What does your club need??

[sinepari]

I know it's early days, and I also realise that most clubs operate on a 'best available talent' basis, but what type of players do you think your club will be looking to draft in 06?

Perhaps even suggest players that your club would be interested in (without being stupid)

[Palmer Stoat]

Collingwood needs three things:

1. KPP players, especially defenders. Rocca, Prestigiacomo, Clement, and Wakelin are all veterans. We don't have much coming through to replace them.

-We're obviously not gonna get a crack at Gumbleton, Thorp, and Hansen. So I guess we'd be looking closely at the likes of the Brown twins, Ben Reid, McKenzie, Collier etc...

2. An inside mid. Buckley and Burns don't have much left in them. O'Bree's B-grade at best.

-There's a fair chance we'll get a crack at someone like Hislop, Proud, Pettard, Selwood (with his knee injury will he slide?) with our first round pick. With the best KPPs gone, will we go for the mid?

3. Tap ruckman. Fraser is a great around-the-ground ruckman, but a cod-ordinary tap ruckman. Don't see much future for Cameron Cloke, Fanning, or Richards.

-Leuenberger will be gone. Even if he was there, I'm not sure we'd draft him, as we don't seem to place much value in tap ruckmen. Maybe we might use a later pick on someone like Tippett? (Although just where he'll go in the draft is a bit of a mystery.)

[Howard Littlejohn]

We need pretty much every position, but I suspect we'll trade away our few decent players and some early draft picks for Piciaone or Hay type. ie, another Hawthorn hack who wouldn't beat your average one legged blind man in a one on one duel.
(OK, we won with Thompsn, though I'm not yet convinced his form isn't a one year thing.)

[macca69]

West Coast's will need small defenders and small forwards. Chick, Wirra, Banners and Matera will leave a hole at both ends and they must be filled with quality players IMO. Forwards more so than backs at this stage. Hurn, Waters, B. Jones and Nicoski are good enough at this stage, but Sampi, Le Cras and Morton haven't done enough yet and I feel that's our biggest hole ATM.

[TheGeneral]

D. All of the above.

[HBF]

D. All of the above.

1st pick - KP defender. Hansen :thumbsu:

2nd pick (PP) - Ruckman. Leubenberger or Renouf. Ruckman tend to slide down the order, and wouldn't surprise me if Leubenberger slipped to the second round.

3rd pick - Best available midfielder, so anyone from Garry Moss, Ricky Pettard, Bachar Houli, Tom Hurley, Patrick Veszpremi, Matthew Vasilevski, etc, etc..

[KING-JAMES]

I think Essendon dont really have the choice to be picky at the moment just pick the best available player. Sounds like Gibbs will go top 2 so i got the money on him being a bomber. 2nd Round is a KPP slips we pounce on him and maybe a Moss or someone with our other priority pick.

[crowsarethebest]

Adelaid need a Genuine Crash the pack KPP that can take contested parks that can play CHF. I few Midfielders will be a priority with our midfield aging. With our 1st pick I think we should go best available midfielder/KPP. with our pick probably going to be 12-16, the Cream KPP will probably be gone. This leaves the likes of Everitt, Allen(has 1 Carnival been enough to impress clubs?), Tippet, Reid etc... are they worth 1st rounders when you could get quality midfielders in Collard, Hislop, Proud, Schmidt and Pettard who could be available there? I like the looks of Schmidt and I have a feeling he could be there at Adelaide's 1st round pick.

[carn_the_cattas]

1st Round - If theres a KPP in the likes of Gumbleton, Sellar or Hansen. If not a fast mid such as Jetta or Collard.

2nd Round - If KPP first round, then a fast mid. If not then maybe a backman.

3rd Round - Tommy Hawkins.

4th Round - We can rely on the recruiting staff to find a gem (eg. Egan, Stokes)

Just my opinion, but what would I know.

[Kegs44]

We need a tommy Hawkins to kick 100 goals in his first year, but tend to agree with the above post

[Nightwolf]

1. Need another KPP who can fill in the CHF spot.

2. We also need a classy crumber/midfielder. Jetta is perfect, but you cant have it all your way..

[Effes]

-Key defender
-Ruckman ;)
-Skilled, pacey midfielder X 2
-Back pocket
-Tagger

[tomthetiger]

Nothing specific. We have an abundance of promosing youngsters coming through the ranks, and to be honest, whoever we get in this years draft is going to complicate selections even further!

Hartigan, JON, Hughes, Limbach, Casserly, Howatt, Thursfield, Mcguane, Roach, Hall, Rodan are all currently playing 2s and fighting for a spot in the seniors. Considering as well, we will have Newman and Coughlan coming back next year, we have more than enough defenders, midfielders and forwards coming through. So I guess its not about what we need, but who is the most talented when our turn comes along, as the player will most likely spend a year in the 2s before breaking into a fulltime seniors role.

[Barts]

We need good players everywhere.. need I say more?

[Bentleigh]

Nothing specific. We have an abundance of promosing youngsters coming through the ranks, and to be honest, whoever we get in this years draft is going to complicate selections even further!

Hartigan, JON, Hughes, Limbach, Casserly, Howatt, Thursfield, Mcguane, Roach, Hall, Rodan are all currently playing 2s and fighting for a spot in the seniors. Considering as well, we will have Newman and Coughlan coming back next year, we have more than enough defenders, midfielders and forwards coming through. So I guess its not about what we need, but who is the most talented when our turn comes along, as the player will most likely spend a year in the 2s before breaking into a fulltime seniors role.

Correct. :)

Richmond has an outstanding group of kids comming though; both KPP's & mids. :)

I don't mind which way we go, as long as we take the best player come our pick (could be anywhere from 12th-6th).

Of course I hope we land a Gibbs/Hansen/Gumby/Thorp, but at this stage it looks unlikly.

