Gooner

I think if we do a swap with GWS, it'll come late in the trade period. At the moment, even if we did a swap, GWS wouldn't have enough points to recruit Green and whoever they picked with pick 3. They're well short and probably need a pick in the late teens or a pick in the 20s and a pick in the 40s to have enough points to recruit Green. They'll get something for Patton but they'll likely have to give up something else before they're even in a position to trade for our pick 3.

Although this season was a disaster, I'm optimistic about the coming years, probably more than any time in the last 30 years. We've got a good group of players but due to a combination of injuries, lack of pre-season and lack of motivation after our poor start, we had a shocker of a season. I'm sure that the fitness staff will be working on getting everyone ready for pre-season. We've recruited well over the past few years. Yes, not every pick is perfect, but we're not making recruiting mistakes like we did previously. The biggest question for me is Goodwin's ability. He hasn't shown his ability to turn a game around, but remember that both a few years ago it was questioned whether Hardwick would remain at Richmond and a few years before that there were questions whether Thompson was the right coach for Geelong.

I'm looking forward to next year but having an off season this year may be a blessing in disguise. Since the week break was between the regular season and finals was introduced, at least one of the final fours teams has missed finals the following year (including 2 of the three grand finalists) and one of the grand finalists have missed finals the year before. The difference that four or five weeks makes now, means that missing finals can be a real positive for teams that are looking to build towards the next season. It means clubs can start their pre-seasons earlier and get their players in for surgery a lot earlier that they otherwise would. A full pre-season for us, getting any surgeries in early, an easier draw and a high drafts picks (that may be traded) will be a huge positive for us as we have a serious crack at the flag next year. This year has been a real disappointment, but I'm very optimistic about next year!

I have to agree, he was a great pick at 34, and I wasn't too worried about picking him at 18 if necessary. He ended up being the first ruckman picked in the draft, which says something about him. Looking forward to seeing him in the red and the blue. With his size, he could be ready for AFL level footy much sooner than Spencer.

Great pickup with pick 34. Ended up being the first ruckman picked! Hopefully he'll have some skill to go with his size and be a similar ruckman to Sandilands. At worst, he'll be a big bodied tap ruckman like Jolly.