Gawndog98

Doesn't surprise me, they were all over Max Holmes as a huge bolter a few years ago, they do have a tendency to reach for bolters. I feel like everyone in the media has Clark to Geelong just because it makes sense geographically and the selwood play style but I haven't seen an actual journo link him to them. Apart from plucking guys from their VFL team they've never really shown a tendency to draft local kids because they know they can just trade for them later down the track.

I mentioned it just before but I believe that consistency has been his biggest knock as a prospect which might be why we question why he might slide as we don't know why his form was so inconsistent. At the under 18 championships his first game vs Vic Metro he was WA's best player however after that he was pretty sub-par without featuring in the match report for any of the other three games. It was a great effort for him to be playing WAFL seniors but saying that his form was up and down without really ever dominating a game, albeit being played a bit out of position at half forward which showed his ability to be flexible but not really impacting much at half forward might be a knock on his ability to contribute outside of being an inside mid. Physical and skill traits are all there, if he can put it all together consistently he will easily be a top 10 player from the draft, it's just that matter of if he can turn around those consistency issues that have plagued him for whatever reason.

Article mentioned he's more in the frame for dees and saints picks in the 30s. It also mentions his draft range will be from late teens to 40s and that Adelaide "may consider" matching a bid if he falls past 40. Doesn't really speak glowingly to him that the club who have watched over him aren't even a certainty to match a bid and the quotes from anonymous recruiters in the article don't seem that impressed with him.

I don't know if he is a flight risk but from my understanding his form has been quite inconsistent all year across WAFL and the under 18 champs. He definitely has some great AFL traits with his explosiveness which he showcased in his great games at both levels but maybe there's questions on his application leading to poor games would be my guess.

Sounds like Gold Coast are locked in with Ginbey at pick 5 (6 after Ashcroft) as he's seen as the prospect with the least go home factor for them. If that rumour is true I wonder if it's Tsatas we're targeting with rumoured speculation of him sliding. Would make sense his outside midfield nature would compliment our inside bulls very well. If we were to move back I'd be okay with it if we were able to nab George. I wouldn't be against taking George with 13 as it is a similar outlook to Jefferson anyway with likely not playing next year. George just looks like that game changer who could become anything, a potential mid/fwd swing with Trac could be devastating. Jefferson's lack of physicality in marking contests and in general really worries me.

Knightmare has no insight into what the clubs are actually thinking, he just selects based off rumours and his own rankings. I have no doubt we would’ve picked Holmes if Geelong didn’t trade up 1 pick in front of us (hence why they did it because we would’ve taken him). Carroll seems to be a miss but was passed on by basically every club until Carlton took him. GWS in that year took some bolters that no one predicted at all.

Interestingly the article mentions that we are very keen on Ed Allen who they have going to West Coast at the pick before us. Doesn't surprise me as we do seem to love a bolter, I wouldn't hate it as he's a raw prospect with high upside similar to Jefferson but don't think he'll get past West Coast as they are desperate to take home grown talent. I think if Jefferson gets past St Kilda he'll probably get to our pick as Blues and Dogs don't need key forwards and West Coast will be taking WA players.

Probably wouldn't even be using that pick we're trading for Hunter, very happy

He's a smooth mover for sure and yep he just qualifies for this draft by about a week I think.

He even moves like Bont. I believe he has the highest ceiling out of anyone in the draft with his combination of contested ball, kicking, decision making, and overhead marking. I find it interesting that the article last week mentioned that we are looking for a top 7 pick, I heard Jason Taylor recently say that he thinks there’s an even group at the top of elite talents and then there’s quite a drop off to an even pool of players. Makes me wonder who those 7 players are if the purpose of a top 7 pick is to guarantee one of those players.

I also agree with this, I think he is too much of an outside player to be worthy of a top 5 pick, I've got concerns about his toughness, ability to win contested ball, kicking, and defensive accountability based on the vision I've seen. That being said he would fill a need on a wing opposite Langdon where he wouldn't be required to win much contested ball with our midfield bulls feeding it out to him. I still would prefer Wardlaw and Clark as midfielders who aren't just midfield bulls, they can also be effective on the outside. I also really like Phillipou who I think has a higher ceiling with his versatility.

This is spot on, I'm expecting the Jackson deal to go down on the last day as we wait for other trades to happen for freo to get the picks required and pies will need to move Grundy before making other deals. I'm actually expecting the Grundy deal to happen pretty early, they will take what they can get and move on.

