For me it’s all about routine. If that’s his routine, it works for him, and he’s consistent with it, who cares?
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I thought he was 5 and 0 from set shot snaps?
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This is not quite right. We find out the compo before we make our call on matching, so it’s not like you’re accidentally going to get a 2nd rounder for him. Everyone agrees that the discussion is about first round or no deal.
I think top 5 is the benchmark, not top 3, and you don’t really assess the quality of the draft at that top end, they’re always pretty good. Needs you might assess (as you essentially know which kid or two you’re going to be getting), but I can’t remember too many drafts where they say “the kids after the first 2 are no good”.
This. Margin for error (hitting the belly of the footy vs hitting slightly left or right of the point) likely better anyway. Let him kick it however he wants… might start a trend
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Whilst I agree with this, I also wonder if his personality is part of the problem. He doesn’t seem (seem! I don’t know) to be a particularly serious person hell-bent on dragging this club out of the mire.
That’s a long-distance appraisal, but all I’m saying is I think we need more Merretts, personality-wise (if not quality-wise…)
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I believe he played centre back. But your point stands. Soccer is a game where you learn a lot more how to make contact with the ball, as the round ball can be manipulated so many more ways. Snapping is so much more reliable if you know what you’re doing, because of the amount of space on the ball you can make contact with. It’s no coincidence McKenna loved to snap (both inside out and outside in), though to be fair he was a terrific drop punt too. I love Draper’s new strategy.
Even better 
Agree. Not many other rucks have his crazy skill set.
I don’t think many people worth listening to have this opinion.
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You don’t think him working so hard to get his body right and improve both in the ruck and up forward as well as improving his goal kicking, which he clearly has done, is evidence that he has as much motivation as anyone to work towards success at this club?
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Draper averaging two goals match this year and can improve plus ruck duties
plus he is a physical bull, runs hard and encompasses our bombers heart and soul. We love him, he brings fans and we will be poorer without him despite the occaisional blip.
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It’s hard to say definitively as an outsider, but I think people gravitate towards Draper, and he can have the effect of raising the energy of the group. There’s no doubt Merrett is the ultimate pro, but I think his leader by example rather than the charismatic type who can lift the mood of the group when times are tough. Not suggesting Draper is a better leader than Merrett by any stretch, just that he is important to the group dynamic. When I look back to the great Essendon sides of the 80s to 2000, those teams were full of big personalities. I would guess that this current group is a lot quieter by comparison.
As to your point about whether Draper is serious enough, I’m not sure either. I do think he plays with more passion than just about anyone on our list, and he works hard of the track. He looks super fit now, and I think untimely injuries have held him back from getting to this point in the past. He has also shown more loyalty towards the club than just about anyone, knocking back some huge contract offers, including one before he had even played a game.
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Sorry if been mentioned but it sounded like the crowd was starting to cheer when he was lining up side on as opposed to the groans from last week, this has the potential to build.
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He’s 26, he’s got incredible athleticism for a guy of his size, he gives us much-needed physicality and is becoming very useful as a forward option. We’d be ■■■■■■■ nuts to trade him out, he’s just hitting his straps as a player.
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Until he misses.
Then we all go back to the groans every time he turns 90 degrees.
Surely sports fans won’t be so shortsighted and accept a greater than 60% strike rate with that kick…
Looking at him now, I wonder what his build will be like when he’s 30.
Could be a genuinely frightening KPF.
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No doubt, I just thought it was interesting how the excitement levels built when he turned to his side action last night, could become a real thing.
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I couldn’t care less how he kicks em. He could bang em thru with his ■■■■ as long as it’s a goal.
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This guy brings something completely unique to our group. Both in terms of the energy he brings but more so in terms of the role he plays.
Stat wise won’t show a lot from last night but he physically hurt so many port players last night from crashing packs. It was literally like everytime there was a contest he would crash the pack and 1-2 port players would be on the ground for a minute or two afterwards. I literally can’t think of one other player on our list that legitimately crashes packs like he does.
Unless we finished bottom of the ladder and we got pick 2 for him I wouldn’t even entertain trading him out. As a club and list we need him.
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Draper is a baffling one to me. Best way i can summarise it is, I hate the method, but love the results
He has little to no forward craft and can’t kick a drop punt. But you can’t argue with what he is ultimately providing
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