2024 Draft Thread.

[Mat Mann]

Draft Period, November 20–21

• Round 1 of the National Draft: Wednesday, November 20
• Round 2–end of the National Draft: Thursday, November 21
• Rookie Promotions: Thursday, November 21, after the National Draft
• Delisted Free Agency Period (3): Thursday, November 21, after the National Draft
• List Lodgement 3*: Friday, November 22, 10am (optional; required for those participating in the PSD)
• Pre-Season Draft: Friday, November 22, 3pm
• Rookie Draft: Friday, November 22, 3.20pm

 

[bergholt]

You forgot the best developing mid we have:


View attachment 2171537

I'm not convinced by him as a mid, a few mins a quarter for impact yes, but full time I don't see it.

 

[Armoooo]

Hypothetically the afls secret herbs and spices wouldn’t have coughed up pick 6. They copped enough backlash for giving us 8.
Would have been end of first round so choose someone still undrafted as of now for the Langford pairing.

No Higgins goal, no flying Viking.

I think that's A grade copium tbh.

There's no evidence to support the notion at all.

Either the formula spat out band 1 comp or it didn't, if he was under band 1, I don't think the AFL fudged the numbers to give us pick 8, conversely if he was over, I don't think they would have fudged the numbers to avoid giving us pick 6.

Literally something fans are telling themselves to feel better about how things have turned out.

 

[L_W_P]

I wonder where Mraz would have been selected if he had an injury free year. It's a hard one for the heart as I reckon he's better than Cole due to Coles disposal.

I'd probably laugh if we got Mraz, Cole & Tauru. We are incredibly light on for depth down back though and the timing is right with Dougs and Wilks late 20s now.

Don't think we will get him but I'd love to TBH.

Our KPP stocks are threadbare, and we haven't landed a decent KPD in forever so an extra bite of the cherry wouldn't be the worst idea...

Flick a F2nd to the Lions or Bombers if he slides through.

 

[SteeleSaints]

Yep.

Blakiston tipped to be a late pick and we are supposedly thre only club that's gone down the Boyd path, meaning he could be a super late pick or even a rookie.

All part of why I wouldn't grab Dodsen with our pick tonight. Assuming he's there, someone will be wanting to trade up for him. The hard part is how far back we'd be willing to drop.

Give me Shanahan, Boxshall, Ough or Moraes tonight and I'll be pretty stoked.

The difference in potential and ability between Dodson and Boyd/Blakiston is night and day. Dodson is a great tap ruckman who can also get around the ground like a midfielder and racks up big stat numbers. He would be the perfect modern day ruckman, the other two are just gap fillers and will be gone in a year or two. Dodson has a huge future....if available we would be stupid not to take him IMO.

I understand you like other players but I dont think we can go past a high quality ruckman they dont come around that often.

 

[L_W_P]

I think that's A grade copium tbh.

There's no evidence to support the notion at all.

Either the formula spat out band 1 comp or it didn't, if he was under band 1, I don't think the AFL fudged the numbers to give us pick 8, conversely if he was over, I don't think they would have fudged the numbers to avoid giving us pick 6.

Literally something fans are telling themselves to feel better about how things have turned out.

Sure.

Just like saying that we would have cleaned up our midfield with picks 5+6.

Every chance the club sees Tauru as a special talent and planned on taking him with one of those picks. Just like they might have seen Travaglia as a midfield prospect and picked him over Smillie/Langford.

We'll never know what could have been if Kemp kicked that goal and Carlton won.

 

[akaifu]

The difference in potential and ability between Dodson and Boyd/Blakiston is night and day. Dodson is a great tap ruckman who can also get around the ground like a midfielder and racks up big stat numbers. He would be the perfect modern day ruckman, the other two are just gap fillers and will be gone in a year or two. Dodson has a huge future....if available we would be stupid not to take him IMO.

I understand you like other players but I dont think we can go past a high quality ruckman they dont come around that often.

Would you rather a talented pure mid (after we drafted two defenders at 7&8) who could push for best 22 and a stop-gap 3rd string ruckman as backup

Or

A talented 3rd string ruckman as backup who we aren’t planning on making no1 ruck in the next few years with a rookie mid that likely gets delisted in 2 years?

