How do you rate our draft haul?

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Testekill

Testekill

Don't look at me like that
Veteran 10k Posts
Dec 3, 2009
18,289
18,196
Brisbane
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Footscray Bulldogs, Williamstown
We're done with the main draft, 5 players bought in over all.


Pick 6: Ryley Sanders. Midfielder that can play inside & out, good user of the ball and very clever.



Pick 15: Jordan Croft. Tall Utility that can play at either end, sees red on the footy field according to Milesi and is quite athletic.



Pick 45: Joel Freijah, tall winger. Can run for days and has a great workrate.



Pick 47: Lachlan Smith, big strong ruckman who is physically ready to go. Mobile for a guy his size




Pick 55: Aiden O'Driscoll, lightning fast midfielder who also loves a goal. Will probably play small forward.

 
I would have liked a genuine forward but Freijah sounds like he's a Xavier Duursma like player. and AOD probably also has the ability to play there and impact the game. A good haul in the end.
 

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Can't believe all five slid to us.
Barring injury I can't see us losing a game in 2024. Incredible depth.
 
A gun mid who looks a sure thing. √

An athletic tall who could be the answer to our CHB problem. √

A rangy wingman who knows how to kick a goal. √

A like for like replacement of Sweet. √

A crafty small project player. √

I think if we ran a poll based purely types of players that we'd like. All of the above categories would've been high priorities.

Time will tell how any of these guys work out, but on a needs basis, then I think Sam Power and Co have nailed it.
 
Questionable. Need small forwards urgently and didn't pick one up.

Continuing to play midfielders and wingers up forward is just dumb.
 
I like the fact that we picked up a couple of late birthday kids in Freijah (14 Nov) and L Smith who unbelievably only turned 18 last month.

I also like that we've gone all-in for speedy wingers. In a year or so we'll have some genuine competition for a position we were very weak in this year. Baker, Poulter, Williams, Gallagher, Freijah, O'Driscoll, Bedendo, Arty ...

Some of them will drop off the list no doubt (eg Baker a likely casualty, maybe Arty and Bedendo) and some may have to find a different role (eg Williams isn't quite quick enough for the wing, and Gallagher might be the one to take over Duryea's role).

I think Lachlan Smith is a good pick. Big bodied already but looks to have more mobility than Sweet. Late birthday. No need to rush him. If he does become a quality AFL-level ruckman he in combination with Darcy will give us good insurance against Tim English bending us over for a record salary (or threatening to leave). Also if you're going to pick a project ruckman it's better to find one with high potential and the qualities you want, rather than try to rookie someone like Sweet who was never the right fit for us. Even it means using up a third rounder. We can afford it.

The more I see and hear of Sanders the more I like him. One to watch when the season starts, whether he's in the VFL or the seniors. You can usually tell from the first few games when you've got someone special. As we saw with the Bont, even at VFL level.
 
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I think on a needs basis we did great, and I really love the Freijah pick in particular. Sanders is AFL-ready and should play round 1. Croft has that aggression and competitiveness we could really use down back. Freijah and O'Driscoll add real speed, and Smith is the Sweet replacement we needed.
 

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I think O’Driscoll is small forward/high half forward at next level, not wing. Looks very different to weightman and could be an upgrade on McNeil as a pressure forward who crumbs packs.

Good haul all round. Added a lot of depth to areas that were lacking it. Refreshed the list, trimmed the fat that had their chances and obviously were not going to make it. Throw in Coffield and Harmes and I think the list is in much better shape.

New facilities, fresh ideas from a new look coaching team and how could you not be up and about if you were a doggies player on the list. Exciting times ahead!
 
I’m not sold on the list management strategy with the players we have targeted.

I have majors concerns with our half forward line. We lack creativity, skill and speed at half forward and we haven’t addressed it.

The good clubs all have very good specialist half forwards. And most reinforced their stocks via trade or draft. Instead of bringing in specialists we will likely see Harmes and Sanders at half forward round 1 next year (Not a knock on either of them - there just not forwards).

My view is specialist half forwards are going to be critical for a premiership team.

I would’ve liked to have seen us bring in 1 more small/half forward. Creative half forwards is the biggest hole on our list imo and it wasn’t addressed.

I really hope Charlie Clarke is good.
 
Here we go dogs said:
I’m not sold on the list management strategy with the players we have targeted.

I have majors concerns with our half forward line. We lack creativity, skill and speed at half forward and we haven’t addressed it.

The good clubs all have very good specialist half forwards. And most reinforced their stocks via trade or draft. Instead of bringing in specialists we will likely see Harmes and Sanders at half forward round 1 next year (Not a knock on either of them - there just not forwards).

My view is specialist half forwards are going to be critical for a premiership team.

I would’ve liked to have seen us bring in 1 more small/half forward. Creative half forwards is the biggest hole on our list imo and it wasn’t addressed.

I really hope Charlie Clarke is good.
Click to expand...
O'Driscoll looks more of a small forward than a winger. It's likely he played wing based on needs for the squad. He could play like bobby hill though.
 
Absolutely over the moon.

Sanders will be a star. Horne-Francis clone with a better attitude.

Croft will take time but boy he can move. Reminds me of Darcy Moore with a strange kicking action.

Freijah kicked 6 and had 26 in a Coates league game. That’s very impressive. Moves well and has superior pace. Reminds me of Morabito from Freo a while back.

Lachlan Smith I have a man crush on already as I have posted about him a few times already. A 202cm 101kg ruckman who is pushing off players, and getting away with pace is pretty impressive.

Odriscoll I really wanted late. Has pace to burn. Will slot in nicely.

Well done Dom Milesi, Sammy Power and team.
 
