Gator

Completely disagree. Hogan needs to use his aerobic strength and work up the ground, be a presence beyond 50 AND work back hard into the 50. Then there will be periods where he'll be left to work the 50, while releasing other teammates into dangerous space.

You're getting confused. Her phantom draft is well researched and she speaks to a tonne of people. It's not overly surprising she got 9 from 10 last year, BUT that is separate and different to her player rankings, which I don't have much time for.

Of course he has been. But we all know what he is and that's a CHF.

Of course Hogan is a CHF, Steve.

Has she got Tom McNamara and Casey Sibosado ?

Rightly or wrongly I'm convinced Parish is the standout "best available" at pick 3, which is why I'm confident he'll be a Dee.But you're right, I could be way off the mark.

With Parish the midfield will just about be set. How many clubs can boast our number of top 10 mids. But after Hogan we don't have one quality tall forward. In all likelihood there will be a quality tall available at P7 and we will take him.

I don't think he's explosive either, but his pace is fine for his type of player and certainly not the issue you're asserting.There's a reason he's rated within the industry.

And if Weideman is taken before pick 7 who then ? Btw, I answered a post of yours yesterday in case it's escaped your attention. You may like to reference Curnow's pace as a case in point.

Safe doesn't win flags. And if you want quality talls then you pick them early. I wonder if Hawthorn should have played it safe instead of taking Franklin and Roughead in the top 5 ?

It's well known that BenKen has Gysbert and Blease type levels of aerobic ability.

This guy has been all the rage on here as of late, but he's too speculative and too much of a project for mine. I feel we need someone who'll make a quicker impact. That's not to deny this guy's talents.

Why ?

Taylor stated on a recent podcast that there would be no strategy linked with picks 3 and 7, because you can't afford to not get the player you rate best at 3. They'll pick "best available" at 3 and assess who's left at 7.

It's not about throwing the spanner in the works, or being too cute, it's about picking the best available talent at pick 3, which will probably be Parish. Jason Taylor was on the selection panel for the 2014 AA under 18 team. He was part of the panel that picked Parish as a 17 year old. Parish backed up again to be dual AA. I'll be very surprised if Taylor overlooks Parish.

Looks terrible. This modern version certainly didn't work, but I'm not convinced one couldn't.

I'd love us to do something creative with this 1900 club jumper. It's so simple it's perfect to me. I wonder what a modern version would look like. Many of us hate white, but if there must be white due to AFL policy, having white either side of the centre laceup red strip (instead of blue) with a centred logo might look good. Obviously there can't be laceup guernseys anymore, but I'd replicate this in every other way - from the red around the neck line and arms.

Nah, we'll be taking a tall at pick 7. We're desperate for a quality young tall to support Hogan and the chances are one will be there. The fact that Hogan states the following is also a clear signal of our intent. And you're not going to be using picks 46 or 50 to land one. Indeed, he said he’d been busy studying draft prospects — including potential forwards — to help the team mount an assault on September. “We’ve only got a young team and could do with a little more help up forward,” Hogan said. “These days the academies are amazing, you get developed from such a young age, come into AFL footy and you can basically slide straight into the system. “There’s not that three to four years that talls used to have, you can come straight in and have an impact.”

"Can't be an influence in all of them" ? Hahaha Good one.

But you'll find that those "finishers" regularly influence games of footy. Watts has rarely influenced any game in his 100+.

I like it. It's understated, but that's all it needs to be. It's a pretty timeless style that should be fashionable many years from now. That's not to say there won't be other inceptions, but it's nice to have a logo that should be able to live into the future and complement other forms that may evolve along the way.

There's plenty wrong with this post... Inside mids are not much more important than key forwards. Assuming we're talking top quality the reverse is true. Midfielders do have a more immediate impact, which is why you have to draft a quality tall when you have the opportunity, as it doesn't always present itself. Yes, it is difficult to rate young talls, which is why the best ones are always drafted early or are F/S. Look how desperate Freo were for Cam McCarthy (pick 13). He's no Hogan, but goal-kicking talls aren't easy to find. Don't expect to find one at picks 46 or 50. And we need one into the club now. Tom McDonald is no forward. Forget one game where he was switched and caught the opposition off guard. The next game he started as a forward and couldn't get near it. McDonald is a far better defender and should stay there. I'll back Taylor's judgement. But I have little doubt he'll pick a tall at 7 IF he thinks the talent is there.

Because in modern AFL footy if all you can do is capitalise on uncontested footy you're as useful as a cold pie. There's a reason he was dropped twice in his 7th year and there's a reason he finished 18th in the B&F despite playing 20 games. The coaches don't value this "damaging" game you speak of. It clearly excites you, but not them. Or me.

We have one quality forward over 6' tall. Assuming we draft Parish we'll have 7 x 'top 10' mids* - Tyson (3), Viney (pick 7 was bid on him), Brayshaw (3), Petracca (2), Parish (4), Trengove (2), and Salem (9). Unlike others I have no question mark over Petracca other than the obvious one. Injury free he will be a superstar. And even if Trengove doesn't make it back and I see no reason why he won't if the foot heals, other clubs would kill for such a group of young mids coming through. It's the envy of the competition (established clubs). Add Vince, Jones, vandenBerg, Stretch and Neal-Bullen and I believe we've well and truly got the foundations for an elite midfield in 3 years time. I agree with the adage "you can never have enough mids", but we need to balance the list and quality key forwards almost always come early in the draft or are F/S. Jason Taylor recognised this in the recent AFL podcast when he said we needed someone to partner Hogan. *there will always be supporters that say Petracca's knee might not hold up, Parish might be Toumpas mark 2, Trengove probably won't play again, Salem hasn't proven he can be a mid, etc. etc. etc. These supporters would never run a successful club, because they'd second guess anything they ever did. I'll back the players on our list and assume they'll match the talent levels the recruiters envisage, I'll assume players overcome injury, like most do, and I'll back the talent that these young players have already shown. The positive scenarios are far more likely than the negative ones from any balanced perspective.

I haven't read much about him, I prefer to use my eyes. That said, I thought I better have another look based on you querying his pace, which I noted as being good from the 27 minutes of vision I saw. Comments I found: Athleticism – Curnow while strong bodied is very athletic and explosive. While I don’t have any testing results, he has excellent leaping ability and also very good foot speed for a bigger body which will serve him well at the next level. he has got the height of a forward but athleticism and nous of a bloke much shorter He is big bodied whom is also athletic, has natural talent, can take some massive contested marks, pretty explosive with the ball, great endurance and has a lovely kick towards goal. For a teenager he is already a physically imposing size for a KPF, getting himself into front position and is a strong contested mark, overhead and 1 v 1. Matches that strength and power with explosive speed off the mark and athleticism. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ These comments are from 4 separate posters. All talk about either speed or athleticism or both. Most say he has the capacity to play midfield, which is where I disagree, but I haven't seen one writeup that questions his footy smarts. Not one. In fact, if posters see him successfully transitioning to the midfield it's fair to say that they're tacitly endorsing his footy nous as noted by one of the comments above. You're welcome to share the comments you've read that question this nous. You disagree ? Terrific. Parish at pick 3 for me, but I want a quality key forward at pick 7 and see Curnow as an excellent complement to Hogan. But I'll back Taylor with whomever he chooses.