Laurie is 23 y.o. and was drafted no.22 in the 2020 draft after Bowey at no.21. They were similar types - excellent kicks and described as “the two best decision makers in the (2020) draft”. In 2021 a spot opened up for Bowey at half back and we all know what happened thereafter!

Laurie didn’t have much luck. He missed the first two months of the 2021 AFL season with a broken eye-socket after colliding with Hibberd at training. And then Covid cancelled the 2021 VFL season.

Laurie has since played 12 AFL games, 9 of those as substitute (the death seat for a small forward). He is regularly in the best in the VFL, usually playing as a mid, but there were no spots there at AFL level.

The Club obviously sees some quality in Laurie and has put an unusual amount of time into him for a player with only 12 senior games – 2026 will be his 6^th season - but he has never been tried as a half back, an even more important position in the Steven King era where we want players based on what they “… do with the ball in hand” and players who “… play on instinct”. Laurie

-          Is still a good decision maker and a beautiful kick (based on the track reports I’ve read, but subject to the definitive opinion of Binman)

-          Has high tackle numbers

-          Can run – (he won the pre-season time trial a couple of seasons ago)

I think he is just the sort of player that King might try at half back, at least as a backup option, rather than playing him in positions where there is nothing available for him.

If you’re small and slow you’ve got to have some unbelievable strengths to make it as an AFL footballer.

Not sure I’ve seen much evidence of these whenever I’ve watched Bailey at AFL or VFL level or at training.

Would love to be proved wrong and a fresh start and clean slate under King might help.

48 minutes ago, Dee Terminator said:

a beautiful kick (based on the track reports I’ve read, but subject to the definitive opinion of Binman)

Just saw a few Casey games on a screen, but thought that in pressure games, he butchered the ball; ditto Sestan, Billings etc. I would be delighted to be corrected.

Laurie’s long stay on the list was kind of accident that came from him having an excellent preseason in 2024 and looking good in preseason games = 2 year extension signed on the eve of the season.

By half time of opening round against Sydney he still looked a mile off AFL quality.

He’s slow and has no aerial game, there’s little to suggest half back would suit.

High half forward is the right position for him. But he has to show he can win the ball around stoppages and can be a crafty user.

He wins the ball at Casey, and every now and then he shows the quick hands, clever kicking and smart decision making but it hasn’t translated.

Im not at all convinced. But he's still on the list and as long as he does enough to earn a senior game I do think our new coach just has to give him one last chance. New coach, last chance - hopefully it all finally clicks.

I know that I’m probably in the minority on this but I do belive if given the chance Laurie can become a great high half forward, he has great running capability aswell as good skills and good decision making

however his spot on this list is in a lot of trouble if he can’t break into the side, but I really hope he has a breakout year

Don’t mind the idea. Just not sure what he is like defensively and then what you would do with Salem if Bill slots in there.

Has been pigeon-holed in the high HF/connector role in Goody’s game plan - a tough position (only one player has thrived there).

9 hours ago, Dee Terminator said:

Laurie is 23 y.o. and was drafted no.22 in the 2020 draft after Bowey at no.21. They were similar types - excellent kicks and described as “the two best decision makers in the (2020) draft”. In 2021 a spot opened up for Bowey at half back and we all know what happened thereafter!

Laurie didn’t have much luck. He missed the first two months of the 2021 AFL season with a broken eye-socket after colliding with Hibberd at training. And then Covid cancelled the 2021 VFL season.

Laurie has since played 12 AFL games, 9 of those as substitute (the death seat for a small forward). He is regularly in the best in the VFL, usually playing as a mid, but there were no spots there at AFL level.

The Club obviously sees some quality in Laurie and has put an unusual amount of time into him for a player with only 12 senior games – 2026 will be his 6^th season - but he has never been tried as a half back, an even more important position in the Steven King era where we want players based on what they “… do with the ball in hand” and players who “… play on instinct”. Laurie

-          Is still a good decision maker and a beautiful kick (based on the track reports I’ve read, but subject to the definitive opinion of Binman)

-          Has high tackle numbers

-          Can run – (he won the pre-season time trial a couple of seasons ago)

I think he is just the sort of player that King might try at half back, at least as a backup option, rather than playing him in positions where there is nothing available for him.

Can’t see that.

When he was drafted he was a bit roly poly, but has really trimmed down.

This will be his year to make it or not, similar to probably Jeffo, AJ and Henderson .

unlikely, i would think

too slow both in speed of foot and in decision making

too small to make any aerial impact or in physical size to lock down on a player

his disposal is routinely pretty poor

he seems to be an inside mid who we've tried in multiple roles - small forward, high half forward, wing - but who really can only perform as a starting mid, and at afl level he's behind at least a half a dozen other players on the list for that role

my expectation is that he won't be on an afl list after his contract with us expires

Just a really poor decision to renew Laurie's contract so early in 2024, and clearly one that the senior coach wasn't privy to, given that Goodwin clearly put a line through his name last year.

Sadly he doesn't have any traits that are of genuine AFL quality, and certainly none that overcome his lack of size and speed.

Maybe King is willing to give him a shot, but more likely he prefers others.

Bill reminds me very much of Tom Mitchell .. hopefully with a supportive coach he can mirror the latter’s career

We're at the stage we're we'll try anything. Can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket.

1 hour ago, poita said:

Goodwin clearly put a line through his name last year

Yep. Goodwin marked his card. As others have said, he probably had good reasons to, although when we were flailing and bringing in the same old C-graders, surely it was time to give him a couple of full games.

