Slartibartfast

Too many here are evaluating Jackson on the basis he is only a ruckman. If that were the case I'd agree it's a silly pick. But Jason Taylor said that towards the end of the season he saw Jackson play forward and was impressed. I imagine he was impressed because as a "ruckman" he kept getting the ball as a forward and having an impact both in the air and at ground level as the good tall forwards do. IMO we are looking at Jackson more as a forward than as a ruckman. We might think he will go into the ruck when needed or when Gawn retires (many years yet) but we are planning for him to be a forward first. The lack of vision of his forward work is frustrating. Many here have seen him play ruck (either live or through replay) but none have really seen him play much forward (with apologies to Chaser and Pennent), so the negativity is really based on a wrong premise or lack of knowledge. Jackson is a forward come midfielder (I know he's not a midfielder but he follows up and gets the ball at ground level) come ruckman for mine. In other words he could be anything but is very likely to be something. Too many clubs are interested for this to be a misplaced pick. I'm loving this draft. We look like getting some really interesting and potentially exciting players and having said all that we still don't know what picks we'll have with the genuine possibility we'll trade pick 10. What a great nights entertainment tomorrow.

I can understand the concern at taking someone like Pickett at pick 10 but perhaps we are just a bit ahead of the curve. Charlie Cameron and Eddie Betts are two of the most influential small X factor forwards of recent times and neither were taken in the National Draft. Small forwards, in a lot of cases, have been taken late because of the reasons mentioned here. But good ones are match winners. If the Betts and Cameron drafts were done retrospectively they'd both be in the top 10, perhaps top 5. If we take Pickett it's because we believe he can have the same impact as other elite small forwards. If we are right we've got a bargain, if not we'll be one of many clubs that have a miss with a pick in that vacinity. Personally I hope we take him unless someone we really rate slides. I believe we have a good list, as Mahoney said our list is pretty much set. We don't want for a lot as long as our (the FD) evaluation of players is correct (Weid and Petty succeeding for example). The other thing is that many here overrate pick 10. It can throw up some guns but it can also throw up some duds. All pick 10's are guns when drafted but there are a lot of duds amoungst them. We have been crying out for X factor for years. Many here have lamented we don't have it and now as we look like getting it many have gone all gun shy.

Thanks for the reports Scoop, much appreciated. Vanders? Joel Smith?

Did Vanders, Smith or Oscar Baker train? Thanks DS for the reports.

Even when you don’t try, you’re trouble!?

I wondered down to training today and can only commend Kev's comments as they are accurate and cover all that I saw. On Bedford, I can't believe that you can take anything out of his performance other than how good he did, not how bad others are. He beat blokes like TMac and finished second behind ANB who really looked like he'd been out for a Sunday stroll. He is a beast of an athlete and Bedford's performance was terrific. Well done Toby. One who I was impressed with was Jayden Hunt. He was well up in the 3 km trial and was very involved in all the drills. We all know the areas he needs to improve but I've not noticed him being so good at the distance running. A combination of his speed plus endurance is a great combination. Others to impress me today were Trac who was really sharp and I liked a couple of things James Jordon did. May also impressed. Big, strong and fit. But what I did notice from last year: Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, Viney, TMac, OMac, Lever, Brayshaw, Melksham and AVB were all in training rather than rehab. How good is that.

Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere but someone mentioned there had been discussion in the media that Anderson was not a lock at 2 and might fall to us as GCS will nominate Green at 2 and GWS won't match. Has anyone else heard this?

Nobody minds the opinion Dazzle, it's the way it's expressed. You've got some great views and insights, you do a terrific job bringing our notice to articles in the media and you clearly know your footy. But the way you express yourself towards others is unnecessarily putrid at times.

Do you know what his unofficial measurement was?

That's a useful and insightful post Dazzle! Hope you don't let everything like this upset you. Second worst in the league in 2019 and best in 2018. Who would have thought that half seasons from McDonald, Weideman, Hannan and Melksham (number 1 for goal assists in 2018) would impact our forward half. Fritsch having to cover down back, McDonald, Petracca, Hannan and Melksham having significantly interrupted preseasons (Weid as well?) and a compromised back half meaning the midfielders had to cover down there (as well as Gawn). With a full complement on the field I can't see why we can't get back to close to our 2018 output. And if Bennell comes good........

Same as others.

Ashley Sampi says hi.

Rawlings wasn't "moved on", he went to NM and was poached. So only one assistant was moved on and McCartney had been there for a long time. I would have thought that it was healthy to have a few assistant coach changes - new voice, new message and all that and I'm surprised it wasn't a few more. Jennings (I think) wants to coach his own team with a view to getting into a senior coaching position, Viney's role was administrative and Sam Pietsch was strength and conditioning. Yes 2019 was a horror show, I didn't enjoy it at all. But then when I realized that only about 4 players had uninterrupted preseasons and seasons I understood why. If we fall in a heap this season then it's a real worry but I'm pretty confident we won't.

Petracca looks fat.

Well I think you're right in terms of who we will select but it says volumes about Goodwin. I didn't bother opening the thread on Goodwin during the season as I suspected it was full of wrist slashing and irrational criticisms of him. But I saw enough references in other threads to confirm my suspicions. But one thing is pretty clear. Goodwin is an outstanding communicator and representative of our Club. Whilst I think his pressers are bland and usually say nothing (a frustration to supporters seeking information but probably a skill in itself) he has been front and centre at attracting players and staff to our club. When interviewed players leaving or joining our Club invariably mention how impressed they are with Goodwin and footy department personnel such as Burgess and Richardson have said similar. He is largely responsible for attracting targetted people to our FD. I know there will be those who question Goodwin after last year but it's pretty clear from what Burgess said (16 of the 22 who played in the PF had post season surgery) that 2019's performance is mainly the result of fitness and injury to players. I think Goodwin is a fantastic coach and we are lucky to have him. Next season will tell us a lot but I'm supremely confident.

I've missed you so much Pro, welcome back.

I don't know why so many have so much difficulty "getting it". Frost was traded because we had a surplus in his position, he was out of contract and he was worth something. And with what we got for Frost we could spend on what we needed - Langdon. Trading Frost wasn't us saying Frost was no good, he was traded for something valuable because he was good. It's not hard. Have another go at understanding it.

I'm not in the slightest bit disappointed to be using our first pick on an elite HBF if that's what he turns out to be and that's who we pick. We are pregnant with midfielders but our small back situation is close to dire. Hibberd is finished, or close to, Jetta is getting on, Salem is the only small back with a good period left to play and I'm not sure who else we've got. Whoever it is will have to either move from a better position (Harmes, Brayshaw, Fritsch) or jump out of the pack - Lockhart, Sparrow. Good distributors from half back are gold as Redleg is saying, just look at Whitfield, Sheppard, Hurn, Houli and Haynes. I'm all for getting someone of that class.

No.

A preliminary final was much better than average and if you can't see why there was a significant decline in 2019 I can't help you, and heavens knows I've tried. Can you name the half that got flung.

How did they go in 2018 or have you forgotten?

Mahoney might threaten to go to all the other suitors for Frost. Oh, that’s right, how many other suitors are there? We’ll get what we can, we don’t have any cards. Strange isn’t it, with so many here thinking Frost is such a good player his services aren’t more in demand. Mahoney shouldn’t bluff. Get the deal done and move on. We need the list space and we have no cards.

Don't people get sick of bagging Oscar? It's such a bore. Last time I looked he played for us and hence we should support him.

I don’t think anyone is thinking Papley for pick 3. We’d want something pretty significant back.

So is Jacob Townsend.