Little Goffy

Yep, the bullet has been dodged.

Nup. 6 & 11 much better than 3 & 17, let alone giving away anything else in the deal.

So who exactly is the best defensive team in the league? 😉 Tahlia Gillard gets better every week and Shelley Heath is putting a really excellent long-term body of work together. That was a chaotic game and we handled it very well.

Uh oh. Top of the ladder available for the winner. MFCSS kicking in. This is the only circumstance the Demons' Women's team ever loses! And yet, I am still confident.

Would seem like a reliable forward presence, willing to compete, all of that. I'd feel okay if we got him but I suspect we'll miss out on who we really have our eye on because of North's bonus pick. Such is life.

Somebody somewhere mentioned that Johnathan Brown, a f/s taken at 30-something, was best in his draft and that made be go back and look because I may be the only person on earth who thinks Brown is a little overrated. Just conversationally, of course! That was in the 1999 draft, where pick 1 was Josh Fraser, a poor reward for Collingwood's blatant tanking. Overall it is widely considered the original 'superdraft' with some 25 players cracking the 200 game barrier, multiple club captains and club champions, repeated All-Australians and so on. Curiously, the talent was spread almost evenly through the draft, all the way to the likes of Ryan O'Keefe and Cameron Bruce very late in the process. It also offers a terrific contest for 'best of draft' because the absolute top few players are each completely different with very different credentials. The contenders: J Brown: 256 games, 594 goals (2.3/games), 2x all-Australian, 3x B&F, 3 premierships, 1 Coleman medal, 7 season captain or co-captain of Brisbane. C Enright; 332 games, 6x all-Australian, 2x B&F - both in premiership teams, 3 premierships. M Pavlich: 352 games, 700 goals (2.0/game), 6x B&F, 8 seasons as captain, 6x all-Australian. Played for Fremantle so automatically excused from premiership count. For me, it is Pavlich, then Enright, then Brown, but the margins aren't large. Pavlich has it in my opinion because he is only barely shaded by Brown for forward-line performance over his career, despite also grabbing an all-Australian spot at full-back when young (those David Neitz positive vibes hitting me), and being used much more all over the ground to cover for Fremantle being mostly rubbish.

English, McCluggage and McGrath 2024, Brayshaw, Davies-Uniake, De Konig, Wietering, Sam Taylor, Worpel, in 2025. I mean, why even worry about drafting?

Took multiple people about 6 minutes to make you look silly.

Steve Johnson did just coach the Yarrawonga Pigeons to a premiership. But would he commute to Melbourne? There's no doubt as a player he had an amazing grasp of the dynamics of a forward line - more than once he was the leading goalkicker for Geelong despite not being the primary target. I'd be keen to have him as a part-timer at least - valuable kind of voice to have in the room.

With only 7 games (inc 1 subbed off) in 2023, all this is of course averages; Positive; - About half his touches are score involvements; would be behind only Petracca/Oliver/Fritsch/Pickett per game from last season. - Led the crows for tackles inside 50, which would be behind only Pickett for us. - Behind only Taylor Walker for marks inside 50 at the Crows. Only 0.04/game behind our leader, Fritsch. - Was remarkably consistent when he got a run at it for five games in a row to finish the season, kicking ten goals including at least one in every game. Negative; - Very low possession count. Under ten a game on average for 2023 and career. Not everyone has to be an accumulator but in the context of us having several low-possessions forwards and half-forwards already, it is a drawback.

At the head of the Brownlow top-10 delegation of Butters, Gulden, Serong and Viney! And my profile name has nothing to do with it, I swear.

Side note: Andrew Brayshaw, Restricted Free Agent, end of 2025.

Getting real 'I bought you dinner, how dare you not sleep with me' vibes out of Fremantle on this. Must be quite alarming for Freo supporters to see the number of best-22 and developing players who want out right when they were supposed to be on the cusp of contending.

Reasonably interesting. Mostly an affirmation of things we already know or strongly suspect. "100%" Petty not going. Melksham definitely staying for 2024, possibly moved to rookie list. Surgeon extremely happy with early progress. Club perceives a large jump in available talent at pick 11 compared to pick 14. 'Confident of getting two top quality players with 6 and 11'.

This is more like it. Alyssa Bannan is clearly biologically superior to the rest of us mere mortals.

Well, Carlton have had an outstanding top 6 for most of the last 20 years... I think a lot of it comes down to how well you can use them. Both St Kilda and Sydney offer case studies in having a really elite top group and then having a system that mitigates weaknesses as you reach the tail of your best 22. Richmond also managed to combine a small elite contingent with a bulk of really hard working players who ensured that not too much ground was lost when the elite needed to rest. Then they all switch mode when Martin et al are all refreshed on the scene. There's a beautiful expression I picked up from my study of historical strategists (not an exact recollection but close); "If every time there are eight cats to be caught the grenadiers are sent for, their power will quickly be dissipated."

That doesn't clarify which player is better, though! Most of our current best 22 would make a top-3 finish in the Eagles BnF. I'm not even joking. Personally I'm shocked that West Coast haven't done a lot more to try to bring in a least a few respectable strong bodies to fill out their midfield. Or maybe they have and they are just so on the nose that nobody will go? Bringing Reid in as currently their only selection in the first round is just cruel to the kid. I wonder what it would take to get West Coast's future first for 2024?

If you're not sure who you want to take at pick one, pass.

Darling, Brown and McDonald all sitting in the club corporate box for $1.5m would indeed be amazing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania The pick 1 hype situation is getting out of hand.

Amy chance we can get Hunt back?

I was watching some Curtin game clips this evening and kept getting this feeling like there was something familiar about him that made me feel good. It really bugged me - like I was missing something important. Took me hours and a return session watching more clips but I finally figure it out. Tall and fairly lean but with solid arms and shoulders. Something in the way he hunches forward when in congestion and then straightens up as he emerges. The way he'd do nimble little moves and it would seem like his long limbs were stretching out and twanging back again like elastic. Something in the kind of loping stride he did as he slowed down after taking a defensive mark at speed. Even something about his hair, narrow cheeks and the way his mouth would hang open a bit. I could be completely mad but he reminded me of Jim Stynes. Enough that I got a little emotional.

Petty will be a Restrictred Free Agent when he comes out of contract in 2025, at which time, based on the current compensation calcualtions for tall defenders... we should get Pick 1, Pick 2 and exclusive fishing rights in the Bass Strait for 20 years.

Looks like a nice young man with an excellent head of hair.

I think the impact on pick numbers might be a bit of a red herring when planning trade/positioning tactics. There are five players considered first round picks who are not actually available. They won't be available if you have pick 3 and they won't be available if you have pick 33. Quite possible that North would have loved to go Walter & Read for 2 and 3 and get their tall stocks under control. It does fairly represent the impact of the idiotic Gold Coast massive talent subsidy scheme, though. Feels a bit like the French government paying farmers to burn their crops.