You should stop talking up your ability to rate players if you can put Francis Laycock and Caddy in the same conversation.
You don’t know until he does it. I’ve seen enough.
so did 9 other clubs
different lists, different priorities
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But if clubs viewed him as actually going to be the next Curnow or similar, would clubs really pass him just due to different priorities?
Curnow was passed on by a few clubs as well, twice by us unfortunately.
Love the way Dermie has been banging on about Caddy since day 1 btw, apparently his kid played with him in juniors so he seen a fair bit of Caddy over his journey so far.
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I think if you could guarantee he would be, he’d go at 1. Geelong probably thought they were better off with the (2nd) best KPD in the draft who might end up fwd anyway, instead of another kpf to compete with Cameron, Henry and Neale for a spot. It also let them get Mannagh as well which worked out pretty well for them
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I assume you mean, Geelong knowing we were chasing him, opted to traded out?
My exact question that no one can address.
They traded out and picked Connor O’Sullivan??
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Lol, Francis goal in the VFL and that mark against Port had everyone excited.
Laycock’s first game against the blues where he took a big grab had everyone excited.
Then there has been Daniher, Gumbleton, Carslile, Ryder…Cox, McGrath etc
The number of saviours this club has spat out is ridiculous. I’m definitely waiting to see how he goes.
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One thing why i personally think Caddy is a good bet. It’s similar to what Brad Scott has said… its the defenders who are struggling to stop him at training at match practice. Rids and Laverde have both struggled at times. Lav defensively is pretty sound. Ball use not so much. I think that will translate to seniors for Caddy. Its not a case of one area of his game being dominant so easy to shut out. He has a solid marking, midfield trait and speed game. So he will be hard to keep out of the contest. Its how much separation he is getting at times through repeat leads. It’s understated how quick he actually is when in stride. Its really tough to stop. He is fitter this year. 2025 i think you will see him kick 20-25 goals and then start to take off from 2026 onwards
The difference with a Francis etc is his work rate and obsession to get better and compete
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Geelong thought O’Sullivan and a second rounder was better for there list then Caddy.
Yep. Caddy definitely has more competitiveness in him than Francis.
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If we kick the ball into out F50, i dunno, like in space to the advantage of our forwards, then we could see a substancial improvement to hitting the scoreboard. Weather it goes through the big sticks, well thats a whole other story (memo to club, you get 6 points if you do not 1).
And came to the club fit. Francis couldn’t walk around the block.
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Shaun Mannagh already proved that he could be a gun small forward for them for another 4 or 5 years too given how he performed towards the end of the year
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I dont think Lav is defensively sound at all.
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Francis parish draft is such a sliding door moment for us could have been Curnow and McKay
All good. I think for the tasks he often gets… he does a decent job defensively. He will be more sound initially than Reid but Reid will use the ball better and is mote the future
Anyone half fit is different To Francis
And still couldn’t 5 seasons later
2016 draft was the sliding door moment imo.
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Fair call. He is very undersized.
And yeah I expect Reid will struggle early on, like most do.