We need everyone, the list has that many holes and ■■■■ players who need replacing
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Maybe we should trade Caddy to Richmond for pick #1 and then pick Shanahan.
Thats kinda what I was asking haha,
Do you have him rated around there or slightly above/lower?
And where do you have Armstrong rated in comparison?
I know its not an exact science and many a pick have been taken early/late and not reflected that position, but just curious as you watch alot more junior footy then most!
I personally think we take a tall forward and Kako this draft, then try and sort out the defence and hopefully we are set from there.
I know that, but you need to start somewhere. I think kicking skills off half back are critical. As are small pressure forwards.
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I’d rather Caddy.
Add him to the Richards and Houli stuff up lists.
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Voss potentially too.
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I think our problems are as much in our back half as in the front half. We have a bunch of very poor, hesitant ball users in the back third who stifle creativity and inhibit flow. I reckon if we fixed that up then our forward line would perform better, even without additions. But we’re in desperate need of a small forward.
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I’m not sure how not getting played versus a team who wants him doesn’t count as “security”.
I want Shanahan not because he played in our VFL team, but because we don’t need more mids, we need to boost our fwd half.
With Kako locked in as a small, I would go a tall fwd. Armstrong and Jobe are the two best rated and Shanahan has performed well against men in the VFL which in my opinion carries a lot of weight.
Easier to get half backs later in the draft than it is to find gun keys forwards at that point
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Yep.
And you have both Travaglia and Lindsay who look good for a half back distributor role around our pick.
We need excellent kicks across the board.
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Not so sure. I’d want a body of evidence longer than three games in a variety of situations. There have been plenty of highly touted junior forwards who have disappointed at senior level - Schache, Boyd, Patton, being recent examples. I wouldn’t be selling the farm yet.
I’d be surprised if Melbourne don’t take Armstrong, or a tall forward anyway at their first pick. Tbh, I’m not sure if I’d want Armstrong, myself. Don’t doubt he’s a good player, but, as you say, don’t know if he’s a good fit, and I want a competitive scrapper.
I think he’s for sure moved up over the last month in the rankings, but not really for the reasons that others have mentioned. 11 goals in 3 games in the VFL is obviously impressive, but for all we know that’s just a hot streak that will never be reproduced. I’m not saying it is, but 3 games isn’t a large enough sample size to draw super strong conclusions.
He’s moved up for me because he’s shown more of a willingness to throw himself at contested marks. It was a major weakness before this last sequence of games. The big criticism was a concern over his physicality and competitiveness which I think he’s gone some way towards addressing.
I think he’s still not great below his knees, and I’d love to see him lay a big bump or a tackle. There are still areas of concern for me. But you’re not going to get a perfect prospect, sometimes you need to focus more on the stuff that a kid does really well… and over the last month his lead/mark stuff and contested marking has been very good.
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Two years where we missed focussing on development.
Two years where 1-2 wins cost us a draft picks 3-4 spots higher.
Two years missed finals anyway.
Last year because we finished higher we had to trade out picks to get the player we wanted.
Don’t know the full cost this year.
It’s been a debacle.
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I think Bo Allan could be a good pick for us at out pick.
190cm defender, who can mid, can start career in defence like Heppell, and then move to midfield later, once developed.
Armstong might be gone, other option is to go Shanahan at our first pick.
also Rosa with peel connections may like Allan
The Peel Thunder product is a strong third-tall defender who Jones said was “a terrific athlete and a very smart footballer”.
Champion, 17, is a crafty small forward who kicked 22 goals in 14 games this season in a dangerous partnership alongside 2023 first-round prospect Lance Collard.
“Malakai is a dangerous small forward who has electric speed which he used to apply pressure,” Jones said.
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Are they?
Armstrong has just played two stinkers in a row at Talent League level. Jack and Matt Whitlock have been turning in very strong performances. Kayle Gerreyn is coming off an absolutely dominant two months of footy in the WAFL colts.
Again, I’m just pushing back on the assumptions being made in this thread on limited knowledge, and what feels to me like the same group think we get every year.
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Apparently winning is more important than draft picks. Ask North whether letting Harley Reid slide was the right decision.
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we just need more picks sounds like great draft.
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Except Sydney. They definitely bid on players to force other clubs to match if it helps their position.