deelusions from afar

The quality of the questions was well below what the Demonland community could come up with. Could we somehow address this next year - eg people with genuine questions write them on here and then the ones with the most likes / votes get asked?

Given it's December... can we just say we have elite pressure?

Not sure if that would be possible if you gave your left leg? In all seriousness though, thanks to you and everyone for braving the heat and providing these reports!

Does he have his father's pace / agility?

Not sure what you meant by "are we?". My point was that we had a number of losses where we were absolutely smashed which is a change from the previous 3 season00s where we were almost in every game. This year we had Freo x2, Bris at the MCG and obviously a few late in the season eg Dogs where looked miles off it. The compeition is very even so even the best teams haved a howler or two. For us, it was more than one or two. You take away our early wins to the dogs and hawks (before they got going) and what was our record against the top 8 like - despite being not far off it in terms of wins, we finished 14th for a reason. Had we somehow made the 8, we wouldn't have troubled anyone in the finals. I'm hoping it is the combination of a number of things that have been (hopefully) resolved since the season finished - disunity, instability off field, injuries etc

I'm optimistic (it's December!) but then I think of the two beltings Freo (who did not make the finals) gave us where we were about as competitive as we were in '97, '08 or '13!

Interested to see how this guy goes - to finish 2nd (only to Sharp) in the 2km time trial as a second year player is a decent effort. Shows he has the enurance to go with speed. You know he will always give 110% and will get the most out of himself. I think he may be more special than most people here realise.

Yes I agree - Petty was disappointing last year but was coming back from a significant injury. And right from the start his accuracy was not there (which was a strength for him in 2023) Having said that, he was still 11th in the league for contested marks in 2024 and played less games than everyone ahead of him other than Charlie Dixon. I think another big body is needed around JVR - not sure if Disco or Jefferson are there yet? Maybe AJ is the answer? For this reason I think they will want to use Petty as a utility - if May, TMac, Lever hold up then he is not needed in defence.

I kind of agree - but thought they revealed a bit about Lindsay eg what JT thinks he can do as a clubman / leader, has to work on his groundball consistency but is good at centre bounces (reading of the play / timing), good skills, good speed, great competitior, big game player. Even though we've heard most of this it is interesting hearing which qualities they go to first. Would have been good to see the equivalent for AJ

I was thinking the idea to play him in defence is odd... but then I think of a player like Max Holmes who I think started on the wing and now has spent time at half back, in the midfield and i think even at half forward? Basically wherever they need the spark. Maybe they think Windsor could do this for us? With Sharp in the team we have another winger already - though it will be interesting to see if they persist with Langdon as a high half forward and/or if any others such as Lindsay or Spargo are ear marked to be part of the wing rotation

We've all got our opinions but I wouldn't not be excited by this - both could end up champions but to me it would be silly to go with both. Despite being decent kicks, I'm not sure how much they will help us with ball movement / forward connection and not sure if we have space for both playing similar roles (HFF / pinch hitting in midfield to begin with). Given JT's comments, i reckon they'll likely to go one mid and then another small / half forward / midfielder who has is known for running and foot skills - maybe Linsdsay / Berry ?

For those that know / remember last years draft, how would you rate Langford compared with Durrsma also a tall midfielder who is good overhead?

Don't think that's quite right - Gulden was tied to the swans via their academy. We picked Bowey / Laurie (apparently wanted Holmes). JT said to Goody (on the video MFC released) "we got the best 2 kicks in the draft". What he meant was the "best 2 available kicks in the draft" as Gulden was known to be a bit of a freak with his ball use even at that age. We would have picked him for sure if we could have.

I just don't see what others see with Allan. My secret hope (prob not popular views on here) is that we get Langford at 5 and if Tauru is not available at 9, that we split the pick. Looking at the phantom drafts splitting the pick will enable us to get one of the players that many of us on here are wanting to pick at 9 PLUS something else eg a JT smoky special. Obviously it comes down to what JT rate v the clubs around us but this draft seems such high quality / and yet so even... why wouldn't we get 3 rather than 2?

I'm excited about loading up on high quality midfielders... but if we do go for Tauru I'll be confident he's going to be something special. JT has shown he isn't phased by what the "experts" rate as the next best player (eg Oliver, Jackson etc) and he's able to see things that others don't. Tauru's rate of improvement this year makes him one of the players with the highest ceiling - he seems like he could potentially play anywhere.

C'mon mate that's a bit harsh. I DID do a google and didn't find a heap. Some posters seemed to think he's a great addition and if I'm asking the question then maybe some others on here would also benefit from knowing a bit more about him. Isn't that what Demonland is for?

For those saying Tom Couch is a great get such as yourself, why's that? I know he was on our list previously and was involved in 2021? but other than that don't know much about him / what he brings.

Hopefully one of each - given we've finished this low, we actually have a decent position in the rookie draft (and midseason draft)

This isn't a shot at you - but I don't understand this view. It is based on the idea that there is a clear cut top 10/20 etc. But we know Jason Taylor often rates the draft differently to others and has a great record drafting. If he wants to push 9 back a few picks (to get the same player he would pick at 9) and snare another for someone else he rates, then why wouldn't we do that?? Eg the Pickett / Rivers scenario Of course if the player who we rate clearly the best available when we have our pick 9 is going to be picked by the next club/s then it would be silly to entertain a pick swap.

Am I right in saying after all the picks are used for FS and academy players it is likely to be inside 60?

Saw Bo Allen highlights from WAFL - looks a good size with a lot of attributes. But didn't see him hit a target. Is that a fair criticism and if so do we want / need another midfielder with sub par kicking skills when Clarry, Trac and Viney all struggle in this area?

Obviously we have no real idea - if we pick him then obviously JT sees something in him that others (including me) are not. I would hope we are not picking on needs with 5 or 9 - we have enough gaps in the list that we should (surely) be going best available. I'd much rather go best midfielder at 5 and then unless we are set on someone special at 9 that will be next picked (eg Tauru is still there) then split it and get 2 more players in the top 20-30. We could then get a KPP (Shanahan?) and add some class / speed. The draft quality seems far deeper and more even than usual. I think there's been more players touted as a top 10 pick than ever before - we might be able to snar 3 of JT's top 10-15 in the draft!

I thought he showed he can play back as well? If so that adds flexibility because it's unclear where Petty / Disco will end up - largely based on how Jeffo and Adams come on.

What happened to that guy George who some thought might be a smoky draft choice for us who played a couple of games this year.

Still has those highlights in the Geelong final which is a lot more than (I assume) we all on here have!