Seller & Selwood both sound top notch and may have dropped abit to our pick. Leuenberger would be intersting. Simmonds is only but a Pattison/Leuenberger ruck divison makes your mouth water. Then again we could just go the best KPP/mid come our maybe pick 10 or so be it a Reid/McKenzie or Hislop/Proud.

Intersting times down Tigerland.

Intersting, exciting times.

[philhawk]

For Petes sake, Hawks will go for a KPP, it's almost 100% certain i'd say ...

[tomthetiger]

Its Not That Certain!

[philhawk]

Its Not That Certain!

I'd bet my left nut on it.

I'd better be right now. :p

[Squizza]

We need good players

[BlueFeaver]

Round 1.-Hansen (Key Defender)
Round 2.-Mid-fielder*
Round 3.-Mid or Ruck
Round 4.-Mid

Based on our current results I think we may qualify for a PP at the end of the first round, but I may be wrong!

[ablett5]

We need a tommy Hawkins to kick 100 goals in his first year, but tend to agree with the above post
what we really need is leadership ,direction and the players to work as a team.were not getting it with m.thompson,s.king and c.ling:thumbsd:

[Reg Hickey]

1st Round - If theres a KPP in the likes of Gumbleton, Sellar or Hansen. If not a fast mid such as Jetta or Collard.

2nd Round - If KPP first round, then a fast mid. If not then maybe a backman.

3rd Round - Tommy Hawkins.

4th Round - We can rely on the recruiting staff to find a gem (eg. Egan, Stokes)

Just my opinion, but what would I know.

The more I think about it, the more I think we need to take a quality mid rather than another KPP in the first round, especially with Hawkins already on board. We got smashed through the middle of the ground again on Sunday, and are crying our for a couple of players who can run, carry the ball and (most importantly) dispose of it well.

In any case, we are probably somewhere in the middle of Brisbane, Port, Freo and Richmond, while the Bombers, Blues, Roos and Hawks are all clearly worse than us. That means that the gun KPPs - Hansen, Thorp, Gumbleton and Sellar - are very likely to be gone by our first pick anyway.

I really like the sound of Proud, but would take Collard as well.

Second pick could be either a decent key backman - N Brown, Everitt, Reid - or another quick mid such as Sheringham or Djerrkura.

The other thing we should think about is a ruckman. I think Kingy's days are numbered, leaving us with just a proppy Ottens, Blake and West. If Leuenberger is gone by our second pick (very likely), it might be worth gambling on Tippett still being around in the fourth.

[ryan2000]

Joel Selwood.................;)

[Richo83]

IMO Richmond has a long way to go before we can say that we have a surplus of players, so we can top up. Look what happenned when we did that in 2001 and where we went as a result.

We need a KPP because our recent choice of KPP hasn't been great. Patterson and Hughes have been the only quality KPP players from late. I'd like Richmond to add a top 10 KPP to it's list.

Round 1: KPP

Then go from there. If yuo see a gun midfielder or KPP, grab it. Since we will probably have four picks maximum, third and fourth is anyone's guess.

Round 2: Best available
Round 3: Best available
Round 4: Best available. One of these HAS to be a KPP and a midfielder

Read what Mojo thinks to see what I mean. Richmond still has alot of re-building to do, as we have still have major structure problems in our team (defence at times is abysmal). Plus, we have been blessed by the injury gods this year, ATM only four players out, yet as a side we are still a week by week prospect.

[KUNG FU]

Right now, we need a CHF KPP. But that role hopefully will be filled by Chad Gibson or Alan Obst (but there's questions about that). I'm not sure we'd waste another draft pick looking for that elusive player we have never really found at the AFC.

I think in the draft we will be looking to replace Roo, Goodwin & Edwards, midfielders/utilities. Or the best we can get our hands on. Hopefully Reilly, Mattner, Douglas, VB, Vince & Thompson will be solid enough to full those roles.

[KUNG FU]

Right now, we need a CHF KPP. But that role hopefully will be filled by Chad Gibson or Alan Obst (but there's questions about that). I'm not sure we'd waste another draft pick looking for that elusive player we have never really found at the AFC.

I think in the draft we will be looking to replace Roo, Goodwin & Edwards, midfielders/utilities. Or the best we can get our hands on. Hopefully Reilly, Mattner, Douglas, VB, Vince & Thompson will be solid enough to full those roles.

On reading that, I've changed my mind. Maybe our midfield is secure for now.... Probably just get our hands on the best player we can get. Hopefully a KPP.

[Bentleigh]

IMO Richmond has a long way to go before we can say that we have a surplus of players, so we can top up. Look what happenned when we did that in 2001 and where we went as a result.

We need a KPP because our recent choice of KPP hasn't been great. Patterson and Hughes have been the only quality KPP players from late. I'd like Richmond to add a top 10 KPP to it's list.

Round 1: KPP

Then go from there. If yuo see a gun midfielder or KPP, grab it. Since we will probably have four picks maximum, third and fourth is anyone's guess.

Round 2: Best available
Round 3: Best available
Round 4: Best available. One of these HAS to be a KPP and a midfielder

Read what Mojo thinks to see what I mean. Richmond still has alot of re-building to do, as we have still have major structure problems in our team (defence at times is abysmal). Plus, we have been blessed by the injury gods this year, ATM only four players out, yet as a side we are still a week by week prospect.

But do you still go a KPP if Gumby/Hansen/Thorp are gone?

Seller seems more a ruck/HFF rather than a true CHF type.

If there is a Selwood around for our pick it'll be intersting to see how we go.

[samthemanlonergan]

Essendon in order of importance, IMO.

