6 minutes ago, Mouseymoo said:

I can cope with Tauru because we really do need a Macdonald replacement. 

Hoisted by my own petard. The fake rumour I put out on bigfooty has come to fruition. Curse these powerful fingers! 

The issue is that McDonald is a 2nd key defender. Taura is a 3rd tall who's very similar to Jake Lever in terms of playing that floating intercept role. He's not a big bodied defender like May and McDonald. 

Lever still has 3-4 years of good footy left which why this decision that we are reaching for a 3rd tall defender even more bizarre. 

1 minute ago, Slartibartfast said:

It won’t offend me Dazz, good idea to keep it from other clubs though, good thinking. 
Happy wit what you’ve heard?

LOL Slarti, that will keep  @dazzledavey36 busy as you've just triggered a barrage of PM's to him to get the goss!! 🙃

1 minute ago, dazzledavey36 said:

The issue is that McDonald is a 2nd key defender. Taura is a 3rd tall who's very similar to Jake Lever in terms of playing that floating intercept role. He's not a big bodied defender like May and McDonald. 

Lever still has 3-4 years of good footy left which why this decision that we are reaching for a 3rd tall defender even more bizarre. 

Any chance we see him as a key forward?

3 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said:

It won’t offend me Dazz, good idea to keep it from other clubs though, good thinking. 
Happy wit what you’ve heard?

I'm just pulling your leg Slarti, I've got doughnuts except for a few Bushie boys fron the area with other clubs.

12 minutes ago, Mouseymoo said:

I can cope with Tauru because we really do need a Macdonald replacement. 

Hoisted by my own petard. The fake rumour I put out on bigfooty has come to fruition. Curse these powerful fingers! 

You thought you were a mischief-maker and it turned out you were a prophet. I hate it when that happens. 

Just now, Ted Lasso said:

Any chance we see him as a key forward?

That's the only way I can see it potentially, but the whole trying to turn defenders into forwards doesn't sit well with me at all. 

If we're desperate for a key forward then grab someone like a Jobe Shanahan who's a natural key forward and proven at VFL level that he can kick goals.

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

That's the only way I can see it potentially, but the whole trying to turn defenders into forwards doesn't sit well with me at all. 

If we're desperate for a key forward then grab someone like a Jobe Shanahan who's a natural key forward and proven at VFL level that he can kick goals.

Shanahan seems to have the most X-Factor, very very good overhead. 

7 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Any chance we see him as a key forward?

Naughton vibes! Elite in the air, super aggressive, can't kick

9 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

The issue is that McDonald is a 2nd key defender. Taura is a 3rd tall who's very similar to Jake Lever in terms of playing that floating intercept role. He's not a big bodied defender like May and McDonald. 

Lever still has 3-4 years of good footy left which why this decision that we are reaching for a 3rd tall defender even more bizarre. 

I'm just trying to cope. He's only 18 who knows what he can be after he fills out a bit. 

I ain't happy about this either, I've gotten used to a Langford/Smith combo think Taurus type is something that can be found later. 

Gonna hope they see him as more than just a Lever replacement that would be a bizarre reach from them seeing as Lever still had half a decade left

Twomey has implicitly ruled us out as one of Armstrong’s potential suitors. There is a god

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

The issue is that McDonald is a 2nd key defender. Taura is a 3rd tall who's very similar to Jake Lever in terms of playing that floating intercept role. He's not a big bodied defender like May and McDonald. 

Lever still has 3-4 years of good footy left which why this decision that we are reaching for a 3rd tall defender even more bizarre. 

193cm Alix Tauru with a 94cm running vertical jump can’t play full back like 193cm Steve May?

Every defender is an interceptor these days. Coaches can get the match ups and roles right.

Im with you on concerns about the ball use - though I’d rather someone willing to make mistakes than not move the ball on - but I’m not worried about the overlap in styles.

5 minutes ago, Roddog said:

Twomey has implicitly ruled us out as one of Armstrong’s potential suitors. There is a god

Thank [censored] some good news from the Tauru reach. 

I know JT knows more than me, but the risk of passing up on one of Langford/Draper/Jagga/FOS for Tauru is just something I can’t wrap my head around if it comes to fruition 

5 minutes ago, Roddog said:

I know JT knows more than me, but the risk of passing up on one of Langford/Draper/Jagga/FOS for Tauru is just something I can’t wrap my head around if it comes to fruition 

My read is that Draper is the one we’d definitely pass on for Tauru, still feels like any of the others would still get the nod.

15 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

193cm Alix Tauru with a 94cm running vertical jump can’t play full back like 193cm Steve May?

Every defender is an interceptor these days. Coaches can get the match ups and roles right.

Im with you on concerns about the ball use - though I’d rather someone willing to make mistakes than not move the ball on - but I’m not worried about the overlap in styles.

He's not a good defender one on one. It's not his strength. Very similar to Lever, he's  floating 3rd tall in which he's biggest strength is being able to take good strong intercept marks.

