Turner

draft mckercher at 4 HJ is exactly who we don't need, hes a hipwood-esque lead up player who has reach and leap but JVR does that well already. we need the big top of the goalsquare donkey who can stand there and go shoulder to shoulder with 200cm defenders and hawkins them out of the way and clunk them on the chest or skittles 4 bodies so kozzy has some room to swoop through

the 24 draft is super midfield heavy from early observation. levi ashcroft will obvioulsy be off limits but Vic metros starting midfield this year were all bottom agers, so whilst without a doubt i think we should target a mid this year we should also be looking at two for next year. i also believe one of harmes or jordon will stay

i'd go in for big goober crossley from southport. was the next big thing at gcs until his drug ban, he's only 23 but is a huge boy and would be desperate for any second chance at the level including sitting behind gawn. plus would be 25 by the time gawns body is rooted and can take over for 5-7 years himself as you can never be so sure on young ruck draftees being successes long term and regardless its hard to say either KFW or verrell will be ready in 2 years at 21, not many no1 rucks are

adds some class to the forward half which we werent getting out of spargo in 23 and allows pickett to move up the ground without leaving us weak i50. good tackler too, bargain deal and better suited to our overall list profile than dunstan harmes types who are midfielders only given the strength and versatility of our current best 22 onball with brayshaw and rivers going in when one of the big 3 are out. smart business.

hindsight brigade

a replacement for dunstan/harmes/jordon ie dev rob, beast mode mathieson, parfitt, Ehollands a key forward to play week in week out who is younger ie georgiades, fullarton, riccardi, lewis, allen, lord a ruckman ie lycett, ladhams, mirkov, bryan, flynn, soldo, better tall depth james stewart, ehimmelberg, hamling, burgess, caleb graham, clurey, dougie howard, TOB everyone will be up in arms that theres some NQR players in there but we need mature depth to compete week in week out and if we lose another 3-4 mature players this year on top of the ones we lost last year we start to become thin outside the best 22. draft it's best available particularly inside and outside mids and good users KB and orlando turner as rookies

it's got nothing to do with his kicking being bad and our current mids kicking being bad as why we wouldn't go after him due to his skillset and more the fact that he doesnt offer anything differential to what we have in that position currently. as many have said we need some cream not more scone

wont get 2 years as he'd be 30 at the end of that and we'd hope theres some fresh talent coming through by then but we could give him 1 year and plonk him straight on the LTI list and replace his spot on the list. that way he can use facilities and get good rehab but also we don't lose the list spot. even whack him down on the rookie list and youre paying him outside the salary if hes on chips

If he came for a second rounder given we have a surplus of picks. if we lose harmes and jj on top of dunstan we will require pure midfield depth id be all for it, if it fails nothing lost as he'd be an addition to the current crop rather than the star of the show. i think that's an important differentiation when discussing recruiting from other clubs and expected outputs etc

agreed except would be pointless to give melk 1 so i'd give him 2 and would let kturner go, melky delisted and rerookied due to squeeze on spots

i disagree entirely, he's 22 yo, finally finding his feet at afl level having 30 possie games on the wings of optus and has skill sets which could be utilised as a high HF to more effect than spargo/laurie have shown recently and off HB if hibbo retires + i have been pretty unimpressed by langdons season as a whole i think he's been quite ineffectual on games when he previously was super integral to our ball movement and i wouldn't be upset if someone went past hunter either. if harmes/jordon leave and howes and laurie don't come on as it looks like then we absolutely could use a versatile good ball user at 22 years of age

if he was to sit behind one of gawn and nank he'd probably stay a tiger. more likely to be a cat, pear, swan or wherever grundy isn't in '24 id imagine. we'd be in the preuss/flynn/lycett/mirkov/reidy/hayes/ladhams discuss more likely

17/22 and when you take out the melbourne bias for 3 (however i definitely would have rivers in) we'll call it 20 which is pretty decent by me

there's also far more demand for a number 1 ruck now than 12 months ago, Swans ruck has retired, Port cleary don't have any idea who they like/don't like any of them and the cats have missed the 8 and have just lost one of their two 33yo rucks to retirement too. If that was the case, he wouldn't have made it to FA and 8 years in the system

