For someone who did seem to be unsteady in front of goal too often this year, Nick Riewoldt performed when it mattered. He led from the front, and as he kicked accurately for goal so did the rest of the Saints.
15 marks, those are numbers that are expected from Riewoldt. They were not the easy marks that Blake and Sam Fisher provided each other in the back line, Riewoldt was taking his marks up forward under pressure from the Collingwood defenders.
5 scoring shots, Nick Riewoldt does that often. But sometimes the result is only 1 or 2 goals and a few behinds. This time it was 5 scoring shots and 5 goals. He was kicking them from distance too.
Riewoldt's importance to the Saints has been shown in the opening rounds of the finals. If he is contained, the Saints will struggle to win. If Riewoldt stars, the Saints can defeat anyone. If the Hawks have one weakness it is their depth of tall defenders, so if Riewoldt can replicate his game against the Magpies it could mean the Saints get to the AFL Grand Final.
It's not J Rockford, it is J Roughead. The site has changed colour and a few stories about the other forward at Hawthorn will be posted. Forever linked with his pal and buddy, so a few Franklin stories probably sneak into The Roughead Files too.
1986
1 Martin Leslie - Brisbane
2 Steven Sims - St Kilda
3 Steven Febey - Melbourne
4 Richard Anderson - Richmond
5 Michael Taylor - Geelong
6 Richard Cousins - Western Bulldogs
7 Chris Lindsay - North Melbourne
8 Grant Fielke - Collingwood
9 Andrew Payze - Essendon
10 John Brinkkotter - Sydney
The first AFL draft, so more than a few teams didn't know what they were doing. They all get a pass mark, as does the AFL which was the VFL then, as the introduction of the draft enabled the AFL to distribute the talent more fairly than happens in other sports in Australia.
Melbourne grabbed Steven Febey in the top 10, and his brother later with their next pick. That might be called conduct prejudicial to the integrity of the draft these days, but then it was good family values.
Brisbane have used many early picks in the drafts, and when they selected Leslie it was actually one of their better choices they made in those times. Unlike many players picked by the Bears, Leslie did join the team and he had a solid career for them.
Ranking The AFL Draft Top 10s
1986
1996
1991
1995
1990
1987
1996
1 Michael Gardiner - West Coast
2 Chris Heffernan - Essendon
3 Rory Hilton - Brisbane
4 Mark Kinnear - Sydney
5 Daniel McAllister - Essendon
6 John Rombotis - Port Adelaide
7 Bowen Lockwood - Port Adelaide
8 Leigh Brockman - Geelong
9 Mark Harwood - Port Adelaide
10 Nathan Brown - Western Bulldogs
It was bad news for most clubs here. Maybe Essendon did better than the others as they did find a future premiership player, the Eagles thought they had the best player but it could be the Bulldogs as they got more than West Coast did when they traded out their player from this draft.
It depends on how success is judged, as to whether Nathan G Brown has been successful. Plenty of goals and a big profile, but the Bulldogs and Tigers didn't win with him around. Gardiner played in a Grand Final and the Eagles lost, he didn't play the next year and they won.
When Port Adelaide entered the AFL they began piecing together a team that would win a premiership in 2004. Their early picks in this draft did not help them get there. Lockwood was injured, Rombotis and Harwood did not do much for the Power.
AFL drafts started in 1986, but even in 1996 there were plenty of draft busts going in the top 10.
Ranking The AFL Draft Top 10s
1996
1991
1995
1990
1987
A 4 round mock draft for the 2008 AFL draft has been posted at AllFooty.Info so have a look at the potential superstars, and also possible draft busts, that could be joining AFL clubs for season 2009.
1991
1 John Hutton - Brisbane
2 Marcus Seecamp - Fitzroy
3 Darren Kowal - Melbourne
4 Andrew McGovern - Sydney
5 Jason Norrish - Melbourne
6 Paul Burton - Sydney
7 Jeremy Guard - Fitzroy
8 Michael Symons - Essendon
9 Stephen O'Reilly - Geelong
10 Andrew Lamprill - Melbourne
Above are the actual results for the top 10 that year, not a lot of players there have the qualities that the top 10 picks possess in most drafts.
Four or five solid players, no real stars, definitely no superstars. When Stephen O'Reilly and Marcus Seecamp are the best from the top 10, it wasn't that great of a top 10. Michael Symons may have been the most exciting of the top 10 players.
Winning games, kicking goals, selling memberships, that is what teams hope they will get from a player when they pick them up the top of the draft. Fitzroy, Melbourne and Brisbane didn't have fans requesting memberships due to the excitement their picks created. At least those clubs were not as bad as Sydney, who in those times was probably the worst when it came to drafting.
Most fans can name a lot of the first overall draft picks, but few can remember who John Hutton was. If it wasn't for the fact that he wore a helmet, there wouldn't be anything that set him apart from the rest of the draft picks in 1991.
The top 10 from 1991 does look like a future Fremantle team. There is O'Reilly, Hutton, Norrish, McGovern. The Dockers also had a couple of Burtons, but Paul Burton was not one of them.
1995
1 Clive Waterhouse - Fremantle
2 Matthew Primus - Fitzroy
3 Brendan Fewster - West Coast
4 Scott Bamford - Fitzroy
5 Brendan Krummel - Hawthorn
6 Daniel Healy - St Kilda
7 Ben Edwards - Fremantle
8 Jared Crouch - Sydney
9 Allen Jakovich - Western Bulldogs
10 Simon Prestigiacomo - Collingwood
Any draft with Allen Jakovich in the top 10 is a worry. As this wasn't the first time he was drafted, the Bulldogs made a huge error when they went so early to grab the injury-prone former Melbourne forward. He may have achieved more than this with the Bulldogs, but hobbling off the ground with a sore hamstring or back might be all that people remember.
The Dockers messed up their draft, not an uncommon occurrence. The Eagles did the same, that was something that didn't happen a lot, then or now. When Waterhouse arrived in the AFL, he was hyped up by the Dockers as being an amazing full forward, to say football fans were disappointed by his performances is an understatement. It wasn't all Waterhouse's fault, as the ball didn't get down that end of the ground too often. At least his hair continues to live on with the Dockers, as Scott Thornton does have a resemblance to Waterhouse.
Sydney and Collingwood deserve some credit, they still have the players they selected, and while Crouch and Prestigiacomo were never stars they did do important jobs for their coaches and made their teams better.
The good and the bad from Fitzroy was on display here. Primus was a great choice, a strong ruckman, while Bamford was someone that should never have been drafted in a top 10.
It was 1995, so clubs were drafting for nearly a decade and should have been able to identify talent better than they did. It was certainly a strange top 10, and there were future stars available to choose, but Hall, Harvey, Bradshaw and others went much later in the draft.
The site went purple for a while, and here is a little update to the Fremantle Dockers stories. The Dockers are reviewing all aspects of their club, including the heavy anchor they make their players carry around on their jumpers.
There probably isn’t anything better than the anchor for Fremantle to replace it with, so it looks like it will stay. Their club song is also unlikely to get a heave ho, so that means “Heave Ho” will stay.
Fans of the Dockers can view the story from the link below.
Rosich said the colour purple had become a key marketing tool for Fremantle, while he also said changes to the club's song and the logo were unlikely.
The logo in particular has come under heavy scrutiny since the club's inception in 1995. The club has made the finals just twice in 14 seasons and are the only team in the competition yet to win a premiership.
Sydney's season seemed over, and North Melbourne had the game under control for a lot of the first quarter. But then captain Kirk put in a stellar performance, with enterprising effort that had the Kangaroos stunned. North Melbourne tried to cling on, but were no match for Kirk. Whenever a Kangaroo thought he had found space, Kirk was there to shoot him down.
What Kirk did during the game wasn't based on any great skill, it was all about effort and persistence. He fought for the ball and continually won it. Half of his possessions were listed as contested, but a contested possession by Kirk had a lot more work put in than most contested possessions by other players. There were also the times when a stat wasn't recorded, as Kirk dove into the action to knock the ball away from several Kangaroos.
22 possessions and 8 tackles, a typical Kirk game. More hustle than any other player on the ground is also the usual when it comes to Kirk. It was win or go home for the Swans and Kangaroos, and Kirk was the difference then and he may also be the matchwinner if the Swans win again this week.
1990
1 Stephen Hooper - Geelong
2 James Cook - Carlton
3 David Donato - Fitzroy
4 Jason McCartney - Collingwood
5 Stewart Devlin - Geelong
6 Allen Jakovich - Melbourne
7 Damian Hampson - Carlton
8 Paul Gow - Western Bulldogs
9 Matt Clape - West Coast
10 David Ogg - Brisbane
Any draft with Allen Jakovich in the top 10 is a worry. None of the clubs found any success, when it came to premierships, with the players selected in the top 10 here. The Eagles couldn't find a spot for Clape in their winning teams, but he would later make a contribution to a win by the Blues.
The teams picking high in this draft had a lot of optimism when they made their selections. But nothing worked out for anyone. Jakovich kicked a lot of goals, at senior and reserves level, and entertained the fans but his bad attributes outweighed the good ones and he wasn't at Melbourne very long. Cook and McCartney were supposed to be 200-game players for Carlton and Collingwood but never did anything for their original clubs. The Cats don't get to pick up the top of many drafts, and here when they had the chance they didn't find a future star.
1987
1 Richard Lounder - Richmond
2 Chris McDermott - Brisbane
3 Graham Wright - Collingwood
4 Andrew Brockhurst - Fitzroy
5 Michael Quirk - St Kilda
6 Andrew Rogers - Essendon
7 Darren Davies - Western Bulldogs
8 Darren Jones - Geelong
9 Michael Murphy - North Melbourne
10 Michael Parsons - Sydney
In those days, Brisbane would draft a lot of future AFL stars but they wouldn't go to Brisbane. The new Gold Coast AFL club will have it a lot easier than the expansion Brisbane Bears did.
The only team in the top 10 that found anything was Collingwood, and they made the Wright choice. The Magpies were one of the better clubs at scouting prospects in the initial AFL drafts, they seemed to lose that ability in the 1990s but things have picked up in the most recent drafts.
A lot of things went against the Fitzroy Lions that they could not control, but one thing that they could have had some control of was their picks and they missed with a lot of first rounders over the years.
All the AFL drafts will be ranked, from worst to first, according to the players selected in the top 10 picks and what they did or didn't do for the clubs that picked them.
When a car is purchased, it soon drops in value. When J Carr was purchased, the Dockers didn't think they would be sending it back to where they got it from but that is now the case, and the value has gone down immensely.
Josh Carr is expected to go back to Port Adelaide, and the Power probably get him cheap.
Fremantle should ask for Pettigrew, he would be a welcome addition to their back line, but that is unlikely to be the trade. Nathan Krakouer has been mentioned and the Dockers should take that trade if it is offered. Krakouer gives them some speed and excitement in the middle that they need.
A new centre half forward could be something the Dockers are looking for. Lobbe could be a Power player to go for, but a more realistic option is Damon White and the Dockers may even be able to get a draft pick thrown in with White to make the trade work. White is capable of double-figure marks at centre half forward, that is something the Dockers need.
The Power might get Carr for a third round pick, and for the Dockers that is better than nothing, and if they scout well the Dockers may be ale to find a future star with that draft pick.
When the Dockers traded for J Carr they thought that they were buying a premiership player that would take their team to the next level, but instead of that they were just renting Carr for a few years.
The Carrs provided some hits, but not as many as The Cars.
The Fremantle List - 2007
Bell, Peter
Black, Heath
Browne, Andrew
Campbell, Adam
Carr, Josh
Carr, Matthew
Collard, Clayton
Cook, Troy
Copping, Benet
Crowley, Ryan
Dodd, Steven
Drum, Marcus
Duffield, Paul
Dunn, Ryley
Farmer, Jeff
Foster, Andrew
Gilmore, Daniel
Grover, Antoni
Haddrill, Robert
Hasleby, Paul
Hayden, Roger
Headland, Des
Ibbotson, Garrick
Johnson, Michael
Longmuir, Justin
Mcmanus, Shaun
McPharlin, Luke
Mourish, Calib
Mundy, David
Murphy, Ryan
O'Brien, Brock
Parker, Shane
Pavlich, Matthew
Peake, Brett
Rumble, Darren
Sandilands, Aaron
Schammer, Byron
Smith, Chris
Solomon, Dean
Tarrant, Chris
Thornton, Scott
Walker, James
Warnock, Robert
Webster, Luke
That is enough of the purple for now, and if someone wants another club looked at in some detail, post a request in the comments area.
Also check out AllFooty.Info with more draft profiles added, and a three round mock draft preview will be posted there soon.
Every team that doesn't win can go through the "ifs", and the Dockers would have been much better if Justin Longmuir and Clem Michael had avoided injuries and had long careers with the Fremantle Football Club.
If the Dockers had Longmuir and Michael they would have also had a few more draft picks to use, as they would not have traded for Tarrant.
If the Dockers had Longmuir and Michael, Pavlich could have gone into the middle whenever he wanted as there would still have been marking targets up forward.