This is nothing but speculation but this is how I think the Jackson deal will get done: Bowes and Pick 7 get to Geelong (don't know if they give anything back, if so it will be a future pick of some sorts), Geelong split 7 with Freo for Pick 14 and that priority future second they got from North for Logue (this allows Geelong to use those picks to trade Bruhn and Henry), Freo trade 7 and future first to us for Jacko (I suspect we will end up throwing back like a third round pick as well which I am anticipating us having a lot of late picks with the fringe players we could lose). I think the deal will go down on the last day as we will have to wait for other deals to go down but I think it makes sense and serves a purpose to all clubs. With next years predicted strong draft and Freo not locked into make the 8 next year IMO I think the value is basically two top 10 picks which is what the club has not backed down from and I believe is Jackson's worth. Don't know if 7 will be high enough to grab Cadman, i suspect not, I just hope we don't use it on Jefferson. Grundy for a second and we are laughing. Only other move I'd look at is tempting Georgiades but with Grundy on our books i don't think we'd have the cap space for it. Otherwise we are set up even better than last year and get to add two more premium talents over the next few years.

It's hilarious how much Macrae's name gets butchered. In all seriousness we showed the recipe for success in round 9, shut down the source Libba and you beat the dogs.

I was pretty certain Ralphy is a dees supporter, you wouldn't think it though as a lot of his stuff is anti-melbourne. Ralphy constantly gets it wrong with his dees reporting though, the only one that gets reliable information out of Melbourne is Jay Clark.

To me this reeks of Isaac Smith burning us last year holding off for Geelong to finish their finals campaign to come out and nominate them as his club of choice. Can sense Cerra doing a similar thing burning Carlton waiting for us to finish our campaign. If he was set on Carlton he probably would've nominated them by now.

We could easily strike a deal. If Freo are so hell bent on first round picks then: We land a pick in the 20-30's for Weid (Probably from North, GC, or Coll) Package up that pick with our second rounder to send to the dogs for their first (they need points for Darcy) Dogs 1st + Our Future First for Cerra (even though I think that's overs).

The thing is lets say Cerra does nominate Melbourne and that's the only place he says he wants to go. We hold the upper hand, not Freo, he is out of contract. Freo's options are either: a) Accept the reasonable offer that we make b) let him walk for nothing where he likely gets picked up by another club in the national or pre season draft. Players don't get traded to clubs they don't want to go, if he nominates Melbourne, Freo can't just trade him to Carlton for Pick 6, that just doesn't happen. Unfortunately for Freo they have to deal with what we have to offer, that's basically their only option because we have the whip hand. What we have to offer is a future first, a 2nd, probably another 2nd that we get for Weid. 2 of those picks is a reasonable offer that they will have to accept because that's the best return they will get.

He's in the leadership group this year. Brayshaw is a culture-setter you just don't mess with that. He won't be leaving, he's set up in Melbourne with his missus, family, and friends. IMO Cerra is not an upgrade on Brayshaw on the wing, all the defensive stuff and 1%'s Gus brings are invaluable.

He's 10 years too young for Geelong's liking. In all seriousness he's a Melb metro boy he won't be going to Geelong because he wants to be close to family and friends. If he does nominate us Freo is going to be very underwhelmed by what they get. There is a 0% chance Melbourne would entertain at all Brayshaw, Jackson, Rivers unless they very surprisingly requested a trade. A trade would like our future 1st + pick for Weideman (2nd rounder) which I think is absolutely fair value for Cerra but Freo will think otherwise.

I'm sure our Indigenous boys would be thrilled having Tex at the club. There isn't nothing to lose, stuff like that can hurt your culture. I'm interested how Weid has any similarity to Hawkins? Hawkins is a terrific ground level player who as we saw on the weekend can pick the ball up and snap around his body with ease, have you ever seen Weid do anything like that? Hawkins is powerful off the lead which allows him to get to space on his opponent and is extremely smart with where he is leading and his leading patterns like doubling back, when does Weid ever do that? Hawkins is a 1 grab player who knows how to use his body perfectly and is a dead-eye shot at goal, does Weid do that? It's Weideman's 6th AFL season! sometimes you just gotta face the facts he just isn't that skilled a player, I think a fresh start somewhere else would be best for him.

