List build - where are we? Where are we going next (Part 1)

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Thatā€™s a good summary.
Personally I donā€™t see inside mid as a need at all.
Aside from the blokes who are going to be in most peopleā€™s best 22ā€™s, we have Clarke, Mutch, Mynott and even Begley who would all be targeted at inside spots long term. Theyā€™re all 185cm +.
They wonā€™t all make it, but if the club gets another inside mid in this draft, then theyā€™re pretty much signalling that theyā€™re giving up on one or all of those blokes as inside mids. Plus of the blokes above them in the pecking order, only Myers is likely to leave in the next year or two.

Small forward /outside mid weā€™ve got zero depth apart from Long if they keep him. Thereā€™s more reason to believe Long wonā€™t make it in his role than the above blokes in theirs.
If there are only 3 list spots available iā€™d be getting 3 fast outside running types to fill those outside runner / wingman or small forward roles
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Mynott I donā€™t know enough about but my observations of Kobe Mutch makes me believe that he could hold down a wing position. Yep agree, heā€™s not a speedster - but he seems to have a happy knack of being where the ball is, he burrows in always making a competition and looks to be still running and competing at the end of the game, Iā€™ll take that every day of the week.

If a fleet of foot, 20 possessions a week wingman is not available, I reckon weā€™ve got options.

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Do we think Houlahan could make it?

I think we have to. Ruck take forever to develop. So unless we are going to poach one we have to start now.

Belly has a few years left, so we are good at the number 1 spot. Looney is a backup, but Iā€™m not sure he will be past next year. Daniher and Mckernan are really break glass in case of an emergency, and shouldnā€™t be part of the list planning for future ruckman.

Draper has shown he may be able to take the spot in 2020/21. But there is still a long way to go.

Lavender is still very much an unknown long shot.

Iā€™d like to see us take a developing ruck who is a smart footballer who has good second effort that we can build a huge tank into. Somebody who is going to compete with Draper in 2-3 years for the main spot.

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I donā€™t think he wpuld be an upgrade over anyone on our current list. Decent footballer, but doesnā€™t provide a point of difference on any line.

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Weā€™ve got 2-3 developed rucks (TB, Smack +/- Leuey) and 2 developing rucks (Draper, Lavender) with some last resort options (JD, Stewart, Hooker). I just donā€™t see a prospect that good that we either add to that lost, or abandon one of our current developing players. The nature of the ruck position now is that there is a lot of movement after these guys develop too. As teams donā€™t tend to make changes to their ruck division in season unless forced. Iā€™d think we give the developing guys another year to show what theyā€™ve got, and look around at who is starring as a backup without getting senior minutes.

We will have two other ā€˜recruitsā€™ next year - Daniher and Gleeson.

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I see Raz and Parish as quick outside mids/Wings.

We have Houlihan and Begley as pressure type forwards to complement our forwards.

Not deep but not devoid.

I would change that depth chart a bit. Some players can be elsewhere, but Iā€™ve selected in their primary roles.

Small/Med Def - Gleeson, Redman, Ridley, Saad, McKenna, McNiece
Tall Def - Ambrose, Hurley, BZT, Hooker, Francis, Hartley

Inside/Outside Mid: Shiel, Merrett, Zaharakis, McGrath
Outside Mid - Smith, Guelfi, Long
Inside Mid - Myers, Langford, Heppell, Stringer, Parish, Mutch, Clarke, Mynott

Small Fwd - Tippa, Raz, , Begley, Bags
Medium Fwd - Laverde, Houlahan
Tall Fwd - Daniher, Brown, Stewart

Ruck - TBell, Smack, Draper, Lavender

Some can obviously play multiple positions, with Stringer, Langford, Raz and Walla being the prime examples who will likely all rotate through the midfield and the middle.

I agree its good depth, with outside mids possibly a touch weak. If you added age profile and probability of making it, I believe weā€™d have a hole in the tall forward/ruck position as well. If Williams falls, we probably should jump on him.

I wouldnā€™t be surprised if we donā€™t delist anyone else, and only take two picks to the draft. Iā€™d have a strong look at the mature aged players available, as there are a few who might tick a number of boxes of need and be able to impact immediately.

And the Fridge and Mason Redman

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Thatā€™s the best 22 I have seen yet. Agree with it all

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I think Stringer will be played more midfield than this year, as his tank improves. He was very good in his stints there this year.

Not in my view.

Only had one year, but didnā€™t show a whole lot at VFL level. Iā€™m not sure if his style translates well to AFL, more lead and mark. I donā€™t think heā€™s good enough at ground level.

Iā€™d be surprised if he wasnā€™t allowed to finish his contract, but I wouldnā€™t be planning on him being here beyond 2019.

Isnā€™t this a bit contradictory? You donā€™t think a ruck will fall to our position (which is really only Williams to my knowledge), but you think rucks will be valued less in the ND as people will prefer to take them as mid-season draftees. So, theyā€™ll be less valuable, but not as likely to fall to our picksā€¦

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Showed some good glimpses, but not as often as youā€™d like.
No idea really.

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I only saw a couple of games. Thought he didnā€™t look out of place but I also didnā€™t see him too often.

Draft for the now and take Little Nicky Hind with our first selection.

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If we get a developing ruck heā€™s not going to get ruck time in the VFL aimless there are injuries. Even if he was played forward heā€™ll still be competing with lots of other talls unless there are injuries.

I think if weā€™re getting one it should be a forward/ruck at this stage, to essentially replace Smack in a couple of years.

But that is on the assumption they donā€™t see Lav2.0 doing that role and theyā€™re going to play him somewhere like defence

Agree that we need another creative/pressure small fwd. I think we also may needwingers. In saying that, Redman and Ridley show real promise to me and could become A grade wingman.

Iā€™m more referring to the upper echelon talls that will go in the first round. Outside of this, rucks/KPP are a bit of a gamble and I think moving forward teams may be more inclined to target these taller players in the mid-season draft if their ruck division becomes a problem due to injury during the season or if a player excels at state level. Obviously if youā€™re presented with a someone you see as a ā€˜canā€™t miss prospectā€™ at your position in the draft then you take it. But I just think there will be a general view that instead of taking developing rucks in the 5th or 6th round, teams may be more inclined to observe them in the reserves before committing a list position.

Great minds munna. Great minds.

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