A Best 22 for 2016

[kilbluff1985]

What was the inside info and where did it come from? Fill me in!

you're kidding right? Jackson Merrett was at the club already so we had all the info we wanted on Zach

and i think Heppell everyone thought had a injury

[iZander]

Everyone knew Heppel had an injury? Thats not inside info....

[elephants]

What was the inside info and where did it come from? Fill me in!

you're kidding right? Jackson Merrett was at the club already so we had all the info we wanted on Zach

and i think Heppell everyone thought had a injury

Nope, I genuinely didn't know because I dont follow the draft (or Essendon) closely at all. Thanks so much for imparting some of your unbelievable wisdom and apparent antagonism on me oh wise one!

[silloc]

why would you take out Heppell and Zerrett? half the challenge of drafting is getting inside info

mother of all insider-info = Fantasia, everyone at the time was like wtf who is that. Just happens to be a kid who played under the coach we just hired.

The challenge of draft time isn't with your top tier selections it's your ability to get gems with later picks.

FYI, your brother at the club is not inside information because of bias. What do expect him to say about his brother "Nah he's shower".

[kilbluff1985]

why would you take out Heppell and Zerrett? half the challenge of drafting is getting inside info

mother of all insider-info = Fantasia, everyone at the time was like wtf who is that. Just happens to be a kid who played under the coach we just hired.

The challenge of draft time isn't with your top tier selections it's your ability to get gems with later picks.

FYI, your brother at the club is not inside information because of bias. What do expect him to say about his brother "Nah he's shower".

hey man they wernt my words southstorm said it i was just trying to explain why

[kilbluff1985]

What was the inside info and where did it come from? Fill me in!

you're kidding right? Jackson Merrett was at the club already so we had all the info we wanted on Zach

and i think Heppell everyone thought had a injury

Nope, I genuinely didn't know because I dont follow the draft (or Essendon) closely at all. Thanks so much for imparting some of your unbelievable wisdom and apparent antagonism on me oh wise one!

you really got butt hurt over that?

[silloc]

why would you take out Heppell and Zerrett? half the challenge of drafting is getting inside info

mother of all insider-info = Fantasia, everyone at the time was like wtf who is that. Just happens to be a kid who played under the coach we just hired.

The challenge of draft time isn't with your top tier selections it's your ability to get gems with later picks.

FYI, your brother at the club is not inside information because of bias. What do expect him to say about his brother "Nah he's shower".

hey man they wernt my words southstorm said it i was just trying to explain why

Sorry the fantasia bit was at you, then I went to hit send and more things were said so I kinda commented on them also.

[elephants]

What was the inside info and where did it come from? Fill me in!

you're kidding right? Jackson Merrett was at the club already so we had all the info we wanted on Zach

and i think Heppell everyone thought had a injury

Nope, I genuinely didn't know because I dont follow the draft (or Essendon) closely at all. Thanks so much for imparting some of your unbelievable wisdom and apparent antagonism on me oh wise one!

you really got butt hurt over that?

Butthurt? Nope. Just telling you to stop being a douche :)

[kilbluff1985]

What was the inside info and where did it come from? Fill me in!

you're kidding right? Jackson Merrett was at the club already so we had all the info we wanted on Zach

and i think Heppell everyone thought had a injury

Nope, I genuinely didn't know because I dont follow the draft (or Essendon) closely at all. Thanks so much for imparting some of your unbelievable wisdom and apparent antagonism on me oh wise one!

you really got butt hurt over that?

Butthurt? Nope. Just telling you to stop being a douche :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlxZmFcF7s

[elephants]

What was the inside info and where did it come from? Fill me in!

you're kidding right? Jackson Merrett was at the club already so we had all the info we wanted on Zach

and i think Heppell everyone thought had a injury

Nope, I genuinely didn't know because I dont follow the draft (or Essendon) closely at all. Thanks so much for imparting some of your unbelievable wisdom and apparent antagonism on me oh wise one!

you really got butt hurt over that?

Butthurt? Nope. Just telling you to stop being a douche :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlxZmFcF7s

Good work! You're impressive!

[Bill Manspeaker]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I0spFY1I2NQ

[elephants]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I0spFY1I2NQ

;D ;D ;D

[Southstorm]

The only good draft picks we've had in the last few years since Heppell have been Daniher and Zach Merrett.

Prior to that, the only great draft picks we've had since 2003 have been Hurley and Ryder. There's been a few good ones like Myers and Zaharakis and a few serviceable ones but none have ever lived up to their promised potential. Some have been complete write offs.

Probably too early to say whether Laverde and Langford are going to prove to be stars for us, but they're definitely showing more than most others in their opening years

It's time we figured out what we're doing wrong. Are we terrible at drafting or are we terrible at developing players?

Note: I'm only talking about early draft picks. If anything, we've proven we're quite good at getting value from rookie listed players and late draft picks.

you're being a bit harsh, I think our list management has been pretty good post-sheedy. You're forgetting the rookie talent we've scouted too; bags, hibo, bell-end, hocking, crameri.