 

[StCicatriz]

1 was traded & west coast were never gonna deal with us for 1 pick.
12 & 14 suited them so they could get baker in the door.

That's not true at all. How did carlton get their pick. What happened to essendons?

 

[sufficientintent]

My thoughts on pick 32:

Richmond would have to be considering Dodson strongly, and took three talls last night so you'd expect it's either Dodson or a small forward or mid like Moraes, Gross, maybe Alger.

Dogs stacked for talls so Moraes, Gross, Davis, Alger all in the picture.

West Coast could go tall having lost Darling, and Shanahan or Whitlock would be a good pick there. Could also go Davis or Boxshall as the local boys.

My preference at this stage is probably Gross - seems a runner with a bit of ferocity to his game, real competitor (also blonde so on theme with the two boys from last night). Boxshall has St Kilda player written all over him, but might not get through West Coast's pick. Don't know if Moraes will be available but would also be enthusiastic about that. Would be stoked with Shanahan if we go the KPF route - the Moama Snake, great set of hands, diehard St Kilda supporter already, and at 32 would be a huge slider.

 

[MrFoster]

Wasn't trying to be patronising, however I have seen lists where everyone is a mid in the top 15 except the Saints like putting a label on a player makes them
1. An actual mid
2. Somehow better than the two players we selected.
So as I said I have seen Travaglia described as a mid on both the AFL app and Fox Footy. So is he a mid or not? And if not are any of the other on that list as a mid a mid or not?
Personally I don't think he is a pure mid yet, but to suggest as some have we should have taken a mid the recruiting team deemed to be a lesser talent than the two we selected is a very weird take.

Would have loved 2 of the top 6, I don't think anyone disagrees, but to somehow bash the club because they were unavailable and didn't take mids the club thought were lesser talents is a curious position to have in my view ( that is not pointed at you directly btw).

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On top of that, pick 5/6 would have only got us Langford/Smiling, both have their limitations and we would have only taken 1 of them.. So basically it’s Langford/Smilie + Travaglia/Rarau.

We’ve done ok

 

[Linton Street Saint]

And wasn't Trav compared to Nathan Wright by someone yesterday? You?

That's a fair whack anyway you want to cut it

Wasn’t me, Ablett compared him to Mason Redman. Not much better to be honest.

Still a far cry from the supposed rampant shit canning of a kid.

 

[L_W_P]

The difference in potential and ability between Dodson and Boyd/Blakiston is night and day. Dodson is a great tap ruckman who can also get around the ground like a midfielder and racks up big stat numbers. He would be the perfect modern day ruckman, the other two are just gap fillers and will be gone in a year or two. Dodson has a huge future....if available we would be stupid not to take him IMO.

I understand you like other players but I dont think we can go past a high quality ruckman they dont come around that often.

I just don't rate rucks in the modern game like that.

Outside of Gawn, very few 'gun' rucks have a genuine influence on the outcome of games.

When it comes to clearances (both centre and around the ground) the ruck has almost zero impact. It's all on the mids.

Brisbane
Bulldogs
Fremantle
Carlton
Geelong
Adelaide
Port
GWS

That's the top 8 for clearances last year. You can find the likes of OMac, Stanley, ROB, Sweet & Briggs later in the draft and I'd argue that the Dogs, Dockers and Blues aren't winning clearances because of English, Darcy/Jackson and TDK dominating in the ruck.

If the idea behind Dodson is that he's going to play as a 200cm midfielder that can rest forward (ala Luke Jackson or RoMa) then sure, it's worth a look, but I'm just not buying into the idea that you need an elite player in the ruck in order to be successful in modern football.

 

[bakes10]

How many picks are we using tonight? And how many tomorrow (rookie draft)?

 

[Armoooo]

Three of the top four in our 2024 B+F weren't selected in the AFL National Draft. Sixth, seventh and 10th were traded in also.

Point is that the National Draft is not the be all or end all.

