What are they saying about this draft?
With St. K so heavily focused on NWM & TDK, could we try and undercut them by making a play for Leek Aleer
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They really like the pointy end and said you can throw a blanket over about a dozen names that could all go to 5 and they also believe that there will be plenty of quality available in the second round but did admit that from about pick 35-40 it thins out but thatās not to say there wonāt be some gems sprinkled about. Most of them get very annoyed at the whole weak draft thing and no suprise that comment is used by the Vic media when Victoria have an underperforming year at underage level so they find it quite disrespectful when those across the border take aim at the talent. If our scouts and recruiters do their job there is no reason we canāt come out of this very well
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Excellent point.
how many of the media draft experts from Victoria have been watching kids in theWAFL and SANFL ? Iām guessing most of them have only seen these kids in the state championships.
Yep, guys like @noobermensch on here watch an absolute stack of kids across all states and I get to a lot of games over here and watch every underage SANFL game either live or on replay but I doubt the ones across the border watch stuff all
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So the quality at the top end is good?
For me, I think the top end has a few guys that are more risk/reward than you might typically see. Last year was full of guys like Jagga Smith, Sid Draper, Levi Ashcroftā¦ guys with runs on the board and super solid, bankable types.
This year we have Willem Duursma and CDT, guys that have some elite potential but very raw in areas of their game.
I also think the tier 1 group is smaller than last year.
But after that I think thereās a group of very interesting solid prospects - call them tier 2 if you like - that goes decently deep back into the mid 20s, maybe even beyond that.
But after that ātier 2ā group it drops away pretty quickly. I feel like a team picking in the 40s will be sifting through the dregs.
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I just want guys who have above average skills and will bust their arses 100% of the time. Get the overall standard and attitude of the team up and then bring in some free agency/trade cream on top in a couple of years when we hopefully start our climb back up the ladder.
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Arenāt we glad we selected Hobbs over Aleer. Was it another āleadership qualitiesā pick I wonder
And improve development but most importantly keep our best players fit and on the park!
So this years draft is hope for the best you picked a good player?
I mean, its the draft, there are never any absolutely sure things. Iām just saying that some of the top end prospects are more risk reward than usual. If someone like Willem Duursma fulfills his potential he could be better than a Jagga Smith, but the risk is much higher.
Not every prospect is like that mind you. Iām pretty confident Dyson Sharp will be a very good AFL footballer.
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Except May is locked in for 2026 so he shouldnāt be on that list. Also Setterfield with lisfranc no sure thing to play on in 2026. In fact I reckon heās doneā¦or will be an SSP signing like last year.
I have Goldy, Shiel, Hobbs, Laverde, Menzie, Davey Jnr as dead set certains to leave. Lual gets a year, McMahon and Blakiston get a year. Bryan and Vigo get 2 years (Vigo promoted to senior list). Smartt delisted too. Prior will get 2 years (promoted to senior list).
8 delistings plus a possible 2-3 trades with Parish, Langford, Tsatas and Perkins all on the table; maybe Gresham (?) has a sniff to see if there are any takers. They wonāt all leave (I think Langford will stay tbh) but I do think the club just need to embrace the turn over without burning through too many senior players.
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Agree with all that except I would keep prior on a 1 year deal, heās ok and can be good depth. And not certain that hobbs will leave.
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This is pretty close I reckon.
Menzie, Davey, Smartt, Shiel & Goldy are gone. I think Draper pretty much gone also
I think Setters will be cut (or maybe keep on SSP?) but Iād keep Lav as depth
We will also trade/cut 3 or so of these 6 - Gresham, Tsatas, Hobbs, Perkins, Parish & Langford
That frees up ~10 spots. Round 1 team 2026 will look something like;-
Ridley Reid McGrath
Redman Blaki Roberts
Clarke Caldwell Duursma
Jones May Guelfi
2MP Caddy Kako
Vigo Durham Merrett
Bench: ?? ?? ?? ??
It is weak. That is the general consensis.
Listening to the flight plan. I thought they might have something interesting to say about List management.
Nah. āDonāt rock the boatā. Keep senior players in Parish, Langford, Ridley, and Redman. Delist a few out of contracted players.
Seriously if the club follows this, Iāll be ā ā ā ā ā ā .
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AKA āThe Essendon rebuildā
Shift a few out of contract fringe and VFL players out whilst retaining the same senior blokes that are just coasting along and the the biggest problem with the list.
Can then parrot to the supporters that we have had 10 list changes and all is sweet.
Canāt see any issue with doing the same as what we have been doing for the last 15 years
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Personally I canāt see the club intentionally enter into a multi-year controversy that would get picks stripped from them, have their reputation destroyed impacting the ability to attract free agents, put them on the back foot negotiating with the exisiting playing list and also feel indebted to the supporter base to top up and top up. Cause thatās what we did during part of the last 15 years. Doesnāt seem like the same thing to me.
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