Smith or Langford, whichever falls;

and Allan.

The last early selection I fixated on we took the player I wanted. I was ecstatic! He'll turn our fortunes around I thought. His name was Jimmy Toumpas

1 hour ago, Bang Na Demon said:

The last early selection I fixated on we took the player I wanted. I was ecstatic! He'll turn our fortunes around I thought. His name was Jimmy Toumpas

Mine was Jesse Hogan. Had him picked out as a 16 year old kid and prayed that we would trade in to the mini draft picks. I was so pumped.

There have been a heap that I get excited about that we didn't draft. Most of them seem to end up drafted to Carlton with little success.

Langford at 5

Lindsey at 9.

Totally depends on who is available though.

Edited November 11, 2024Nov 11 by BAMF

My unqualified and highly suspect opinions:

If Smillie is there at 5 (6) we should jump on him.  Similar size to guys like Cripps and Bont, he's a much better kick than Cripps and has better burst speed.  Was rated #1 all the way until he wasn't, but that ability hasn't gone away. Not outstanding on the 20m sprint, but more than solid.  

If not Smillie then Langford.  I'm really tossing up on these two.  Langford has some insane courage with his marks, both of them are good kicks and good size.  Langford did better with the 2km time trial, Smillie was better on vertical leap. Lacks burst speed, which I value highly, so that counts against him.    

If he somehow slips that far, I'd love to pick up Xavier Lindsay with our pick 9.  Skillful left footer, highly rated leadership and footy smarts.  Missed the combine with injury, not sure how his pace looks from those highlights although there were a few moments where he accelerated to lay a tackle or burst past an opponent that suggest he's got the speed but prefers to save it for when he needs it.  

There's talk of us looking at Murphy Reid for this pick too.  I wouldn't be at all upset to get him.  Great vision and freak factor, I think Lidsay has better penetration on his kick, but both look quite good.  Another one who missed the combine, but he certainly hits the scoreboard and gives us the outside skills that we lack.  Either he or Lindsay would compliment the contested beasts in Smillie/Langford.

I say this every off season - I'm amazed how much knowledge people have about the players in the draft.

And I enjoy reading people's thoughts on who we should take

I dont have any knowledge about the juniors, and not much to offer in terms of which players we should pick.

But in terms of needs I'd go:

Pick 5:

- Tallish hard at it mid with elite foot skills, great tank, reasonable leg speed, can get forward and kick goals (not necessarily a hybrid in the tracc mold, like say kolt) and is ready to play AFL footy in 2025

Comparison players: Zac Bailey, Bont, Jarrod Berry.

Pick 9:

- Outside mid, half back flanker, wing with proven super elite foot skills, speed and x factor. Left footer a bonus.

Comparison players: Warner, Nick Daicos, Judd McVee, Gulden, Kiddy Coleman.

IMHO, we don't need another tall forward - and i don't think we'll use 5 or 9 on one.

We have used draft capital on Roo and Jeffo in recent times. I think JVR is just about the most underated player in the AFL - and he's rated pretty highly.

Kid is a gun and will become a star of the competition. Still two years away from his best, i cant wait to see what he does in 2025.

Given Jeffo hasnt played senior footy yet he's obviously got question marks on him. Much depends on his fitness i think. But he is an old school, pure leading forward and they'll back him in.

Turner is our real tall, and I reckon he'll go up a couple of levels next season, particularly if he is injury free (easy to forget he had a nasty injury last season which really derailed the first half of his season). 

And we have petts as a swingman option and Special K as a wild card key forward.

So, I just don't think key forwards are a priority atm.

Elite ball users who can open up zones and not turn the pill over are the priority.

Edited November 12, 2024Nov 12 by binman

43 minutes ago, binman said:

I say this every off season, I amazed how much knowledge people have about the players in the draft.

And I enjoy reading people's thoughts on who we should take

I dont have any knowledge about the juniors, and not much to offer in terms of which players we should pick.

But in terms of needs I'd go:

Pick 5:

- Tallish hard at it mid with elite foot skills, great tank, reasonable leg speed, can get forward and kick goals (not necessarily a hybrid in the tracc mold, like say kolt) and is ready to play AFL footy in 2025

Comparison players: Zac Bailey, Bont, Jarrod Berry.

