Gold Coast will need points to match early bidding on Archie Hill !!!

So they will trade Bailey Humphrey to the Dees for MFC 2026 1st round pick & Suns on traded 2026 1st round pick.

win - win outcome !!

Dees then trade out 2027 1st round pick to get back into 2026 draft. Target Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Gus Kennedy.

22 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Gold Coast will need points to match early bidding on Archie Hill !!!

So they will trade Bailey Humphrey to the Dees for MFC 2026 1st round pick & Suns on traded 2026 1st round pick.

win - win outcome !!

Dees then trade out 2027 1st round pick to get back into 2026 draft. Target Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Gus Kennedy.

Need to chuck in 2027 MFC 1st, suns will ask for the 2028 1st round as well, are we prepared for that. Suns 2026 1st rounder will probably be pick 15 after more academy kids are bid on.

@Viscount Cardwell Bailey Humphrey - I think he’s worth 2 x first round picks … not sure I’d pay up for 3 first rounders or even 4 “1st round selections”. Still there’s going to be lots of $$$ and many Vic clubs bartering for him if he decides to return to Vic.

Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

PROFILED: 2026 AFL Academy squad

The footballing calendar moves quickly and in the wake of this year's draft, eyes are already turning to the best of the 2026 crop.

On 28/11/2025 at 11:46, Whispering_Jack said:

Kodah?

In what universe do people make up names these days?

Maybe the name was an afterthought?

On 02/12/2025 at 13:59, spirit of norm smith said:

@Viscount Cardwell Bailey Humphrey - I think he’s worth 2 x first round picks … not sure I’d pay up for 3 first rounders or even 4 “1st round selections”. Still there’s going to be lots of $$$ and many Vic clubs bartering for him if he decides to return to Vic.

Being able to trade so many years in advance is making these top tier trade targets more expensive than ever unfortunately

I’m fairly confident that he’s not related to the club’s Picketts but, on name alone, I’m interested.

Struggling clubs set for major boost in proposed draft shake-up - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1484166

AFL proposing that clubs that end up with a top 5 pick that get pushed back a spot, due to NGA or F/S selections, will receive an extra end of first round pick. With Cody Walker and Cochrane shaping up to be early selections we are likely to see a few extra first round compensation picks handed out.

“Under this move, clubs with top-five selections at the draft which are pushed back at least one position would be awarded an end-of-first-round pick as compensation for losing their primary draft spot”.

If you’re pick 5, and get pushed back to pick 7, then you get an extra compensation pick. So if you are pick 6, and get pushed back to pick 10, then it’s tough luck. AFL rules continue to be made up on the run. How about allocating the points differential and locate that pick equivalent. AI could work that out in nano-seconds.

7 hours ago, Nascent said:

Struggling clubs set for major boost in proposed draft shake-up - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1484166

AFL proposing that clubs that end up with a top 5 pick that get pushed back a spot, due to NGA or F/S selections, will receive an extra end of first round pick. With Cody Walker and Cochrane shaping up to be early selections we are likely to see a few extra first round compensation picks handed out.

Interesting.

We could find ourselves in this position in this year's draft with the whole Cody Walker situation.

Obviously we all want to finish higher as possible but there is also a big chance we could end up with a pick inside the top 5.

2 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

“Under this move, clubs with top-five selections at the draft which are pushed back at least one position would be awarded an end-of-first-round pick as compensation for losing their primary draft spot”.

If you’re pick 5, and get pushed back to pick 7, then you get an extra compensation pick. So if you are pick 6, and get pushed back to pick 10, then it’s tough luck. AFL rules continue to be made up on the run. How about allocating the points differential and locate that pick equivalent. AI could work that out in nano-seconds.

what happens if you're the premier, and you trade into the top 5, and it gets pushed back... do you get a freebie additional pick?

this sounds completely unmanagable and inequitable

in other words... it's going to happen, and the bears / gc17 / gw$ wil inevitably benefit

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Interesting.

We could find ourselves in this position in this year's draft with the whole Cody Walker situation.

Obviously we all want to finish higher as possible but there is also a big chance we could end up with a pick inside the top 5.

If these changes come in, then there may never be a better year to bottom out before Tassie comes in

We could be going into this draft with 3 first rounders( top 5+GC+comp) and have our full hand of future picks to trade.

Ryan Eyers from Werribee is someone we should be watching closely.

199cm key defender who moves very well for his size. Possesses a reasonable intercept game, but I think he could be a really good lockdown key defender at AFL level. He put the clamps on Jamarra in Werribee's win over Gold Coast on the weekend.

Was probably pretty stiff to not be picked up in last year's draft after starting the season well (believe he was leading Werribee's BnF at the midway point of the season), but a serious hamstring injury meant his season was over at round 12.

Given Jed Adams has shown nothing, and TMac and Lever are both closer to the end of their careers than the start, Eyers could be a handy, ready-to-go pick up.