BRIS: Ashcroft/Fletcher and Wilmot CARL: Hollands STK: NWM, Owens, Caminiti for most of the year and recently Windhager too plus Philipou hasn't left the side

If i'm west coast i'd also take Beast mode mathieson from the lions. a UFA mature body at 26yo who is capable at AFL level and has done the hard yards in the 2s so would come on a modest deal but the perfect option to protect youngsters and throw his weight around until the kids are ready. Also in a good age bracket below Yeo, Sheed, Gaff, Kelly so as they move on or are injured they aren't completely exposed in the guts. Similar vane to the Hunt pick up

but they aren't ready for afl exposure yet. we need mature bodies whilst we are at the top of the ladder competing for flags

ladhams would be a pretty good number 2, would be serviceball if required but happy to be number 2 dyl stpehens is a HB and we seem super settled there with young players

Key Forwards/Backs as many have mentioned, we didn't really replace Majak, Brown, Jackson and Weid last year, Smith has played the most games in a season of his career remarkably, Tomlinson still isn't trusted and Grundy experiment clearly failed. TMac, BBB and Schache would all be potentially on the chopping block for 2024 so we need mature bodies. we're one JVR or May injury away from serious turmoil. Agree our first pick needs to be a best available mid tho, hopefully McKercher and the O'Sullivan links excite me. Im scared of Caddy and Duursma's ability against fully grown men compared to other kids as well as their consistency and i don't like swingmen like Curtain who spend 4 years being moved around and unsettled it stalls their development massively

yeh, but north would match the offer and force it to a trade at which point dons might back out entirely as they would no longer be giving up nothing and then maybe brings other clubs into play for him re stephens, brayshaw or rivers could play more onball and he slots in it could work. similarly on the salem chat, i dont think he's irreplaceable, hes 28 which is prime but he doesnt really change games the same way he used to and as others have mentioned we have a younger core back there who are offering as much already say we add stephens to that too and if a club came with the right picks i think we'd weigh it up. i;m not saying we'd force a converation or he'd be looking around but sometimes things just happen and just work and down the line this could be one, or maybe he gets to 33 like hibbo and becomes a super grunty shut down deeper option who knows what the future holds

i'm hearing 600k now, so in the end of 1st round or 2nd round band

had a crack at it, Bowey probably isnt in the side Hayden Young instead but makes it as a dee and i probably should have gone JHF over rowell but mates rates. weightman also was a bit of a lottery for the last forward spot, thought about Logan McDonald or OHenry but went against it. Nic Martin the stiffest but my god that centre is strong

Forgive me for further diluting this thread and forgive me further for the unspeakable suggestions i am about to mutter. But should Tomlinson seek opportunities as we all predict, theres a certain club with a stack of NQR key defenders which has a list squeeze and a former player who i'd be in dialogue with regarding his future as a defender and whilst i was more than happy to see the back of him i was frustrated we never gave it a good run in pre-season and vfl. hear me out. Essendon want Ben McKay and by all reports its fait accompli. Then there Bezerk Thatcher who is uncontracted and potentially optainable but also currently first choice so maybe not. All essendon fans seem to be keen on Baldwin as a key defender after he recently made the move back and showed signs when given a senior shot. and a returning but also probably cooked James Stewart as their fourth choice. but they like Harry Jones and 2MP and are commited to Langford and also the 2ruck combo forward. SO.... So do we bring Weideman back as a defender at least he'll be further up the pecking order than he currently is at the dons? Or does Schache just do the pre-season down back? is it crazy? the market is quickly diminishing

was probably up against it for a new deal anyway, seems to be one of those 5goal vfl players who doesnt find enough of the footy at senior level. i guess now the dogs can slide himself and bruce off the list under the guise of injury which is a bit more respectful to the career than a flat chopping. he can be proud of what hes made for himself tho

the ones i've met have been fun enough 🤷‍♂️