Collingwood still have salary cap issues, especially with Moore and DeGoey being free agents next year so if Maynard did request a trade I can't see there being too much pushback from the pies and small/medium defenders is one of their strongest positions on the ground. That being said though I rate Maynard extremely highly, I view him as a top 3 negating small/medium defender in the comp who can also find the footy with ease and use it well, I'd be more than happy to give up our future 1st for him would be a deal that benefits both clubs, gotta remember he's only 24! I rate Weideman much less than others on here I just don't see his ceiling: he doesn't have a ground level game, he's an inconsistent mark, and an inconsistent shot at goal, I'd be more than happy to let him go in any deal that benefits our best 22. I'd offer them Weideman + Future 1st for Maynard + Sidebottom, which I think greatly benefits both clubs.

Maynard slots into the backline = Rivers becomes your mid with great run, carry, and ball use (I'd be using him on the inside though). Solves both our problems.

There's a good reason why Polec isn't getting a game for the 18th placed side, it's because he's an absolute liability defensively. He's the definition of a 1-way runner who isn't prepared to adopt a team focus. People significantly underrate the work Gus does defensively on the wing for us, yeah he's not flashy but he plays his role very well. It's really hard to bring in elite ball users through the trade period because if they are established players they require a lot of money (which we don't have) or they are unproven with significant other deficiencies (generally defence) in their game. Players like Dawson and Cerra would be beautiful but we will most likely be priced out of their market unless we unload one of our good players. Stephens or Richards would be worth taking a flier on but you wouldn't want to be giving up much to take the risk. Stephens could make a decent wingman, similar to Amon but why he's not getting a game at Sydney because of his defence. Richards is a similar player to Hunt who has been played out of position a lot, he'd best be suited to a half back flank. He's a much better kick than Hunt but is as soft as butter. Bailey Smith is an interesting one, I disagree with those calling him soft, he's usually pretty hard at it when given a chance to play inside mid which is his best position, but that's the problem is the opportunity for him. It's not like Bont, Macrae, Dunkley, Libba, Treloar are that old he's still going to be stuck behind them for opportunity for at least the next few years. I think in time if he got full inside mid opportunity he could be a top 10 mid in the comp where he'd be better off to get that opportunity elsewhere but even if he did request a trade I couldn't see the dogs entertaining any offers like with Dunkley last year.

Second Duggan, he'd be absolutely perfect and still out of contract. The other one for West Coast is Brander who could be handy key position depth if Weid goes but don't really know how good he is/how good he could be. On Rivers moving to a wing next year I'm not sure about it. You have to have a big endurance base to play wing, not sure if Rivers has that (yet at least). Instead I'd prefer to move Rivers to an inside mid. He has that long booming, accurate kick which would add a real point of difference to our midfield that it doesn't have, he's also a big body with a bit of speed who has crafted a nice defensive side to his game and is a really strong mark around the ground. A while back someone made a comparison of Rivers to Elliot Yeo which I think is absolutely spot on except I think Rivers would have a better defensive side to his game. In Riv's second half of his under-18 year he moved into an inside mid role for East Fremantle where he averaged close to 30 touches, multiple tackles, multiple clearances, and over a goal a game so I believe he has the capacity to thrive in that role. On Bowey not sure if he has the endurance either to play wing and I really like him at half back where he breaks lines with his kicking. The nature of the wing position is that some days the ball will be on your wing a lot and other days it won't be on your wing much. I actually reckon Gus has done a really, really good job this year on the wing where he has done a lot of unrewarded defensive running that has been vital to our structure and success. Is he the perfect winger? No, he doesn't have line breaking pace, an elite kick, or elite endurance. Does he play his role well? Yes he does, he has great spatial awareness or shutting down opposition attacks and is just solid when you need him. We already have a close to perfect wingman in Langdon on one wing, it would be nice to have 2 perfect wingman but in reality they will have days when they get don't much of the footy. Dylan Stephens might be worth looking at to play on the wing but does he offer the defensive side to the game Gus offers on a wing? Not sure, but his small frame limits that, I certainly wouldn't be giving up anything more than one of our second rounders. Trent Dumont is a free agent, he could maybe play the wing role but is he better than Gus? The other option could be Steele Sidebottom for a few years who does have elite endurance but is probably the same pace as Gus now. Personally I'd just rather stick with Gus, and I think Jordan could develop into a really nice winger. Down the track Rosman could potentially but I have serious doubts (he's an athlete not a footballer). I'd rather allocate my trade targets elsewhere and for me our biggest need is a small/medium defensive defender to replace Hibberd, where Maynard is the perfect option. He should be our number one target as Rivers could then move into the inside midfield too with your defence consisting of Maynard, Hunt, Salem, Bowey.