance around the entire ground.

I say throw the fog into the ruck from time to time to 'soften' up the opposition ruck

 

[cleanhands]

I say throw the fog into the ruck from time to time to 'soften' up the opposition ruck

Leave it alone

 

[Concussion test]

Worked for the Hawks though.

Geelong haven't managed the ultimate but they've certainly defied gravity. A few seasons ago I would have picked them to find the edge of the cliff well before us.

 

[CrowinNT]

Yeah, young gollant reminds me of that young brisbane forward (whose name eludes me at present) that looked like a baby giraffe for a couple of years there... looked so tall and thin that he could possibly snap in half any minute yet threw himself into contests for the ball without a care in the world..

loved seeing that from gollant on saturday.. was a highlight of the game.

Hipwood ?

 

[Bearded Clam]

Hipwood ?

Thats him!..

 

[Mego Red]

Thats where teams like the Pies with Grundy, have a massive advantage.

If NicNat plays every game this year at his normal par level, he can carry the Eagles to another flag such is his dominance around the entire ground.

I never thought Natanui was that good around the ground. Ruck contests, absolutely, but I always felt he should have impacted around the ground more.

 

[Geoffa32]

Thats where teams like the Pies with Grundy, have a massive advantage.

If NicNat plays every game this year at his normal par level, he can carry the Eagles to another flag such is his dominance around the entire ground.

And yet WCE beat Collingwood with Scott Lycett in Ruck GF day.

Having an elite Ruckman is not as important as overall midfield strength. You just need a competent Ruckman.



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[hey shorty]

And yet WCE beat Collingwood with Scott Lycett in Ruck GF day.

Having an elite Ruckman is not as important as overall midfield strength. You just need a competent Ruckman.



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I reckon you need a super physical one, a guy that competes all day and wears down the oppo.

 

[cleanhands]

I never thought Natanui was that good around the ground. Ruck contests, absolutely, but I always felt he should have impacted around the ground more.

He’s not

 

[philthy05]

It definitely helped... but not as much as their drafting did in those 2 years.

1999
Joel Corey (2x AA, 3x premierships)
Paul Chapman (2x AA, 3x premierships)
Cameron Ling (1x AA, 3x premierships)
Corey Enright (6x AA, 3x premierships)

2001
Jimmy Bartel (2x AA, 3x premierships, Brownlow)
James Kelly (1x AA, 3x premierships)
Steve Johnson (3x AA, 3x premierships, Norm Smith)
Gary Ablett Jnr (8x AA, 2x premierships, 2x Brownlow) *** F/S selection

That's 8x AA players drafted in 2 years, for a total of 25x AA team selections and 3x Brownlow medals. Good luck finding another team which has hit the jackpot to anywhere near the same degree, within the space of 2 drafts. This group is the core of their triple-premiership team.

Yes, Ablett was a F/S selection, but he was only one of eight AA players drafted in this period. While he turned into one of the greatest players to have ever played the game, most pundits only had him going in the 2nd or 3rd round if he hadn't been tied to Geelong. Yes, they got a bargain, but it's not as if they got a free hit at the #1 player in the draft (e.g. Tom Hawkins).

If you go back and apply current rules to Geelongs father sons they directly miss out on Rahilly, Playfair, Matt Egan, Joel Selwood, one of Darren Milburn or Ronald burns or both (they literally got to select a father son prospect predraft who was the son of an administrator lol). And that’s before you even take into account that they wouldn’t have had points to match these bids with their current picks so they would have had to trade players or future picks.

their history could have been a lot different.

 

[philthy05]

I also wouldn’t judge mcasey too harshly. I think stick with him as a defender rather than forward (can try that down the line if needed)

he will come good I think.

 

[Crows I Am]

I don't know about 3-4, but you do need at least 2 within a short period of time. Geelong's dynasty was built around players drafted in 1999 and 2001 - the two strongest drafts in VFL/AFL history.

They absolutely smashed 2 drafts in a row though. Would be very rare to see that sort of result again. I think generally it would take more than 2 drafts to build a premiership contending squad.

 

[Vader]

They absolutely smashed 2 drafts in a row though. Would be very rare to see that sort of result again. I think generally it would take more than 2 drafts to build a premiership contending squad.

