Saracens 1, 2024 Draft Wrap.
Ever had an instinctive feeling of foreboding and difficulties? The moment i saw the Player positions allocated by Fantasy Footy to several of my keepers, i knew a problematic offseason was in the vicinity. To compound matters, the League announced that the new ground layout would include 7 starting midfielders. Someone ring a large Texan city and inform them that things are not without complication.
So we made some decisions in trade week to try to fill what was looking like a cavernous , err, cavern in the midfield. We traded out our first pick for Will Day. We traded some later picks for Paddy Dow and Lachie Sholl. We traded a very late pick for Cal Ward. Now, we think Will Day is on the runway to stardom. Only problem is, heās blown a tyre and no one is quite sure when the new one is due. Still, we knew that and accepted that heād probably miss the first three rounds or so. What we didnāt realise was that Paddy Dow is also likely to miss the first three or four weeks as well. We thought he would be pushing for Round 1. Heās also not guaranteed a game, but we think heās good enough to be starting 22 at his new club once rolling. Lachie Sholl is an old favourite, and the kid can absolutely score well in this game. The risk is that the Crows coaching box seem determined to make him something that heās not. But the late trade for Ward gave us a little bit of cover for the early round troublesā¦
Selection 27. Kane McAuliffe.
Was in two minds strategically here. Take a kid or try to solidify the list. The deletion of the LTI meant , effectively, two less players on which to survive a season. My strong suspicion is that this season will be a heavily attritional one, so overall I was looking for a draft of more seasoned players. But McAuliffe , an excellent allround mid who wins his own footy, being at Richmond made him more possible as I think Yze will transition to his next generation fairly early. Jack Ross is one with a few seasons in the tank, but after that? Early reports from Richmond VFL practice matches have been very positive, albeit a level down Heās definitely more one for the future, and with a 7 mid layout is probably even more likely to be a keeper for 2025. But I can see him playing this year.
Pick 49. Judd Mcvee.
With bankable midfielders already scarce, we noted that an alternative was to ensure enough backline options to use Daicos in the middle, though it wasnāt the preference. Mcvee offered a rare combination of youth and seemingly good job security. Once he debuted , he didnāt miss a game in 2023. Should have some natural upside and uses the ball well. The other one here that we were hoping for was Seamus Mitchell, but he didnāt make it, and in hindsight was another player to add to our "wonāt play the first month " collection.
Pick 72. Cody Weightman.
With a defender taken, we applied similar thinking to Shai Bolton as a mid and were hunting for a forward who would play most weeks and hopefully offered potential to improve. We had settled on Willie Rioli at this pick and counted down the selections. Unfortunately, AB got in first ! Weād been pondering on how the Bulldogs would look and their possible improvement and it felt like better supply to their forwards might see Weightman become a more reliable scorer.
Pick 81. Bailey Macdonald.
Things got a bit frantic here. We had a burst of picks every 10 or so, a swag of names written down but unsure in which order to take them. When we had zeroed in on Seamus Mitchell and Judd Mcvee earlier, Macdonald had also cropped up as a young mid with big upside. He was recovering from a fracture, but was close to being ready for season start. Similar to McAuliffe, a selection with an eye on the future but not necessarily the right choice at this pick strategically with 2024 in mind.
Pick 92. Caleb Marchbank.
Iām a believer in Marchbank. If fit, heāll play. Itās the first bit that is the problem. Currently out with a virus, of all things. Presumably glandular fever. The scant reports I could find suggested he was now recovering. If he plays, I can see him being in our 18 regularly Itās a pick for the now, and a pick for a long season.
Pick 99. Jamie Elliott.
Firmly in āget a player to fill the gapsā mode on this one as well. We can envisage this season hinging heavily on who can avoid donuts and when. A plug and play for when injuries inevitably strike.
Pick 110. Lewis Young.
Whatever draft plans you can dream up through this part of the draft became even more irrelevant than usual in the space of two round Zero matches. Coleman did an ACL 50 minutes into the season. Year over. And Ward popped his AC joint for a two month holiday. At best. So suddenly we were in more depth trouble and any thoughts of scouting for a kid, or a ruck prospect et al went into the shredder. The only slight rationality here was " if Marchbank is out, then Young is probably in". If the injury gods eventually give us a break, Young is probably first candidate to jettison.
Pick 117. Brayden Preuss.
We had wanted to find a third ruck cover and whilst heās out for a while, Preuss might be useful come mid year , possibly even as a trade piece. Heās a good player, if hd plays. Iād have liked someone else , all things considered, but the cupboard was pretty bare.
Pick 127. Hugh Greenwood.
The Ward injury had to be addressed, but the options were far from palatable. The available mids were few, and an aggregate of players simply unlikely to play. The only one I could vaguely make an objective case for was Greenwood, and even that was only if Norths collection of young kids ran out of steam. That said, Simpkin might miss with concussion, Thomas has been kicked out of the club and Greenwood kicked four goals in the reserves. If they need a solid body, Clarkson might turn to Hugh. A literal roll of the dice, and we expect to cop some midfield donuts early in the season.
Pick 158. Judson Clarke
We faced a long break to our final pick so there wasnāt a great deal of planning worthwhile. Iād been considering Clarke and McAdam at the previous picks so they sat on the list as other players were crossed off. My preference was for Clarke, partly because heās currently not injured, and partly because I had him last season and I think his kicking skills will still forge him a career. As per McAuliffe, in the very near future Yze is going to get games into his kids. He gives us another youngster with potential to grow, which we also like. Especially with Coleman gone and less likely to be really pushing for the top 4 finish now. In the end it was academic, as the Allblacks took McAdam off the draft board.
At the end of all this, it was a fairly non typical draft for us. But thatās ok, it needed to be. We are going to limp through the opening rounds, and weāve already copped two severe blows to the list flexibility. We donāt have enough midfielders, period. But if / when we get a few players back, we might discover that we have both the talent, and the depth, to ride out a long season where player availability is going to count even more than previous seasons. A war of attrition beckons for all sides. So best of luck to all coaches for the year ahead. Now, letās get this thing started.
Projected ideal 22 (minus Coleman).
Backs : Marchbank, Blakey, Rivers, Burton , McVee
Centres : Newcombe, T Green, Day, Kennedy ,Bolton, Daicos, Sholl
Ruck.-.Soldo
Forwards - Dusty, Pickett, Lynch, Powell, Wright
Bench - P Dow, Weightman, Macdonald , Ryan.