1. Classy Allround Mid (Gibbs 1st round. Hurley, Moss 2nd round).
2. CHB (or a defender). (Hansen first round, Reid 2nd round)
3. Mid (Hislop, Petterd...Best available)
4. HBF/Mid General in the back half to replace Fletcher. (Joe Anderson)

[sinepari]

I think people are massively underating Joel Selwood, and I'm sure he'll be a priority for many clubs.

Quality.

[LukeHodge15]

HAWKS have 2 HUGE needs.

KP player and SPEED SPEED SPEED AND MORE SPEED ( midfielder.)

[chooker]

Another 'brother' to join the brotherhood alongside Pickett, Davey, Whelan and Motlop (unlikely though).

Best aborigine in the draft? Jetta, Collard, Proud, Djerrkura etc?
Sheedy will most likely take another one.

[Ysaye]

In terms of draft picks I would like them to go after:

Pick One - One centreman, very skilled and charismatic. Reasonble height (No smaller than 178cm). and reasonale speed required. Ideally one of Selwood, Proud or Hislop.

Pick Two - Skilled, speedy winger/utility. Height very desirable. Can be more on the athletic side but does not have to be fully developed. Jarryd Morton or Ben Reid fit the bill for mine but they might go before our second pick.

Pick Three - To be different, go after a possibly older draftee-local or dumped AFL player who has speed and skill but has been playing WAFL (I am thinking of Dennis Armfield or maybe Steven Armstrong). Nothing to lose with this pick.

[Turbocat]

The more I think about it, the more I think we need to take a quality mid rather than another KPP in the first round, especially with Hawkins already on board...

Reg , I dont think we are too far apart. I believe we have a reasonable group but lack a few match winners. GA stands out because he can crack a game and we really lack the class of a Cooney or a Deludio in the area where the ball spends most of the time, in the midfield , however if we look at most of our tall players you might say we are even thinner for player capable of taking the game by the throat.So if we have the chance to pick up a quality tall I feel we really must grab it.Its just so rare to be able to add quality to this area of a list, of course we are lucky because of Hawkins.

So... Id say we will just grab the player Welles rates as the best available with our R1 pick. The quality of the player available, short or tall, will have no trouble finding a spot . Perhaps Sellars, Selwood, Leuenberger or Jetta.

Id hope to be able to trade an extra pick in the top 20 to 30 but lets assume no extras , Id say we will probably favour pace with most of our available picks. Anderson or Djerrkura from NT wouldnt be bad, Hurley from SA, maybe Benjumin or O'Brian from WA. Moss looks good , not sure of his pace but think hes reasonable.

R3-taken

Depending on who we grab with our first pick , we may look at balancing it out with our R4. Say if we miss on Selwood , maybe we could go for Bird, Virgo or Delphine for some tough inside grunt. Maybe a handy forwward type like Chris Smith or Jethro Calma-Holt.

Say something like this would be handy I'd say:
R1 , Sellars
R2 , Moss
R3 , Hawkins
R4 , Virgo

[year of the cat]

Reg , I dont think we are too far apart. I believe we have a reasonable group but lack a few match winners. GA stands out because he can crack a game and we really lack the class of a Cooney or a Deludio in the area where the ball spends most of the time, in the midfield , however if we look at most of our tall players you might say we are even thinner for player capable of taking the game by the throat.So if we have the chance to pick up a quality tall I feel we really must grab it.Its just so rare to be able to add quality to this area of a list, of course we are lucky because of Hawkins.

So... Id say we will just grab the player Welles rates as the best available with our R1 pick. The quality of the player available, short or tall, will have no trouble finding a spot . Perhaps Sellars, Selwood, Leuenberger or Jetta.

Id hope to be able to trade an extra pick in the top 20 to 30 but lets assume no extras , Id say we will probably favour pace with most of our available picks. Anderson or Djerrkura from NT wouldnt be bad, Hurley from SA, maybe Benjumin or O'Brian from WA. Moss looks good , not sure of his pace but think hes reasonable.

R3-taken

Depending on who we grab with our first pick , we may look at balancing it out with our R4. Say if we miss on Selwood , maybe we could go for Bird, Virgo or Delphine for some tough inside grunt. Maybe a handy forwward type like Chris Smith or Jethro Calma-Holt.

Say something like this would be handy I'd say:
R1 , Sellars
R2 , Moss
R3 , Hawkins
R4 , Virgo


It is certainly going to be an interesting day and with so many permetations one that is hard to predict. As I inappropriately mentioned on the "Top 10" thread it is apparent this year that we really lack pace in our midfield as well as a group of players that can be relied upon to win clearances. Corey is ok, Bartel reasonable the rest ordinary. So do we go for a player who is strong in the clearance but may lack pace (i.e. Selwood) or do you compromise that to some degree with someone who has a bit more zip but may not be necessarily associated with winning the hard ball in close (i.e. Jetta, Collard). Or do you go for someone like Proud who is rated a little lower than the others perhaps but may help our immediate needs more? Or if Leunberger or Sellar are still around and are considered the "best available" do you go for one of them? I reckon as you state it depends on whether we trade for another high pick. If we do we have the luxury of maybe taking:

r1: quality tall i.e. Leunberger or Sellar (best available)
late r1 or early r2 (traded): Hislop (clearances)
r2: Moss or Boak or Sheringham or Petterd.....
r3: Hawkins

or failing the ability to trade

r1: Proad (pace and strength in midfield)
r2: Mitchell or Nathan Brown (key backman replacement for Harley)
r3: Hawkins

I feel that this is a load of **** and are still not happy. Want my cake and to eat it too but can't work out how!!

[Cursed_Cat]

I like your thinking with Proad. It would appear that he would still be available and would give us a point of difference in our midfield. Then we could look at taking perhaps one of the Brown brothers with our second pick to get that second tall. What do you think?

The other option is to draft one of the talls (maybe Sellar or Leunberger who has surprising mobility for a guy of his size) with our first pick and maybe a Petterd with our second.