If the Dockers had Michael, as well as Longmuir and Pavlich, they might have made it into the 2006 AFL Grand Final, as the Swans didn't have the height in the back line to compete.
Every team has players who could have been stars if it were not for injuries, and at Fremantle they would have been much better if Longmuir and Michael were able to reach their potential.
Longmuir kicks a goal and wins the game.
The Fremantle List - 2005
Bell, Peter
Black, Heath
Browne, Andrew
Campbell, Adam
Carr, Josh
Carr, Matthew
Cook, Troy
Copping, Benet
Crowley, Ryan
Dodd, Steven
Duffield, Paul
Dunn, Ryley
Farmer, Jeff
Gilmore, Daniel
Grover, Antoni
Haddrill, Robert
Haines, Daniel
Hasleby, Paul
Hayden, Roger
Headland, Des
Johnson, Michael
Juniper, Jack
Krieger, Joe
Longmuir, Justin
McManus, Shaun
McPharlin, Luke
Medhurst, Paul
Mundy, David
Murphy, Ryan
Parker, Shane
Pavlich, Matthew
Peake, Brett
Polak, Graham
Sandilands, Aaron
Schammer, Byron
Schofield, Jarrod
Siegert, Andrew
Smith, Dylan
Stribling, Toby
Thornton, Scott
Walker, James
Warren, Michael
Webster, Luke
Woods, Dion
The Dockers don't win a lot of things, so while the Rising Star Award is not the greatest achievement it is a step forward for the Dockers. It shows they are drafting better, and that is how a future premiership team is constructed.
Palmer is the second Fremantle player to win the accolade after Paul Hasleby in 2000, and joins an elite crop of emerging guns including the last three recipients – Joel Selwood (Geelong), Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide) and Brett Deledio (Richmond).
He played 20 games this year after being drafted by the club with selection No. 7 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, having stood out at the NAB AFL Under 18 Championships.
Trading is the right thing to do, but teams can't pay too much. The Dockers have probably come out on the wrong end of trades, not because of what they got back but because of the price they had to pay.
The early years will be overlooked here as the Dockers were often beaten in trading by teams like the Eagles and Bombers. But things have not improved a lot since then.
Peter Bell was an original Docker, they got rid of him and then after he won with the Kangaroos they wanted him back. Pick 6 would have been more than enough for a fair trade offer, but the Dockers also added Jess Sinclair to the package. By trading out Clement and Holland they received a first round pick and then added that to the deal. So Bell cost them two top 10 picks, another later pick and Jess Sinclair, it was too much to pay.
If only the Dockers had drafted Luke McPharlin when they had the chance, that would have saved them from a big mistake. The top pick in the draft, as well as two more good picks, were given to Hawthorn for McPharlin and also for taking Croad off the Hawks' hands. At least the Dockers overpaid for size, but Croad was a terrible addition to the Dockers.
When Des Headland wanted out of Brisbane, the Lions wanted a lot for him. Unfortunately for the Dockers, they were happy to give up a lot. Pick 3 in the draft was overpaying, but the Dockers also sent out a bit more in the deal too.
Josh Carr may have been worth a first round pick. The Power didn't let him leave until they also had Fremantle's second and third rounders too.
It did seem like a good idea at the time, acquiring Chris Tarrant to help Pavlich in the forward line, but it has been another failure. Picks and players went east, and not a lot went right for the Dockers after that.
Maybe the Dockers deserve some credit, and when they traded an old Stephen O'Reilly for a couple of draft picks they were actually on the winning side of a trade. But then they took the pick they acquired, pick 16, and gave it to the Eagles for Brendon Fewster.
The Fremantle Song.
The words for the Fremantle Song.
Freo, heave ho!
Freo, heave hol
Give ‘em all the old
Freo, heave ho!
Freo, way to go!
Hit ‘em real hard, send ‘em down below
Oh Freo, give ‘em the old heave ho
We are the Freo Dockers!
Freo, heave ho!
Freo, heave hol
Give ‘em all the old
Freo, heave ho!
We’re the rollers
We’re the rockers
We’re the mighty Freo Dockers!
We’re gonna roll ‘em and we’ll rock ‘em
We’re gonna send ‘em to the bottom
And if they get up, we’ll do again
The Dockers stop at nothing – nothing
Freo, way to go!
Hit ‘em real hard, send ‘em down below
Oh Freo, give ‘em the old heave ho
We are the Freo Dockers!
Freo, heave ho!
Freo, heave hol
Give ‘em all the old
Freo, heave ho!
Dock dock Dockers
Show ‘em how we rock
(Freo heave ho)
Dock dock Dockers
Show ‘em how we roll
Go Dockers, Go Go Go!
Freo, way to go!
Hit ‘em real hard, send ‘em down below
Oh Freo, give ‘em the old heave ho
We are the Freo Dockers!
The Fremantle List - 2003
Bell, Peter
Browne, Andrew
Carr, Matthew
Colreavy, Ben
Cook, Troy
Croad, Trent
Crowley, Ryan
Cunningham, Ben
Dodd, Steven
Doswell, Brett
Edgcumbe, Greg
Farmer, Jeff
Gilmore, Daniel
Grover, Antoni
Haddrill, Robert
Haines, Daniel
Hasleby, Paul
Hayden, Roger
Head, Josh
Headland, Des
Jones, Anthony
Koops, Steven
Longmuir, Justin
Longmuir, Troy
McManus, Shaun
McPharlin, Luke
Medhurst, Paul
Mott, Ricky
Parker, Shane
Pavlich, Matthew
Polak, Graham
Sandilands, Aaron
Schammer, Byron
Siegert, Andrew
Simmonds, Troy
Thornton, Scott
Toia, Luke
Walker, James
Waterhouse, Clive
Webster, Luke
Woods, Dion
“After talking to Mark and Chris today it is clear that the club is moving in a different direction and I have decided after a 14 year career to retire from the AFL,” he said.
His record of 483 career goals is the most kicked by an Indigenous player in the history of the VFL/AFL, while his tally of 224 goals for Fremantle ranks him second in the club’s all time goal kicking records.
The Dockers seem to be going in the right direction, and the retirements of a lot of their veterans have helped them decide to rebuild. The oldest club, for the average player age, at the start of the season wasn’t something a team that was not contending needed. They will soon be among the youngest, and can steadily build around Pavlich over the next few seasons.
Farmer was probably a good acquisition for the Dockers. It didn’t cost them a lot to trade for him, Farmer kicked plenty of goals and probably helped sell tickets and memberships.
Solomon may be the oldest Docker now, and if he leaves the title of oldest Docker could go to Grover.
A few weeks ago, he was out of the side due to a team-imposed suspension. There was talk that his future may not be at Port Adelaide, round 22 showed that Peter Burgoyne wants to continue with the Power.
Port Adelaide were playing for draft picks, the Kangaroos were playing for a top 4 spot, it didn't seem like the scenario for P Burgoyne to grab over 40 possessions in a huge Port Adelaide win at the MCG.
23 kicks, 22 handballs, 5 marks, 4 tackles and a goal, Peter Burgoyne was very busy. Kane Cornes had 30 possessions, Burgoyne had 15 more than that, Shaun Burgoyne has been the better Burgoyne this year and while his possessions were quality they were less than half of Peter Burgoyne's.
P Burgoyne had 14 possessions in the 3rd quarter, there were 10 Kangaroos who had fewer were the entire game.
Port Adelaide get a lot of their goals from attacking moves that start with Peter Burgoyne at half back or along the wing and if he is able to take his round 22 form into next season it could mean Port Adelaide will be a big improver in 2009 and a team that is playing finals.
Chuck Norris never wins any Academy Awards for his movies, and Brownlow Medals have gone to Liberatore and Hardie instead of Chris Grant and Brad Johnson, so when the Rising Star Award is given out the right player may not receive it.
Rhys Palmer is the only player that it should go to, but it seems that Cyril Rioli is getting a big push from the media, and some even think he should be All-Australian. Rioli has been great in his first year of AFL, but Palmer has been much better. Others have been suggesting Cotchin is the deserving recipient of the award, that wouldn't be fair to Palmer or Rioli.
Palmer has been playing so well that other teams often assign someone to try to stop him. This does not happen to Rioli. Rioli is kicking goals, and as a forward pocket that is his role, Palmer has kicked fewer goals but as a midfielder it is a bit more difficult. Their accuracy in front of goal is nearly identical.
Palmer gets around 10 more possessions a game than Rioli, if they want a statistic to separate the two when voting for the award they should look to that.
Maybe Palmer does get the award, but if he doesn't it will mean that the Dockers have been ripped off more than they were in the Tarrant trade.
Maybe Mayne gets a DeLorean, or Kepler Bradley flies around the world to reverse its rotation, and the Dockers get to go back in time. Here are their drafts the way they were, and the way they could have been.
The drafts redone here are a best case revision, but even if the Dockers had selected better with just a few of their past picks they may have been a real contender in 2006.
Picks in the top 50 of the AFL National Drafts have been looked at here. The Dockers have found players with later picks, as well as rookie picks, but it is more important for teams to use their high picks well.
1994
1 Jeff White Melbourne
22 Winston Abraham
42 Douglas Headland
The Dockers didn't do too badly here. White would return to Victoria, but if they had taken A Rocca or S Grant the same thing would have happened. There were other options though, and Lucas from the West of Victoria might have stayed if he was drafted out West.
1 Scott Lucas
22 Michael O'Loughlin
42 Brad Scott
1995
1 Clive Waterhouse
7 Ben Edwards
13 Brad Rowe
23 Jay Burton
The 1994 draft was a lot better than the 1995 draft for the Dockers. They were hoping Waterhouse would be their star forward, he wasn't and there were plenty of those around in this draft. The Dockers could have built their young, expansion AFL side around big Primus, they didn't but eventually Port Adelaide did.
1 Matthew Primus
7 Simon Prestigiacomo
13 Barry Hall
23 Daniel Bradshaw
1996
12 Heath Black
31 Jess Sinclair
46 Matthew Clucas
There were better options than Black, but for where they picked Sinclair they should be happy. They didn't keep Sinclair long-term. Mooney was around later in the draft, teams didn't think he would be a premiership forward then.
12 Max Hudghton
31 Jess Sinclair
46 Cameron Mooney
1997
6 James Walker
21 Clem Michael
26 Brodie Holland
32 Troy Johnson
The Dockers didn't have a good draft here, although plenty of other teams struggled to identify the best players that year too. Walker was around a long time, but wasn't a very successful pick, especially for a top 10 selection.
6 Chad Cornes
21 Clem Michael
26 Simon Black
32 Adam Goodes
1998
2 Justin Longmuir
18 Daniel Schell
31 Gary Dhurrkay
49 Garth Taylor
The Dockers couldn't find the talented prospects, and once again they missed on WA players. The Longmuir pick was good, their next few picks didn't have any success.
2 Paul Hasleby
4 Matthew Pavlich
5 Leigh Brown
46 Adam Butler
49 Ben Cunningham
There isn't much to complain about for Fremantle fans here, they did get Pavlich while Hasleby is a good player and Brown was supposed to be. Hawthorn passed on Lance Franklin, when they took Roughead a few spots ahead of him, and the Dockers did a similar thing when they went Hasleby and then Pavlich.
2 Matthew Pavlich
4 Joel Corey
5 Luke McPharlin
46 Chance Bateman
49 Ryan O'Keefe
2000
39 Adam McPhee
Only one pick in the top 50, although they did take Dion Woods at pick 51. McPhee is a good player, it is just that Essendon found that out and not the Dockers.
39 Adam McPhee
2001
4 Graham Polak
They did get Medhurst at pick 56, but it is all about picking correctly with early picks. Bartel, Dal Santo, Hale, Gram, Mitchell, there were better options at pick 4.
4 James Bartel
2002
13 Byron Schammer
48 Greg Edgcumbe
Schammer isn't a bad player, but the Dockers could have united the Selwoods. They did get Crowley at pick 55 in the 2002 draft.
13 Troy Selwood
48 Adam Selwood
2003
10 Ryley Dunn
12 Ryan Murphy
19 David Mundy
27 Adam Campbell
43 Brett Peake
There wasn't a lot for most AFL teams in this draft, so the Dockers can be pleased with their picks.
10 Brent Stanton
12 David Mundy
19 Michael Pettigrew
27 Sam Fisher
43 Brett Peake
2004
They sent out all their early picks, and didn't find anyone useful with their later picks in this draft. J Carr was what they added with the picks.
2005
10 Marcus Drum
26 Garrick Ibbotson
42 Robert Warnock
The Dockers did very well here. Warnock was a steal. Ibbotson took a few years but is now an important part of the lineup while Drum is getting close to that level too.
10 Grant Birchall
26 Garrick Ibbotson
42 Robert Warnock
2006
31 Clayton Collard
Tarrant and Solomon were the results of the Dockers' trading, and that is where a lot of their picks went. Their drafting of Collard seemed like a good idea but for some reason did not work.
31 Kurt Tippett
2007
7 Rhys Palmer
24 Clayton Hinkley
40 Christopher Mayne
The Dockers had a great 2007 AFL draft. Many people were sleeping on Bradd Dalziell, but when he was right under the Dockers' radar for several seasons they should have been aware. That doesn't matter as Palmer and Mayne are stars.
