Random Task

Funnily enough, I'd think they would prefer to give us pick 23 than 24. Like you said, 24 is valuable and they can probably flip it for a future 1st with another team.

I more or less agree with your sentiment but just had to pull you up on your opening line. Laurie only played 6 games this year with 4 of them being sub or subbed off. Woewy played 16. He's also contracted until end of 2026. I defended him throughout the year and thought he was given a rough run by the match committee. Only played one consecutive set of matches, showed a bit of improvement in his last few games yet was straitht out and never given a run to build his confidence. I'm less bullish on his prospects now. Despite getting a deal until 2026, he's going to need to really demand a spot and play a good chunk of games otherwise he'll probably be told to look at his options elsewhere. Best of luck to him, hope he makes a good fist of it.

*Improved not approved, geez I put in some howler autocorrect spelling mistakes while typing on my phone.

Warburtons got some nice traits, but I'm not a wrap for his decision making and disposal under pressure. Lacks some composure and runs himself into trouble often. If that aspect of his game can be approved then could prove go be a decent rebound defender.

It's going to be hard to recruit anyone if they both leave and the media push the basket case narrative. Would be nice to have a ready made player for '25, and we may get one with one of our top 10 picks. But we shouldn't be having a narrow short term focus on recruits and we shouldn't be expecting one or two 18yr olds to be the difference between making finals or not. All I know is if one or both of Oliver or Petracca leave, we are going to be swimming in salary cap space. Think we will have an easier time trying to recruit a young quality mid over the next few years than a ready to go 25yr+ KPP that wants to sign a 5-7yr contract in a premiership contending team. We're going to be very short on key position players at the end of next year when McDonald most likely retires and May on his last legs at 34 in 2026. With Tomlinson and Schache gone, Fullarton not looking likely and both Jefferson and Adams no guarantees, I see a good argument to adding quality KPP players to the list. Our list has a lot of needs. Whether that's at 5, 9 or 83 will depend on how the JT sees this crop.

Assuming we don't split pick 5 or 9, I see this pick being somewhat needs based. We go two mids early we'll probably go tall. Go tall and mid we probably go another mid-sized player. With Rivers potentially shifting to the midfield full-time and Salem getting on, I think we could use some depth in our medium defenders department. Bowey and McVee make up the other medium defenders with the later potentially earmarked for a future midfield role as well given his trial runs there late in the season. AMW shows promise but not sold he makes it long term with defensive IQ and decision making needing work. Given that, I'd like to suggests two players that could potentially fit the mold. 1. Lachie Jacques 184cm defender from Geekong Falcons. May be off the board at this point, but Lachie provides excellent reading of the ball and is a strong mark, intercepts and spoils well and also neat by foot and was often the designated kicker out of defence for Geelong. Provides a lot of run from the backline and works hard to be involved in the next chain. 2. Lucca Grego 184cm mid/defended from Western Jets. Played mainly in the midfield for the Jets where he shows toughness over the ball and has a burst of speed. Caught my eye playing as a defender from Vic Metro where I thought he took to the role well and impressed me with use ball use and his competitiveness. Keep in mind in the video above is played at Williamstown oval which always has shocking wind conditions and makes his ball use look poor. Unfortunately can't find any other videos thus far.

The ‘ruthless’ top-10 prospect with goalkicking great in his corner - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1248642 Looks similar to the above article but has some different details in there. Pump up article so take from it what you will. Indeed, ruthlessness is among Armstrong's biggest strengths. As well as being a straightshooter and athletic – he finished seventh in the agility test at the national Draft Combine – the Dragons prospect is also a fierce competitor. "I believe that he has … nastiness is the wrong word – that's what Kevin Sheedy instilled into me – but he has the ability to be what I call a tenpin bowler. He takes down everyone with him and flies for his marks," Lloyd said.

Too early to say, just putting out hypotheticals based on recent speculation but not placing too much stock in it at this stage.

If we are going for Armstrong at 5 I don't think we take the risk here. Very exciting player though.

I don't see much of the WA boys but saw Luke Urquhart tested well at the Combine. Likely to go in the main draft @Pennant St Dee?

I wouldn't worry about track record or the last time we landed a fre agent. We should just target players we need regardless of history. My main point is that quality key position players are difficult to obtain and cost a fortune to bring across given the demand and scarcity. Most clubs are locking in their key talls to lengthy deals, as evidenced by Mac Andrew and Darcy Fogarty. Battle isn't even in the top echelon of key talls and he scored himself such a huge pay day and lengthy contract to move clubs that St kilda got a 1st round pick as compensation. Just by weight of numbers there are more mids/mid-sized players likely to be available come trade time. If Oliver or Petracca leave next year, given we'll have plenty of cap space to play with, I'll be disappointed if we didn't land a good midfielder in the next year or two.