Pick 9:

- Outside mid, half back flanker, wing with proven super elite foot skills, speed and x factor. Left footer a bonus.

Comparison players: Warner, Nick Daicos, Judd McVee, Gulden, Kiddy Coleman.

IMHO, we don't need another tall forward - and i don't think we'll use 5 or 9 on one.

We have used draft capital on Roo and Jeffo in recent times. I think JVR is just about the most underated player in the AFL - and he's rated pretty highly.

Kid is a gun and will become a star of the competition. Still two years away from his best, i cant wait to see what he does in 2025.

Given Jeffo hasnt played senior footy yet he's obviously got question marks on him. Much depends on his fitness i think. But he is an old school, pure leading forward and they'll back him in.

Turner is our real tall, and I reckon he'll go up a couple of levels next season, particularly if he is injury free (easy to forget he had a nasty injury last season which really derailed the first half of his season). 

And we have petts as a swingman option and Special K as a wild card key forward.

So, I just don't think key forwards are a priority atm.

Elite ball users who can open up zones and not turn the pill over are the priority.

Elite midfielders only… our midfield depth is lacking 

10 hours ago, Bang Na Demon said:

The last early selection I fixated on we took the player I wanted. I was ecstatic! He'll turn our fortunes around I thought. His name was Jimmy Toumpas

Can all posters STOP mentioning that name!! One of the WORST drafting mistakes EVER

57 minutes ago, binman said:

I say this every off season, I amazed how much knowledge people have about the players in the draft.

And I enjoy reading people's thoughts on who we should take

I dont have any knowledge about the juniors, and not much to offer in terms of which players we should pick.

But in terms of needs I'd go:

Pick 5:

- Tallish hard at it mid with elite foot skills, great tank, reasonable leg speed, can get forward and kick goals (not necessarily a hybrid in the tracc mold, like say kolt) and is ready to play AFL footy in 2025

Comparison players: Zac Bailey, Bont, Jarrod Berry.

Pick 9:

- Outside mid, half back flanker, wing with proven super elite foot skills, speed and x factor. Left footer a bonus.

Comparison players: Warner, Nick Daicos, Judd McVee, Gulden, Kiddy Coleman.

IMHO, we don't need another tall forward - and i don't think we'll use 5 or 9 on one.

We have used draft capital on Roo and Jeffo in recent times. I think JVR is just about the most underated player in the AFL - and he's rated pretty highly.

Kid is a gun and will become a star of the competition. Still two years away from his best, i cant wait to see what he does in 2025.

Given Jeffo hasnt played senior footy yet he's obviously got question marks on him. Much depends on his fitness i think. But he is an old school, pure leading forward and they'll back him in.

Turner is our real tall, and I reckon he'll go up a couple of levels next season, particularly if he is injury free (easy to forget he had a nasty injury last season which really derailed the first half of his season). 

And we have petts as a swingman option and Special K as a wild card key forward.

So, I just don't think key forwards are a priority atm.

Elite ball users who can open up zones and not turn the pill over are the priority.

Um re Jeffo ah no, he's not exclusively lead and mark. If you check his goal highlights package he takes pack marks, crumbs, and has a crafty, element to his goal gets.

2 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Um re Jeffo ah no, he's not exclusively lead and mark. If you check his goal highlights package he takes pack marks, crumbs, and has a crafty, element to his goal gets.

Um, did I say he was 'exclusively lead and mark'? 

Wouldn't be much chop as a key forward if all he could do was take a mark on a lead, particularly in modern footy with the lack of space to lead into. 

By pure I meant, a traditional lead up from the goal square forward in the Dunstall mold.

1 hour ago, binman said:

I say this every off season, I amazed how much knowledge people have about the players in the draft.

And I enjoy reading people's thoughts on who we should take

I dont have any knowledge about the juniors, and not much to offer in terms of which players we should pick.

But in terms of needs I'd go:

Pick 5:

- Tallish hard at it mid with elite foot skills, great tank, reasonable leg speed, can get forward and kick goals (not necessarily a hybrid in the tracc mold, like say kolt) and is ready to play AFL footy in 2025

Comparison players: Zac Bailey, Bont, Jarrod Berry.

