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https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/38941517/afl-draft-2023-top-10-draftees-had-say-night-harley-reid-jed-walter-colby-mckercher?platform=amp PICK 7 - CALEB WINDSOR (Melbourne) "It's bloody awesome. I can't believe it. I did not expect to be a top 10 pick. I'm so grateful for the opportunity they've given me. Probably the best feeling ever when all my best mates jumped on me when I got my name called out. Half of my family goes for [the Demons] so I know a bit about them! Obviously want to play my first game, stay in the team and win a premiership. I play on the wing and I pride myself on my pace and my defensive pressure."

Ffs it’s been widely reported he wanted to be with family and there was logistical issues with family members travelling over from regional WA. We’re in the beginning of our harvest in WA which also would have played a part, but let’s let MFCSS override several legitimate reasons

Twelve months ago we were saying the same about Judd McVee.

So in summary we drafted clones Robbie Flower and Allen Jacovich? that’ll do

Wilson and perhaps Duursma were the only other players you'd class as outside runners. There's certainly a good smattering of pacey players but a fair few of them are half backs or small forwards. In a comp where every team is desperately chasing speed and skill I can absolutely see why we went hard for the best one we could get.

So...do we slide AMW up to a more prestigious number and go with the Kolt 45?

Is it just me or is there a hint of the great man himself R Flower. Obviously, a big call but the way he handballs and moves reminds me of a young Robbie. We can only dream.

Sunglass Hut

We don't really have a medium forward that can play midfield besides Trac, I reckon it makes sense

I still remember the melts on here when we took Clarry at pick 4. "WHY DIDN'T WE PICK PARISH? WHAT A STUFF UP. WHO IS OLIVER?"

Tholstrup isn't a small forward. He's 188cms and plays high half forward. In time he'll become part of the midfield rotation. Consider him a forward half player. He's shown great ability to be a link up player in a similar mould to ANB. The hope would be he's got attributes to become more explosive and impactful.

I'm listening to SEN WA this morning and hearing the interview with Koltyn Tholstrup. Koltyn is overwhelmed and very grateful to come to the Melbourne Football club. I have no doubt he will play senior Football next year 2024 and will have an immediate impact.

Billings cost nothing, has great experience and good skills. You need a squad of players to win a flag. And multiple 18yo's won't cut it

Oliver wasn't expected to be a high pick either. GWS must have rated Curtin so high that they literally traded out to get away from him. Windsor was best player available, If we went needs we would've gone a key forward or key back. GWS would've taken Windsor after us. He was highly rated.

Welcome aboard Caleb, here’s to a long and fruitful career

also have hopes for Woey mark2 and Howes, the forgotten man.

I hope he really pushes our wings next year. I felt Hunter in particular was too comfortable in his role and lacked intensity in many games last year. Its interesting not since maybe 2017 have we drafted proper inside mids. The last few years we have looked to improve our outside players with a bit more class. Rivers (2019). Bowey (2020), McVee (2021) Windsor (2023). As its been stated often here, our midfielders lack consistency with their affective disposal by foot so adding these types and building them into the best 22 can only help.

you can just tell he's going to be our Tom Papley or Jack Ginnivan, opposition teams will absolutely hate him haha

He'd have a lot more if he'd been drafted by Collingwood.

@poita here are our picks for the last 8 year, those are the years you say we haven't picked a genuine mid in the top 20, and I agree, we haven't. I've also gone through and looked at which mids were available at our picks who you could suggest would have been better pics than who we took. I may have missed some but apart from last year, and it's far too early to tell if we missed someone good, I can't see anything to criticize unless you want to argue Serong over Jackson. Did you do your research before you made your comment? If so, who would you rather us take? 2016 Hannan, Johnson D (no top 20 picks) 2017 Spargo, Fritsch, Petty (no top 20 picks) 2018 Sparrow, Jordon (no top 20 picks) 2019 Jackson, Picket, Rivers (2 top 20 picks) 2020 Bowey, Laurie, Rosman (no top 20 picks) 2021 JvR, Howes, Woey (1 top 20 picks) 2022 Jefferson, Adams (one top 20 pick) 2023 Windsor, Tholstrup (2 top 20 picks) MIdfield options. 2019 Serong ahead of Jackson? 2020: None 2021: Soligo ahead of JvR? 2022: Ed Allan, Breydon George, Olli Hotton ahead of Jefferson? 2023: of those available who you you have taken ahead of the two we took @poita

I hope Sestan can take the next step. He's not small, 188cm, can take a good mark, is hard at the contest, and certainly knows where the goals are. I hope he can put in a good uninterrupted preseason.

