Most interesting draft in years this year.

Absolutely. For the likes of Carlton, Essendon and Melbourne it is huge.

Are you kidding?? suddenly melksham has been added to our great midfield, hows things have changed. he got dropped twice this year from the dons terrible midfield. I dont want to bag a Dees player and I want him to succeed, but he has been quite poor to date despite some decent games in 2013. and ANB/Stetch show potential but can we say both will be 200+ game midfielders for us? no. and with JT and other injuries we need a lot more midfield depth! just look at port, hawks, sydney etc.

our midfield needs a lot of quality added to it. even if our young guys develop as we hope

I will declare this ANB reminds so much of a young Mark Lecras it's not funny that kid will kick 300 odd goals he's a gem.

Absolutely. For the likes of Carlton, Essendon and Melbourne it is huge.

And the cats they threw there cards on the table.

"KPP notoriously take years longer to come on than utility/mids.

How I see it is. Unless you are absolutely desperate for a fwd /back of any kind then you dont waste pointy end picks on a so-so player."

Your comments above indicate to me you don't want to take the time to develop a quality young tall.

I'd add that if we do draft a tall we obviously consider said player a "quality" prospect and not some "so-so player".

Does it...??

Nothing of the sort ,Simply acknowledges it takes far longer normally to get any real value out of a tall kpp draftee.

We arent looking for a #1 forward...we're looking for a 'helper' come pinch hit ruck Both suss 1 and suss2 arent this type so have no idea why youd bother.

Teams like Freo are looking for a KEY forward...we arent.

Some very good forwards have been picked quite a deal later in drafts..Westhoff..Walker , Gunston..Reality is far more are spotted, taken later and nurtures than are drafted early a do a whole lot. Invariably when these standouts are there they have far more going for them than suss1 and suss 2

Ill stick with my opinion of what we need...happy for others to make own assessments

We'll see what the club reckons soon enough

And the cats they threw there cards on the table.

? The Cats?

They're happy with Danger and had an excellent trade period. That doesn't deter from the interest in this Draft.

I understand what you are saying but it would also involve you going to the football and watching Jack Viney play for Collingwood or Carlton.

I can see the Academies as a aide to the Northern states, of course it is, and the future may not have them in our equalise game but these local products just have to sold to local markets playing for local teams right now - it is important to the growth of the game.

I would fix the draw and our half pregnant Free Agency before attacking the academies - there haven't been too many dominant Academy players that have come into the system so far have there?

Whos the real No 1 pick this year the kid going to GWS , Heeney was last year I think the tides turning slowly, Swans have been there since 81 they don't need academy players they have farther sons just like us!

? The Cats?

They're happy with Danger and had an excellent trade period. That doesn't deter from the interest in this Draft.

Well Stephen Wells nervous about giving up 2 drafts for what they got this year we did the same with untried players what we did was insane .

Answer me this. Which has more depth right now as we speak. Our forward line or our midfield?

i wasnt saying we dont need forwards I was just addressing that saying we dont need midfielders is ridiculous.

most of the year we had Jones, Vince and Viney as our only strong performing mids and we need a heap more than this. we have high hopes for our good youngsters obviously. Tyson/Vanders in particular might step up next year

fwd line depth, we have Hogan, Dawes, Pedo, Kent, Garlett, Pecracca. maybe include Watts

id say the depth is comparable between mids and fwds for us. average for both. big upgrade from pathetic which our midfield was 2 years ago

pick best available. dont want us to take a risk and end up with a Gumby or Butcher when a quality mid was out there.

im not against a fwd at all, we need one. once we dont overlook a better option

Parish at pick 3 by a country mile.

Champion data has him ranked as the best available player behind Weitering and Schache if they're to go at one and two (exc. academy players).

Both Parish's contested and uncontested possessions are above average.

Some consider his shorter frame a knock, I don't. The shorter builds of Murphy, Mitchell, A. Swallow or even Jack Viney haven't hindered them.

Now lets say "if" Parish didn't develop into that week in week out on-baller, having the likes of Viney, Tyson, Brayshaw and Petracca named in that position ahead of him.

He would make an excellent outsider midfielder who's more than willing to put his head over the ball, nor shrug a contest when encountered (a rare attribute in outside mids) - thus the team wins more contested possessions.

He has silky skills, excellent awareness and poised under pressure. He also leads the U18 stats with the most meters gained.

I think there is very little risk with Parish, rather than selecting someone like Curnow that just "might" develop into a "bigger bodied midfielder" (that flavour of the month word).

Parish is TALENT, and the best available at that (hopefully).

i like your confidence mate. you've convinced me!

most of the year we had Jones, Vince and Viney as our only strong performing mids and we need a heap more than this. we have high hopes for our good youngsters obviously. Tyson/Vanders in particular might step up next year

fwd line depth, we have Hogan, Dawes, Pedo, Kent, Garlett, Pecracca. maybe include Watts

id say the depth is comparable between mids and fwds for us. average for both. big upgrade from pathetic which our midfield was 2 years ago

I think that the difference between the depth in our mids and forwards is that we have a bunch of very promising midfield prospects. Besides Hogan, the same can't be said about our KPPs in the forward line.