Don't forget that 2010-2013 was picked apart by GWS & GCS, and -3 top end draft picks from last 2 drafts.

We're not going to get a superstar every year, but we're coming pretty close.

Like I said, I'm only talking about early draft picks.

We might have been able to make the best of a bad situation and come away with some steals from the rookie draft and late in the main draft, but at the end of the day, you can't just piss away half of your most recent top draft picks and question what you're doing wrong. Do we scout wrong? Do we develop wrong? Should we listen to the Herald Sun more or not at all? We need to answer these questions.

... what are you talking about, who are you referring to specifically, we've had more hits in the top 30 than misses. What do you want? and if you're talking about pre-2006, your argument is irrelevant. That's like saying we lacked midfield depth in the 90's. We've got the last 7 drafts right IMO, so the fact you're bringing it up as an issue NOW is stupid.

Take out Daniher who was father son and take out Heppell and Z. Merrett who we drafted with a little insider information and who has been a hit for us?

In the last seven drafts, we've had the abysmal 2011 year and we've had 2009 where Melksham was taken in the top 10. Ashby nor Kavanagh are not looking likely to be in the best 22 for next season and Melksham is not the quality expected of a top 10 pick. Although before 2009 we were better. Not competition-leading, but better.

Ashby was pick 34, that's not a top end draft pick.

Kav, if you take into account the mini-draft and GCS/GWS pre-selections over those years, you're looking more like a no.30 pick. And it's not like we're the exception to the rule that year. You go and look at the next 10 picks after kav, not really filled with gold.

1 19   Essendon  Elliott Kavanagh Essendon 12
1 20   Fremantle  Hayden Crozier Fremantle 34
1 21  Father/Son Sydney  Tom Mitchell Sydney 37
1 22   Carlton  Joshua Bootsma   14
1 23   West Coast  Murray Newman West Coast 6
1 24   Gold Coast  Henry Schade Gold Coast 15
1 25   St Kilda  Sebastian Ross St Kilda 37
1 26   Richmond  Todd Elton Richmond 2
  27  Priority Adelaide  Sam Kerridge Adelaide 27
  28  Priority West Coast  Fraser McInnes West Coast 7
  29  Priority Fremantle  Alex Forster   1

Melksham has been disappointing, but the only genuine miss that I consider in the past 10 years. Still shows glimpses, maybe would do better in another team. But again, we weren't the only ones to miss around that area.

1 8   Port Adelaide  John Butcher Port Adelaide 28
1 9   Port Adelaide  Andrew Moore Port Adelaide 55
1 10   Essendon  Jake Melksham Essendon 114
1 11   Melbourne  Jordan Gysberts   19
1 12   Carlton  Kane Lucas West Coast 42

The main issue with Kavanagh is that we drafted him when we knew he had previously struggled with injury. In fact he didn't even play a full season in the TAC Cup the year we drafted him and there were huge question marks over his fitness going into the draft. We rolled the dice, prayed to god that it was just a lot of hype like Hep's injury last year. He struggled to get match-fit for the first three years of his career and arguably only played in 2015 because the team had gone to hell with injury. Good talent, but shower luck. If we played it safe, we could have had Crozier who's been decent or Murray Newman who might not have gone to town on some bloke had he been living in Victoria. Seb Ross even. Kerridge? All four have had better careers unfortunately. The guy was regarded as a top 5 picks at one stage, and every club above us passed up on him even though he would have been crazy value from any pick lower than 10. So there's an example of us not doing our homework properly.

And you can say that hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but what we did is sort of like putting your savings on the roughie at the TAB. Pretty awesome if you get lucky but there's a very good reason why people don't do it. 

Inside info is great when you've got the ability to dig it up yourself. Waiting around for an extreme stroke of luck, like the kid you're interested in sharing the same family doctor as the club or one of the new kids having an underrated younger brother isn't something you'd rely on to produce consistently great results. I'd like to think we're able to draft like we did in 2008, and possibly 2014 depending on how that turns out. Getting Langford and Laverde in the same draft is tits.

Anyway, so I look back at the last seven years and say we got lucky for three, screwed up two and drafted well for one and possibly two. Not really any superstar, top-touted F/S picks heading our way and I'm not sure how many TAC superstars bruce reid still sees so we can't keep counting on getting lucky. But hey, I've at least got enough perspective to know it's not as bad as our pick 18 in 2001.

[Rusty00]

But hey, I've at least got enough perspective to know it's not as bad as our pick 18 in 2001.

Haha I had to google that one ;)

[iZander]

The only good draft picks we've had in the last few years since Heppell have been Daniher and Zach Merrett.

Prior to that, the only great draft picks we've had since 2003 have been Hurley and Ryder. There's been a few good ones like Myers and Zaharakis and a few serviceable ones but none have ever lived up to their promised potential. Some have been complete write offs.

