Nascent

This is North's line up though.

We're in a very good spot but a lot can change over the the trade period with player movement and compensation picks. Wouldn't be surprised to see Gold Coast hold their first pick until draft night to full assess what's available to them and auction to the highest bidder then.

Out of contract and recovering from an ACL, it was reported earlier in the year that he could find a home east instead of back to WA. With Grundy potentially looking at moving and Port being an interested party, will we make a play for the 192cm athletic forward who held our interest in his draft year? Edit: Apologies @The heart beats true and @Grand New Flag . Just saw your posts in another thread

If he wants to stay in Vic then it seems Geelong is his only suitor. They only have pick 8 this year with their later picks currently in the 80s. Might only be looking at future 2nd from them, however I wonder if they would be enticed with a slide of picks. Grundy, 15 and 34 for pick 8 and future 2nd. That gets us a second top 10 pick and extra capital for the future while Geelong get Grundy and add an earlier 2nd pick this year. Conversely, I wonder if North would be interested. We might be able to get the Ben McKay compensation presumably end of first round. Port only have 37 and 43 this year while Sydney have picks 22, 31, 41 and 50. If he chooses Sydney then we may benefit from adding one of their picks to a deal with Gold Coast for their 1st rounder. Sydney being one of our direct competitors for that selection with their draft hand.

He's a very good tall and very much has a competitive streak. Excels at taking the ball at the highest point and goes for his intercept marks. Has a lovely left foot and can kick it a mile. Stands probably close to 200cm and probably as skinny as Jefferson so will take some time to build his body.

Article also mentions west coast putting a 4 year deal to Deven Robertson. Not an immediate need for us but we were keen in his draft year and would have played state league footy with Rivers.

I'm fairly certain I saw Maginness line up on Rivers at various points in the 4th quarter.

Swans another with pick 12 and 22.

Thanks mate. 1. Interesting proposal. I'd certainly have him as depth over Schache and with Ben Brown and T-Mac edging towards retirement there is certainly a place for him on our list if we do look to fill that depth this year. I don't think he quite has the work rate or footy iq to be a permanent best 22 player, but like you said he could play a stop gap role quite effectively. Another factor to consider is that if we do recruit him, we may have Ben Brown, Tmac, Schache and Chol all playing ressies which may impede Jefferson's development. In theory one of them will he in the seniors but the season can be unpredictable with injury etc. We already saw this weekend Jefferson pushed out onto a wing to prioritise T-Mac. 2. This is a very subjective topic and obviously changes as the best 22 evolves over time. Ideally you would have a balance of these physical attributes across the list. I'm not that concerned about our pace as some other. Some of our players are deceptively quicker than you would think but for mine, quick skilful ball movement makes any team look quick as well. Skills can definitely improve for mine. While we have a couple good users in front and behind the footy, our midfield is probably average at best. Petracca, when he is on, is lethal with the penetration he gets with his field kicking, however our other mids and wingers aren't fantastic by foot. Contested marking is excellent behind the ball however could stand to improve in the front half. JvR is going to be a weapon here in the future I suspect as well as Jefferson should he develop as hoped. Gawn is obviously excellent at this as well but receives a lot of attention and is ageing. In terms of recruiting for athleticism, it certainly would make up a good portion of a players appeal. But if it's not coupled with a competitive streak and, for most players, a good ability to win contested footy then it's not going to matter. I like Darcy Wilson as a prospect who is an excellent kick and has nice athletic attributes. The knock is his competative work and he plays mainly outside but I'm not sure it's as bad as some would believe. I've seen him lay heavy tackles and doesn't seem to shirk away from those contested moments. Running is a huge part obviously and if you can't run then you cant play. Obviously anyone can improve endurance running but some people aren't as innately gifted and have to work incredibly hard to achieve and maintin these results (the old fast twitch/slow twitch discussion). Here there is potential to see who has the drive and standards to showcase their attitude towards becoming a professional footballer. Just my thoughts which are subject to change.

Agreed. The Suns pick is going to be hotly contested but I'd be looking at any other options to upgrade our picks as I can’t see us taking many picks at the draft.

Nate Caddy highlights of his round 16 performance. Will we select a key forward with our first pick 3 years running?

And gawny rests forward to stay down for the crumb.

Basically saying you can analyse our list and come up with different answers. Fwiw I'm a huge fan of Watson and started a thread on him as an option for pick 4-5 not long ago. He is a freak.

All depends on the draft intel clubs have. We could send 4 and 15 to them for 2 and jump the Hawks to get Duursma. 1. North - Reid 2. Melb - Duursma 3. Hawks - Watson 4. WC - Curtin Hawks were supposedly fans of Watson before crushing on Duursma recently.

