Fat Tony

Stephens highlights remind me of Lord Voldemort.

We could promise not to bid on Green on the proviso that GWS swap #6 for #8 and a shuffling of future picks after he gets bid on. GWS could also swap #8 with Adelaide for a bunch of later picks for points.

The best player out of the 2017 draft was a mature age recruit with a chequered history and he went in the 20s. Last year, two of the best recruits were undrafted (Stack) and a mid-season draftee who had been in prison (Pickett).

What if we can get the same player we ideally want anyway at #6? Or if we don’t have a strong preference between the draft class?

Are we able to pass here and keep open the PSD, delisted free agents or the mid season draft? Or do we need to take 3 players at the draft?

Kemp looks a great prospect. Size, power, speed and balance. Only issue is the knee.

I hope the club takes a long-term view and doesn't overestimate the ability to judge 18 year old talent and how it will translate to the AFL. The best strategy for us is to blackmail GWS and Freo and be willing to slide down the draft to gain future assets. If we are clever about ascertaining the likely order of the draft, we could potentially have our cake and eat it too. I would also like us to take the best big bodied midfielders, given they tend to be the best players in the AFL and are the least likely to be busts. From all the draft bios, I think Green (GWS) and Kemp look the most sure-fire picks.

I still think a deal will get done before the draft. We will both come out ahead by doing a deal and the deadline was meaningless today without a player being involved.

The most GWS can now offer for #3 is #6, #40, #59, #60 plus future 1st rounder and 2x future 4th rounders.

I agree that GWS will want #3 and we should leverage that. But I don’t see that #8 makes that much difference. I like the idea of taking Greene if available anyway. It doesn’t fit our need but I see the best draft strategy being to minimise errors and so I like us taking big midfielders.

Do you think Jordon is athletic enough for AFL? My question is on his pace and strength. He looks a neat player at VFL level, but it is a big step up to the big time.

How does this change things in terms of having additional leverage over GWS WJ?

They ignored the draft but they have also nailed some late picks in Worley, Lewis and Sicily.

Great post. Our forward line could be enhanced by either adding a Ben Brown or a Tom Papely. It’s about class not type. One player I think is probably attainable is Brody Mihocek. He’d be on low money and the pies cap is tight.

Agree on KK. We should avoid drafting outside midfielders though. Better to have too many inside midfielders than miss on our picks IMO.

The Langdon and Frost trades should be viewed independently and the only real link was our salary cap. We already had picks, so we could have easily used them to get Langdon. And we hardly got that much for Frost anyway (sum of value worth roughly #50). From a salary cap perspective, Spargo, Oscar McDonald, Preuss and Baker are all examples of our poor list mismanagement, as they are over paid/won’t make it. So I would have pushed one of them out. Anyway, getting Langdon is by far the highlight of our trade period.

Or maybe you could be happy to pick up Langdon but would have preferred to sacrifice someone other than Frost.

Sure Frost lacks smarts and made poor decisions at times but he has elite athleticism and intensity. This trade will be a real failure for our coaching staff if Hawthorn can harness his ability IMO.

Yes, that could work, but I heard on Trade Radio that Bonar is on a very large contract for two years. Bonar also doesn't really fit from a needs perspective. The point is I don't know if GWS would do the Adelaide deal unless there was another deal with us (at least in principal). We may have said we want to be in the top 5 in the draft (including Thomas Greene). I think this deal could also tie in with Fremantle to see us go from 3 to 6/7 to get Langdon.

This may be a two stage deal for GWS and we will slide to pick 4.

I had a bet on Dusty for the Norm Smith this year and so I watched him pretty closely in the Grand Final. Without having the stats, he appears to run less than any midfielder in the competition. He starts in the centre bounce and only ever really runs forward. Obviously he is full throttle when the ball in nearby. The best thing about how the Tigers use him is that he plays as the deepest forward, almost like a traditional full forward. As much as Petracca needs to improve his tank, I would actually like to see him cover less distance in a game and conserve his energy a bit more so he can have greater intensity at the contest.

Varcoe would add pace and class to a side that lacks decent small forwards and wingers. He would come at zero cost in terms of draft picks and modest salary. He would also come with the benefit of a one year deal, whereas pick 88 gets two years. I would be less inclined to go for Varcoe if we land Elliott.

Varcoe and McIntosh are the two I would go after. I’m sure our salary cap is tight. Both would come cheaply and be best 22.

I think Tomlinson is a downgrade on Jones on the wing. He’s slow and can’t chase or tackle and doesn’t get enough of the ball.

It would be pick 11 more likely if they go this way (after the 10 non-finalists).