Turner

i cant hate the bloke, hes just a normal guy doing his best to get along in life, hes made some mistakes no doubt he owns them and i dont think theres any animosity from his side towards the dees. just the way life goes, hell play good footy next year because thats what he does best

1 hour ago, DeeZone said:

I like your methodology Turner and given that Tracc CO and now Bowey are out of our top 12, who do you see replacing them?

top 12: Gawn, KPickett, Bowey, Fritsch, Turner, Mihocek, Rivers, Salem, Langford, Lever, Viney, May

this is what the start of season next year currently sits like, think its fairly accurate

ie, May could still play lots of footy for us and a drop from 8 to 12 based on no games played is fair and without any exposed form from petty as a defender for 3 years now its unfair to immediately have him ahead, expect this to change by the byes.\

lever also has been sliding for last 18 months but could be a big riser first half of the year if he can return to his best, im pessimistic but its a chance

langford is there for now but i imagine there will be times where he might fluctuate down to 15-20 range if he's not having such an impact etc.

Taylor Petty Turner

Jiath Lever Salem

Langdon Viney Lindsay

Fritsch JVR Chandler

LPickett Mihocek Melksham

Gawn Langford KPickett

Steele Rivers Windsor Culley ?Tholstrup

E: May Heath ?Sparrow

Bowey would be in place of Kolt if fit and relegate CJ or Salo to the pine

On 07/12/2025 at 04:10, DeeZone said:

At the end of ‘25 Oliver was ranked 2 and Tracc 4, McVee 18th. So without those 3 our top 10 would have been.

1 - Gawn, 2 - Salem. 3 - Bowey, 4 - May, 5 - Rivers, 6 - Kozzie, 7 - Culley, 8 - Viney, 9 - Langdon, 10 - TMac.

For ‘26 I am going for Top 12 -

Max, Rivers, Kozzie, Langford, Culley, Bowey, Salem, Langford, Chin, Turner, Fritsch, Steele

13-24

Mihocek, Lindsay, Lever, Windsor, Sparrow, Vines, Langdon, Tholstrup, Taylor, Pickett, TMac, Heath.

top 12: Gawn, KPickett, Bowey, Fritsch, Turner, Mihocek, Rivers, Salem, Langford, Lever, Viney, May

i do a rolling ranking which i update at the end of preseason, at the bye and after our last game of the season.

Prospectively this is what the start of season looks like, i changed from drawing it up as a clean slate each time to actually sliding players based on the previous list. i think given the uncertainty over our midfield mix going forward and the levels between first choice and reserve across other positions i might weigh some players unevenly. However i base it off an importance to the team and naturally kicking goals wins games. this is how it sat at EOS 25 top 12

Gawn, Pickett, Petracca, Bowey, Fritsch, Turner, Rivers, May, Salem, Lever, Melksham, Oliver

viney had a down year but comes up given the exits, salem, lever are so high as the only depth behind them was howes and AMW on an ACL (CJ hadnt yet arrived) meaning their importance was greater than if we were flush for options.

fritsch and melksham were our only goalkickers, draftees and mihocek change that slightly but he is still our most dangerous fwd half player and most capable of swinging a game for us (also had no competition for spots in 25 with mcadam inj and everyone else [censored])

May is sliding with age and with petty's return to the back half i expect him to rise throughout 2026

draftees usually start at the bottom however recently our top selections have begun their rankings around 20-25 as theyve been expected to make immediate impacts and play regularly from the start

13 hours ago, red and blue forever said:

we had an extra player due to supplementary selection period

2 extra's but berry filled a vacant B slot hence the 1 differential

On 13/06/2025 at 04:24, Turner said:

What would you do if you were the list manager this year?

Who retires?

Who is delisted?

Who is pushed for trade?

Going to have another go at assessing the 2026 EOC crop way ahead of time to see how my thinking stacks up against Lambs and to see who outperforms their expected output and earns themselves longer

Retire: May, McDonald, Campbell,

Delist: McAdam, Henderson, Laurie, Johnson, Moniz-Wakefield (i wouldnt with AMW personally)

Trade/FA: Sparrow

this is what i predict Lamb will see it, i think maybe Melky holds on again, if they get tight for list spots Culley might get squeezed, i think theyll go around AGAIN on Jefferson (i wouldn't)

If it was up to me you'd swap Jefferson and AMW.

