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It's easy. Leak that we are definitely taking Tauru if available at 5. The North/Richmond trade is then pointless. Tauru goes at pick 2. We pick a gun mid at 5. Easy.

Agreed it's not a bad list of mids But you needs stars in the midfield to win flags and in a few years we need to have blokes there to replace Trac and Clarry (assuming they are still there). Compare the Lions midfield strength and depth to the above and you'll see we are way behind

He's not a mid sized forward though, he's predominantly a midfielder, and a dominant inside one at that. He'd be a weapon at bounces, not a liability. He's one of the best clearance winners at his level. He was top 10 at the combine for the 2km time trial, so he's fit and has a high cruising speed to make it to lots of contests. He just doesn't have the initial burst that some others do. His fitness, determination and footy IQ make up for it thus far. He projects as an inside midfielder who can rest forward. He's very similar to in style to Bont and Cripps, both are both supposedly slow too. Lack of burst speed didn't stop midfielders like Mitchell, Pendlebury, Selwood, Bontempelli, Hodge, Bartel, Cripps, Fyfe etc from being game changing midfielders. Assuming he develops well, it won't stop Langford either.

It is never black and white but... Our fwd entries have been a concern for years. We have bombed the ball into our fwd 50 for years despite it being a major area of focus. Our kicking accuracy has been poor for a number of years. Our skill level has not improved overall. A large part of our game plan has not changed and has been found it when it counts Our reliance on Max is hurting us. The flip side is we had a garbage year with lots of injuries and close losses. Losses by less than a goal against 4 finalists. Win those and the discussion is probably different. I go back to looking at which players (leaving out first year players) have improved. It's a damningly small list. Rivers, McVee, Turner and maybe JVR Langdon got back to his best as did Tmac and Viney. Below their best is a long list for whatever reason. Petty, Fritsch, May, Lever, Oliver, Pickett, Sparrow.... I get the feeling its a big year for S Goodwin.

See for yourself. Played more forward then mid this day and could have easily kicked a bag had it not been for inaccurate kicking. Took some big contested grabs which shows that he could be as dangerous up forward when needed.

I'd still prefer Jagga Smith, but if he's gone, I'm going Langford.

Speed won’t be an issue as long as he can get to contests and use his strength and smarts to win the ball (not to mention his contested marking in the fwd 50) If he’s available at 5 take him and pick a faster type at 9 to pair with him for the next decade

Langford's first round performance came up on my YouTube algorithm today. He kicked 3 goals and gathered 21 disposals, but took 5 or 6 marks deep inside 50. The guy will be a weapon in time.

Certainly a selfless player who pulls off some pretty miraculous stuff, but not enough mongrel for my mine. Pretty sure the Saints are going to pick him up, anyway.

For those blaming injuries for us missing the finals, take a look at Brisbane Lions: 1) Lose Keidean Coleman to an ACL in opening round. One of the best players in last year's grand final and was a prime candidate to be an all australian small defender. 2) Lose Lincoln McCarthy and Darcy Gardiner on the same night to ACL's. Both were settled into their forward line at the time. The former a clear 30-35 goal kicker a year. 3) Lose their high quality Ruckman for the grand final of all games. No how's that for dealing with adversity. The only time I saw us dealing with adversity this year was the Adelaide oval business trip. We raised the white flag in Perth and Alice Springs when things got a bit tough.

I am completely with Little Goffy on this. So tired of the ridiculous criticising c..p that is dominating this site. Goodie hagiographers: well, he has a flag, multiple top four finishes and a record to match basically anyone's. The real criticism is that he hasn't made enough of it outstanding list - which completely ignores the fact that a few other clubs have had pretty outstanding lists too, and that he has had some pretty terrible luck with critical injuries at critical times. But some people just love to bag anyone and everything - the coach, the board, certain players (think of how much ANB and TMac have copped, among many others!) -yep, if there is a chance to criticise, along come CF, HTD, the almost aptly-named Kent....

I hate the idea of going for a specific type of player in the top 11 picks of a great draft. Best available. I'm sure we can fit them in whatever "type" they are. Every year I have flashbacks to hearing Gysberts name called at 11 (I think). Was sure we were taking Talia. Another thing stuck in my head. SANFL form means nothing. Aka Toumpass and Trengove. Body type means nothing. Tapscott cough... Key forwards. Apart from Hogan (who's taken 19 years to have an impact). I don't want another Cook or Weideman.

