Gator

They say it's a mistake to meet your heroes. On this occasion it wasn't. I met Robbie the year he died (2014). It was during an MCC club function promoting the new coach (Roos). My Brother and I chatted with Rob for a good 10-15 minutes. I was taken aback by how friendly he was. Nearing the end of the night we mentioned we had to go and he also decided to leave and took the lift down to the car park with us, where we chatted further. It was a wonderful meeting for long suffering supporters who cherished the memories of watching him play. He was just so nice. He is also without question the greatest wingman to grace a footy field. There are many videos of Rob, but I like this short one.

Weddle was basically the next pick and looks like being a star. But who knows where we had him. I'm aware it's a [censored] draft after Jefferson and pretty weak all-round, save for a few at the top end. If every pick after Jefferson fails it's cold comfort. It's disappointing to have a national draft where the list isn't improved. Linament sniffers can talk up Jefferson all they like, but there's a reason plenty have doubts. Why do they think the coaches didn't debut him last year ? I don't see anywhere near the competitiveness required to succeed at AFL level. People talk about his body and how he's bigger. People constantly like to make excuses. He was big enough last year to put his body on the line. I know he has talent. I've seen it. Talent isn't his problem. AFL level is a different beast.

If the coach has got eyes he would have said it. I assume he has eyes. I'll be mildly shocked if Jefferson makes it at AFL level. He simply doesn't have the physicality or contested ability required. Naturally, I hope I'm wrong, because wasting pick 15 makes me want to puke.

Kane is one of the worst appointments I can remember. Utterly hopeless.

Interesting. I find your post complete ''rubbish''.

Irrespective of Rivers, my guess is that Petracca plays more midfield and less forward than he did last year.

Round one is about 11 weeks away. That's half an AFL season. Lindsay has been touted as being ready to rejoin main training as soon as the players come back from the Christmas break. He has plenty of time to be ready for round one.

Bontempelli was drafted at 192cm, but was a November birth and played his entire year at 18, so had more time to grow than Langford, who plays all of 2025 at 19. Bontempelli is only 6 weeks older than Petracca, but seems to have been on the scene a lot longer (2014 debut year compared to 2016).

OK, so you've got a bench that probably looks like Bowey, Rivers, Langford and McDonald. We only differ in that I selected a running small/ball user in Lindsay and you've opted for the versatility of McDonald, who can play either end.

Interesting. I have 5 plus Gawn in the 22 I posted. I wouldn't be averse to 6 + in the 23 with perhaps a tall as the sub. What's your 22 ? Apologies if I've missed it. Btw, I reckon we played on average the shortest team in the competition in 2024. I don't mind being a bit taller !

As a half-back he has to mind small to medium size forwards. He'll be torched on ground balls. Notwithstanding your opinion, the balance just looks terrible to me. He can either get picked as a tall, or he can't. Up to him.

I wouldn't be worried by Sparrow's kicking. He just doesn't do enough of anything. Disposals, goals, etc.

The only other comment was that if they didn't get Houston they would have tried to facilitate a move up the draft for Lindsay. It's just how they rated him in this draft.

B: McVee, May, Lever HB: Windsor, Petty, Salem C: Langdon, Oliver, Sharp HF: Chandler, van Rooyen, Langford F: Fritsch, Turner, Pickett FOLL: Gawn, Petracca, Viney IC: Rivers, Bowey, Lindsay, Tholstrup Melksham/McDonald/Sparrow/Johnson/Brown/Howes/Moniz-Wakefield/Woewodin/Hore all thereabouts. Obviously not a round one team with the Pickett inclusion, just a preference for best. A 5th interchange would have been ideal to include a second ruck like Johnson as a chopout for Gawn. I'm OK with van Rooyen having short bursts, as he's good at it. With others such as McAdam, Spargo, Campbell and Sestan we have more depth this year (subject to injury). Casey should be a lot stronger. I'm hoping van Rooyen, soon to be 22, can have a break out in his 4th year on the list. It's the same year a 21 year old Jack Riewoldt showed what he'd become. I hope Langford and Lindsay show they're worthy of a round 1 berth. And at 22 Sharp should be ready to become a permanent AFL player. It's the same age Ed Langdon broke through at Freo. As a side note, a mate of my Brother is friends with the outgoing Collingwood recruiter Derek Hine. Hine considered Lindsay the slider of the draft. They rated him very highly and had him as a top 5 pick on their rankings. As a second side note, there are 7 left footers in the above team, which I very much like.

Harvey Langford will be a very good player in 2025. He plays the entire year as a 19 year old. Just as a comparison, Bontempelli played his entire first year as an 18 year old. With some of the positional changes, such as Windsor and Pickett, it's hard not to be excited for the season ahead. Thanks for the observations.