DeeSpencer

More than happy to admit I don’t have access to the interviews, GPS, family background etc so I’d need to work out just what’s going on with the 2km time. If there’s no dedication it’s a risk. If it’s a kid who’s a bit chunky in the boarding house then I’m all for it. Every time Hannaford goes near the footy he’s electric. I watched a half of GWV v Gippsland the other day just to increase my sample size. In a half deep forward he ran down Ricky Mentha to set up a shot at goal, took a contested mark on 2 opponents, set up a goal by winning the ball bursting though congestion, casually goals from 50 and kicked another bouncing off an opponent whilst winning the footy. Jagga, he’s Alex Neal-Bullen level talent with the ability to play an extra year of Coates league. He’ll have a solid career, but marking, tackling, burst speed, long kicking, breaking tackles, opposite foot kicking, he doesn’t do any of that. Big body - nope. Aggressive - nope. Speedy - nope. Elite endurance - nope. And if you’re relitigating that era of demon drafting then there might not have been a worse pick than Tom Scully at 1 with Dusty on the board. The draft is for finding long term talent not who the best junior footballer is.

The thinking seems to be that Cerra and Walsh are both strong boys and what they really need is some speed to play off those guys and Cripps. But I agree whilst he doesn’t help their speed issue Langford has nice outside run and a left foot. Plus he can rest forward and switch with Cripps and take away their need for a 3rd tall forward too. Nick Austin comes from the dogs too, his time there was Weightman and Bailey Smith but you can’t have been around Bont and not want some of Langford’s Bontiness. Who knows, it’s probably FOS or Draper, heck are we sure they don’t just take Tauru if North don’t?

5 - Langford just over Tauru. Really hoping one of them is available 9 - Hannaford. This kid is legit. Speedy, explosive, one touch, physical. He’ll be a quality small forward who transitions to a good midfielder once he builds his tank. 83 - Tye Hourigan

Absolutely agree. It could well be Draper the Crows want and that’s the link to move ahead of Carlton. But just as easily it could be Langford or FOS. In fact I suspect it is one of those 2. I’m not sure the Crows offer a f1 (even with a North f2 coming back) and I doubt North bother moving for a pair of F3’s even if it almost certainly costs them nothing.

Whose mail? Seems conflicting to the report just above

He played half back on the G in the futures game last year and he looks excellent distributing the ball. We drafted Bowser off a similar performance (with no under 18 year due to covid). I’d like him to have just a little more height or natural aerial ability, or a little more high end speed so he can be a more complete flanker. Hopefully he has at least high end endurance to keep linking up. But as is should be a quality half back kicker, not as reliable getting out of trouble as prime Salo but with more penetration.

The 3rd rounders we gave up were 40, 54 and 65. 65 is just about useless. 54 and especially 40 have some value in this draft but we’ve rarely prioritised late picks and there must be confidence in filling out the list with our current rookies and cat B players. I don’t think that’s a hefty price to get in to the first round. We added 28 to make sure we pick 9 but I’d like to recoup that. The NBA draft always drops away quickly, it’s not a draft to get cute with. This years draft by all reports has a top 20 which corresponds to the talent generally available in the top 7-10 or so of a normal draft. I wouldn’t risk a trade back if it’s more than a 1% risk but they had the guts to do it for Kossie. We’ll see if it occurs again.

Port - 13, 29 Freo - 14, 30 Less likely West Coast - 12 and 26 for something back in a 3 team deal, especially if they can trade in another future first GWS - 15, 16 (unlikely but possible) 28 would’ve been very very hard to move up inside 20 yet alone inside 15 with late picks in the 40+ range. You’re talking about multiple trade up moves when teams generally only move back for draft points. Richmond had a lock on those deals with Brisbane and Gold Coast. And just because a player is rated late first doesn’t mean they’ll be available if you have 18, 19, 20. We moved up to get a guy we rate as a high quality player. If we can do that at 13 rather than 9 so be it. We made this exact move for Kossie in 2019. It’s not that different to expect we’d do it again.

Can I have this again in English?

