On 05/11/2024 at 08:06, Where Demons Dare said:

Depending how our cards fall, I see us taking one of Smith, Langford or Draper with pick 5. If we pick Langford I don't see the need to go for Smillie with pick 9 as they are like for like players. I also don't see St.kilda taking Smillie either, as they got Phillipou last year who is a 194cm mid, which many on here have predicted St.kilda will select. 

Reid I'm not sold on with pick 9. I get Toumpas vibes from him... skilful player yes, but doesn't like the contest.

Richmond and St.Kilda will probably take one of Armstrong or Tauru with their selection before our next one so that leaves us with Allen, Lindsay, Travaglia, Hotton or Trainor. My gut feel is we go with Trainor, who is an excellent key defender but will be watchful of as he has already had concussions recently. 

Either way we will get 2 fantastic players and will help us contending for years to come. 

No way we'll go with Trainor. Bookmark it. We just had a Gus experience with concussions.

  On 02/11/2024 at 20:11, The Jackson FIX said:

Many here seem to think Kolt was a huge tick last year… he’s still a wait and see for me.  Windsor ENORMOUS tick, yes, but I didn’t see anything from Kolt which suggested he’s a guaranteed star. 

I think when you get a GUN pick who seems to perhaps be even better than you hoped like the Duke it’s always harder to rate another player based on a low key first 10/15games.

What I do think is Melb were very pleased with the Kolt’s season as he improved as the year wore on. As he was 18 years for a long part of the year we should be positive about his start and believe that he will make great strides in 2025.

His room for upside is perhaps greater but let’s judge him separately not vs Caleb who yo be fair looks like an absolute superstar the way he adapted and showed his class and style. Purists that are comparing him to the late great Robbie Flower who is one of our top 10/15 greats are IMO not far wrong. So smooth and fast plus tougher than many opponents realise.

So much so I would like Goody to change Windsor to the centre from the start of the season to get the extra benefit of his direct and straight ahead style that could also net him a handy 15/20 goals for our total even in only his second year. 

Can’t wait for all our youngsters to improve and surprise the experts in our bounce back up the ladder. 

What's this whole attitude we can't draft 2 of the same type of players?
Langford and Smillie for example.
What height gives them is flexibilty to play anywhere on the ground if they don't turn out best in the midfield.
In juniours the best players play midfield and it's not until there last couple of seasons they may be moved forward or back as they join the best of the best of their age.
If there was a Pettracca clone we would draft him etc.
 

If we can somehow get Langford at our first Pick i won't complain who we get at our Second as there is going to be plenty of options. Would gladly take Smillie as well. My preference is 2 Mids. 

  On 10/11/2024 at 12:43, kurtneverdied said:

What's this whole attitude we can't draft 2 of the same type of players?
Langford and Smillie for example.
What height gives them is flexibilty to play anywhere on the ground if they don't turn out best in the midfield.
In juniours the best players play midfield and it's not until there last couple of seasons they may be moved forward or back as they join the best of the best of their age.
If there was a Pettracca clone we would draft him etc.
 

We can, but I don’t think height alone makes a guy able to play anywhere.

I haven’t seen an aerial game from Smillie worthy of saying he’s a marking target /interceptor and I don’t think he runs like a flanker. To me he’s a fairly pure midfielder aside from filling in certain roles in case of emergency. Langford has a marking and more natural outside run game that I think translates better to versatility but the speed will limit that too.

The game has also sped up and spread out and smaller mids ripped us apart some times at stoppages and absolutely in space. We had to put Nibbler on ball to take away Daicos, Merrett etc.

I suspect if we draft Langford and go a second bigger mid it will be Travaglia or Bo Allan who are proven flankers and move like it.

Bouncing between here and Bigfooty I feel like, at least before Cal comes out with his phantom, these are THE outcomes for us at 5;

North pick Tauru and our options are; Langford/Smith or other. 

North take a mid and our options are; Tauru or Smith (Carlton and Adelaide into Draper and Langford) 

Lawlor/FOS/Draper will be gone. 

Edited November 11, 2024Nov 11 by Mouseymoo

  On 11/11/2024 at 01:19, Mouseymoo said:

Bouncing between here and Bigfooty I feel like, at least before Cal comes out with his phantom, these are THE outcomes for us at 5;

North pick Tauru and our options are; Langford/Smith or other. 

North take a mid and our options are; Tauru or Smith (Carlton and Adelaide into Draper and Langford) 

Lawlor/FOS/Draper will be gone. 

What about the middle ground? North take Tauru. Carlton are in to Draper. Crows take Langford.

No one seems to be predicting FOS getting through to us? Is he a lock 2, 3 or 4 despite those teams all getting linked to other players?

  On 05/11/2024 at 12:39, 58er said:

I think when you get a GUN pick who seems to perhaps be even better than you hoped like the Duke it’s always harder to rate another player based on a low key first 10/15games.

What I do think is Melb were very pleased with the Kolt’s season as he improved as the year wore on. As he was 18 years for a long part of the year we should be positive about his start and believe that he will make great strides in 2025.

