sylvinator

Good to hear. The truth is that if I wrote down my best 22, Jones would only be on the bench. Others might not even have him in the team. HOWEVER, he will be a really important player for us over the next 2 years. Our future midfield includes Scully, Trengove, Mckenzie, Gysberts, Tapscott, Grimes and Blease. All teenagers atm. They are not ready to have their bodies pummelled week in week out. Jones is a warrior, he'll play some great games over the next 2 years, but i think we all know he MIGHT one day be overtaken by slightly more talented players. With Junior retiring, Jones is going to have step up big time as the inside player, and I know he'll do a great job. He's definitely earned his contract and I expect him to play all 22 weeks next year.

He's on the move ... Grigg requests a Trade. I personally think our recruiting staff have identified a skillful half back flanker as a target of ours at the draft (along with a tall forward), and here's a talented 22 yr old who could come in and be a great contributor from round 1 next year. What would people give up for him? IMO, He's probably worth a pick between 16-22, considering his age, talent and the fact he was originally drafted at pick 18 (I believe). Pick 12 too much, pick 32 not enough ... what can we give to get him? Do we even want him?

I agree. Incredibl7, only 3 KP players were drafted in the top 20 last year. Butcher @ 8, Tahlia @ 13 and Griffiths @ 19. All 3 are lightyears away from consistent football, assuming any of them get to that level anyways. If we would have drafted a tall in the first round last year we would have been paying way over the odds. I'm very happy with Gysberts and Tapscott. To put that into perspective: 2006 draft had 12 talls in the top 20 (incredible draft for talls, including Frawley, JReiwoldt, B.Reid, N.Brown, Gumby, Hansen, Leunberger) 2007 draft had 9 talls in the top 20 2008 draft had 9 talls in the top 20 2009 draft had 3 talls in the top 20 Conclusion- last year's draft had dud talls. We were right to take 4 midfielders, and our midfield will benefit big time in a couple of years. I also definitely agree that the players we are interviewing is indicative of the types of players we are looking for draft. Our 2 major needs from this draft are: 1. a genuine key forward to add to Watts & Jurrah (Lynch, Cook & Darling the 3 obvious options) 2. a classy half back flanker with good kicking skills and good defensive skills (we have the talls in defence, we are currently playing Bruce and Grimes. Bruce won't go on forever, Grimes needs to be released in the midfield, and other options like Cheney and Strauss aren't much chop. Billy Smedts or Heppel are the 2 most obvious options)

We have signed up all of our really important players, the only ones left are more peripheral to our future teams success. In retrospect, signing Frawley up to a 4 years deal mid year could be the best move we've made in years. We've certainly got him signed up under market value, considering in 4 years time, when he comes out of contract again, he'll certainly have 4 All Australians under his belt

Is Geelong's dynasty over? YES. They can cry themselves to sleep knowing they have 2 premierships, 4 dominant years, and have been the most successful team of the past decade (source= Cam Schwab, Whiteboard wednesday week 27). If we won made finals 2011, top 4 2012, premierships 2013&2014, I'd be happy to come bottom 4 every year for the following 8 years.

I'd take Davey over Maric. I feel that some people are underrating Alwyn. Most of my close mates are bomber supporters and they know their footy and i've asked them about him. They are think he's a game breaker, who's had some troubles coming back from his knee reco in 2009, but is still a very good player. From the games i've watched Alwyn, i agree. He has some really nice skills, and is still super fast. I'm not saying Alwyn is a gun, nor do i think he should be a massive trade target of ours... but he would be a useful player as a speedy forward pocket teaming up with Wona, he would release Bennel to the wing/midfield/half back, and if he really wants to come the demons we should facilitate a trade. He won't be expensive. For me, Maric is a nothing player. Was drafting at 21 (not very high) 3 years ago supposedly as a sharp shooting forward pocket. He is not a sharp shooter, he doesn't have genuine goal sense (rarely kicks more than 1 goal), and has played mostly as a high half forward the last 2 years, with not much success. I doubt he'll have a breakout season next year, and i wouldn't be surprised to see him delisted in the next few yrs. I see no reason why we shouldn't offload maric is a suitable trade arises.