With the list that we currently have I reckon the first option is probably preferable. Having said that the temptation to take Sellar if still available would be great. I think it may also depend on whether we look at trading for any more picks.

if we finish in our current lamentable 12th position, we'll have a good go at Proud ... I doubt any of the gun KP's will be available to us at picks #5 or #6, but this could be a good thing; the temptation to load up on another KPP when we've already nabbed Hawkins via the f/s rule could make our list a tad top-heavy imo ...

*if* the cards were to fall the right way for the Catters, I'd hope that we'd take Proud with our first pick, a versatile mid-sized, skillfull player with our second selection (#22-#23 .... perhaps someone like Daniel Connors/Scott Dwyer/Brock O'Brien or Tom Collier - maybe even Andrejs Everitt ?) and trade for another second round selection with which we could nab either of Sheringham/Prismall ...

taking a random stab at the top few, based on my perceived team needs, just for a wee bit of fun, I'd guess :

1. Ess : B. Gibbs
2. Carl : S. Gumbleton
3. Kang : L. Hansen
4. Haw : M. Thorp - plenty of developing onballers and flankers, *some* good KP talent in the wings, but they need more ... Thorp or Sellar, I'd back them to punt on Thorp
5. Geel : A. Proud
6. Bris : J. Selwood - a nice addition to the midfield with Voss and Lappin winding down - can join brother Troy ... or is it the other one ? whatever ...
7. Freo : J. Sellar - could be another Pavlich, SA bigman with a few little doubts pre-draft, might go over to Freo and explode like the Pavlova ...
8. Port : L. Jetta - Pearce has been a revelation, but a bit more pace wouldn't go astray in their midfield ... they might be tempted to go for a more pure midfielder here though ?
9. Rich : M. Leuenberger - despite Wallace's apparent penchant for drafting running types, I wouldn't be suprised to see 'em nab the WA ruckman, particularly with Stafford on the decline and Knobel a bit injury prone
10. St.K : J. Riewoldt - some doubts surround his 'conversion' to AFL, but I reckon he'd suit the Saints whether he could hold down a KP or not - they'd probably grab Leuenberger if he's still available here ..
11. Syd : C. Benjamin - Roos and co. might fancy their chances of harnessing his reputed talents
12. Melb : B. Reid - hard one to call imo, as they have a fair bit of emerging tall talent (Miller, Rivers, Carroll, Dunn, Johnson and Jamar among them) ... also, I wouldn't be suprised to see them grab a Nathan Brown/J. McDonald upgrade (their N. Brown, not Richmond's) in anticipation of their eventual depature - they could afford to 'carry' Reid whilst he develops though
13. WB : T. Collier
14. Coll : T. Hislop - with Buckley, Burns and Licuria all in their 'twilight years', a hard at it midfielder might be nabbed
15. WCE : C. Collard
16. Adel : B. O'Brien
17. Ess : S. Dwyer
18. Ess : A. Everitt - Sheeds might fancy his chances of moulding him into a Fletcher-type ... alternatively, maybe Tippett, who he might fancy his chances of moulding into a Merrett type (Roger, not that dude that plays for Brisbane ...)
19. Carl : D. Connors
20. Kang : J. Allen - might need to shore up on KD's with the likely continued crapness from Hay, Rawlings, and to a lesser extent Watt and Brown ... might prefer a Victorian to an interstate alternative, they're starting to list as many Western Australians as ex-Hawthorn duds ...
21. Haw : J. Sheringham - damn Hawthorn, they'll probably nab him a pick before us - they could do with some run and carry from the back half, and not in a Joel 'headless chook' Smith kinda way either ...
22. Geel : R. Prismall - a midfielder in Proud, a KPP in Hawkins, and a flanker type with reputedly decent skills in Prismall ....

[TheGeneral]

Any club need Whitnall? ;)

[F/D]

Any club need Whitnall? ;)
For Pick 3?

Sure.

[Bentleigh]

Any club need Whitnall? ;)

Richmond 2 round draft pick.

Quailty CHB.

[TheGeneral]

For Pick 3?

Sure.
:D

Deal! :thumbsu: :)

[year of the cat]

if we finish in our current lamentable 12th position, we'll have a good go at Proud ... I doubt any of the gun KP's will be available to us at picks #5 or #6, but this could be a good thing; the temptation to load up on another KPP when we've already nabbed Hawkins via the f/s rule could make our list a tad top-heavy imo ...

*if* the cards were to fall the right way for the Catters, I'd hope that we'd take Proud with our first pick, a versatile mid-sized, skillfull player with our second selection (#22-#23 .... perhaps someone like Daniel Connors/Scott Dwyer/Brock O'Brien or Tom Collier - maybe even Andrejs Everitt ?) and trade for another second round selection with which we could nab either of Sheringham/Prismall ...

taking a random stab at the top few, based on my perceived team needs, just for a wee bit of fun, I'd guess :