They drafted 8 members of their premiership teams in those 2 drafts, and they also traded for Cameron Mooney - another 1x AA & 3x premiership player. That's 9 players in 2 drafts. AFL teams consist of 22 players, so no, they didn't pick up a whole team in that period. They did, however, pick up the core of their dynasty in that period.

Here's the full breakdown of their 2007 AFL Premiership team:
Darren Milburn - Drafted in 1995

Steven King - Drafted in 1996

Matthew Scarlett - Drafted (F/S) in 1997

Tom Harley - Traded in 1998
David Wojinski - Drafted in 1998

Corey Enright - Drafted in 1999
Joel Corey - Drafted in 1999
Paul Champan - Drafted in 1999
Cameron Ling - Drafted in 1999
Cameron Mooney - Traded in 1999

Josh Hunt - Drafted in 2000
Max Rooke - Drafted (rookie) in 2000

Jimmy Bartel - Drafted in 2001
Steve Johnson - Drafted in 2001
James Kelly - Drafted in 2001
Gary Ablett Jnr - Drafted (F/S) in 2001

Andrew Mackie - Drafted in 2002
Shannon Byrnes - Drafted (rookie) in 2002

Nathan Ablett - Drafted (F/S) in 2004
Brad Ottens - Traded in 2004

Matthew Stokes - Drafted in 2005

Joel Selwood - Drafted in 2006

As you can see, they brought in at least 1x premiership player every year from 1995-2006. Of those, 11 (i.e. half the team) came in the three year window from 1999-2001. Otten, Harley and Mooney were the only players who were traded in - the remaining 19 were all drafted, though the Abletts & Scarlett were F/S selections.

In most years, only 1 or 2 draftees went on to "make it". 1999 (5 players) and 2001 (4 players) really stand out in that regard.

 

[WheresGroomgone]

I was really impressed with O'Connor great attack great poise and a decent size - had not heard anything of him prior but I thought his first half was great - I got distracted by the horses and didn't pay a huge amount of attention to the third and fourth quarters and how he went but liked him!

 

[hey shorty]

I was really impressed with O'Connor great attack great poise and a decent size - had not heard anything of him prior but I thought his first half was great - I got distracted by the horses and didn't pay a huge amount of attention to the third and fourth quarters and how he went but liked him!

Spoke well in his interview today too.

 

[ABAB]

You're claiming we were contenders in 2015? Really?

Other than the second place finish, those finishes aren't disparate enough to explain the gulf in young quality.

We started to build from 2015 and finished 6th......

 

[Southerntakeover]

We started to build from 2015 and finished 6th......

We were miles off the best teams.

 

[Red mist]

Keath is quick and agile and has burst speed , MCAsey is slow and lumbery. I’m calling it now a waste of a Top 10 pick.

I didn’t see any lumbery at all apart from the bench I was sitting on

 

[Red mist]

I was at the 3/4 time huddle and McHenry lifted up his jumper to show a massive bruise on his hip. I think it looked more like a corked hip and the club is putting out misinformation about his injury

Seems to be the case.

 

[Mutineer]

It was reported we were looking at Henry Crauford [Norwood]....come on down.

Why wait until mid season? We have a list spot now and it's clearly a need after seeing how easily Strachan is outbodied in ruck contests.

I know we were having a good look at Crauford who looks to have a lot of potential going forward so why not take him on for one year to see what he's got and then go to the draft next season if he's not the answer.

 

[Mutineer]

Too late now by the looks, the Dons look like swooping just like they did with South Adelaide big man Sam Draper.

Because none of the available ruckmen are likely to be substantially better than what we have already. By all means grab one if we have an injury, and look like being short in that department, but we're currently well stocked numerically and none of the candidates are going to be AFL ready.

What we need is to grab a decent ruck prospect in the draft next year, because there's naff all coming up behind ROB.

SA's Crauford trials for Bombers list spot

Mature-age South Australian ruckman Henry Crauford has emerged as a late bolter for the last spot on Essendon’s list.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Mutineer]

No, it doesn't.

Grabbing a SANFL ruckman now is a short-term solution, of which there is currently no need. Grabbing a ruckman in the ND is a long-term solution, of which there is a dire need.

The medium-term solution is to trade for a semi-decent ruckman at the end of the year, one who is actually capable of rucking at AFL level and holding down the post while the new draftee matures.

SA's Crauford trials for Bombers list spot

Mature-age South Australian ruckman Henry Crauford has emerged as a late bolter for the last spot on Essendon’s list.

www.theage.com.au