Player Watch 2022 AFL National Draft Discussion - read the pinned post

[Strapping Young Lad]

National AFL draft Monday November 28(first round only).
All other selections to be held on Tuesday November 29.
The pre-season and rookie drafts will then take place at 3pm (AEST) on Wednesday November 30.

 

[JaegarTime]

No melt from me for Humphrey. I want him or the Pou personally.

 

[Steven Tyler]

Our boy Sheez would be hurting right now, knowing how close he got to realising his childhood dream of playing for us but being taken by North.

He can do a JHF and sulk it up for 12 months before asking for a trade

 

[Guardian Hawk]

I feel like it's looking like Wardlaw, Sheezel, Tsatas (and of course Ashcroft and Cadman) will be the ones off the board with the most doubt about the direction Gold Coast are taking (though I suspect Hawthorn already know).

So Humphrey, Clark, Phillipou, McKenzie or Ginbey appear to be the main candidates - and I suspect the club already know which one they are taking.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Back in the club with whoever they pick, I say. There’s genuine belief for a lot of players to be the “right one” for us reading through this thread.

I’d suggest that the club and its recruiting team have had many hours of discussions about who they will take, and fortunately for us they’re armed with a lot more data and evidence from both on-field and off to form their decision, rather than a bunch of us going off phantom drafts and highlights vids.

Whoever we take, I’ll be completely on board with.

 

[westhawk]

Will there be lots of melts if we read out Humphrey's name? I have a feeling he's coming to us unless Tsatas slides.

I will, we need pure mids badly, not hybrid types. McKenzie is first choice for me.

 

[Brishawk]

Back in the club with whoever they pick, I say. There’s genuine belief for a lot of players to be the “right one” for us reading through this thread.

I’d suggest that the club and its recruiting team have had many hours of discussions about who they will take, and fortunately for us they’re armed with a lot more data and evidence from both on-field and off to form their decision, rather than a bunch of us going off phantom drafts and highlights vids.

Whoever we take, I’ll be completely on board with.

I get what you are saying but where is the fun in that?

 

[HedgeFund]

Judd in some of his early days was ridiculous, didn't he have a year where his kicking efficiency was like 85%+????

No

 

[Judd2Sewell]

For all the lulz Norfs mids aren't half bad

They'll take Wardlaw though surely?

LDU, Simpkin and a fit Cunnington would walk right into this team. Powell looks like a decent prospect too.

They really need Phillips to have some luck (and develop) and for Thomas to sort himself out and deliver on his talent. Two IFs there, but if those two kick on they will have a really good core post Cunnington retiring.

 

[TylerDurden]

The draft prospects that are “in the mix” for Essendon’s top-five pick

“Those two guys I think should appeal.”

www.sen.com.au

 

[Judd2Sewell]

They have Wardlaw and Tsatas staring them in the face.

Taking Sheezel is akin to taking Phillips instead of McDonald.

Disagree completely. Sheezel has shown he's got a level of class that neither Wardlaw nor Tsatas has, and he showed at TAC level he was at least as effective as midfielder as Tsatas - wracking up big numbers and hitting the scoreboard.

They already have LDU, Simpkin, Powell, Thomas and Phillips + Wardlaw running through the midfield with Cunnington, Greenwood and MacDonald as older bodies to support them.

They only have Zurhaar and Stephenson that can have an impact in the forward line.

Kicking goals is a much bigger issue for them. I'm sure they're backing themselves to get the best out of Phillips and Thomas, which will go a long way to turning that midfield into a good unit.

 

[HedgeFund]

Pick the best kid available from Victoria who can play inside mid.

Won’t leave the state.

Can be educated in how to contribute when rolled forward in a rotation.

End of story.

 

[Noel Gallagher]

I will, we need pure mids badly, not hybrid types. McKenzie is first choice for me.

For some weird reason McKenzie gives me Jack Billings vibes. If we took him and he did indeed become a similar player, it would be disastrous for us

For me it’s Humphries or Philipou. I’m not overly concerned by Humphries kicking action. We desperately need an X factor type midfielder who can play forward as well. Philipou fits the bill as well

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Disagree completely. Sheezel has shown he's got a level of class that neither Wardlaw nor Tsatas has, and he showed at TAC level he was at least as effective as midfielder as Tsatas - wracking up big numbers and hitting the scoreboard.

They already have LDU, Simpkin, Powell, Thomas and Phillips + Wardlaw running through the midfield with Cunnington, Greenwood and MacDonald as older bodies to support them.

They only have Zurhaar and Stephenson that can have an impact in the forward line.

Kicking goals is a much bigger issue for them. I'm sure they're backing themselves to get the best out of Phillips and Thomas, which will go a long way to turning that midfield into a good unit.

That bolded part is certainly very debatable. You seem to have discounted a lot of what Tsatas and Wardlaw are capable of.

As for the rest of your post, I don’t know why you’d bother mentioning Cunnington and Greenwood when they’re about done and McDonald is a back flanker. There’s still question marks on Thomas(at the moment) and Phillips hasnt had much of a run at it at this stage, so they’ve essentially got only LDU, Simpkin and Powell as mids for their 2024 and beyond squad.

Then there’s the game trend for explosive mids, who can break the game wide open with consecutive centre bounces and take meterage.

