rjay

No, I didn't either 'Bob' but he sure has a good set of hands in a marking contest.

...and this is exactly what I'm saying 'Adam', we need to build the list properly this time. The bolded part expresses things perfectly for me.

The only one with outright speed there 'Axis' is Hunt and he is very much a project player with no guarantee of making through the first couple of years. Salem has AFL level speed nothing out of the box, JKH is not quick for his size. In the Rookies there is no outright pace or class.

No it doesn't and I think there are but we have given away a lot of our picks in this area over the last 3 years. Clark, Dawes, Vince and Tyson all cost us picks in the late teens early 20's and most overlook this. There is a guy called Dean Gore that I really rate on one viewing (I'm going to go back and look at some of his other games) and he is not rated in the top 20 of the so called experts. Look at the Doggies list now, they have invested heavily in the draft and will reap the rewards. We are coming from a long way back and needed to get some experience and leadership into the club. Thank goodness we got Cross and I think Vince has been a good get but we really still lack in young top end talent. I like Tyson, Viney is a beauty, Salem has promise but a long, long way to go and of course Hogan. I don't see anyone else knocking the door down yet. JKH is highly over rated on output at this stage and is no guarantee to make it, Toumpas is to date a disappointment, Kent shows glimpses but really needs to get a lot more footy at the moment he shows less than Tapscott did at a similar stage of his career, Tommy Mc has a lot of flaws in his game but has a good go at it. We do need top end talent, the right top end talent and we need balance in our drafting approach. If we give away all our top end picks this year it will be to make us competitive in the next few years and everyone will say what a genius Roos is but it will never win us that elusive flag and will put us in an even worse position in 4 to 5 years.

Our folly has been the wrong picks and poor trades 'BB', aided by poor management and the introduction of 2 new teams. That's why we have what we have now. If we trade to get a bump now it will be the biggest mistake this club could make. I've said before there is a reason that the AFL imposes draft sanctions, why they effect the long term success of a club and why clubs want to trade back in early. By trading out our high picks we effectively create our own draft sanctions. Last years Tyson trade was a good one because we still got a top 10 pick from it and we managed to right a previous mistake in getting another top 10 pick from a couple of years back, that is not likely to be the case this year. If we're serious about future success we can't trade that away. We need to draft quality at the top end, trade for experience with players, look for value in players like Sinclair and set our selves to go hard at free agency in the next 2 years, not this year. Free agency is where we will get the icing on the top. We should also be pushing for at least 2 PP's this year one at the start of first round and one at the end(at least one of these I would look to trade). Forget the howling of other clubs, it's time our supporters and members considered only our club and started pushing back on the AFL. The introduction of the 2 new clubs has hurt our ability to be competitive, if the AFL is serious about equalisation then this is where they should start, on the ground. They will need to do similar with Brisbane and St Kilda in the next few years. I would love to have McCartin and Petracca at our club. They will both be walk up starts and with Hogan, Viney, McDonald, Salem and Tyson set the way for future success. They will now come into a system with Jones, Cross and Vince giving strong leadership going forward. I was not in favour of bringing in O'Keefe but on reflection adding him to that leadership group and getting a few games out of him might not be a bad thing for the development of a new group.

Chaser, have you seen much of Dean Gore? I was very impressed with him in the last game. Could end up a real bargain pick.

Sorry 'Jack', beat me by that much...

Not sure on this 'Machsy', I guess it's a wait and see. I think if St Kilda or Brisbane get pick one they will take McCartin. If either get pick 2 then St Kilda may go for Petracca but Brisbane with pick 2 would go with Wright. There's no guarantees that we won't have a top 2 pick.

Very clean hands, good kick and good awareness.

That's an interesting idea...

Agree and I would be very surprised if we weren't pushing for it already 'Redleg'. Gillon seemed open to the idea last year.

I think this is a pretty good summation 'George' and how I would see it.

Could be a bit like Grundy 'Machsy' and Grundy's form was well ahead of Wright. He fell out to the low teens where Collingwood picked him up.

Not wanting to get into your argument with 'BB' 'Axis' but I agree that it is about balance. We had an imbalance in the list and it's obvious that it will take more than the last draft to address it. There seems to be a few chances to pick up good players later in the first round or beyond this draft but that's just from an outsiders view. I'm sure the club will be across it and make the right decision come the time. We have to have quality young kids coming in every year or we set ourselves up for failure down the track, if we can get them later in the first round all the better. A lot will depend on what pick or picks we have.

I'm not sure we will finish above them but yes I would expect they would pick him.

Can't see Brisbane or St Kilda not taking a tall.

'Jack', I think there is no doubt that McCartin will go number one. He didn't have a great championships but has been struggling with injury this year. As for our midfield; Petracca looks ready made, I'm not convinced about Brayshaw. Think Laverde maybe Fyfe like but could be just Murdoch and really like the look of Gore, not rated yet but if he has some good games at Sturt will come up the list.

McCartin is the pick of the bunch, has a touch of mongrel about him like Hogan.

There is no way the Doggies will take Pickett though 'Chaser'. They will be after one of the talls in this draft.

I think they need to 'Bob', they really need to get some good experience into that side.

He would be a very good get, from what I hear he is a great kid with a good head on his shoulders. He would blossom under Roos, Stone and co and would work well with Tyson.

Brayshaw for Ziebell won't happen, they are similar types of players and one is proven. Forget the name, family allegiance means nothing. North desperately need some KPP's though so if you wanted Ziebell a trade of picks might do the job. I don't think we need his type though, we need a bit more run & carry than he gives us.

I would be pretty sure that's what we will do, it will depend on where that pick is and what Frawley does but it will be a genuine mid or KPP.

Thanks 'Pennant', that's a good wrap up and he sounds like a really interesting prospect. Will have a look out for him.

With Col it was the things he couldn't do that always concerned me, a big part of it was him blazing away without any awareness of what was around him. Does Petracca have good awareness around the contest? does he give the ball off and find good options? I know you watch a bit of footy 'Pennant' and trust your opinions. I will be looking forward to watching him in action. I don't think we are settled there either although ahead of the teams you mention. If someone like McCartin was available at our pick I think we should take him. I think he is more likely to go at pick one though and I sure hope we are not there.