The fact that we were one kick from being a bottom 5 team kinda goes against your point. We've gotten lucky in the rookie draft a few times but the reason why we aren't further up the ladder is largely because we don't have good midfielders.

The last 4 midfielders we've drafted in the first round are:

• Luke Dunstan (last pick of first round)
• Seb Ross (Last pick of first round)
• David Armitage
• Nick Dal Santo

We've taken less midfielders in the first round over 20 years, than North have taken top 5 mids in the last 4 years

I'm not saying we should have drafted Lindsay and Reid instead, I don't follow the uner 18s close enough to make that sort of call. But Eventually you need to bite the bullet and draft a mid. Teams like Collingwood can draft best available and simply attract needs via FA and Trade. We are unlikely to get a gun FA in the foreseeable future (unless we offer LDU $2m p/a).

 

[L_W_P]

How many picks are we using tonight? And how many tomorrow (rookie draft)?

We probably only use 1 live pick before matching a bid on Cole and possibly Hoffman.

We might get lucky and no-one bids on Cole before pick 51 but it's unlikely. Then, unless we trade back in, that will be it tonight.

 

[SteeleSaints]

I just don't rate rucks in the modern game like that.

Outside of Gawn, very few 'gun' rucks have a genuine influence on the outcome of games.

When it comes to clearances (both centre and around the ground) the ruck has almost zero impact. It's all on the mids.

Brisbane
Bulldogs
Fremantle
Carlton
Geelong
Adelaide
Port
GWS

That's the top 8 for clearances last year. You can find the likes of OMac, Stanley, ROB, Sweet & Briggs later in the draft and I'd argue that the Dogs, Dockers and Blues aren't winning clearances because of English, Darcy/Jackson and TDK dominating in the ruck.

If the idea behind Dodson is that he's going to play as a 200cm midfielder that can rest forward (ala Luke Jackson or RoMa) then sure, it's worth a look, but I'm just not buying into the idea that you need an elite player in the ruck in order to be successful in modern football.

He is exactly that player but a better tap ruckman than Marshall with the marking and ground skills, perhaps not quite as dynamic as Jackson but in the same vein and a very under developed AFL talent. He would be the perfect partner for Marshall or Heath when he gets going.

 

[L_W_P]

The fact that we were one kick from being a bottom 5 team kinda goes against your point. We've gotten lucky in the rookie draft a few times but the reason why we aren't further up the ladder is largely because we don't have good midfielders.

The last 4 midfielders we've drafted in the first round are:

• Luke Dunstan (last pick of first round)
• Seb Ross (Last pick of first round)
• David Armitage
• Nick Dal Santo

We've taken less midfielders in the first round over 20 years, than North have taken top 5 mids in the last 4 years

I'm not saying we should have drafted Lindsay and Reid instead, I don't follow the uner 18s close enough to make that sort of call. But Eventually you need to bite the bullet and draft a mid. Teams like Collingwood can draft best available and simply attract needs via FA and Trade. We are unlikely to get a gun FA in the foreseeable future (unless we offer LDU $2m p/a).

I'm being a little tongue in cheek here but doesn't that kind argue against the idea of drafting mids at all cost?

Outside of Sheezel have any of those guys really been standout players?

McKercher gets a heap of the ball but he's playing half back and taking kickouts. Travaglia can do that.
Wardlaw has been solid. He could get there.
Powell is a forward flanker now.
Phillips can't get a game.
Duursma is a forward.

So 6 shots for 1 gun, a solid mid, a stat padder and 3 'meh' options.

Plenty of time for them to develop obviously but I wouldn't be raving about loading up on top picks for mids and using North as the standard...

 

[malevu]

Don’t forget Grimes, one of the best defenders pound for pound I’ve seen

I also forgot Baker.

 

[Armoooo]

I'm being a little tongue in cheek here but doesn't that kind argue against the idea of drafting mids at all cost?

Outside of Sheezel have any of those guys really been standout players?

McKercher gets a heap of the ball but he's playing half back and taking kickouts. Travaglia can do that.
Wardlaw has been solid. He could get there.
Powell is a forward flanker now.
Phillips can't get a game.
Duursma is a forward.

