Given the evenness of rest the draft pool, I’m thinking more and more that Cockatoo goes before 23.

He makes too much sense for a number of clubs in the 12-20 range, and there’s been some chatter that clubs inside the 10 (lower half) are seriously considering him.

Cockatoo may go just about anywhere in the draft. There are not many NT guys that have gone high in the draft so this might be a consideration. Some of the NT guys like rioli who did go high went to school in other states and some like our own Barry were GWS draft concessions. I don't know enough about his background to do a proper analysis. He did have an advantage in playing in that game before the grand final that hasn't occurred in the past but that was against 17 year olds. He may even end up a rookie.

I spoke to some of my friends at various clubs and Daniel may not even be selected because of his height. He is not just short, he is very short and weighs not much. At AFL level the players are bigger, stronger than they ever have been and he might not be able to put on the necessary weight to even compete.

There are plenty of people on this site alone that don't want any more skinny players. He goes beyond that.

If he gets picked up then good luck to him but I'm not sure he will. He is skillful though.

Does anyone know the rumours floating around as to who the Saints are believed to take at pick 1?

I like most presume it's Petracca followed by McCartin or maybe even Wright but would love to know if anyone has read or seen a comment on Big Footy or a Saints forum from a poster of the GNF or Chook from Perth caliber.

I've contacted my AFL recruiting mate (doesn't work for the Saints or Dees) and I'll get back to you all if he's heard anything floating around.

Well we now have the list spaces for these two anyway.

Hoping for Petracca and Brayshaw. We need midfield talent. It's hard to be enthused because I just think Sylvia/Mclean and Scully/Trengove. We've had two shots at two top 5 mids, and other than the expansion clubs no team has ever had this chance, let alone twice.

Again though, I hope for two quality midfield who we finally develop right and help take us up the ladder. Will be disappointed if we don't get two quality midfielders here. We need to focus on our midfield. For all the improvement we saw this year, with Tyson, Vince and Cross adding to the midfield, it was still statistically the 2nd worst midfield in the league. The midfield is where games of footy are won. You can win a flag an average forward line, but you need a god midfield or you're no hope.

Hoping for Petracca and Brayshaw. We need midfield talent. It's hard to be enthused because I just think Sylvia/Mclean and Scully/Trengove. We've had two shots at two top 5 mids, and other than the expansion clubs no team has ever had this chance, let alone twice.

Again though, I hope for two quality midfield who we finally develop right and help take us up the ladder. Will be disappointed if we don't get two quality midfielders here. We need to focus on our midfield. For all the improvement we saw this year, with Tyson, Vince and Cross adding to the midfield, it was still statistically the 2nd worst midfield in the league. The midfield is where games of footy are won. You can win a flag an average forward line, but you need a god midfield or you're no hope.

Our forward line is the worst in the league by a country mile. Dawes has never kicked more than 30 goals in a season, Hogan hasn't played a game yet, Pederson kicked only 14 goals for the year and Watts only kicked 13. We need both midfielders and key forwards cos we are not even close to having an average forward line.

I don't know how many people listen to road to the draft but I thought it was interesting that Twomey said that Lever was the bolter and was now in the top 5 with Melbourne very keen on him (you could of sworn that he was reading Demonland)with McCartin possibly slipping to 4 if he doesn't go at 1 and Wright slipping to 6, can't remember who Collingwood were after at pick 5 but I think they were after more pace. I think the experts will be saying that GWS are the big winners if they can grab both McCartin and Wright after losing Boyd.

I hope TSFKA is right and we won't need to choose between McCartin and Lever. Lever has to be the riskiest selection of all time, no one has missed 18 months of football and been picked so high.

This is my tip.

I wouldn't be surprised if some like Jayden Laverde sky rockets into top 3 calculations.

I was thinking the same thing. I would not be surprised if we went for two mids, Brayshaw seems certain for pick two. That leaves either Laverde or Ahern, possible Lever if they think he can go through the middle.

Laverde does look like a great prospect though, he certainly has something that would really benefit our team.

I was thinking the same thing. I would not be surprised if we went for two mids, Brayshaw seems certain for pick two. That leaves either Laverde or Ahern, possible Lever if they think he can go through the middle.

Laverde does look like a great prospect though, he certainly has something that would really benefit our team.

I haven't seen him yet. What qualities do you think he brings?

Interesting quick look at drafting jnrmac

What do the majority of those pics have in common? They're all skinny running types when footy went in the opposite direction (contested strong bodies).

The mfc wanted fast free flowing footy and drafted that way. It was a complete failure as it's not where footy went

You are missing the bleeding obvious.

You are right to ask the question - what do the majority of picks have in common ?

I'll ask the question - what do all our picks have in common.

The obvious answer is they all came into our club.

In all things in life - if a structure is rotten to the core - throwing people into is not going to solve the problem - you will just get rotten people.

For too many years we have poor coaching, poor development, corrupt and inept administration, poor culture where close enough is good enough and no realisation of what it takes to succeed - and we wonder why all our draft picks failed ?

Fastforward to this year - although it was a hardly a successful year the building blocks were put in place - we have a new coach, with A grade assistants and a highly competent CEO. Look at the recruits who came in - Vince - tick, Cross - tick , Tyson - tick. Salem and JKH - a pass mark. Improvement from many and the exiting of the NQR's.

I have optimism for the first time because I believe the underlying cause of our malaise has been addressed. Good times won't happen overnight but we are pointing in the right direction. I believe what Roos said - he will leave our club a much better place than we he walked in.

