Gator

I don't think he has, but considering it's the easiest gig in football and he's played there as a junior, I suspect he'd cope well.

Woewodin played half-back for East Fremantle (as well as midfield and forward). He's fast and well skilled. I like speed from a running back. In his third year I see no reason he couldn't slot in there, especially as we've now got 3 wingmen ahead of him.

They won't abandom the Salem midfield move after one game. They've been trying to get him into the midfield for two years.

Jefferson has talent, but little aggression or intensity. The bad news is that's the hardest trait to instill into a player. Further bad news is that it's the most important trait for a key forward. Defence is a far easier position for someone with his DNA. I'm dubious that he'll ever make an AFL key forward. I know those with red and blue goggles have conniptions about such views.

I'd replace Bowey with Woewodin, who played multiple positions as a junior at East Fremantle, including as a running half-back. It's his third year and imo he's ready. Fullerton seems a no brainer for Schache, who hopefully never plays AFL again. Pickett replaces Laurie, who's not good enough at AFL level. I doubt they'll make more than 3 changes, but the sooner they deem Kynan Brown ready the better. He already looks better than all our smalls bar Pickett, even with a small sample size.

I completely agree. People may scoff at reserves form, but in periods 5-7 against Richmond Salem played as a pure mid and looked fantastic. He was moving better/quicker than I'd seen him for years, used it well and looked like a point of difference to a midfield that has probably become a little predictable. Yes, a tiny sample size, but I'd love to see him given a crack at a midfield spot. Historically I've been in Dazzle's corner, in that I prefer him behind the ball, but he's far more mature now and I reckon can make a fist of it in the middle, especially after seeing him in the match sim.

He says Melbourne were ''shown up in the finals''. That is patent nonsense. They dominated Carlton in most of the general play, but didn't close the door and lost by 2 points. They won most metrics, i.e. clearances, contested possessions, etc. They had 69 inside 50s to Collingwood's 37. They had 8 more scoring shots and they also dominated contested possessions, contested marks, marks inside 50, clearances, etc., before managing to lose by 7 points. It's obviously infuriating to lose two games we should have won, but we certainly weren't ''shown up''. Not having either Petty or van Rooyen for both games also didn't help, but naturally that gets overlooked.

The main issue today was poor kicking and handball. We're clearly trying to play faster and use the corridor, but you get torched on the rebound when you turn it over, as we did today. Last year we lacked some dare, but had a fantastic all ground defence, which is why teams found it hard to move the ball against us. Think of Collingwood only having 39 inside 50s in the final and their struggle to move the ball forward on KB. In general play we dominated Carlton, but didn't close the door. We didn't get our tweaked game-plan right today and lost momentum. Richmond kicked it far better. They'll learn a lot from the hitout. Oliver and Salem the big pluses from the second game. Kynan Brown surprised me. He looks very promising.

I see. Fair enough.

There's zero chance of Oliver playing in the seconds. He may only play 2 or 3 quarters, but he's not playing seconds.

Whether it be life in general or football, no-one is interested in your story unless you win. So win.

It's hard to form much of a view about season 2024 until you see them perform against opposition, i.e. upcoming games against Richmond and Carlton. Even then, there's only so much to take out of practice matches. Obviously, the key forward stocks on the surface are concerning, but I'll wait for a bit more evidence before getting too forlorn. It's a very long season and plenty of our ''game'', as in backs, mids and overall talent, will be superior to most. Things don't have to be perfect from the get-go to succeed.

Wrong about what ?

Maybe it was time to recognise Petracca and have him as joint VC with Viney. Perhaps it could have encouraged his ascension and possible aspirations. But clearly I'm not qualified to have an educated opinion. EDIT: and I suspect Lever is the next cab off the rank anyway.

At the appropriate time I'd appreciate any comments on the intensity and how it compares to the last few years.

In fairness, the times that day were wind assisted. That said, he still came second out of plenty and wind assisted, or not, it's very fast. I like his prospects. Good size, skills and speed, and seems really coachable. I don't see a star, but I think he can become a good player.

One thing Woewodin isn't is slow. He was second in the 20 metre sprint at the Draft Combine with a time under 2.9 seconds. 20m Sprint Result (seconds) Rank Result (seconds) Name 1 2.845 Harvey Harrison 2 2.898 Taj Woewodin

Maybe we know that. It doesn't mean you have to be excited by selections. That said, two quality players inside 13 adds to a strong group of 23 and unders.

And Caddy at 6.

I've never once in any game we've ever played Collingwood given prior thought to Josh Daicos being a major threat. I've thought of DeGoey, Pendlebury, Nick, Grundy, Sidebottom, but never Josh. Very good little player, but not someone I'm selecting at pick 7. You, of course, can please yourself.