Probably too early to say whether Laverde and Langford are going to prove to be stars for us, but they're definitely showing more than most others in their opening years

It's time we figured out what we're doing wrong. Are we terrible at drafting or are we terrible at developing players?

Note: I'm only talking about early draft picks. If anything, we've proven we're quite good at getting value from rookie listed players and late draft picks.

you're being a bit harsh, I think our list management has been pretty good post-sheedy. You're forgetting the rookie talent we've scouted too; bags, hibo, bell-end, hocking, crameri.

Don't forget that 2010-2013 was picked apart by GWS & GCS, and -3 top end draft picks from last 2 drafts.

We're not going to get a superstar every year, but we're coming pretty close.

Like I said, I'm only talking about early draft picks.

We might have been able to make the best of a bad situation and come away with some steals from the rookie draft and late in the main draft, but at the end of the day, you can't just piss away half of your most recent top draft picks and question what you're doing wrong. Do we scout wrong? Do we develop wrong? Should we listen to the Herald Sun more or not at all? We need to answer these questions.

... what are you talking about, who are you referring to specifically, we've had more hits in the top 30 than misses. What do you want? and if you're talking about pre-2006, your argument is irrelevant. That's like saying we lacked midfield depth in the 90's. We've got the last 7 drafts right IMO, so the fact you're bringing it up as an issue NOW is stupid.

Take out Daniher who was father son and take out Heppell and Z. Merrett who we drafted with a little insider information and who has been a hit for us?

In the last seven drafts, we've had the abysmal 2011 year and we've had 2009 where Melksham was taken in the top 10. Ashby nor Kavanagh are not looking likely to be in the best 22 for next season and Melksham is not the quality expected of a top 10 pick. Although before 2009 we were better. Not competition-leading, but better.

Ashby was pick 34, that's not a top end draft pick.

Kav, if you take into account the mini-draft and GCS/GWS pre-selections over those years, you're looking more like a no.30 pick. And it's not like we're the exception to the rule that year. You go and look at the next 10 picks after kav, not really filled with gold.

1 19   Essendon  Elliott Kavanagh Essendon 12
1 20   Fremantle  Hayden Crozier Fremantle 34
1 21  Father/Son Sydney  Tom Mitchell Sydney 37
1 22   Carlton  Joshua Bootsma   14
1 23   West Coast  Murray Newman West Coast 6
1 24   Gold Coast  Henry Schade Gold Coast 15
1 25   St Kilda  Sebastian Ross St Kilda 37
1 26   Richmond  Todd Elton Richmond 2
  27  Priority Adelaide  Sam Kerridge Adelaide 27
  28  Priority West Coast  Fraser McInnes West Coast 7
  29  Priority Fremantle  Alex Forster   1

Melksham has been disappointing, but the only genuine miss that I consider in the past 10 years. Still shows glimpses, maybe would do better in another team. But again, we weren't the only ones to miss around that area.

1 8   Port Adelaide  John Butcher Port Adelaide 28
1 9   Port Adelaide  Andrew Moore Port Adelaide 55
1 10   Essendon  Jake Melksham Essendon 114
1 11   Melbourne  Jordan Gysberts   19
1 12   Carlton  Kane Lucas West Coast 42

The main issue with Kavanagh is that we drafted him when we knew he had previously struggled with injury. In fact he didn't even play a full season in the TAC Cup the year we drafted him and there were huge question marks over his fitness going into the draft. We rolled the dice, prayed to god that it was just a lot of hype like Hep's injury last year. He struggled to get match-fit for the first three years of his career and arguably only played in 2015 because the team had gone to hell with injury. Good talent, but shower luck. If we played it safe, we could have had Crozier who's been decent or Murray Newman who might not have gone to town on some bloke had he been living in Victoria. Seb Ross even. Kerridge? All four have had better careers unfortunately. The guy was regarded as a top 5 picks at one stage, and every club above us passed up on him even though he would have been crazy value from any pick lower than 10. So there's an example of us not doing our homework properly.

And you can say that hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but what we did is sort of like putting your savings on the roughie at the TAB. Pretty awesome if you get lucky but there's a very good reason why people don't do it. 

Inside info is great when you've got the ability to dig it up yourself. Waiting around for an extreme stroke of luck, like the kid you're interested in sharing the same family doctor as the club or one of the new kids having an underrated younger brother isn't something you'd rely on to produce consistently great results. I'd like to think we're able to draft like we did in 2008, and possibly 2014 depending on how that turns out. Getting Langford and Laverde in the same draft is tits.

Anyway, so I look back at the last seven years and say we got lucky for three, screwed up two and drafted well for one and possibly two. Not really any superstar, top-touted F/S picks heading our way and I'm not sure how many TAC superstars bruce reid still sees so we can't keep counting on getting lucky. But hey, I've at least got enough perspective to know it's not as bad as our pick 18 in 2001.

You lost me with "like heppel". I think that risk is worth taking if you get someone like heppel 1 time out of 2.