We need mids mids and mids.......Look at what the dogs have been able to do with good mids. Sure they have an issue with goals but that is fixable IMO

Unless we have hard running two way footballers (not athletes) in the middle we are cactus.

We need mids mids and mids.......Look at what the dogs have been able to do with good mids. Sure they have an issue with goals but that is fixable IMO

Unless we have hard running two way footballers (not athletes) in the middle we are cactus.

Finish 14th...sacked their coach and paid ridiculous money for a key forward with no runs on the board.

Mids can kick goals too..

Finish 14th...sacked their coach and paid ridiculous money for a key forward with no runs on the board.

Bazinga !!!!!

I haven't seen him yet. What qualities do you think he brings?

He's tall (around 189cm), has explosive speed and is a good long kick. He has that Gerard Healy like side step that helps him to weave through traffic, and he loves to take the game on and break the lines.

Admittedly I haven's seen a lot of the u/18 games, just a handful, so I'm no expert. On BF the guys who see a lot of games have him rated from top 5 to 10.

I think he is what we need.

Hoping for Petracca and Brayshaw. We need midfield talent. It's hard to be enthused because I just think Sylvia/Mclean and Scully/Trengove. We've had two shots at two top 5 mids, and other than the expansion clubs no team has ever had this chance, let alone twice.

Again though, I hope for two quality midfield who we finally develop right and help take us up the ladder. Will be disappointed if we don't get two quality midfielders here. We need to focus on our midfield. For all the improvement we saw this year, with Tyson, Vince and Cross adding to the midfield, it was still statistically the 2nd worst midfield in the league. The midfield is where games of footy are won. You can win a flag an average forward line, but you need a god midfield or you're no hope.

2004 draft:

pick 1 - deledio

pick 4 - tambling

2005 draft:

pick 2 - dale thomas

pick 5 - scott pendlebury

He's tall (around 189cm), has explosive speed and is a good long kick. He has that Gerard Healy like side step that helps him to weave through traffic, and he loves to take the game on and break the lines.

Admittedly I haven's seen a lot of the u/18 games, just a handful, so I'm no expert. On BF the guys who see a lot of games have him rated from top 5 to 10.

I think he is what we need.

Sounds like he fits the bill jarka. I sense that roos won't give a toss where players are graded by t media . If what you say is so I think he could very well go this way. We def need some pace.

He's tall (around 189cm), has explosive speed and is a good long kick. He has that Gerard Healy like side step that helps him to weave through traffic, and he loves to take the game on and break the lines.

Admittedly I haven's seen a lot of the u/18 games, just a handful, so I'm no expert. On BF the guys who see a lot of games have him rated from top 5 to 10.

I think he is what we need.

Laverde definitely seems exciting, but his position will come down to the interview. Draft profiles complain that he drifts out of games, we don't want a tall Blease on our hands.

Do rate his highlights though.

I hope TSFKA is right and we won't need to choose between McCartin and Lever. Lever has to be the riskiest selection of all time, no one has missed 18 months of football and been picked so high.

The 18 months chestnut...

What leagues can he play from October to March?

Go up to NT to play.

I want us to select the top 2 mids when we are looking back at this draft in 5 years.

I don't care about 'safe bets' - I want two 22 year old midfield stars in 2020.

We need mids mids and mids.......Look at what the dogs have been able to do with good mids. Sure they have an issue with goals but that is fixable IMO

Unless we have hard running two way footballers (not athletes) in the middle we are cactus.

Isn"t Boyd there to fix That. It appears that they have had a good strategy and executed it well

To me there are always good mids in any draft, it is about picking and developing the right ones. Big strong key forwards they are hard to find. Dawes is limited, Hogan at some stage will be offered big bucks from Freo or the Eagles, we have no depth in our tall forwards. We need to grab a mid and one of the tall forwards.

Laverde definitely seems exciting, but his position will come down to the interview. Draft profiles complain that he drifts out of games, we don't want a tall Blease on our hands.

Do rate his highlights though.

I'm not sure about his two way running capabilities

To me there are always good mids in any draft, it is about picking and developing the right ones. Big strong key forwards they are hard to find. Dawes is limited, Hogan at some stage will be offered big bucks from Freo or the Eagles, we have no depth in our tall forwards. We need to grab a mid and one of the tall forwards.

Yeah, we have had no problems finding mids in the draft...

Our top 6 mids: Jones, Vince, Cross, Tyson, Viney, and Matt Jones.

Only Nathan and Matt Jones were not traded in or a F/S.

That does not back up your argument at all.

Yeah, we have had no problems finding mids in the draft...

Our top 6 mids: Jones, Vince, Cross, Tyson, Viney, and Matt Jones.

Only Nathan and Matt Jones were not traded in or a F/S.

That does not back up your argument at all.

Doesn't mean we always pick the good ones and it doesn't diminish the argument. Mids are easier to find than KPP, it's why the Dogs have mortgaged their future on an unproven KPF.

The 18 months chestnut...

What leagues can he play from October to March?

Go up to NT to play.

I want us to select the top 2 mids when we are looking back at this draft in 5 years.

I don't care about 'safe bets' - I want two 22 year old midfield stars in 2020.

Just going on what Twomey said. 18 months\12 months doesn't matter no one has been out for as long as he has and been picked up that high.

Lever has never played in the midfield, he might only be a half back.

I think Laverde has the class Roos has been talking about. It will all depend who the saints take at 1 I guess. If petracca falls through then I think it will be petracca/brayshaw. If not then maybe laverde will be on the radar if he has good two way running capabilities. Also has ability to play forward too which may make Viney and co. look a bit harder at him.