Nascent

Recent highlights video posted by the club. Been a bit of draft talk about needing a new wave of midfielder(s) to come through, perhaps we have an A-grader sitting on our half-back flank.

Quite possible, even probable maybe, but it's not a stretch to see him miss out at the national draft in my view.

I reckon we will take two in the ND, Brown as a Rookie and leave a spot for a DFA or SSP player.

Think this will be Fullartons role, unless they don't plan to have him in the side along with Petty and JvR. He was more fwd than ruck, pinch hitting when required.

I think there are still too many variables in play at the moment to know with any certainty. It does give us more flexibility to add to our list in a variety of ways. Whether it be simply adding another draftee through the national, opting to have more rookies, or holding a list spot over for either a DFA (ruck depth like Lycett of Hayes comes to mind) or simply keeping a list spot open for a ssp player in the preseason. Melksham going on the inactive list also adds flexibility I believe. 42 is anyone's guess at the moment, but I reckon we'll use it in a trade somehow. Either as an upgrade this year or flip into next.

"The Kangaroos could be the busiest, with North expected to use five or six selections, while the Cats, Saints and Eagles are all likely to use four or five picks." "The ability to trade selections will impact some plans, but Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide are all likely to decide between having two and three draft choices."

I'm not sure why the AFL didn't just state that those picks must be on-traded in the first place. It's pretty much what they implied.

They've already traded those picks out to Gold Coast and Sydney. They needed to otherwise the AFL could have revoked them if they improved next year. They don't have any extra future picks as it currently stands.

Crowd was 2,704

If the speculation is to be believed then Sanders is going one pick before ours. Curtin or Caddy seem to be the choices if we remain at 6.

You could very well be right about Jeffo but it's not often that your 3rd tall is actually the tallest of the lot. Particularly with his contested marking being his biggest strength.

Thanks mate, didn't have access. Edit: wonder if that's speculation on Caddy to us or intel. Be curious to see how we play with a forward line of JvR, Jefferson and Caddy, who we will have taken in consecutive years. Throw in Fritsch and Fullarton and its looking top heavy. One to play back perhaps. I'm more inclined to believe we will trade up for 3 and take Duursma.

This is an interesting scenario. I'm still undecided but on face value I would probably prefer 6 and 11 but can see the appeal of getting up to 3. Most likely look like. 1. North - Reid 2. WC - Curtin 3. Melb - McKercher/Duursma Alternatively, if West Coast has strong intel that Curtin slides to 6, as is the speculation currently, do they take a risk and select Duursma/McKercher at 2?

Caddy not lasting to pick 8 speculation is interesting. As far as I can tell no club before us have been linked to him yet. That leaves us and GWS as potential suitors maybe? Or perhaps there's more twists in the top part of the draft to come. Hypothetical question. If Caddy was still on the board at our pick and Geelong came hard for him with an offer of pick 8 and future 1st, would you consider it? We go to the draft with 8 and 11 and deathride Geelong who I think will spend another year outside finals. This would certainly mean goodbye to the crop of Reid, Curtin, Duursma, McKercher, Sanders, Watson. 8 and 11 could net us O'Sullivan and perhaps a Windsor/Leake/Wilson

13 out 4 in 9 picks over national/rookie draft or perhaps a delisted free agent plus spot held over for a pre-seasom supplemental selection. They have 5 first rounders then picks 57 and 82.

I'm not sure I can see North making a serious play for pick 1. They've moved on 13 players and replaced them with 4 during the trade period. 2 weren't best 22 at their former clubs in Fisher and Stephens and the other two are key position players who have played 1 AFL game between them. One hasn't even been on an AFL list for 4 years. They are going to need to bring in as much quantity as possible. Not sure it's in their best interests to burn 2-3 high end picks for one player. They have a ripping midfield list full of potential. But they're setting themselves up for failure and I fear it will lead to more handouts next year.

Happy to death ride Adelaide, just in case.

I wouldn't be surprised if Brown slides through to the Rookie draft. Also to be determined is if we'll put Melksham on the inactive list, which I think entitles us to another selection.

I think this is where my opinion currently sits aswell. At this stage it seems to be out of Curtin/Sanders/Watson for who is available at pick 7. Throw in a smokey in Caddy from outside that range who has grown to 193cm and is starting to look more key position height. I would be happy with a Curtin/Sanders/Watson pick, whichever way that falls for pick 6 (7). Can't really go wrong within the first 7 in my view. For 11, if we go a mid type at 6 I wouldn't be surprised if we try to manoeuvre up for O'Sullivan. 11 and future first for Geelongs pick 8 maybe? If we go with Curtin at our first pick, I'd be very happy with one of Leake/Windsor.

It was just 14, 27, 35 for 11. F2 and F3 were for McAdam and Billings respectively. We only plan to take two picks to the draft and as spots were limited they therefore could only be used to move up or into the future. If the recruiters feel there's a premium pool of players in the first dozen or so, and subsequently a drop off after that, then they've wisely traded into that premium space in my view. Still a bit to played out anyway, our picks could still be drastically different again on draft night. We can properly break it down then.

Not a 2023 target, but would love for the club to land an established mid like Butters, McCluggage, Florent or Callaghan over the next year or two. Also a key position player as required pending the status of Petty, May and Gawn.

Cal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' October ranking - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1054452

Yep. I can see us still trading with the roos. Pick 6 and 11 for 3 and 18. 18 will end up around 22.