DeeSpencer

We don’t need 2 small forwards. We do need 2 good kicks. Plenty of other needs if we really wanted to patch holes in the 22

Someone needs to get fired for leaking the Holmes pick. Unless it was Mahoney and then he needs to be sued. Bad clubs leak. Good clubs don’t. That’s pretty much it. This shambles of a club can’t keep making unforced errors.

The best explanation is they aren't very smart. Or possibly it does give them more freedom to trade that pick. Secure the 2 you really want first

Doesn't count for stereotyping if you are one, so I'd say...I'm not surprised. A couple of factors from my own experience - very sheltered and privileged which sounds lovely but also creates a lot of pressure, I'm sure those who have grown up with less don't want to hear about the ultimate in first world problems but there's a lot to induce anxiety when you're expected to follow a certain path and not given a lot of freedom to find your own. The second is leverage. These guys have successful (by some definition) parents used to getting what they want especially when it comes to their kids futures. Why are they going to play by the AFL's rules if they don't have to?

I think in many ways it's best to respect the honesty and openness and he's far from the first to make his desires known to recruiters. I've seen 2 other draftees talk about their own wellbeing, it's a whole new world for kids out there these days in terms of mental health education. Whether it's science or pseudo science that they are being peddled I'm not so sure. The question I'd ask him is 'why' does he feel that way? Is it because of a girlfriend? Is it because he has a really close relationship with his family? Oli Florent was desperate to stay in Victoria because his father had passed away, the Swans drafted him anyway and worked with the family. Is it because he likes to muck around with his Brighton Grammar school mates and really he's unaware just how quickly he'll make new friends with 40+ team mates at a club? Or has he had mental health struggles in the past and is he aware of the value of his support system and not afraid to say so? The clubs will know more details and they'll be in a far better position to judge. The reality is the AFL have stuffed with the draft so much with all these academy selections and so on that it's hardly in a position to criticise a kid for being honest. About a third of this draft class gets to know exactly where they are going way before the draft, why should Archie suffer?

If we only take 3 picks tonight we will then have 2 cat A rookie spots (as well as the 1 cat B rookie spot). My guess is we'd take 1 player in the rookie draft and leave a spare spot. But we could just as easily leave both spots spare and fill one over summer and keep the other to fill in season. If I had to bet on it though I'd say we'd take 1 pick.

We’ve got room for 5 if we really wanted to, but every pick after 3 means we’re using a main list spot rather than a rookie spot. In effect we’d be spending 80k salary cap we don’t want to spend. The draft could fall a particular way that makes 4 picks too good to pass up. But 3 seems far more likely.

Bailey Smith claimed some kind of anxiety issue would prevent him playing interstate. The King brothers said buyer beware. Gold Coast overlooked Smith but took the chance on Ben King. The Suns gave him a whole stack of cash to stay but he did stay. Fair play to the kid, can’t blame him for being honest. Not sure it helps his cause tho. The only true way to guarantee you stay home is to not enter the draft

Don't think so Dazzle, almost certain Green was at MGS.

22. Carroll, 23. O'Driscoll. But they've also got Laurie lasting until 25 and I can't see us overlooking him.

Which is fine unless he’s leaking info or clashing with the coach. The reality is though if things go bad we’re stuffed anyway, so why not go for it!

I’m not sure he did all that much for the likes of Dusty. Maybe provided another sounding board as a mentor more than coaching. To me it’s this: “For me to look at people like Kane Lambert, Jason Castagna, Dan Butler and Ivan Soldo, I just smile.” Combined with the skills of the young Giants. They were so sharp with their hands and kicking (and attitude). Goody and the assistants can come up with a game plan. Skills is what Choco can train with the best of them. And skills are what separates the best teams.

13 years at the club is a decent effort, but really the assistant coach and then footy ops manager - training in admin - don’t have much of a legacy. It’s 7 years as an executive. 5 that were very positive, 2 that weren’t so much. Time will tell if he’s laid the platform for future success or if 2018 was the pinnacle. The footy GM role really should be as highly regarded as the coach. If Mahoney was the coach from 14-20 you’d say overall he’s done a decent job in tricky circumstances but hasn’t excelled.

Very few players leave good clubs, with the exception of GWS. And very few leave after only 2 years. So it's rare that you lose a guy before he's even had a chance to perform. If you're 50/50 split between local and interstate then go local, but it wouldn't be the number 1 tie breaker to me.

