Review 2024 National Draft Thread Part Deux - Welcome FOS, M.Whitlock, L.Urquhart & River Stevens

[My Left Foote]

Following in the footsteps of Cardio Curtis will be nothing short of impossible.

So much pressure on the kid already, this might be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

 

[Shermanator]

Mcrae was contracted as well and on bigger money than Daniel.

We really didn’t need to cough up that much.

Yeah but here's the thing, we didn't want Macrae.. we wanted a guy who is 3 years younger and plays in a totally different position.. Funny how that works..

 

[shinboner magic]

Yeah but here's the thing, we didn't want Macrae.. we wanted a guy who is 3 years younger and plays in a totally different position.. Funny how that works..

And the lower pick might of had to do with MacRae being on bigger money

 

[ArdenStreet]

Have we already agreed to another trade for our F2 to get one of the first few picks of night 2? It’s the only way I can fathom we did that deal.

So essentially the F1 for either both Whitlocks or Whitlock and Shanahan and a potential improvement on next years 2nd rounder as we would trade ours and keep Richmond’s.

I am clinging to the hope that we do. Only way I can justify it too.

 

[ansonholt]

I mean, we got FOS and a decent tall, so I’m happy enough. Definitely overpaid, but time will tell how badly we overpaid.

We had to overpay.

No way would Richmond have taken our F2 and by the time we found someone who would both Whitlocks and Shanahan would be gone and we'd have no decent KPP to get and people would have be screaming 'sack Brady' even louder.

We needed a KPP and we got one. We might have overpaid but we had to if that's what we needed and wanted.

Darling is coverage for now while Whitlock develops over the next 2-3 years.

That's why those guys are in that room for NMFC. They made the right call.

 

[thumping]

Every year we go to the draft with a need of a kpp and over the last few years it’s been mids around our draft position- we then go so n so is a gun in next years draft. We get to that draft and around our pick it’s all mids again - it’s a never ending cycle of mids.
This is a ballsy move and I don’t mind it - we’ve got to back in the list we’ve built

Agreed!

 

[neddy36]

Football Normie Trade Logic:

Trade a F1 for pick 14 to get M.Whitlock = happy

Trade a F1 for pick 27 and an early F2 to get M.Whitlock = rage

Quite astounding how people get caught in numbers and optics of a trade.

 

[Psi-Roos]

I am also upset we didn't get a key position junior with 5 years of development and experience in a high paced environments.

 

[giantroo]

 

[DocSholl]

That's the thing about being a sook. It's the cowards option. If something doesn't go well, you can say oh sew! Everyone loves those types.

Given the experience we've added, and another year of development 12th would be a pass mark next year.

Where do you place the line between being a sook and a realist?

 

[KiwiRoo]

GWS & GC have had an awful lot of high draft picks, translated into some slight success for GWS. No premierships.

People getting carried away because Rich.are a BIG club with some recent flags. How many of those kids will stay ? How many are that good ? Can Yze actually coach ? Jury out there too. If they are bottom four for the next 2 / 3 years ?

agreed
Tigers have sold their gold reserves for a start up Tech company
It may work...but it may not

 

[Twangler]

You are all way too attached to numbers such as draft pick number and draft pick value number, lucky players win you flags not numbers. The number is irrelevant once it's been spent on a player.

Jobe and Jack were still on the board and we picked Matt, which tells us it is very likely we had him as our 2nd best tall on our board after Tauru due to his versatility which Clarko loves in players.

So many on here were calling for us to trade our F1 for a key forward between picks 8-14 or whatever. North offered f1 to every club after Tauru went at 10, which means it is very likely we were willing to do a straight swap of F1 for say pick 11 and take Whitlock. No one would have batted an eyelid if that happened. We were very open we were wanting to trade our F1 into this draft along with about 10 other clubs. I think it worked out brilliantly the way it did. Instead of a straight swap of F1 for Whitlock, he dropped all the way down to 27 and because of that, we got him AS WELL AS pick 19 next year.