So 6 shots for 1 gun, a solid mid, a stat padder and 3 'meh' options.

Plenty of time for them to develop obviously but I wouldn't be raving about loading up on top picks for mids and using North as the standard...

The North comment was more a tangent rather than a supporting argument. Definitely think they've gone too hard in the other direction, even though I expect them to end up with the best midfield group in the league (they'd bloody want to).

 

[Joffaboy]

Fair enough. Not saying you are wrong at all, I just think game plan came into “best available”. The good part is that we will all be behind these kids and the club 100% once the season starts, and the kids already!

. There may be one or two but I think the vast majority of supporters can be disappointed their preferred didn't get selected AND fully support the player that was.
Might be one or two that would rather their ego win than the club win but 99.9% want them to succeed.

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[Leap of Faith]

Wasn’t me, Ablett compared him to Mason Redman. Not much better to be honest.

Still a far cry from the supposed rampant shit canning of a kid.

I still haven't seen anyone shit canning TT. Or the Viking. Some posters are really pissed that even with two top ten picks we still haven't addressed the most glaring weakness in our side. It's questioning the club and the recruiters, not the kids who have been selected.

 

[Verdun66]

If Garcia went at pick 50 last year, you would think there might be another gold nugget lurking late in the order in this draft. Would love us to have a couple of picks before 50. Can we get another pick somehow? Seems to be lots of players we would like.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

I still haven't seen anyone shit canning TT. Or the Viking. Some posters are really pissed that even with two top ten picks we still haven't addressed the most glaring weakness in our side. It's questioning the club and the recruiters, not the kids who have been selected.

Haven’t addressed?
We’ve added a triple All Australian midfielder and a promising young mid in Carroll with picks still to come.

 

[BrutThough]

The fact that we were one kick from being a bottom 5 team kinda goes against your point. We've gotten lucky in the rookie draft a few times but the reason why we aren't further up the ladder is largely because we don't have good midfielders.

The last 4 midfielders we've drafted in the first round are:

• Luke Dunstan (last pick of first round)
• Seb Ross (Last pick of first round)
• David Armitage
• Nick Dal Santo

We've taken less midfielders in the first round over 20 years, than North have taken top 5 mids in the last 4 years

I'm not saying we should have drafted Lindsay and Reid instead, I don't follow the uner 18s close enough to make that sort of call. But Eventually you need to bite the bullet and draft a mid. Teams like Collingwood can draft best available and simply attract needs via FA and Trade. We are unlikely to get a gun FA in the foreseeable future (unless we offer LDU $2m p/a).

Not that it matters, but why do we exclude Hunter Clark from this narrative? Every pre-draft profile refers to him as a midfielder.

Hunter Clark Draft Profile

DRAFT ANALYSIS: "Hunter Clark is one of the top inside midfield prospects and shows clean hands and is composed around the stoppages"

central.rookieme.com

2017 NAB AFL Draft Pick No. 7: Hunter Clark

Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Hunter Clark is now a Saint after he was selected with pick No. 7 in Friday night’s NAB AFL Draft in Sydney.

www.saints.com.au

2017 AFL Draft prospects: Hunter Clark

Find out everything you need to know about this year's draft prospects before they get drafted.

www.zerohanger.com

AFL draft 2017: Hunter Clark on his biggest strengths and why he sees his future as an inside midfielder

The unique combo that has Hunter in top 10 sights

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[SaintWWodonga]

Im pretty happy with last night. I remember the last time we used a high pick for need over talent, We got McCartin. I think the club knew we would not get a high end end mid, hence the Carrol pick up (makes sense now). Many Blues supporters say they made a mistake letting him go.

1st pick tonight one of: Dodson, Boxshall, Moraes, Shanahan, Ough, Gross, Davis

get back in the draft for Boyd or Blakiston or slider,

Pick up Hofmann and /or Cole

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

Wasn’t me, Ablett compared him to Mason Redman. Not much better to be honest.

Still a far cry from the supposed rampant shit canning of a kid.

Maybe not rampant but still a mild amount of shit cannery.

Redman v Wright?

C'mon mate