Davos

3 hours ago, Demonland said:

 

Kane knows ball.

I hope Blake Howes is the correct answer here, but I think Laurie is the most likely given his reported early form on the track. 

There's scope for him to develop into a version of Brad Close this season, which would be a terrific outcome.

6 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

 

Hell yeah.

9 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

So you wouldn't take Nick Daicos or Josh Kelly inside the top 10?

Strange....

I wouldn't go as far as saying you should never take outside mids or small forwards high, but it's undeniably a riskier propostion drafting kids who have yet to prove they can win their own footy.

I'm in on Windsor if JT is, because he's more than earned our trust and has a proven track record of nailing high draft picks, but it's a big call to pass on Curtin (which now looks likely) in favour of a kid who hasn't proven he can win the hard ball. 

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

i know it means little, but dudes on a train coming home from the bears' thriller was adamant we should pick him if he's available - they played underage football with him in previous years and said he does things that no other player is capable of doing

they said he and kozi would be incredible together

i imagine footscray have the same thoughts of combing watson and weightman

I'd be happy to draft him purely because I dread the thought of playing him for the next 10 years. 

He's going to be a Papley/Milne/Green level antagonist.

I'd implore everyone to go back through the past 3 drafts, take away academy kids, and assess the performance of every player taken between picks 25-35. 

Those picks are worth almost nothing to us - this deal is fine even if we sit on 6 and 11.

2 minutes ago, Mach5 said:

I doubt the veracity of this, but have been told we might make a move for GWS first pick & Nick Heyne’s salary, then Petty to move for one of Adelaide’s key forwards (Fogarty/Thilthorpe) plus McAdam.

Would give us more ammo for pick 1, or a suite of early picks if not.

The other positive being that Heyne could temporarily fill a Petty-sized hole in our defense.

I'd probably do that deal.

I'd almost prefer to trade out of 13 in exchange for a future first + change given how this draft is shaping up. I'm not enamoured with any prospect likely to be available in the teens.

Sit at 5 and pray McKercher falls, then pocket the extra asset for next year when we may be in a position to make a play for a true ceiling raiser (see - Z.Butters) or have a dip in a more favourable draft (have conducted zero research on next year's crop, but I assume it's less compromised at the top end than this one).

42 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

Clubs looking at Shaun Mannagh, who kicked six goals and had 27 possessions for Werribee in the loss to Gold Coast in the VFL Grand Final.

The former Ovens and Murray league star is 26 and in his 21 games this year he averaged 25 possessions and 1.9 goals a game, including four goals and 40 possessions against Southport and seven goals from 25 possessions against Sandringham.

Clubs believe he could play as a pressuring forward who wins his own ball at AFL level.

Yeah baby.

Draft Shaun Mannagh and prosper.

Mannagh is an AFL footballer. Unbelievable game.

Chol has a really laconic on-field disposition. Stat sheet will read as if he played a good game, felt he was just too big for the Werribee defenders + GC did a great job getting him space inside 50. 

19 minutes ago, goodwindees said:

Guys, I can let you know that the lifestyle story around Grundy to Sydney is not quite correct. More accurately is that Longmire impressed far more than Hinkley and the two 23 year olds Ken brought to the meeting. 

It is also looking likely that JJ will also select the Swans. 

Love Butters as a player, but reckon his chat would be horrendous. It'd be like us bringing Oliver to a meeting.

10 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

All the best Jimmy.

 

Bloke will be a absolute weapon in country footy.

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

As I said in another thread this isn’t a good decision.

He’s soft, moves like treacle and plays without any flair or dare. He can only (barely) match up on 2m donkeys and the game isn’t going to get any slower. Nor are May or Lever going to get any quicker.

Key backs have a strong success rate in mature agers and delisted players. Ok, Kye Turner hasn’t worked out, have another go.

And above everything I just don’t think Tommo is happy. He wants to play regularly and barring a dramatic form turn around or injury to May and Lever he’s not going to.

For the most part I enjoy your posting, especially regarding list management, however I think you've missed the mark here.

KPDs don't need to play with "flair or dare" - in fact, I'd prefer they didn't *cough* Sam Frost *cough*. Agree pace is an issue now, but I feel he barely put a foot wrong this season (outside of the Hawthorn game) and was probably mismanaged (dropped after the KB game when he shouldn't have been). He's solid enough and lifts the performace of the entire defensive unit when he plays. 

Also, your last point is flat out wrong. I've spoken to his family today an can confirm he's more than happy to stay. I also think he'll play most of the season if fit next year - regardless of whether Lever and/or May are fit. 

