Davos

Appears there are only two of us on the bandwagon, but there is still time for people to come to their senses.

Watched Parish live multiple times in his draft year, and he is my low end comp for Smith.

Agree - he's such a weird footballer. Great to watch!

Not for me. Upside is Warner, downside is Shiel/Freeman. Different kind of player to Butters. To be fair, Butters is a very unique. FOS has a similar athletic profile, can swing forward and is a high damage per possession kind of player. Also worth remembering that Butters wasn't a big accumulator as a junior, much like FOS.

FOS is clearly the only appropriate Butters comp in this draft.

I wasn't before, but I am now so in.

Mundy is a great comp.

Didn't measure fast at the combine, but ran a good 2k time.

Looks to be more Sidebottom than Pendles to me. Good outcome either way!

I personally wouldn't split it if he's there - I've been sucked in by the potential. I think I'm higher on Jagga than you, but down on FOS.

Have a feeling that if North want to trade down and still grab Tauru, they won't want to trade down past our pick 5. Jagga isn't a typical Melbourne pick, and there's a chance that we have Draper rated lower than consensus. That leaves FOS, Lalor and Langford as a clear top 3 on our board. All guesswork of course, but I don't think it's hard to imagine a world where we have Tauru at 4 based on the above scenario, and if we get wiped out on the aforementioned top 3 (good chance as it stands today) pick him at 5. Think we'd do the above deal if we think there's a clear top 3 in this draft.

Chandler probably a HHF, no? Either way, that breakdown highlights the need for a second dangerous small forward alongside Kozzie. Are we certain we need another out and out big bodied mid at pick 5? If fit and in form (big if, maybe) that's still a good group of 4.

Good St Pats boy. Get him in.

If the reported interest in Kako is true, it seems the club agrees with DS. I've floated it before, but I won't be surprised if Hannaford is picked if we managed to obtain another first round selection.

We are having a great offseason. Go Dees.

Butters upside, but I'm concerned that he hasn't proven himself to be a massive ballwinner yet. I know he's had an injury riddled year, but it's a huge risk to take someone top 5 who hasn't dominated a contest in at least 12 months. Alternatively, you could end up getting crazy value, where a clear number 1 talent slips due to short term injuries a la Joel Selwood. I like others ahead of him, but can see how I can / will be proven wrong in 3 years time.

Yeah, I can see Merrett. I can also see Parish. I think there are 5-10 small accumulator mids you could compare him to. That archetype is obviously valuable, which is why I'm higher on him than @DeeSpencer. I think we have to pick him if we're wiped out of Lalor, Langford and Tauru.

Lachie Neale is also my best case comp for him, although Neale was pretty well built when he was drafted. I don't see Butters or Daicos - the best Butters comp in this draft is FOS.

I wonder if Hannaford at 9 would be an option in that scenario.

Gonna be pretty flat if that how it ends up panning out - was hoping Lalor would be available at our pick. Makes sense that he wouldn't be though. Not keen on O'Sullivan. A lot of water to go under the bridge yet.

Well done Gary. Bloke is about as subtle as a sledgehammer.

Bailey is a forward who can run through the middle a la Kozzy. Ashcroft and Neale are fine kicks, not elite. Rayner is a Petracca level user, capable of the sublime but rarely pulls it off. Lyons sucks. Ah Chee ain't a mid. Neither is Zorko. McCluggage and Fletcher are wingers. Point is if it's pure mids that we're after (it should be), being an elite user shouldn't be the make or break attribute that determines who we draft at 5.

Rucks don't matter, unless they're a total difference maker eg. Gawn. A battler who competes hard would be fine, and they aren't that hard to find.

Brisbane has one midfielder who you'd classify as an elite kick (McCluggage), and even then he is probably still more of a wingman than an out and out mid. The Brisbane mids are all stoppage guns, and that's where they killed Sydney on Saturday. Having said that, we do need better users in the back half. They're the guys pulling the trigger on the 20-35m corridor kicks, and outside of McVee we are devoid of talent in that area. Bowey hasn't developed, Howes has yet to prove himself, Salem is practically a corpse at this point and Rivers is an overrated user who is now probably a full time midfielder anyway. I'd say the club has identified this, hence the pursuit of Houston. Not sure if anyone fits the bill in this year's draft - seems to be a lot of mids, small forwards or key position players.

Take it to the bank if Twomey is reporting it. Thanks for the many memories Claz. Praying those in charge know what they're doing (not confident).