Recruiting AFL Draft Watch 2024 - What do we do, we don't have a top 10 pick?

[Keystone agony]

Repeat sprint animals.

Maybe we should ask it to be re instated at the combine?

 

[Keystone agony]

I do think we need to draft a Buddy, Dusty and Bontempelli along with Kako aswell

Sounds pretty realistic... off ya go Rosa. Get it done

 

[Keystone agony]

You really asking that after the last 15 years?
I think it’s rather obvious.

Just a question, im just interested. Everyone has different opinion evident by the last page and also the last 5 years of drafting threads

It will be interesting to see how Rosa goes from here on. A top 15 Academy pick a good year to start

 

[ant555]

Just a question, im just interested. Everyone has different opinion evident by the last page and also the last 5 years of drafting threads

It will be interesting to see how Rosa goes from here on. A top 15 Academy pick a good year to start

We have never prioritised leadership or endurance running. We have built a midfield based on continually picking 180cm players at the top end or via trade. We have never really built a list based on a certain game plan we wanted to play. Too many skinny tall been poles . Lack of players who have a real competitive edge.
Too many “ he can play through the midfield as well “ selections.

 

[Keystone agony]

We have never prioritised leadership or endurance running. We have built a midfield based on continually picking 180cm players at the top end or via trade. We have never really built a list based on a certain game plan we wanted to play. Too many skinny tall been poles . Lack of players who have a real competitive edge.
Too many “ he can play through the midfield as well “ selections.

Were you saying skinny been poles at the time they were drafted... dont think so. All i heard was how amazing they were by foot

Weve drafted plenty of size inside the top 10 recently Francis, Reid, Cox, Perkins, Caddy and even the essendon recruitment said finally the don fans have their big inside mid with Hobbs when drafted. So you cant have it both ways

Most guys 'can play through the midfield' if there not 195cm + KPPs

From 2018- 2022 for 5 years there all that everyone wanted was big inside mids. He grabbed Hobbs and Perkins

Sure we want the perfect player every pick that can

• Have amazing disposal
• Tough as nails
• competitive
• hits scoreboard
• size
• amazing running ability
• marking prowess

Ect ect

The only way you get that is with continuous top 5 picks and unfortunately the fans arent prepared to do that and Scott knows the club and fans wont be

 

[Zach Package]

Maybe we should ask it to be re instated at the combine?

The one thing I’ll say about repeat efforts and repeat sprints is that Jason Castanga played the game like he had two left legs and no opposable thumbs but was an absolute menace purely off the back of almost violently explosive multiple efforts.

A far, far more important attribute than skill by hand or foot.

 

[rusman]

Were you saying skinny been poles at the time they were drafted... dont think so. All i heard was how amazing they were by foot

Weve drafted plenty of size inside the top 10 recently Francis, Reid, Cox, Perkins, Caddy and even the essendon recruitment said finally the don fans have their big inside mid with Hobbs when drafted. So you cant have it both ways

Most guys 'can play through the midfield' if there not 195cm + KPPs

From 2018- 2022 for 5 years there all that everyone wanted was big inside mids. He grabbed Hobbs and Perkins

Sure we want the perfect player every pick that can

• Have amazing disposal
• Tough as nails
• competitive
• hits scoreboard
• size
• amazing running ability
• marking prowess

Ect ect

The only way you get that is with continuous top 5 picks and unfortunately the fans arent prepared to do that and Scott knows the club and fans wont be

….so it wasn’t “just a question”

 

[IHurley]

And our use of the ball inside 50 was sublime

We had nobody useful to pass it to.

I don't see that Merrett, Martin, Perkins, Durham, Caldwell and Parish are a problem in terms of kicking inside 50. The first three are very good and the next 3 are solid. With the absence of Reid and Ridley our backline was blue collar but held up pretty well most of the year.