Interesting to see what he does in the final year of a contract under a coach who hasn't put the "never again" against his name and will, I presume, move to a game style where half forwards can be more involved.

He never looks particularly exciting to me at VFL level, but I do think it's unfair to bring a bloke in as a sub every few weeks and say "based on that 18 minutes, we can't play you in the AFL".

4 hours ago, Redleg said:

Can’t see that.

When he was drafted he was a bit roly poly, but has really trimmed down.

This will be his year to make it or not, similar to probably Jeffo, AJ and Henderson .

Agree Mr. Leg, its now or never for those 4. To be honest I don't see any on the 2027 list.

3 hours ago, layzie said:

We're at the stage we're we'll try anything. Can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket.

The real question is why don't we use the VFL to try fringe players in two or three positions. At the very least you increase your depth.

Tom Fullarton is a case in point. NQR as a forward but was starting to show something down back when put down there for the last half of 2025.

14 minutes ago, old dee said:

Agree Mr. Leg, its now or never for those 4. To be honest I don't see any on the 2027 list.

You could be right - however all 4 being dropped from the list is unlikely imo unless they all have absolute stinkers this year

Personally, never understood the decision to recruit Laurie in the first instance when for me he seemed like a poor man's Charlie Spargo.

Let's see how things go this year but on exposed form I really can't see either of AJ or Henderson lasting beyond 2026.

As for Jefferson he has potential but so did many others that have come before him and failed dismally. He more than any player on our list needs to get a big dose of fire in the belly if he is any chance at all to player AFL football. He would need to show more than a few cameos this season to persevere with particularly if we see a return to form of JVR and if Kentfield or Heath show promise as tall forwards.

3 minutes ago, Sydee said:

As for Jefferson he has potential

His year to break out was 2025 but he went backwards. The injury before the VFL finals didn't help nor did having too many tall forwards in the VFL side

I think most half backs now excel, at the very least, at 1 of these things:

Speed

Highly skilled kick

High footy IQ

I don’t watch VFL so the only thing I’ve seen of Laurie is his AFL games and I don’t see any of these attributes stand out (at AFL standard anyways).

Something's gotta give and if we're not willing to try something new then we should have released him last trade period.
I didn't feel during the Goodwin years that there was much of an appetite to throw players around into different positions when things weren't working for them.
It's possible that he could pull a 'Neville Jetta' and reinvent himself as a reliable defender...

4 hours ago, poita said:

Just a really poor decision to renew Laurie's contract so early in 2024, and clearly one that the senior coach wasn't privy to, given that Goodwin clearly put a line through his name last year.

Sadly he doesn't have any traits that are of genuine AFL quality, and certainly none that overcome his lack of size and speed.

Maybe King is willing to give him a shot, but more likely he prefers others.

In fairness to the club he looked great at training in 2024. The problem was that by half time against Sydney it was clear that was due to our trainings dropping way off! In general I think it’s best to reward your players with contract extensions earlier than later but geez we should’ve waited to see it at afl level.

The sub rule gone and 5 on the bench should see Bill get a decent go this year. Especially if one or both of our draft picks aren’t high half forward/mid types.

Lindsay and Langford on the wing which then moved Langdon to half forward really ruined Bill’s chances of shuffling up the order last year.

6 hours ago, layzie said:

We're at the stage we're we'll try anything. Can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket.

We're at the stage where everybody is starting at square 1. No preconceived biases. Train well show the coaches what you've got and if its any good you play.

Goodwin had his favourites and his selection policy was a shambles so it will be interesting to see how King plays it out.

I'll take him at his word and say that everyone has an even chance. Those that want to grasp the nettle now is your time. What we do know with new coaches is that at end of year 1 there is usually a decent clear out so the message to our players is simple. If you don't want to be gone at the end of the year show something solid.

19 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

We're at the stage where everybody is starting at square 1. No preconceived biases. Train well show the coaches what you've got and if its any good you play.

Goodwin had his favourites and his selection policy was a shambles so it will be interesting to see how King plays it out.

I'll take him at his word and say that everyone has an even chance. Those that want to grasp the nettle now is your time. What we do know with new coaches is that at end of year 1 there is usually a decent clear out so the message to our players is simple. If you don't want to be gone at the end of the year show something solid.

A much, much better way of saying what I was trying to say.

You're right, and Bailey should consider himself fortunate that he has this chance. Let's see what he's got

Never got a chance or any senior continuity under Goodwin -rightly or wrongly.

I thought he was incorrectly dropped after the GWS game in late 2024 when he finally had a full game with 19 touches and some midfield minutes. You can tell he was learning on the job and getting better as the game wore on. And then they instantly dropped him and killed any confidence he could have gotten out of the game.

FWIW King gave him a positive gee up in the training video yesterday and you know what they say about first impressions.

With that being said, what is his point of difference that will make him a successful and regular AFL player? We just delisted Woewodin who had no identifiable point of difference whatsover.

If Laurie had any real AFL traits, we’d have seen them by now, at AFL level or VFL.

1 minute ago, Demon Disciple said:

If Laurie had any real AFL traits, we’d have seen them by now, at AFL level or VFL.

He's fit, has good evasive skills, tackles well and his disposal is generally very good. From what I have seen he hasn't delivered at senior level and has looked a bit fumbly but the pressure of not making mistakes when you re a fringe player is massive. Would like to see him get a half decent chance

He's basically like Bowey but not as good overhead.