2024 Draft Thread.

[SaintsSeptember]

If we wanted a pure mid then I think we should have traded Pick 7 & 35 to Carlton for Pick 3.

We'd have picked Paddy Dow

 

[seasonedsainter]

This was discussed re: all the current U18s who's numbers were affected by being pushed out of the midfield during the champs.

Clark was a pure mid.

He played 90% of his junior career as a mid.

He was pushed onto a HBF in his bottom age year at the U18 Champs. He did so well they played him there again the next year.

In the TAC Cup of his top age year he played primarily as a midfielder.

Now that he's fit he's starting to finally get some continuity in his footy (and in the midfield). No coincidence that the past 2 games have been 2 of his best games in a long time.

Yeah I hear you and I'm of the belief Hunter has been massively cruelled by injuries.

I do recall in his Draft year though, not junior years, him playing a lot of HBF. Which he also did for us early on.

And it's not just Coff/Hunter I'm referring to either! For whatever reason our record of drafting pure mids the last 10 to 15 years has been stark to say the least.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Yeah I hear you and I'm of the belief Hunter has been massively cruelled by injuries.

I do recall in his Draft year though, not junior years, him playing a lot of HBF. Which he also did for us early on.

And it's not just Coff/Hunter I'm referring to either! For whatever reason our record of drafting pure mids the last 10 to 15 years has been stark to say the least.

Its been in mind the whole time but its been tricky. We should have been looking at later picks like Worpel.

1: OK so we went Paddy ahead of a mid.
2: Then we had the Carlisle trade in a draft that didn't have any mids around our original pick ( Gresham ).
3: We could have got Simpkin, but the Hawks trade seemed too good at the time.
4: Clark drafted as a mid.
5: Passed up Rozee, Smith, Caldwell, Butters, because King was going to be the best thing ever on the planet and he dropped in our lap.
6: Went massive trade for an outside winger. ( potentially Serong ).
7: Silly season but Poulter and Lazzarro would have at least provide midfield depth.
8: Naz absolutely the best choice.
9: Pou. Pretty confident he'll be a very good mid for us.
10:Wilson.

We haven't really had a shot at an absolutely elite inside mid since Paddy/Petracca, not without giving up King or Hill/Howard/Ryder.

Just hasn't worked out well for us. Other teams used 2nd rounders to build their mid group.

 

[Tommy Wigs]

That's kind of been his problem over the journey TBH.

Coff couldn't get a look in bar one season as he was slow to react, injured and just not ready until he was then he broke an ACL and buggered off.
Hunter got impact injuries, tried on HBF to not really be a HBF and hasn't really been a mid that averages 80+% game time to really bank on.

So whilst he is coming good no doubt, there's a reason the club shopped him previously and my thought is it's his almost lack of spread and lack of ability to hold that midfield together compared to a Seb that gets persisted with, so he'd for me anyway, want to find a way to increase his cardio to spend more time on the field.

Coff was fools gold for me, which is why I was selling him after he did his ACL, as he was never going to repeat such an effort really, so sell high. Sadly we didn't and then let him walk out the door really.

Agree. I’ve always been a backer. But I think it’s clear he’s not one that would be a midfield starter in a too team and won’t get to that point now. Injuries can also simply destroy development.

 

[Tommy Wigs]

Yeah I hear you and I'm of the belief Hunter has been massively cruelled by injuries.

I do recall in his Draft year though, not junior years, him playing a lot of HBF. Which he also did for us early on.

And it's not just Coff/Hunter I'm referring to either! For whatever reason our record of drafting pure mids the last 10 to 15 years has been stark to say the least.

If I recall, Geelong’s recruiter had him at 1 in that draft. Can’t remember where that came from. Alas. We butchered about three drafts in a row, albeit 1 or 2 of those were not great drafts.

 

[StCicatriz]

21 touches with @63% game time. Interrupted season. Going well. Haters gunna hate.

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theres a big issue there. why is a guy at his age running at 63% game time, when we are crying out for help in the center.

 

[Southeastsainter]

I’m assuming Clark will get an extension, but how is he still unfit? He’s had his injuries sure, but he’d want to have a massive off season for once.

He provides something different in the midfield, but cmon Hunter… we need someone that can play 80 percent game time consistently.

 

[Joffaboy]

I’m assuming Clark will get an extension, but how is he still unfit? He’s had his injuries sure, but he’d want to have a massive off season for once.