But all of our problems started with the useless forward line. I hold zero hope for Menzie so we need Davey to come good and Kako to be as good as we hope. I think Gresham showed early in the year that he could be damaging in the right environment but I still think we need Caddy and Kako to become genuine stars before our team does anything serious. That won't happen in 2025.

 

[ant555]

Were you saying skinny been poles at the time they were drafted... dont think so. All i heard was how amazing they were by foot

Weve drafted plenty of size inside the top 10 recently Francis, Reid, Cox, Perkins, Caddy and even the essendon recruitment said finally the don fans have their big inside mid with Hobbs when drafted. So you cant have it both ways

Most guys 'can play through the midfield' if there not 195cm + KPPs

From 2018- 2022 for 5 years there all that everyone wanted was big inside mids. He grabbed Hobbs and Perkins

Sure we want the perfect player every pick that can

• Have amazing disposal
• Tough as nails
• competitive
• hits scoreboard
• size
• amazing running ability
• marking prowess

Ect ect

The only way you get that is with continuous top 5 picks and unfortunately the fans arent prepared to do that and Scott knows the club and fans wont be

Yet here we are still trying to untangle the list band actually win a final. And no I was not cheering on drafting both Reid and Cox. My view on Reid was yeah okay but he was not my pick. And anyone who saw Cox play was not saying how good he was by foot. It was he could kick both sides but was not elite.
You keep your rose coloured glasses on. You may be right one day.
The fact is we have not consistently built the list. It has been bits and pieces all over the place.

 

[ant555]

We had nobody useful to pass it to.

I don't see that Merrett, Martin, Perkins, Durham, Caldwell and Parish are a problem in terms of kicking inside 50. The first three are very good and the next 3 are solid. With the absence of Reid and Ridley our backline was blue collar but held up pretty well most of the year.

But all of our problems started with the useless forward line. I hold zero hope for Menzie so we need Davey to come good and Kako to be as good as we hope. I think Gresham showed early in the year that he could be damaging in the right environment but I still think we need Caddy and Kako to become genuine stars before our team does anything serious. That won't happen in 2025.

Parish has his problems kicking high floaters. Martin is a good kick but had some horrible turnovers every week. Caldwell is an okay kick.
I agree the forward line needs work but so does our ability to move the ball better. Yes we ranked 4th for disposal efficiency but that stems from us using a lot of short kicks to uncontested positions.
We need decent KP forwards and small forwards. We need endurance runners and we need a bit of speed .

 

[Agronomus]

Reckon we need to draft a bunch of flankers.

I hope we actually draft good flankers though

 

[jdstorm]

i think it’s worth remembering how badly team structure/depth hurt our forward group. The lack of forward pressure hurt the forward group heaps last season. Whenever Davey played the team looked so much better/more dynamic but he just wasn’t good enough to play regularly.

Then there was the issues with backline ball users turning the ball over before it could even get to the midfield.

Adding more pressure to the F50 group and having better backline use to get the ball in faster should make a huge difference.

 

[Keystone agony]

Parish has his problems kicking high floaters. Martin is a good kick but had some horrible turnovers every week. Caldwell is an okay kick.
I agree the forward line needs work but so does our ability to move the ball better. Yes we ranked 4th for disposal efficiency but that stems from us using a lot of short kicks to uncontested positions.
We need decent KP forwards and small forwards. We need endurance runners and we need a bit of speed .

Are Caddy, 2MP and HJ not decent?

Is there anything we dont need/need to improve on?

 

[jdstorm]

Are Caddy, 2MP and HJ not decent?

Is there anything we dont need/need to improve on?

All 3 excel on leads but aren’t very good at holding ground physically when it’s asked of them.

that’s unlikely to change this year. It why the forward line looked better with Draper at FF because he can physically hold space. Though he’s also not a great mark and once it went to ground last year it left the F50 at light speed.

Wright and Caddy are basically in competition for KF2 next to Draper.

Jones best skills are his endurance and how he floats in from the side. He’s an AFL standard wing/3rd tall. On the developing side of his age curve. We don’t need to improve on him. Similarly Langford an AA level 3rd tall. He just needs some other bigger bodied players to allow him to match up on players his own size.

