Rumour GFC 2024 Player Trading, Drafting FA, Rumours and Wish lists Pt 1

[Shadow89]

I used to subscribe to the "Dangerfield forward" semi-retirement plan but now I'm not so sure. We now have a really great forward line. Is he going to be effective in the role? Are we just playing him for those bursts in the middle and losing out on a more capable forward?

I dunno. I'm starting fall out of love with the idea

I'm thinking more in the situation where he wants to play on but his body is letting him down - and we have no Hawkins or Rohan up forward anymore.

Could even have him at half forward pushing up the ground, rather than a true forward. I just can't see him wanting to finish up or the club wanting him to retire yet - especially with the void we'll have up forward losing 2 of our 3 best marking targets.

I'm not a fan of him as a forward either, but I could see some merit in it if he trained exclusively there over a pre-season, and really honed his craft rather than just pinch-hitting and not knowing what to do.

Either way, if he wants to keep playing, he'll need to drop some mass like Hodge and Sel did, as he's far too heavy to avoid more soft tissue injuries, IMO.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Danger is still our barometer in the middle and he is just about done.

Really need some kids to step it up next season.

It's nearly the end of an era... Well, it probably was when Selwood hung them up.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Danger is still our barometer in the middle and he is just about done.

I'm not sure that's true. We went 7-2 in the first half of 2021 in the games he missed. And then we got our winning run going in 2022 during a period he missed.

I actually think Guthrie and Blicavs are barometers if anything. If they're playing well our midfield is at least really difficult to play against and it gives our quality forward line and defence a chance to win us the game. Too often this year it was walking out of our midfield way too easily.

I think Danger when on takes us from a 7/10 midfield to a 9/10. But I don't know that he helps our structure to stop us being terrible. But when Guthrie and Blics are playing well we're at least a 6-7/10 and with our defence and forward line that's enough for us to be a good side.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

As he's lost athleticism I reckon he's lost his threat as a forward. Haven't completely burnt the idea but like you I'm not sure he'll have a prolonged career as a forward.

I don't think it's entirely lost. But if he's spending his chips in midfield bursts he's more resting than impacting

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I'm thinking more in the situation where he wants to play on but his body is letting him down - and we have no Hawkins or Rohan up forward anymore.

Could even have him at half forward pushing up the ground, rather than a true forward. I just can't see him wanting to finish up or the club wanting him to retire yet - especially with the void we'll have up forward losing 2 of our 3 best marking targets.

I'm not a fan of him as a forward either, but I could see some merit in it if he trained exclusively there over a pre-season, and really honed his craft rather than just pinch-hitting and not knowing what to do.

Either way, if he wants to keep playing, he'll need to drop some mass like Hodge and Sel did, as he's far too heavy to avoid more soft tissue injuries, IMO.

If we have no Rohan then Dempsey is a set and forget. If Hawkins is out then we need to be investing in a kpf, Neale or otherwise.

I just don't really see the fit forward anymore other than giving him a rest

 

[D BRIDGE]

I actually think Guthrie and Blicavs are barometers if anything. If they're playing well our midfield is at least really difficult to play against and it gives our quality forward line and defence a chance to win us the game. Too often this year it was walking out of our midfield way too easily.

I think Danger when on takes us from a 7/10 midfield to a 9/10. But I don't know that he helps our structure to stop us being terrible. But when Guthrie and Blics are playing well we're at least a 6-7/10 and with our defence and forward line that's enough for us to be a good side.

Nahh Danger is/was the man IMO.

When he is in beast mode we look like we are a chance v anyone.

When he is playing as if he is carrying something (like a bunch of games this year) or not playing at all, our midfield looks impotent.

Yes Guthrie playing is handy... but he is no Dangerfield.

Sure Blitz is important also... but Danger can just destroy other mids and win contested ground balls that no other player in our side can get near.

Anyway, all these guys are coming to an end sooner rather than later... We need the kids to start to step up + snag a few decent Free Agents.

 

[BORIS332]

I get what the graph is saying. You just seem to be reading a lot into a poorly thought out measure.

"We haven't developed these draftees" is just wrong. What this graph really says is "if you ignore Kelly and treat draftees recruited in 2017 and 2018 as worth way more than draftees since 2020 then we haven't developed these draftees well". Which I guess is true. If you ignore Kelly and Clark we objectively had ordinary drafts in 2017 and 2018. But our group of players from 2019 and 2020 looks superb.

You have strayed very, very far from the original point.

The OP linked an article that said we ranked 15th for quality in the 18-23 age range. I was simply showing the graph to show that that claim is not farfetched given our drafts from those years haven’t panned out well up to this point.

You have interpreted the graph your own way, for a different purpose, which is fine. But you’re arguing against the void, not the point I was making.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I was simply showing the graph to show that that claim is not farfetched given our drafts from those years haven’t panned out well up to this point.

