TomC,
Thanks for taking the time out to read and to reply, appreciate the time and effort that you have given to my thoughts.

I think without really going in with the intention of doing so, I have gone against the grain on most clubs. Eg, I have been pretty complimentary on Carlton, Melbourne and Fremantle, yet have been a little hard on teams like Western and Adelaide.

I probably put this down to the premise of these pieces which is “7 Untold Stories” hence a lot of what I have been saying is things that are not really out in the mainstream media. Sometimes the sheep effect means that you hear the same vanilla analysis on every team and as such it all seems the same. For me these pieces are all about trying to give fans a slightly different spin or thought process on what is going on at the club.

Depending on what feedback I get, I might do up a ladder prediction on the edge of the season, but in honesty, I think pre-season ladder predictions really mean nothing in telling the story of a season. I am a big fan of the narrative of an AFL season and hopefully that is what comes across in my writing.

Again appreciate your time to reply.

Hi Sam,

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply, appreciate it!

Agree, it was a pretty significant moment in the season! As I was in Melbourne on a birthday weekend though, I didn’t actually see this game, and as they were my one standout memory, the final game of the year was the first thing I thought of when I thought of the GWS season.

But in terms of starting the season with a bang it was a big one!

Hi Tom,

Thanks for taking the time to reply, just some quick follow ups from me.

6. Probably the most unlikely of the lot I will admit.
9. Crouch the big chance but O’Rourke, Broomhead, Boyd, Cripps, Sheed, Honeychurch, Acres, Templeton and Turner all great prospects over the draft class I believe.
10. Guess it depends on the definition of a marquee move. Steven would be on the cusp of a marquee player and I think that names bigger than that are unlikely. Look at free agency list, pretty uninspiring group.
13. More hope I think then anything else. Footy is crying out for more attacking games and play.

Thanks Mr F,

Always nice to hear some kind words within the world that is The Roar. Really appreciate taking the time to read and to comment positively.

I just like the mix of GWS better. Gold Coast have the better talent I believe. But when I look at the GWS team I see the makeup of a finals bound team. To me Gold Coast still rely on too few and there are still questions about the depth without Ablett if the shoulder injury takes time away from him again this year.

As for Bennell having seen him on Christmas Eve at a well renowned drinking spot around town you could tell it was more than a few drinks that was affecting him. Doing a little bit of research after seeing him that day and speaking to a couple of different sources with knowledge at the Gold Coast there is a real worry and potentially a real problem going on behind the scenes. Apparently AFL media have no interest in trying to get a scoop, because do not think it would be hard to get if the hard questions were asked.

Interesting points you raise Paul, thanks for taking the time out.

Go and have a look at the Saturday afternoon list again, very few blockbusters and big drawing matches amongst them. A great myth that the admin did with making Victoria believe they were that better off with the 2015 fixture. Perth crowds have dropped a little and the vibe you do start to get over here is that people are just dying for the new stadium. Like Footy Park before it, I think Subi does see drop off over the next three years.

Cannot see a better candidate then Malthouse out there. Also in terms of the internal coaching ranks at Carlton he is so highly regarded would be a massive call to remove him now.

Hi AS,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Have done this on other forums for the past three years, 14,13, 12. The most I got in a year was 7. These tend to be gut calls and some do tend to be wayyyyy off by the end of the year.

In retrospect, this one maybe didn’t quite hit the mark.

I think the concept is there but didn’t quite make it land on paper.

Basically I think if you were to go inside the Collingwood list management team they view draft picks more as assets then any other team and the same with their players, they see asset. In American sport you see it, especially in the NBA, where teams simply try to gather key assets and that is what I think Collingwood are trying to achieve. The problem is because AFL is so young in free agency and trading and because so many restrictions apply Collingwood are not able to utilise the assets the way they want.

I think in a free trading world Collingwood would be dominate in being able to grab assets through draft picks and then trade them on to get established talent. Right now what Collingwood want to do and what AFL rules allow are not aligned.

Hope that clarifies a bit, but again apologise for the article, hey they cannot all be winners.

Hi Macca,

No doubt that Gold Coast have height on their list, but I do not think they have the ruckmen they desire at the moment. Nicholls and Smith have shown good signs but have not locked away the ruck position. I think there is a good chance that Wright ends up being the ruckman of the future and the ruck when Gold Coast play finals.

Thanks for the in depth research though, I appreciate it.

Hi Macca,

Again thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

I guess try and take the article as a whole as opposed to isolated comments. This is a piece where I am trying to talk through and walk through as a whole. I am looking at this draft from an overall as opposed to one element and that is how the story is meant to read.

Boekhurst was never touted as a top round pick until about a week before when Carlton were sold on him. Living in WA and watching a lot of WAFL there were at least 5 players that should have gone before Boekhurst on talent alone. He was a riser no matter what way you try to spin it.

DVR wasn’t as sharp a rise but was still a rise. Especially when talented youngsters like Lamb and Maynard were on the board and if they wanted pace then Miller went one pick later. If speed is what they wanted Miller would have been who I personally went for.

Smith a slider as has been said and Foster was a surprise because of the Bulldogs over looking. It is rare that a father-son pick is not nominated for and ends up at another club.