1. Ess : B. Gibbs
2. Carl : S. Gumbleton
3. Kang : L. Hansen
4. Haw : M. Thorp - plenty of developing onballers and flankers, *some* good KP talent in the wings, but they need more ... Thorp or Sellar, I'd back them to punt on Thorp
5. Geel : A. Proud
6. Bris : J. Selwood - a nice addition to the midfield with Voss and Lappin winding down - can join brother Troy ... or is it the other one ? whatever ...
7. Freo : J. Sellar - could be another Pavlich, SA bigman with a few little doubts pre-draft, might go over to Freo and explode like the Pavlova ...
8. Port : L. Jetta - Pearce has been a revelation, but a bit more pace wouldn't go astray in their midfield ... they might be tempted to go for a more pure midfielder here though ?
9. Rich : M. Leuenberger - despite Wallace's apparent penchant for drafting running types, I wouldn't be suprised to see 'em nab the WA ruckman, particularly with Stafford on the decline and Knobel a bit injury prone
10. St.K : J. Riewoldt - some doubts surround his 'conversion' to AFL, but I reckon he'd suit the Saints whether he could hold down a KP or not - they'd probably grab Leuenberger if he's still available here ..
11. Syd : C. Benjamin - Roos and co. might fancy their chances of harnessing his reputed talents
12. Melb : B. Reid - hard one to call imo, as they have a fair bit of emerging tall talent (Miller, Rivers, Carroll, Dunn, Johnson and Jamar among them) ... also, I wouldn't be suprised to see them grab a Nathan Brown/J. McDonald upgrade (their N. Brown, not Richmond's) in anticipation of their eventual depature - they could afford to 'carry' Reid whilst he develops though
13. WB : T. Collier
14. Coll : T. Hislop - with Buckley, Burns and Licuria all in their 'twilight years', a hard at it midfielder might be nabbed
15. WCE : C. Collard
16. Adel : B. O'Brien
17. Ess : S. Dwyer
18. Ess : A. Everitt - Sheeds might fancy his chances of moulding him into a Fletcher-type ... alternatively, maybe Tippett, who he might fancy his chances of moulding into a Merrett type (Roger, not that dude that plays for Brisbane ...)
19. Carl : D. Connors
20. Kang : J. Allen - might need to shore up on KD's with the likely continued crapness from Hay, Rawlings, and to a lesser extent Watt and Brown ... might prefer a Victorian to an interstate alternative, they're starting to list as many Western Australians as ex-Hawthorn duds ...
21. Haw : J. Sheringham - damn Hawthorn, they'll probably nab him a pick before us - they could do with some run and carry from the back half, and not in a Joel 'headless chook' Smith kinda way either ...
22. Geel : R. Prismall - a midfielder in Proud, a KPP in Hawkins, and a flanker type with reputedly decent skills in Prismall ....


I suppose the question you have to ask is that in a year of quality talls is it more prudent to take one of them now while you have the opportunity - also as the midfield players are not reputed to be quite in the same class this year are we running the risk of rating them too highly? Is Proud as good as we think? He was a division 2 player as well. I have not seen enough of him to make any sort of judgement. I reckon if you go through previous drafts the safest course is to go with the best available player regardless of whether they are tall or short. If you find that you are a little top heavy down the track you can trade your better player for an even better midfielder (sounds good in theory anyway!). Based on your phantom draft I would be pretty nervous in letting either Sellar and Leunberger go. That may come back to haunt you ala Pavlich/Fiora which I can't get out of my mind.

[mbosca]

if we finish in our current lamentable 12th position, we'll have a good go at Proud ... I doubt any of the gun KP's will be available to us at picks #5 or #6, but this could be a good thing; the temptation to load up on another KPP when we've already nabbed Hawkins via the f/s rule could make our list a tad top-heavy imo ...

*if* the cards were to fall the right way for the Catters, I'd hope that we'd take Proud with our first pick, a versatile mid-sized, skillfull player with our second selection (#22-#23 .... perhaps someone like Daniel Connors/Scott Dwyer/Brock O'Brien or Tom Collier - maybe even Andrejs Everitt ?) and trade for another second round selection with which we could nab either of Sheringham/Prismall ...

taking a random stab at the top few, based on my perceived team needs, just for a wee bit of fun, I'd guess :

1. Ess : B. Gibbs
2. Carl : S. Gumbleton
3. Kang : L. Hansen
4. Haw : M. Thorp - plenty of developing onballers and flankers, *some* good KP talent in the wings, but they need more ... Thorp or Sellar, I'd back them to punt on Thorp
5. Geel : A. Proud
6. Bris : J. Selwood - a nice addition to the midfield with Voss and Lappin winding down - can join brother Troy ... or is it the other one ? whatever ...
7. Freo : J. Sellar - could be another Pavlich, SA bigman with a few little doubts pre-draft, might go over to Freo and explode like the Pavlova ...
8. Port : L. Jetta - Pearce has been a revelation, but a bit more pace wouldn't go astray in their midfield ... they might be tempted to go for a more pure midfielder here though ?
9. Rich : M. Leuenberger - despite Wallace's apparent penchant for drafting running types, I wouldn't be suprised to see 'em nab the WA ruckman, particularly with Stafford on the decline and Knobel a bit injury prone
10. St.K : J. Riewoldt - some doubts surround his 'conversion' to AFL, but I reckon he'd suit the Saints whether he could hold down a KP or not - they'd probably grab Leuenberger if he's still available here ..
11. Syd : C. Benjamin - Roos and co. might fancy their chances of harnessing his reputed talents
12. Melb : B. Reid - hard one to call imo, as they have a fair bit of emerging tall talent (Miller, Rivers, Carroll, Dunn, Johnson and Jamar among them) ... also, I wouldn't be suprised to see them grab a Nathan Brown/J. McDonald upgrade (their N. Brown, not Richmond's) in anticipation of their eventual depature - they could afford to 'carry' Reid whilst he develops though
13. WB : T. Collier
14. Coll : T. Hislop - with Buckley, Burns and Licuria all in their 'twilight years', a hard at it midfielder might be nabbed
15. WCE : C. Collard
16. Adel : B. O'Brien
17. Ess : S. Dwyer
18. Ess : A. Everitt - Sheeds might fancy his chances of moulding him into a Fletcher-type ... alternatively, maybe Tippett, who he might fancy his chances of moulding into a Merrett type (Roger, not that dude that plays for Brisbane ...)
19. Carl : D. Connors
20. Kang : J. Allen - might need to shore up on KD's with the likely continued crapness from Hay, Rawlings, and to a lesser extent Watt and Brown ... might prefer a Victorian to an interstate alternative, they're starting to list as many Western Australians as ex-Hawthorn duds ...
21. Haw : J. Sheringham - damn Hawthorn, they'll probably nab him a pick before us - they could do with some run and carry from the back half, and not in a Joel 'headless chook' Smith kinda way either ...
22. Geel : R. Prismall - a midfielder in Proud, a KPP in Hawkins, and a flanker type with reputedly decent skills in Prismall ....

