Completely agree.

I'm also thinking that they'll take a forward as opposed to Parish with pick 3 - we need a good A grade player to help Hogan, and we all know how frustrating a B grader in Dawes is. Having 2 A grade players up forward sets us up for years to come.

We have the first live pick, but who is this A grade player? I've watched all the highlights, read every post on here and I'm still none the wiser.

Hows this for a scenerio..

Lets say we pick Oliver at 3 and all of a sudden Essendon go cold on Parish and he slides out to 7. Would you still select him and go the Oliver/Parish combo with the grunt and class or go for a tall still?

in a heartbeart

Taylor denied that on Thursday night.

why so desperate to do it then ?

Hows this for a scenerio..

Lets say we pick Oliver at 3 and all of a sudden Essendon go cold on Parish and he slides out to 7. Would you still select him and go the Oliver/Parish combo with the grunt and class or go for a tall still?

I'm with bb dd

Why would Essendon magically go cold on Parish?

They've been after him for months, just as we have.

Or we take best available rather than just plucking out the injury riddled question mark like Weideman with pick 3.

Always, ALWAYS take best available.

Normally I agree with you Lamashtu but from what I have read about Weideman if it weren't for his injury he would have been a clear top 5 prospect.

We don't know these guys like the recruiters do so Who are we to say who the best available player is at pick 3?

I think we have learnt in recent years just because we pick what we think is the best available at that pick of the draft doesn't mean that player is going to be the 3rd best player out of that draft year in the future.

I could name a few top 5 picks who were the "best available" at that pick of the draft in the past 10 year which never reached the hype of there number.

That's why I don't understand half the comments on here which say that player isn't worth that pick!? How do we know that McKay or Mathieson aren't going to be the best players out of this draft in the future?!

Fyfe was pick 20 in his draft year.

It was only a few years ago everyone was saying Tompus was one of the best available at pick 4 and we all know how that turned out, three years on and I would have Striger and Wines as the top 2 picks and they went at 5 and 7.

So we should pick the best available player we need to fill that position to rebuild our team.

It's all definitely a gamble, but already having injury question marks at 18 makes him a huge risk for pick 3. Pick 7 though? Got no issues with taking him there if the club consider him a better prospect than the remaining mids (and I'm confident he'll still be there if Essendon are still taking Francis and Curnow).

And sure, Stringer was overlooked due to injury concerns and look how that's worked out... but as a club we're still at the stage where we need to take as close to a "sure thing" in the draft as possible. Wines was a sure thing and we passed because we felt Viney already filled that hole in our list. The rest is history on that draft!

I dont get this idea of injuries #3 No..#7 maybe

No #7 No

Pick 30 take a chance

We wont be seeing picks like these for some time. Get sure-chances not gambles !!

The best reason not to panic about picking a key forward if they aren't there.....

Christian Petracca.

He kicked 41 goals in 17 games as a 17 year old in the TAC cup. Yes, long term he shapes as a midfielder, but whilst he builds his fitness he'll play closer to goal and if not next year then in a year or two he could easily kick 30 goals as a forward if his development goes to plan.

All a forward line needs is multiple dangerous options to function. They don't have to be tall, in fact it's better to have a mix. If Hogan, Garlett and Petracca can all kick 30+ (but hopefully 40+) then we have options and then the other taller types don't need to be stars.

We will need a good role playing 2nd tall or 2nd tall/ruck and I won't at all be disappointed if we take Curnow or Weideman, but the need isn't that dire.

Parish and Weideman is a great draft for us if it happens. We can't really afford the risk on pick 3 (Parish is almost definitely a sure thing), but talls are always a risk. Look how many talls at pick 1 never lived up to the hype?

It's for this exact reason Roos encourages the "draft the sure thing, trade in the talls" strategy.

We have the first live pick, but who is this A grade player? I've watched all the highlights, read every post on here and I'm still none the wiser.

I really don't know, but going from the highlights clips it'd be Weideman for me.

Whoever we draft, here's hoping he becomes an A grader for us.

I know nothing, but I was intrigued that Hogan muttered to the press about drafting someone to play alongside him. Maybe he was stepping out of line, but won't it be embarrasing for him when we don't do what he says? So maybe he was following orders. But then we aren't leaking are we? Confused.....