Well Stephen Wells nervous about giving up 2 drafts for what they got this year we did the same with untried players what we did was insane .

We essentially traded our first pick next year for a first rounder this year. That means that we've just moved our pick up a year, meaning that this time next year we'll have an extra young-gun with a year's experience, rather than bringing in a teenager. The football department have been very calculated in their trades to ensure we've selected a lot of high-end talent over the past few seasons, and now is the time that we will start to see it pay dividends. Have faith.

We essentially traded our first pick next year for a first rounder this year. That means that we've just moved our pick up a year, meaning that this time next year we'll have an extra young-gun with a year's experience, rather than bringing in a teenager. The football department have been very calculated in their trades to ensure we've selected a lot of high-end talent over the past few seasons, and now is the time that we will start to see it pay dividends. Have faith.

And IF Prestia comes over we haven't really lost that draft pick.

And IF Prestia comes over we haven't really lost that draft pick.

Prestia ain't a free agent. Would cost us a young gun or 2017 first n second rounder

Prestia ain't a free agent. Would cost us a young gun or 2017 first n second rounder

True. He is OOC end of next year isn't he??

True. He is OOC end of next year isn't he??

He is. If he wants to come to us, we'll find a way to get it done.

Pick 3 for mine on Parish

Pick 7: I think 1 of Curnow, Weideman or Francis will be available. Think the Bombers and Suns will take 1 of Millera, Oliver or Mathieson in their picks. SO whoever is left out of that lot and still not totally against Kerian Collins

Refresh my ignorance what's the difference between OOC and free agent.

I will declare this ANB reminds so much of a young Mark Lecras it's not funny that kid will kick 300 odd goals he's a gem.

that would be sweet. but i dont reckon he has the class of Le Cras.

he is tough though. i expect him to be in the midfield before long

Does it...??

Nothing of the sort ,Simply acknowledges it takes far longer normally to get any real value out of a tall kpp draftee.

We arent looking for a #1 forward...we're looking for a 'helper' come pinch hit ruck Both suss 1 and suss2 arent this type so have no idea why youd bother.

...

Some very good forwards have been picked quite a deal later in drafts..Westhoff..Walker , Gunston..Reality is far more are spotted, taken later and nurtures than are drafted early a do a whole lot

You can't have Walker in your list as Adelaide had access through a zone selection.

The reality is that it's very hard to get decent tall forwards later in the draft and we haven't selected one since 2012.

You can't have Walker in your last as Adelaide had access through a zone selection.

The reality is that it's very hard to get decent tall forwards later in the draft and we haven't selected one since 2012.

id say its as much of a muchness. Occasionally standout display themselves and go 1 or 2.

The reality is theres just as much chance of getting a decent forward..maybe not a Buddy Roughy or Hogan bur more than serviceable in the next round as could be the first round.

Weideman is a fools choice if better than decent mids are available.

We essentially traded our first pick next year for a first rounder this year. That means that we've just moved our pick up a year, meaning that this time next year we'll have an extra young-gun with a year's experience, rather than bringing in a teenager. The football department have been very calculated in their trades to ensure we've selected a lot of high-end talent over the past few seasons, and now is the time that we will start to see it pay dividends. Have faith.

i see us grabbing parish at 3 and potentially mckay at 7.. as you say GTG, in moving our pick into this year's draft, we've essentially just got our young gun earlier and as a result, into our system for conditioning, training & playing for casey... imagine mckay coming out and doing anything close to what hogan has done in 2 years time. i'd be pretty happy with that i reckon.

that would be sweet. but i dont reckon he has the class of Le Cras.

he is tough though. i expect him to be in the midfield before long

He's a beautiful kick for goal he's james Hird at pick 70

I really rate him.

Refresh my ignorance what's the difference between OOC and free agent.

Here's a guide to Free Agency.

Players can be OOC (out of contract) without being Free Agents. This means that they need to either be traded, delisted or enter the draft in order to switch clubs.

It seems that OOC players hold almost as much power as free agents do, given that they almost always reach their nominated "club of choice" through trade.

Prestia ain't a free agent. Would cost us a young gun or 2017 first n second rounder

We're locked out of trading a future 1st next year (can't trade future picks in consecutive trade periods). GCS have a gun academy player coming through next year, a combination of picks may be just as valuable as a singular first rounder, so Prestia could still be traded for.

For me, what seems obvious is that there IS a big gap between the mids, but that there is little between the tall forwards, and much more likely that there will be a better KPF left at pick 7 than a high quality mid.

I'd happily take Parish at 3, then wait for whoever is left of Curnow, McKay or (hopefully) Weideman.

I think a few are a little confused on what is a KP size. Ideally you want at least 194cm +, isn't Curnow and Francis around the 192cm?

With reduce interchange you need a 198cm ruck forward to sit in your forward pocket. The forward set is changing back to old school 2 keys and a resting ruckman with the pace at the feet or a high half forward. Take the two Weiderman and McKay, back the mids we have to develop, mids can have early impact in their careers, where as tall take 2-3 years, draft this year for that 2-3 years, so when we should be peaking as a group we have the three legit tall forwards. Then add mids through free agents and upcoming drafts.

Get the talls this year.