This year's to 10 worthy mids are shite compared to last year.Sydney have Chad Warner, Errol Gulden, Isaac Heeney and are so far clear of the comp atm
We have no mids seemingly close to that at the moment. Maybe Pou but he's still in the VFL
To win a premiership, we need at least 2 of those types of mids; Daicos, JDG, Pendles; Dangerfield, Selwood, Guthrie; Oliver, Petracca, Viney; Cotchin, Dusty; Shuey, Yeo.
We need to give ourselves the best chance at finding that, which is through the top end of the draft. This year's draft is literally all about its top end mids, why would we not go all in on it to give ourselves the best chance of setting this part of the ground up for the next decade?
Battle is a good player, and there may not be another player like him to replace him with his toughness, but there are replacements that will suffice in a premiership-winning team. When is a premiership ever won by a 3rd tall? Never. When is a premiership won by a midfielder/midfield? Almost every year
We have Arie and/or Keeler to develop into that 3rd tall role, while Cordy is a solid short term replacement. Could also target someone for cheap like Butts or one of the other Adelaide defenders. The point is, imo, it's easier to replace Battle than to have a chance at a genuine A-grade mid via draft especially since no one else on our list would arguably demand that much on the open market