Lord Travis

There’s also Weideman, Tholstrup and Jefferson. JT is good, but he isn’t perfect.

Rated in the 30s. That’s by media and draft pundits though, clubs could see it differently. If we’re interested at 7 or 8 then we obviously see something special in him. He’s a half forward who has pushed up the wing. Point of difference is good kicking skills and ability to connect. Can see the appeal but also think there’s other more talented players at our pick range.

Expanding the finals series to 10 teams just further rewards mediocrity. AFL sees $$$. The fans lose interest. They should be doing the opposite and cutting finals series back down to 6 teams. Only the best teams should earn the right to compete for the premiership. It's basically impossible to see a team winning it from 9th or 10, so what's the point?

What position would he play at AFL level? 191cms and not a super solid May type unit, so wouldn't be a key defender. He projects as a third tall intercept type like Lever? Might be a bit of a tweener if he doesn't grow taller.

He's a competitive beast and the best inside midfielder in this draft. His kicking is decent too. He is not quick, but for his role his speed is fine. He's a similar player to Tom Green. He projects as a future captain and is a big game player. When the whips are cracking, he goes and tears the game apart. He'd be like Gus Brayshaw was for our culture and leadership. The media and uneducated footy watchers can go on about speed and the "modern game", but reality is contest will always be king. When pressure goes up in finals, it becomes a scrap. Recent premierships and finals have been won by the team that controls the contest and clearances. The Brownlow is won every year by the best inside midfielder because they have a big impact on the outcome of games. Gotta get the ball before you can move it. Sharp will have a long AFL career and possibly be the best player from this draft. If he is available at our pick, we should take him as a long term inside bull to replace Viney and Steele properly in a few years. With midfield balance, he'd allow Langford to play both inside, outside, and forward using his brilliant kicking and marking skills. He would feed the likes of Kozzy, Windsor, Rivers etc to use pace and skill on the outside.

As for the draft, a few phantoms have Dylan Sharp falling to our pick. That would be awesome if it played out and he’d be a direct replacement for Oliver but with leadership and a good head on his shoulders. Fingers crossed as he’ll be an elite midfielder, even if he is very inside.

Correction: 39 disposals and TWO goals. He equaled the record for most disposals ever in a grand final. He won a Norm Smith medal in dominant fashion and was good across every quarter. I know some people don’t like Trac, but let’s not rewrite history and downplay how incredible he was as a player. If his Norm Smith winning performance is deemed no good or not four quarters of footy, then no living Melbourne player is worthy of our respect sadly 🤪

I agree. I’ll never call him the Wizard. He remains Watson to me. Good player but the real Wizard was just special and worthy of the moniker.

What about the four other finals where he was one of the most impactful players on the ground including a BOG performance? How impact in finals the last two years are a major reason that small forward are now so in demand by all teams. He’s kicked more goals than any Melbourne player in finals this decade bar peak Frisch and Gawn in 2021 in 60+ point thumpings… You’re living in an alternate reality. Watson is the opposite of a dud, and if Dovaston winds up similar then he’ll have a long and successful career, hopefully with us.

Probably the wrong player to use as an example. He's the perfect example of why we SHOULD take Dovaston, as they're very similar players. Watson is only 19 and has already had an impact in finals. His finals last year were huge, close to BOG in both of them with 4 goals and 3 goals. He also had a big semi final this year where he kicked 2 goals 4 points - if he'd kicked straighter he could've had a bag and another BOG type performance. Small forwards have a big impact on the outcome of finals. It's key forwards who are usually hit and miss and rarely have influence.

If we took him with one of our two top ten picks, we'd need to be very very sure he had the work ethic and discipline to transition to AFL requirements. He's a mature age player who went undrafted the previous two drafts. He was on port's NGA, so they got a good look at him and didn't even bother taking him as a freebie rookie. I know some mature late, but I doubt an elite talent would float by and not get drafted for years. If he's there at our pick 37, sure you'd take the risk. Picks 7 & 8 need to be guaranteed 200+ game players, and hopefully stars. I don't see that with Latrelle, and there are other more proven small forwards who have stronger athletic attributes. If his surname wasn't Pickett, I doubt he'd be getting any attention.