Who is S Dwyer? I think we would go for hurly before this guy.

[philhawk]

I suppose the question you have to ask is that in a year of quality talls is it more prudent to take one of them now while you have the opportunity - also as the midfield players are not reputed to be quite in the same class this year are we running the risk of rating them too highly? Is Proud as good as we think? He was a division 2 player as well. I have not seen enough of him to make any sort of judgement. I reckon if you go through previous drafts the safest course is to go with the best available player regardless of whether they are tall or short. If you find that you are a little top heavy down the track you can trade your better player for an even better midfielder (sounds good in theory anyway!). Based on your phantom draft I would be pretty nervous in letting either Sellar and Leunberger go. That may come back to haunt you ala Pavlich/Fiora which I can't get out of my mind.

True, i'm worried about Sellar now. Not so much Leunberger, if he goes well, it's expected, it's moreso that clubs are willing to take a punt on a player that will most likely fit into AFL football faster than a developing ruckman. That said, what odds on him reaching Top 5 ala Fraser/White?

As it stands, I see the draft panning out like this,

1. Essendon - Bryce Gibbs - They really do need to insert some quality into their midfield and Bryce might be the answer. His height, skills, everything just reminds me of James Hird. It wouldn't suprise me to see Essendon develop him up forward to start off with. A perfect replacement for Hird. 2007 will mark the Year without Hird and the beginning of a new era with Gibbs

2. Carlton - I'll take a punt here (trust me, i'll most likely be wrong), but it wouldn't suprise me to see Carlton take Thorp at 2. Thorp looks to have the athleticism of someone like Pavlich and has the size and mobility to dominate both up forward and down back. I'm putting Thorp ahead of Hansen just based on what i've seen, but I feel that Thorp looks to have alot more development in him and could end up the better player (it's all speculative!).

3. Kangaroos - Gumbleton - The moment I saw this guy, it brought back memories of the great man, Carey. In my opinion, unless Gumbleton goes earlier, Kangaroos will almost 100% certainly pick this guy up. For his size, his mobility and the way he moves about simply exuuuuuuudes talent. Someone told me before the Carnival that he was a little suspect down back, but from what I saw, he looked to be comfortable both down back and up forward. Some of the marks he tried to take against Vic Country were amazing! (pity none of them came off :p). I'd love for him to slip down to Hawthorn, but I doubt it ...

4. Hawthorn - Hansen - This guy seems like a pretty good prospect for us if we pick him up. The reason I put him at 4 and not 3 is because I felt that, unlike Gumbleton, Hansen just didn't possess as enthusiasm up forward as he did when he played down back. While watching Gumbleton, he looked extremely comfortable both up forward and down back. Hansen could also make an interesting pinch-hit Ruckman, but I see him long term at CHB!

5. Brisbane - Selwood - Have never seen this guy play, so i'm just basing it on what i've heard from others. Anyhow, seeing as Brisbane already has one Selwood brother, why not pick up another! Their KPP stocks appear to be in pretty good stead, with Clark and the back they picked up (forgot the name sorry) looking to both be good, long term prospects. Selwood is supposedly a very good inside midfielder and with Voss and co. entering the twilight period of their careers, he'd slot in very nicely I feel.

6. Geelong - Leunberger - These lucky b******s manage to pick up the best ruck prospect in the draft AND the best KPP :p. Obviously at the moment, Geelong lack a good ruckman. Leunberger looks to be a good long term prospect and was definitely the best rucking prospect in the draft.

7. Fremantle - Leroy Jetta

8. Port Adelaide - James Sellar

9. Richmond - Tom Hislop (pretty uncertain as to what Richmond will do, might go for a KPP like Reid with this pick?)

10. St Kilda - Brett Renouf - Quality Ruckman, again what St Kilda needs

[year of the cat]

True, i'm worried about Sellar now. Not so much Leunberger, if he goes well, it's expected, it's moreso that clubs are willing to take a punt on a player that will most likely fit into AFL football faster than a developing ruckman. That said, what odds on him reaching Top 5 ala Fraser/White?

As it stands, I see the draft panning out like this,

1. Essendon - Bryce Gibbs - They really do need to insert some quality into their midfield and Bryce might be the answer. His height, skills, everything just reminds me of James Hird. It wouldn't suprise me to see Essendon develop him up forward to start off with. A perfect replacement for Hird. 2007 will mark the Year without Hird and the beginning of a new era with Gibbs

2. Carlton - I'll take a punt here (trust me, i'll most likely be wrong), but it wouldn't suprise me to see Carlton take Thorp at 2. Thorp looks to have the athleticism of someone like Pavlich and has the size and mobility to dominate both up forward and down back. I'm putting Thorp ahead of Hansen just based on what i've seen, but I feel that Thorp looks to have alot more development in him and could end up the better player (it's all speculative!).

3. Kangaroos - Gumbleton - The moment I saw this guy, it brought back memories of the great man, Carey. In my opinion, unless Gumbleton goes earlier, Kangaroos will almost 100% certainly pick this guy up. For his size, his mobility and the way he moves about simply exuuuuuuudes talent. Someone told me before the Carnival that he was a little suspect down back, but from what I saw, he looked to be comfortable both down back and up forward. Some of the marks he tried to take against Vic Country were amazing! (pity none of them came off :p). I'd love for him to slip down to Hawthorn, but I doubt it ...