I think you all need to calm the **** down and reassess why you were so happy to trade f1 for a gun key forward but when we did and got something back, you're outraged? Stop reading other club's fan's opinions and media opinions if that's also getting you worked up. Just sit back and enjoy watching the most talented young list in the comp have a ripper pre season and surprise a few next year.

Great trade. Welcome Finn and Matt to the greatest club in the land.

Perfect summary! The only caveat being that we may have been disappointed that we couldn’t trade up to get Faull or Armstrong - with Faull the much more likely target

 

[Ether]

Sorry guys, it wasn’t a dream. You really traded a top 2 pick in the 2025 draft for pick 27!!!!

Plenty of people would have tipped your lot to be bottom 2 this year...

 

[thumping]

You are all way too attached to numbers such as draft pick number and draft pick value number, lucky players win you flags not numbers. The number is irrelevant once it's been spent on a player.

Jobe and Jack were still on the board and we picked Matt, which tells us it is very likely we had him as our 2nd best tall on our board after Tauru due to his versatility which Clarko loves in players.

So many on here were calling for us to trade our F1 for a key forward between picks 8-14 or whatever. North offered f1 to every club after Tauru went at 10, which means it is very likely we were willing to do a straight swap of F1 for say pick 11 and take Whitlock. No one would have batted an eyelid if that happened. We were very open we were wanting to trade our F1 into this draft along with about 10 other clubs. I think it worked out brilliantly the way it did. Instead of a straight swap of F1 for Whitlock, he dropped all the way down to 27 and because of that, we got him AS WELL AS pick 19 next year.

I think you all need to calm the **** down and reassess why you were so happy to trade f1 for a gun key forward but when we did and got something back, you're outraged? Stop reading other club's fan's opinions and media opinions if that's also getting you worked up. Just sit back and enjoy watching the most talented young list in the comp have a ripper pre season and surprise a few next year.

Great trade. Welcome Finn and Matt to the greatest club in the land.

Totally agree with this!

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Where do you place the line between being a sook and a realist?

Depends who’s posting.

 

[Moti]

The picks are irrelevant - it’s what the players turn out like.

So far it Whitlock & unknown v an unknown player.

Lets wait until we see what players fill the above 2 spots before throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Posters over rate picks.

Absolute crap. You are judged on your ability to position your club the best. Melbourne got better value plain and simple. The players are irrelevant when purely judging the value of the deal.

 

[Supa_Nova]

Been thinking a bit about it, we lost the trade.

But probably only on numbers. In terms of our list, our needs, the player, yes it's still a trade "loss" but the outcome is still available "win".

Darling is there to train a KPF. Whitlock obviously targeted along with tauru. We got our second preference well done, brave, bold, but we haven't been either for a long time

 

[backtothedraft]

Where do you place the line between being a sook and a realist?

Its just the consistency and frequency of negative posting which can become hard to digest, and could fall within the boundaries of what could be considered a sook. And it's not just aligned to trade and draft, its also Sonja, Jen, Clarko, Rawlings, The captains, Membership

I probably see myself being more optimistic and positive than most, but i feel like i get alot more enjoyment out of following and supporting the club that way.

When assessing a situation multiple things can be true. For example:

• Its a bit disappointing that we reach for pick 27, but great we now have two young 18 year old KPP we've taken with 1st round draft picks
• Pick 25 was unfortunately overs for Caleb Daniel, but he will bring experience to our backline and allow for our younger more exciting players to push up the field
• It sucks that we have to continue to sell games to Tasmania and WA, but it's great as a Melbourne supporter we will now get to see more live footy from 2026.

 

[Flawed Genius]

With the benefit of sleeping on it.

Whatever. Who cares. It looks crap on paper but we clearly rated the kid and wanted to get him. We may not rate next year's draft, and from the looks of things a bunch of other clubs don't either. The F1 may not have been the epic bargaining chip that we (BigFooty) thought it was going to be, which I think is pretty clear from the way the people who are paid to evaluate it, evaluated it.