If we want another potential elite small forward in this draft, then it's most likely him. He's being mentioned because he's got great attributes and has proven himself above all others. And yes he's a small forward, but also had good impact up the ground as a connector through the midfield, so has versatility. Leading goal scorer. All Australian small forward. Elite testing. He's a great talent and will definitely be taken by a club in the first round, just a matter of if it's us or not.

Fingers crossed he becomes a Demon. He's exactly what we need and small forwards are just about the most impactful position in the game right now. Kozzie is elite, but as he spends more time up the ground, we need more quality small forward options who hit the scoreboard regularly. Dovaston would add that and has played well further up the ground as a connector too. they'd form a great tag team down the track rooting mid/forward. Other small options like Chandler aren't damaging enough when they only manage to kick 0.7 goals a game year after year. We need more firepower. Dovaston is a high goal scorer, adds defensive pressure, has absolutely elite agility (best in draft class and fourth best ever tested), has good pace, great leap (fourth best in draft class), and importantly has mongrel in him so despite his small size he gets stuck in. Perfect for the modern game. Make him a Dee!

That is a horrendous looking ball drop!

Feels like Cumming will be around out pick and we’ll be keen. He’s a quick mid forward who can impact early in his career. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him and Dovaston as our two early picks. Would add lots of forward half speed, skill, scoring potential, and defensive pressure, with pure midfield scope down the track.

Wrong. Unsure if you’re a liar or troll. We were 5th on the ladder nearing the midway point of 2024. When Trac got injured we plummeted down the ladder to 14th. I know people dislike him, but no point lying or making up rubbish to slander his ability and impact on our team onfield. He was still a star and we were a far worse team without him.

He's an inflammatory shock jockey, but in this case he's 100% right. We're seeing rule changes to counter-act the failure of previous rule changes. These rules are basically all objectively bad and will cause further confusion to an already over-officiated sport with too many interpretations on what should just be clear rules. It's a sad state of affairs when games are deciding by unclear umpiring decisions on a weekly basis, and the media wind up discussing poor umpiring more than the sport itself. Well said by Kane. Sucks having to agree with him when he's right!

Agree with this and have been saying he's a smokey for us. He looks more dynamic and versatile than Lindsay for mine and really came on as the year progressed. Lindsay is a better pure kick, but Oskar seems to have a better balance for taking the game on with both run and carry, kicking and hand balling forward. Lindsay stops, props, and looks for kick every time. Oskar was also the fastest over 20m at the combine, and second behind Dovaston for agility, so he's got an incredible athletic profile. Can see us calling him out with one of our two picks for sure. Questions marks over his contested ability, like Lindsay, but seems to have more scope for positional versatility and to fit the model game.

They're nearly all bad rules changes and continue a long line of the AFL changing the rules every year at the detriment of the sport. The average football watcher can no longer watch a match and understand all the rules. They should be removing rules, not further complicating them. My thoughts on the 2026 rule changes below. Goal square starting position - Will make no difference on matches. We already have 6-6-6 in place, which disarms coaches of strategic options and increases congestion as it essentially forces player to man up and causes clustering. 6-6-6 sucks. This doesn't change or improve that. Last disposal - This will be an unpopular rule and the average football watcher will not understand how this gets officiated. I can see this going a few different ways. It could encourage teams to play more attacking through the corridor and avoid risk of handing ball over via free kick. The AFL want this and are trying to force this. On the flip side, and IMO more likely, teams will play slower and go more keeping off. Coaches are more about limiting risk than taking risk. I believe this rule will have the opposite effect than intended (as always) for this reason. Centre ball contests - Removing the bounce removed the unpredictable nature of a bouncing oval ball. Couple it with this rule change and you get the rise of athletic jumping ruckman again. I don't ind this rule change, but would've preferred the bounce remain. Align kick-in time - Will have no difference on the game other than causing minor confusion with a perceived early play-on call a few times a year. Ruck nominations - Good rule change in theory, but of course they stuffed it up by adding the "ball must hit the ground before play on called" bit. Ruck nominations are stupid, but if there is no big ruckman at the contest and a player takes it out of the air they are penalised with a free kick. We'll have this scenario where a bunch of players stand there watching the ball just get thrown up and fall to the ground before they can pounce on it. Stupid. Should've just left it as no nomination required. Shrugging in tackle as prior opportunity - This one is horrific going to ruin matches. Umpires can't even officiate holding the ball, insufficient attempt to dispose etc. Why add another layer to the confusion, and also one that is even harder to see? A player could get tackled immediately, the force of the tackle moves their arm/shoulder, and the umpire sees the movement and deem they tried to shrug and pay a free kick against. This rule change will be discussed every week in the media as it ruins games. They need to simplify, not further complicate, holding the ball. Stand - Bad change. Being firmer with the stand zone and rule will cause more stupid looking free kicks where the offending player is not impacting the contest at all. They should get rid of the stand rule, not double down on it. It has not aided cleaner ball movement, and as always coaches work to exploit it because it's a bad rule specifically designed to disarm players instead of enforce a smart of fair contest.