They've always managed to have such dysfunctional coaching and administration they've never really had time to evaluate and change the list management. We've been as good as any club at getting stuck in the eternal rebuild. Essendon have been stuck in the eternal house renovation. Dodoro's been either tearing down or plastering the same backyard extension and he's always been so busy doing it for 5 different coaches now they've never stopped to check his credentials.

I'd get rid of the Dodo because he hasn't built a list capable of winning a final in 15 years. But if he was to stay around it's pretty simple, Dodo does the media in trade week because he can handle it, and he gets the results he wants. Mahoney puts people in good positions to do their jobs. He just couldn't identify enough good people in the right time frame. The time frame at Melbourne has always been pretty generous....have a bad year, see if you can fix it the next. Essendon have been way too much the other way, have a bad year and multiple people pay for it with their jobs.

Yep. And other clubs have investment bankers and commercial lawyers, we have the former copper. I expect Daniel McPherson will now get a promotion and might even be the club spokesperson if Richo is keen to stay in the background. If Goody is on thin ice I don't think either Pert or Richo will be all that public.

We didn't really have a choice once we demoted him.

It’s fine. Players can agree to be a father son or not. Clubs can decide if they want to match a father son or not. https://www.afl.com.au/news/160752/dunkleys-draft-deal-how-josh-ended-up-at-dogs

Do you think Twomey just made it up? He’s followed the draft crop to get his own opinion then probably called every club, every player manager and every junior club for mail. Every year the draft is speculative but this year way more than ever. If you look at it the top 20 or so picks are mostly WA and SA kids who showed their stuff, academy players then the elite Vics who did enough last year. There’s a pretty steep drop off somewhere in the 20’s. Almost any player picked in that range won’t have played national champs, WAFL on Sanfl seniors, Nab league finals and so on. The so called safe choices might’ve played half a dozen state league colts games, let’s not pretend they are significantly safer bets in any way.

The Dunkley’s did a deal with Sydney that they would only accept a father son nomination if the Swans agreed to only match interstate clubs. Josh only wanted to go to Sydney if it was to avoid another interstate club, he had a strong desire to stay in Victoria. The Swans not matching had nothing to do with not rating Josh.

He couldn’t commit entirely but Kinnear Beatson (interviewed today on the afl show) sounded very confident they’d have the points to match for both kids. I think it would take a matched Campbell bid at 5 and a Gulden bid in the top 15 or so to force them not to match.

He can play a crucial role until he quits the club to take up a better job. Mahoney is a competent operator who does a good job filling gaps but he doesn’t have the high level footy smarts to take the list, the coaching and the culture to the top level. I don’t know if Richardson does either. But he is a whole more experienced in footy and it’s easier to get someone up to speed with the admin requirements than it is to truly know footy. I’d rather have Richo in a coaching role and find a true head of footy but it’s hard to have it all under the current financial restraints. People give Mahoney too much credit for trading up picks. It’s hardly all that complicated. And largely it’s either taking a huge risk or at best defying the analytics that says trading down is far better value.

The Braeden Campbell bid probably determines what the Swans have left and any threat of going in to deficit next year. Overall though unless they don’t rate him the discount and ability to get a fringe top 20 player rather than a kid at the back of the draft - they’ve got to match that.

1. Western Bulldogs – JUH – (Matching bid) 2. Adelaide – Logan McDonald 3. North Melbourne – Elijah Hollands 4. Sydney – Denver Grainer-Barras 5. Hawthorn – Will Phillips 6. Gold Coast – Riley Thilthorpe 7. Sydney – Braeden Campbell (matched bid) 8. Essendon – Tanner Bruhn 9. Essendon – Zac Reid 10. Essendon – Conor Stone 11. Adelaide – Finlay Macrae 12. Port Adelaide – Lachie Jones (matched bid) 13. GWS – Heath Chapman 14. North Melbourne – Tom Powell 15. Fremantle – Oliver Henry 16. Coll - Nik Cox (traded for GWS in a deal not to bid for McInnes) 17. Collingwood – Brayden Cook 18. GWS – Archie Perkins 19. GWS - Bailey Laurie 20. Coll - Reef McInnes (matched bid) 21. Richmond - Liam Kolar 22. Sydney – Errol Guldon (matched bid) 23. Brisbane – Blake Coleman (matched bid) 24. Melbourne – Jack Carroll 25. Adel - Luke Pedlar (28 and 40 for 25 and 50) 26. GWS – Nathan O'Driscoll 27. St Kilda – Jake Bowey 28. Melb - Max Holmes I suspect we trade out of our 3rd pick and then use our late pick 50 (which I've upgraded to 40) on a project tall. Callow, Rosman or other.