His room for upside is perhaps greater but let’s judge him separately not vs Caleb who yo be fair looks like an absolute superstar the way he adapted and showed his class and style. Purists that are comparing him to the late great Robbie Flower who is one of our top 10/15 greats are IMO not far wrong. So smooth and fast plus tougher than many opponents realise.

So much so I would like Goody to change Windsor to the centre from the start of the season to get the extra benefit of his direct and straight ahead style that could also net him a handy 15/20 goals for our total even in only his second year. 

Can’t wait for all our youngsters to improve and surprise the experts in our bounce back up the ladder. 

Robbie Flower is number 1, there’s no mixing with 10/15 others. For pure class, skill and a player with no apparent weakness. 

  On 11/11/2024 at 01:25, DeeSpencer said:

What about the middle ground? North take Tauru. Carlton are in to Draper. Crows take Langford.

No one seems to be predicting FOS getting through to us? Is he a lock 2, 3 or 4 despite those teams all getting linked to other players?

General consensus amoungt the amateur draft gurus is FOS goes 1 - 4. Most likely Carlton because he's Walsh's cousin, if that means anything. Think there's a red herring out there that Carlton into Draper to force Adelaide to trade with North so North can take Tauru at 4 instead of "reaching" and get some steak knves - I thin k that scenario is a stretch though 

Would love to know what North's intentions are.

  On 11/11/2024 at 02:16, Nascent said:

Would love to know what North's intentions are.

just don't let them be misunderstood...

  On 11/11/2024 at 02:16, Nascent said:

Would love to know what North's intentions are.

Take another S.A midfield and lose him after 12 months presumably

 

  On 11/11/2024 at 02:38, adonski said:

Take another S.A midfield and lose him after 12 months presumably

Draper and Horne-Francis are very different people with very different backgrounds. I don’t think equating the two is fair.

  On 11/11/2024 at 02:25, whatwhat say what said:

just don't let them be misunderstood...

Oh lord....

  On 11/11/2024 at 01:32, Roost it far said:

Robbie Flower is number 1, there’s no mixing with 10/15 others. For pure class, skill and a player with no apparent weakness. 

You forgot heart, Roost

I wonder if Richmond do 6 & 20/23/24 for North's pick 2.

Feel Richmond would love to pair up Lawlor and one of Smith/FOS and also we know North desperate af to split and 6 is prime to get Tauru and not be seen as reaching..

  On 12/11/2024 at 22:56, Mouseymoo said:

I wonder if Richmond do 6 & 20/23/24 for North's pick 2.

Feel Richmond would love to pair up Lawlor and one of Smith/FOS and also we know North desperate af to split and 6 is prime to get Tauru and not be seen as reaching..

I doubt it. If North take Tauru as many have suggested then Richmond will have access to one of the "top 5" open draft mids at 6.

Speaking of the Draft night, what time will it be on during the 20th of November?

Will it be live on TV? I know in the past it has been on Fox Footy. Will it on the AFL Live App?

Anyway, I am looking forward to watching it on TV or online.

 

  On 15/11/2024 at 23:43, Supreme_Demon said:

Speaking of the Draft night, what time will it be on during the 20th of November?

Will it be live on TV? I know in the past it has been on Fox Footy. Will it on the AFL Live App?

Anyway, I am looking forward to watching it on TV or online.

 

Yep. 7pm start.

Draft is live on Kayo from 7pm - both nights.

It's been really interesting to see how much variance pre-draft prognostications have this year and clearly clubs are busy handing out misinformation to AFL journos because it may assist their chances of getting the player they want.

To me it's pretty clear that there are seven elite midfielders and one exciting tall - who are the so-called cream of the draft - although there are plenty more players who may end up being bargain buys after that.

Of the seven mids - that figure includes Ashcroft (Brissy) and Lombard (Suns), wile Tauru is clearly an excitement machine - albeit a flawed one at this stage with his kicking skills. Of the five available mids all have potential flaws - Langford (pace), O'Sullivan (poor 2024 output), Smith (size and scoring ability), Draper (kicking skills) and Lalor (injury prone).

But I reckon given North is clearly into Tauru (the fact that they are willing to consider a fall to pick 4 with Adelaide tells you that), then we have an interesting decision to make on our pick 5, as there will be two gun mids left and Richmond will want whoever is left at pick 6.

As I said in my original rant, I still think the Tigers are mega keen on Jagga Smith - I suspect they have been playing the game of seeing whether other clubs are deadset keen on him to determine if they can get him at pick 6 or not. And i still believe that if we are keen on him then we should take him at pick 5 - obviously if North didn't go Tauru, then I'd take hime before Smith - as I reckon we need excitement and unpredictability that he provides in the air, more than anything else.

But in the most likely scenario we get a  choice of Langford or Smith and hopefully Armstrong with pick 9. I've watched enough of Armstrong's video and he clearly is an elite kick and his agility rating is high, which means that we will just have to drill him hard on tackling and pressure. 

If we do get a choice of Langford or Smith, then I'd hope our interest in Smith is such that we can illicit Richmond to offer us picks 6 and 23 for 5 (ie Smith) - thereby giving us Langford, Armstrong and another slider - or should the Saints throw a spanner in the works and take Armstrong, give us Langford, Allan or Travaglia and the best tall slider - I still really like what I saw of Jonty Faull.