Lalor, FOS, Langford, Tauru are the 4 I like best and I’m hoping one of them gets to 5. After that it’s an even group for pick 9. Draper, Hannaford, Berry, Armstrong/Faull/Shanahan. Jagga, Smillie, Allan and Reid somewhere in this group too. The choice at 9 would somewhat be influenced by who we get at 5.

Bad news: Jason Taylor washed Good news: Jason Taylor learned how to leak disinformation

We made a similar offer for 13 as we did 9. We did what was needed to get the additional first rounder. Perfectly logical that we make a small trade down if the draft board and offers work out.

I’m not sure Brad suggesting we’ll add new players to the midfield is tipping our draft hand - there’s players on the list who are going in to the midfield already, and we’ve long been linked with Tauru. Either North don’t care or they’re willing to call our bluff. For all we know North’s real target might be Armstrong and they’re crying out for us to pick Tauru.

The age had him at 19 but I think as long as clubs tick off his endurance concerns it will be higher. I suspect if the draft broke perfectly for us we’d target a mid and an attacking player (likely a forward of some sort). A trade back could be possible if it’s a small slide. It would be a bold decision to turn down talls or another proven mid but I love the talent.

Played a couple of classic Jagga games, high on disposals, low on impact. He might’ve had only 1 impactful kick against Collingwood

Can you learn to read dates if you’re quoting stuff from months ago.

Agree entirely on Draper. His feet to win the ball are great but he doesn’t have the physical strength to break tackles or the fast hands. But probably still have him just over Smith because of the issues I have with Jagga and most of Smith’s best work is in the Coates league. Draper came back from injury underdone in to the champs then pretty much straight in to SANFL. The other concern with Draper is he had a shin stress fracture then a back stress fracture at the end of the year. I wonder if teams are dinging him for injuries.

Yeah that was the rumour heading in to this season, and whilst it could work well it could also end badly. If she’s open to it I’d think about it. But given how competitive aflw list management is I could see her going to a 4th club to play forward and the Dees finding Hill was ok too. We might stick with her and Colvin and target mids and quick forwards. Ideally we have the midfield depth so Hore can be more 70:30 forward than the other way around.

The intercept defender might be the second most valuable position in footy, only behind gun forward half mid. I’d love it if Tauru kicked the ball a little smoother and he does have a few howlers, but he also takes the game on with quick attacking run and decision making. If you thought you could smooth out the kicking he’d be an attacking weapon. Midfielder is such a priority but I find it hard to believe JT would rate them all equally and ahead of the talls and flankers.

Why? Endurance is a big concern, but the talent stands out and from the moment he flipped forward he was dominating games then added an on ball element. Guys with speed, skill and hardness just don’t come along all that often.

I originally dismissed Hannaford thinking the goals were a bit flukey and his 2km time in the 7’s is a worry. But watching more of him I just can’t get enough. I’d love him at pick 9. Skills - beautiful penetrating kick and nails set shots from 50, functional left foot, handballs really well on both sides Physicality - he competes in the air, tackles to hurt and speeds up as he attacks the contest Speed - bursts from contests and lays run down tackles. He smothers, he keeps his feet with really nice balance, he uses his hips. Might take him a few preseasons but that’s why strength and conditioning coaches make the big bucks. He went in to the midfield against 3 top 20 picks and beat them all at times.

I'm happy to have another shoddy ball user if he's a freak athlete and ball winner. My issue is the ball winning isn't near the Oliver/Tracc level. They have to be confident his ball winning will develop as well as his ball use.

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Watt was very good but Loz Pearce when fit is great and it’s time to commit to Campbell so I don’t mind that. Similarly we might commit to the Gall and be happy to move Harris on. Hopefully get Beasley and A Mackin back next year. Is it time for Paxy to call it? Plus Colvin. Small forward, midfield depth, key backs remain the top priority. Be nice to add experience in those spots whilst keeping an early pick in the draft.

Free running from a stoppage out of the backline, put it on the boot. But yeah, it’s harsh, but I want to see more than the very occasional special things and a few nice things a game. We’re talking about pick 5 here!