DeeSpencer

Another training, another overly zealous drill for November. Another important player walking off with hopefully nothing more than a shoulder stinger. I held my breath through the whole drill and they didn’t quite make it.

If Weideman and Petty both get back in to full training and are looking decent, if Preuss continues to show the right application and if we draft Jackson then I'd imagine Brown's stay will be closer to 2-3 months than years.

If we think Henry is better than Pickett then we'll bid with pick 10. There was no need to put some form of agreement not to bid with pick 10 for him in the trade with Freo. They got plenty from the deal as is. EDIT: Of course they get a discount (who knows why) and can match with a bunch of crappy late picks, but at least Henry's name can be called it where it deserves to be. Silver lining I guess.

Spargo - 2nd round pick - was a midfielder as a junior and his skillset - fitness, ball winner, get contest to contest, make smart decisions is that of a half forward flanker Bedford - 4th round pick - flashes defensive and crumbing ability but is also a long way from AFL and more of a project Chandler - rookie - junior midfielder with some forward craft but more of a 2nd best small. The Puopolo to a Rioli. Lockhart - rookie - back flanker/mid/half forward flanker - ball winning and ball use across the flanks is more his go than dangerous inside 50 pressure and crumbing. Training with the defenders. Not sure it should be pick 10 but we have to draft a specialist crumber and pressure player at some stage.

What time is training tomorrow? The advertised time of 10:30 or the apparent time of 9? im keen to see a full session

3 - Jackson 10 - Pickett 28 - Flynn Perez I think we add either a 4th pick, a rookie pick or another train on player. A pacy small or a key defender depending on how the draft goes. State leagues or even a Sam Murray. I just don't see the need to hold list spots for both Bennell and Mitch Brown.

The other concern is Hawthorn have a future first round pick to play with, as do Freo, Collingwood, no doubt Gold Coast and several other teams. North have 3 picks between 25-30 and the Cats obviously have a big hand. Port used their future first to get pick 16 from Brisbane, so I'm not sure Collingwood or Hawthorn will be able to buy a pick inside of that range. But Freo, maybe if a team takes a chance on them not being very good next year. My guess is Hawthorn, Port and the Dogs all stay at 11-13, they'll want guys ranked in their top 7-10 players and will pick them, it's too hard to say no to a Kemp, Stephens, Weightman pick there I think. But 14-25 could be an absolute minefield or teams going up or down the order with future first round picks and 2nd rounders flying in for players. The trade down to 14/15 and still get Pickett could work - although there's less chance given our intentions are apparently telegraphed all over the Herald Sun - but having any idea of who will last to 17/20 with the second part of that deal would be nearly impossible.

List needs: 1. Small forward if we don’t go one at 10 2. Key defender - especially if we see Petty as a forward 3. Lock down defender - Hibberd/Jetta replacement 4. Speed and classy kicking runner Forwards: Elijah Taylor / Jack Mahoney Tall defender: Sam De Koning Backline grunt: Will Gould / Trent Rivers Classy run: Hugo Ralph-Smith / Jeremy Sharp / Rivers / Trent Bianco / Will Day Trent Rivers would be my dream pick up as he does just about everything at a high level as a defender. Kick, run it out, intercept, contest in the air and on the ground. But I’m sure he’ll go top 20.

I like the logic in all of that but.... We also haven’t had a first round pick for 4 years and pick 10 comes from next years pick when the view of the list could be significantly difference. Vince, Lewis gone, Jones all but, Hibbo and Nev possibly soon. That’s a lot of steady quality going/gone. Whilst Ryan and Rioli were involved it was the bland and unspectacular top 10 pick Dom Sheed who had 30 touches and kicked the match winner. I’m inclined to be conservative and take the player who’s more cake than icing.

Getting the player we want more is the most important thing. GWS are going to be a good side with or without Green. In fact letting them get Green - who is unlikely to make them better in the next 2 years - and not having any future draft picks as well as a packed salary cap could work in our favour if we're proactive in grabbing one of their other young mids like a Caldwell/O'Halloran in next years trade period. The footy gods might smile back on us.

That's the first I've heard of any link between Roos and DeGoey. Are you sure there was any connection at draft time, not just the Sundance Kid rewriting history? We were linked to McCartin as part of the clear top 3 choices and that was it. What we do know is that Roos had a relationship with Mark Brayshaw and was undoubtedly a fan of Angus. Big body midfielder, good family, it's all the stuff Roos preaches. He had trained with the club as part of the AFL Academy. The Jackson link to pick 3 started with Cal Twomey reporting about a month ago that his name kept coming up with Melbourne. This was when he was around the 10 mark in most rankings and mock drafts. Jason Taylor then included him in the names he liked at pick 3 on the podcast - given Twomey had already reported it there was little point denying it whether true or not. Before all of that the draft media were pushing Young and Serong as the pick 3 candidates. I don't know for sure that we are picking Jackson but everything is leaning that way and I don't think it's because the media has influenced our choice. The fact that several draft commentators have now moved Jackson up their rankings or linked them with us is because it's either true or they are all lemmings, but it's wrong to suggest our recruiters are suddenly swayed by media projections.

Brayshaw was a safe pick and quite possibly a wrong pick but I think our recruiters would've pulled the trigger on Lever not JDG if they took a risk. Wasn't really the right time to take a risk though.

And yet when the forwards played in front they ended up marking them. If he can move through stoppages and chuck it on the left it can roll along the ground for all I care. The forwards can do the rest. Obviously his kicking from marks/free kicks/in time and space has to be better but from what I’ve seen his right foot in those circumstances is at least serviceable.

