DeeSpencer

Yeah he's not great, he gets a bit scrubby at times but the one thing he does seem to do is make quality and quick decisions with the ball. I reckon most Melbourne forwards would rather take their chances with the footy bouncing in front of them but delivered quickly than mucked around and then sat on their heads.

I know everyone hates these for Jagga but now you get to hate it for Sid too. Good stuff in bold, critical errors in italics, neutral stuff for the rest. 0:00 excellent clean clearance at pace, kick is a bit of a mongrel and falls short in front of the defender 0:15 backwards handball 0:22 sprints backwards for 2 backwards handballs 0:41 dives on the ball, htb 0:52 gets a one two, gives it back again! You're the star mate, turn and kick it! 1:02 nothing handball 1:10 great spin and step, but up and under kick 1:29 boundary chip 1:40 great contest win, but handball gets knocked down 1:44 cracks back in, handball to no one! 1:55 ok kick from stoppage under pressure 2:05 short kick under no pressure bounces in front of opponent, helps clean up the mess by conceding a backwards kick to his full back 2:25 takes nice safe diagonal kick 3:00 moon ball kick down the line 3:09 off balance handball goes straight to the opposition 3:22 fast hands, nice 3:45 skips around a couple, picks out his brother with the aggressive loopy corridor kick. Result is nice, but still don't love the process 3:58 wins a nice clearance, kicks the ball wrong way and half way to the moon, bizzare 4:04 sneakily nice over the top handball 4:20 wins a clearance, isn't sure what to do with it, gives it backwards to someone under pressure He's playing seniors after missing a good chunk of the year with a bad stress injury. So you have to give him some credit for getting out there and having 20+ touches and a number of clearances. Plus he isn't afraid to crack in. But at the same time the best of his ball use was a couple of nice handballs and 1 kick that was anything other than a hack forward (which midfielders have to do at times) or a short chip kick. And it hung in the air in the corridor looking pretty risky too. Again, hard to know just how much he was impacted by the injury but I wanted to see his pace result in good things happening even if he's not lacing out kicks.

I’m not saying watch the full game, just watch a few of the footy stuff clips that compile most of a guys touches for a game and tally up (either by hand or just roughly in your head) the quality of his disposals. Draper had a couple of good sanfl games but also a lot where he struggled to get out of congestion or do a lot of damage.

Stop watching highlight videos, watch a full game clip and count the disposals that are good, ok and ugly.

To the the extent that we need a big bodied mid it’s to play in 3+ years time. Langford and Allan aren’t playing significant midfield time round 1 if Oliver, Tracc, Viney, Rivers are up and going.

Doesn't mean all that much be he said 'Duursma last year' indicating it was probably Zane. Although every chance with such a successful family it was probably a family affair.

There's been a drastic improvement since the players came back to training this year. The board review announced a member engagement committee. It's abundantly clear that the club are going to invest more resources in this area.

Kicking is the one thing he does well!

He’ll likely start and perhaps finish at half back, kicking and run are his strengths. Hopefully he’s got enough speed and overhead to get by on a flank and of course midfield upside.

I think if we want this kid we need St Kilda to suddenly get some Smillie love at their picks so Richmond stick to plan A.

They've shown some interest in Werribee mature-aged small forward Jack Henderson, who dominated this season averaging 22 disposals and booting 15.3, and the same for Oakeligh midfielder Zane Cochrane, Bendigo forward Archer Day-Wicks and speedy small Mitch Kirkwood-Scott. The Demons are also expected to grab NGA prospect Ricky Mentha jnr, most likely as a category B rookie consideration, while they can match a bid on intercept defender Riak Andrew, younger brother of Gold Coast's Mac Anyone got any strong opinions here: Riak's got a thread, Mentha seems strong odds to be a Cat B. The other 4 seem an eclectic mix. Jack Henderson - 25 year old - half forward flanker/mid. Zane Cochrane 187cm Oakleigh mid, played good games when the Vic Metro guys weren't playing for Oakleigh. Played one VFL game for Collingwood. Archer Day-Wicks 186cm Bendigo forward/mid who didn't put the year together that he was hoping for. Looks a bit messy but he's aggressive powerful kid who might be something Mitch Kirkwood-Scott 178cm Sandringham/Haileybury half back with a booming kick

It’s less about team balance, there’s role players for that and more about can he be a star without pace? Many of the games very best mids are quick. The ones that aren’t have what Langford does - size. Marking, kicking, endurance, footy smarts, clean hands. There’s a lot to like.

He also pulled himself out of the Eagles side when he knew the game had gone by him, as well as axed his slow boys at Hawthorn to get more speed in their side. I think for the role he plays it’s not a huge issue but if by any chance he can gain a few yards of pace that would be lovely!