4. Hawthorn - Hansen - This guy seems like a pretty good prospect for us if we pick him up. The reason I put him at 4 and not 3 is because I felt that, unlike Gumbleton, Hansen just didn't possess as enthusiasm up forward as he did when he played down back. While watching Gumbleton, he looked extremely comfortable both up forward and down back. Hansen could also make an interesting pinch-hit Ruckman, but I see him long term at CHB!

5. Brisbane - Selwood - Have never seen this guy play, so i'm just basing it on what i've heard from others. Anyhow, seeing as Brisbane already has one Selwood brother, why not pick up another! Their KPP stocks appear to be in pretty good stead, with Clark and the back they picked up (forgot the name sorry) looking to both be good, long term prospects. Selwood is supposedly a very good inside midfielder and with Voss and co. entering the twilight period of their careers, he'd slot in very nicely I feel.

6. Geelong - Leunberger - These lucky b******s manage to pick up the best ruck prospect in the draft AND the best KPP :p. Obviously at the moment, Geelong lack a good ruckman. Leunberger looks to be a good long term prospect and was definitely the best rucking prospect in the draft.

7. Fremantle - Leroy Jetta

8. Port Adelaide - James Sellar

9. Richmond - Tom Hislop (pretty uncertain as to what Richmond will do, might go for a KPP like Reid with this pick?)

10. St Kilda - Brett Renouf - Quality Ruckman, again what St Kilda needs


I reckon you are not too far away perhaps with the exception of St Kilda's pick. I am hoping that the recruiting staff can uncover a decent midfielder with our second pick. You couldn't be unhappy if you picked up Hansen (who i reckon is a dead-ringer for Roughhead!!). The Hawks are in a not too disimilar position to Geelong in needing quick midfielders. At least with Mitchell you have the extractor that we currently don't.

[philhawk]

I reckon you are not too far away perhaps with the exception of St Kilda's pick. I am hoping that the recruiting staff can uncover a decent midfielder with our second pick. You couldn't be unhappy if you picked up Hansen (who i reckon is a dead-ringer for Roughhead!!). The Hawks are in a not too disimilar position to Geelong in needing quick midfielders. At least with Mitchell you have the extractor that we currently don't.

Hmm I was tempted to put Selwood down for you guys. Supposedly a great "extractor" in the mould of Mitchell. Who would you prefer though? Gun midfielder or Gun ruckman? I'd say Geelong needs a proper ruckman more. Ottens and King just don't cut it.

[Jack-Packenham]

if we finish in our current lamentable 12th position, we'll have a good go at Proud ... I doubt any of the gun KP's will be available to us at picks #5 or #6, but this could be a good thing; the temptation to load up on another KPP when we've already nabbed Hawkins via the f/s rule could make our list a tad top-heavy imo ...


Go for the best player which in our current state will probably be Sellar. We are top heavy at the moment (look at our forward line in the 2's). You will know after the trading / delisting period what the cats are thinking. They should dump or off load all of Lonergan, Kingsley, McCarthy and Playfair. If so picking Hawkins, Sellar and upgrading the rookie Grima we can then go for smalls and mediums with the rest of the draft.

Pick 1 - Sellar
Pick 2 - Proud / Hislop
Pick 3 - Hawkins
Pick 4 - Adams

Would love to trade Kelly or S Johnson for an early second round pick in order to snag Prismall or Houlli as well.

[tomthetiger]

Mr.Philhawksen. Do you think, given that Gumbleton is still likely to be taken by pick 6, that North Melbourne would trade their pick number 3, for Richmonds pick number 7 (just a prediciton on what we'll get), their pick number 23, and say, Ray Hall? An interesting one to ponder.

I think it is unlikely, because NM will want one of: Hansen, Thorp or Gumbleton no matter what, but then, how about this one. Just say Brisbane have pick number four. It is likely that 3 of Gibbs, Hansen. Gumbleton and Thorp will go top3, in some order. Now, do you think (Given that Bris already have Brown at CHF) they would do the same trade as I mentioned previous, because they wouldn't want to risk being stuck with another quality CHF in Gumbleton, or having to pass up on him and get a less 'talented' pick ?

Does that all make sense? :s

[philhawk]

Mr.Philhawksen. Do you think, given that Gumbleton is still likely to be taken by pick 6, that North Melbourne would trade their pick number 3, for Richmonds pick number 7 (just a prediciton on what we'll get), their pick number 23, and say, Ray Hall? An interesting one to ponder.

I think it is unlikely, because NM will want one of: Hansen, Thorp or Gumbleton no matter what, but then, how about this one.

I think you just answered your own question with that one! :D


Just say Brisbane have pick number four. It is likely that 3 of Gibbs, Hansen. Gumbleton and Thorp will go top3, in some order. Now, do you think (Given that Bris already have Brown at CHF) they would do the same trade as I mentioned previous, because they wouldn't want to risk being stuck with another quality CHF in Gumbleton, or having to pass up on him and get a less 'talented' pick ?

Does that all make sense? :s

That one's interesting. I don't see many teams downgrading their picks unless they were to be offered something special. Ray Hall, a 2nd Rounder and Pick 7 might appeal to Brisbanes needs (but personally I wouldn't know about that). In regards to who Brisbane will pick, I think you're right when you say that they wont pick a gun KPP, but rather would opt for a midfielder. That said, stranger things have happened. Anyhow, even if Richmond don't trade for a pick upgrade, I still feel that Sellar will be around for them. Weaver posted earlier how he felt Sellar was similar to Ottens, but I think that if Wallace tutors him well down at Richmond, he could just perhaps become the pick of the draft?

