Young Blood

Looks like they're going to waffle on a bit longer this year. Last year was around 20 mins in from memory.

I've come around to Lindsay. The keys to why Taylor will likely draft him is based off of what we need and what Taylor looks for. We need players who are more point of attack by foot. Lindsay has the vision and skill execution to be damaging with his disposal. I think this is the key point of difference between him and Travaglia. Taylor likes to draft players like Lindsay who can impact on bigger grounds like the MCG with their run and kicking penetration. I remember in 2019, Taylor mentioned in the draft room when we had just picked Rivers "Kicker/carrier player there, he's an MCG player". I think Windsor fits this bill and I think Lindsay does too. He could even develop into a high HF role down the line if he improves his endurance and pressure. A bit of flexibility there.

damn

THIS I'm still holding some hope. Would be a terrific ploy on our part to make one of Jagga or Draper available.

As mentioned in the Phantom Draft thread, there could be some games being played by our draft team. A lot of mention of our interest in Tauru for pick 5 or 9. This might be to spook North into just keeping pick 2 to pick Tauru. Would be a terrific ploy on our part to make one of Jagga or Draper available. Crossing fingers and toes this is the play and we end up with one of those two jets.

I'm not sure if you've seen the argument for Langford in terms of the speed issue. That is he has a very similar profile to Cripps in terms of his game and body. Ran a very similar time trial to Cripps and Bont. But both of those two were able to develop a bit of burst pace to drive the legs out of stoppages and be damaging mids. I can possibly see Langford getting to those heights one day. Thats the argument for. HOWEVER. I am actually with you. I'm going to be a bit disappointed picking up a big slower mid when the top 4 have so much talent, pace and dynamics that we desperately need. Unfortunately it looks as though the mids we want will be off the board by the time we pick. Still hoping North coughs up and picks Tauru at 2. leaving us with one of the best 4 mids left to pick. Hoping for a Jackson type scenario where North just simply wanted him badly enough as the main bolter.

I am a bit confused. In Cal's scenario where its unlikely North trade the pick and go with a mid. He mentions there's a chance if it rolls this way an alternative is Crom pick Langford instead of Draper. Wouldn't that mean in his draft scenario that Draper would be on the board for us to pick? I'm probably reading too much into this but I thought a simple 'if the crows pick Langford then Melbourne would look at taking Draper'. Instead, he says Tauru would be our next option. I know he does go on to say in the unlikely event one of the top four mids slid we would take one, so maybe he's covering this there. But still. Interesting... Edit: Just saw Dee Boys post above. Didn't realise multiple sources are saying we're not into Draper. Still hoping its maybe some smoke and mirrors!

Looks like we're really into Tauru if North doesn't pick him.

Feeling tad bit of relief knowing Reid and Armstrong look to be out of our sites (hopefully!) I think both have a good chance, with development to be great players in the future. But as Taylor keeps preaching you go best available and neither of these two players look like top 10 picks.

If FOS is on the board at our pick I'm ALL IN! He's my favourite player in this draft I think he's the most special player in it. An all rounder with some x factor. I think he's such a great mixture of inside/outside, great marking, creativity, vision, footwork and evasive skills. He has so many tools and the athleticism we need in this current team and upside to lead the club down the line. I had conceded he was going to go top three and beyond our reach. Maybe I shouldn't get too carried away with today's rumors...

Woops sorry video was posted Wednesday. I only just saw it pop up on my phone. Please ignore. Apologies. I also meant Twomey didn't* mention Hotton as a Melbourne option in the latest video.

Gutted that he won't play the first few games. I put him in our top 5 most important. We don't have many players I would easily refer to as 'ruthless'. Opposition genuinely fear him and worry about his impact. I'm going to travel down to the Cattery round 4 to hopefully watch him tear them apart.

If thats the case it hasn't got to Twomey yet. He didn't mention him today as an option for Melbourne in the latest 'Gettible' update on the AFL website.

Would happily take Draper off their hands if that happens!

Pleased to hear this. It seems that North are now looking more unlikely to trade pick 2, but still why would JT be so forthcoming in public saying we're drafting mids? Would it not be more beneficial to say we're open to drafting any position (i.e. maybe even Tauru ;) with our pick 5 so North doesn't take that chance and stop exploring a trade and take Tauru with pick 2, leaving us with more midfield options to choose from with our pick?

