Suckling type kicking action which looks good. I’m sure there are plenty state league players that could slot into a half back role. Adam saad, baguley, hibberd were all state league players that slotted straight in and were above average afl players.
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Our forward line is so underwhelming, how are we not looking at Shanahan as the obvious first pick?
Key forward who leads, gets separation on his opponent, gets to dangerous spots, amd also takes contested marks. He plays like a bloke with footy smarts.
Pairing him with Caddy for 10 years is the obvious decision in my opinion.
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I feel like we’ve been through this a number of times already in this thread. You don’t just draft someone because you like him or because you have a need for their type. If Shanahan isn’t worth being picked at 8 because he’s not a sufficiently talented prospect then you don’t draft him there. If there are more talented prospects available at that pick you take one of those.
In saying that, maybe our list management team does rate Shanahan that highly, who knows?
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If he is rated around 10 and we have pick 8, then you have to take him. Our forward line is incredibly poor.
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Jack Reiwoldt was just a smart football player with a nice leap, seen as might be too short for true kpp and might struggle next level, in his cousins nicks shadow a little bit.
he ended up one of he best talls of the draft.
Gibbs best rated mid then highly rated talls Gumby, Hansen & Leuneberger.
Selwood rates second best mid would have been a awesome pickup for us if they didnt change the priority pick draft rules, that helped collingwood and Hawthorn build their premeirship sides and saints grand final side.
it helped the blues win a final and get chris Judd too as Kennedy was a priority pick.
Jetta instead of Joel
Selwood sliding doors moment.
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Our pick will drop to 10 after F/S and potential compensation for St Kilda…I listened to a podcast where they said pick 10 for Shananan is not that much of a reach. Do you agree with this or do you think pick 10 is way too much?
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From ESPN:
ESSENDON
Current draft hand: 8, 28
List need: Elite ball users
The Dons dealt their third and fourth-rounders last year, leaving them with points to find to match a bid for first-round NGA talent Isaac Kako. It’s a good problem to have, and his late-first draft range should mean the Dons bring two top-20 prospects into the club this year. While Kako helps plug their glaring small forward woes, classy half forward Joe Berry will tempt Matt Rosa’s team with the Bombers continually breaking down with service into their forward 50. Berry is one of the best inside 50 kicks in the draft pool, as is Gippsland captain Xavier Lindsay, a balanced midfielder with a wicked left boot. A long-term partner for Nate Caddy could take the form of Harry Armstrong who continues to ascend draft boards, while the Dons had a good look at Jobe Shanahan after he kicked 11 goals in his three Essendon VFL appearances. NGA dashing defender Jayden Nguyen is a night two proposition.
Isaac Kako in action during an AFL Futures match last season. Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
PS - Kako pic by yours truly 
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I seriously don’t see it with berry. No way on earth is he worth a top 10 pick.
He reminds be of Jack Lonnie lol.
Doesn’t have the goal sense/electric nature of kako.
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I feel as though people are pushing Shanahan and Armstrong up the order partly due to a sense that we need to have a key forward in the top 10.
I think that all the key forwards have flaws… Shanahan is at least performing and putting up numbers which means something. I like that he’s gained in confidence as the season’s progressed and is starting to present and strut around more like a real key forward should. I still have him 1 tier behind the group that spans pick 10.
This is a rough ranking and how I separate them.
Tier 1 (happy with any of these going pick 1)
Draper
Jagga
FOS
Levi
Tier 1.5 (not much of a gap here at all to tier 1)
Lalor - this kid is a bees ■■■■ away from legit pick 1 contender
Smillie
Lombard
Tier 2
Trainor
Hotton
Lindsay
Reid
Langford
Next group, calling them Tier 3 is harsh though:
Kako
Berry
Travaglia
Shanahan
Allan
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Does Waylon Davey have a chance of getting drafted? In his latest game he was an angry young man!
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Thanks for your gracious continued responses. Please feel free to ignore any future Shanahan posts from me.
I’m old enough to remember Salmon’s debut season and what it looked like alongside TD and big Roger, and obviously the Lloyd and Lucas era.
That also means I remember the years when we tried to find key forward solutions in the likes of Michael Werner and Peter Cransberg, and even trying Ed Considine, Ryan OConner and Dean Wallis at different times.
I feel like I’ve seen how much a true key forward duo means to the structure and system of a team in attack. And I genuinely think that from what we’ve seen of Jobe Shanahan, he has the “it” that makes him a reasonable pick for our 1st round, and he would make a formidable duo with Caddy for long time.
I wont comment on it again. Partly because I also wanted Eddie Ford…lol.
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Pretty sure I read he got an invite to the combine?
There’s no questions on his talent that’s for sure
Yeah the Sheedy era brought us heaps of dynamic power forward duos, sad how we haven’t had anything remotely close since Lucas’ 7 goal quarter final game.
I’m with you, it’s something I’m always hoping for. Caddy could be the first piece.
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X Lindsay has the class by foot that we lack
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All good mate, and my apologies if I sound a bit cranky sometimes. Its a long thread, I love to chat all things draft related, there’s been a lot of comments and some of them similar and it can feel a bit like covering the same ground.
For what its worth I completely agree about adding another key forward, its just awkward for us in this pool given the cluster of key forwards that fall more naturally in the 20s and we don’t have a pick in that range. Hopefully we can get creative.
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El-Hawli Caddy Merret/Durham rotating
Landlord Shanahan Kako
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This is a good summary, and I was meaning to ask you something that would allude to this kind of response. Thanks for the input. The tier 2 has some nice options, realistic options for our pick.
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Do you think the combine changes recruiters mind at all on rankings?.
I think it does sometimes. If I remember correctly we had Ed Allan a couple of years ago who’d missed a lot of the season in WA through injury, missed the champs, came back and had a couple of big games but it was only WAFL colts so not that exciting, but then he had a massive combine and turned a lot of heads as a 195cm midfielder with elite athletic traits.
I think there will be a couple of guys that have eyes on them this year. Langford I’ve spoken about before… posting stinky numbers in pre-season testing. If he can post a modest improvement in his 20m sprint and agility test then he could legitimately be a pick 1 candidate. If he hasn’t improved clubs will be concerned about his capability to play midfield at AFL level and he’s likely to slide.
Kayle Gerreyn is another. Looks a million bucks, 200cm kid with skills, smooth moves and build like a brick shithouse. But tested poorly in preseason, slow sprint and agility times. If he tests well at the combine he could be a big riser.
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