7 Rhys Palmer
24 Christopher Mayne
40 Bradd Dalziell
The Fremantle List - 2001
Bandy, Daniel
Bell, Peter
Black, Heath
Bootsma, Brad
Brown, Leigh
Butler, Adam
Carr, Matthew
Clancy, Ashley
Cook, Troy
Cunningham, Ben
Dodd, Brad
Eastaugh, Simon
Fewster, Brendon
Fletcher, Adrian
Grover, Antoni
Haddrill, Robert
Haines, Daniel
Hasleby, Paul
Hayden, Roger
Jones, Anthony
Kickett, Dale
Koops, Steven
Longmuir, Justin
Longmuir, Troy
McManus, Shaun
McPhee, Adam
Metropolis, Daniel
Michael, Clem
Modra, Tony
Norrish, Jason
Parker, Shane
Pavlich, Matthew
Prescott, Ashley
Schell, Daniel
Shipp, Andrew
Siegert, Andrew
Simpson, Dwayne
Thornton, Scott
Toia, Luke
Ugle, Keren
Walker, James
Waterhouse, Clive
Wira, Brad
Woods, Dion
The roof was closed and the fans were excited as The Encino Man himself, Brendan Fraser, attended the AFL. That isn't right, they were all there to see one player, or maybe two, get to 100 goals.
The Dockers do set themselves apart from the other AFL clubs with the colour purple. Nearly every AFL Grand Final has plenty of blue and white, eventually when the Dockers get there they will bring something different.
There are other things have purple, like sporting teams the LA Lakers and the Minnesota Vikings. There was some sort of children's dinosaur in that colour and Prince was all about purple.
Purple is one of the things that have given the Dockers a unique identity in the AFL.
The colour on this site isn't really dark enough to be Fremantle purple, it needs more of a deep purple.
Here is Deep Purple.
Here is Whitesnake, live in concert, so Tawny Kitaen does not make an appearance.
The West Sydney Whitesnakes, the perfect name for an AFL expansion team.
Fitzroy once ran around with the word "QUIT" on their jumpers, it was for a sponsor but not the word you want when you are trying to win. The Dockers seem to be weighed down a bit, and maybe the picture of a big, heavy anchor on their jumper is the reason. Instead of anchors aweigh, maybe Fremantle look to send the anchor away.
While the anchor is a defining symbol of the club, and probably should stay, maybe someone can think of an alternative.
Docks, ships, a guy with a crane unloading a container from a cargo ship, probably not too easy to draw on a jumper. An anchor does seem to make sense compared to those.
There was talk before the club entered the AFL that it would be the Fremantle Doctors, so instead of an anchor there would be a stethoscope on the jumpers.
A goal highlight from the Dockers of a few years ago.
FB Clayton Hinkley 23, Luke McPharlin 31, Marcus Drum 25
HB Garrick Ibbotson 24, Daniel Gilmore 29, Brett Peake 29
C Michael Johnson 28, Paul Hasleby 31, Byron Schammer 27
HF Christopher Mayne 24, Kepler Bradley 27, Adam Campbell 27
FF Des Headland 31, Matthew Pavlich 30, Andrew Browne 28
Foll Aaron Sandilands 30, Rhys Palmer 23, Ryan Crowley 28
The following players would also be part of the above team, but are uncontracted at the moment and could be leaving Fremantle at the end of season 2008.
David Mundy 27, Robert Warnock 25, Ryan Murphy 27
The numbers next to the players are their approximate ages in 2013. The 2013 Fremantle team will of course have many extra players due to trades and drafts. In the first rounds of the next four drafts, the Dockers need to look for a centre half forward, centre half back and a couple of midfielders.
The Dockers do have plenty of time to start a new plan today, and build a new team around Pavlich, Palmer, McPharlin and Sandilands as they have plenty of years left.
It is Fraser Gehrig versus most of the Fremantle team, and Michael Johnson kicks a goal.
The Fremantle List - 1999
Anderson, Stuart
Bandy, Daniel
Black, Heath
Bolton, Darren
Bond, Chris
Brown , Michael
Burton, Matthew
Callaghan, Craig
Carroll, Trent
Clark, Michael W
Clement, James
Clucas, Matthew
Delaney, Tony
Dodd, Brad
Fletcher, Adrian
Gale, Mark
Grover, Antoni
Harding, Greg
Hargraves, Daniel
Holland, Brodie
Jones, Anthony
Kickett, Dale
Koops, Steven
Longmuir, Justin
Maher, Paul
Mann, Peter
McGovern, Andrew
McManus, Shaun
Michael, Clem
Modra, Tony
Norrish, Jason
O'Reilly, Stephen
Parker, Daniel
Parker, Shane
Prescott, Ashley
Schell, Daniel
Shipp, Andrew
Sinclair, Jess
Taylor, Garth
Toia, Luke
Walker, James
Waterhouse, Clive
Wills, Andrew
Wira, Brad
Name a Docker, below are some famous players and many forgotten ones.
The Dockers don't have a long history, but their teams have been made up of some exciting and unique players. Below are the numbers listed in order of greatness, which also means there is number 29 and then the others.
29 Brad Wira, Matthew Pavlich
31 Leigh Wardell-Johnson, James Clement, Simon Eastaugh, Aaron Sandilands
23 Shane Parker, Christopher Mayne
32 Peter Bell, Greg Harding, Chris Bond
4 Andrew Wills, Paul Hasleby
18 Michael Brown, Brendon Fewster, Luke McPharlin
34 Jeff White, Paul Maher, Dion Woods, Paul Medhurst, Robert Warnock
8 Shaun McManus
7 Ben Allen, Heath Black, Jeff Farmer, Brett Peake
10 Stephen O’Reilly, Troy Cook, Rhys Palmer
2 Scott Watters, Adrian Fletcher, Troy Simmonds, Josh Carr
24 Matthew Burton, Brad Wira, Trent Croad, Adam Campbell
6 Phil Gilbert, Stuart Anderson, Tony Modra, Dion Woods, Paul Medhurst, Dean Solomon
37 Mark Gale, Luke Webster, Michael Johnson
11 Dale Kickett, Des Headland
9 Peter Mann, Craig Callaghan, Matthew Carr
14 Kingsley Hunter, Paul Maher, Antoni Grover
15 Winston Abraham, Jess Sinclair, Luke McPharlin, Ryan Crowley
21 David Muir, Heath Black, Troy Longmuir, Daniel Hargraves
16 John Hutton, David Hynes, Clem Michael, David Mundy
40 Luke Toia, Jess Sinclair, James Walker, Brad Bootsma, Andrew Foster
43 Andrew McGovern, Roger Hayden
33 Craig Burrows, Andrew Shipp, Jeff Farmer
20 Clinton Wolf, Martin Whitelaw, Justin Longmuir, Chris Tarrant
26 Clive Waterhouse, Kepler Bradley
19 Gary Dhurrkay, James Walker, Clayton Hinkley
35 Chris Groom, Brendon Feddema, Mark Gale, Andrew Siegert, Garrick Ibbotson
41 Daniel Parker, Matthew Clucas, Keren Ugle, Paul Duffield
45 Gavin Mitchell
48 Greg Madigan
39 Michael Clark, Daniel Haines
47 Jamie Merillo
49 Peter Miller
50 Neil Mildenhall
Andrew Wills kicks the goal.
The Fremantle List - 1997
Abraham, Winston
Allan, Ben
Bandy, Daniel
Black, Heath
Brown , Michael
Burrows, Craig
Burton, Matthew
Callaghan, Craig
Carroll, Trent
Chisholm, Scott
Clark, Michael W
Clement, James
Clucas, Matthew
Delaney, Tony
Dhurrkay, Gary
Feddema, Brendon
Gale, Mark
Godden, Tony
Harding, Greg
Hunter, Kingsley
Hynes, David
Jones, Anthony
Kickett, Dale
Koops, Steven
Leach, Quenton
Madigan, Greg
Mann, Peter
McGovern, Andrew
McManus, Shaun
Merillo, Jamie
Mitchell, Gavin
Norrish, Jason
O'Reilly, Stephen
Parker, Daniel
Parker, Shane
Sinclair, Jess
Toia, Luke
Waterhouse, Clive
Watters, Scott
White, Jeff
Whitelaw, Martin
Wills, Andrew
Here is a musical introduction for the Fremantle stories, it is from one of the oldest Fremantle fans called Boris. Nearly a hundred years ago he was singing the Fremantle club song, that is dedication.
The Fremantle List - 1995
Abraham, Winston
Allan, Ben
Bandy, Daniel
Bell, Peter
Burrows, Craig
Burton, Jay
Burton, Matthew
Callaghan, Craig
Capewell, Darren
Cassidy, Brad
Chisholm, Scott
Delaney, Tony
Dhurrkay, Gary
Edmonds, Travis
Edwards, Scott
Gale, Mark
Gilbert, Phil
Gooch, Scott
Grainger, Dean
Groom, Chris
Hunter, Kingsley
Hutton, John
Jones, Anthony
Kickett, Dale
Krummel, Brendan
Leach, Quenton
Ljubic, Antony
Madigan, Greg
Mann, Peter
McGovern, Andrew
McManus, Shaun
Menegola, Todd
Merillo, Jamie
Mildenhall, Neil
Miller, Peter
Mourish, Nathan
Muir, David
Nettelbeck, Craig
Norrish, Jason
O'Reilly, Stephen
Parker, Shane
Retzlaff, Brendon
Ridley, Todd
Smith, Ryan
Toia, Luke
Wardell-Johnson, Leigh
Watters, Scott
White, Jeff
Wills, Andrew
Wira, Brad
Wolf, Clinton
Maybe this isn't right, announcing the best player for the week from a team that lost, but when the best team in the AFL has no answer for someone who scores 8 goals they must be the player of the week. Earlier in the season, David Hale had a solid game against the Cats and scored 4 goals. Round 21, he tore apart their All-Australian backline, doubling his goals total from round 11.
Hale's dominance was illustrated best with one play, he outmarked three Cats, including Scarlett and Harley. Hale jumped, reached back a bit with his extended arms, and clamped his hands on the ball as Geelong defenders tried their best to spoil.
The Cats didn't start the game with one of their premiership players against Hale, their first choice was Harry Taylor. Taylor has been very good in his debut season of AFL, but Hale was too big of an undertaking for him. A few goals later, Scarlett was assigned the task. Hale was still too large and still in charge even against Scarlett.
Hale saves his best for when he plays the best, so if the Cats meet the Kangaroos in the finals they will probably have worked out a plan to slow down Hale. Maybe parking a ruckman, Blake or Ottens, in the space in front of Hale would do that. The Cats did have a win but didn't have an answer to Hale so big David Hale is the player of the week.
Starting Wednesday, the site will have a look at one of the only teams to not win the cup. It isn't University, it is Fremantle. They were close a couple of years ago, but have gone down the ladder since then.
There will be plenty of positive posts, as they do have a number of good players, but there will also be the stories about how they missed out on future stars, overpaid in trades and drafted poorly.
A Fremantle highlight from the past.
Here is a link to a story that lists some of the problems the purple people had.
He has said he is retired, but other footballers and many boxers as well as NFL star Brett Favre have said the same thing and then returned. Harvey has plenty of games left in him.
He might as well go for 400 games, as he is very close to that already. If he becomes a skills coach, or plays football at a lower level, next season it will still mean he spends his time at a football club. It is better to play AFL for another season than becoming an assistant coach that has to teach Milne to pass the ball.
It isn't a case of Harvey hanging on to his career for the money, he is still one of the first picked by the Saints each week. Here are the players at St Kilda who may be worse than Harvey:
Allen, Armitage, Baker, Birss, Blake, R Clarke, X Clarke, Connors, Dempster, Ferguson, Fiora, L Fisher, C Gardiner, M Gardiner, Geary, Gehrig, Gilbert, Gwilt, Howard, Jones, King, Maguire, Milne, McEvoy, Montagna, Rix, Schneider and Steven.
"I'm really disappointed that he didn't actually go on and play 400," the Richmond champion said this week.
Footnote: The current player most likely to earn a chance of playing 400 games is Matthew Pavlich, who has 194 games to his name at age 26, a sound body and the game to spend his final years in front of goal. He will need to average 21 games for each of the next 10 years.
If there is one forgotten player at Melbourne it must be John Meesen. Maybe he will play a game or two now with a lot of their other ruckmen and tall forwards out, but clearly Melbourne are not too impressed with him. In Adelaide, the Crows would have to be very impressed with the play of Brad Moran. Maybe Melbourne would be happier with Moran, and they probably could have acquired him.
Melbourne sent pick 37 in the 2007 AFL draft to the Crows for Meesen. The Crows looked to the Kangaroos, a team with depth in the ruck department, and sent them pick 37 for Brad Moran. If Melbourne had just offered pick 37 for Moran they would be a better team now, and maybe they still could have acquired Meesen through the preseason draft or with another trade.
