spirit of norm smith

I’m sure it would all be discussed. It was PCL (not ACL) so running within 8 weeks (from 1/9/24) . Should be into pre season by 1st week of December. Given draft is on 20 November, youngsters are on modified program until early January so unlikely to be an issue. One of the top group might slide so all academic on the night. Alternatively happy to pick Travaglia or Allan at pick 9. All the top 15-18 in this draft are very good.

So let’s see your (realistic) Dees likely picks and your top 20 (excl academy and father son) … is …

Here’s my top group 1. Richmond. Sam Lalor. **Matched bid**Lions. Levi Ashcroft. 2. North Melbourne. Alix Tauru 3. Carlton (via West Coast). Finn O’Sullivan 4. Adelaide. Sid Draper 5. Melbourne . Harvey Langford 6. Richmond (via Gold Coast). Jagga Smith **matched bid**Suns. Leonardo Lombard 7. St Kilda. Josh Smillie 8. St Kilda (via Josh Battle compensation pick). Harry Armstrong 9. Melbourne (via Essendon). Xavier Lindsay 10. Richmond (via Fremantle) Luke Trainor 11. Richmond (via Fremantle, Collingwood) Tobie Travaglia 12. West Coast (via Carlton) Bo Allan **matched bid** Ess. Isaac Kako 13. Port Adelaide (via Gold Coast, Western Bulldogs). Joe Berry 14. Fremantle (via Richmond, Hawthorn, Carlton). Taj Hotton. 15. Greater Western Sydney. Jobe Shanahan 16. Greater Western Sydney (via Harry Perryman compensation pick). Murphy Reid. 17. Western Bulldogs (via Geelong). Cooper Hynes **matched bid** Lions. Sam Marshall 18. Richmond (via Fremantle, Port Adelaide). Jack Whitlock. **matched bid** Blues. Ben Camporeale 19. Sydney. Harrison Oliver 20. Richmond (via Brisbane). Alex Dodson

I am still a big believer in holding 5 and holding 9. Don’t drift too far down by pick splitting. Don’t try to dilute picks by grabbing 2. There are an elite group in the top 10. We will grab TWO of them 👏👏

CARLTON midfielder Jack Carroll is among three players delisted by the Blues, despite playing 15 games this season. Blues being ruthless. They have cut a few and are loading up in this draft. Whilst it’s tough on these young guys, they are seen as not quite good enough. Carroll can still be a good AFL player so it’s likely he will go home to WA and would be picked up by the Eagles or Dockers.

Casey Demons need to ensure they get 2-3 more mature players to replace the departures. The sign up of Jai Culley is probably in my view the number 1 objective. Also again look to sign up some of the young non-drafted graduates from the Gippsland Power and Dandenong Stingrays. Likely players would be Charlie Orchard, Ben Hopkins and Harry Doughton from Stingrays, and Asher Eastham from the Power. Potentially young Charger listed Jasper Alger (a Warragul lad) if he’s undrafted.

He’s signed at Thomastown for 2025. Not sure he’s also going to be on Casey’s books ?!?!

Ouch and interesting if they EACH take a set 5%-6% individually of the cap for example.

fr_ap 2,444 22 October Not different - right & wrong 😄. Happy to call it here - Toumpas level bust if we draft Lindsay. fr_ap … I will strongly disagree. Lindsay presents as one of the most likely players in this draft to succeed. Kicking is elite efficiency. Covers distance easily. Makes smart decisions with the footy. Can win it in close or spread from a contest. He’s not physically ready like Lalor or Travaglia but his skills, leadership and footy IQ would quickly elevate him. Pick 9 is probably a choice between Travaglia, Lindsay or Tauru. Any of these youngsters is an excellent additions. Ultimately let’s leave it up to JT’s closer and deeper examination to pick our best fit.

With pick swapping, unfortunately the Dees are now out of the frame for Hynes. He’s likely to go at live pick 18-20 so GWS, Tigers or Swans most likely his destination.

Roughly in 2025 … Oliver $1.1m Petracca $1.1m Gawn $1.0m Viney $850k May $800k Lever $750k $5.60m !!! 32% of the salary cap. Works out to the industry norm for the best paid group.

Under the collective bargaining, the AFL salary cap will explode over the next few years It’s expected that 50 players (roughly 2-3 per team) will be on $1m a year contracts Wow!! The total player payments will jump from $15.023m in 2023 to $15.788m in 2024 to $17.76m in 2025 (yes that’s a jump of just under $2m or 12.6%) to $18.29m in 2026 to $18.44m in 2027. wow !!! That’s is serious $$ between 44 players. The “average player salary” is likely to $480,000 in 2025. Obviously it’s skewed as Other research done in prior years shows that 30% of just under, is paid to the top 6 players in the club. Oliver. Petracca. Gawn. Viney. May. Lever. Likely to be getting around $5.4m collectively. Sounds about right. Then around $12.3m for the other 38 players. This is considering a blend from the top to the bottom , given the youngsters get paid peanuts by comparison , with a top 10 draft pick set to receive a base salary of $150,000. For players drafted between picks 11 and 20, the base salary decreases by $10,000 ($140,000), and for those between picks 21 and 50, it decreases by a further $10,000 ($130,000). Players drafted from position 51 onwards will have a base salary of $120,000. However it’s not bad for an 18 or 19 year old fresh out of school, who by the time they are 22-23 could be on $500,000+. Wow!!