The comparison to May is bizarre.. May is a bigger frame with incredible strength who can compete against the likes of Curnow, King, Naughton, Daniher. You'd never ever put Taura on these guys even when he fills out a bit because he hasn't got the one on one strength.

 

Edited November 17, 2024Nov 17 by dazzledavey36

If there’s one thing we’ve prioritised when we’ve had early picks it’s been power. Windsor, Tholstrup, Jackson, Koz, Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw ….. trying to trade up for Humphrey and Reid. Every year people are flummoxed that we pick some power player that doesn’t have the heavy statistical output of some others.

JT drafts AFL footballers, not junior footballers. Amateur observers will always overweight statistics when assessing players because they are subconsciously trying to pick the best players in the team, rather than thinking about the massive difference between junior footy and AFL footy and how those players will translate.

Grabbing an awesome power athlete in Tauru, with size and a good mark, is absolutely true to form. Bo Allen is another stark example of selecting a power player who can play AFL, since his athletic profile and size makes him valuable no matter how he develops.

I'm excited about loading up on high quality midfielders... but if we do go for Tauru I'll be confident he's going to be something special.  JT has shown he isn't phased by what the "experts" rate as the next best player (eg Oliver, Jackson etc) and he's able to see things that others don't.

Tauru's rate of improvement this year makes him one of the players with the highest ceiling - he seems like he could potentially play anywhere.

 

29 minutes ago, Mouseymoo said:

I'm just trying to cope. He's only 18 who knows what he can be after he fills out a bit. 

I ain't happy about this either, I've gotten used to a Langford/Smith combo think Taurus type is something that can be found later. 

Gonna hope they see him as more than just a Lever replacement that would be a bizarre reach from them seeing as Lever still had half a decade left

And only 18 as of 2 days ago, so young for this group. Could still grow a few cms.

FWIW when I watched Tauru in NAB League finals I straight away thought he’d elevated himself into that 5-10 range. His aggression & courage in the air combined with his athleticism was high, high level.

Edited November 17, 2024Nov 17 by ChaserJ

30 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

That's the only way I can see it potentially, but the whole trying to turn defenders into forwards doesn't sit well with me at all. 

If we're desperate for a key forward then grab someone like a Jobe Shanahan who's a natural key forward and proven at VFL level that he can kick goals.

That's where i am at as well, potentially if Tauru is a forward and Petty goes back to defense it sort of looks okay, but i just can't wrap my head around passing on Sid Draper. Obviously JT is the expert and i didn't really love the Windsor selection pre draft last year either.

1 hour ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Will Allan get to us @ ND9?

Reckon Freo or Eagles will go all out for Saints ND8!  Freo need his type and WCE need anyone who is reasonably good!!

Both have goodies to offer this year and future picks especially Eagles with 2025 picks of 2*1st and 2*2nd etc.  While it wouldn't affect WCE decisions they took a lot of heat trading out pick 3 and risk missing out on him.

 

Cal did mention that both Richmond at 6 and Saints at 7 are a chance to pick him. 

16 hours ago, Roddog said:

I have a huge concern with Armstrong (outside of his marking), that being his disposal numbers. I’m well aware KPFs are there to kick goals, and not rack up the footy, but averaging less than 10 touches in the CTL and carnival is worrying. When I think of the best KPFs (curnow, Cameron etc.) I think of their ability to link up play higher up the ground, marking high up the wing, and being involved later in the play, forward of the ball. Just checking the stats, Jezza averaged 16.1 touches last season. The best KPFs in the comp don’t thrive off <10 disposal games. To be averaging that at u18s level suggests that Armstrong is a long long way off being AFL ready. 

I think he may have Schache written all over him. We would do well to remember Schache’s U18 qualities, and how he turned out.

6 minutes ago, Colm said:

Cal did mention that both Richmond at 6 and Saints at 7 are a chance to pick him. 

Was this on SEN mate? Keen to have a listen if it was. 

2 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

That's where i am at as well, potentially if Tauru is a forward and Petty goes back to defense it sort of looks okay, but i just can't wrap my head around passing on Sid Draper. Obviously JT is the expert and i didn't really love the Windsor selection pre draft last year either.

Tauru doesn’t need to have a specific role already in mind when we pick him. As Chaser says, he’s so young and developing late with an awesome athletic profile. I think we would just get that talent in the door and see how he develops in a professional setting.

I think he could become a good tall defender as a worst case scenario but he really could be anything with his skill set. Sort of like a turbo Weddle. I could see a version of reality where he becomes Goodes, one where he’s Curnow, one where he’s Caddy, one where he’s Allie, one where he’s Stewart …. and also one where he’s May. 

An athlete like that will always have a role somewhere, and they’re so hard to get.

3 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

Was this on SEN mate? Keen to have a listen if it was. 

Gettable on the AFL website.

I’m going off highlights so obviously only see the good stuff but watching Murphy Reid’s highlights he actually is growing on me a little. Wouldn’t be sad if we picked him at 9