ChaserJ

The non-partisan in me was pretty chuffed to be able to watch Dusty and Bolton turn it on (the partisan in me was wrapped to see this and still get the win) with the kids watching alongside. Reckon It’ll be one of those games over time where the kids and I look back on and talk about the quality of (a couple of) the players from the other team as much as what we saw from ours. My daughter in particular was petrified whenever Bolton got his hands on the ball in any space!

Nice work @Viscount Cardwell. Good representation of why we should shoot for pick 1, but also why we might want to co-opt the Kangaroos into the process. They could have as strong an influence in shaping this draft as the Eagles.

I’ve been thinking about this. I agree that if Kangas get band 1 compo, that’s a complication for a pick 1 deal for us. I’d wonder if we would include North and make it something of a mega deal to work in a scenario where they get some assets (which may include a key back replacement for McKay - like Tomlinson) whilst also selecting players not named Curtin. There’s a deal there to make it worth everyone’s while in this scenario, Curtin would then only need to make it past the Hawks (at this point, one of Watson, Duursma or Caddy would likely be available for Hawks).

Yep. Our natural first rounder could end up drifting past pick 20 by the time academy and father son picks are factored in. You’d think our future first could be similarly placed (2 of next years projected top 5 are f/s tied to Adelaide & Brisbane).

He hasn’t spent significant time in midfield yet. He copped the head knock in the 2nd Academy game (after being best on in the first) was in cotton wool till the champs (and even during at times). I’ll expect that Reid will get more midfield time in midfield in the run home. This will include a match up against Duursma & the Power at Shepley Oval. That should be a cracker.

From recollection 13 touches (quiet first half before getting involved in the 2nd) in the first game and 21 disposals in a narrow loss where he was quite influential in the 3rd quarter, among the best players for the Blues.

This is one of the most appealing factors for me. Reid has performed very well in all areas of the ground, he is not a midfield or bust type, you can start him in whichever zone is in need. There's a lot of hype around his clearance and burst from stoppage, but his marking is incredibly strong too. Some of his intercept marking last year was something else:

Absolutely. We were able to extract Freo's 2nd rounder for this exact reason. They begrudgingly relented to our demand and gave us the pick because all parties believed Freo would be much higher on the ladder and that 2 picks in the teens would not have been a fair price for Jacko. They bet on improving (or at worst holding steady) and now we're getting better than expected value. A win for us, but how big won't be known for a while yet.

It's this sort of uncertainty around what will happen with compensation picks/priority picks/bid matching inside the top 10 which makes me lean toward trading up for pick 1. All picks below pick 2 look like they'll be diluted. Only one way to avoid all of that - trade to the top.

I think the Eagles were open to trading anyway with Curtin highly likely to be in their thoughts. If he continues to blitz in midfield for Claremont (another 27 touches in his first game post champs) pick 4 may not be high enough!

Marc McGowan and his (v good) take on the first 25 prospects (if they were to be picked right now): Pick by pick: The top 25 if the AFL draft was on now

Agree that Kynan currently sits in the 3rd round range. I thought he performed really well in the Champs, he has good vision in traffic and can see that he’s done a fair amount of work on his kicking, his use during the champs was much neater than I had seen at Oakleigh last year. He is clearly a hard worker who won’t leave anything to chance to get on an AFL list, so that already puts him in good stead. Just not enough game changing traits to lift him inside the top 20, but that is perfectly fine. There’s enough to work with there for Kynan to carve out a solid career. Brown benefitted from Vic Metro having a pretty shallow midfield group, there are many other years where he wouldn’t have had such a good run playing inside for Metro. This allowed him to showcase his attributes well I thought, he put up an incredibly consistent performance across the 4 games (another tick). Brown’s skill set works well in an inside role, but as mentioned elsewhere, his slight frame probably means he won’t play that role at AFL level. He links up play well and has some pace, so could adapt to a high half forward role or small defender. The work ethic looks to be there, which can often be the difference between being draftable or not.

No doubt, haven't looked the same down back since Paddy McCartin went out of the team. Barrass and Harry Himmelberg are the two that keep getting linked to the Swans.