There is still time for Meesen to deliver for Melbourne, and he was named among Sandringham's best players last round, but if the Demons could pick between Moran and Meesen right now they wouldn't hesitate to take Moran.
Channel 7 do receive plenty of criticism for how they broadcast the game of football today, but that was not the case in 1985 when many VFL footballers put their voices together to promote the network and the league with a song that rivalled We Are The World when it came to the amount of stars and also the quality of the singing.
Each team had an Ablett when Geelong faced Sydney, but while Luke is a solid player it was Geelong that had the advantage with Gary.
3 goals, 17 kicks, 15 handballs and 5 tackles, and Gary Ablett isn't even at his best at the moment after missing a few games with an injury. 14 Swans had 17 or fewer possessions for the game, Ablett had that many kicks against a team that can lock down on superstar players.
Gary Ablett might be able to win the Brownlow as well as another premiership medal this year, and if a veteran team like Sydney can't contain him it means that the other clubs that will face Geelong in the finals are going to be in a lot of trouble.
In ice hockey, if a player scores three goals in a game all the fans throw their hats on the ice. In many sports the winning team pours large amounts of orange liquid over their coach. At the soccer, riots often occur due to the lack of action on the field. The winner of the Indianapolis 500 race drinks milk.
Some traditions don't really make sense, like Detroit Red Wings fans throwing an octopus on the ice or baseball fans in Anaheim waving a monkey above their heads, but they are things that those who fund the sports do seem to enjoy. Without the paying fans, there are no professional sportspeople.
Lance Franklin has at least four more games to play, so 100 goals is nearly assured. Many traditions are being taken away from people and the 100 goal celebration has been under threat for some time now. There are plenty of Hawthorn fans who cheered Dunstall when he got to 100, they probably want to do the same for their "buddy".
It isn’t like these people have not been on a football ground before with Franklin. During the breaks in play for the VFL and Under 18 games people saunter onto the field. The members and supporters who line up for autographs from Franklin at Waverley, during training and family days, deserve to be part of a celebration of his goal-kicking as they may be stopped from attending a Grand Final he plays in. The days of a club membership guaranteeing a Grand Final ticket are supposedly over, the occasional centurion celebration won’t make up for that but it is fun for the fans to do.
Why their team should trade them: Everyone already knows why.
Which team would be a good fit: Someone who needs goals from a small forward, to compliment their key forwards. That might be Brisbane.
Similar trade in the past: There hasn't really been anything too similar.
Possible trade scenarios:
Didak to Brisbane for Troy Selwood and Rhan Hooper
When trade week arrives, maybe it will have already been announced that Didak will be at Collingwood for 2009. But if he is moving, Brisbane could be a logical destination for a number of reasons. On the field, the Lions have Brown and Bradshaw and few others who can kick goals, so Didak would fix that. Off the field, Coach Matthews has in the past taken on players that other clubs would not touch, Lethal has the idea that he can scare people into doing what is right for the team and his success seems to indicate that he can do that. The Lions and Magpies have also shown that they can get trades to work, from Buckley to Wood. Selwood could give the Magpies someone that will do what Licuria did for them previously, while Hooper could add some needed dash to the Collingwood side.
Didak to Port Adelaide for Robbie Gray
Collingwood might think that Gray will be able to replace a lot of Didak's goals, and that could be correct. Gray does have the ability to kick multiple goals a game from a forward pocket. Gray is younger, cheaper and also from Victoria.
When a star midfielder is carrying an injury that can limit his running and effectiveness, one idea is to put them in the forward line and they can still help the team. The Swans had rested Goodes, and when they played the Dockers it was decided that Goodes would start in the forward line. It was a match-winning move.
The Dockers had a plan of their own, Christopher Mayne. Fremantle thought that Mayne's youth, mobility and height could contain Goodes around the ground. But there was a problem there, at full forward Goodes was too strong and too good.
8 goals from a star full forward is a huge game, but Goodes produced 8 goals as a midfield player who was being eased back into AFL after an injury. Working Mayne, and other Fremantle defenders, out of position with his strength, Goodes was marking the ball whenever it was kicked to him. He also produced a few sprints, and evasive skills, to show he is closer to full health than was thought.
His kicking was very accurate as well with 8 goals and 1 behind. Others stats were 9 marks, 11 kicks and a couple of tackles. The Swans did need something special to defeat a Fremantle side that was playing well, and Goodes provided what was needed.
Listed below is a reason why the Eagles could turn things around quickly, they usually draft better than the other clubs. Every rookie draft they find a quality player, so with high picks in the upcoming draft they will undoubtedly select superstars.
2001 AFL Draft
3 Chris Judd
6 Ashley Sampi
22 Mark Seaby
38 Ashley Hansen
Smart rookie choice: Quinten Lynch
2002 AFL Draft
24 Paul Johnson
37 Brent Staker
53 Adam Selwood
Smart rookie choice: Mark Nicoski
2003 AFL Draft
11 Beau Waters
20 Sam Butler
26 Daniel McConnell
Smart rookie choice: Brett Jones
2004 AFL Draft
29 Matthew Rosa
37 Mark Lecras
44 Mitch Morton (Father/Son)
57 Bradley Smith
Smart rookie choice: Beau Wilkes
2005 AFL Draft
13 Shannon Hurn
29 Ben McKinley
34 Matthew Spangher
Smart rookie choice: Matt Priddis
2006 AFL Draft
16 Mitchell Brown
29 Eric MacKenzie
43 Tim Houlihan
50 Will Schofield
80 James Thomson
Smart rookie choice: Jamie McNamara
2007 AFL Draft
3 Chris Masten
13 Bradley Ebert
20 Tony Notte
22 Scott Selwood
It is time for the Eagles to go looking for players that may want to return home, and there are players from every club with some connection to the West. They have space under the cap, as well as assets to trade. AFL clubs are worried about losing players to the expansion teams, they should be more concerned with the Eagles who can offer some big contracts to secure players.
Nathan van Berlo
Old enough to be an important part of the team right now, young enough to have a long career with a new club, he is an ideal candidate to add to the rebuilding Eagles.
Matthew Leuenberger or Mitch Clark
Brisbane would of course like to keep both, and they have both signed contracts recently, but if they can't fit the two of them into the side, with Charman also there, then the Eagles would happily take Leuenberger or Clark.
Paul Bower
A running defender with some height, the Eagles might find a use for him.
Shannon Cox
The Eagles and Magpies aren't great trading partners, but maybe a small deal for S Cox could happen.
David Myers
Maybe they have a chance next year, and if they can't get Myers then there are plenty of other Bombers who might want to return to Perth.
Joel Corey
If Geelong do struggle to get everyone under the salary cap, the Eagles wouldn't say no to Corey.
Max Bailey
He might want to get away from the bad luck that has struck him down the past couple of years, and Dean Cox could use a backup like big Bailey to battle Sandilands.
Andrew Swallow
The Eagles are able to recruit players from the Kangaroos, while players have also been sent in the other direction too.
Cale Morton
The Eagles have not had a lot of luck with Mitch and Jarryd, but if Cale was interested in playing for the Eagles they would find a spot for him.
Michael Pettigrew
The Power could be looking to trade and shake up their list, Pettigrew would add versatility to the West Coast back line.
Alex Rance
The Eagles know how to get a Rance to leave their Victorian club and play for the Eagles.
Clinton Jones
The Eagles seem to have a lot of players with that last name, they could add one more now that Rowan has retired.
Ryan Brabazon
Maybe trade Staker for him, although there could be a few reasons why Staker, who is from NSW, would not want to join Sydney.
Josh Hill
He is an excitement machine up forward, but not guaranteed a spot in the Bulldogs' best side, and Subiaco would suit how he plays.
Paintball probably isn't a sport, although for a while it was on ESPN and the viewers can tell who wins as it is the guy without any paint on him, but paintball is a lot better than what they get up to every four years with their little air pistols. If they have pistol events, why don’t they have darts, very similar except darts has a lot more fans and an old English guy who yells out “one hundred and forty”.
If it was more like The Running Man, and the competitors were shooting at each other instead of little targets, it could be better for TV ratings. The traditional handball competition on Sunday TV shows is a lot more fun to watch than a pistol shooting competition. You can actually see the projectile in flight, the contestants are well known and Lou Richards is entertaining.
The 5-Rings Show and their shooting events don't really test a lot of skill. The venue is like a library, it mustn't be too difficult to concentrate there. When the LAPD have to get their guns out, it could be dark and noisy and the targets are shooting back, they are not only more skilful but do it every day of the year, not once every four years.
One reason why shooting is never going to be popular is that a crowd can't really sit behind the targets, although from the footage that is shown there really are no crowds at the venues. Shooting for goal during the AFL Grand Final with 95,000 fans screaming is a lot more difficult than firing off a pellet gun as a few family members and friends watch quietly.
bench Q Lynch 28, B Waters 25, M Nicoski 27, S Selwood 21
The Eagles do have a future contender already, especially if their young key position players develop. Notte at full forward, Kennedy at centre half forward, MacKenzie at centre half back, and they also have Mitch Brown who can play at either end of the field.
High draft picks have been used to select Masten and Ebert, the Eagles will also be looking at picking Daniel Rich in the 2008 AFL draft. It may not be too long until their onball brigade is again a strength.
Add to that, a number of other high draft picks and also trades and preseason picks over the next few years. With at least 3 picks in the top 20 this draft, maybe 5 in the top 20 if they do trade out Kerr and other veterans. The Eagles should have a competitive and balanced team in 2011. They will also still have Dean Cox, and as long as he is there the Eagles will continue to have a huge edge in the ruck.
The numbers beside the players above are their approximate ages in 2011.
Everybody knows how they got to where they are at the moment, so no need to go over that, but it may not be too long before the Eagles are contending again. The last time they started a 5 Year Plan, it only took a couple of seasons to complete it.
So the site has gone a bit yellow and blue, and over the next few days a number of West Coast stories will be posted. These will look at their drafting, their future and other areas.
Coming soon, a look at the Dockers will also be posted. They are probably going to have as much, or more, trouble as the Eagles will with rebuilding. The Eagles will get a priority pick this year, the Dockers won't. The Dockers also have been trading away picks, for Tarrant and J Carr, while the Eagles got a start on their rebuilding when they acquired draft picks and Josh Kennedy.
Collingwood came up with a plan to annoy Lance Franklin when he was kicking for goal, a bigger problem for Collingwood was they didn't have a plan for stopping him getting the ball in the first place.
Franklin had 12 marks for the game, most of them produced kicks for goal. With 8 goals and 6 behinds, he probably wasn't put off by the Magpies having a player running to his left as he kicked. He has kicked scores like 1 – 7 when teams weren’t doing anything to hinder him.
With 17 kicks and 4 handballs, he was busy all game. The umpires were also busy, paying 5 free kicks against Franklin.
If Franklin fires, the Hawks can beat any team in the league. He may not be able to beat a team all by himself, but Franklin was very close to doing that here. The final score was Collingwood 62 and Franklin 54.
Steven Armstrong
Michael Braun
Chad Fletcher
Jaymie Graham
Will Schofield
The Eagles probably didn't expect to finish so low on the ladder, maybe they delist a lot of players in response to that. Braun has already announced he will retire. Fletcher is probably sent out, players like Armstrong and Graham who have yet to secure a regular spot in the side could also be delisted.
Melbourne
Jace Bode
Nathan Carroll
Ben Holland
Mark Jamar
David Neitz
Colin Sylvia
Isaac Weetra
Jeff White
Adem Yze
Melbourne need to create space on their list. They are playing poorly so a number of their players are clearly not good enough for AFL, and they also need to find space to not only add a number of high draft picks but to also elevate from the rookie list Shane Valenti and Austin Wonaeamirri. Neitz has retired, Holland is out too, Yze really should be moved along too. Carroll and Sylvia might not be what a rebuilding club wants around. Who knows what they are doing with Jeff White, but there is a chance that he may actually be delisted.
Maybe add Mr Miyagi, Chuck Norris and have the people actually hit each other and it might be a real event.
These people dress up in all this padding, like the guy in the suit that went around annoying bears, and then they jump around and don't even try to hit the other person. Some judges then say who the winner is when time expires.
St Kilda ruckman Steven King is more dangerous contesting a hitout with his feet than these taekwondon't contestants are, and King isn't even trying to connect with anything but the football.
Anything with judges deciding the outcome is always going to be seen as suspicious. It could be figure skating, a custom car show, a cake baking competition or taekwondo, if the outcome is in the hands of nameless judges you are never really sure that the right person won. That sounds more like a popularity contest, not a sport.
Fabian Deluca
Nathan Lonie
Hugh Minson
Damon White
Ryan Williams
Michael Wilson
A Grand Final one year, down the bottom area of the ladder the next, it is going to be hard for the Power to figure out what to do. They probably go young, and older players will be delisted. Ruckman Minson has left due to injury, Deluca has been given an extended look at AFL level but has yet to show anything. With Brogan wanting a new contract, and Lade in the SANFL too often, their ruck spot, which has always been a strength, could be a weakness soon. Wilson's long career could be over. White looked like being a regular player but has not cemented a spot.