But this is nonsense!

Players we took or now have from each draft:

2017 - Kelly and Miers. A mature gun and a good young player who looks like he might be an a-grader. Excellent draft.
2018 - Clark and Atkins. A good young player and a very good mature player. An average draft but far from terrible.
2019 - SDK and Close. An excellent draft.
2020 - Holmes, Bruhn, Henry and Neale. Depending on development will be somewhere between an excellent draft and an all time great draft.

We would've done better than most teams in the league over those drafts.

You've just decided to use a bizarre metric that doesn't value our efforts and can produce complete nonsense. Eg under your system St Kilda get more credit for throwing a lifeline to 2 Carlton failures Dow and Stocker (124 games combined) than we get in total for the 3 brilliant draft selections of Kelly, SDK and Holmes (94 games combined).

 

[Hinkley29]

Taking China's lack of AFL players and concluding that "sport is a very low priority culturally for them" feels a bit like taking Australia's lack of world class ping pong players and concluding the same about us.

Bingo.

Cricket seems pretty important to most Indian people I know.

Soccer and basketball are pretty important to most Chinese people I know.

Etc, etc

 

[Footy Smarts]

Nahh Danger is/was the man IMO.

When he is in beast mode we look like we are a chance v anyone.

When he is playing as if he is carrying something (like a bunch of games this year) or not playing at all, our midfield looks impotent.

Our record across 2021-22 without Danger was 13-3. You don't get results like that with an impotent midfield!

I'm not saying he isn't important. He clearly is. He might well be the difference between a top 4 team and a premiership team. But Geelong without Danger in 2021-22 was a high quality team.

 

[GeelongFTW]

Our record across 2021-22 without Danger was 13-3. You don't get results like that with an impotent midfield!

I'm not saying he isn't important. He clearly is. He might well be the difference between a top 4 team and a premiership team. But Geelong without Danger in 2021-22 was a high quality team.

maybe but we only looked like a legit premiership chance with him firing.

 

[Footy Smarts]

maybe but we only looked like a legit premiership chance with him firing.

We beat Collingwood in the QF when he had a mare.

We only looked like an utterly unstoppable juggernaut with him at his best. But he only got coaches votes in 5 games of our 16 game winning streak. So we managed to go 11-0 when he either wasn't playing or didn't have a major impact. I'd say that would make us well and truly a premiership chance.

 

[calder_daddy]

On Sen1116 they were saying the clubs would change the rule because Geelong had 23-25 father-sons coming up.

Been saying this for years, it’s bound to happen

 

[And_ROOS]

I still think we see Danger in the role he was in this year, which is 5 minute bursts off the bench. Maybe resting at HF. Not sure he can go deep forward because his leading patterns might get in Hawkins way. But if we have Danger/Cameron roaming HF with Close/Rohan putting pressure and Stengle or Henry deeper its very dangerous.

 

[calder_daddy]

I still think we see Danger in the role he was in this year, which is 5 minute bursts off the bench. Maybe resting at HF. Not sure he can go deep forward because his leading patterns might get in Hawkins way. But if we have Danger/Cameron roaming HF with Close/Rohan putting pressure and Stengle or Henry deeper its very dangerous.

This is his game now, I know people might scoff at this but I would much prefer he played behind the ball to rest, rather than forward.
He is a very average forward, people just think he can play forward because in his prime years he could.
But Dangerfield’s prime years were next level

 

[Vdubs]

Nahh Danger is/was the man IMO.

When he is in beast mode we look like we are a chance v anyone.

When he is playing as if he is carrying something (like a bunch of games this year) or not playing at all, our midfield looks impotent.

Yes Guthrie playing is handy... but he is no Dangerfield.

Sure Blitz is important also... but Danger can just destroy other mids and win contested ground balls that no other player in our side can get near.

Anyway, all these guys are coming to an end sooner rather than later... We need the kids to start to step up + snag a few decent Free Agents.

Danger will last about as long as Hawkins imho, unless Hawkins has ongoing foot issues. 2024 and that should be it.

If we have no Rohan then Dempsey is a set and forget. If Hawkins is out then we need to be investing in a kpf, Neale or otherwise.

I just don't really see the fit forward anymore other than giving him a rest

 

[calder_daddy]

Danger will last about as long as Hawkins imho, unless Hawkins has ongoing foot issues. 2024 and that should be it.

I’m more worried about Hawkins hammy now than his feet

 

[Turbocat]

Technically correct but Hawkins would have been selected at the Nick Daicos range

Hawkins was our biggest gain from the system no doubt... It was a gain equivalent to anyone player a club has received .. and the system as it was allowed us to keep our R1 ..with which we picked Selwood. It was such a gain it broke the system and the rules changed.