I take your point @DeeSpencer, although if North are granted access to Sanders, I can't see him being in the draft pool to be bid on, will be some form of pre-listing to avoid a bid matching scenario. FWIW I don't think Sanders is the one for us. I think he'll be good midfielder, but hasn't yet shown capacity to play in other positions and I don't think he damages with his possesions in the same way a pure mid like Ashcroft has. He accumulated really well in the Champs, but I also wonder what role the shallow midfield depth in Vic and SA played in enabling the outright dominance from the Allies midfield group. Metro's best performed mids were basically three (albeit highly talented) bottom agers who aren't draft eligible this year, which probably speaks to the broad concerns on the depth of this years draft. For clubs who need to bring in their next high volume clearance winner (like Sydney), he'd be a great pick, but not where I see our draft needs at this time. Would think he'd be in the 5-10 range if Sanders stays in the open pool.

Pretty good post champs draft wrap from Ben Waterworth: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/draft/afl-draft-2023-prospects-rankings-bolters-sliders-after-national-championships-stats-luamon-lual-western-bulldogs/news-story/51e1f87bd14058eaa9acc0f83e1a817e

Can’t see anyone paying McKay enough to trigger that level of compo. He’d need an 800k offer, no one is paying that for him right now. Giving North the capacity to prelist Sanders (who just won the Larke Medal) will be a way to give North a priority pick without calling it a priority pick. At best the McKay compo would be end of first round. At best. His form has been horrible this year and there are other options for key defenders this year (Ratugolea, potentially Barrass).

The why is because they’ve been a drag on the comp for too long (we were coming off a premiership) and they will soon lose the financial benefit of Tassie games. Being unwatchable is one thing, but unviable is something else altogether. The how is similar to how GC were able to add Alex Davies, Joel Jeffrey & others to their list (or pre-list) as zone academy selections without bid matching as they were such a moribund outfit. That only expired last year. I don’t like it, but prefer this to a priority or compo pick at the top end to avoid pushing our Freo pick back any further (given Walter will already push it back by one).

Walter likely to be the only one inside pick 5, so four should only slide back the one spot. Ethan Read is probably rated at around 5, but don’t think he’ll attract a bid inside 5 (ruckman rarely get selected in that range these days).

Indicative draft order/deathride watch: https://www.afl.com.au/news/963218/indicative-draft-order-freo-slide-boosts-dees-trade-bounty

Have next years first rd pick for trade talks as well.

Gemma Bastiani most likely.

Thoughts on Collard @Pennant St Dee? Thought he and Clay Hall were standouts for WA (apart from Curtin of course, who put together a third high quality outing for WA).

That’s one of the knocks on this crop. There are a few in the pool, but there are enough (minor) concerns to pick out on each that has them ranking more in the late 1st to 2nd rd mix (Cooper Simpson, George Stevens, Kane McAuliffe to name a few). Someone there will go well at the next level and have everyone thinking ‘why did they get picked so low’.

I’m in the same camp (we need midfielders - or at least one to pick up the baton from Oliver & Petracca). Wilson gives us a ball user with flair and creativity. More outside at this stage, can play in the forward line. He has what we lack in creativity and ball use (has pace as well). There are some questions on his work in the contest, but I like him. Will be hard for him to push up inside the top 8 or so, which is starting to firm up, but if he shows improvement in the contest, could do it. Sanders has been excellent this season, possibly the best inside mid in this years crop. Bit of an Oliver Wines type, does his best work inside, hasn’t shown a tonne in other areas of the ground. From Tassie, so some will have questions whether that’s a potential retention issue down the track, but he relocated to Vic for school last year, maybe not so big an issue. Would have to bide his time for a midfield spot with us, would like to have seen him show some positional flexibility for that reason.

Draft talent wrap from Foxsports: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/draft/afl-draft-prospects-2023-order-rankings-west-coast-pick-1-harley-reid-daniel-curtin-koltyn-tholstrup-nate-caddy-stars/news-story/aa4b1bef53fc9c2cf56d3962b8c947f9