All in all it’s a promising group of talls out there. Smalls were by far a bigger issue last year. Hopefully adding the best SF in the draft helps (as does the addition by subtraction of stringer) but there’s definitely more questions then answers there

 

[ant555]

Are Caddy, 2MP and HJ not decent?

Is there anything we dont need/need to improve on?

2MP . The bloke that has played 2 good seasons out of 8 and Harry Jones who has continually shown he can not take marks unless he is on a wing and not matched for height or floating in from the side with no opponent.
We could actually improve in most areas.
It is not that they all suck but as this year proved again there is just not the level to take another step and win a final. They had a real chance and the failed again.
The proof is right there for all to see over the last 4 years.
There will be some blokes who will be there when we do make the next step but there will also be a lot who will not.
Even if they do get it together mentally next year and be competitive in a final they are still short of genuine top 4.

 

[Vindicater]

Are Caddy, 2MP and HJ not decent?

Is there anything we dont need/need to improve on?

Someone who can compete under a high ball and win it occasionally.

 

[Nifft]

Are Caddy, 2MP and HJ not decent?

Is there anything we dont need/need to improve on?

Caddy looks good but is still an unknown quantity. Cox looked pretty good in his first year too.

2MP ended up in the seconds, and Jones probably would've been there as well if we didn't have any injuries.

 

[MiguelM]

i think it’s worth remembering how badly team structure/depth hurt our forward group. The lack of forward pressure hurt the forward group heaps last season. Whenever Davey played the team looked so much better/more dynamic but he just wasn’t good enough to play regularly.

Then there was the issues with backline ball users turning the ball over before it could even get to the midfield.

Adding more pressure to the F50 group and having better backline use to get the ball in faster should make a huge difference.

I agree with Davey. Even though he was physically weak he added some much needed pace and made us look so much more dangerous.

Would have liked more games for Davey instead of the plodding Menzie.

Hopefully Kako and Davey can fill this need for speed.

The most infuriating thing all season was often winning inside 50 count by a large margin and hardly scoring. That is directly on the small forwards, worst in the comp.

 

[jdstorm]

I agree with Davey. Even though he was physically weak he added some much needed pace and made us look so much more dangerous.

Would have liked more games for Davey instead of the plodding Menzie.

Hopefully Kako and Davey can fill this need for speed.

The most infuriating thing all season was often winning inside 50 count by a large margin and hardly scoring. That is directly on the small forwards, worst in the comp.

I think there’s a lot of unknowns about our pressure forward group. Basically every spot is up for grabs.

Kako and a healthy SEH plus not having to shoehorn stringer into the group hopefully helps hopefully adds enough competition for spots to create some real intensity of pressure.

 

[Keystone agony]

A combination of Kako and Davey will certainly change the makeup of the forward line, hopefully allowing us to benefit a bit more from the inside 50 dominance weve never had until last year

We need to move past Gresham next imo. He could be a good sub option next year

Allows Hobbs into the team

Id say if fit the club has penciled in

Kako, Caddy, Perkins, Langford as 4 of the 7 forwards.

1-2 of Gresham/Hobbs/Davey (2 if going smaller with Davey being one)
1-2 of Draper/2MP/HJ (2 if going taller and would include HJ as one)

 

[Keystone agony]

My ideal 7 would be

Kako, Davey, Hobbs, Caddy, Langford, H.Jones, 2MP

Id like to see Perkins have to prove himself either excellent in PS games or VFL as a forward

Him replacing Stringer doesnt change or fix any 'structure' issues

 

[Bjchan13]

Reckon we need to draft a bunch of flankers.

I wouldnt be opposed to 3 or 4 half back flank/ wing types with our picks this year. I think we wait til next year on any talls or midfielders until we've seen what the Hayes, Reid, Cox, Jones, Wright, Hobbs, Tsatas, Setterfield 2025 seasons look like.