Are Richmond even back training yet? Im not saying you don’t get in to full scale training, I just don’t see the point of it in November. I think an under reported aspect of our injury crisis last year was our poor skills and decision making led to injuries. Hore and Viney are 2 that had no need to get injuries and probably plenty more. Richmond’s ball movement, like Hawthorn in their best years is so quick and uncontested. Run, share, link etc. Clearly they are very strong in the contest especially defensively but we’ve got a heap of skill stuff we can do in November. Do that before the finals teams get in full training and we’ll have made ground on skills and fitness and not lost ground in injuries.

The way he can get out of a stoppage isn't just impressive for a ruck it's impressive for any player and it's why I think we'll eventually go with him. Green will win more footy but he's a handball king, Jackson can run it out.

Can have all the pressure without the contract. Pressure these days is as much about corralling as tackling anyway. Then if a defender gets an intercept you call it an intercept, you don't have the forward fight for it. If the forward is going to get spoiled then the defender can just mimic the spoil and the coach can call it a turnover. I think we've got too many guys like Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Harmes who can clean up messy skills even with heavy contact by winning contests that we don't train precision skills and decisions enough. If you're a messy young player just handball it somewhere near Petracca and let him beat his man, you'll look great. Otherwise, slowly ramp the amount of allowed contact up and be cautious with guys who aren't 100%. Oliver and KK both clearly not 100%, don't allow them near a drill that has the potential for a reasonable amount of contact. Last week Kyle Chandler was training with a knee taped up. This week he's in rehab. I'd have a no full training with anything taped rule. Richmond last year - no tape in the grand final, win it by plenty. GWS - all sorts of players taped up!

Nope. Hoping to get to a full session next week. At 9 or 10:30 or whenever

Sounds like poor awareness from Hore to get anywhere near KK, disappointing. Why you’d have Oliver back in any kind of contact before he’s 100% again is beyond me. Stop doing contact drills in November. Just isn’t worth it. This team needs so much skill and decision making work it’s beyond me why you’d do anything with risky contact.

Which picks? 2015: No one predicted Oliver until close to the draft. Weideman - clearly a key forward was of interest but I'm not sure it was influenced. Later picks. 2016: Just later picks, I only knew of Hannan as a VFL player before draft night. 2017: I can't remember any buzz about Spargo or Petty to us until right before the draft when Spargo was mocked to us. Spargo, Fritsch, Petty, Baker was a mixed bag of selections. Tall, medium, small. 2018: There was nothing about Sparrow, Jordon, Nietschke or Hore. Add in Bedford at it was a real variety of talent. Mids, backs, forwards. I think pick 3 is locked in. Most likely Jackson but I can't see a trade. We pick from Jackson, Green and Young as forecast on Road to the draft. Picks 10 and 28: yes draft strategy will be involved here. I imagine player cut offs for both picks. If player A is available then we draft him. If XYZ are all still on the board we move back a bit. If XYZ are all gone then we move back for different reasons. If pick 10 goes back then pick 28 comes up. All sorts of contingency plans.

Sandilands last played a full season at age 32, since then he's played 5 games, 10 games, 11 games, 6 games. Slowly easing down from the 80%+ of ruck he currently plays to a move 50/50 is probably the best way to prolong Gawn's career. I could see Jackson playing 50% game time in the ruck by year 2 if not year 3. That's a lot faster than year 5/6.

Gawn is about to turn 28. Jackson will play from ages 22-32 with Gawn aged 32 and either retired or right near the end. Dean Cox was 27 when Nic Nat was drafted. Only the rarest of draftees make meaningful impact in year 1. Walsh, Rozee, Rioli. Even guys like Oliver play good and bad games and limited minutes. They aren't as good as you think, often they are playing just to satisfy fans and so coaches can say they play the kids. From year 2 Jackson will be supporting a 29 year old Gawn. From year 3 Jackson will be supporting a 30 year old Gawn.

We need top end talent, we should get that at pick 3, but otherwise looking at our list and without digging this up from when I did it the Buckenara thread (so apologies if I miss anyone): A graders or potential A graders on our list: Gawn, Oliver, Petracca, May, McDonald. Pick 3 (eventually) B+/B: Lever, Salem, Harmes, Viney, Melksham, Fritsch, Langdon, maybe Jetta, Brayshaw C+: maybe Hibberd, Tomlinson That's 16 players who you'd think feature in the best 22 if fit and healthy. Everyone else has a big question mark next to them. Absent from that list: 2nd tall at either end, small forward, classy kicking mids and probably a need for a lock down defender sooner rather than later. And of course we've got some handy depth and kids, plus injured guys with talent (Vanders, KK, J Smith, Hannan and even Bennell) but do we need to put every egg in one pick 8 basket and pray to get another A grade prospect? Or is what we really need is a couple of talented kids with skills who play their role and provide a bit of class. And is it possible to get both - the highly rated high ceiling player like a gun mid like Kemp or Stephens and pick up a small forward or key defensive prospect with a later pick.

Stephens still a chance to Sydney if they go for midfield class rather than Flanders, but I can absolutely see Adelaide going McAsey, they are in a full rebuild and need to get tall pillars. Then Freo will find it hard to go past Robertson as a Lachie Neale replacement and could be tempted by Serong or whoevers left from Ash/Young. They've got Henry coming after that who projects as wing as much as a forward and can move Brayshaw or Cerra outside.

Key defender is a huge need alongside small forward. In an ideal world I'd love a classy mid and then by some miracle De Koning and Pickett. 2 of 3 would be a start.

If we get pick 28 for nothing our end then it's a good reason! Let's hope our guys have done the right calculations. I still like the idea of trading back even further.