Fremantle
Peter Bell
Heath Black
Andrew Browne
Josh Carr
Matthew Carr
Paul Duffield
Jeff Farmer
Mark Johnson
Shaun McManus
Brett Peake
Scott Thornton
Luke Webster
Already there have been a few retirements, and some more could be expected. Being the oldest team doesn't mean they need to cut out the veterans, being a team with few wins for the season does. Webster isn't one of the old players, just one with too many injuries. M Carr has retired, J Carr could be someone who is traded and even a delisting is possible. Mark Johnson has not added anything to the Dockers, delisting him would show they are going to go in a new direction. If the Dockers made the smart move of a new coach, they might also set a record for delistings.
Jordan Bannister
Clinton Benjamin
Luke Blackwell
Adam Hartlett
Ryan Houlihan
Ryan Jackson
Aisake O'hAilpin
Setanta O'hAilpin
Jordan Russell
Jason Saddington
Hartlett has been at the club for around 4 years and may have only been part of a winning side once. Blackwell and Jackson can't get into the Carlton midfield. The Blues have already had one Irish prospect leave, and the O'hAilpins don't seem to be Ratten's favourites. Someone who always seems to be the coach's favourite is Russell, not sure why. Saddington is their oldest player, although he isn't that old compared to players on other clubs.
Essendon
Heath Hocking
Courtney Johns
Jason Johnson
Mal Michael
Damien Peverill
Jason Johnson is close to being out the door, although he will get a farewell match. At one time it seemed Peverill was in more peril than Johnson, but he might have saved his spot on the list with some quality games recently. Johns was behind a few big forwards and then injured his knee in the VFL, so he could be gone. Michael could retire again.
First of all, the name, the other day a Russian and Bulgarian were competing in this. Greeks and Italians were nowhere to be seen.
No crowds, no cheating managers, no big elbows off the turnbuckle, not even any commentary from Mean Gene Okerlund. Something professional will always be better than something amateur.
The TV and radio stations that derive a lot of their income from AFL are heading to the 5-Rings Show in China to broadcast Greco-Roman Wrestling, that isn't needed, there should be more than enough wrestling action when the Eagles and Dockers play.
A tag-team of Shaun McManus and Josh Carr versus Quinten Lynch and Adam Selwood, that is where the ratings are going to be, not some amateur bout between Khadjimourat Gatsalov and Ramaz Nodadze.
Televisions around the world are going to be filled soon with images of so-called athletes who display their wares every four years, but a lot of the things they do are not real sports.
The VFL reserves should be shown instead of some of these activities, and these non-sports will be listed over the coming month. Up first, walking.
A race is where people compete, to be the fastest. A walking race, that is something that disqualifies people for going too fast. Not a sport.
Some think AFL at times is over-umpired, they should check out this walking race fiasco. A small army of officials swarm around the event and hand out warnings and disqualifications to the competitors. Thankfully it will never happen, but imagine Paul Chapman in a walking race having to deal with these officials telling him he was running and not walking.
The men's 20km and 50km race walks and the women's 10km race walk are not sports, and the people involved in them are not sportspeople.
Out of all the people in the world, Mr T is probably the second best, so when he says walking is for fools he must be correct.
Rhett Biglands
Bryce Campbell
Greg Gallman
Luke Jericho
Kris Massie
Ken McGregor
Every year at Adelaide they probably consider letting go Jericho, but he always gets through and maybe again he returns for 2009. Even if they are contracted, the Crows might see if they can move out older players like McGregor, Massie and Biglands. There has even been talk that Burton's spot isn't safe, due to his recent injury. There could also be some retirements, as players like Edwards and McLeod are close to the end of their careers.
Richmond
Andrew Collins
Mark Coughlan
Cleve Hughes
Chris Hyde
Danny Meyer
Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls
Kayne Pettifer
Dean Polo
Greg Tivendale
The Tigers always seem to surprise when it comes to player transactions. Rodan delisted, Kingsley acquired, Gaspar signed and then a short time later sent to an early retirement. When season 2008 concludes there could be some moves that are not foreseen, and others that do make sense. The end for JON at Richmond must be near, Meyer as well. Pettifer could be getting a new contract, but if there isn't a spot in the Richmond side for him it could be a strange move. Coughlan has been injured a lot. Tivendale probably is on the way out as they have young players ahead of him now.
Neither team could kick goals when the Crows and Swans played, but as the birds faltered The Porpoise appeared, and despite a bad shoulder The Porpoise dominated.
Teams out of finals contention are sending out players for surgery due to all types of minor injuries, but if there is someone who probably does need to be rested it is The Porpoise. When Burton went down, so did a lot of their forward line, so the Crows should be very appreciative of the efforts that The Porpoise is putting in. A nice new contract with a significant raise might be the best way to reward him.
The Crows only kicked 11 goals, so they would have been in a lot of trouble without 5 goals from The Porpoise. He also handed out another 2 goals to other Crows. Despite his shoulder problems he also provided an aerial target as he brought in 6 marks.
Plenty of fans would have gone to the SCG expecting a superstar performance from Goodes or an exciting comeback from Hall, none of that occurred but they were able to witness the heroic hustle and determination of The Porpoise.
The Gold Coast AFL team is deciding on a name, and out of their choices it might be Marlins that sounds the best. In the NBA, a team is moving from Seattle to Oklahoma City but will need to find a new name.
Barons, Bison, Energy, Marshalls, Thunder and Wind are the possible names instead of SuperSonics which is what the Seattle team was called.
Just as Sharks would have been a popular name for the GC17 team, Oklahoma City probably would have liked Cowboys. There are Cowboys in the NFL, but also the Oklahoma State university is already called the Cowboys.
Guards and Ironmen are similar ideas to the Oklahoma City Marshalls name, as they are occupations that are historically linked to their specific areas. Just as the Gold Coast are considering animal life from their area with Marlins and Stingrays, the NBA team is looking at Bison.
It would seem that all the good names for sporting teams are already taken, so it will be interesting to see what the Gold Coast, and West Sydney, are able to do. Maybe they can learn something from a basketball team that is going through a similar process.
Raphael Clarke
Xavier Clarke
Matthew Ferguson
Aaron Fiora
Leigh Fisher
Fraser Gehrig
James Gwilt
Robert Harvey
Brad Howard
Michael Rix
Robert Harvey might be retiring, it isn't something that St Kilda fans want to hear but it is likely. If he did want to continue, he is certainly good enough to always be in their best side. Fraser Gehrig retired at the end of last season, another retirement is looming for him. The Saints will have many decisions to make regarding players on the periphery of their best 22. It could certainly be time to give the Clarkes a fresh start elsewhere. Ferguson has already been delisted once, they might do it again although there were some promising signs after they moved him forward. Gwilt probably is best at full back, so they might keep him around as insurance in case Hudghton is injured.
North Melbourne
Leigh Brown
Shannon Grant
Ed Lower
Eddie Sansbury
Nathan Thompson
Ben Warren
The Kangaroos will need to figure out what they are doing, if they are keeping it together for another go at a premiership or if they are looking for youth. Grant, N Thompson and maybe Jess Sinclair could be players who move along if the Kangaroos have young players ready to go. With Ross, Tarrant and Greenwood they may have players ready to step into their spots. Players who have already been given several chances, like Brown and Sansbury, would be candidates for delisting.
Ryan Cook
Shannon Cox
Chris Egan
Brodie Holland
Sam Iles
Ryan Lonie
Anthony Rocca
Alan Toovey
Shane Wakelin
Coach Malthouse just recently said how he would like to be playing some of the above players, like Egan and Iles, but he can't play them at the moment. Their spots on the list have to be under pressure as they have yet to cement a regular game. Rocca might be thinking about the NFL while Wakelin could be at the end of his career.
Brisbane
Nigel Lappin
Beau McDonald
Wayde Mills
Matthew Moody
Chris Schmidt
McDonald retired a while ago, Lappin might have to follow him into retirement if he can't get over his injuries. Mills has provided the Lions with a big body to kick to at centre half forward but they have drafted Henderson and Clark has become a player that is picked every week so Mills might not have a spot on the list. Schmidt might have been the player they drafted with the pick they acquired for Akermanis, Schmidt hasn't been able to find a place in the side.
Tim Clarke
Zac Dawson
Beau Dowler
Danny Jacobs
Garry Moss
The Hawks have a young and talented list, but they will need to find a few players to move out. Not only will they have draft picks to add, but a trade could bring in some players and elevating Cameron Stokes from the rookie list might be something they consider. Jacobs has retired. The Hawks do need a tall defender, but maybe Dawson won't be it. Dawson has been used as a ruckmen at VFL level, but Hawthorn have several options there so Dawson's new-found versatility may not be enough to keep him around much longer. The Hawks also need to make a decision on their Beau boys, maybe Dowler can play as a defender and that could keep him on the list another year. Muston just keeps getting injured, but it seems the Hawks will persist with him.
Sydney
Luke Brennan
Jared Crouch
Nick Davis
Peter Faulks
Ben Mathews
Fast approaching is the time when Sydney will have a lot of their important veterans retire, but it may not be this year. Crouch, Davis and Mathews were regular players for the Swans not too long ago but their time to go may have arrived. Davis certainly seems to want out. Nick Davis may not have any trade value, so delisting him may be all Sydney do. Fosdike is also someone who could be under pressure to stay on the list. A year from now the names who could be mentioned as possible retirements will include Everitt, Kirk, Hall, O'Loughlin and Barry.
Teams are constantly evaluating their lists, and some players only have a month or two to show their club why they should be retained on the list. All the AFL teams will be looked at here, and 5 to 10 players will be listed as possible delistings. Some of these players are expected to, or have already announced they are retiring.
Plenty of players on the possible delistings lists will be back next year with their clubs, some might have career-years in 2009, but all clubs need to move out a few players and right now these are the ones who might be moving.
Geelong
Nathan Ablett
Jason Davenport
Simon Hogan
David Johnson
Kane Tenace
Last year, the Cats didn't really get rid of players, they instead traded fringe players to other clubs. That could also happen this year, maybe with Prismall or Djerrkura, but some delistings will also occur. Ranga Ediriwickrama will join Geelong next year, so the Cats might look to clear out several smaller players as help is on the way in that spot. Delisting an Ablett, that isn't something they want to do at Geelong, but if Nathan Ablett isn't playing it will be difficult to keep him on the list. It would also create an interesting dilemma for other clubs, as they would possibly have the chance to draft him.
Western Bulldogs
Andrew McDougall
Paul O'Shea
Wayde Skipper
Brennan Stack
Peter Street
Cameron Wight
McDougall has announced his retirement. Skipper and Street can't get back into the side, with Hudson and Welsh there now, so one or both of them could move on. Street is a good insurance policy in case Hudson is hurt, so maybe Skipper is more likely to go although he could still be useful if Minson was out. With Cordy on the way, the Bulldogs will have a young replacement for whichever ruckman/tall forward they delist. Stack seems to be behind Lynch on the depth chart, but Lynch is behind Hill and Hill can't cement a spot, so Stack may not be back. Wight's height always kept him around, but the Bulldogs have been getting bigger and Wight may not be needed.
Just as it happened a week ago, it seemed that Nick Riewoldt's great game in a St Kilda win was more than enough for him to be named the Player Of The Week. But then a Sydney team that started without Hall, lost Barry and O'Loughlin during the game, and had to overcome a big early deficit scored the only away win of the round. That win was due to Ryan O'Keefe.
24 kicks, 10 marks, 6 tackles and 5 handballs. Ryan O'Keefe was very busy, he was a scoring option up forward and also spent a lot of time in the middle.
O'Keefe has not been scoring as efficiently as he normally does, but in this game he was more accurate with 3 goals and 1 behind. The miss might have been the easier shot, but 75% overall is a good number for scoring accuracy. O'Keefe also provided teammates with the chances to score 4 more goals as he looked to share the ball around.
Sydney had a comeback that Rocky would be proud of, and they were lucky they had their own ROcKy in Ryan O'Keefe.
For fans of Saverio Rocca, or even Ben Graham, it won't be long until they are playing again in the NFL and that also means a new NFL fantasy season is about to begin.
As you can see from the picture below, if you win a fantasy league one year you are able to compete in a Winner's League the next year. This has to be something that AFL fantasy competitions will implement soon.
It wasn't that long ago when they were holding up the cup, but it has all gone awry for them since and Kerr may not want to stay around while they rebuild.
Which team would be a good fit:
Some people think Collingwood could use him, and with him in the midfield it could get them to a Grand Final. Others think he wants to play with Judd again. Collingwood probably have more of a vacancy in the midfield than Carlton do, but the Eagles and Magpies can't get trades done while the Blues and Eagles obviously can agree.
Similar trade in the past:
He's certainly not worth what Judd was. Kerr does come with baggage, so if the Eagles can get a first rounder for him, like the Demons did with Johnstone, it is probably a fair deal.
