deanox

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.

We lost the same amount of finals in 2023 that we played in the period of 2003 to 2017 inclusive. Yes I'm disappointed we didn't win and I think we should have done better. But I'd rather have a team I can enjoy watching, who competes pretty well, that what we've had in the past.

I agree it's not a good idea. But I believe our coaches have shown repeatedly they value dominant rucks and don't value fill in rucks. We don't have a second ruck, the list management team didn't see it as a high priority (or at least not one they could fill). Schache, Fullarton, Verall are the only options as a ruck if Gawn goes down. I can't see them putting the trust in one of those as a permanent ruck, can you?

If I was WCE, in the mock draft I'd do a live pick swap to trade out pick 1. Testing the software of course.

Honestly the idea of a mock draft with fake inputs, and double fakes, bluffs etc. is amazing.

@Lord Travis what do you mean the recruiters do a mock draft? As in all the recruiters from the AFL clubs get together and do a mock draft?

For ruck, I think the plan is "unless you have a dominant ruck, you only need someone who will compete/break even". If Gawn goes down, I wouldn't be surprised to see us so something very field and play to ruck. Use Petracca, Joel Smith, JVR, etc. I'm not sure it's a great option,but I think that's how the footy department sees it.

7 interstate "away" matches, plus Alice Springs. But we don't go to Tassie or Geelong. Double ups against Pies, Lions, Port, Freo and West Coast, seems a supremely hard draw, with only WCE really expected to be a bottom fixture, and three of those teams being genuine top 4 chances.

Thanks, I missed that wording. Very silly system when you have to commit without knowing what else would be available.

So as I said we can match if we choose. We just don't want to match for Brown, because the price (if picks, points, deficit points, salary cap implications of primary list vs rookie, etc.) is higher than we think he is worth. Edit: Unless there is a specific subset of the f/s rule where you nominate a player as a rookie only, foregoing the option for a main list draft selection. But if that is only a box tick exercise, and isn't a committment to take him (which should be the case because you can always choose to not match a bid) why would that even be an option?

From my understanding, Cal is wrong. We can match a bid, but we have made a decision that we don't want to match a bid, because we would likely go into points deficit and would use a primary list spot if we matched, and we're seemingly not prepared to do that.

Yeah that seems like a strange statement to me. What does "can't be matched" mean to Cal?

Well Andre Dillon had this to say about us:

I reckon playing them first up, before they've had a chance to gel as a team is probably as good an option as we'll get.

It'll be really interesting to see how we use that, from a fitness and fatigue management perspective.

One thing I think we know is that I'm sure the MFC recruiting team have a good idea of whether they think it will come in enough to generate points!

Good point about it coming in. I havnt counted it all out, so it's possible our 5th round pick will come in enough to have points value this year

@rpfc I flagged the deficit in a post 3 posts above the one you commented on. And for both @rpfcand @Nascent: If there is a bid on Brown at pick 50, then our pick 93 will still be a late pick, and almost certainly later than 73. Sure lots of teams may pass between 50 and 93, bringing our pick higher (let's say it comes in as low as 65), but at the time of the bid, those passes won't have happened yet so our 5th round pick will likely be worth 0 points.

If I was Disco Turner and my spot was taken by a 28 year old mature age recruit from the VFL I'd probably have a good hard look at myself and wonder whether I had what it took to make it at AFL level. We aren't recruiting Darcy Moore to take his spot..we are adding Marty Hire to the list.

Yeah no biting, it's a good question. You can only have as many picks as list spots. We finished 6th for draft purposes so have available: - Pick 6 (traded in from Freo) - Pick 14 (first round) - Pick 36 (second round, traded out to GC) - Pick 42 (second round, JJ compensation) - Pick 57 (third round, traded out last year) - Pick 75 (4th round, traded out to WB last year) - Pick 93 (5th round) Bold are picks we still have. Technically we have up to 4 primary list spots available now, because we are allowed to have 36-38 primary list players, with the number of rookies reducing for each list spot of 36 we use. Only picks that can be used on a primary list spot can be taken into the draft for the purpose of points. I.e. you can't stockpile 8 X 2nd round picks for lots of points if you only have a potential for 3 lost spots. Also pick 73 is worth 9 points, and any pick 74 onwards is worth 0 points. So after pick 42, we have no more points.

I'll add that the f/s points discount is 20% or 197 points, whichever is greater. Pick 56 is designated as 194 points. That means if Kynan is drafted from pick 56 onwards we can match the bid for 0 points. As long as we have a list spot, he is ours if we want him. If he is bid at pick 55 we would need to pay 10 points, at pick 49 we would pay 90 points, at 43 we'd pay 181 points. If this cost got pushed into next year, 37 points is enough to shift pick 18 to 19. 181 points is enough to shift any pick back at least 1 and probably more picks (except for the top 3 picks). So I suspect that unless we rejig our draft hand on the night, we may only match a bid for him if it comes in the mid 50s or later.

I think he now has 3 VFL best and fairest awards, and a third place finish, in his last 4 seasons at VFL level. So he'd be a welcome addition to Casey in terms of quality and he would - at the least - threaten AFL selection. With the departure of Hibberd, Jordan, Dunstan and Harmes, we have lost some of the depth that drives standards and potentially fills gaps. I agree we need to make the case. But I suspect the case is pretty easy. $90k plus match payments is better than VFL payments. Plus a second life line to for an AFL career at a probable finalist is one last change to roll the dice on the dream, that was taken away by an ACL, a broken collarbone and a quad the first time. He played 14 games in his first AFL season. Combined with consistently being the best player in his VFL team I reckon he would back himself in to be AFL capable and live that dream. And if he didn't, we wouldn't really want him on the list anyway.

There was some early talk that we will play Sydney in Sydney in the "round 0" concept. I don't mind this as it will give us an extra bye during the year. Has anyone seen this been confirmed anywhere?

Yeah absolutely agree, I hate it for when we play. But it's great for tv in the background at home. I am more likely to consume more football games when they are on tv Monday and Thursday nights, compared to say Sat or Sunday arvos. My thoughts are, if the AFL is going to use Monday and Thursday then it needs to be consistent. Not selected weeks only.

Honestly I agree with this. I don't love them from an attendance perspective, but I was a big fan of having Monday and Thursday nights on tv. I found it very hard to follow when some Mondays and Thursdays had games and when the start times of Friday night games kept changing around. Having a consistent product is so important for tv.