As evident with your posts in this thread you're not keen on Jagga with pick 5. Perfectly fine. Keen to know what your preference is at pick 5 and pick 9. Perhaps a few names in order of preference.

In some ways it would be as I believe in many other draft years that Jagga would be a pretty clear no.1 pick. As he was for a lot of this year on draft boards. To get him at pick 5 would be incredible. I really hope North doesn't call whatever bluff's we have going and they end up standing firm to hold the no.2 pick so they nab Tauru with that pick. If that happens we can be more confident that Jagga will be in our sights at 5. Crossing fingers and toes.

Some bold picks and predictions coming in here with Dylan Alexanders mock draft: Has us picking 5. Langfort and 9. Hotton

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-afl-draft-is-just-weeks-away-here-s-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-top-40-prospects-20241024-p5kl0v.html The Age reporting there's still interest for Cooper Hynes. It would have made a lot of sense when we had the second rounder but I just think reaching for him at pick 9 is a tad too far with the amount of talent we'll have to choose from Re: Pick 12 where the Age has us picking Armstrong: 'The Demons are also big fans of Dandenong Stingrays bull Cooper Hynes' 28. Cooper Hynes (Richmond) Dandenong Stingrays/Vic Metro Midfielder/forward, 190cm, 28/2/2006 Talent League stats (avg): 23.7 disposals, 4.7 clearances, 1.5 goals The Age’s August top 30: N/A October top 30: 27 Agility test: N/A 20m sprint: N/A 2km time trial: N/A This might be far too low for Hynes, who could go as high as Melbourne’s second pick, with West Coast and Port Adelaide among his admirers. The common retort about the powerful Stingrays product is that he has the widest draft range of any player. Formed a great one-two punch with Harvey Langford, and they often switched between the forward line and midfield. There are some lofty AFL comparisons for him, from Cam Zurhaar to even Clayton Oliver. Hynes’ endurance needs to improve, but his forward and clearance craft are rated highly.

If this prediction came to fruition, I'm drooling at the thought of us being able to choose from Draper, FOS or Lalor. Would definitely be picking one of those three ahead of Jagga.

He's going to have to carve out a role for himself now that other mids are pushing for his midfield rotations (River, Koz, Windsor and the top 10 mid(s) we draft). Could be as a tagger who can follow a star mid around all day. Will have to continue to build his fitness and size, not to mention getting a bit more nasty perhaps to get under the oppo's skin and really own the role. We saw with a lot of hard work and dedication what happened with Nibbler in his early 20's when he had to change his primary position from midfielder to high HF. I don't see why at 24 yrs why Sparrow can't do the same. He doesn't have Nibblers attributes but if he can get really fit and just bring consistent intensity I think he can play a role in our best 22.

We see the game very differently and that's perfectly fine. I hope we pick him and you and I will be very happy with the player we picked ☮️

I was a big believer in Petty as a forward. In 2023 he just showed so much promise with his leading patterns and physicality down there not to mention the accurate kicking. I still think while May, Tmac and Lever are around that we should continue with Petty down forward. If he can just play that second tall option as CHF leading up the ground it will be a big advantage. But he will need to hit the scoreboard more that's for sure. We know at some stage he'll eventually go back and I think be one of the best key defenders in the comp. But for now we're still stacked down back and if he can play a role up forward so be it. Praying for a rare full preseason where he can hit the ground running for a change!

Just picked a random game from youtube and had a watch. Not one of the ones I attended. But this kids special. Feel like it really highlights his strengths and impact offensively particularly. Highlight for me at 0:39 where he receives a handball only to quickly pivot and turn away/against the direction of the play to open up the ground, nice burst of pace to get himself open to hit up the CHF down the corridor. Such a small thing but makes such a big impact. We need this type of player. Video shows multiple times Jagga bursts forward out the front of stoppages. He's certainly not a straightline midfielder, he's always looking to change the angles to find the best options in space.

OK so we're now hand picking youtube clips and analyzing every possession. I'll ask you again like I did with Armstrong. Have you actually been to a game and seen Armstrong or Jagga live? I have only seen the two Armstrong games but have been to quite a few Jagga games and each time have found him to be the most impactful player on the ground he has the highest motor I've seen in a long time. His agility/side steps/evasive skills are not so pronounced yes but they're there and he'll most likely improve on this over time.