6 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Logan Morris is a very special player imv … best available key forward in the draft  

playing style?  Think Nick Larkey type 

Good lead  Good mark  Good kick  Solidly built 

Dees /JT unlikely to consider given we have JVR Jefferson and converting Petty to a key forward.  If we’d not picked Jefferson last year, I’d be putting Morris on the top 6-7 players on JTs list  

Not tall. Not athletic. Good hands, is competitive and looks like he'll end up being well built. Reckon his ceiling is Brody Mihocek.

Also, like Mihocek, has a Werribee connection.

5 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

I don't think we need a key forward. We need a key defender.

Petty is our key forward from 2024 onwards. Who is helping out May and Lever, or further more who replaces May eventually?

Bingo.

We've been unlucky this year with injuries to essentially all of our key forwards (BBB, TMac and Petty).

Petty, with a full preseason training as a forward, and JVR with another year of development, combined with Fritta as the third tall should be more than potent enough to win the flag. Then you have Jefferson developing at Casey and Schache as a break glass in case of emergency option. Go and get a capable back up forward/ruck option (Chol? Fullarton?) and I wouldn't have many concerns about our key forward stocks. 

Steven May has shown signs of decline this year. I'm hearing Thommo will look for another club this offseason. We're going to be heavily reliant on the development of Disco and/or Jed Adams next year. Even if one of those guys develops into a good footballer, we'll still be in the market for a KPD when May retires given we clearly play our best when Lever can play as the third tall. 

tl;dr - Draft Connor O'Sullivan to ensure our current strength remains a strength. 

Don't reckon we need to analyse this beyond agreeing he's shown enough to suggest he could be a good player at some point, but doesn't yet have the body to stand up tot he rigours of an AFL season (which everybody knew when we drafted him, so I'm not really sure why it's a point of contention now).

McAdams' game more closely resembles Melksham than our other small forwards. 

Probably keen on him as a replacement / cover for Melk.

Gut feel tells me that O'Sullivan will be the pick if we get wiped out and Reid, Duursma, McKercher and Curtin are gone. 

Don't reckon that will be considered a reach by draft time either - I feel he's being slept on a bit at the minute. 

Keen to get your thoughts on this @dazzledavey36

Viney.

Trade Clarry!

I've read a few supporters raise the point that there's a "new player x" every year.

Normally I'd agree with them, but Reid is so clearly different gravy. Barring injury, I can't see how he isn't a star of the comp. 

22 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

I have not seen him take strong overhead marks

Not sure what highlight packages you've been watching, but you might want to do some further digging...

52 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

He dominated against other underage draft prospects sure, but he's also playing against men in the VFL now. Go back a page or two and watch the clip of him playing for the Carlton VFL team. He was bumping, tackling, fending off, and taking down mature men with little effort. He's clearly got the competitive nature, loves physicality, has power and pace etc. He's not just a man child bullying kids, he's already bullying men too despite not being 18 yet. He's a seriously exciting prospect, closest player we've seen to Dusty, but more competent inside and less miraculous with goal snaps. If he's developed properly, he's the next Dusty; a dominant mid-forward.

Kids who win their own footy and possess a combination of size + explosive athleticism rarely miss at the top end of the draft (barring injury). JT seems to know this and clearly favours players with these characteristics - we only need to look at our attempt to draft Bailey Humprey last year. The prospects who never live up to their high draft position almost never fit this profile. I thought LDU was going to be the exception to the rule given how his career started, but he's now a jet.

In addition, Reid has shown he can play forward, midfield and back to a high level, meaning he should be able to contribute right away, even if he isn't a walk up starter in the middle (important given our premiership window is now). 

If we have the draft capital to move up, and WC have an appetite to trade down, this is an absolute no brainer. 

It's also worth considering where the development opportunities for 4 high draft picks will come from.

As it stands, Luke Dunstan, James Harmes, Disco Turner, Adam Tomlinson and Bill Laurie are all struggling to get a gig in our senior side. Talented kids, who have shown enough but are yet to debut, include Blake Howes, AMW and Matt Jefferson.

Granted, our depth is likely to be depleted year on year as fringe players chase opportunies elsewhere, but given how hard it is to break into our senior side right now, I think we'd be better off taking one kid you know can contribute right away as opposed to 4 you hope may turn into something 3 years down the line. 

Having said that, I think we're in a great position regardless of whether we succesfully trade for Reid or not. We either walk away from the draft with the best prospect in at least 5 years, or we load up on young talent and give ourselves the opportunity to extend our window of contention. 

Go Dees!