BAMF

The academy's are great for the game. The perception of AFL in the northern states has changed significantly. NRL will always be king up there, but there are a heap of kids playing AFL as their second sport and when they realise they don't have the size to continue NRL they switch to AFL. These kids wouldn't have been drafted to AFL without having the academy's. It will take another generation before this solidifies to be what the AFL intended. In the meantime the smaller clubs will suffer. As mentioned by another poster, we are not Geelong with their wide recruitment areas. We do not play in front of big crowds and we don't even have a big modern training base (yet). So yeah... Academy's are great for the game. Terrible for us.

Pick 46 came into 42 after father son / academy point matches. We traded pick 42 on draft night to the Saints for their 2024 third round pick which is currently pick 45 (347 points). Pick 45 wasn't mentioned in the hypothetical trade but would be the difference in points needed in my previous post. This would mean we would have pick 5, 15, 61.

1494 points is just shy to the equivalent of pick 9. According to phantom drafts, Ashcroft will go pick 1 or 2. Let's assume it's pick 2 as most clubs who have the first pick won't bid on a player. Pick 2 is 2517 points. With a 20% discount for father sons that will equal 2014 points. Brisbane don't have a current second round pick as they traded it last year. Their next picks as it currently stands is 53 (233 points) and 69 (49 points). 1776 points in total after the hypothetical trade. Technically they can go into deficit which will effect their 1st pick of 2025. I doubt the suggested trade will be enough points to satisfy Brisbane, but it's not far off.

There seem to be a number of regular posters which are frustrated by the current state of mainstream AFL media. I made a decision to limit how much time I read or listen to it at the end of last year and it has made me appreciate football much more this year. I avoid anything with Kane Cornes, Damian Barrett or Sam McClure. It's damn hard to avoid as whatever these guys drone on about ends up feeding the wider AFL supporter base and the conversations being had amongst fans. There is a growing number of podcasts and alternative media which is starting to emerge though as there are plenty of others out there seeking something other than 4 white guys talking about how great the winning teams are and how bad the losing teams are each week.

Great points It's Time. The Brayshaw and Smith situations definitely made his job difficult. Smith would have been getting games this year. This was completely out of his hands. I don't attribute the loss of some key depth to him either as I feel that was driven by team selection and positions. Jordon, Grundy and to a lesser extent, Harmes would have been great this year. I would have loved Harmes to be fit and firing heading into the 2022 finals campaign, but feel he was disillusioned already by then and it was best to part ways. I do think that he is ultimately responsible as the list manager for the players we brought in recently. I don't buy into the argument that the recruitment team should bare responsibility too. They have all been busts based on output in 2024 and I don't have any faith of better returns from them in 2025. Your posts have really made me think about which decisions in isolation have led me to this opinion. The answer is McAdams. A high price was paid and if he had been a B+ instead of a D then I would likely be thinking differently. It's not just that decision in isolation though is it? That combined with the other decision which are also busts add up.

Non event in the terms of the conversation being had. I really like Noble as a player. I think Gold Coast are getting a good one. My argument was based on Binman using it as an example for his opinion. I questioned it and he kindly repsonded to clarified his thoughts. Which I want to point out how much I appreciated. I enjoy discussing opinions in a reasonable manner. I often post things that people don't agree with. My first reaction is usually to get annoyed that my message hasn't been received as intended. Most of the time I can't be bothered replying to clarify as it often just turns into a [censored] fight depending on the poster. Noble is a solid player. He isn't the pies best player or on a huge salary like Petracca is which is what context I was comparing it to when saying 'non event'

I disagree with minor things, but not worth further debate. I always appreciate your detailed replies.

I'm not necessarily in agreement or disagreement with your post but the quoted part isn't valid to the conversation. Tigers are in a hard rebuild. Trading those players out is a blessing and nobody is reporting that they are leaving because they are saying the culture is terrible. Noble is a non event. Bottom six player going to another club. That happens every year.

Rumours appearing online stating that he has agreed to join Demons. Nothing official. Edit: Still nothing filtering to any media outlets. This may just be supporter filled lies.

Drafted by North Melbourne with pick 15 in the 2015 rookie draft. Played 8 games in three years before being traded to the Demons along with pick 62 (Marty Hore) for Dom Tyson in 2018 off season. Played 10 games for us as a backup to Max until he was traded to GWS for pick 31 in 2020. We bundled up pick 31 with a heap of other picks to eventually get the picks for Laurie and Bowey. Played 10 games for GWS. Consistently injured.

Well said. Just because he kicked 33 for Carlton does not mean he will come and kick 33 for us.

Pick 5 get it done you think?

That answers the culture aspect, which is no doubt a big part (maybe the vast majority), my question more relates to talent level and money being paid to the players. The VFL is supposed to be the second best level in Victoria, yet when a player retires from the AFL they often play at lower leagues instead. Why is this?

Oh boy. There is going to need to be some big signings to replace what we have lost the last few years. Can I ask why we are losing these players? For example, why has Mitch White left us to play for Rosebud? Is this just Mitch getting a bit older and needing to downgrade to a lower league due to age? Or are they able to pay him more?

Geelong has raided Gold Coast over the last 4 years due to salary cap constraints. They have absolutely cleaned up. They gave up a fair bit for Cameron but have made it all back due to Gold Coasts bad list management and trades.

Put a fork in him. He's done. He couldn't even improve Casey this year.

Whoa.. Why have you got Langdon on the members wing? Are you predicting his fitness downfall next year, or are you saying Windsor is going to be even fitter than him? Either way, that's a huge call (Yeah I'm bored at work)

I must be on an island with Lewis Young. I thought he was a good solid defender and at his age I would be snapping him up if cheap. I must be looking at him all wrong as I'm shocked he is being traded in the first place.

Just saw in the contracts thread that hunter is contracted for 2025. Time for Lamb to go.

Of course. Everyone wants to get undervalued young players. Were probably losing Brayshaw, Brown, Schacke, Smith, ANB, Tomlinson, Hunter. 7 players. We will have Pick 5, Pick 25 (ANB), Sydney's second round pick and then a few picks of little value. I don't want to have to look at delisted players either but it's a reality. We either give up a player of value or a draft pick of value to obtain a decent young player from another club. Free agents would be fantastic, but we don't seem to ever get those ones.

No. [censored] him. He would have been a premiership player but didnt want to even consider us. He put a price on his head so big for the sole reason thst he knew that we couldn't pick him in PSD. [censored] that guy. I wish him no luck for the rest of his career. He got his money.

The Mishhile!

Good luck young men. Congratulations on the extensions! I believe we can keep AMW as a cat B for 1 more season if he agrees?

Might have a bit of growth left at that age. Might push up to 171cm which is Kozzies height, so it shouldn't be an issue. He looks tiny in that picture though! Fingers crossed for this one.

Yes from me. A reluctant yes. Its hard picking up another player like this after last year's mature player recruits all turned out to be bad investments. Unfortunately, we need to turn the list over dramatically and will need to look at players like Ross.