Davos

Cam Schwab vibes.

The sooner we see the back of Lamb and Richardson, the better.

Not great, Bob.

What an exceptionally average looking list of likely options at pick 7 + 8. He barely features in the top 30 on most lists, but I might actually favour taking@spirit of norm smith's boy Rory Wright with one of the picks.

Much like Guerra's comments soon after the King appointment, where he said something along the lines of "Petracca and Oliver were in King's best 25", this is a deliberately ambiguous answer.

Harry Oliver.

GC are zero chance of trading both 6 and 7 given they'll need at least one of those picks for points. 7 and next year's first is a reasonable deal for Petracca - although it would be nice if we could squeeze a second rounder out of them as well. Allows us to add another top end talent this year, with flexibility to either do the same in the less compromised 2026 draft, or use the picks to acquire established talent when King has had the chance to make us an attractive proposition.

Not saying it would be a wise move, but that's what it would cost.

Try Petracca and our future first, as a starting point.

Watch them speed right past us to a ceiling of 8th position 😤

He moves like Finn O'Sullivan. I wasn't really a fan last year - I might like Grlj more.

Very.

If it's going to be picks only, it'll be something like 7 this year and next year's first, maybe plus something else. Take a throw at the stumps with Humphrey, but I doubt he makes the jump given King has only just got his feet under the table, and we're hardly projecting stability right now.

You need B grade talent to supplement the A grade talent. They have Nas - that's it.

It's Hannaford time.

Hope the new brigade know what they're doing.

Like your vision. Not as confident as you are that Viney can be disciplned enough to play as a defensive mid, though. A rotation of Oliver, Flanders/Pickett and Viney doesn't do it for me - we need a Dunkley.

If we were to land Flanders, how are you using him?

If one of our smalls needs to lock down, it should be Rivers. Awful decision maker with ball in hand, but is combative and athletic enough to go with most of the dangerous guys. Bonus points for being solid in the air too.

"Would Adelaide be willing to trade their Toyota Corolla for a Lambo? It would be a tough call, but they may have to do it." Thanks Pickers.

Legend.

Agree - and I think small forward is actually our largest position of need. Cupboard is alarmingly bare behind Kozzie. Don't think Dovaston is the answer. Would prefer we looked at Rosas Jr.

Very strong pool.

The biggest issue with equalisation as it relates to the AFL is that is takes a poor team way too long to rebuild. Although Merrett seems like a peanut, he's clearly read the writing o the wall and knows that Essendon are absolutely cooked for at least the next 5 years. That's too long for a bloke pushing 30 - he has to weigh up the value of winning a premiership or finishing his career as a one club player with minimal team success. We have a draft system based on US sports, but franchises in those leagues can turn their fortunes around with one great pick. This is true in the NBA because one player has enormous influence given there are only 5 players on the court at a time, and the NFL because a good QB totally elevates both the floor and ceiling of a team. Plus they draft ready to go 21+ year olds who can contribute right away. So, to help shorten this rebuild timeline, I think the AFL needs to make 2 dramatic changes to the draft - Scrap all father/son and academy concessions. Academies should be run by the league and all clubs should have free access to the talent they produce. Father/son is a total nonsense, sold as a romantic feature of our game, but in reality just robs bad teams of generational talent for the sake of vibes. Teams that finish the season 9-18 should draft twice before the top 8 sides have a pick (meaning the team that finishes 8th will pick first at 21). Obviously this would allow rebuilding sides to supercharge the acquisition of young talent, but it would also give them more capital to trade for established talent. Note - I'd keep FA and its current compensation rules as is.

Man, that's polished.