Just curious, if Jones does leave, what would our compo be? I presume it would be a pick after the first round, like Brown, Bock n Habrow. I remember hearing that if the player was drafted in the last 4 years, their draft pick (pick 12 in Jones' case) would be taken into consideration. Does Jones qualify for this? If so could we get a first rounder?

Wow Tom has grown to 199.1cm, super agile, great skills, great mark. My wish for him slipping to pick 12 are growing fainter by the minute. Darling and Cook closely behind

haha this site is completely out of control with all these rumours connecting our great club to crap players. I love the silly season!

The big one for Darling will be his height. If he is listed as 189-191cm, he will probably go in the draft between 10-20. However, if he comes in at 192+cm, he will almost certainly be a top 10 pick. It might only be a 2-3cm difference, however there is a general belief that 190cm and less is too short for key position. I think it will be similar to last year with NicNat. NicNat was originally thought to be 196cm, people were concerned he'd be too short for a ruckman, there were some suggesting he'd slip to somewhere between pick 4-8. When he came through as 202cm, it made a big difference, and from that point on he was a certainty as pick 1 or pick 2 (ended up pick 2).

If true, Thompson's a massive rat for putting so much pressure on Ablett, speaking all high and mighty about loyalty, and then ditching Geelong just as times start getting a little tougher

unnecessary risk by Hird imo. He should have taken a few years to learn how to coach, do an apprenticeship under someone, and he'd be guaranteed a coaching position in a few years. Wouldn't want to fail, be sacked in 2-4 years and be tainted forever more. Still, he's hugely popular, a much loved son of Essendon, and they will automatically get 15,000 more members next year as a result, and probably 5-10,000 more at every game. Bomber supporters are obsessed with the great man.

A really good defensive forward, who has to make the oppositions best rebounder accountable is invaluable

I think Jack should make the move to the midfield next year. I believe he has been used in defence out of necessity, however with the Frawley and Garland becoming better rebounders, and Bruce, Bail, McDonald and even Bennel as options, its time to move Grimes to where he will have the biggest and most positive impact. His defensive skills will also be useful in the midfield. Look at all the premiership/grand final teams of recent times. They've all had 3-4 elite runners. Collingwood (Pendles, Swan, Didak, Thomas), StKilda (Montagna, DalSanto, Hayes, Goddard). Our midfield stars could be: Scully, Trengove, Grimes. Add in Gysberts, Tapscott, Gysberts, Blease surrounding them...

I think the best way forward is to draft our own, taking the same approach that has gonna us this far. In my opinion, there are 3 tall forwards who would suit us, all of whom are rated between pick 5-15. One should hopefully slip to pick 12, since 5 of the top 10 will definitely be Swallow, Bennel, Day, Heppel and Gorringe. That leaves 6 more players to be taken before our pick 12, and there are several other very highly rated midfielders who will be picked up probably top 10, including Gaff, Atley, Polec, Prestia and Smedts. 1. Lucas Cook (North Ballarat Rebels, Vic) 194 2. Jack Darling (West Perth, WA) 191 3. Tom Lynch (Dandenong Stingrays, Vic) 196 These are the guys we should be targeting. If we draft one of these 3 to add to Watts, Jurrah, Petterd, Green etc, we will have stockpiled enough forward talent to move us forward

2 points 1. Considering we have the All Australian ruckman, who played 95% of game time in the ruck this year, do you now think they're going to change Jamar's role to 50% in the ruck. I would imagine, given Jamar's success, he would still ruck 80% of the time 2. Bailey has specifically said we are on the look out for a big forward. Hale is 200cm who plays predominantly forward. If we trade for Hale it is pretty clear we are doing it in the hope he'll be a big bodied forward. conclusion: Hale's role will be as a forward/ruckman, not a 50/50 role with Jamar

And just to be clear, if we did get Hale, he might play a few decent games for us, and play a nice role in the team. But i'm sick of mediocrity, and band aid solutions. If we want to move forward into finals, top 4 and ultimately premiership, Hale is not the answer. The last 3 years we've had a really great vision of how to get the best talent from across Australia, I believe we should continue down that path and this would be a diversion.