Possible trade scenarios:
To West Coast: Magpies' first round pick and Brad Dick
Collingwood: Daniel Kerr
To West Coast: Blues' second round pick, Paul Bower and Steven Browne
To Carlton: Daniel Kerr and Ashley Hansen
To West Coast: Troy Selwood and Ashley McGrath
To Brisbane: Daniel Kerr
They may not have a choice, and will be faced with the same problem they had when Jeff White wanted out. Once again, Melbourne need a ruckman and Fremantle have a Victorian ruckman who could be available, Melbourne also are likely to have the top pick in the preseason draft, so the Dockers may have to take what they can get or lose Warnock for nothing.
Which team would be a good fit:
Jeff White is getting close to the end of his career, Robert Warnock's brother plays for Melbourne, with Neitz retiring and other players leaving there is plenty of salary cap room, all the pieces seem to fit.
Similar trade in the past:
Cameron Wood was at a similar point in his career when he went from Brisbane to Collingwood, he was worth a late first round pick.
Possible trade scenarios:
To Fremantle: Demons' second round pick and Jace Bode
To Melbourne: Robert Warnock and Ryan Murphy
To Fremantle: Tigers' second round pick and Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls
To Richmond: Robert Warnock
To Fremantle: Saints first round pick and Leigh Fisher
To St Kilda: Robert Warnock and Ryan Murphy
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 100%
Robin - Daniel Bradshaw
Other Robin contenders: Mitch Clark, Jared Brennan
Lynch and Brown were close to unstoppable, Brown and Bradshaw can be just as tough for AFL teams of the present.
The best forward combination was always going to be Hawthorn or Brisbane. Brown is still the best forward in the AFL, with Franklin not far behind. Bradshaw is much older than Roughead, but is still kicking plenty of goals.
Brown and Bradshaw certainly need to be superheroes for Brisbane or they don't win, after them the next best player for goals is someone like Corrie or Johnstone. The good thing for Brisbane is that it is very hard for a team to contain one of their star forwards, and close to impossible to shut them both down.
Brown and Bradshaw are proven performers. Every week they give Brisbane a chance to win, and also give opposition coaches and defenders nightmares. Brown might have the build of Superman, and Bradshaw even resembles Clark Kent, but on this list they are the AFL's best for the Batman & Robin rankings.
Possibly the greatest ever Grand Final entertainment, what was called a Batmobile is there.
A Snickers commercial, with a player getting hit in the head a few too many times, and then he thinks he is Batman.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 90%
Robin - Jarryd Roughead
Other Robin contenders: Tim Boyle, Mark Williams
Along with everything else, Franklin seems destined to be the AFL's Batman of the future too. Franklin is also lucky to have been drafted alongside one of the larger sidekicks around, Roughead.
Teams often have a power option and a speed option up forward. Roughead is a prototypical power forward. Franklin is speed but with a difference, he is a lot taller than other quick forwards.
Opposition teams spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to stop Franklin, and that usually means their best tall defender. Franklin sprints away from goal, taking marks around half forward, as his sidekick Roughead takes advantage of the freedom he gets close to goal. Roughead also knows how to get out of Franklin's way, and that is a prerequisite for being a good sidekick.
For selecting the best forward duos, Melbourne in last spot made sense as they have lost their big star, there wasn't a lot separating the teams in the middle, and at the other end of the rankings there were two teams that could both be number 1. Hawthorn are at number 2 right now, but it probably won't be long before they are up the top of this list.
The Saints had a very important win on Friday and that was largely due to Riewoldt. On Sunday, Richmond also had a big win, and also had a Riewoldt to thank. He may not have heard this many times before, but this week Jack Riewoldt was better than Nick.
Accuracy in front of goal is something that has evaded many forwards this season, Jack Riewoldt had 5 scoring shots for 5 goals so that was excellence of execution.
Jumping over people in the goal-square for a mark is something that can help a player score goals, and J Riewoldt can do that. For the game he had 8 marks, 3 were judged to be contested marks.
Without Richardson, it wasn't expected that Richmond would have a key position forward getting a lot of the ball. Riewoldt managed 17 possessions, 2 of those provided goals for his teammates. He also added a couple of tackles.
Richmond and Jack Riewoldt started slowly in the game against the Eagles, Riewoldt turned it on in the second quarter and Richmond overran and overwhelmed West Coast for the rest of the game.
They could have been called something exciting, but after consulting with lawyers and advertising executives the new Gold Coast team will have a name that will be mocked by many.
One has to wonder if they just looked at the newer baseball teams for some of their ideas, as expansion teams in sunny Florida have been named the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays.
Ironmen - Would a team of ironmen call themselves "The Footballers", probably not.
Marlins - There are worse ideas on their list. Although the only time you see a marlin, it has a hook in its mouth.
Guards - That is an interesting play on words, as they would be the gold COAST GUARDS. But Coast Guard vessels are not that intimidating, they could have called the team The Destroyers.
Rays - This is just silly, it is just a shortened version of option number 5 below. Farren Ray and Ray Chamberlain, probably not deserving of having a football club named after them.
Stingrays - Seems a bit odd, and they won't be getting Daniel Kerr to sign up for them.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 100%
Robin - Michael O'Loughlin
Other Robin contenders: Ryan O'Keefe, Nick Davis, Henry Playfair
These two have been a dynamic duo for quite a while, and they play very well together. That is, when they do actually play. The Hall Of Justice was the place that Batman and Robin used to visit to have a chat with Superman and Aquaman, but Sydney's Hall is often on the wrong side and gets justice handed out to him.
One thing that has made Hall and O'Loughlin an effective combination is the SCG. It was always considered to be a smaller ground and one that made life difficult for a traditional centre half forward. The Swans got around this by using O'Loughlin, and he would go for a run up the ground which left plenty of space for Hall. After recent construction, the SCG may now be a bit longer, but the Swans still know the best way to play there.
Hall and O'Loughlin probably reunite in a few weeks, and once again AFL fans will wait to see if they are the Swans' Batman and Robin, or just a Badman and Robin.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 100%
Robin - Brad Fisher
Other Robin contenders: Matthew Kreuzer, Eddie Betts
Batman often told people that he "worked alone", and that is really the case here. Fevola is often their entire forward line. He gets the ball kicked to him much more than the rest of their forwards combined. That does suit Fisher, as he floats around the forward line and can often get to an aerial contest as the third player to get a mark.
Eddie Betts is also a very good sidekick for a big forward to have. Just like Fisher, Betts acknowledges his secondary role and also uses the fact that the ball will nearly always get sent to Fevola. Betts is very often the first to the crumb and gets a lot of his goals that way.
Carlton do have the definitive hero and sidekick setup in the AFL, but that sometimes isn't conducive to success. Lockett, Ablett the old one, a lot of goals were kicked but their clubs didn't win it all.
They probably already should have traded him, they decided not to a year ago and may have another chance after the 2008 season. He isn't a regular in the Richmond side, they have given him enough chances and would be better served by going with other players now, like J Riewoldt and Rance.
Which team would be a good fit:
Port Adelaide wanted him, and with Tredrea getting old and White possibly on the way out they do need more height.
Similar trade in the past:
He was nearly on his way to Port Adelaide a year ago, for a late second round pick, so that gives some idea of his trade value. Richmond may not get as good an offer this time. Playfair and C Gardiner were a couple of key position players who were traded last year, their trade value ranged from a late draft pick to being given away.
Possible trade scenarios:
To Richmond: The Power's third round pick
To Port Adelaide: Jay Schulz
If he wants out, for more money, they need to get something for him. Talk about trading him might also be just another negotiating tool that is being used to increase his price.
Which team would be a good fit:
Sydney seem to want him, and he would be help for Hall and then his successor at full forward.
Similar trade in the past:
The Swans brought in Lockett and Hall, and the Fevola deal if it were to happen would be very similar to those.
Possible trade scenarios:
To Carlton: Swans' first round pick, Ed Barlow and Jesse White
To Sydney: Brendan Fevola
To Carlton: Justin Koschitzke and Leigh Montagna
To St Kilda: Brendan Fevola and Shaun Hampson
To Carlton: Tigers' first round pick and Richard Tambling
To Richmond: Brendan Fevola and Jordan Russell
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 67%
Robin - Steven Johnson
Other Robin contenders: Tom Hawkins, Tom Lonergan, Mathew Stokes, Paul Chapman
Mooney and S Johnson were more like the members of the Legion of Doom than the Justice League for a lot of their careers, but in 2007 they did what was needed for success. Those two, and Nathan Ablett, provided the height up forward for their prolific midfield to supply.
Not even close to Ablett and Brownless, Mooney and Johnson don't need to do as much as they are surrounded by midfielders/small forwards who can also kick a winning score. Chapman, G Ablett II, Stokes, Byrnes, Bartel, Corey, they provide a lot of help on the scoreboard. Even when in a close-checking tagging role, Ling can score a goal or two. Batman and Robin never had that much help.
Today is a big day for the football of tomorrow, as it is one of the last chances that prospects have of impressing scouts in a big game. While that is going on, here is football from the past.
Images are from The Sun newspaper in 1951. Some fans who couldn’t get into the Grand Final were throwing orange peel at a police horse, you don’t get news stories like that now, as people reserve their tickets and don’t seem to eat as many oranges as they used to at the football.
The split round has a star player each week, but with only two games there wasn't a lot to choose from. The best player for the week was from Geelong, and there were several players from the Cats that deserved a mention.
Bartel had over 40 possessions, Joel Selwood was winning a lot of contested football, Lonergan was kicking goals, but Corey Enright might have been their best player as they demolished Adelaide.
8 Crows had fewer possessions for the entire game than Enright had in the 2nd quarter, he had 16. For the game, Enright totalled 20 kicks, 16 handballs, 8 marks and 5 tackles.
Enright was unstoppable at half back and around the middle, foiling many Crows' attempts to go forward and then sending the ball the other way, often ending in another Geelong goal.
Enright is often considered to be on a tier below that of Ablett, Bartel and Corey but there are plenty of times when he is their equal, against Adelaide he was even a bit better than them.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 50%
Robin - Robert Murphy
Other Robin contenders: Scott Welsh, Jason Akermanis, Will Minson
Maybe they have more of a SuperFriends setup than a hero and sidekick structure. While Johnson is still the leader in the forward line, and Murphy also has an important role, there are plenty of games when Akermanis or Welsh kick a bunch of goals.
In the past, Johnson and Murphy have been like Mighty Mouse, a bit undersized but still capable of getting the job done. Getting Welsh in the preseason draft brought a bigger body to the forward line, and Welsh was also once a minor sidekick when the Kangaroos had their Corey and Carey show, so he knows how to win. Minson has been another welcome addition to their forward line, the coach finally got tired of losing at smallball and put one of his biggest bodies up close to goals.
Jason Akermanis, maybe he is like the Green Arrow, he is very accurate with his aim but often does his work outside the group. The Bulldogs would be wise to allow Akermanis to do what he wants, he has more big-game experience, and success, than the rest of the team combined.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 67%
Robin - Daniel Motlop
Other Robin contenders: Justin Westhoff, Brett Ebert
On their day, the Power forwards can be powerful forwards. Tredrea can take 10 marks, Motlop can have 6 goals from 6 kicks, Motlop especially has superhero skills, so while Tredrea is still the first option and the big body that the forward line is structured around it is often Motlop who comes to the rescue and wins a game with his freakish abilities.
Port Adelaide also have a bit of a Bizarro setup when it comes to their other forwards. Westhoff is sometimes the tallest player on the ground, but a lot of his game is built around mobility and agility. Brett Ebert is one of the shorter forwards in the AFL, but he certainly doesn't play that way, he is taking contested marks against much bigger opponents every game.
Johns is a full forward, Essendon don't have a vacancy at that spot, they need to get something for him and Johns needs a new team.
Which team would be a good fit:
Maybe Fremantle would be a good choice, Pavlich and Johns could play close to goal and Johns would be the secondary option like Longmuir used to be beside Pavlich. It would be another case of an Essendon player going to Fremantle though.
Similar trade in the past:
There have been plenty of players who were in the background at one club and then thrived at another club. Jolly at Melbourne was in the shadow of Jeff White and a move to Sydney helped him. Josh Kennedy wasn't getting the ball kicked to him at Carlton, now he is an Eagle he is getting to do a lot more. Scott Welsh has moved twice, traded once and a preseason pick more recently, to teams that have needed a full forward.
Possible trade scenarios:
To Essendon: David Mundy
To Fremantle: Courtney Johns
To Essendon: Xavier Clarke
To St Kilda: Courtney Johns
To Essendon: Colin Sylvia
To Melbourne: Courtney Johns
Wiggins would be better suited to being on a team that has a big centre half forward, Wiggins could then take the role of a secondary marking option around half forward. At Carlton, he won't be a regular in their midfield, and isn't tall enough to have a big impact up forward.
Which team would be a good fit:
The Kangaroos need to add a piece or two to their forward line. In 2009, they will have plenty of big forward targets but will need another player like Corey Jones who can either play as a secondary marking option or go for an occasional run in the middle.
Similar trade in the past:
Smaller players who could kick goals, like Kent Kingsley and Callum Chambers, have been moved to new teams in minor trades and Wiggins might also be worth a low draft pick. Aaron Hamill was a short marking player who was traded from Carlton, he may have been a bit overvalued at the time by the Saints.