Pick 9:

- Outside mid, half back flanker, wing with proven super elite foot skills, speed and x factor. Left footer a bonus.

Comparison players: Warner, Nick Daicos, Judd McVee, Gulden, Kiddy Coleman.

IMHO, we don't need another tall forward - and i don't think we'll use 5 or 9 on one.

We have used draft capital on Roo and Jeffo in recent times. I think JVR is just about the most underated player in the AFL - and he's rated pretty highly.

Kid is a gun and will become a star of the competition. Still two years away from his best, i cant wait to see what he does in 2025.

Given Jeffo hasnt played senior footy yet he's obviously got question marks on him. Much depends on his fitness i think. But he is an old school, pure leading forward and they'll back him in.

Turner is our real tall, and I reckon he'll go up a couple of levels next season, particularly if he is injury free (easy to forget he had a nasty injury last season which really derailed the first half of his season). 

And we have petts as a swingman option and Special K as a wild card key forward.

So, I just don't think key forwards are a priority atm.

Elite ball users who can open up zones and not turn the pill over are the priority.

100% agree with where are needs are Binners. If we are asking Santa for everything we want with two players I’d probably add in contested marking and leadership. 
We have a few who can clunk them but not enough IMO. We still rely on Max for most of our contested marks and he won’t be around for much longer. Having someone on the middle of the park who can take a good grab would hopefully stop us turning it over as much. 

I said in another thread but after JVR and maybe the Kolt I’m not sure we have many natural leaders in our younger group. 
 

Luckily if the draft goes the right way for us I think we can get everything we need over our two picks. In JT we trust 

Mids plz santa :) 

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

Can all posters STOP mentioning that name!! One of the WORST drafting mistakes EVER

Sorry Picket - think Cale Morton comes close to this benchmark too

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

Um re Jeffo ah no, he's not exclusively lead and mark. If you check his goal highlights package he takes pack marks, crumbs, and has a crafty, element to his goal gets.

But to be fair, no one was saying that at the time.  Elite outside ball user to complement the inside grunt of JV from memory.  The 2012 draft was full of hits and misses wasn'nt it.  Whitfield went number 1 and then after that apart from Grundie at late teens not much at all

I’m still hoping we split pick 9 and get another mid and Shanahan 🤞

9 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

I’m still hoping we split pick 9 and get another mid and Shanahan 🤞

It's an interesting one. We were originally after Pick 13, so not sure what our original plan was.

I would still prefer 2 mids, but guess a lot depends on development of Jeffo/Adams/Kentfield and how confident we are we'll get Kalani next year or if we can bring in Derksen. 

17 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

I’m still hoping we split pick 9 and get another mid and Shanahan 🤞

If we could turn 9 into Shanahan + Hynes that would be amazing.

This is Sandringhams coach on Harry Armstrong.

“I have this kid Harry Armstrong who has come on in leaps and bounds this year as a key forward potentially in the top 10. Harry is not going to hit his peak for five or six years.

There is absolutely no way I am waiting around 5-6 years for a guy to hit his peak. Our window is now and we need players that can come in and make a genuine impact (no pressure).

 

25 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This is Sandringhams coach on Harry Armstrong.

“I have this kid Harry Armstrong who has come on in leaps and bounds this year as a key forward potentially in the top 10. Harry is not going to hit his peak for five or six years.

There is absolutely no way I am waiting around 5-6 years for a guy to hit his peak. Our window is now and we need players that can come in and make a genuine impact (no pressure).

 

Every night I wake up in a cold sweat after having nightmares that we take Armstrong 

36 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

This is Sandringhams coach on Harry Armstrong.

“I have this kid Harry Armstrong who has come on in leaps and bounds this year as a key forward potentially in the top 10. Harry is not going to hit his peak for five or six years.

There is absolutely no way I am waiting around 5-6 years for a guy to hit his peak. Our window is now and we need players that can come in and make a genuine impact (no pressure).

 

As opposed to which players who are instantly ready?

Riley Sanders last year was a plug and play midfielder. Made no impact. 

I get the Armstrong skepticism, he’s more raw than you’d like and just drops more marks than he should.

But if JT pulls the trigger I can see why he’s rated. Not many talls move like he does and present as well as he does.