7 minutes ago, Colm said:

If these changes come in, then there may never be a better year to bottom out before Tassie comes in

We could be going into this draft with 3 first rounders( top 5+GC+comp) and have our full hand of future picks to trade.

7 minutes ago, Colm said:

If these changes come in, then there may never be a better year to bottom out before Tassie comes in

We could be going into this draft with 3 first rounders( top 5+GC+comp) and have our full hand of future picks to trade.

Spot on.

I said after last years trade period that I would be happy to have 2026 as a development year just to chalk games into our kids.

I really do think either 2027 or 2028 could then see a huge spike for us in terms of moving up the ladder is things fall into place for us in terms of the kids being able to take that next step.

Guys like Langford, Windsor, Tholstrup, Lindsay, Taylor, Pickett, should all be hitting that 40-60 game mark.

3 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Interesting.

We could find ourselves in this position in this year's draft with the whole Cody Walker situation.

Obviously we all want to finish higher as possible but there is also a big chance we could end up with a pick inside the top 5.

I think it's unlikely we finish bottom 5, which is a concern in the long term.

We lack the top end talent required to catapault us up the ladder and into contention (Langford and Windsor our only real potential A graders under 22), and we don't have enough depth in our "middle class" as we've consistently traded away 2nd and 3rd round picks to get up the draft order. That's an acceptable strategy to take, as long as you're drafting a Clayton Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw or Jackson. Not so smart if you only end up with good average league footballers.

I'm not suggesting we tank, but I'm a bit concerned that we're destined for years of St Kilda and Essendon style mediocrity - not good enough to contend, not bad enough to consistently draft top 5 talent.

3 minutes ago, Davos said:

I think it's unlikely we finish bottom 5, which is a concern in the long term.

We lack the top end talent required to catapault us up the ladder and into contention (Langford and Windsor our only real potential A graders under 22), and we don't have enough depth in our "middle class" as we've consistently traded away 2nd and 3rd round picks to get up the draft order. That's an acceptable strategy to take, as long as you're drafting a Clayton Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw or Jackson. Not so smart if you only end up with good average league footballers.

I'm not suggesting we tank, but I'm a bit concerned that we're destined for years of St Kilda and Essendon style mediocrity - not good enough to contend, not bad enough to consistently draft top 5 talent.

3 minutes ago, Davos said:

I think it's unlikely we finish bottom 5, which is a concern in the long term.

We lack the top end talent required to catapault us up the ladder and into contention (Langford and Windsor our only real potential A graders under 22), and we don't have enough depth in our "middle class" as we've consistently traded away 2nd and 3rd round picks to get up the draft order. That's an acceptable strategy to take, as long as you're drafting a Clayton Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw or Jackson. Not so smart if you only end up with good average league footballers.

I'm not suggesting we tank, but I'm a bit concerned that we're destined for years of St Kilda and Essendon style mediocrity - not good enough to contend, not bad enough to consistently draft top 5 talent.

3 minutes ago, Davos said:

I think it's unlikely we finish bottom 5, which is a concern in the long term.

We lack the top end talent required to catapault us up the ladder and into contention (Langford and Windsor our only real potential A graders under 22), and we don't have enough depth in our "middle class" as we've consistently traded away 2nd and 3rd round picks to get up the draft order. That's an acceptable strategy to take, as long as you're drafting a Clayton Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw or Jackson. Not so smart if you only end up with good average league footballers.

I'm not suggesting we tank, but I'm a bit concerned that we're destined for years of St Kilda and Essendon style mediocrity - not good enough to contend, not bad enough to consistently draft top 5 talent.

That why i mention 2027 or 2028 could see us spike if all things fall into place in terms of those guys hitting the 40-60 game mark as well as having a couple of pre season under their belts.

I read somewhere that key forward and potential top 10 prospect Jack Pickett has done an ACL and will miss the remainder of the year.

On 25/03/2026 at 08:26, spirit of norm smith said:

“Under this move, clubs with top-five selections at the draft which are pushed back at least one position would be awarded an end-of-first-round pick as compensation for losing their primary draft spot”.

If you’re pick 5, and get pushed back to pick 7, then you get an extra compensation pick. So if you are pick 6, and get pushed back to pick 10, then it’s tough luck. AFL rules continue to be made up on the run. How about allocating the points differential and locate that pick equivalent. AI could work that out in nano-seconds.

Yeah maybe, but if you slip back from 5 (1795) to 7 (1543) that's 252 points which would give you pick 40 (238). I wouldn't be too happy with that - no-one is trading 5 for 7 + 40. Maybe the top 5 get an end of first round as planned, and so it doesn't falloff a cliff your scheme comes in from pick 6.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by old55

15 hours ago, Nascent said:

I read somewhere that key forward and potential top 10 prospect Jack Pickett has done an ACL and will miss the remainder of the year.

likewise Tom Sienfert who was Cats NGA until rule changes and also isn't FS eligible as dad didnt hit 100 games