I’ve been a Langford fan for most of the year but now I just have a strange feeling that drafting a slow player with a top 6 pick in 2024 just isn’t all that sensible. Probably just anxiety. He ticks so many boxes but speed isn’t one of them. As for Allan, are we sure we aren’t drafting tagger with a top 11 pick…hmmm. He’s an absolute specimen so why doesn’t he get his hands on the ball or do as much as he should with it?

Tauru won’t get passed the Saints or a trade up for the second saints pick, I don’t believe they won’t trade if they get a great offer. If Richmond want to take Allan at 6 that’s fine. St Kilda take 2 of Draper, Smillie, Travaglia. We’ll snap up the one that gets through or pivot to Lindsay

Think it will come to Travaglia or Lindsay if Allan is gone.

The 200cm plus guys you might have to put a Petty on or draft another tall but I have no concerns with a filled out, 50+ games experience Tauru taking the likes of Curnow and Naughton. He has the body to fill out and the athleticism to run and spoil, move laterally, wrestle etc. Different built and athletic traits to Lever. Yes, he’s mostly played off his opponents and backed himself to intercept but that’s what talented tall backs should do especially at juniors.

Can I have some of whatever you’re on? I see a guy who gets it done rather than a star with JVR.

193cm Alix Tauru with a 94cm running vertical jump can’t play full back like 193cm Steve May? Every defender is an interceptor these days. Coaches can get the match ups and roles right. Im with you on concerns about the ball use - though I’d rather someone willing to make mistakes than not move the ball on - but I’m not worried about the overlap in styles.

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I get the concerns. Although we’ve drafted guys like Oliver and Luke Jackson who haven’t been much for the talking when they were picked (or since). But I agree it’s nice if key forwards especially have some swagger. Armstrong reminds me more of Harry McKay than Jezza. McKay was very much a kick-mark type player early in his afl career who’s slowly added more strings. In an ideal world you take a guy who can do a lot more than just key forward stuff so they can play earlier. The one thing Armstrong has is elite agility to be a decent tackler and contribute on the deck. So even if he’s pushed around in marking contests he can give something and not be a total witches hat for his first few years. No mail but I have a sneaky suspicion we might like Jack Whitlock as much if not more, especially with a trade back a few places.

So we have pick 5. But a bid for Levi Ashcroft is surely coming. If not before us then for the sake of the competition we must do it. That will push us back to pick 6. 6 is not a good number. Look at it. It's bottom heavy. It's slow. It's both too full and incomplete. The history of the AFL draft has made it's thoughts crystal clear on the value of 6. 5 is more streamlined. 7 is fast, angular, dynamic. Pick 5: 130 games Pick 6: 69 games Pick 7: 125 games Since 2001 the following players have played 200 games Pick 6: Gary Rohan, Chad Wingard (who fell because he wouldn't leave SA), Jack Macrae Pick 7: Hale, Mackie, Lewis, Ryder, Selwood, Rich, Sheppard, Haynes, Wines The following guys (and sorry to be rude) can be considered what some would call the b word: Pick 6: Sampi, Williams, Dowler, Thorp, Myers, Scharenberg, Marchbank, Francis, probably Stephenson and SPS, McAsey, DGB Pick 7: Kane Tenace, Paul Ahern (dodgy knees), Hunter Clark. Having traded up with Essendon there's no way we bid on Kako. But fortunately the Gold Coast have an extremely athletic high quality young midfielder by the name of Leo Lombard who they are ready and willing to match a bid on. By all reports he's a great young man and I'm sure by getting to the Suns he will be well equipped to handle the curse of pick 6. We must bid with pick 6 on Leo Lombard and therefor slide to pick 7.

No idea if this has changed since but when they bought the bidding system in: the listing of F/S players and local Academy graduates is facilitated in later rounds because the discount rises steadily from 20% in Round 1 to 100% at pick 56 (if a player is bid from this point, a Nominating Club need only use their last pick in the draft to list the player). The other question I have is whether we can go in to deficit to match a bid in the 3rd round. We might be willing/able to do that if he gets through to the start of the 3rd round which could be about pick 45. So from the 3rd round and especially from 56 he becomes an easier chance to get to us. Or he might purely be a Cat B Rookie in the eyes of our recruiting team.

Did we want Houston for those reasons or did we want his elite kicking, and therefore will we favour someone like Xavier Lindsay? I see Allan's issue more as decision making than skills. Which worries me for his ability to be a high level half back because seeing the ground and picking your moments is such a core component at half back. But I agree that's just the start of his career and long term he looms a midfielder. The decision making matters less there. On ball he just hasn't accumulated big numbers and that to me indicates a player who's more reactive at the stoppages and around the ground than proactive. He hunts the ball hard when it's there but other players move first. Long term do he stay more of a defensive mid than an attacking one? He's a safe bet to play a lot of AFL footy with his physical tools and work rate. Just not sure we traded half the farm for safe, even with the physical upside.

3 years at Melbourne Grammar. Played for Sandy Dragons. Even played for Vic Metro in under 16's until someone wised up and decided that would've looked horrendous if it continued in to under 18's. Genuine rort.