Possible trade scenarios:
To Carlton: Leigh Brown
To North Melbourne: Simon Wiggins
To Carlton: Wayde Mills
To Brisbane: Simon Wiggins
To Carlton: Saints' third round pick
To St Kilda: Simon Wiggins
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 51%
Robin - Matthew Lloyd
Other Robin contenders: Scott Gumbleton, Jay Neagle
Lloyd may not have accepted it yet but Lucas has been his better for a few years now. Lucas' recent injury has slowed him down a bit but he should be back to his best soon. Not long ago, these two were the most dynamic of duos for key forwards in the AFL, but they are getting older and less effective.
The interesting thing at Essendon is the succession plan, it won't be long before Lucas and Lloyd are gone. While labelling a player "oft-injured" isn't the best news for a club, at least Gumbleton is getting hurt during a rebuilding phase and once he gets over his injury troubles he could be the top pilot for the new-look Bombers.
Neagle has shown he can be a good sidekick, he only seems to get a few kicks but often most of them are goals. There was only ever room for Batman and Robin in the Batmobile, and at Essendon there was never room for Lucas, Lloyd and Courtney Johns. Johns is now behind Neagle on the depth chart at Essendon, and they might also prefer Daniher to him too.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 100%
Robin - Jack Riewoldt
Other Robin contenders: Nathan G Brown, Mitch Morton
Their Batman, their big forward, is overused as he plays in a bunch of other spots too. He is a cape-worthy player as Richmond's undeniable superhero.
Richardson is fast, can leap and is strong. The problem for the last decade or more at Richmond is that there hasn't been a player close to Richardson in ability, no worthy sidekick.
There have been times when Pettifer was the number 2 forward, Deledio has also been experimented with there and while he could be very good in that position he is needed more in the middle. Nathan Brown may have been acquired to fill that spot, but injuries curtailed that and at present he is also used in the middle more than he has before.
If there is a new sidekick it could be Riewoldt or Morton, Riewoldt in some ways is a mini-Richardson who brings similar athleticism, Morton is a dependable kick for goal and has the ability to kick as many goals as Richardson can per game.
Melbourne won a game, which hasn't been happening a lot, and Brad Green was their best player, which has been the case nearly every round.
Melbourne needed some superstar performances to defeat a Brisbane team with Brown and Bradshaw in form and Green led the way. He was in the back line helping out Warnock and Garland, Green was also in the midfield skilfully distributing the ball and he was also up forward when it mattered. Green kicked one goal for the game, unofficially he did kick a couple as the ball was in his hands when the siren went so his kick and goal at the end didn't count.
Green's day at the MCG was a very consistent performance, he had 7 possessions in three of the quarters, with 9 possessions in the third quarter. His numbers for the entire game consisted of 20 kicks, 10 handballs, 15 kicks, 5 tackles and a goal.
Melbourne had Miller time again as he kicked 4 goals, and Cameron is still called Bruce after another big game, but it was Brad Green who was the reason that the Demons' fans had something to cheer about as he was the catalyst behind their 1-point win.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 100%
Robin - Chris Tarrant
Other Robin contenders: Jeff Farmer, Ryan Murphy, Christopher Mayne
The Dockers didn't want Pavlich to have everything on his shoulders so they went out and acquired Tarrant, and Pavlich still has everything on his shoulders.
Maybe not Batman, Pavlich is more like Superman but with a lot of kryptonite around him. Pavlich is their best forward, defender and midfielder, but he can't be everywhere at once. Aaron The Giant, Racing Rhys Palmer, Leaping Luke McPharlin, they provide some help in those spots but few other Dockers are close to Pavlich in skill and importance.
Pavlich did at one time have a useful sidekick when Longmuir was around, but injuries ended his career. The next draft might provide some help for Pavlich, but maybe there is a young player already on the list who will develop into Pavlich's future sidekick. It probably isn't Kepler Bradley, Murphy doesn't look like he will stay around much longer, so maybe Christopher Mayne is the one. Mayne is an accurate kick for goal, and just like Pavlich he has versatility to also go into the midfield when it is needed.
They are not going to win again with him in the team, at least it doesn't seem likely. The Bombers can send him off for another shot at the cup, Lucas might get paid more at a contending team as well, and the Bombers can add some players that could be at the club for the next decade or more.
Which team would be a good fit:
Geelong does make some sense, as Lucas was from the Western Districts, and adding him could guarantee another premiership. For the cost of a draft pick and a young player the Cats could add the big boot of Lucas, although it might mean some manoeuvring with contracts to fit him under the salary cap.
Similar trade in the past:
Adelaide added Robran, Carlton acquired Spalding, Sydney got Ball, Geelong previously added Ottens, all big bodies who helped their new clubs to premierships.
Possible trade scenarios:
To Essendon: Cats' first round pick and Nathan Djerrkura
To Geelong: Scott Lucas
To Essendon: Bulldogs' first round pick and Josh Hill
To Western Bulldogs: Scott Lucas
To Essendon: Swans' first round pick and Paul Bevan
To Sydney: Scott Lucas
The Eagles may not have a spot for him when he recovers from his injury. With Kennedy, Mackenzie and Notte they have three local products who could be playing key position spots for West Coast for years to come, and they still have Glass, Hunter and Lynch.
Which team would be a good fit:
Sending Mitch Brown to Collingwood might work, that is where Nathan Brown is.
Similar trade in the past:
Anthony Rocca was a young key position player who was traded back to his home state. That trade also reunited him with his brother, big Saverio Rocca. The Browns are more versatile than the Roccas and there would be room for both Nathan and Mitch at Collingwood, both of them can play at either end of the field.
Possible trade scenarios:
To West Coast: Magpies' first round pick
To Collingwood: Mitch Brown
To West Coast: Alex Rance
To Richmond: Mitch Brown
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 75%
Robin - Justin Koschitzke
Other Robin contenders: Fraser Gehrig, Stephen Milne
On paper, the Saints have a great forward line, but sometimes it doesn't function properly. Even when all their players are healthy, they put up low scores despite having Riewoldt, Koschitzke, Gehrig, Milne and some help from midfielders kicking goals too.
Some players are marking machines, others are running machines, Nick Riewoldt does both. The Saints do need to figure out where he plays, and who his sidekick really is.
Gehrig was someone who could put goals on the board but he has already retired once and isn't far away from doing it again. Koschitzke for his entire career has been considered the number 2 to Riewoldt, it started in 2000 when Riewoldt was the top pick and Koschitzke went right after at pick 2. Injuries have stopped Koschitzke being a dominant player, but he may be the answer at full forward for the Saints.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 33%
Robin - Travis Cloke
Other Robin contenders: Dale Thomas, Paul Medhurst, Leon Davis, Sean Rusling
Rocca is getting close to the end of his career, and all of the small forwards that Collingwood use also spend a lot of time in the midfield, so the Magpies are a team that is hard to define. Maybe Cloke is now the top forward, and Medhurst is producing the goals although he isn't someone that a forward line is built around.
Collingwood did enter 2008 with the idea of a terrific trio, not just a dynamic duo. Rocca, Cloke and Sean Rusling would have provided the tall marking options up forward. As has happened before, Rusling went down with an injury. But maybe in 2009 the Magpies have Cloke and Rusling as their two big forwards, Rocca might be there or he might be somewhere else, maybe a punting spot in the NFL.
It might be surprising to many, especially those in Fremantle, but Paul Medhurst is playing at a superhero level. Sidekick in size, but he is doing the job of the bigger forwards as he keeps kicking plenty of goals.
The Tigers are not playing him, so it is time for Pettifer and the Tigers to start afresh. Pettifer still has the ability to kick goals and there should be a team out there that can use him as a secondary option up forward.
Which team would be a good fit:
Sydney can struggle to kick goals, if Hall and O'Loughlin are not firing, and they may have lost faith in Nick Davis so Pettifer could play in his role.
Similar trade in the past:
While it was just part of a package for Tarrant, the inclusion of Paul Medhurst in the trade to the Magpies is an example of a small forward wearing out a welcome at one club and being reinvented at another.
The Swans when they previously acquired Davis also had similar success.
Schneider is another small forward who has been traded in recent years, he and Dempster were worth a second round pick in the trade between Sydney and St Kilda.
Possible trade scenarios:
To Richmond: Tim Schmidt
To Sydney: Kayne Pettifer
To Richmond: Stephen Milne
To St Kilda: Kayne Pettifer
To Richmond: Jason Roe
To Brisbane: Kayne Pettifer
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 75%
Robin - Kurt Tippett
Other Robin contenders: Simon Goodwin, Jason Porplyzia, Nick Gill, Trent Henstchel, Luke Jericho
Batman is supposed to be the big guy, and Robin the little sidekick, but at the moment the Crows have it the other way around. It still works, most of the time, which is the important thing.
Burton is not out of place as a high-leaping full forward in the Crows' team, Adelaide previously had Modra and even Lindner could jump a bit too. Burton is also a versatile forward, able to play up the ground, and the Crows also had Darren Jarman and Mark Ricciuto who played in a similar role in the past.
Tippett has been given a big role this season due to the delisting of Perrie, Welsh signing with the Bulldogs and injuries to Gill and Hentschel.
The Jerichoholics in Adelaide also have their superhero, Luke Jericho. He can appear out of nowhere, and kick 3 or 4 goals in a quarter.
Many players will have their trade values looked at in the coming weeks, maybe none of them actually go anywhere in trade week and maybe a few trade predictions actually happen after the season.
Player: Justin Koschitzke
Why their team should trade them:
They are not winning with both Riewoldt and Koschitzke, and they need to try something new. To get something of value, draft picks or players, the Saints need to give up something that has value and Koschitzke has that.
Which team would be a good fit:
Melbourne need to build a new forward line around a big key forward, Koschitzke would be perfect. He would take the role that Neitz had.
Similar trade in the past:
The Saints know all about trading a big forward, and just as Lockett and Hall brought in some useful draft picks, that is what the Saints could get in return for Koschitzke.
Another similar move from the past could be the Ottens' deal. The Tigers weren't making any progress up the ladder with Ottens so they traded him for draft picks.
Possible trade scenarios:
To St Kilda: Demons' second round pick, Clint Bartram and Lynden Dunn
To Melbourne: Justin Koschitzke
To St Kilda: Swans' first round pick, Ed Barlow and Tim Schmidt
To Sydney: Justin Koschitzke and Saints' third round pick
He would be in contention every week for being the top player, and once again Gary Ablett was among the best players for the round.
The Eagles knew he was the one to stop, and they did try a few things, but Ablett was just too good. Of his 37 possessions for the match, nearly half of them were contested. Ablett was also among the players with the most tackles for the game, he had 6. So his underrated strength was on display.
Ablett also kicked a couple of goals, he set up a few more for his teammates. The Eagles provided Ablett with an unexpected goal, as an astray kick went right to him in front of goal. Someone that didn't assist Ablett was the umpire, this was a rare game when he didn't receive a free kick, although that may have been because the Eagles couldn't get near enough to Ablett to give any free kicks away.
The final score was 182 to 47, so it wasn't all Ablett. But he was the main player behind the Cats' dominance.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 33%
Robin - Shannon Grant
Other Robin contenders: Drew Petrie, Nathan Thompson, Corey Jones, Matthew Campbell
Sometimes it can be helpful when a team doesn't have a main focal point up forward, as opposition teams don't know who they need to contain, but at the Kangaroos it also means that they don't know who will consistently kick goals for them. Hale and Petrie provide the biggest targets but are also needed in other positions. Nathan Thompson is injury-prone, Shannon Grant is old and Corey Jones is struggling to replicate his 2007 form. Any of those players could be Batman one week, and The Invisible Man the next.
Against Geelong, Hale showed how he could dominate up forward. Last year in a game against the Bulldogs, Petrie was unstoppable as a key forward. With McIntosh out at the moment, those two also share the ruck duties as well as spending some time up forward. Maybe they will bring in Goldstein, as a backup ruckman, and they could put Hale back into the forward line in a full-time role which was their original plan this season.
Nathan Thompson was acquired to be their main forward, injuries as well as up and down form have curtailed that idea. If he was going to be Batman it might have meant that Aaron Edwards was his sidekick, but as Edwards has also been hurt it means that those two have rarely been in the same side.
Leave a comment below for the name of a player, or players, that you think may or should be traded, or wish could be traded to your club.
In the coming days and weeks, plenty of possible player trades will be suggested. What draft pick or player someone could be worth, the teams that would suit the player, what the value was for similar players when they were traded in the past.
The AFL have changed a few rules to make trading easier for clubs, so this offseason could mean more big names are traded and all the teams will be active in making moves.
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 40%
Robin - Josh Kennedy
Other Robin contenders: Ben McKinley, Ashley Hansen, Mark LeCras
Their best ever Batman sits up in the coaches box, Sumich. The Eagles of today rely on Lynch and his magic glove, a bunch of young forward prospects and sometimes the Kung Fu Wirrpanda. Two superheroes from their recent AFL Grand Final years were Wirrpanda and Adam Hunter. A couple of years ago it seemed that whenever the Eagles got behind by a few goals they would send Wirrpanda and Hunter from the back line to the forward line and a comeback would always happen.