They agreed to be delisted so they can be re-listed on the rookie list of their respective teams. They already have arrangements in place. It's a stupid system which allows the club to get $100,000 of their contract off the books and free up a list spot for the draft. Unless we have engaged them and played sneaky buggers like a Hugh Greenwood scenario, there's no chance we'll get them.

Couldn’t make the transition to midfield this year, so appears limited to a half back rebounder role. Struggles with contest. Great kick but very outside. Limits his scope compared to others as he’ll have less time to get those nice kicks off and be under more physical pressure.

Not at pick 7-8 we wouldn't. He was part of Port Adelaide's NGA last year. They passed on him and he went undrafted. He's kicked a few goals recently, but he's a mature ager now and wouldn't be near a top 20 pick if it wasn't such a weak draft. If he's there at 37 maybe, but zero chance at pick 7 or 8. Oskar Taylor looks a smokey to me.

My thoughts also. The ability to win enough of your own contested ball is one of the most accurate measures of success at AFL level. There used to be a magic statistic that you needed to be above 30% contested possession rate or you could not make it at AFL level. Even outside running wingmen like Ed Langdon are above this mark. Highly rated players like Toumpas, Morton, O'Rourke, Tsatas etc were taken right at the top of the draft due to their skill and accumulation at an underage level. They all had low contested possession and tackle rate and won nearly all their disposals uncontested on the outside. When they took the step to AFL level, they were no longer afforded the same time or lack of physical pressure and therefore did not become the projected stars or even average AFL players. Lindsey looks like this to me. His game is described as "friendly". He's a brilliant kick, has great vision, but is very outside. He's fed the ball in the backline and not shown at ability to adjust through the midfield to a more 360 degree game and to handle pressure and physicality. His weaknesses are listed as contest, leg speed, defensive work. Those are some glaring attributes required to make it at AFL level. Leg speed you can compensate for. Inability to handle and apply physical pressure you cannot. Even with the more free flowing modern game, contest and clearances dictated the outcome of this finals series yet again. When the pressure ramps up, you need to be able to handle it. For mine, I'd be hoping we draft someone who can become an elite midfielder, not a designated kick out player. For this reason, I'm hopeful of players like Grlj, Oskar Taylor, and others similar.

He won't make it to our pick. He won't get past Essendon and Richmond. We'll need to trade up to get him and IMO the price to trade up is too high. Better taking two good kids with 7+8 than taking one great and one average.

I reckon this is pretty bang on too. Keen on Dovaston especially. Small forwards are the most important part of any forward line in the modern game, and the previous few premierships have been won by teams with elite small forwards. Dovaston has elite agility, will apply pressure and be a pest, and hit the scoreboard. He's a bit of a Nick Watson and Kozzie hybrid, though less mercurial than Kozzie. Very similar to Watson who we were keen on. If we can draft him, he'd form a dangerous partnership with Kozzie. Over time they could rotate midfield and forward, which Kozzie more midfield and Dovaston more forward. Grilj's speed appeals. Great 2km time too, so has the endurance to keep doing it all game.