I’ll be a very happy Dees fan if we nab either one of them

When you look at the Premiership teams of recent years, the best key forward in each team was recruited from another club: Daniher, Cameron, Ben Brown, Lynch. In the case of Collingwood, Mihocek was a mature age recruit whilst McStay was out injured. And GWS were a contender this year with Hogan also fitting the criteria. Harry Armstrong doesn't strike me as a Jeremy Cameron or Buddy Franklin level talent. Get a mid in who can make an impact next year, and if JVR, Petty, Turner or Jeffo aren't up to it, then target a key forward from another club when the need arises.

He is known to go missing over Easter weekend though

I really believe we can't pass up on best available mid for at least pick 5 in this draft. I hope s mid for pick 9 too. Stuff putting Mcvee, even Rivers in mids. They can play back and we draft quality mids. Another reason is we still believe we are in the window and I doubt Armstrong helps like Windsor did this year. Looking back at previous drafts, it's rare to have depth going to pick 10ish. Top 5 picks have roughly a 7/10 chance to be decent. Picks 6-10 is far less, around the 4/10 mark. This is a massive opportunity to get 2 star players and a gamble on Armstrong is just wrong. JT picked Weideman over McKay and Curnow, plus the other fails and questions over Jefferson who right now has a serious question mark of being a pick 15. Our success with talls has come late in drafts. Petty, Turner, even JVR pick 19. Before JT, Gawn and McDonald.

list clogger is the new spud. Don't like either term.

I'm not in the sack Goody camp, but I get more irritated with this post than any Goody critics, because you totally ignore the facts. We haven't had multiple top 4 finishes. The season doesn't end after the home and away, though Goody probably wished it did post 2021. And our injury record post 2021 has been no worse than most clubs. Our inability to cover injuries has been due to our pathetic recruiting and list management of late. I'm surprised you didn't include "loading" as a factor, because every year the sycophants bring it up. If the review of the Football Department doesn't bring about wholesale changes, and results don't go our way early in 2025, then Goodwin deserves to be in the hot seat.

Presumably I cannot describe how noxious and vain posts like this are without getting some kind of black mark from the admins, but it gets so boring wading through this stuff and the sheer volume of it even in unrelated threads is slowly driving me off the site.

If he gets us to the top 4 again in the next few years then he's an genius. And if we get there again and he has to watch us fumble and choke under opposition pressure during the resultant finals then if I were him I'd walk away anyway. Goodwin is the least of our problems in my opinion. A playing group who are doing the right things to be in tip top shape to compete, and who deliver when put under pressure by the big teams is the starting point. Reality is he's achieved a lot with a lot of forces going against him.

The question will be about how good he’ll be in attack to compensate for his lack of speed when defending. If you’re Bont or Cripps then that’s ok because you would trade their defence for their offence. If you’re Matt Crouch then you may not. You also can’t have many players like that in a team or you get destroyed trying to defend, so you need to consider the mix of players in your midfield, like the Dogs found with Macrae.

Speeds king I guess

When you're Bailey's size you need a point of difference - clever/good user, tough inside, fast, skilful. Think Bowey, Viney, Windsor, and Chandler (?). I don't see any of attributes in Laurie.

windsor doesn't go to ground

Umm………….Weitering?

You don't take key defenders with top 10 picks

I actually now believe you ARE Matt Jefferson

@adonski cannot see us picking Armstrong if Langford is available. It’s an easy choice to make if it’s a call between these two players. I’m 100% in for Langford under your scenario.

Brisbane and Fagan did brilliantly (and I've long loved Fagan since his time with us, increased by his underdog credentials from his time applying for senior position after senior position and getting knocked back). But I'm pretty sure every Melbourne player who ever made the all-Australian shortlist squad of 40 was either injured or just plain had a personal stinker in 2024! Koleman, McCarthy, Gardiner and McInerney is a problematic hole. Petracca, Oliver, and Brayshaw is >20% of the salary cap value of the team. That's an abyss. Having said all that, I actually agree we still have a problem with mental brittleness within games and over the season. A problem we've had for... as long as I can recall, actually.