I think also a trade watch on Lever at the end of the season too, could get a May-esque nudge if his can't get on top of his knee/ankle issues

3 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Howes , imho, is going to be among a handful.of players on the endangered list.

Not that he can't play... but newer models are already on the showroom floor.

The competition for spots will become heightened.

Forget everything you've seen over the past seasons ( immediate) about team selection, placement, strategy, style.

This is a bran nu day !!!

All bets are off

Go Dees

i have no idea how he snagged a two year contract mid last year, and especially given our recruiting, i really struggle to see any pathway into the afl for the rest of blakes time on the list, another laurie now

could develop like tomlinson did and become somewhat of a swingman and some versatility and depth across a long period of time, a player of his size once at afl competent fitness and strength can have multiple careers, 4 years as a big bodied mid, 5 as a key defender

20 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Is likened to Rylee West from the Dogs who I highly rate and had a fantastic season with 39 frankfurts.

and someone we bid on in his draft year too

46 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

His nickname is ‘cherry’. Thomas Matthews > Tom Matt > Tom-Matt-O > Tomato > Cherry.

I was just gonna go with Atom, theyre small and zip around or something dont they, science wasnt my strong suit.

Tom Matt --> Matt Tom --> Atom

or thirsty

coz hes got two first names so theyll just call him firsty and then that just morphs into thirsty

same way thilthorpe is filthy

10 minutes ago, Go Ds said:

My biggest quibble is I'll be calling him Matthew Thomas or Thomas Matthews - whichever one is wrong - for months! Hurry up and get a nickname.....

are you my dad @Go Ds im just greatful we didnt end up with a sparrow and a farrow to go with our langford and lagdon

2 hours ago, Yarra Valley Demon said:

2 small forwards and a medium interceptions defender. This year's picks boggle the mind. We must have extreme faith in our tall forward mix in Kentfield, JVR and Jeffo putting it together over the next couple of years as well as whats left of our midfield.

i think we all misread exactly why we were ok to let Clarry and Trac leave, it was to change our midfield mix, so it makes perfect sense we havent topped up on the inside

Viney, Steele, Langford, Rivers with Langdon capable of pinch-hitting

KPickett, Windsor as genuine class with Salem capable

Tholstrup, Chandler, Sparrow, Culley ?? all looking for time up the ground either pinch hitting or coming off a wing

it's not like we don't have options

and we've been crying out for a small forward for years, hopefully we're onto two winners and we can focus elsewhere again next year

22 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Jack Ison* 191cm Fwd/Mid VIC

Blake Thredgold 194cm Def SA

Oliver Greeves 191cm Mid VIC

Archie Ludowyke 197cm Fwd VIC

Jevan Phillipou 183cm Mid/Fwd SA

Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves 186cm Fwd/Mid VIC

Tylah Williams* 175cm Fwd WA

Max King* 192cm Fwd NSW

Louis Emmett 199cm Fwd/Ruck VIC 

Rory Wright 182cm Def/Mid VIC

Riley Onley 195cm Mid VIC

 Matthew Leray 188cm Utility SA

Zac McCarthy 199cm Ruck/Fwd VIC

Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier 181cm Mid SA

Sam Swadling 189cm Mid/Fwd WA

Fred Rodriguez 184cm Mid WA

We aren't rookie-ing an inside mid, we just didn't rate the mids this year, next year might be different

NHH, BOB, Wright maybe in the picture tomorrow

We've been absolutely robbed on Allen but sounds like we also didn't really like him

Hetherton, Krasnadamskis surely get picked by someone tomorrow

30 minutes ago, DemonOX said:

Why didn’t we get him with our last pic which we passed on?

all that changes is he's paid outside the cap and a 1yr deal instead of 2

and yes DL has overhyped him, hes tall and athletic but has plenty to work on to get to the next start line (afl debut)

6 hours ago, Robbie87 said:

I might be an outlier here, but I am hoping for Thredgold - high marking, attacking, mobile 194cm interceptor. We seem to have some decent existing and prospective mids, and if you take elders May and Tmac out of the defensive mix, I think we look a bit thin, plus Lever always has a question mark over his availability.

