DeeSpencer

Football training is such a chaotic and unpredictable activity with the movements and stresses on the body you'd be mad to include anyone with even the slightest niggle in to ball work in early November. The benefit just isn't worth the risk. From that list Weid and Nev had surgeries, AVB and KK are dealing with long term issues. I'd like to see May, Petty and Joel Smith back in full training sooner rather than later but let's wait until the main group is back before being too concerned. The thing that undid us last year was the numbers in rehab all the way through until the start of the season (and beyond). A few guys on light duties in November isn't the same thing.

I'm conflicted because I've made my thoughts on Lewis clear but I also don't mind the idea that he's kept inside the tent so can't lob potshots in and that (even if he's untested as a coach) we've finally bought someone in to focus on kicking.

Honestly I'd split both picks and get 4 high quality top 20 kids in. Maybe you end up with 1 star, 2 solid players and 1 bust. But.... If you can get 1 elite player then you have to do that. Young's kicking is special Jackson's movement at his size is special Kemp's movement and skills for his size are special (bearing in mind the ACL) Tom Green's clearance work is off the charts. The argument against trading pick 3 is to get a great player with rare abilities. Pick 8 I'm more for trading as I'm not sure there will be a special player left on the board for us to pick, but again it's a matter of how deep the list of high quality players on our board goes.

Was mostly watching Robertson and Jackson at the stoppages but nothing really leapt out at me. The other thing I noticed was Weightman is an animal with his chase down tackles, should've had 2 or 3 holding the balls. Flies in to tackles with great intensity.

Finally got around to watching this game and whilst it's wrong to draw conclusions from one game my thoughts were: Robertson - in everything but his best plays were smothers or clearances when Jackson put it down his throat, probably would've liked to have seen more creativity and class with the ball Jackson - had some lovely taps and moves really well, but stands or walks around packs which I hate and then just doesn't get down the line to useful spots to get marks - both ahead of the ball and behind the ball. Marking in general looks suspect. Can get outreached at ball ups when he bodies up rather than jumps. Young - rough first half when he was caught inbetween defensively and under the pump with the ball but his kicking really looked great in the second half and he broke open the game Kemp - similar to Young, nothing early then in everything in the 2nd half up forward Serong - has some special moments with quick hands and quick feat and a nasty tackler Henry - pure class as a mid, I think we'd bid for him with pick 8 Sharp - the combination of size (height/strength) and athleticism make him a lock on the wing, but kicking is hot/cold and contested game does not look strong. 2nd round pick. Elijah Taylor - wow. Didn't touch it often but when he did it resulted in scores. So much class. Would be a huge gamble at pick 8 but you could talk me in to it. He cuts through traffic like a hot knife through butter and is a beautiful kick. Trent Rivers - thought he was best on ground, particularly for the first half. Impeccable half back ball winner and user. Should he be in the conversation for top 10?

Swallow had an excellent career but he never had the talent of an elite mid, hence was never AA. We have plenty of guys right now with a similar skill set. Brayshaw, Oliver, Viney etc Unless he has injuries/awful development I'd say the floor on Robertson's talents - Larke medalist, by all reports excellent leader and hard worker is about the Swallow level in terms of talent. Might not captain a club, win B+F's and play 190 odd games but that's about the level and if he's a scrubby kicker and lacks athleticism like Swallow did then no thanks.

Not sure what Brayshaw you watched but it certainly wasn't 2019 Gus. Clarry's been in great shape since he copped a flogging heading in to year 2, but having both shoulders done last year meant he was restricted in preseason. He became addicted to the hot potato handball that our coaches love, it worked in 2018 as we flooded the contest but teams got too quick and too good at midfield pressure last year. He needs runners to dish too - Langdon on the outside or someone like Petracca on the inside and he needs to start trusting his legs and running the ball himself. He does it when he gathers the loose balls in general play but at stoppages our lack of speed, structure and smarts makes it hard to take the game on. Plus having a tagger tackling him before he's got it doesn't help. The best part of the vision above was Jordon and Baker working a bit of weaving handball, drawing a man and releasing forward. Basic stuff but it was entirely missing from our game last season.

Who's meant to be there: 2016: Oliver, Weideman (hip surgery), Corey Wagner, Josh Wagner, Joel Smith (groin) 2017: Hannan 2018: Spargo, Fritsch, Petty, Baker 2019: Sparrow, Jordon, Nietschke (knee), Hore, Bedford, Chandler, Lockhart, Dunkley, Bradtke So Preuss, Gawn, T Mc the 3 voluntary additions so far.

