Mach5

I can see us trading our pick with Johnson available, especially if Howes goes to Sydney.

Surely the tigers take Johnson.

The cards were falling relatively nicely for us, but would have liked to get Wilmot.

Chesser? I don’t see it, but glad it’s west coast.

That’d be Brown.

With the even-ness of the talent around our first pick, it makes sense to pick based on needs. By virtue of the fact that 1 or more probably 2 selections being pre-determined, for list balance purposes we need to be targeted with our early selections. To my thinking, that means Howes or JVR, and if we can move up the board, Gibcus or even Amiss. Personally I think we’d be after Gibcus.

Is that the same as Daw pulling a Carey on Pratt?

His movement reminds me of the ox post-knee surgeries. Mind you, Ben Brown isn’t an agility king, albeit JW is not quite as tall.

Besides, there is no win available for Collingwood if they choose not to match a bid, so the chances of them doing so are Buckley’s. And it lessens the pressure on JHF.

The selection of Watts was correct, the carry on surrounding it was not. However, the idea that he got ‘smashed’ by Collingwood on the day is a ridiculous furphy. He wasn’t a game-changer and they tried, but the handful of attempts missed the mark and he came up largely unscathed.

Always had more talent, just didn’t have the temperament. Didn’t want it. Not didn’t want it enough, just didn’t want it at all. Wanted to play footy with mates without all the fuss & without tolerance for all the commitments that come along with it or the dedication required.

Easy there champ. All I hear is “how dare anyone criticise a club official after what we’ve done!” Have a lie down, don’t hurt yourself, bask in the groupthink. Fact is that plenty of clubs have won with less than perfect people in key positions. However I’d love for you to outline what he has done so well, without demanding others do the opposite and expose themselves to accusations of libel.

Deadset - who else is left for us to worry about losing? This playing group has a fair bit left in them. Exciting times ahead.

I’ll say it - he’s the wrong guy. We have succeeded in spite of him. We’re very fortunate the football dept culture has been built strongly before his time, because he’s not the man to do it. I’m also not going to applaud the guy for managing to re-sign a major sponsor following a flag. Setting the bar fairly low.

The Mac Andrew decision might sting, but I think the scaling back of NGAs is actually good for us, even if Andrew has a younger brother coming through. Other clubs were poised to really take advantage of the NGA setup where we haven’t invested anywhere near the same resources. Those clubs will still get some sort of payoff, but it is lessened and we are better placed for it.

Same. I’m thinking he might not even be there for us to take though. It looks like there’ll be some quality options available at our pick though. Another shrewd move from our footy dept.

Funny to see Neale mentioned; I think it’s uncanny how similar Zac Taylor looks to Lachie Neale. Almost a clone.

Really liking the idea of Howes as a Gunston type

Ignorance is bliss, right? I won’t address it here, and it has no relevance to this thread.

Watch now as all clubs (bar those exempt) completely desert the NGAs. Amazing more scrutiny was not put on the NSW/QLD academies, with Sydney picking up Errol Gulden & Braeden Campbell, and Blakey, Heeney & Mills in previous years.

Correct, and you have to factor in players like Steven May & Lever, whose acquisition robbed JT of a handful of first round picks also.

Knowing that JT was after Jake Lever, Zak Butters, Xavier Dursma, Mitch Georgiades, Deven Robertson, Max Holmes, etc. shows he has a pretty good idea what he’s doing.

Was selected in a GF side. I also think it’s a stretch to class his draft selection as a failure. Mitch King as a young ruck is also excusable due to it often being a roll of the dice at that stage. Even with a kid like Baker or Lockhart, there’s only 22 (23) spots available each week. Someone has to miss out. JT’s track record is difficult to criticise.

You got me sleuth, well done! Believe what you want.

I know it sounds silly, but I got definite diet-Fyfe vibes from watching Owens highlights. I like Knevitt’s raw potential paired with consistency and high volume possessions, but I think that’ll mean he’s not available for us.