Lord Travis

Agreed. On your bolded points, Sharps hand balling in close is good and sets up team mates too. He is the best inside ball winner in this draft and made a lot of the other draftees look soft and hopeless. He's also a decent kick like the others you noted above. He always moves the ball on quickly and usually kicks to a lead or space rather than blindly bombing long. It's why I'm so hopeful he'll slide to our pick, as other than not being blessed with foot speed, he's a well rounded as you can get for this type of midfielder that will never go out of style.

They'll play different roles at AFL level. Sharp will likely be a dedicated inside ball winner who rests forward ala Cripps. Langford is a balanced midfielder who can play wing, half forward, deep forward or where ever he's needed. I view him as a Bont type. When they're flanked by guys like Kozzie, Windsor, Rivers, Lindsey etc I don't think it's an issue, but more a strength. Imagine Sharp feeding guys like Kozzie and Windsor bursting away from stoppages or feeding out to Langford and Lindsey to use their kicking skills. It's enticing. The whole "modern game" thing is overdone by the media too. Finals and premierships come down to clearances and contested ball. Fact. Look at the most recent grand final as an example. The Cats actually won the turnover game. Disposal efficiency was even. inside 50s were close. The key stat that determined the game was Brisbane spanking them in clearances. Clearances just determined a premiership, yet people go on about the "modern game" and speed and inside ball winners not being relevant anymore. Look at the Brownlow winners for the last years: Rowell Cripps Neale Cripps Wines Neale What do they all have in common? They're all inside ball winners, and they're all impacting matches more than others. Sharp has leadership capabilities too. He's a safe a bet to be a good AFL player as there is in this draft, and as much potential as any other draftee to be elite. 100%.

Nothing of note, though was quite firm on now trading picks and going in with 7&8. Very relaxed as always. Was probed about the same names we've been hearing and talked up Farrow and Nairn when asked. When they asked about midfield options he mentioned Robey and Cumming immediately before rolling into the other touted names, so think he rates them the most but feels they won't make it to us. Also said we've added to midfield the past few years but we've just lost champion midfielders also... No idea who we take based on that interview.

It's all speculation and I'm no expert, but they'd be big draft winners for mine if they got those three. I rate all three of them higher than both Farrow and Nairn, and reckon Sharp and X Taylor are the two best players in the draft.

Take Sharp without a second thought and ask the AFL if we can re-do the pick before it. Sharp is possibly the safest player in the whole draft. He’s the best inside mid and will play midfield and forward at top level. If he slides to one of our picks then we’ve basically won the draft.

A few, but generally not in the first round! Most top draftees who play senior footy get a decent run in the VFL, WAFL or SANFL seniors. They usually show a bit too. Harley Reid for example played a few VFL games for Carlton from memory, and was superb across half back. Langford had a few great quarters for Tigers VFL team last year. We'll see in a few nights if the Pickett chatter is legit or not, but on form it's a bit nuts he's potentially going to first round...

Would be stoked if Taylor slid to us. He looks certain to make it as at least a good AFL player. Nairn doesn't excite me at all though. The supposed interest from us with a top ten pick baffles me. Not against a bolder, but I don't see attributes worth stumping up a premium pick. Players like Sharp or Cumming look far more desirable and bankable to be good players for us. Fingers crossed for a Taylor and Sharp double.

No. He doesn't have that explosive power or star attributes IMO. A player like Harley Reid could become a Dusty/Petracca style mid-forward who rips games apart. Duursma is great in the air and has a good leap, mostly excelled playing as a third tall IMO. He's tall utlity, but I'm not sure he's got the grunt or scope to become an elite midfielder as you'd want from a number 1 pick like him. Best position might be an issue for him at AFL level, and I don't think he'll be a star like you'd hope from a. number 1 pick. This is true, and he's similar in nature, though bigger and more athletic. I don't see him having the power and hunger to be a big game changer either.

Let’s hope so, as trading up has not really been a winning strategy for us. It did net us Kozzie, but it’s also landed us with Laurie, Tholstrup, and Jefferson. It’s shown some chinks in JTs armor and stalled our list build IMO.

Some decent write-ups in there. I'm crossing my fingers we land a combo of Sharp or X Taylor as a slider, and Farrow.

A club will take him well within the top 40, but only because it's a weak draft. Make no mistake, he's nowhere near Kozzie level talent. He's less explosive, less pace, less agility, but does have better endurance. He's also not as magical with ball in hand. He's gone undrafted twice already, and played some good games late in SANFL reserves. he's less proven than kids 2-3 years younger than him, so he's high risk high reward type. If it wasn't for his surname, he'd likely be going later in this draft/rookied.

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!