Langford will not provide us with pace, but he still looks almost a complete player - a great mark, a lovely clever kick and courage. He has a huge tank, so as long as we have pace around him, he will do fine.

As stated earlier, I suspect Carlton has just given out the misinformation of being interested in Draper to reduce O'Sullivan interest and ensure he gets to pick 3. The Crows in return are mooting moving to pick 2 in return and going for O'Sullivan - but I suspect that's just a tite-for-tatt play - they are both comfortable with O'Sulllvan (Carlton) and Draper (Adelaide) I reckon because they are both exciting players based on what they've shown thus far. 

The biggest unforeseen spanner in the works now would be if the Tigers took Jagga at No.1, leaving Lalor to fall. I hope we have done our homework on him as well just in case of this eventuality as he could also fall to 5. He looks a ripper, but once clubs have a fixation on a certain player, it's hard to get them to reconsider their pre-draft night rationale. 

Edited November 16, 2024Nov 16 by Deespicable

  On 16/11/2024 at 04:02, Deespicable said:

Draft is live on Kayo from 7pm - both nights.

It's been really interesting to see how much variance pre-draft prognostications have this year and clearly clubs are busy handing out misinformation to AFL journos because it may assist their chances of getting the player they want.

To me it's pretty clear that there are seven elite midfielders and one exciting tall - who are the so-called cream of the draft - although there are plenty more players who may end up being bargain buys after that.

Of the seven mids - that figure includes Ashcroft (Brissy) and Lombard (Suns), wile Tauru is clearly an excitement machine - albeit a flawed one at this stage with his kicking skills. Of the five available mids all have potential flaws - Langford (pace), O'Sullivan (poor 2024 output), Smith (size and scoring ability), Draper (kicking skills) and Lalor (injury prone).

But I reckon given North is clearly into Tauru (the fact that they are willing to consider a fall to pick 4 with Adelaide tells you that), then we have an interesting decision to make on our pick 5, as there will be two gun mids left and Richmond will want whoever is left at pick 6.

As I said in my original rant, I still think the Tigers are mega keen on Jagga Smith - I suspect they have been playing the game of seeing whether other clubs are deadset keen on him to determine if they can get him at pick 6 or not. And i still believe that if we are keen on him then we should take him at pick 5 - obviously if North didn't go Tauru, then I'd take hime before Smith - as I reckon we need excitement and unpredictability that he provides in the air, more than anything else.

But in the most likely scenario we get a  choice of Langford or Smith and hopefully Armstrong with pick 9. I've watched enough of Armstrong's video and he clearly is an elite kick and his agility rating is high, which means that we will just have to drill him hard on tackling and pressure. 

If we do get a choice of Langford or Smith, then I'd hope our interest in Smith is such that we can illicit Richmond to offer us picks 6 and 23 for 5 (ie Smith) - thereby giving us Langford, Armstrong and another slider - or should the Saints throw a spanner in the works and take Armstrong, give us Langford, Allan or Travaglia and the best tall slider - I still really like what I saw of Jonty Faull.

Langford will not provide us with pace, but he still looks almost a complete player - a great mark, a lovely clever kick and courage. He has a huge tank, so as long as we have pace around him, he will do fine.

As stated earlier, I suspect Carlton has just given out the misinformation of being interested in Draper to reduce O'Sullivan interest and ensure he gets to pick 3. The Crows in return are mooting moving to pick 2 in return and going for O'Sullivan - but I suspect that's just a tite-for-tatt play - they are both comfortable with O'Sulllvan (Carlton) and Draper (Adelaide) I reckon because they are both exciting players based on what they've shown thus far. 

The biggest unforeseen spanner in the works now would be if the Tigers took Jagga at No.1, leaving Lalor to fall. I hope we have done our homework on him as well just in case of this eventuality as he could also fall to 5. He looks a ripper, but once clubs have a fixation on a certain player, it's hard to get them to reconsider their pre-draft night rationale. 

Yep. Depending of the ranking of picks by the Dee's and Tigers we may get an offer by the Tiges for our pick 5.

Also we have pick 9 and the Tiges pick 10 and 11. It's also possible we may get an offer for pick 9 for pick 10 or 11 plus pick 20 or more. Depends on the Tiges rankings and our rankings.

We need quality over quantity so we would have to get a way to good to refuse offer before dropping lower in the draft que.

  On 16/11/2024 at 04:02, Deespicable said:

If we do get a choice of Langford or Smith, then I'd hope our interest in Smith is such that we can illicit Richmond to offer us picks 6 and 23 for 5

Geeze, that would be lovely. 

Draper was spotted with Todd Viney at North training this morning.

  On 16/11/2024 at 06:01, Gator said:

Draper was spotted with Todd Viney at North training this morning.

Need to wait for the DNA tests to come back to confirm it's actually him

  On 16/11/2024 at 06:09, adonski said:

Need to wait for the DNA tests to come back to confirm it's actually him

Might be his twin brother.