If we chase Hale, it will be the ultimate 'bandaid solution'. We want a 200cm forward who can do ruck relief. Yes Hale is technically that, but he's not a particularly good footballer. This will be similar to recruiting Ben Holland for pick 20 or Paul Johnson for pick 30. Sure they are decent players who fill a void in the team, but they aren't great footballers so they don't take your team forward. I'd be a bit disappointed if we went for Hale. Up til now our recruiting processes have been about getting top end talent at all costs- as many top draft picks as possible to give ourselves the best possible chance to achieve the ultimate success. If we want a 200cm forward/ruck, we either need to use pick 12 (Lycett? Gorringe?) or go for a really good one that can take our team forward (Mitch Clarke? Dean Cox?) Hale for me represented mediocrity and a removal from our current strategy which i've greatly respected.

Good idea, but would be very expensive, and tough to outbid other clubs and the Suns Was a top 10 draft pick, is rated very highly by StKilda, is still very young and improving, probably rated by all AFL clubs.

Because of the nature of Ruckman (they don't all make it and they take years to develop), i don't think its a bad thing to have a few developing ruckman on the list, especially when 2 of them can develop whilst on our rookie list. If only to hedge our bets. Jamar is very good, PJ is a dud, which means we currently have 3 developing ruckman on our list (Spenser ®, Fitzpatrick and Gawn). It wouldn't hurt to recruit another ruckman onto our rookie list, with lots of rookie list spots opening up this year. I wouldn't be surprised if we even recruited another ruckman in the national draft if Lycett or Gorringe are available are pick 12. If we have a few developing ruckman, we can hope that 1 of them develops and becomes a dominant ruckman. If we are lucky to get 2 or 3 to develop nicely, ruckman have enourmous trade value

We did awesome out of that 2006 draft btw, but using the 'super draft' of 2006. Players who have been disappointments, considering their draft position and that they're had a few years at afl level by now - Mitch Thorp- pick 6 - Arjet Everitt- pick 11 - James Seller- pick 14 - Daniel O'keefe- pick 15 - Mitch Brown- pick 16 - Shaun Hampson- pick 17 - Leroy Jetta- pick 18 - Tom Hislop- pick 20 - Albert Proud- pick 22 - Nathan Djekurra pick 25 - Shane Edwards- pick 26 - Brad Howard- pick 27 - Eric McKenzie- pick 29 - Clayton Collard- pick 31 - Jaryn Morton- pick 33 - Mark Austin- pick 35 ... i could go on but the lower picks have even a higher failure rate. Other top 30 players who have shown some fleeting signs, but not consistently at all - Fumbleton- pick 2 - Hanson- pick 3 - Nathan Brown- pick 10 - Shaun Grigg- pick 19 - Paul Stewert- pick 23 - Brent Renouf- pick 24 That's 22 out of the top 35 i've mentioned. The draft is, and always will be, somewhat of a lottery, especially once you get out of the first round. No draft pick is a certainty (though top 3 picks you can be pretty sure), especially not pick 30. I only raise this point bc i'm curious as to how anyone would reject Rich for pick 30.

People have been saying its a strong batch of kids, but it is not considered a 'super draft'. Besides which, even in the super drafts of the past, at least 50% of the 2nd rounders don't make it, and that's being conservative. It is a weakened draft for 2 reasons. Like u said GC17 had access to 10 of the best of last years 17 yr olds, while GWS has the same access to this years 17 yr olds. Also, 2 of the top 15 players of this year's draft (Wallis and Liberatore) are off-limits bc they are father son picks. I find it quite remarkable that some people on this website wouldn't trade pick 30 for Daniel Rich. What an absurd option. If any club in the afl, in fact i'd go as far as to assume 99.9% of football fans out there, would take that deal, laughing all the way to the bank.

Anyone who wouldn't trade pick 30 for Daniel Rich doesn't watch footy. His kicking skills are the best in the afl. he's a weapon. When he builds his endurance (inevitable after a few years in the afl) and learns how to deal with the regular tag a little better, he'll be a fine player for many years to come.

rich will be a gun for many years. His kicking skills would be a huge asset for any team he plays for. He can kick the ball like a bullet 65m easily onto the chest of a leading forward. If he learns to break a tag, and gets the ball 25 times a game, he could become elite

Remember this is crazy Vossy we're talking about. anything is possible. thank god our coach and football department have had a carefully planned approach to recruiting that has taken several years. I'd be so mad if our football department took such a short-sighted and chaotic view of recruiting and list management