think its just an agreed thing that he's off to the roos first up tonight

1 hour ago, spirit of norm smith said:

@Whispering_Jack Agreed. Good list very similar to mine in the AFL draft thread. Thinking that JT might use the next pick on a midfielder to help with the continued refresh and the post Trac /Clarry midfield. There’s some talent still there

Not sure we will use pick “56” but it’s perhaps tempting. If there’s a young gun who slipped through, JT might stake a claim. Taj Hayes might be one to watch at this draft range as he has the pace to really add to our future midfield plus his kicking is very very good

(retain rookie spot for Kalani White)

interestingly if we do go the Taj Hayes path it does actually circle back to JT and co not rating this draft, 4 picks 2 overagers and 1 FS meaning only 1 maybe a second as a rookie live pick

add Sam Allen to the list

35 minutes ago, redandbluemakepurple said:

A poor selection probably based on family connection. The AFL site says "The 19-year-old booted 32.18 at reserves level for the Bays." Note my highlighting. At senior level, he averaged 10 disposals. Hardly worthy of a high pick.

JT, your mojo has stopped working.

since when was a small forward graded on their number of disposals, he needs to be invovled in scoring chains, goals, defensive intent. you can make some argument about spargo here, but he didnt do the goals/pressure part either. picketts do, its in their blood.

1 hour ago, Young Angus said:

Who do we want now with next pick?

1 hour ago, Herewecome2017 said:

Any chance Jack Ison slips through to our next pick?

27 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Byrne and Ainsworth the 2 Twomey linked us with. Tai Hayes the obscure VFL player he linked us to.

Not sure this is the spot to go for needs too much but a mid who can play forward early on would be very handy. Phillipou, Allen fit the bill

Won't be Byrne given the Pickett selection

RookieMe linked us to Brodie Atkins, similar mould to Allen and Rory Wright

Definitely put the Ison bid on, then Allen, NHH, Swadling, Wright for mine, depth through the guts but also with scope to play across HF/HB

Sharkie, Bridge, Jackson Voss, Fergus McFadyen I still like for rookie picks, Flynn Riley too the Blues VFL ruckman 206cm

Thredgold you might snap up if available too given May, McDonald in final months even with the Petty move back

53 minutes ago, Colm said:

No becomes pick 39 and the fifth pick of the second night. Who do we go for, a midfielder?

midfielder seems the likely play here given how we selected early,

Sam Allen top of my list

LeRay, Swadling, Fincher, Hibbins-Hargreaves, Wright would be other names in the mix, don't think we'd go for Greaves or Onley

Maybe Thredgold if he got to us or an Ison bid would be possibilities too

great pick, he moves the ball forward with leg speed or by foot, hes strong in the air and he doesn't shirk a defensive contest.

perfect McVee replacement, perfect Lever replacement, perfect Rivers replacement, perfect Salem replacement, i dont think he needs or will become a midfielder he will just be the most dependable 200 gamer down back for a decade which is exactly what we needed

wrapped with this, some players just have it, latrelle is one of them, a defenders nightmare, will excite the faithful for a long time and will be a genuine difference maker in games. the price of that is better than any bog standard 22 disposal game sometimes.

on his own merit he wsa selected and i think he should be aiming for 15-20 games of senior footy next year i see no reason why he couldn't play a full year deep inside 50

on gettable now, basically all but confirmed we will be taking him, we are the earliest interest, so will certainly be becoming a dee

2 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

I’d take that Old, we may have to wait until next year for Trac’s replacement.

there'd be some hope still that this is kolt

also this is similar to my arguments against sharp, there are inside mids every year, we were sure on langford last year and looks the goods, if we have any doubts on sharp we are rightly holding out for next year when there could be a stack of better options we still ahve enormous depth through the middle across all age brackets on our list too so we have time to pick the right types to place in there whilst also fleshing out elsewhere across the ground too

his year is going to go one of two ways next year, he'll either drift into the abyss and maybe crop up at casey in '27 as a 23rd man whilst playing overage CTL or he'll shoot up boards into mid second round contention as one of teh most dangerous smalls his age