I would almost garantee that if North overlook one of Tsatas and Wardlaw when they have Picks 2 & 3 we won’t have to wait long for people to start questioning if they screwed up.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Pick the best kid available from Victoria who can play inside mid.

Won’t leave the state.

Can be educated in how to contribute when rolled forward in a rotation.

End of story.

Agreed. Expect that to be Jhye Clark.

 

[Blackhawk42]

That bolded part is certainly very debatable. You seem to have discounted a lot of what Tsatas and Wardlaw are capable of.

As for the rest of your post, I don’t know why you’d bother mentioning Cunnington and Greenwood when they’re about done and McDonald is a back flanker. There’s still question marks on Thomas(at the moment) and Phillips hasnt had much of a run at it at this stage, so they’ve essentially got only LDU, Simpkin and Powell as mids for their 2024 and beyond squad.

Then there’s the game trend for explosive mids, who can break the game wide open with consecutive centre bounces and take meterage.

I would almost garantee that if North overlook one of Tsatas and Wardlaw when they have Picks 2 & 3 we won’t have to wait long for people to start questioning if they screwed up.

You've been hot on this since North snagged picks 2 and 3. Which is fine, because opinions and all that.

I have to ask though, since you are quite strong on Wardlaw and Tsatas both being better options, does this mean you'd be against us taking Sheez if if got to pick 7 and he and Tsatas were still available?

Also, if Tsatas slides to at least pick 7 on the night (which has been a little rumour doing the rounds), would you change your mind on North selecting the Wardlaw/Sheezel combo? Or do you personally just rate Wardlaw and Tsatas as the chest best two players available in the draft?

 

[tl92]

That bolded part is certainly very debatable. You seem to have discounted a lot of what Tsatas and Wardlaw are capable of.

As for the rest of your post, I don’t know why you’d bother mentioning Cunnington and Greenwood when they’re about done and McDonald is a back flanker. There’s still question marks on Thomas(at the moment) and Phillips hasnt had much of a run at it at this stage, so they’ve essentially got only LDU, Simpkin and Powell as mids for their 2024 and beyond squad.

Then there’s the game trend for explosive mids, who can break the game wide open with consecutive centre bounces and take meterage.

I would almost garantee that if North overlook one of Tsatas and Wardlaw when they have Picks 2 & 3 we won’t have to wait long for people to start questioning if they screwed up.

Mids will always be the safest option and will hit the ground running. They have to take a punt on a forward at some stage, history says key forwards take the longest to develop and good ones are rare at late picks albeit we are hopeful Lewis can be that guy.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Mids will always be the safest option and will hit the ground running. They have to take a punt on a forward at some stage, history says key forwards take the longest to develop and good ones are rare at late picks albeit we are hopeful Lewis can be that guy.

They’re not taking a key forward with 2 or 3 though. They gave that up.

 

[RIOLINWITPUNCHS]

Mids will always be the safest option and will hit the ground running. They have to take a punt on a forward at some stage, history says key forwards take the longest to develop and good ones are rare at late picks albeit we are hopeful Lewis can be that guy.

Not the thread for this but you could make a good argument Lewis is already better than many key forwards taken in the top 10 over the last 7-8 years.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

You've been hot on this since North snagged picks 2 and 3. Which is fine, because opinions and all that.

I have to ask though, since you are quite strong on Wardlaw and Tsatas both being better options, does this mean you'd be against us taking Sheez if if got to pick 7 and he and Tsatas were still available?

Also, if Tsatas slides to at least pick 7 on the night (which has been a little rumour doing the rounds), would you change your mind on North selecting the Wardlaw/Sheezel combo? Or do you personally just rate Wardlaw and Tsatas as the chest best two players available in the draft?

I don’t know where you’ve heard this rumor of Tsatas sliding, but it smells like bullshit.

And yes, if that miracle occurred from the little I know of our plans Sam would not be able to tell Macca quick enough to take Tsatas at Pick 7.

 

[JaegarTime]

For those saying Humphrey is more a fwd/mid, from what I’ve been reading it’s around the other way and is more mid/fwd. Can have a impact in the middle and rack up possessions. Think his bad kicking is a bit overstated, looks fine in the field of play. Casboult used to be terrible, put him with a kicking coach and turned into a decent kick at goal.

Either him or the Pou would be great for us. Can rotate with Newcombe who has proven he can have an impact up forward.

Further add Wingard/Moore/MacDonald into that mix and you’re starting to really get some dynamics.

 

[Brishawk]

We just have to take the best available kid, no matter what. There is almost no position on the field we couldn’t do better in so take the best and build a team around them from what we have and what else we bring in.

 

[burger09]

Remember when we were set to overlook Cadman in favour of mids without elite speed and kicking skills because we needed mids?

Good times.

 

[RIOLINWITPUNCHS]

Remember when we were set to overlook Cadman in favour of mids without elite speed and kicking skills because we needed mids?

Good times.

That must have been about 141 pages back.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

No

Happy to be wrong, just noted someone said it for a year mid 2000s at WCE he had a really good year in terms of KE, mentioned number was high, but yeah, just from that

 

[smish]

Would like to see more mid work of Humphrey, most of his highlights are the mark kick goal sort.

Warming to him however