Whitlock is a few years off being a contributor but I do hope he is prepared to be compared to the F1 next year for the rest of his career. If we think he is going to be a good player then this is a good move. I've said before that we need to stop taking draft picks at some point and I'm pleased the club has put their balls on the line to say that now is the time we need to start improving and stop worrying about who the best, second best or third best kid in the country is.

I echo the thoughts of others that perhaps it's time to go heavy and trade out of next year altogether, go get Jack Whitlock or Mraz or whoever and draw a line in the sand. It's harsh to look at on paper but I'm excited that the club seems to believe we are ready to move to the next phase of the rebuild.

The only thing I'm more than a little upset about is that we are actively contributing to Richmond's eventual rise, and the fawning over their list management strategy will be unbearable. Other than that I am looking forward to seeing what the 2029/30 side looks like, it's red hot on paper:

Archer - W.Dawson - Bergman
Goater - Comben - Hardeman
McKercher - Wardlaw - O'Sullivan
Duursma - M.Whitlock - George
Curtis - Larkey - Zurhaar
Xerri - LDU - Sheezel
Goad - Powell - Phillips - Scott

Konstanty - Payne - Simpkin - Maley - Ford - Hansen Jnr

 

[DesertRoo]

Now lets swap our future 2nd for the tigers pick 28 and their future 3rd.
Pick up the other Whitlock and death ride the tigers to oblivion...

 

[My Left Foote]

Whether you think trading our F1 was an abhorrent and negligent trade, a bold and brave move or somewhere in between there are a few things to consider.

The recruitment team have watched Matt Whitlock play live and poured over hours of footage, they've interviewed him, spoken to his coaches, parents and brother they know know exactly who he is, what sort of player he is and more importantly what sort of player he can become. So if they think he is worth trading our F1 for then at the very least give them some credit for making an informed decision.

Almost everyone on here is judging him on 5 minutes of YouTube highlights and screenshot of his stats from Rookie Me Central. Not even our esteemed draft watchers, whose opinions I value, will have watched Matt anywhere near as much as our recruiters have.

You can still be p*ssed off with the trade but ask yourself why you're p*ssed off? Is it because 27 doesn't equal what value you've hypothetically placed on our F1? I'm guessing but I suspect our F1 got knocked backed by the Saints at 9, Tigers at 11, GWS at 16, Richmond at 23, maybe even Sydney at 26 and only got taken by Richmond at 27. Clearly rival clubs don't value our F1 as highly as you all do and they're the ones who are going to benefit from it.

 

[The Nostradamus]

Now lets swap our future 2nd for the tigers pick 28 and their future 3rd.
Pick up the other Wittlock and death ride the tigers to oblivion...

or we could have just asked for 27 and 28 instead of their f2

 

[DesertRoo]

or we could have just asked for 27 and 28 instead of their f2

That was yesterday, its done, its today, lets get the other Whitlock!!!!

 

[Flawed Genius]

or we could have just asked for 27 and 28 instead of their f2

You, as well as everyone else, have no idea what we did or did not ask for. We might have asked for that and Richmond said no, and we talked amongst ourselves and weighed up the benefits of a) trading out of a draft we and the league clearly don't rate and b) still getting a player reportedly in our top 10 this year. And the price for that, which we were willing to pay, appears to have been the 2025 R1. Which again we are clearly willing to give up.

 

[The Nostradamus]

You, as well as everyone else, have no idea what we did or did not ask for. We might have asked for that and Richmond said no, and we talked amongst ourselves and weighed up the benefits of a) trading out of a draft we and the league clearly don't rate and b) still getting a player reportedly in our top 10 this year. And the price for that, which we were willing to pay, appears to have been the 2025 R1. Which again we are clearly willing to give up.

lets hope brady sheds some light today

cos if we didn't at least ask for 27 and 28 then he should be sacked