Ted Lasso

It's amazing how the change of coach can totally change the feeling around the club, suddenly everything is fresh and exciting, new game style, new faces and some optimism for 2026. Complacency isn't always obvious, i think it's normally the little things that you don't notice until you start doing them again.

Disco turner

I'm definitely being very harsh on a lot of guys, i know Trenners personally and i completely get the hand he was dealt was [censored] in terms of footy, the irony being he's running better now than he ever has and his foot is no longer an issue. My point is really that we have had a massive massive group of first rounders come though the doors and a really low % of those went on to become A grade players, for a whole host of reasons some totally out of our control. Some of it was definitely poor recruiting though, some of it was poor development and i am confident we're now in a much better space to recruit the right players and develop them well.

We just recruited a veteran forward from the pies, the rest of the minutes within the team as a key forward go to Van Rooyen, Jefferson, Kentfield, Heath

I was probably generalising, but we had a whole list of top end talent come through the doors that for a variety of reasons failed to become long term A grade players, i'll accept it was probably harsh to include Bartram specifically, but when you've got Trengove, Watts, Strauss, Toumpas, Morton, Blease, Cook and so on all taken as high end picks and basically none become A grade players, and really only Watts even became a consistent B grade player, that's more than just bad luck recruiting.

I know, but you have to wonder if the damage was done. It's an incredible effort to have so many first round picks be complete busts which is why i do wonder if some of them might have been okay drafted anywhere else. Especially someone like Blease with that real pace could have slotted into a role and learned it really well and maybe been a really solid role player at a good club.

I wonder if Blease, Strauss, Bartram, Morton, Toumpas and all of these guys would have ultimately become better and more competent AFL players in the current MFC with the ability to develop players?

I really really like him. his upside feels significant.

Melbourne 2-17 don’t care Gold Coast

This is the type of guy Essendon draft. avoid

It would be classic Essendon to take 2 mids and not develop them while the very next pick we take Taylor and he becomes a multiple times all australian star player

I think there is a very real possibility Essendon go the S.A double to try and mitigate go home concerns. I can see them taking Cummings and Sharp. This would leave us with the chance to take Taylor who is the best available but perhaps not something we specifically need.

If we rate him at pick 7 or 8 then what the phantom drafts say is irrelevant. the idea of another pickett in the Melbourne team is pretty exciting, admittedly i know very little about him though

Hard pass

The one positive about all of this is the board and Guerra will live and die by their outcomes. We are in a hole with memberships and attendances and if they don’t improve and improve quickly I don’t think the fan base will be patient in calling for changes to be made and appointments of people who can get results.

It's not outside the question that the Eagles take him at pick 2 behind Duursma. I think my concern is we'd probably have to give up 3 first rounders to even get into the conversation and then it's a lot of pressure on him to deliver.

He reminds me a lot of Archie Roberts.

If we rate Robey, i wonder if the Dons would do 8 and the future first from the Suns to move up a spot if Robey is on the board. It's a big price to pay but if we think he's a difference maker it might be worth a thought.

Unless CDT has been caught doing something really scandalous i would be amazed if he gets past Richmond.

I'm sure all of those conversations are happening internally, it'll depend on how JT rates the players available to us and if there is much interest in picks 7 and 8 when it comes to trading in future first rounders.

I can see king throwing the magnets around a little bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if Salem got a position change. I reckon he could move to half forward

It'll be very interesting to see how it plays out, he's going to get the opportunity though by all reports.

I like him as a mid

I still think Rivers can become A grade

For sure, i think the thing that seems to be really commonly misread relating to the draft in my opinion is the talent in this years pool isn't bad as much as the talent in last years was exceptional. Harvey Langford would have gone very high in a lot of the recent drafts for example