Look, this was a great draft for Carlton as I did say, it was just a strange one on how they got to a successful end result.

Taking some heat on this one.

All I can say is try to see this as a narrative piece that is working a draft story in behind what actually happened and who was picked up.

If prior to the draft you had said Boekhurst taken in the first round, DVR in the late 20s and Smith and Foster in the 60s you would have been laughed out of the building. No-one was picking those players for those positions. The fact that one club was able to pick up sliders and risers in one draft made this curious to me.

As I did say throughout though, this draft does work for Carlton and does indeed address the depth issues that they were facing.

Thanks to all for the feedback.

Hi Tom,
Always appreciate you taking the time to reply and critique.

These draft series have all been about working a narrative through the piece. This Brisbane piece was a narrative of what does a draft look like when you have already had a resounding win in the off-season.

Some of the things that I write I may not agree with, but trying to give a perspective of what a club was trying to achieve with the draft while working a drat day narrative through it.

I did debate weighing in on the forward line issues, but I just felt that what Brisbane did to bolster their defence means they now have a season to see what a small, running forward line can look like.

Really appreciate you taking the time to read and reply. Thanks Tom.

All great points. Of all the clubs I think that St Kilda have been the most open and transparent with what they are doing and where they are going.

For Saints fans that has to be somewhat refreshing given previous experiences.

Again, to reiterate, these pieces are about telling a draft narrative and trying to explain the why.

I do not have to agree with Fremantle’s beliefs, simply highlighting what from an outside perspective it appears. They jury may be out but they are clearly happy with the development of Taberner, Hannath, Apeness, Pearce, Smith and co. that is why they have been able to address further needs like a midfield replenishment. Whether I agree with Freo or not is mute, this piece simply highlights what an outsiders view is of their thoughts.

Jeez, I’ve taken some heat on this one.

You gotta love the roar of the crowd.

Just to reiterate these pieces are looking at explaining the narrative of a team’s draft and looking at why a club did what. As the start of the piece indicates Port were never into this years draft, project players to compliment a win now list.

Not sure why people are thinking that I am negative on Port, simply pointing out:

1. They are all in for a premiership in 2015
2. They are riding a wave of momentum right now
3. They believe they have a premiership squad
4. They are like most other teams in that lady luck wants to be on their side to win that elusive premiership
5. They have a management and coaching group that will be justified with one premiership

Always appreciate the feedback, but pretty surprised that this is the one that has been attacked given that as I say throughout, this was a draft with likely no immediate impact other than Port saying 2015 is our year with who we already have.

Cheers for the feedback,

Slane you have touched on the key point to me. If I am an AFL club and a recruiter, why would I not want a player who has been a part of a successful side, has been coached as if he is an AFL player and has been pushed and delivered 150% for his coach.

Drafting is an inexact science, but to me, these SA boys tick so many of the right boxes that I would be looking at that over the hype of what someone might be. In some ways you know what you get and how to get the most out of them.

As it was last year, if your team gets a South Australian, be excited, you are getting a proven winner.

Hi Sam,

Any thoughts on whether this Brady vs Manning debate could be revisited in 15 years time with Russel Wilson playing the role of Brady and Andrew Luck playing the role of Manning?

Different scenarioes of course, but I can’t help the feeling that Wilson might end up with three or four rings with weaker numbers and Luck will have all timer numbers but only one ring.

As an NFL fan, who cannot love the theatre of another Cowboys 8-8 season. But the reality is that this is too good a football team to only win one more game this year. They actually have a pretty good record at Metlife and I think they get win number 8 this weekend. The Bears are rightly taking their place among the worst teams in football this year and Dallas should win at Solider Field too. It is almost impossible in the modern NFL which is so even to win twice in three weeks against the same opponents so I think a split with Philly is a likely outcome. That leaves 10 wins before you consider 50-50 games at home versus the Colts and away at the Redskins. Is 10-6 enough for playoffs? I say yes.

The NFC has eight contenders fighting for six spots. Philly I think will win the NFC East, Green Bay and Detroit will both end up 11-5 with tiebreakers deciding the NFC North champ, Arizona will hold on for the NFC West and some woeful team will unfortunatley make playoffs by winning the NFC South. So given all that it leaves Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas fighting for the last playoff spot. Seattle still have five division games and San Francisco three division games. Those teams beat up on one another and cannot see either team winning out their division games. Hence I think you are looking at San Francisco finishing 9-7 and Seattle 10-6.

Seattle 10-6 versus Dallas 10-6…

Who would have thunk it, but Dallas going into Seattle and conquering the 12th man is your most important non-divisional NFC match of the season.