The Big Q isn't kicking a lot of goals at the moment. Some of that may be lack of supply, other times the reason is that he is also the backup ruckman, while another problem he has been having is where he gets the ball. Lynch is getting the football 60m out from goal a bit too much, and although he does possess range on his kick he needs to stay closer to the 50m line.
The Eagles turned Judd into Chris Masten and Mr Kennedy. Kennedy has shown that he can play Hansen's role at centre half forward, although that does give the Eagles the problem of what to now do with Hansen.
Lynch and Kennedy, or McKinley and Hansen, can be serviceable tall forwards but if the Eagles are to start winning again they needed to also get goals from the midfield like they used to.
Ranking the key forward duos of the AFL. Starting at the 16th best and eventually revealing who is the most dangerous of the dynamic duos. Teams won when they had Dunstall and Brereton, McKernan and Carey, Lynch and Brown, Kernahan and Spalding, Lloyd and Lucas, so it is important to have a couple of star key forwards.
Melbourne
Batman - Brad Miller
By percentage, really the Batman of their club: 25%
Robin - Matthew Bate
Other Robin contenders: Austin Wonaeamirri, Aaron Davey
Neitz and Robertson wasn't a bad pairing, but the Demons have to look elsewhere for goals now. Brad Miller and Matthew Bate may not be too dynamic but they are the duo that Melbourne have at the moment to kick to up forward.
Austin Wonaeamirri and Aaron Davey lend a hand up forward with their pace, and the Demons do get goals from the midfield with Bruce and Green, but if Melbourne are going to climb back up the ladder they will need two big forwards. Right now that is Miller and Bate, and while they do bring in marks they are unlikely to kick winning scores.
A few players kicked lots of goals last round, but one of them kicked 5 goals and 0 behinds, and also spent plenty of time taking game-saving marks at full back. Matthew Richardson's big season continued as Richmond and Melbourne played a very exciting game.
18 marks and 21 possessions were big numbers, but it was his accuracy in front of goal that was probably more exciting. 5 scoring shots and 5 goals, he was at his best.
Richmond and Melbourne under the roof was not expected to be so action-packed, but it was. Deledio's running, Bruce's skill, long kicking from Wheatley and Newman, an appearance from JON and an umpire going down, the game had it all but it was Richardson who was the difference between the sides.
The biggest highlight of the game also involved Richardson, he looked up and saw Aaron Davey standing on his shoulder taking a mark. Richardson may have been a bit perturbed with that, but for the rest of the game it was Richardson who was playing at a higher level than all the other players.
THE CLUB SAYS "We got a good blend. We thought we'd take the best players available and the fact that we've got a good cross-section out of that - two talls and two midfielders - is pleasing. We covered all bases. We didn't think young McCormack would be there at 38, so that was pleasing." – Rodney Eade, Bulldogs coach
The Bulldogs had plenty of drafts when they ended up with nothing despite picking high in the draft, while they may have been one of the two teams to bypass Lance Franklin they didn't do too badly in the 2004 draft.
Griffen is a big, strong midfielder and the Bulldogs needed to add strength in the middle. Griffen can also run and kick goals, so when he and Cooney are performing at their best they are difficult for other teams to match up on.
Williams was a hyped prospect that draft year, the player that was all about potential due to their athleticism but had played very few actual games. Initially he was expected to become another, but bigger, Koutoufides in the middle but that progression was halted by numerous injuries. He has been reinvented as a key defender and he gives the Bulldogs some things they need in the back line.
Teams are supposed to find success in the top 10, and the real scouting is needed when the later picks are used. The Bulldogs didn't really find a lot with their final three picks. Tiller is still around, drafted as a forward, he has been used in a few different spots when injuries present him with an opportunity.
THE CLUB SAYS "(The playing list) is very, very young, and John (Worsfold) saw the need for a more mature player and another tall with the number of midfielders that we have got. We were pretty happy. The guys we got we had rated quite highly so that is always nice. The proof will be in the pudding in a couple of years." - Trevor Woodhouse, West Coast recruiting manager
Another very good draft from the Eagles. They traded for Tyson Stenglein and that was why their picks started at 29. Rosa and LeCras are both good quality players for West Coast and bargain draft selections. Mitch Morton was a father/son selection, he is now a Richmond Tiger. Smith was a good pick later in the draft, as the Eagles always needed to find an extra tall forward for more goals it made sense to see if he could help them.
Rosa at pick 29, he was worth a higher pick than that. He is certainly better than many of the players picked ahead of him. Rosa is also suited to the Subiaco ground, it gives him the space to use his pace.
The Eagles have been able to find goals from players that are not key forwards, like Brett Heady and Phil Matera, so it isn't a surprise that they identified LeCras' talent in front of goal.
West Coast rarely make mistakes in the drafts, and in 2004 they were able to acquire three players, drafting two and trading for Stenglein, that are presently solid contributors as well as a player they would have liked to have kept, Morton, but were able to trade for a draft pick.
THE CLUB SAYS "(The midfield) was something we needed to address. Over the last two or three years we've lost (Paul) Kelly and Darryn Cresswell and some of the guys, Paul Williams and Stuey Maxfield, are getting towards the end of their careers. I think it's an area you can never have too many of, to be honest. It's certainly an area we need to keep improving at, so we went into this draft more looking at mids and a possible key back, so we got the two mids and gave Jamesy another chance." - Paul Roos, Sydney coach
They traded their early pick for a ruckman that was already proven, Darren Jolly, and that helped them get to and win a Grand Final.
Jarred Moore has taken a while but is now a success for the Swans. He is just another one of the Swans that is small but strong, and Roos can rotate Moore through the midfield and also give him minutes up forward where he has been kicking a few goals.
James was someone they persisted with and redrafted him in this draft. They were hoping he would give them help in a key position but that didn't happen. Spriggs was one of those "good ideas at the time", he did show some promise while with Geelong so it wasn't a bad move to give him a chance.
The Swans could have used their first rounder on a young ruckman, but even if he did become an AFL player it could have taken four years. With Jolly, they got someone who was ready to contribute right away, and the Swans were correct when they thought he would rapidly improve when he got the chance to play more, instead of being a backup like he was at Melbourne behind superstar Jeff White.
THE CLUB SAYS "We're very comfortable with McQualter. If you bracket McGough with him, we've got a couple of midfielders who are getting a bit older, so they address a situation that might happen in a year or two. Ackland is not just a ruckman, he's quite athletic and can go forward and take a mark. There's a bit of balance (in those picks), and Gwilt you'd call a calculated punt." - John Beveridge, Saints recruiting manager
While the Saints may be under some pressure at the moment, it was things like this draft in the past that made their present situation precarious. Gwilt at pick 63 is a success, but they don't have much else to be happy about.
It was during these years that the Saints neglected their ruck spot. Ackland was serviceable but undersized, and the Saints could have gone with a bigger prospect like Simon Taylor or Brad Moran. Big ruckmen like Jolly and Ottens were also available for draft picks, if the Saints had traded their picks it might have gotten them a Grand Final appearance.
McGough did have big-game ability, but the Saints never got to any big games while he was around. McQualter has been delisted, redrafted as a rookie and now elevated but that is not what teams want from a top 20 pick.
It would be interesting to know if they drafted the above midfielders to replace Harvey, they probably did, to "address a situation that might happen in a year or two". Over the years the Saints have brought in many players that were expected to be important contributors after Harvey but so far Harvey has outlasted most of them.
In the first play of the game, an Eagle went right at Goodes and that seemed to fire him up for the rest of the game, although maybe he was a bit too fired up at times. It was Goodes' effort and high marks that stopped the Eagles getting an even bigger lead than they did in the first quarter, and Goodes continued to play well for the rest of the match as the Swans eventually reeled in the Eagles.
Goodes took 8 marks, 6 of them were contested marks. 11 kicks, 10 handballs, and 4 tackles were some of his other important stats. Two thirds of his possessions were contested possessions.
Goodes may have given away 3 free kicks, and been reported, but that just showed the level of intensity he had in this game.
THE CLUB SAYS "We went in aiming to get a variety of players - some midfielders, some talls and a couple of utilities - and we think we've come out with a decent mix. We were more than happy to take Tambling on board after Hawthorn took (Jarryd) Roughead, because we rate him very highly; we rated all of the top four. We've got a couple of guys who can be thrown around anywhere. It's going to be the department of youth at Richmond next year with the boys we took last year, so Graham appealed as a senior body, not only to stand up in games but to teach these kids as well." - Greg Beck, Richmond recruiting manager
The infamous Richmond draft of 2004, they certainly had a lot of picks to use. One superstar, four other players who get regular games, probably not a big enough return.
Deledio is great but they need a couple more like him, Richmond want to play him at half back, full forward and in the middle. The good thing for Richmond is that Deledio has the size, athleticism and skills to play in all those positions. He was the number 1 pick so this was expected.
Tambling and Meyer were draft mistakes. Too small, picked too high, Richmond need to trade them out to give the players a fresh start elsewhere.
Something that Richmond didn't do in many drafts was try to find help for Richardson. Both Pattison and McGuane were drafted as possible forwards, while that didn't really happen it didn't stop those players from contributing. Pattison is the backup ruckman and McGuane has found a spot in the back line.
THE CLUB SAYS "We looked at the going-home factor, because that has really affected us over the last couple of years ... Ben (Eckermann) and Adam (Thomson) have both come from Sturt, so their mateship should work well." - Mark Williams, Port Adelaide coach
The 2004 AFL draft wasn't the most important thing that year for Port Adelaide as they had just won the Grand Final. With Josh Carr going to Fremantle, the Power were able to use some extra picks but it didn't do a lot for them.
Port Adelaide made an effort to find a future ruckman to replace Lade, Brogan and Primus and picked Willits and Deluca. Both are still at Port Adelaide, with Willits now on the rookie list, but they could be gone before Lade and Brogan are. Thomson is a useful player for Port Adelaide, but the Power could have used that pick on Cameron Wood and gone with smaller players later in the draft.
Port Adelaide decided to keep their picks and to look to the future with this draft, instead of trading for veterans that could have helped them defend their title in 2005. It was an idea that did make some sense but they just picked the wrong players.
THE CLUB SAYS "We have gone for the players that we rated in those positions so we are happy, plus they are three big, strong boys so it's good ... all three boys are young and barely eligible for the draft.'' - Craig Cameron, Melbourne recruiting manager
Melbourne are not doing too well at the moment but at least all the players they picked in this draft are still on the list. Maybe they were hoping one of these players would be a star centre half forward but that doesn't look like happening, but they are all capable players.
Bate is a very mobile and skilled medium forward who can cover a lot of ground and is a difficult matchup for opposition teams. Dunn has been tried as a key forward and also a midfield tagger, like Bate he can take a mark but isn't big enough for the centre half forward spot. Newton is an option at full forward with Neitz gone, Newton can certainly take a big mark.
Melbourne knew they needed future tall forwards and used their draft picks well. At the moment it doesn't look like Bate or Dunn will become the power forward they need, maybe they get a bit stronger and eventually play in that role but even if they continue as a secondary option around half forward they will help Melbourne immensely in the years to come.
The Saints might have been in trouble if they had lost to Melbourne. Very early on it was evident that the Saints were going to be tough at the football and Luke Ball was leading the way.
Ball was often first to the ball, and the only way Melbourne could slow him down was against the rules, Ball received 7 free kicks and didn't give any away. Ball is known for his tackling, and he showed the Melbourne players how it is done with his 10 tackles.
Luke Ball had 18 possessions in the first half, there were 15 Melbourne players who had less than 18 possessions for the entire game. Ball also led the Saints in contested possessions.
With 29 possessions, 10 tackles, 7 frees for, 6 marks and 1 goal it was a huge round 10 game for Luke Ball.
THE CLUB SAYS "We're happy with the mix of players we've got. We're absolutely over the moon to have Jesse Smith on our list. Brad Moran may be a bit out of left field, he's only played 14 games of footy. We've been following him all year ... and we're really excited about how we can develop him." - Neville Stibbard, Kangaroos recruiting manager
The Kangaroos used this draft to trade for Nathan Thompson. They may try to put a positive spin on the trade but Hawthorn did a lot better, the Hawks would not question this deal but North Melbourne must sometimes wonder why they did it. The Kangaroos' most successful season in recent years was also the one when Thompson was sidelined due to injury. Several teams did improve because they traded away high picks for big players, like Geelong and Sydney, but the Kangaroos didn’t get the help they were hoping for.
The good news for the Kangaroos is that they drafted well with the later picks that they kept. Pratt was given another chance by North Melbourne and has made the most of it. The Brad Moran pick was also a good move, nothing wrong drafting someone very tall who can run, but they couldn't find a spot for him with Petrie, McIntosh and Hale. Moran is now a Crow.
The best part of this draft for North Melbourne is Jesse W Smith. Taken as a father/son selection, Smith is a future superstar if his ankles let him play. Smith is expected to become a tall midfielder, after starting his career as a running defender, and is probably a future captain.
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