DeeSpencer

If Hanks gets a week for that we are in trouble

Another Birch cheap shot after being beaten in the contest. Just a very difficult player to barrack for

Should’ve spoiled it anyway but Zanker being on the mark rather than the goal line is an inexperienced ruck mistake and poor communication

Harris of course, remains a strong contender for players who like it on their own terms

Whilst no one will ever overtake Birch, Bannan has rocketed herself to 2nd place in cat watch. Any chance she could halve a contest?

Harley Reid, McKercher or Duursma aside if you're looking for a player with similar damaging midfield style to Butters in this draft then the hope would be Nick Watson can overcome his lack of size to do more in the midfield or at least up the ground. Or you'd be looking for Ryley Sanders to add more creativity because he's already very good at quick accurate disposals. Darcy Wilson has the athleticism of Butters and can at times be creative but I think he's better when he keeps it simple. Jake Rogers is more skilled than he gets credit for too. Otherwise I think you'll have to go all the way out to someone like my favourite Phoenix Gothard who's very much a small forward and hope you can develop his contested game. It's such a thin list of midfielders yet alone guys with Butters' combination of skills and evasiveness.

https://central.rookieme.com/afl/player/zak-butters/ This is a much better write up that accurately sums up Butters' creativity and potential for damage with the ball, his athleticism and his potential. In terms of whether he compares with Leake or Windsor I'd say he's not similar to either but Leake is the one who - whilst stylistically is much different - has a similar potential for impact in that he does dynamic things with a degree of class and could make a big impact. Windsor to me is just a pure outside running player. He might be able to adapt that run to half forward or half back but what he does well is run the lines and kick well. He's a bit like a young Andrew Gaff or a more pure kicking version of Ed Langdon. Whilst there's a chance he could develop an inside game or some forward craft to add strings to his bow I don't think it's likely. The hope is he does his strength - run and kick - at a very high level.

Hately was an extremely well performed junior but so far has been too plain athletically to make an impact, his height was part of his potential I guess but overall his biggest weakness is lack of power. RCD had all the power in the world but not the footy smarts. Even with limited exposure Butters was better performed than RCD, but not as consistently good as Hately. Quicker, smarter, more skilled than both obviously.

I don’t see much brutality in his game, in fact the opposite. He’s highly skilled but shaky in the contest both in the air and with defensive accountability on the ground. Unless he has the tank for the wing or the pace to go with smalls across half back I’m not sure exactly what role he’d have. His attacking game would have to be so good to really carry him and whilst it’s very good I’m not sure it completely overrides his deficiencies.

Viney will be 30 next season, Petracca will be a forward sooner than later IMO and Oliver I’m not allowed to post about. And even with all that I don’t see why Sanders would be a very handy half forward or wing rotation early in his career with the way he accumulates and moves the ball on quickly. Im just not sure how good he is or more importantly if he’ll be there at our pick, but I’m not worried about positional overlap.

Delisted free agency occurring now is for the main list. For players to go on to the rookie list they must either be taken in the rookie draft or in the case of delisted players they can sit out the drafts and sign as supplemental selection players after the draft. But you can't be delisted and then relisted in the SSP by the same club unless you've nominated for the draft. So in Melksham's case he has to nominate for the draft. Meaning we may as well draft him and get him back on the list rather than waiting another week or so for the SSP window.

I’m not a fan of keeping the old boys either but…. We have a pick available if we want to take Kynan Brown in the national draft and we have 2 rookie spots available. We also can wind the old boys up at the end of summer if they aren’t healthy. Hopefully we get clarity on the clubs plans with Kynan. I’ve always thought he’s a rookie talent so if that’s the way it goes it will be a nice result.

Harris in for Gall is the obvious change, but I wonder if Colvin and A Mackin come in or if they stick with Wilson and Campbell/Fitzsimon. Could really do with Gay fit for finals too.

I significantly doubt Leake will be available at 11. I feel Geelong would love him, as would GWS. And what if you count Curtin as a midfielder? I prefer him as a mid than down back

I see our priorities as this: Priority 1: Trade for Harley Reid if a deal can be done. Priority 2: Assess trading up for pick 2 or 3 for Duursma or perhaps McKercher. Those 2 seem to have separated themselves as the standouts from the rest of the bunch and Duursma especially makes sense to go hard for. I can't see us going super hard for anyone else. Priority 3: Take one of Watson, Sanders, Curtin, Leake or perhaps Caddy, O'Sullivan. If the top 3 goes to plan then obviously at least 2 of the first bunch are available plus a couple of tall options. Priority 4: Assess the cost of moving pick 11 up to 8 in order to get our choice of the talls. If it's not possible then we know there's other tall options who could slide as well as Wilson and Windsor in the range. Plus I remain intrigued by big Will Green as an alternative option.

He’s undersized in terms of height if you want to play him as a 3rd tall, but I think part of the appeal of drafting him would be he looks to me like he’ll fill out to be a very solidly built mid or utility.

I don’t really see Bailey, his pace bursting through and away from packs is his strength. Leake is more winning the ball, he’s bigger and more of a long strider. I’m reluctant to use the F word but I can see why others have gone that far. And if you want to get really crazy go with a hint of a smaller Adam Goodes. I’d probably go with traits of Elliot Yeo down back and maybe a Kyle Langford up forward.

Only if we really don’t rate the available talent at 6 and they’d add in a second and we could combine that with our own future first to get back in to the top 15.

Watch the second half of the last video posted above, the game against Eastern. Whilst his stoppage and congestion game might need refinement he can clearly get his hands on the ball and he’s a dynamic presence around the ground.

13.2 and 19.4, the two numbers that might matter most with Windsor. Uncontested possessions to disposals. Isn’t there a 30% contested to uncontested ratio that players who don’t meet routinely flop? He’s over that, but not by much. The other question I have is why was he only a wingman at Coates league level in every clip I’ve seen? He’s not that skinny, why wasn’t he used on ball?

Max will be 32 next year and playing solo ruck, it’s not exactly ground breaking to say he’s now at an age where his main focus should be individual performance. Hopefully he’s dealing with a new born and another kid too. Viney, Tracc and Lever are the guys who are in the right age range to be captain. It’s not unreasonable to suggest one or more of those guys should take over the title whilst Max stays as a vital leader in certain ways.

If he’s close to a spot in the best 22 I’d start him at half back given that’s the easiest place to come in to the side. Otherwise if he’s ready for it physically at VFL level I’d have him on ball rotating forward. The question I’d like answered is what’s his 2km time? He’s valuable as a forward and back who can develop his on ball game, but if he can genuinely run he has great attributes with his kicking and marking to be a winger.

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Walter would go pick 1, Duursma v McKercher would be roughly on par with Rayner v Andy Brayshaw in 2017 I think. McKercher a solid midfield prospect, Duursma the could be anything type but not a guarantee. Better than McGrath/Taranto, not as good as Walsh/Luko/Rankine or Rowell/Anderson. Good enough to trade plenty for but North aren’t moving back unless it’s part of a pick 1 deal.

No, I said moved from the midfield where her lack of contested strength and pressure were being exploited. We’ve been a better side since she’s playing wing and now high half forward