Father-Son/Academy nominations are in!
We have nominated Matt Neagle as a rookie selection. Which means we cannot ‘match a bid’ for him in the ND but can pre-select him as a rookie assuming he doesn’t get drafted.
No sign of Daniel Hanna in the NGA nominations, cross him off any potential rookie spot.
Will be gone unfortunately. I think he’d make a good winger.
Great little draft series following Bytel, Walsh & the Kings.
Anyone else totally not fussed about Hind?
Who are we going to take TD? Are Smith and Bytel likely to be available? Does Williams or someone else drop?
He can’t kick
After much thought (in reality very little), and watching definitive draftmachine highlights packages, here are my 3 hoped for outcomes.
First pick.
Bailey Williams if we want a tall.
Jack Bytel if we want an inside mid with good decision making - just have a feeling that he’ll be one to play early and be a mid-draft steal.
Ely Smith if we want a first possession inside mid
Ned McHenry if we want a tackling pressure small forward.
Second & Third picks.
Hayden Sampson as an outside mid with overlap run
Tom Sparrow if we want an all-rounder
Tom MacKenzie if we want a wingman.
Hugo Munn if we want key forward to develop.
Last pick.
Boyd Woodcock
Tom Lewis
Daniel Hanna
Tyron Smallwood
If we rookie Neagle, I’m content not going for Hind. Did watch his draft machine highlights yesterday and he is eye-catching but have cooled a little bit on him after this morning. Would rather a sml-fwd ‘ready to play’ mature-ager over Hind if we were to only take 1 player 21+.
He’s OK at what he does.
No spot for him since we kept Long.
Smith, Bytel, Williams are all a chance. Personally don’t see how crows pass Williams with their pick in the 20s but it’s possible
At this stage your guess is as good as mine for that pick, personally id like an upside selection with that pick so out of those players Williams would be my preference.
I’ve back flipped on Sam Walsh being my favourite player in the draft. My thoughts on the state of the game and what the game is all about has lead me to this change.
Rankine is my personal favourite. He is going to be unstoppable.
Excellent.
Didn’t think we’d pass on him. Needs a bit of work, but he has got the goods.
I like Neagle from the highlights. I think he is worth a rookie spot, perhaps more upside than Hind.
Tough bugger too.
Does that mean he is your favourite to be a long term player, or he’s not? (I can’t remember your previous stance).
My previous view was that he was a guaranteed gun mid who will be the next Josh Kelly, that hasn’t changed but when I think of the potential legacy these high end players could leave on the game after all is said and done I don’t think he will be remembered as fondly in the AFL community.
Cal Twomey mentioned on his podcast that FCFC might consider backflipping on Walsh to pick up Rankine
Thanks. That’s been my vibe, I am not confident he’d be the best player out of the draft long term, even though he looks to be a great prospect. It’s confused me that he’d seemed “locked” in as the certain number one in a draft with a top end of potentially “generational” players (to use a term some are using)
Any hints on your #1? (I really like Blakey’s presence, but I have seen stuff all of any of them)
Did you catch much of Bytel last year?
If Ely Smith and Bytel were both still there at 34, who would you take? (removing Jack’s back injury concerns)
My take is that there are some obvious similarities between them but they are also very different ‘inside mids’.
Ely Smith
188cm, 86kg Inside Mid
Jack Bytel
189cm, 80kg Inside Mid
The explosiveness of Smith vs The class of Bytel is how I see the two major differences. Personally would take Bytel first as his kicking can actually be a weapon and I think he has still got a massive upside on what he has produced this year (carrying the back soreness).
(disclaimer: I have seen a lot more of Bytel than Smith which is probably natural bias creeping in)