He provides something different in the midfield, but cmon Hunter… we need someone that can play 80 percent game time consistently.

It's why Dow hasn't had anything like a year, both he and Clark had an interrupted preseason and then injuries during the year

If both get a clear run in preseason they have no excuse next season.
Still I would rather Clark 21 possessions with 63% game time then some athlete getting 80% and 15 touches.

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[noobermensch]

Jagga Smith's full highlights from an excellent Champs run in which he must have finished a very close second to Murphy Reid for Metro MVP. Jagga entered the 2024 season already highly regarded and has only solidified his sterling reputation to the point that he's now firmly in the pick 1 conversation.

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

I’m assuming Clark will get an extension, but how is he still unfit? He’s had his injuries sure, but he’d want to have a massive off season for once.

Hunts apparently got a 2 year deal last off season.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

theres a big issue there. why is a guy at his age running at 63% game time, when we are crying out for help in the center.

It wasn't the case in 2021. 67 -86%
This year, TOG 59% 62% 56% 78% 64%, 66% ,63%.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

I’m assuming Clark will get an extension, but how is he still unfit? He’s had his injuries sure, but he’d want to have a massive off season for once.

He provides something different in the midfield, but cmon Hunter… we need someone that can play 80 percent game time consistently.

If we extrapolate his game against the Crows to 80% TOG. He would have got 19 contested possessions and 10 clearances.

 

[StCicatriz]

It wasn't the case in 2021. 67 -86%
This year, TOG 59% 62% 56% 78% 64%, 66% ,63%.

sounds like how dunstan went

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

sounds like how dunstan went

Hunts can hit the side of a barn though.

 

[Joffaboy]

Hunts can hit the side of a barn though.

Off both feet

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[MordySaint]

Its been in mind the whole time but its been tricky. We should have been looking at later picks like Worpel.

1: OK so we went Paddy ahead of a mid.
2: Then we had the Carlisle trade in a draft that didn't have any mids around our original pick ( Gresham ).
3: We could have got Simpkin, but the Hawks trade seemed too good at the time.
4: Clark drafted as a mid.
5: Passed up Rozee, Smith, Caldwell, Butters, because King was going to be the best thing ever on the planet and he dropped in our lap.
6: Went massive trade for an outside winger. ( potentially Serong ).
7: Silly season but Poulter and Lazzarro would have at least provide midfield depth.
8: Naz absolutely the best choice.
9: Pou. Pretty confident he'll be a very good mid for us.
10:Wilson.

We haven't really had a shot at an absolutely elite inside mid since Paddy/Petracca, not without giving up King or Hill/Howard/Ryder.

Just hasn't worked out well for us. Other teams used 2nd rounders to build their mid group.

We have tried too many short cuts with our midfield group.

Shortcuts like Freeman who was a massive flop in $$$, draft picks and time wasted. Hannebery enough said. Jones etc etc. There has been too many attempts to fast track our midfield.

The last decent mid with a bit of dash and goal sense was Jack Stevens.

It's been ho-hum since then.

If they are trading out a player like Battle to get access to a gun midfielder ... I hope they get it right, I really really do.

 

[DougalHoward]

Dusty fade? He would have nothing left on top

View attachment m2-res_480p.mp4

 

[SG34]

Speaking of lost cloggers we cleared out- and rumours of Battle’s imminent departure- Darragh Joyce

41

Darragh Joyce

Age

27

Ht

195cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.4

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

4.6

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

1.4

3star

MG

207.6

3star

No current season stats available

D

11.4

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

4.6

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

1.4

4star

MG

207.6

4star

could be one unfortunate broken jaw away from a Grand Final appearance this year!!

 

[SaintsSeptember]

We have tried too many short cuts with our midfield group.

Shortcuts like Freeman who was a massive flop in $$$, draft picks and time wasted. Hannebery enough said. Jones etc etc. There has been too many attempts to fast track our midfield.

The last decent mid with a bit of dash and goal sense was Jack Stevens.

It's been ho-hum since then.

If they are trading out a player like Battle to get access to a gun midfielder ... I hope they get it right, I really really do.

We seem to think that once we have someone , draft or trade, we have that position filled.
You need multiple options in case things go pair shaped.
When we got Lovett we also got Brett Peake. Peakey wasn't great , but he played more games than Lovett.