The docos the club produced of Kozzie going home, last year to South Australia with Trac, this year to Western Australia with Clarry and McAdam, showed it, I think. He has so much love and respect for his players, which was so evident to see, and it's reciprocated. They're special moments, and they're relationship building. You can't fake that, and they take effort and patience to build that kind of relationship. You either have it or you don't - he does. In abundance.

I think a bit factor that is being left out is Goody's rapport with the players, which I think is there. If you compare that with say the like of Luke Beveridge, there are whimpers that that's a big factor as to why players are leaving the Bulldogs, is that the abrasiveness of Beveridge is wearing a bit thin. I don't see that the rapport with the players is a problem at Melbourne, They seem to respect and value him. That's a massive plus. We're not having a massive exodus of players, in fact we're having players extend their contracts mid way, including the likes of the kids in Windsor and Tholstrup, which I think is telling.

Bye!

I am not in the sack Goody camp Ollie. However, I am very interested to hear the "key findings" from the two reviews by early November.

Weid currently on SEN. Sounded pretty bummed about not being offered a new contract from Essendon and stated there had been little interest from other clubs. He then advised though that his priorities have changed and the hunger to play AFL is currently no longer as strong as it is. Best of luck in your future endeavours, Sam!

I challenge anyone to play with a broken hand for the majority of a season and maintain top form.

Yes v Stingrsys at the very end of the first quarter he copped a heavy knock in a contest and left the game with a sore knee. Was playing in deep defence as the Stingrays ran riot early. Up to that stage, he’d been quiet with a few turnovers and missed tackles. Disappointing day all around. His game v Murray was probably the most underwhelming. Low possessions. Played defence (long sleeves first half, short sleeves second half to recall) and drifted forward occasionally. Honestly I was looking forward time seeing him but he seemed out of sorts. With little involvement, impact or effort. Maybe it was the swirling breeze but he was nowhere near the contests. The one handed missed tackles were a worry. I can however see the raw ability. Good pace over short distance and reasonable skills. But if you asked me (as an AFL academy player) will he be drafted, I’d say No. Dees are likely to give him the cat B rookie chance to give him a go. There is potential and the cat B listing at the Dees can help him further develop. But imv it’s no certainty.

You are doing it again. Unless you are prepared to look at the injury lists of every club, you can't use it as an excuse. And including Oliver is ridiculous, because playing with injury is part of football. If he wasn't performing then don't play him.

Injuries: in 2023, at the end of the season, our forward line was completely destroyed by injury. In 2024, we had our three best players, all multiple AA players, either out or totally affected because of injury. Injuries kill teams. If you can't see that, you're not looking.

I congratulate you on learning how to use thesaurus.com to bypass the auto-censor.

The Rookie (A) list should be dropped and just have a list of 42 blokes Pay them properly, they are part of the squad and some play AFL games

Yes he is. Sharp is no guarantee to even make it. As it stands he comes in as depth. Lindsay is a high end talent who's got the skillset we're badly lacking and similar to Josh Kelly, can play both inside and out.

Questionable game plan, haven’t been able to improve the list with poor trades since 21 & fix our fwd issues, the bungled trade of Grundy & the words he used of how much they valued him only to stop playing him, whose to blame the list mgt team , how much say does he have in the trades? The improvement will need to come from the same list and the younger talent as I can’t see a back up ruck who will keep Fullerton company doing much .. great trade period again

There are a few on here who I'm convinced would rather be proved right than see us succeed 'Pennant', so I put the question out to one of Goody's major detractors. Anyway, I think the question will be moot as I expect us to bounce back in 2025.

Why bother your dealing with someone unreasonable who talks of the last 3 years being a total failure because we didn’t win a flag or final- forget the fact there were certain circumstances and we put ourselves in the top 4 after home and away season Wanting Goody to debut Jefferson, even though he’s not ready Spargo being no good because he’s small- forget the fact he’s our best link player in transition and probably the best decision maker with ball in hand Doesn’t understand despite being underdone, when he plays Petty takes one of if not the best opposition defender away from a younger forward And time is quickly running out FFS, another who is incapable of seeing the change in the group happening before his eyes

Lucky for Essendon I'm hearing there are a lot of great options available at pick 18 of the 2025 draft