McLean v Lucas is all well and good.

But really I'd like to know who'd win a fight between a meerkat and a llama.

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Congratulations CK95

Well that would all depend on what they're fighting for.

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STURDYISM!!

A whose corner Ratts would be in?

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I understand what you're saying. There is a tendency to think Brock will only get slower and get broken down more and more. Luke Ball is a model for this sort of player I suppose.

But he is only 24?? so theoretically is still quite young, and his first 2 games were pretty darn useful for us. And remember his presence should have a flow-on effect on Judd.

I think let's revisit come R22

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Luke Ball is a model for not letting Grant Thomas run a football department while installed as head coach.

"How's Bally this week?"
"He's not too far away, we need to rest him another week before half a VFL game, then slowly work up his conditioning..."
"@#$%&! that. When he's right you play him 1 VFL game then he's available for selection."
"The physio & medical staff in consultation with the surgical..."
"Will all be @#$%&! fired if you don't comply."

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

Lucas was a great get, well done Wayne Hughes. He's got pace, great disposal and is a smart player and mentally mature. A bit like Campo was. Mclean is slow but he is a great clearance player. Cameron ling is just as slow as Mclean and he has been playing in premierships, big deal, you can have one slow player. IMO Mclean's inside work and Lucas' outside work could combine beautifully this year. I look forward to seeing Lucas feeding off Mclean's hard grunt work. I recon Lucas' ability to get in the right spot on the run and recieve handballs is a strenght of his.

I haven' written McLean off - at his best he can be a very important player. Right now I wonder how much of his best we'll see. 20 good games in 3 years? 120 good ones in 6 years?

And Cameron Ling is exceptional at what he does, maybe the best tagger of the last decade. Much more robust and I would say much stronger in the core than McLean. Moves better too.

If McLean becomes exceptional at what he does he definitely has a role. But he arrived with long-standing injury problems and he may not have shaken them. To get him was a calculated risk. I said the same about Yarran last year and he's looking like paying off. I'm hoping for the best

It's an interesting situation actually. I'm not here to bad mouth McLean, I actually rate the guy highly and always have, but here we have a clear opportunity to judge whether trading an early draft pick for a ready made player was actually worth the cost. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

No matter the retrospectoscope, I was comfortable at the time - and really that's what we should go on, that's when decisions get made, only blueman has the crystal ball - that we made the right decision.

We had a need - and identified a strong bodied inside midfielder as our key need - and targeted accordingly.
We wanted to secure a good pick in the first round of the draft, and obviously felt confident that we could get Lucas with a downgrade of our first round pick by 1, and did that too.

Obviously weighing up the options of 2 good kids in the first round (not the top 5, mind) and a good kid and strong bodied mid who fit our more immediate needs, we chose what I believe to be the right decision.

Although Judd and McLean haven't played together as yet, they will. And perhaps the recruiters and coaching staff reckon that a player like McLean may add to Judd's value in the 2nd half of his contract with the mighty blues.

And perhaps no one really knows. But what I do know is that recruiting staff on draft day are more informed than some keyboard jockeys who just want their october and november work days to go by a bit faster

By getting hold of McLean and Lucas we have hedged out bets for now, and the future.

That said, McLean is 24. Twenty freakin 4.

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Congratulations CK95

Good points made, but you wouldn't say McLean is a "young" 24. Apparently chronic ankle problems and lack of even average agility and nimbleness let alone pace is a concern. More of a concern than say, bad history of shoulders in Walker, who is as quick and agile as ever.

I thought McLean was a mistake because he was too slow and injury prone, nothing has happened to change my opinion. The sport is all about speed now and Essendon* left us in their dust a couple of weeks ago.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

We wasted all our picks we should have got 5 x Talia.
Let's go back in time and try it all again