while walking to school this morning i realised how awesome our rookie situation is. We have two great young prospects (Smith and Aisake) in their second year, who will most likely be elevated at seasons end (considering they keep up their current form and constant development).
I reckon if we keep Jackson and Flint on the rookie list for the second year we are absolutely stealing 2 great young players. Keep them as rookies and let them develop, whilst not taking up a senior spot yet, then promote them when they're starting their 3rd year.
Batson is a tough one. I dont know much about him and never hear much about him? Is it likely that he will be promoted at years end?

But either way...i love how this is working out for us...we are giving some awesome young players an education on the rookie list for 2 years and all the mean while no-one knows anything about them!....cant wait for flint to hit the scene. i reckon he will be the next big thing in the AFL.

_________________
R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

Big crunch time for our rookies at the end of the year, so far all look the goods to be retained with the biggest question marks actually on Batson and Jesse D.

Batson is ready in the body but is he in the mind?

Does Jesse D have some sort of physical edge which allows him to have a chance with Blackwell, Bentick and Murphy running around?

Then there's the absolute doozie - super draft coming up, the ones that slip through!

Having said that Batson and Jesse have to be promoted or dumped, which leaves us with at least 5 rookie slots. So we're ok there.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

No need to elevate anyone this year given Aisake, Jesse D and Batson are due to come off the rookie list at years end anyway.

Aisake and Jesse D will survive the chop and be automatically promoted.

_________________
Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

Doesnt Aisake, as an international rookie get a 3rd year on the rookie list?? That's if he isnt elevated due to form etc obviously!

_________________
"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly

Precisely. We can keep Aisake on the rookie list another year.

With him remaining on the rookie list, 5 rookies in one draft is more than enough, though we'll have to see how it pans out after the draft.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

I think Smith might struggle to get a promotion to the Senior List, especially when you consider we already have Bentick and Blackwell and look likely to draft Sam Sheldon.

Aisake, as an International Rookie can be on the Rookie List for 3 years, so we do not have to promote him if he is not ready at seasons end.

Jesse D is ready to go but, if he has something to offer both ways then he falls out of the category of inside mid and becomes a balanced mid. Look at Bentick, it can be done.

Other than that you would feel one of them would be squeezed out at season's end.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Given Jesse D's solid body, would it be worth trying him on a half forward flank and turning him into an Adrian Hickmott type player?

_________________
Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

I don't see either Smith or Batson quite showing enough to make them automatic elevations on to the senior list come season's end. It may come down to not having enough spots on the list.

I would favour taking a punt on a kid that may have more of an upside if this years draft is a deep one.

I think we may try to re-rookie Smith but I don't know about Batson.

_________________
Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

justin davies, simon wiggins, adrian deluca and trent sporn are a few names i would put on the chopping block before JD Smith and Aisake....

_________________
R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

2005 - Draft Murphy, Kennedy, Bower, Edward and trade for Saddington
2006 - Draft Russell, Hartlett, Blackwell and trade for Chambers and Longmuir

So we are likely to need 4 or 5 spots just for draft and trading. If you want JD and Aisake promoted you're going to need to find 3 or 4 more players to get rid of...

Here's a list of people who would be up for the chop at the end of this year at this stage:
Bannister
Bryan
Chambers
Davies
De Luca
Longmuir
Prendagast
Sporn
Teague
Wiggins

Out of that you'd have to say Banno, Davies, Longmuir, Sporn and Wiggins are pretty much dead certs to go at this point so there's five.

I'd rather dump Chambers and have Russell move up a notch as we draft some quick mids/flankers. There's another.

I'd rather keep Batson than Bryan at this stage because Batson is only 19 and probably shows more intensity than Bryan so at the very least there's one accounted for.

That leaves De Luca, Teague and Prenda. You can't fault either of the big men because when they are able to involve themselves in the play. For De Luca it's about footy smarts and overhead marking, whereas Prenda it's about his positioning in the play.

Teague is virtually past it because he needs to work on his kicking, his pace and his ability to play the loose man role that earnt him a B&F. I don't really think he's capable of boosting any of those attributes sufficiently.

So this frees 8 spots up on the list with a spot already available (you forgot about that didn't you ). If we were to promote both expiring rookies this leaves 7 spots on the senior list to be filled.

It's quite conceivable that we could use six picks in a supposedly deep draft. That leaves one pick in this PSD and room for up to 5 rookies. I don't really see why we would want to spend any picks obtained for the draft save for our very last pick in one of those gimme trades, but that's a wait and see approach.

This is of course subject to existing contracts.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

I believe Teague & De Luca have 2 year contracts.

The other possibility is Kouta's retirement, and before anyone jumps on my back, I'm not suggesting whether he should either way, just that it's a possibility.