Lets say ... in general our Father Sons have all been considered less than R1. ... and as has been shown ..a win like that with Father Son is very rare and is luck of the draw. The number of potential Father Sons mentioned ... to throw heat off the Northern gains ... we have no accomapning data on their individual potential. Just ..20 plus what ever the number was to sound as ominous as the jaws music. If 1 in 3 are draftable we will have done well ..let alone R1 level.

Ironically Brisbane can hardly complain. They gained Johnathon Brown ...from Father Son when the rules allowed you to get FSon from 50 games. In the current system they gained Ashcroft ( basically P1)... and have another coming... and Fletcher was a R1 pick too...and they still have academy picks.

Im not against the Northern clubs getting access to their local kids ..but just like with Hawkins ..I think its fair to look at the GC draft bounty and see if the system needs to be redressed cause reports are ...its not just a one of..The next couple of years is going to deliver big time. Is it right for Father like Ashcroft or Dacois or academy kids like Walter and Read to be paid with picks in the 30's or later? They thought it was wrong with Hawkins. If a club had to use their R1 on a R1 bid..it would change the system signifatly again.. but maybe its required. Getting access to the high end kids is the real adavantage. What you pay is less important. Pies would have happily paid whatever for Dacois .. what GC would do if the rule was such would be interesting. They may have to let one or two go.

 

[Turbocat]

I’ve seen a bit of Jesse Datoli - my nephew has played in the same club team since they were young. He’s a strong lad, beautiful kick but I wonder about how he’ll test for both speed and endurance? I know my nephew has him easily covered in the 2km. Smart footballer though.

From the Falcons POV ( as we do look local so often) .. have you seen any of ...Ivisic , McInnes , Rongdit ..?

 

[year of the cat]

From the Falcons POV ( as we do look local so often) .. have you seen any of ...Ivisic , McInnes , Rongdit ..?

No, live in Melb. Haven’t seen any of them. As you said in your previous post, I’m not sure there are too many likely draftees from the Falcons next year. Two years in a row.

 

[Turbocat]

No, live in Melb. Haven’t seen any of them. As you said in your previous post, I’m not sure there are too many likely draftees from the Falcons next year. Two years in a row.

Those three are the mentioned kids. McInnes is one that I have heard about for a while but I have not seen him play. So.. just like we have this year with COS ..maybe we look at other areas.... or trade out.

 

[year of the cat]

Those three are the mentioned kids. McInnes is one that I have heard about for a while but I have not seen him play. So.. just like we have this year with COS ..maybe we look at other areas.... or trade out.

We aren’t compelled to take Falcons. I think there was an emphasis towards them over covid with the uncertainty that period provided. But now the club will just take the best player or the best fit regardless of where they come from.

 

[Turbocat]

2020 AFL draft recap: The strange recruiting tactics that shaped a historic draft​

The 2020 draft was one fans and list bosses will never forget, so how did clubs deal with drafting in Covid times, and who came out on top? Sam Landsberger dives deep into the 2020 AFL draft.

....


When Sydney slapped a Covid caveat on the 2023 draft last month it sounded stale.
Hadn’t Hawthorn draftee Nick Watson drilled 70 goals for the year?

Didn’t Melbourne recruiter Jason Taylor just make an 8000km round trip – to regional WA town Esperance to interview draft prospect Koltyn Tholstrup?

Wasn’t Alastair Clarkson ringing Daniel Curtin’s doorbell in Perth the day before the draft?

From the cheap seats it seemed normal programming had resumed. But revered Swans list boss Kinnear Beatson was blunt.

“We’re still seeing the ramifications of Covid,” Beatson told the AFL website days before the draft.

“It won’t surprise me in 10 years’ time … that players taken in the 20s and 30s will look as though they’ve had a more successful career than some taken 10-20.”

Perhaps the buffet of celebratory coverage buried Beatson’s claim … after all, 64 prospects had their footy prayers answered.

But it has echoed around the industry since, with several experts adamant their talent boards had been warped by this wave of prospects – particularly the Victorians – having their under-15-16 seasons (2020-21) predominantly wiped.

The recruiting blind spots left by the Covid lag should rapidly recede next year.

But if Beatson believes boys who were repeatedly brushed will bloom brighter than some of this year’s beauties because of those blind spots then it makes you wonder …

How the hell is history going to remember the 2020 draft? That was the crop chosen following a cancelled season in Victoria.

Let’s be cruel, and then let’s be clear. Thirteen out of the 59 players drafted in 2020 have already been delisted.

A further six have changed clubs. And the top 10 reads like a philosophy exam – filled with questions that still cannot be answered.