Welcome Koltyn. Can’t wait see how you career develops at the Dees. Just compared his profile to Humphreys from last year. Although not exactly a like for like there’s a lot of similarities. Both mid/forward types tough and hard at it, have scoreboard impact, power, kicking penetration and good marking ability. JT clearly had a type in mind. Unlike others I think Koltyn is a a very good chance to make an impact next year. Already has lots of experience playing against seniors and is already in great physical shape. Doesn’t seems like much will bother him. Had an injury interrupted season last year, good preseason and I don’t see why he can’t push for a spot early next year.

If I was a winger or half forward at the Dees I would be very nervous about my spot in the 23. Caleb Windsor and Kolt Tholstrup look by highlights and footy info a whole new standard of ( other than Kossie and Lingers ) for our team. Caleb an all day runner and ball carrier plus goal finisher who will light up the other wing at the G and Kolt a totally X factor half forward/ mid in time with a license to excite annoy and embarrass the opposition. Like the idea of Kolt crashing the blokes that Rooy has missed. Bit more weight on both and they will be cherry ripe for the fight. No more boring connections or forward thrusts! Two more gems in the Jason Taylor tradition!

Welcome aboard Koltyn, looking forward to watching you in the red and blue

I can see McVee, Rivers and Windsor combining well for fast ball movement into the forward line.

Is his real name Saxe-Coburg?

As always, very excited by new recruits coming to the club. Hope is one of the secrets to a happy life. I'm not sure how likely it is that these new kids will be playing next year, I dare say they are more likely in the coming years when Langers & Hunter may not be on the wings anymore, or Tracc is spending more time up forward than in the middle. After years of MFCSS, the one thing I have been cured of is distrust in the recruiters. They have done a fantastic job the last 5+ years and the club seems to have the right culture for success. I'm sure these kids can get the most out of themselves in the MFC environment and with the right approach.

We have seen how important the wing position is in modern footy, particularly on the MCG. He looks to be a very skilful and speedy wingman with a big leap.

I'd suggest we identified wing and half forward as an area we really need to improve. Maybe it's about *gasp* forward connection. We don't know what will be available at the draft so we traded for Shane McAdam who can play as a medium forward, take marks and kick goals. He's 28 and hopefully will have an immediate impact. But he has a ceiling that we know. We also pick up Billings cheap. It's a dice roles. If his body holds up we know what he offers at his best. At the draft we pick up two kids who we hope can have impact in the short term, but realistically have 3-5 years before they hit their straps, like all kids. Tholstrop is a high half forward, with great endurance and agility, like ANB, but also super strong in the contest, a better kick. His ceiling is a player that is a bit of an ANB/Petracca hybrid. And we add Windsor, a winger with burst pace and great skills. Plus the ability to kick at pace. He'll start in the rotations, HFF, HBF, wing. I expect they see him as an upgrade on Jordan with potential to take Hunters spot on the wing.

Michael Gleeson in 'The Age' and Jason Taylor have a different view. Melbourne again traded into the draft and had picks at seven and 13. List manager Jason Taylor said it was serendipitous that the players they regarded as the best available talents at that pick also happened to fit needs they had on their list. Koltyn Tholstrup is 186cm tall, a powerful forward who can run, while Caleb Windsor is an elite ball-user and very quick. If you asked what type of players Melbourne needed right now they would be close to being it.

No such thing as a reach, just means media has gotten their previous draft expectations wrong

Is there anyone that shifter doesn't rate highly??