I phrased this poorly, I meant that Adams and Jefferson are still question marks at AFL level. Both may make it, both may not. I actually like the skills and qualities both players bring and look forward to their development. Adams in particular has a way to go but bother signed through to 26 so club obviously sees the potential worth developing. I'm in agreement with you that a mix of tall and mid would be ideal and given we have three picks, I see us taking two mids and one kpp.

I like this if Lalor is available

That's fair enough, I guess the real question for mine is can we get the same player we want at 9 a few spots back and improve our 3rd pick by 40 odd spots.

Rivers is a genuine mid now and should be considered part of the rotation. I do wonder that maybe with his progress to the midfield and adding two mids in last year's draft (albiet a winger and half-forward/mid hybrid) that it may lean us towards a mid and tall combo for our two early picks. With Tomlinson out, McDonald and May near the end and so far lack of AFL development from Adams and Jefferson, we are in need of more talented KPP. They are much harder to trade in as well. I suspect we will go hard at a free agent or out of contract mid at the end of next year, particularly if one or both of Oliver and Petracca move on.

Guess it comes down to A) 2x Excellent players and a stab in the dark in the 60s 5, 9, 60 or B) 3x excellent players inside the top 20 5, 11, 20 Now that maybe fantasy land to get scenario B to happen but we could get something close to that. This draft is deep and even in the first two rounds. With some intel on other clubs plans, we could potentially target players by safely trading down like we did in the Pickett/Rivers draft. If not possible, we hold 5 and 9.

Basically, the clubs I've mentioned have priority access to players due to either the father/son rule or academy zones. Other clubs can bid on these players but they won't get access to them if the original club the player "belongs" to matches the bid. They do this with their draft picks which have assigned value based on its number. Max value is pick 1 @3000 points with each subsequent pick decreasing in value from there. Clubs have worked around this by stockpiling later selections to match their highly rated kids. It's why we have obtained essendons pick 9 by giving them 28, 40, 46, 54, 65 as well as a future 1st pick. When a bid comes in for kako, at say pick 6 for an example - essendon will then have to burn through 28, 40 and 46 to match that bid. There's others nuances like point discounts for these players. Gold coast and Brisbane have similarly traded out/down for the same reason and will similarly burn through picks, thus bringing 83 down to a rough range I've estimated to be 55 - 65. List sizes will also come into play and some teams may only take 2 players and pass on their later selections.

I hear Adelaide's keen at pick 82.

Found an article on it. "The AFL will introduce a trigger for an additional fourth year on the Rookie List where the Rookie has played less than ten career AFL matches, which will then apply in same way for access to an additional fifth year. Total aggregate years on the Rookie List will be capped at five years (5.5 years for Mid-Season Rookie Draft). This change aims to assist clubs to invest in players who may take longer to develop." https://www.afl.com.au/news/1185312/afl-player-movement-and-list-management-changes

Thanks for that info red and blue flame. Read on here that Riley Bice was also being looked at during the season. Think from @dazzledavey36 maybe?

Looks like we've settled our senior list with 33 players leading into the draft, giving us the option to add 3 more players to our list via the draft. After pick 5 and 9, this leaves 83 as our next live selection subject to potential further trades. Given the amount of picks the Lions, Blues, Bombers and Suns have for their academy & father/son selections, this pick will likely settle on draft night between 55 and 65 give or take. We may also decide to pass and hold one spot over for the ssp period, but given the talk about how deep this draft is, I dare say we may take a late punt on a kid. So, any suggestions at this late part of the draft?

You might be right, I thought it was you could have a 4th year but move from Cat-B to Cat-A? That may not be the case. Pretty sure there had to be a 'less than 10 games played' clause as well to stay on a rookie list for 4 years regardless.

I believe Riak Andrew could potentially be listed as a Cat-B rookie if he goes undrafted due to his previous academy ties though I'm not 100% certain on that.

AMW I'm near certain has to be promoted off the Cat-B list as he's been on it for 3 years. Since he's played less than 10 games he can go to the Cat-A list is my understanding. That gives us 33 senior listed players: 2-3 spots available 6 Cat-A rookies: Max 0 Cat-B rookies: 1-2 spots available