I’m not a big draft watcher but I like the general positivity of the forum around our picks. From a positional perspective it looks like some needs were filled.

My main concern was finding one or two elite young players who could come in and contribute almost straight away. I think most of us think we have a group that could potentially contend given a better gameplan and upgrade to a few positions, so we’re not building for 3-5 years time we want contributors now.

On that front I’m encouraged by Sanders, you’d think he’ll play AFL games next year. Croft and Smith aren’t playing AFL any time soon unless something goes badly wrong with others in the team. So hopefully one or two of Freijah and AOD come through on the wing or as small forward to bolster the best 22/23.
 
Think we need to take a ruck in the rookie draft
Lachlan Smith needs to become an inside mid

Lad built like a house
 
adogsfan5 said:
Absolutely over the moon.

Sanders will be a star. Horne-Francis clone with a better attitude.

Croft will take time but boy he can move. Reminds me of Darcy Moore with a strange kicking action.

Freijah kicked 6 and had 26 in a Coates league game. That’s very impressive. Moves well and has superior pace. Reminds me of Morabito from Freo a while back.

Lachlan Smith I have a man crush on already as I have posted about him a few times already. A 202cm 101kg ruckman who is pushing off players, and getting away with pace is pretty impressive.

Odriscoll I really wanted late. Has pace to burn. Will slot in nicely.

Well done Dom Milesi, Sammy Power and team.
Click to expand...
Darcy Moore was drafted as a key forward too. I wouldn't be surprised if Croft starred in the backline and made it his own. The only question mark is with Smith because he reminds me of Collins as a man playing with the boys but he does seem to have more mobility than Collins did.
 
Here we go dogs said:
I’m not sold on the list management strategy with the players we have targeted.

I have majors concerns with our half forward line. We lack creativity, skill and speed at half forward and we haven’t addressed it.

The good clubs all have very good specialist half forwards. And most reinforced their stocks via trade or draft. Instead of bringing in specialists we will likely see Harmes and Sanders at half forward round 1 next year (Not a knock on either of them - there just not forwards).

My view is specialist half forwards are going to be critical for a premiership team.

I would’ve liked to have seen us bring in 1 more small/half forward. Creative half forwards is the biggest hole on our list imo and it wasn’t addressed.

I really hope Charlie Clarke is good.
Click to expand...

This.

You would think Beveridge of all people would appreciate the value of quality small/medium sized forwards after his time at Hawthorn with Cyril Rioli, Luke Bruest and Paul Puopolo, but we seem content constantly shifting midfielders and wingers through the forward line. At one point even Easton Wood was being trialed as a forward.
 
Here we go dogs said:
I’m not sold on the list management strategy with the players we have targeted.

I have majors concerns with our half forward line. We lack creativity, skill and speed at half forward and we haven’t addressed it.

The good clubs all have very good specialist half forwards. And most reinforced their stocks via trade or draft. Instead of bringing in specialists we will likely see Harmes and Sanders at half forward round 1 next year (Not a knock on either of them - there just not forwards).

My view is specialist half forwards are going to be critical for a premiership team.

I would’ve liked to have seen us bring in 1 more small/half forward. Creative half forwards is the biggest hole on our list imo and it wasn’t addressed.

I really hope Charlie Clarke is good.
Click to expand...

Clearly we would've picked Watson if available, but he wasn't. If there wasn't a good enough small forward left after that then don't just pick one for the hell of it.

Overall we addressed a lot of our problem areas. Freijah seems to have the smarts as a forward and Smith looks intimidating as an 18 year old ruck.
 
Very happy with the haul. Addressed positional needs across most areas. Added a bit more speed and running rate to the team which we badly needed. Expect us to be a bit quicker on our feet next year and in the near future as some of the draftees develop and come through. All of Sanders, Freijah, O'Driscoll can both run both ways, and have good endurence. Whilst providing a bit more pace.

Not worried about our forward line like some here. Kicked the 2nd, 5th, 8th most points the last three years, with poor structure and delivery inside 50. Fixing those alone will go a much longer way to addressing things. We have Weightman on our list. Plus Clarke, Jones, and O'Driscoll all need time to develop. Even if we drafted a "genuine small forward", very small chance they'd line up round one anyway, and will join the development que with the rest of the above. Can't address every single position in one draft either unfortunately. O'Driscoll is likely to play up front though, so not like a small was neglected.

I give Sanders a strong chance to play from round one, and Freijah a chance not long after given he has the size as well. Croft, Smith and O'Driscoll, it will likely be a full development year for them. Harmes and Coffield should be there round one. And I expect a proper run from Bedendo and Gallagher at some point. Already sounds better than the previous depth we had.

Hopefully we do take one more live pick in the rookie draft. Instead of banking it. I reckon some good talent is still there.
 
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I like the fact our first pick was a highly rated mid, who also ticks the good character box.
Getting another f/s tall was a bonus, we are spoilt for choice now with talls, so unBulldog like.

I liked the focus on speed, something we do lack, and although those later picks are always a gamble, taking a kid who has family playing AFL is a good sign.

We need a developing ruck for our VFL side, and picking up one who is physically developed already makes sense.

Our trades were low cost, possible high return, if Coffield can stay on the park we can continue his development, a bit of a risk with his injury history. Harmes, hopefully needed a change of scenery, it doesn’t sound like Melbourne is a happy place to be these days, so hopefully we can rejuvenate his career.

I am expecting to see our previous picks from 2022 get some game time so we can see what we have got, especially in the small forward category.

The club has gone to work on improving our coaching and development staff and our structure, with our new facilities it is hard not to be optimistic for 2024.
 
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