Also, let’s be honest, it’s a rebuild in all but name unless we get a drastic Clarry and Tracc turnarounds and find a few players out of thin air (which is hard when you keep the same list year on year).

Gawn, Viney May aren’t every week guys any more, we don’t have any experienced tall forwards and kids aren’t going to cover the midfield and flanker gaps like for like.

With pick 5 the chances of getting a gun midfielder with an attacking style ready to play round 1 is close to 100%.

Wild stuff.

Pick 9 looks like a choice between talls (Armstrong, Tauru, Shanahan) and even more dynamism in general play (Reid, Allan, Smillie).

I feel like if we go full on for the poised, high-initiative midfielder types again this season we could end up with a whole new look in a very short space of time.

Compare the movement style of Rivers, McVee, Windsor, Thostrup, Langford and Reid to the current midfield core based primarily on the powerful bodies of Oliver, Viney, Petracca and Sparrow.

But for real fun, imagine the surge that can come while we still have those powerful bodies and can back it up with the mobility of that next generation. For a brief moment we could be going into games expected to win clearances and also expected to win the around-the-ground movement.

Edited November 12, 2024Nov 12 by Little Goffy

5 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Also, let’s be honest, it’s a rebuild in all but name unless we get a drastic Clarry and Tracc turnarounds and find a few players out of thin air (which is hard when you keep the same list year on year).

Gawn, Viney May aren’t every week guys any more, we don’t have any experienced tall forwards and kids aren’t going to cover the midfield and flanker gaps like for like.

I can't help but feel this is true. I find the whispers along the lines of "the group feel they're ready to burst back into finals" optimistic. 

37 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

As opposed to which players who are instantly ready?

Riley Sanders last year was a plug and play midfielder. Made no impact. 

I get the Armstrong skepticism, he’s more raw than you’d like and just drops more marks than he should.

But if JT pulls the trigger I can see why he’s rated. Not many talls move like he does and present as well as he does.

Also, let’s be honest, it’s a rebuild in all but name unless we get a drastic Clarry and Tracc turnarounds and find a few players out of thin air (which is hard when you keep the same list year on year).

Gawn, Viney May aren’t every week guys any more, we don’t have any experienced tall forwards and kids aren’t going to cover the midfield and flanker gaps like for like.

As good as Sanders is as a midfielder, he is very vanilla and can’t play any other position, hence why he didn’t get much game time 

Compare that to the top 5 or 6 of this draft - Lalor and Langford could come in and rotate forward/midfield, Smith could come off half back or even play a small forward role, FOS is dynamic enough that he could play anywhere from wing to half forward 

Not hard to see all of those guys playing most games next year 

Having said that I do agree that a couple of draftees - however good - won’t significantly change our fortunes next year as we’re still very reliant on Trac and Clarry playing at an elite level to be contending for the flag

Edited November 12, 2024Nov 12 by demoncat

14 hours ago, Bang Na Demon said:

The last early selection I fixated on we took the player I wanted. I was ecstatic! He'll turn our fortunes around I thought. His name was Jimmy Toumpas

How the hell did you have him in front of Wines? That was such a brainer of a pick. Watching his first interview I knew he wasn't the right pick. There was no hardness or inner burn at all. We also knew everything about Wines. He was a beast and him and Viney would of destroyed teams. Still it's all turned out ok as we've won a Premiership and hopefully aren't to far away from a crack at another.

Edited November 12, 2024Nov 12 by Roost it far

On 11/11/2024 at 12:43, Roost it far said:

Langford looks a beast. You’d be hard to complain if ends up a Demon.

I don’t think I’ll be complaining regardless of who ends up being our pick 5(6) pick up… Smith, Langford, Draper, Tauru; I’d be happy with any of them.

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

Also, let’s be honest, it’s a rebuild in all but name unless we get a drastic Clarry and Tracc turnarounds and find a few players out of thin air (which is hard when you keep the same list year on year).

Gawn, Viney May aren’t every week guys any more, we don’t have any experienced tall forwards and kids aren’t going to cover the midfield and flanker gaps like for like.

I think we are beautifully positioned to win another flag or two over the next 3-5 years via the combo of youth and very talented premiership players. Similar to the Pies and Cats of recent years, get the blend right and it can be unstoppable.