Like some others I can't get too excited by Windsor at pick 7. I'd take Curtin ahead of him every day of the week. That said, Taylor has an excellent record, so I'll back his judgement. Windsor may well play 200 games and be a very valuable player, but I don't see his type of player as a top 10 selection. Nick Daicos is a poor comparison, because he's not purely playing a wing role. In fact, he never has. He's no midfield beast, but he does have good history in a midfield role and the associated metrics that follow. Josh Daicos is a better comparison, because he does play that role.. And despite him being an AA and a B&F winner in a premiership year I still wouldn't take him with a top 7 pick in a National Draft. I know generational talents are rare in the top 7, but I still want to back myself to land one. Curtin could be one, whereas I'll be shocked if Windsor is. C'est la vie.

It's worth looking at Davo (a long time junior watcher/expert) from Bigfooty November 2022 early predictions as to who the best draft prospects were for 2023. Tholstrup was considered a top 10 prospect by many watchers 12 months ago. 1. Harley Reid - Bendigo - 185cm 82kg - really shun at the champs, has been excellent all year in a variety of positions 2. Daniel Curtin - Claremont - 195cm 91kg - best afield in the u17s pre GF game, terrific game after being injured for a large chunk of the yr 3. Jed Walter - GC A - 195cm 91kg - wonderful season showing off surprising athleticism and kicking 9 goals in 4 games for the Allies at the champs 4. Koltyn Tholstrup - Subiaco - 186cm 80kg - one of the best for WA in the champs, forward who can rotate in midfield 5. Zane Duursma - Gippsland - 188cm 73kg - a real danger in front of goals, can also rotate through midfield, he was a real weapon for Vic country that they missed in the finale 6. Archer Reid - Gippsland - 201cm 85kg - athletic and flexible KPF, had a huge trials game, was ok at the champs, but has heaps of potential 7. Nick Watson - Eastern - 169cm 66kg - tough, electric small forward, loves a goal and can kick them from anywhere 8. Jack Delean - Sth Adel - 181cm 73kg - was great last season and had a good champs this yr, but didnt dominate the sanfl u18 9. Nate Caddy - Northern - 190cm 83kg - high flying medium forward, took a tonne of huge pack marks this yr, excited to see him fly high again next yr 10. Ashton Moir - Glenlg - 186cm 78kg - had a good sanfl u18 season, had 1 good and 1 poor champs games

Correct. And then [censored] like Chris Doerre, AKA Knightmare, to do their post draft club grades, such as this one for Collingwood in 2019: Collingwood Improved their draft hand slightly in the latter half of the draft to increase their involvement without losing a lot. Jay Rantall represents strong value as a basketball convert with elite endurance who does his best work inside winning the contested ball, distributing by hand and moving through traffic. Oakleigh premiership captain Trent Bianco is a second selection who represents strong value as one of the best kicks in the draft and the most advanced outside player in the pool. Trey Ruscoe at 192cm with his versatility to play defence, midfield or forward, is a third solid selection with his skills, mobility, ball winning capabilities and the way he reads the ball in flight and takes marks. Though the question of whether Collingwood should have retained pick 51 to draft key forward Jake Riccardi rather than trade it to GWS who used the pick to draft the VFL's Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal is a question that will be asked given Collingwood's lacking key position stocks. Grade: A None of those 3 players are today on an AFL list. In the same draft he gave Melbourne a C for drafting Jackson, Pickett and Rivers, which was his equal worst ranking. Outside of the Suns, who had picks one and two, Melbourne clearly were the best performed club in that 2019 draft. Or this club ranking from Fox Sports for the same draft. CARLTON Picks (at start of draft): 9, 43, 57, 70, 85 Selections: Brodie Kemp (17), Sam Philp (20), Sam Ramsay (47) Stephen Silvagni was making plenty of moves on the opening night of the draft, with a bidding frenzy causing Fremantle and GWS to move on Liam Henry and Tom Green respectively. Brodie Kemp was the big steal for the Blues, landing the potential top-five prospect with Pick 17. They added more midfield speed with the selection of snubbed Vic Metro prospect Sam Philp. Calder Cannons midfield Sam Ramsey rounded out their selections, with the inside midfielder averaging 25.2 disposals this year. Grade: A Only the 23 gamer Kemp remains in the system notwithstanding the A they were given. This is supposedly a ''shallow'' draft, but to me, albeit a novice, it looks as good as just about any year and the top end talent better than most. Excited for tomorrow night. EDIT: I called Doerre an i.d.i.o.t. To think that word is censored in this day and age. I deplore the society we've become.

His body wasn't the issue, his mind was.

Hunter and Langdon both went at 32% contested possessions per disposal in 2023. Josh Daicos, who won a B&F in a premiership year, went at 30%. Windsor went at 32% this year. I haven't seen enough of Windsor to have an informed view, but if he uses it well and breaks the lines with speed I don't see an issue based on his recent numbers.