Jason Taylor touched on this on RTTD. I get the feeling he was originally in draft them later camp but has seen the success of Dan Rioli and Shai Bolton (amongst others) taken in the first or early 2nd rounds and being incredibly valuable to the team. I'm not convinced there's one worth taking for out top picks this year but I'd have no issue taking one early if the talent was there. The best small forwards kick goals, create goals with skills and create goals with defensive pressure. There's a lot of value in that role. Unfortunately I think we'll be looking at our late pick/s in the draft to pluck a smokey and hopefully we find the right guy.

So forget about the go home factor and just ask if this kid is the next Joel Selwood or the next Andrew Swallow. That's the likely range of his talents and if he's the next Selwood then sign him up, if he's the next Swallow then thanks but no thanks.

Certainly a decent chunk of WA's best players either play in the state or return home. From that team: Hamling, Jetta, Hill*, Kelly, Jamie Cripps, Josh Kennedy, Yeo have all gone home. The first 4 names there are Indigenous players who I think it's fair to say have stronger community/family links than most players. Cripps and Yeo were at very ordinary clubs when they went home. Kennedy didn't want to leave Carlton and was packed up for Judd. O'Meara moved to Victoria, Coniglio came close to doing the same, Buddy went to Sydney and Charlie Cameron went to one of his original homes. Deven Robertson looks tough, resilient and no fuss, the type of kid who will stay loyal if you give him a strong club. Shuey, Gaff, Hurn..plenty of non West Aussies stick it out in Perth. I wouldn't be too worried even with uncle Darren at the Eagles. In fact I reckon it would be hard if not impossible for Glass to excuse himself from list management decisions involved in trading for his nephew, in many ways it makes a trade less likely.

Sure would, but given he's probably only 50% chance of joining us, then has to get through preseason to get on the park he'd be about 1% chance of being out there in round 1. If we have 1 of 3 of Vanders, KK and Bennell out there and playing well it would be a good result.

Nic Nat 10 games in year 1, 22 in year 2. Grundy 7 games in year 1 including a final as the number 1 ruck. 15 games in year 2. With Burgess and a maturing midfield group including Tomlinson and Langdon on the wings the idea would be to play Jackson something like 65% game time, 35% forward, 30% ruck from very early in his career. That’s enough to ease the load over the next 2 years before really extending Max when he’s 30+

There's a lack of refinement to his skills but I don't think Jackson is as raw as people think, the stats and the way he plays looks like a footballer. Nic Nat, Stef Martin and Grundy are still unrefined at times, doesn't hurt their value. And it's hard to disagree about the ruck not being a need with Gawn right now but I'm looking at the current Melbourne side and I see a lot of needs and not a lot of strengths. Maybe we'd be well served to lean in to the ruck as a real strength and have 120 minutes of quality in there. We need to add more run and skill but we're unlikely to ever beat Richmond playing open fast footy. Stoppages, contested ball, own the aerial contests might be our best game plan. Gawn also works his backside off to break even at ground level against the more mobile rucks, I'm not sure how much longer he'll be able to do it at a high level for 100 minutes a game. He tore his hammy tendon chasing a midfielder a couple of years ago, as he gets towards 30 he's going to struggle in the centre square. Gawn with heavier slower inside mids isn't a great centre bounce combination. How often do you see Gawn chasing a mid from the centre or a handball go to him flat footed which forces him to lob an ineffective kick forward. Adding a mobile ruck to do a share of the centre bounce work would help Max do what he does best - control games as an around the ground force. Interstate players? We burnt a decade of young talent no matter where they came from, I don't think we can be concerned about that. Same with the go home factor.

Because if you had that draft again Grundy would go pick 1 or maybe pick 2 after Whitfield. He has: O'Rourke, Plowman, Toumpas, Mayes, Menzel, Jaksch, Corr, Garner, Thurlow, Simpson and everyone after pick 18 clearly covered. You can make an argument for Macrae, Wines, Stringer, Vlastuin I guess but it's Grundy right? If you think Jackson is even remotely similar to Grundy then he has to be in the conversation for at least pick 8.