Good question @Binmans PA Key Forward: - JvR: now established best 22 - Petty: is the question mark. Does he play forward, back or play as a genuine swing man. - Jefferson: developing and probably minimum 2 years away from being relied on to contribute. - Ben Brown, T-Mac and Schache all could be in the their last year next season and realistically we wouldn't want to be having them in our plan A. At the very least, depth key forwards will need to be considered either this off-season or next. An established key forward to pair with JvR would be amazing. None on the market this year unless we can somehow pry someone like a Naughton or Allen which I can't see happening. Georgiades a possibility but has a similar profile to JvR both in height and athletically, crashes packs in a similar fashion and is a great contested mark but poor finishing in front of goals. Recovering from an ACL. Harrison Jones could be available as an ooc player, plays slightly differently to JvR which may compliment. Been chronically injured with back problems this year. Neither of these two players are worth pick 5 or used in a slide with ports poor draft picks. Some have the view the JvR plays his best footy in defence. Could he be the ideal candidate to take over May when he retires. If so, does that leave Petty to pair with Jefferson in due course? Perhaps not but something to consider. Ruck - Gawn: will be 32 by the start of next season, how much can he carry and when will his performance start to dip? - Grundy: does he stay? If not then a mature ruck between 23 - 27 would be an absolute priority. - Verrall and KFW still developing but would be years away and wouldn't be ready to take ruck responsibilities if Gawn were unavailable next year. Key Defenders - May: 32 at the start of next year, playing good footy but perhaps past his peak. - Lever: plenty of footy ahead of him, plays best as an interceptor with two key backs around him. - Petty: forward or defence? - D. Turner: developing and looks ready for senior footy, perhaps undersized to take on huge key forwards and plays similar to lever with his ability to intercept mark. - Adams: could use another year of development but showing good signs at Casey. - Tomlinson: seemingly out of favour and looking for more senior opportunities, depth if he doesn't find a home. - K Turner: lightly built rookie with limited exposure due to injury this year, may be given another year. We need to plan for life after May and decide where we want to play Petty. Both factors could contribute to a very depleted back line lacking in experience. Mids: Oliver - 26yrs - star for another 6 years+ hopefully. Petracca, Viney, Brayshaw, Langdon, Hunter will all be >28 next year. Viney 30. Most should still have great footy for 2-4 years but will need to think about the next elite batch of midfielders. Might need to replace Hunter after next year. Sparrow, Jordon and Woewodin coming through although Jordon might leave. Harmes & Dunstan out of favour and both might be moved on/delisted. Our starting midfield is fine for now but will need to consider the next generation of mids come 2026/27. May need short term depth if Harmes, Dunstan and Jordon all move on. Small/medium defenders - Salem - Rivers - Bowey - McVee - Hibberd: likely to retire - D Smith: rookie that is playing good footy at Casey but needs to be promoted or delisted this year, probably 50:50 to be one the list. Solid mix of small defenders. Think we have a genuine star in the making with Rivers and could see him progress to the midfield. Salem will be 29 next year, hibberd likely retired, perhaps another medium defender is in order. Small/medium forwards - Fritsch - Pickett - ANB - Melksham - Spargo - Chandler - Laurie - AMW - Sestan Fritsch, Pickett permanent best 22 with ANB a solid senior player. Spargo, Chandler and Laurie all rotating through the team throughout the year. Melksham having a career revival currently but still might be without a contract for next year. If he does play-on, I wouldn't want to be relying on him playing his best footy week-in week-out. A top 5 pick should net us a player of similar ilk as Rankine in a trade, none in that class appear to be on the move this year that I'm aware of. Watson and Duursma may serve as fwd craft and x-factor additions via the draft. Utilities Joel Smith, Blake Howes To sum up, depending on how we utilise our list, we could use a; Key forward Key back Ruck Small/Medium defender Small/Medium forward Midfielder for future planning Key forward/back and ruck would obviously be best addressed via trade if we went down that path due to their long development time. The other positions we can look to address via the draft unless an opportunity presents itself. If we can land an elite key forward that would be the dream.

Who did you have in mind? I think we take pick 5 to the draft as I can't see someone available worth spending that currency on.

Imagine if they did and North took Curtin at 2.

Different sort of players. Duursma is more a hybrid foward/mid (looks better forward) and gets it out on the lead more and is a better finisher and user by foot for mine. Nate is more bid bodied and plays like a key forward though is probably undersized by moderns standards at 192cm. Has more pack crashing ability and is a good mark.

Duursma kicked 4 goals and had 15 disposals to be named Gippsland best player in their loss to Oakleigh yesterday. He has now kicked 12 goals in his last 3 Coates league games. Kynan Brown named oakleighs second best with 27disposals and a goal. Caddy kicked 4 goals 3 from 20 disposals for the Northern Knights Watson kicked 1 goal 3 from 22 disposals for Eastern.

6. Lever 5. Rivers 4. Viney 3. ANB 2. Brayshaw 1. Langdon Apologies to Melksham (convert half of his attempts and his near best on) and JvR.

Not when it's melksham. Also he was two metres from the ball and just watched the Hawks player take it uncontested.

Also Lever by far best on. Been huge.

Petracca and Oliver getting involved and Hawks can't go with us.

Infuriates me