Arizona 12-4
Philly 12-4
Detroit 11-5
New Orleans 8-8
Green Bay 11-5
Dallas 10-6

Seattle 10-6
San Francisco 9-7

Hi Sam,

A couple of weeks late in finding this piece I know, but I have to disagree with your call for MVP. Has to be Andrew Luck. It is easy to look at Manning and say that he has never played so well at 38, BUT he has never had the weapons like he has this year. The Thomas’s, Welker, Emmanuel Sanders, Ball (before injury) and a stacked offensive line mean that he gets all the time in the world and can basically throw the ball anywhere on the field and know that there is a player that is going to come down with it. Demariyus, Welker and Sanders were all considered good wide receivers before coming to Manning. It is not like Manning has made them any better other than being in a loaded offense giving them better looks. Put simply if you put any of the other 31 quarterbacks on Denver I would reckon at least 20-25 of them get to the playoffs with that offence and the improved defence

Now look at Andrew Luck. He has helped develop TY Hilton to a top 10 wide receiver, he has developed two quality tight ends in Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener, he has made unheralded rookies Donte Moncrief and Griff Whalan important pieces of the team. Trent Richardson has even been made to look dangerous while Ahmad Bradshaw is having a career year in the passing game. The offensive line in front of him is fairly young and definitely not at the same level as the one at Denver and even the Denver defence is better than the one at Indianapolis. Chuck and his crew have taken Chip Kelly’s offensive ideas to a whole new level and are running the fastest offence that the NFL has ever seen. The offence runs a very different scheme to that when Luck entered the league just three years ago. And finally, ask any NFL fan who they fear most late in a game and the answer is Luck. You never feel like you have the Colts beaten while Luck is there.

So Luck is playing with a weaker team on both sides of the ball. Has made weaker players in the offence better. Has had to lead an offensive revolution. In just his third year has had to shoulder the responsibility of leader. Oh and is leading the league in most offensive categories. Finally do the same scenario again. Put the other 31 Quarterbacks on the Colts and I reckon another 10 would be lucky to make the playoffs and I doubt any could run the scheme to the results the way he has. He is the most important player to his team in the league.

LUCK… MVP.

0% chance.

What is so wrong with Durant staying at OKC for his career and searching for a title there?

Hey Myles,

Take a look into the recent deal he signed with Nike. I think a few of the underlying negotiated terms in that deal means that he will be in OKC for the long haul as he has really committed to the OKC community. The kind of commitment he is unlikely to go back on. I think people hear the way he talks about Washington and think that it the only place he has love for, but a lot of his terminology around OKC shows the same level of love of that being home.

Fun to speculate, but this is a very different situation and scenario to James. The only way that he would leave is if OKC regressed badly over the next two years and TBH when you have Westbrook-Ibaka-Durant you will always contend even in the tough west.

Fun piece, but ultimately he stays in OKC.

As a husband and father of a daughter, domestic violence should not be tolerated or accepted. However in the USA there are 9000, yes you read that right, 9000 domestic violence cases a day. There is a death every day. Why should Ray Rice be treated any differently then those 9000? What he did was deplorable and should be unforgivable, however his treatment in the US media has been equally deplorable given the nation they live in.

One thing I do love about the way the US and by virtue the world has reported domestic violence is that around 30% of domestic violence happens to a male. As a society we are quick to preach that is is unacceptable for a man to hit a woman yet what should make it okay for a woman to hit a man? In the Ray Rice incident Janay Rice nee. Palmer was going to hit Ray. If Ray had not reacted this would have been a domestic violence case of a woman on a man. Would that still be being reported in the same light?

In a 2011 study America and Australia were rated as having medium levels of women’s security. There are only a handful of European countries where women’s security is deemed higher. Look at Asia, Africa and the middle east and women have either low security or no security.

If the US really want to make a stand against women’s violence they shouldn’t focus solely on a minority of NFL players and would start reporting the real global problem that there is towards violence. If this was being used as a tool to highlight a global problem then I would be accepting of this media, instead it is just a witch hunt against a group of men and their character.

If you think that New Orleans and Indy will both make the playoffs I have a small island to sell you.

New Orleans are bumbling on defence and overrated on offence as they lack the explosiveness of past years.

As for Indy, only one team from the AFC South is making the playoffs and they are now two games behind Houston who have a fourth place schedule against Indy who are on a first place sked.

Clearly did not watch the Giants game last weekend as Eli was INCREDIBLE. Save from a first drive pick and a meaningless late pick he made practically every pass. New York have more worries in their receiving core where big names can’t make simple catches. As for Romo, as much as he took the blame for the first up loss he wasn’t the only thing that sucked for Dallas that weekend.

For me there are a lot of other great stories that have not been touched on:

Baltimore’s resilience on a short week to overcome a division rival when all anyone wanted to talk about was Rice.
Buffalo saluting their famous father with a stunning performance on defence and on the ground.
Carolina’s proof that defence does not regress and that they will be a contender based on what fantasy does not measure.
Chicago showing the explosive offensive flair with three straight touchdowns on the pack of help from their D.
Green Bay’s early struggles and continued unhealthy reliance on number 12.
Houston perhaps unearthing a defensive MVP winner with JJ Watt and his shiny new contract.
New England looking like having their most dynamic defence in years to support wily veteran Brady.

Great stories on field. Ignore the off field media hyped garbage and this is as great a season as ever possibly. Bring on week 3!

Fair point. Thanks Peter.

Fremantle did not play with the passion or desire of a team that lost a Grand final 12 months earlier. Thats my point. We have lost the real desire and passion that football heartache should bring.