Freeman didn't cost us much, we got another pick from the Hawks and got Battle with it. Maybe we could have got Drew or something.

It was strange when we split the second rounder we got with Hannebury and turned it into two later picks ( Parker etc ).
There also didn't turn out to be a lot of talent around our 2nd pick the year later ( which we had traded out ).

Sydney got Chat Warner a few picks after the pick we traded for Jones.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Speaking of lost cloggers we cleared out- and rumours of Battle’s imminent departure- Darragh Joyce could be one unfortunate broken jaw away from a Grand Final appearance this year!!

Getting rid of players doesn't make you better, you do it under duress to "make space".
We got rid of Ed Phillips and Shane Savage so we could get James Frawley and Shaun McKernan.

 

[StCicatriz]

Hunts can hit the side of a barn though.

dunstan wasn't let go because of his kicking. he was let go because his tank and burst speed was never at a standard that would allow him to play at the highest level.

 

[puppy_dog7]

He's better than serviceable and not a mid like the guys you've mentioned. Crouch looks done, Ross is done and Jones plays about 6 games a year in the last 2 years. Bonner has played every game he's available for and is part of our very good rebound / wing lines.

I'd say he's a better player than guys like Stocker and Byrnes who are higher rated on here. I'd be extremely surprised if they don't re-contract him. I'd say he's been an absolute win for the club. He'd be on absolute minimum chips and out performed and cost zero trade or draft capital.

If we got rid of list cloggers this year we wouldn't field a side. Next year we will be very young with those guys you mentioned plus Battle, Membrey, Howard, Campbell etc all potentially gone. I reckon he'd be extremely unlikely to be going anywhere.

Bonner better than serviceable? that's arguable. And yeah you made my point exactly, he's not a mid he's a half back and we need midfield depth, so we can't lose all of Jones, Ross and Crouch, which is the point i made.

I don't think you understand how list management works, especially for a club that needs to bring in a bunch of new players. We only have a certain amount of spots on the list.

For reference, last year we lost Gresham, Billings, Bytel, Peris, Connolly, Adams, Coffield, Highmore, McKenzie. which is 9 in total and about average for what you lose each year.

You're saying we wont lose Clark cos he has no trade value and we can't lose Bonner because he's too valuable, but you also want to keep the likes of Hotton and McLennan, so who are we losing?

Out of the list below who are you getting rid of so we have 8-9 spots available come Trade & Draft period?
I have highlighted Green as being safe, Red for gone, Yellow for on the fence.
In my list (assuming Battle stays) i have 6 confirmed outs, with Bonner being 1 of those 6. So from your'e perspective who are the other 3 going to make sure Bonner stays?

Angus McLennan​	2​	Non-Free Agent​
Ben Paton​	7​	Non-Free Agent​
Cooper Sharman​	4​	Non-Free Agent​
Daniel Butler​	5​	Non-Free Agent​
Dougal Howard​	5​	Non-Free Agent​
Isaac Keeler​	2​	Non-Free Agent​
Jack Hayes​	3​	Non-Free Agent​
James Van Es​	2​	Non-Free Agent​
Jimmy Webster​	13​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Josh Battle​	8​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Liam Stocker​	2​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Mason Wood​	4​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Matthew Allison​	4​	Non-Free Agent​
Max Heath​	4​	Non-Free Agent​
Olli Hotton​	2​	Non-Free Agent​
Riley Bonner​	1​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Ryan Byrnes​	5​	Non-Free Agent​
Sebastian Ross​	13​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Tim Membrey​	10​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Tom Campbell​	3​	Unrestricted Free Agent​
Zak Jones​	5​	Non-Free Agent​

 

[puppy_dog7]

Getting rid of players doesn't make you better, you do it under duress to "make space".
We got rid of Ed Phillips and Shane Savage so we could get James Frawley and Shaun McKernan.

And Dan McKenzie to bring in Bonner.

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

dunstan wasn't let go because of his kicking. he was let go because his tank and burst speed was never at a standard that would allow him to play at the highest level.

Totally incorrect.

His disposal the issue.

A walking turnover.

He covered the ground ok… & never had burst speed anyway.


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[Winmar2Lockett]

And Dan McKenzie to bring in Bonner.

We got rid of a chronically injured player who couldn’t get through training to bring in a player who has played most of the games?

Sounds like a win to me


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