not many comments on the roos cats game. i would suggest if people think north will be easy beats for us they think again, and yeah it was just a nab cup game.
North will be ahead of us initially as they still have quite a few mature players in their best 22 to win games. They had 10 guys 24 years old or above in their NAB side compared to just our 4 
. The quality individually within their 10 would exceed our 4 as well. So much for our senior core 
. Then add the fact we played 8 guys under 21 playing compared to North's 3. I'm not knocking North's win but just showing why they will be ahead of us for the next 2 years.
Let's see where both sides are at in say 3 years time when North will have lost a third of their current best 22 to retirement. I hope they overachieve in the next couple of years and end up with poor draft picks for finishing mid-ladder in an era where the new teams will be hogging the first round of the draft.
North Melbourne
31: Harvey (269)
29: Jones (155)
---------------------------------
28: Harding (129), Rawlings (201)
27: Petrie (176), Pratt (98 ), Firrito (127)
26:
25: Hale (117), McIntosh (79)
24: McMahon (41)
23: Thompson (28 ), Campbell (47)
----------------------------------
22: Lower (34), Swallow (62), Anthony (10), Adams (8 )
21: Urquhart (32), Goldstein (16), Hansen (29), Ross (12), Warren (9), Greenwood (11), Gartlett (5)
20: Tarrant (-)
19: Wright (4), Ziebell (10)
Richmond
28: Tuck (110)
27: Newman (154)
26: Moore (65)
25: Polak# (108 )
24:
23: Polo (52), Thomson (30), Morton (50), Tambling (95)
------------------------------
22: Deledio (106), Graham (18 ), White (54), Nahas (19)
21: Hislop (19), Collins (10), Connors (10), Edwards (47), Riewoldt (46), Gourdis# (-)
20: Post (7), Rance (15), Farmer (3), Nason (-)
19: Cotchin (25), Vickery (9), Astbury (-)
18: Martin (-)
nb. Age (current number of AFL games) - Round 1, 2010
thats a little cheeky mt. wheres norths recruits from this yr many think they klilled the 09 draft. sheesh cunnington bastinac who i liked at pick 19. black macmillan kennedy norris. plus rookie picks that included the athletically gifted daw.
nm have a total of 8 players on their list who are 26 or older. so in 3 yrs they will have 8 who may be past their best.that is 29 and over over and well into the back end of their careers or gone.
the rfc have 7 in exactly the same boat.
rich have 29 players 22 or under including rookies guess what nm have the same number.
in 3 yrs time it will be down to who has drafted best and not just with early picks. imo north will have just as many players in the 23 thru 28 bracket as we will, if not more as i believe we have heaps of glass half full types to get rid of still.
Most of North's senior players are still in their best 22. The likes of Polak, Tuck, King, McMahon and Thomson aren't in ours thank god. Losing their senior players will hurt them more.
As for 2009 recruits ours have done alright so far this preseason. At least they're been given games and showing some promise. I agree it will depend on how all these U23 recruits are doing in 3 years time to see who has done best. Beating Geelong in a single preseason game does not maketh a gun list as journos overexcited about North's win last week were doing
.
For the record our side today was:
31: Cousins (253), Simmonds (190)
-----------------------------
27: Newman (154)
26: King (41), Moore (65)
25: Polak# (108 )
24: Roberts# (-)
23: Jackson (69), Thomson (30), Thursfield (53), McGuane (54), Morton (50), Tambling (95)
------------------------------
22: Deledio (106), Nahas (19), Webberley (-)
21: Hislop (19), Connors (10), Edwards (47), Riewoldt (46)
20: Farmer (3)
19: Cotchin (25), Vickery (9)
18: Martin (-), Dea (-), Taylor (-)