Agree. Lennox Hoffman is in Saints NGA because his parents were born in Switzerland. It’s all an inconsistent joke.

This shows where the money now is … in the country or suburban footy. VFL: Williamstown pair Will Fordham and Corey Rich on the move? They're being linked with an Ovens and Murray club. Fordham joined the Towners this year after three best and fairests at Frankston. Been a fine VFL player. Rich is also an ex-Dolphin and team-of-the-year pick

That’s a YES from me. Both as a combo add inside and outside midfielder capability.

Another young potential key forward for the Dees … 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

Apparently Ah-mu is not NGA eligible for the Dees next year. I’ve got a feeling like there is more to go here and the Dees cannot again bend over for the AFL (we already missed Mac Andrew due to the AFL flip flop rules). 

 How many Polynesian players are there in the AFL? Most young Polynesian boys go into the rugby or league programs. The AFL should wake up and see how they could attract such youngsters. Starting by including them in NGA eligibility. As an aside, the AFL changed the rules to help the Bombers. Suddenly top 40 picks for NGA can be matched. Why now flip flop? Kako’s parents, both born in Iraq, moved here in 1999 and Kako is one of three brothers. So how does he qualify as an NGA? Dees need to push again and again to get access to Ah-mu … 
A key objective of the NGA's is to increase the talent pool of Indigenous and Multicultural players, groups that are under-represented in the AFL comparative to the population.

@dazzledavey36 yes read last Thursday that West Perth had signed Steele. He had an excellent year again and has progressed in standard year on year. Not quite AFL standard but is a high quality VFL player. @KC from Casey Casey has lost Mitch White 2024 B&F winner & Roan Steele 2024 B&F Runner up. Hustwaite gone back to suburban footy. Connolly???Probably only 4 or 5 others were actually up to VFL standard (Edwards, Cross, Gregory, Bell, Freeman) and some who got games and are developing (Szybkowski, Peters, Shipp, Windsor). Big question is what Casey offers? Cannot match $$ with other VFL, interstate or even suburban clubs. Cannot offer certainty of footy and club feeling as inclusion for many depends on Melbourne AFL availability.

Nailed it. Tauru is good. Not for pick “5” in my view. I am picking an elite mid at “5”. Possibility that we grab for Tauru at “9”. Athletic ability & his marking are his assets. Would take time to adjust to AFL and @Lord TravisI agree likely be placed ultimately as a Lever replacement. Imv Travaglia gets my nod if available at 9. Just evokes Trent Rivers mode in my eyes.

Hardly enlightening or analytical Code Sports predictions… MELBOURNE Current Draft Picks: 5, 9 A big winner during the trade period, the Demons positioned themselves nicely for the draft by grabbing a second top-10 pick. They already held pick five, but also managed to nab pick nine from Essendon. Melbourne gave the Bombers some later selections – as well as their future first-round pick – as part of the deal, but are now well-placed to bring in two top-end talents. List boss Tim Lamb has declared that “supporters should be really excited”. With two top picks, the Demons could snag two different types of players. At pick 5, a gun midfielder like Harvey Langford, Jagga Smith or Josh Smillie would be handy. At pick 9, Melbourne would surely have to look at Sandringham Dragons key forward Harry Armstong if he was still available. Measuring 195cm, Armstrong’s best traits are his overhead marking and his accurate goalkicking, while he also has the tank to push up the ground and get back. The Demons are also considering picking up Gippsland Power small forward Ricky Mentha as a Category B rookie, through their Next Generation Academy.

@Nascent Joe Berry. Yes if only we had another pick inside the best 15. I’d still have (in order of preference) Tauru, Travaglia, Lindsay & Allan as ahead of Berry at pick 9. Having said that, it’s not a knock on Berry, as he is still very talented. This draft has future stars imv all the way through the first round.

Wow. This guy could talk underwater !!! Some science. Some showcase. As per most podcasters. Nevertheless I’d love Langford & Tauru

Speaking to a Tigers supporter mate at a bbq tonight (Mr Black for confidentiality). He reckons they’ll definitely pick Sam Lalor. Reckons he will be like Dustin Martin reincarnated. But he saw Langford and Smith in the VFL games also, and thinks Langford would also be a worthwhile top pick and Dees would get a good one if he picked him. I agreed. Langford has so many “footy” qualities - wins the footy in contests, endurance , skills, smarts, can take marks, kicks goals. His only issue is defensive side which I’m sure an AFL program would quickly work on.

We are in agreement. This is why I started this thread. He’s the kind of youngster that just looks ready to go and works well in the modern game. Run and carry and second efforts and versatility. Good skills. Good mark. Good pace. Good tackler. Might be our lock in at “9” if available.

Andrew Wu … thanks. 👏👏👏 https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/clayton-oliver-breaks-silence-after-failed-move-to-geelong-cats-20241019-p5kjnc.html