Can't remember if he also said it to a journo, but that was also part of a conversation he had with Roos, Goodwin & Mahoney re:contract extension.

Cal Twomey's phanto is up:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-11-22/callum-twomeys-2015-phantom-draft

Getting 2 of Francis/Parish/Oliver/Weideman is a fantastic draft for us. Gold Coast seem to be after Ah Chee or Milera.

Here's hoping it works out.

parish and weed for me

Can't believe its two days away and we aren't even sure who pick 3 is let alone pick 7! Man I would love to see how te dees rate the top 10. Maybe we didn't have one player ear marked for pick 3 we just judged the talent to drop off around pick 8-9 so we wanted to grab two good young guys..

I know two years ago we seemed to rate the top 10 differently to other clubs. Alluding to the fact that we wouldn't have picked Kelly at 2 and we rated Salem higher etc. such an even group I think it is unlikely we will get a grade A gun but hopefully we get 2 very good long term players

Can't wait!

Taylor denied that on Thursday night.

I find that hard to believe Red (not u Taylor)

"We take the best available" mumbo jumbo from Taylor aside...surely tactics are involved in who we take at 3 to ensure we get who we want at 7.

It's possible the club may well be prioritizing the combined value of 3 and 7 overall rather than putting all their eggs in pick 3's basket.

Maybe they believe by taking Parish at 3 they miss their number 7 target?

Is the combined value of Oliver and player X at 7 better than who they might end up with at 7 if they take Parish?

Who knows. Cant wait for draft night!

Does anyone have info on who the Bombers were most keen on pre trade period?

As far as I know (not the best sources for me, but I do have some) the Bombers have been into Parish, Francis and Curnow for quite a while. Last news I had (a bit out of date atm) was that they were more or less resigned to us taking Parish and were leaning towards Francis and Curnow. I suspect that Twomey is right that if we took Oliver they would snap up the Francis/Parish double, especially given Curnow's trick last week.

Parish was in the U15, U17 and U18 All Australian teams. He's been on our club's radar for too long to be jettisoned in favour of a bolter.

My opinion.

Parish was in the U15, U17 and U18 All Australian teams. He's been on our club's radar for too long to be jettisoned in favour of a bolter.

My opinion.

dunno about that. I think recruiters have to be in the "present" about who they're choosing. Players come on at different stages and ages and Oliver definitely showed stunning form in the last half of the year. I'd be staggered if recruiters didnt take that into consideration because we were set on someone a year out

Oliver's a bolter who could easily be available at 7 if Essendon take Francis & Curnow/Weideman and the Suns take Milera/Ah Chee.

There's a far greater chance of Oliver slipping to 7 than Parish. Essendon will not let him past 5; they'll be struggling to select their 2 from Curnow, Francis, Weideman and Oliver which makes our choice at 7 all the easier.

I've a feeling Dodoro, seeing so many deficiencies across their list, will want a midfielder and a tall. Francis almost seems a lock considering how much he wants to play for the Bombers; so would they really take two midfielders with two premium picks? Highly unlikely IMHO.

SO much intrigue this year isnt there. Cant remember another draft like it.

Oliver's a bolter who could easily be available at 7 if Essendon hold their nerve and still take Francis & Curnow and the Suns take Milera or Ah Chee.

There's a far greater chance of Oliver slipping to 7 than with Parish. Essendon will not let him past 5; they'll be struggling to select their 2 from Curnow, Francis, Weideman and Oliver which makes our choice at 7 all the easier.

agreed. and even if the bombers do take oliver well then wejust get to choose out of francis/curnow/weideman

but to leave parish at 4 then we lose him to the bombers for sure

The Dees currently have plenty of small mids. Who is going to be a suitable replacement forward if Hogans gets injured?,cannot expect Watts or Dawes to step up. Who is going to be a suitable replacement defender if T.Mac gets injured? Who is going to be a back up to ruck man to Gawn.

The club needs a big bodied forward/ruck? and a big bodied defender, i believe the club will go for Weideman and Collins at pick 3 and 7. Watts and Dawes will have become much better players or they will be gone. The latter picks could be used to pick up a tall mid.