Welcome to Demonland, Kynan Brown 🤑 🤩 😮‍💨 and yes, I’m 💯 manifesting, have been all night 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

They’ve both been given enough start up concessions for 30 years and Brisbane and Sydney both do very well with trades. As media scrutiny intensifies playing and living in QLD or NSW will only be seen as more of an opportunity for many players. That said, I’m fine with academies but it has to be only 1 first rounder per year, and they have to be made to pay the full price. Ie. For Walter they should’ve been made to start any bid matching with a pick inside the top 8 (within 5 from a bid). You can’t have a draft with 30 first round picks. It’s a mockery and really hurts and sides like the Eagles. Nor should you have a club getting 3 (or technically 4) first rounders and paying for them with bogus pick after bogus pick after trading back 100 times and pocketing extra value each time.

I love this selection. Did we go “needs first” over “best available”? The hell would any of us really know…? Currently, we are screaming out for a bit of pace and precision on the outside. I personally thought Hunter was bit of a downer and Langdon was nowhere near his best. Also, to those bemoaning the non-selection of Curtin… Lever. May. I think we prefer to recruit our key defenders once they’re already hardened and seasoned and I am totally fine with that. Best of luck Caleb.

This is critical. Says two things - one he is a natural athlete. And two he must be a hard worker. I suspect nibbla's 2km draft trial was similarly impressive and i'm guessing the role they have in mind for Koltyn is, like Nibla, the high half forward role. As i have banged on about that role has become critical in footy and was a clear need we had to fill (ie another elite high half forward to compliment Nibbla). Appears to have good foot skills too, which is important Nibbla has really improved his field kicking and was our best kick inside 50 last season (as defined by kick to score ratio - our three worst were Tracc, Oliver and Gawn). Having a player on both flanks who can hit a target inside 50 will be a big positive. Good get.

For all the fashionistas out there, yes this yellow logo is visually offensive, but you know what isn't visually offensive? Having a positive bank balance!

https://www.afl.com.au/video/968936/national-boys-u18-championships-match-replay-vic-metro-v-wa?videoId=968936&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1688862900001 May have been posted already somewhere, but this replay of the Vic Metro vs WA has all 3 (hopefully) young Melbourne recruits. Eg, Windsor, Tholstrup and Brown. Worth a watch.

TMac became a great kick for goal when he started guiding the ball onto his boot. Its a very low drop with a smaller margin for error.

It makes so much sense to get a half forward with grunt and connect. We don't have one of those with BOTH attributes. Also, Langdon has been nothing like his pre-rib injury form, which might be the kick in the pants he needs. Anyone can run all day but you need to be damaging as well.

We have gone totally for needs. We have some talls and Jefferson to add in time. Windsor brings us a total outside running machine on the Lingers style up and back but is more highly skilled and will kick more goals. Kolt is an X factor half forward and potential mid who will excite fans and annoy and embarrass the opposition. Total fan favourite with a swagger and style. Let the MCC members get out of their seats once this dynamo gets among the big boys on the G. Both are 185cm plus but seem taller in their highlights. Neither will take a backward step it looks like from their tapes either. Bring them on as excitement machines to end our mundane forward thrusts. Well done again JT.

Kozzie played round 1 in 2020 (Jackson debuted in R2)

There’s soemthing really heartwarming in knowing the Eagles weren’t able to anything else other than use pick 1.

Got an opinion from a mate involved with West Perth coaching dept. Said he's a very good player and compares him to Daniel Rich.

We need speed in the midfield and we got it We needed another mid/fwd and we got it Hard not to like it, fingers crossed they come on

didn't match the drapes

Our list management team have a great track record so I have a general sense of calm about Windsor and Tholstrup. Neither of them light my fire, but the pace and kicking of Windsor do stand out. I can't see either of them getting a senior game in 2024, but Windsor would make a perfect wingman if he can get some size on him. For many of the tall forward options, it is so hard to tell, but in the highlights shown many of them were not single grab marks. A fair bit of two-touches going on. As for the general pool of draftees, apart from Reid, McKercher is the one who stands out with his pace, power and kicking. From here it is down to the club's development program (ours is up with the best now, and wow is that a change!) and the individual player taking on the hard work and sacrifice required for elite sport. We really do have a bundle of talent at Casey now - pressure is on for almost every spot.

without the watermark