Go Ds

Not really. But what are you trying to say? It's a town of about 3000 nearish to Wangaratta. I found that online plus directions (as would you). Obviously the venue was not chosen for the fans but I'm sure the training ground etc will be perfectly fine. Of course just about ever player will get to really know the new coach this week (plus quite a few players are new too). Unlike the unfortunate stuff Goody said about love last summer I don't want to hear it yet. But i'd love to hear in hindsight how this camp helped knock us back into orbit and onto that GF win at the G (later than we expected post-21, but faster than we thought post-25.)

If you really want you could do ladder predictions for 2030. But what's the point? Some of our recruits may not even have met all the players and staff.

I must admit while it'd be an honour for a player to get former superstars' number (regardless of why they left) I too would rather see those numbers rested at least next year. Also while being assigned a single-digit number would be cool again I agree with the idea of Langford, as one example, sticking to #19. But why, oh why, are big numbers so bad? I don't get how a number like 16 is good but reversed 61 is some kind of insult. We're not talking about football boots or a weights program either of which might affect a player's form. There are potentially 99 numbers available - using more of them makes it easy at times to rest numbers and/ or reserve some so that Gawn's 11 or Robbie Flower's 2 isn't just handed to the rookie list champion under-18s rollerblader who could be anything, but probably nothing. How cool would it be if some player took number 53 or 72 or 97 and a few years later are a much loved and well above average player and even for a few years after "Willow Jans-Heston" finishes on 286 games his number 97 is still seen on the jumpers of Demons supporters (or Swan or Bulldogs or whichever)? Unlike nearly any other number 97 would automatically be associated with this player for AFL fans, and some of the general public. I'd love it if a rookie decided to be different and made a high number something. Xavier Taylor for #79! 🙂

Are you claiming Matthews or especially Pickett were awful picks?!! While I agree being feel good is not THE reason to pick someone it can be A reason. I suspect this past week it was the latter.

More like a lottery; having pick #1 is like 50 tickets and #2 maybe 30 and #60 maybe 1. Hindsight is often infuriating. Remember that nearly every player drafted after maybe #25 was missed by EVERY team. Admittedly sometimes clubs choose a player later in the draft cos they know/expect no one else has rated him this highly. But overall, champions have been missed by every club numerous times.

Never forget the news cycle is 24/7 now. These days I even seem to hear when some dude who was in a set of ads decades ago has died (or maybe for some okay racehorse dying .) It's a new world.

Yes, but an article about the draft would just one of many a journo would write each year. Recruiters just have to spend probably hundreds of hours doing their research and establishing relationships with potential draftees. No journo would spend more than a few hours doing their research, and no family would spend extra hours also meeting with random journos.

Yep, and it's funny how each club has multiple professionals with years of combined recruiting experience, every imaginable measurement and meaningful conversations with the candidates to make decisions which could be the difference of a threepeat vs barely reaching finals for years . BUT their painstaking efforts get reduced to a quick write-up by some twenty-something , who also does articles on netball and soccer and barely has 1% of the info or insight the recruiters had. Somehow we're to believe said journo knows better than the experts - take this as a given(!!!)

I'm sure most people take these things with a grain of salt, especially given a list of likely lads can end up listless, lacklustre duds. But even then does the rating focus on getting early picks OR making the most out of a team's high or low picks? I suspect we did quite well. But if we were marked down for not having #1,2,4, 16 and 23 who cares?

😂 I've already seen some funny misspellings of Brody's surname. But if you remember... I Hate Our Collingwood Enemy FOR THE MIDDLE LETTERS ...you should be right.

...and if ever someone makes it to 200 a Ponsford would be fitting. 😂

I wasnt taking anyone to task. I like the story. I just know there's a huge amount of stuff I don't know and that possibly I missed something about the draft process. There was no vitriol in my post.

Why the aggression? Why the misrepresentation?! You do understand what the 'thumbs up' icons mean? 😯

Umm, once we took XT , with the very next pick, wasn't it already too late for any other club to 'intercept'? Certainly if the enemy saw Kosi's face at #5 they could have 'stolen' LSP. But surely not once we had the floor for our own consecutive 'Tracc' picks. No?

Nah! First clause in his contract mentioned this.

Or Dental - short for Transcendental Meditation. Also if he becomes a star 'Tommy-Leigh ' would be amusing.

Well the paternity report said no and in all honesty my memory is not too shabby. Though at times I have to think whether we have a Sparrow or a Swallow.

Which could be misremembered as Matt Tom? Admittedly this is a first-world problem. I'm sure Hawthorn fans weren't calling the future star Matthew Lee once he started making his mark.

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..... EDIT: Tomato is clever but it's too mundane. Maybe Sauce, Hazmat or, how about, Apostle?

And if another team suddenly picked him in the late 50s we miss the boat? (As an academy player could GC have had first dibs to match the bid?)

Okay, so how good is he? No team rated him good enough to pick him in the main draft? Are we excited about him just cos he'd be a F/S pick? Wasn't he a Gold Coast Academy player? They didn't take him either. I feel like I've missed an essential piece of the puzzle. Is he no good or have DL overrated him?

Umm, what happened to Kalani White? We didn't pick him? Was he not nominated for this draft?

Yep! I remember footage showing, mainly handballs, which seemingly proved an almost psychic connection the Krakouers had on field. It was almost like one could well have been blindfolded yet somehow found the other in space, setting up goals. No pressure .... but imagine if the two Pickets wow us with anything remotely similar. We're halfway there! 🙂

Yeah. I have my doubts. But somthing tells me Pickett is a calculated risk. Clubs do this kind of thing all the time; resting players, tagging, consigning an older player to VFL to blood a younger player, changing playing styles which short-term make a team underachieve etc It's not like we've picked the 723rd best draft prospect. I think we need to have faith the club know what they're doing. I wouldn't be surprised if many players and staff have not enjoyed their work/workplace for the last year or two. Not only will Kosi be happier next season but quite possibly so will the other indigenous players be. This all could rub off on the whole team and staff and happier people tend to perform better. And if Pickett #2 becomes a regular best-23 player what's to say we don't end up getting someone like a Stengle or Bobby Hill-type trade and we look back and laugh at the current doubts and how monumentally astute this risk was.