deelusions from afar

I remember when we draft kozzie people said it's too high for a small forward. he only averages 9 touches a game etc... look at him now. Happy to trust Taylor and co (but I am very surprised)

The current version of myself LOVES this as this means we get another crack at a prospect I've wasted too much time reading about (Pickett, Dovaston etc) I fear that the Nov 2026 version of myself will be like "we traded the chance to get Y or Z so that we could draft X last year?? Really? What the hell were we thinking?"

That clip where he talks about Farrow and Nairn highlights that they like the idea of players with the versatility to play multiple positions which fits what we know about King (and the Cats where he has come from).

It's probably for a reason but at the same time, once Cal's drops, its brave to go against it - so could be a bit of group think? I also think Marc McGowan seems one of the more intelligent AFL journalists out there - once he said we were into Nairn, everyone else has gone along with it. In the case of someone like Cal, he prob looked into it and realised Marc was spot on with his intel.

Don't have anything against Farrow but liked the sound of Taylor, Robey and Cumming more. I reckon there's a chance one gets through - to me it seems odd that Richmond would go Robey, Cumming when they got Lalor and Smilie last year. Am hoping that Grlj would suit their mix better. It probably won't matter for us given essendon will pick whoever Richmond don't out of the players we have an interest in. Fill be fascinating to see how it plays out. Love the sound of Taylor but surely he's gone before us.

For those that watch training, do we practice pulling the kick at the last minute much? I see this happen sometime from set plays (a player pretends to be lining up for goal when at the top of their range) but not so much in general play. I think this is what makes players like Miers so dangerous as he ends up kicking it where the defender's aren't expecting. Obviously takes a lot of synergy between the forward and the kicker, good awareness and skills from the kicker and movement from all forwards.... but it all comes with practice surely. Do we practice it?

The interesting thing for me was that when I watched his highlights (which yes I know are limited for any player), he seemed to get almost every possession from marks. That makes me think he has exceptional hands (and tank) to be able to rack up the sort of numbers he does - but equally query his ability to win ground balls. I'm sure others are far more familiar with him and would know.

Thanks Bing - I probably wasn't clear in my comments. Don't have anything against Richo. He's had a number of senior roles at various clubs and was clearly pivotal in our premiership. My query was more that if the club know he's not going to be there beyond this year, wouldn't it make more sense if those that are there for the next 3-5+ years be the ones that make the decision on key hirings as they are the ones that will have to live or die by their choices.

Thanks SJ (and others). Wondering when the team meetings happen about how they're looking to play this year in terms of game style, the game plan etc. Presumably that doesn't happen until the rest of the players get back... or has that already happened?

I find it amazing if they know Rich is in his last year, that he is so central to so many big decisions.

Interesting - new role with Richo staying on. Anyone with inside word - how does this all fit together? is this where the likes of Bartel could get involved? ---------- https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/gather-round-opener-confirmed-blues-face-crows-as-afl-resists-grudge-match-20251112-p5nerz.html

Hopefully for Kolt this translates to better performances on the field. While I haven't seen much to get excited about in his games so far, he did miss a chunk of the pre-season and early part of the season last year. In only his second season, this is likely to have a big impact on his performance. The fact that he is in the pointy end for running today and according to Ghosty has "grown up", these are everything we could hope for from him at this point in time. Seems like a fantastic young bloke - hopefully it can translate to his performance on field.

Have seen a few posters post something like this... is next year's draft meant to be awful? If not the GCS F1 is worth more than a pick in the teens in this year's draft on its own. I'd love to get Pickett too but if we're not using 7/8 from this year's draft on him then surely GSC F1 is also too much?

It's a good question - something I've been wondering. Given how well he did this year playing on the wing and given he is a good kick, maybe he is better suited not to be our main inside player. Seemingly a few on here assume he will be it. Some say he's similar to Bont... but Bont has had Libba (and others) feeding it out to him for years (not that he isn't capable of winning it inside). Also think Lindsay seems more natural / effective inside on what we've seen - and that's his first year with limited preseason. Once he's had a few full pre-seasons....

Would have to be pretty special to trade our F1. That could be a top 4 pick in a stronger, less compromised draft