Not drafting Jackson because we have Bradtke is about the equivalent of not drafting Hogan because we had Jack Fitzpatrick. Irrelevant. Plenty of valid reasons not to draft a ruck with a high pick and that they take time is one of the most valid ones but Jackson is one of the best performed players in this draft crop, he's not in the same postcode as Bradtke who by definition couldn't play footy for years to qualify as Cat B.

How many players turned up slightly underdone to their clubs last season? Off the top of my head: Wingard, W Rioli, Dusty Martin, Motlop, Stringer and I'm sure a stack more. How many players have done an ACL and taken time to get back to their best. How many players of lesser or equal talent as Harmes signed a 4 year contract in this recent trade period? Tomlinson is one. Cam Ellis-Yolmen (3 years, maybe 4)? Josh Bruce. Was Zak Jones 3 or 4 years? The reality is with anything like the last couple of seasons Harmes would play himself in to a juicy 4 year extension, we've gone early and likely got A) a discount and B) significant cap flexiblity for doing so.

https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=454539 from 6;31

I'll add to the chorus saying Josh Walker is the one mature tall who somewhat interests me. The reality is though I want to see Petty and Weideman given every chance at both ends of the ground, plus I'd like to recruit at least 1 young tall with our 5 remaining spots.

Casey has often had Gippsland players as the 23rd man right? I wouldn’t be surprised if JT wanted Serong and Flanders to play for Casey. Both strong bodies and good up forward, you’d like to see them win a few clearances and make an impact forward.

I assume Taylor usually watches a wide range of games looking at a bunch of players trying to cover the whole draft pool. With our season down the drain he knew he’d have a top pick and so had a deep dive on top prospects, watching multiple games and maybe isolating on a player and seeing their off ball work etc. A lot of these top guys play plenty of school footy. Ie. Kemp and Serong for Geelong Grammar. Taylor would go to some of those games regardless of focus. But I think he was saying the games he took a deep dive on were likely the carnival games, WAFL/sanfl or Nab league finals. The big games where big guns step up.

He was 1 vote off winning the Larke medal for best player in the national champs! More than just a bit of good form. And he’ll start as a forward was all Taylor said, no real difference to a young mid starting as a forward like Serong, Kemp and Flanders probably do. I think people need to get their heads around this being genuine. May not end up that way but there’s enough there for me. No 18 year old should be drafted for needs. Mids and smalls might do more earlier but even guys like Petracca and Cam Rayner were big projects in terms of fitness and went top 2.

Interesting reading between the lines. JT says 3 players are in the mix at pick 3. Twomey: Is Luke Jackson in that mix? JT: 'Yeah he'd be in that mix I'd say'. It could certainly be bluffing, but it sounded pretty honest to me. And if we wanted to take him at 8 then you'd downplay any interest. Bluffing only makes sense if you're keen to get a trade. Who is rating him nowhere near 3? The mock drafts that have him around 10-15 is where Oliver and Bont were rated at this time in their draft years. The media and greater public always go with the high possession mids and goal kickers early whilst the recruiters are looking at other players. We've seen reports GWS, Freo and possibly Carl are all keen on him, it's not like he's come from nowhere. Should a team not have drafted Dangerfield, Rioli, Cripps with pick 3 because they weren't rated as pick 3 by the consensus? Here's my interpretation: The pick swap with North doubles our chances of getting a ready made player. It's exactly the kind of move you'd make if you were considering a 199cm kid with one of your picks.

If we like 35 players in the draft then 1 or 2 of those might get all the way through to pick 75 if we are very lucky but it makes some sense to me that we'd be looking for a pick in the 40's or around 50 to grab a slider.

Interestingly Callum Mills was pick 3 after we bid on him and at the time was an out and out midfielder who the Swans started at half back to ease him in to AFL footy. A few years on and he's had a few cracks at the midfield but he just looks more comfortable with strong aerial and contested work down back rather than being a midfielder. Vlastuin was pick 9 after being a midfielder at TAC level but a half back and captain at Vic Metro, has been ok in a few stints in the midfield but is elite across half back. I'd argue Jake Lever is a flanker in many ways and I understand we went close to picking him with pick 3! Then there's Daniel Rich who might be the closest comparison to Young in that kicking is by a mile the strength of his game. Pick 7 but could've gone higher. The thing I like about Young is his elite skill - kicking - matches with his role. Like a gun forward who clunks marks or a gun mid who wins clearances for fun if you have the elite trait in one area and no clear deficiencies then you're going to be a really good player even if you aren't a superstar.