Young Blood

So no pressure 👹 I agree re the scoring, I reckon he'll kick even more next year. Without Trac playing the similar role of starting in the middle and drifting forward, I think we'll see that more and more with Kozz. We should be playing through him more as well without the other two ball dominant mids. Hoping he keeps building his fitness and has a good pre-season because he can continue to go up another gear next season.

I understand the hype around Doverton but could still just be too much of a reach. Absolutely understand the need for another small forward especially of Kozzy keeps spending more and more time in the midfield. I like Lindsay too and losing Judd it makes a lot of sense. I still think if there's a mid that Taylor likes (because he picks them well) we should take one with 7 or 8. We have to keep building our young midfield stocks because we're pretty thin there. Riv and Langford look like potential A graders but not so sure about X and Windsor yet.

We might have an outside chance at getting one of Grjl, Sharp or Taylor. But its more likely we're going to be choosing from the next batch: Lindsay, Cumming, Marsh, Phillipou, Schubert, Farrow. Have had a look at the rankings and mock drafts that are about and this seems a likely order at this stage 1. WC – Duursma 2. GC – Uwland 3. WC – Duff-Tyler 4. GC – Patterson 5. BRIS – Annable 6. RICH – Robey 7. CARL – Dean 8. RICH – Grjl 9. ESS - Sharp* 10. ESS – Taylor* 11. MEL - 12. MEL - As I say would love if one of Robey, Grjl, Sharp or Taylor drop to us but I think its unlikely at this stage.

By valuing the drafts and signing younger players, this team is in a far better spot than we could well have been in if we went down a different path (like the Collingwoods, Carltons etc.) We're starting to build a really good young core of players. This is our path to the next premiership. I know it probably should be under 25's but I've been a bit cheeky here and made it a list of under 26's to include Petty and a few others. Don't @ me about certain players who you think are clearly not going to make it in your opinion. This is simply to highlight that we have a list of youth with potential. OUR UNDER-26 TEAM B: Adams Petty AMW HB: Bowey Turner Howes C: Lindsay Kozz Windsor HF: Culley JVR Sparrow FF: Luker Jeffo Chandler Foll: Langford, Rivers, Moose Int: CJ, Tholstrup, White, Laurie Depth: Johnson, Henderson, Sharp, Mentha, PLUS add in this year's picks (and potentially next years) this team could really build into something over the next 5-6 years.

This sucks. I hate this. I won't be coming back to this thread once the deal goes through ✌

https://7plus.com.au/unfiltered?episode-id=UNFI25-014&autoplay=true

Sorry to be a pain Jaded but where did he say this? I'm sure you're right but I just don't remember hearing it. In todays interview when asked if he would potentially still buy into the early parts of this years draft he answered: "you never know, if the right opportunities there for the right player, we will certainly look into it" Lamb.

What about when McDonald and May move on at the end of 2026? Can we rely on Lever's health who will be 30 at the start of the season? If he's available, interested in coming to Melb and we had a current or future second round pick I'd try to float it their way to get an athletic 194cm defender who made big improvements this year to break into and perform in a side that was stacked with tall backs. Why not... A future core backline of talls in Petty, Turner, Aleer and Adams looks pretty good to me.

I think so too. On some footy show clip I just watched it was posed to Jimmy Bartel if he was GC would he take Trac and Melbournes future first for Humphrey. He answered yes, especially because of the future first. I would hope it might look more like Trac and pick 24 for Humphrey

Where was it mentioned by Lamb or anyone else that we "want a player" in the deal? I do feel like I remember Lamb saying this somewhere earlier maybe last week? But since then when asked all he's said is a trade that "turns our heads" and won't go into details of what that would look like.

Jokes aside, looking like we'll get pick 34, 36 (GWS) or 38 (Pies)? Would love if one of those paid a little more of his salary then reported but we've lost any chance of that happening now.

Agreed I'm pretty stoked with this. Will be a handy pick to make other deals.

Sending love and thoughts to all DL and Melbourne supporters. These days are so so tough to deal with.

Love your optimism, and as I say, I'm praying that your feelings/speculation come to fruition.

I will be praying along with you re Humphrey! But whats stopping GC with Humphrey from doing exactly what we're doing with Trac, regardless of whether he wants to move back to Victoria or not. He's a contracted player and his value is unfortunately far higher than Trac's at the moment. I'm sure they're fine holding him for 3 more years with him contributing in finals and maybe even changing his mind as players do to sign on. Yes GC would have made some sort of gaurentees that they felt they can provide the deal to get the trade done. But like I said that value would have been based off previous stars being traded for multiple first round picks.