Now does that make sense? :p

[tomthetiger]

Haha admit it Philhawk, you're already on the phone to the Hawthorn coaching staff with my idea in mind for the Hawks. You dont want pick 5, because this would see you missing out on Thorp, Hansen or Gumbleton. Am I right, or am I extremely right? :D

[Cursed_Cat]

hmm, not sure about Leuenberger as a draft pick whilst we have West and Blake already in development - i didn't really like the selection of West last year either, would rather have waited till a better tall was on offer ... but we're stuck with him and Blake for at least another year now ... if King was to retire this would obviously change big-time, as it stands he could hang around as a part-time ruckman (sans the Captaincy of course) for a while longer yet ... I really like Brad Ottens work in the ruck but recognise he has to be nursed to a degree ... but Blake, West, King and to a lesser extent Playfair should be enough back up for now ...

I suppose the question you have to ask is that in a year of quality talls is it more prudent to take one of them now while you have the opportunity - also as the midfield players are not reputed to be quite in the same class this year are we running the risk of rating them too highly? Is Proud as good as we think? He was a division 2 player as well. I have not seen enough of him to make any sort of judgement. I reckon if you go through previous drafts the safest course is to go with the best available player regardless of whether they are tall or short. If you find that you are a little top heavy down the track you can trade your better player for an even better midfielder (sounds good in theory anyway!). Based on your phantom draft I would be pretty nervous in letting either Sellar and Leunberger go. That may come back to haunt you ala Pavlich/Fiora which I can't get out of my mind.

I totally agree it would be a punt to overlook Sellar YOTC, I just personally feel our need for a bit of genuine class in the middle is pretty desperate, and past div.2 players have 'converted' to the AFL very well ... I also agree that if we 'cleaned house' a little bit (looks hard in the direction of Kingsley/Lonergan/McCarthy/Spencer) we *could* grab Sellar or Leuenberger - but personally I'd be happy for the Cats to take a small risk/punt on a midfielder when we already have Hawkins in the bag ...
of course the flip side is that there have been quite a few questions raised as to where Sellar's best position would be in the AFL, and whether or not he's just plain good enough ... like you (and I) said, he *could* explode into another Pavlich though ... but generally I think recruiters get it right with midfielders more often anyway, if Wells and co believe Proud is good enough (and I have no idea what they think obviously) then I reckon nab him :)

plenty of good points from all my fellow Catters though (and even some good ones from some Hawks fans - who'd of thunk it ;) ) given me something to mull over ...:thumbsu:

a lot of it comes down to who we delist before the draft, you'd think McCarthy/Spencer/Kingsley and Lonergan (and fricken Gardiner) would be gawn, but they tend to persist with obvious duds down our way ;)

Bigman-wise that'd leave us with : King, (dont reckon he'll go unless he pulls the pin himself) Ottens, Blake, West, Playfair (more of a 'depth' player in the future hopefully, less of a front-liner), Mooney, N. Ablett (gotta start performing by next season son !), Egan, Harley, Scarlett and Hawkins
*if* the GFC were gutsy enough to delist all 5 that I mentioned, then yeah, we'd probably need to grab one more tall in the draft ..

[philhawk]

Haha admit it Philhawk, you're already on the phone to the Hawthorn coaching staff with my idea in mind for the Hawks. You dont want pick 5, because this would see you missing out on Thorp, Hansen or Gumbleton. Am I right, or am I extremely right? :D

:o

;)

[Richo83]

But do you still go a KPP if Gumby/Hansen/Thorp are gone?

Seller seems more a ruck/HFF rather than a true CHF type.

If there is a Selwood around for our pick it'll be intersting to see how we go.

Yes! What if Riewoldt falls to our pick? A good KPP will fall to our pick which will definetly be in the top ten. Have a look at last year, Clark at 9, 2001 Maguire falling to a low pick.

What we don't need is another midfielder. We wil onyl have 2 picks in the top ten and need to use them wisely. The good KPPs will fall early, but because there is an even spread of midfielders, with only 3-4 standing out (Gibbs, Selwood, Jetta, Houli) we should try and pick our midfielders with our SECOND pick. Our midfield stocks are deep, but our FF/CHB/CHF stocks are rather thin, play to our needs.

Either that, or a ruckman. I don't want us to pick Selwood with our first selection, waste of time. Good player, but not what Richmond needs.

[POBT]

Mr.Philhawksen. Do you think, given that Gumbleton is still likely to be taken by pick 6, that North Melbourne would trade their pick number 3, for Richmonds pick number 7 (just a prediciton on what we'll get), their pick number 23, and say, Ray Hall? An interesting one to ponder.

I think it is unlikely, because NM will want one of: Hansen, Thorp or Gumbleton no matter what, but then, how about this one. Just say Brisbane have pick number four. It is likely that 3 of Gibbs, Hansen. Gumbleton and Thorp will go top3, in some order. Now, do you think (Given that Bris already have Brown at CHF) they would do the same trade as I mentioned previous, because they wouldn't want to risk being stuck with another quality CHF in Gumbleton, or having to pass up on him and get a less 'talented' pick ?

Does that all make sense? :s
It is certainly not locked in stone that Brisbane will take a midfielder. I posted on the Lions board that we are really only well off for full forwards as far as KPPs go. If a top 5 rated CHF was available then I don't think we'd automatically overlook him for a 6-10 rated midfielder.

[tomthetiger]

True, but you've got Brown, Bradshaw, Clark, Michael, Merrett. At the moment, all you're lacking is probably a CHB. If you decide on Merrett as your future FF (god forbid), or even Clark, then thatd push Bradshaw back to CHB, and thus the spine would be complete. With the likes of Voss and Black, and even Lappin 'getting on', I think Matthews might be looking to try and snare one more 'elite' midfielder. Of course Brisbane have a lot of good honest young midfielders coming through, but like I said, their probably looking for someone with a lot of class and/or pace to complement these types. Im thinking of Selwood or Jetta etc.