DELISTED 2020 DRAFTEES​

Pick 24 Blake Coleman (BL) 0 games
Pick 31 Liam McMahon (Coll) 0
Pick 34 Fraser Rosman (Melb) 0
Pick 35 Connor Downie (Haw) 2
Pick 38 James Rowe (Ade) 36
Pick 39 Josh Eyre (Ess) 0
Pick 42 Phoenix Spicer (NM) 12
Pick 45 Tom Highmore (St K) 16
Pick 47 Nick Stevens (Gee) 0
Pick 53 Cody Brand (Ess) 0
Pick 54 Joel Western (Frem) 4
Pick 57 Isiah Winder (WC) 7
Pick 58 Cameron Fleeton (GWS) 2

Will No. 3 pick Will Phillips ever morph into the manic trainer and future captain that North Melbourne (and its ex-coach David Noble) had hoped for?

Hawks fans must be wondering whether No. 6 pick Denver Grainger-Barras will mature into the committed key defender who coach Sam Mitchell trusts to play week-in week-out?

What about Blues recruit Elijah Hollands? Has the penny dropped for the No. 7 selection?

And then there is Essendon’s talented trifecta – Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid.

Will Cox and Reid prove to be freakish footballers? Or fragile footballers?

It is hard not to feel for the Bombers. Of all the years to collect three golden draft choices it had to be the one where it felt as if there were 10 minutes of footy played.

If that all seemed cruel, then now it is time to be clear.

Slow, or even stalled development, of players from 2020 is to be expected. They need time. There are not many draftees deserving of ticks just yet — but it would be crazy to go early with a cross.

As one club said: “Our kids came in so underdeveloped physically it wasn’t funny — you just have to give these kids a longer period”.

Another club noted: “It wasn’t just the games they didn’t play, it was the 200-300 training sessions they didn’t go to”.

That’s probably why Luke Beveridge felt like he was banging his head against a wall when he was asked every week about Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.

Will he debut this week? Why not? What about next week?

Yes, he was the No. 1 pick. But back then ‘Marra’ had played a couple of VFL games in two years, hardly the platform for a full-forward to make his AFL debut.

That said, look at Ugle-Hagan now. Long billed as the next Buddy it is him and Brownlow Medal shaker (fourth last year) Errol Gulden who have made up for lost time and launched box-office careers from the Covid crop.

They were also draft gimmes – Ugle-Hagan an NGA selection and Gulden an academy pick.

But what about those yet to make their mark? Perhaps Conor Stone (GWS), Bailey Laurie (Melb), Dominic Bedendo (WB) and Finlay Macrae (Coll)

So if it isn’t the players’ fault, what about those who picked them? What if your club buggered up its talent ID?

Similarly, this is not the draft to get snarky at scouts.

In 2020 recruiters were locked down and then stood down without pay.

Some were eventually invited back to work with their resources slashed, and told to rank Victoria’s hottest draft prospects without watching them play that season.

Good luck.


Some clubs resorted to comparing Phillips’ under-17 performances with reigning No. 1 pick Matt Rowell at the same age.

How else could you contextualise Phillips when — like all Victorians — his under-18th year was blank.

One club remained surprised Essendon opted for three Victorians in the top 10, given greater evidence was available on interstate prospects who were allowed to pull on their boots in 2020.

But make no mistake, there are no regrets at Tullamarine. After all, Cox burst on to the scene in 2021 and was Matthew Lloyd’s Rising Star tip at round 11 before injuries hit.
He was one for the old-fashioned eye of recruiting.

Cox had run a 6min 2km time trial, played as a bottom-ager for Vic Metro and, while he was a low-possession player, his skills on both sides were sublime.

ORIGINAL TOP TEN​

Pick 1 Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (NGA) (WB) 45 games
Pick 2 Riley Thilthorpe (Ade) 46
Pick 3 Will Phillips (NM) 32
Pick 4 Logan McDonald (Syd) 44
Pick 5 Braeden Campbell (Academy) (Syd) 48
Pick 6 Denver Grainger-Barras (Haw) 28
Pick 7 Elijah Hollands (GC/Carl) 14
Pick 8 Nik Cox (Ess) 33
Pick 9 Archie Perkins (Ess) 62
Pick 10 Zach Reid (Ess) 8

Reid, too, has been a regular in the rehab room. But Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, among others, ranked the 204cm defender highly in 2020 … just as Richmond did his younger brother, Archie, who joined West Coast last week.

The Bombers once watched Reid run riot from a wing in a rare game for Gippsland.

Perkins has pumped out 62 games (second only to Gulden from 2020) and shapes as a 200-gamer.

Coach Brad Scott just has to decide … is that forward of the footy? Or as a big-bodied midfielder?

Imagine if the Bombers can develop a diamond or two from the most daunting of drafts?

Essendon started with No. 8 that season and then secured No. 9 for Joe Daniher (compensation) and No. 10 from Carlton for Adam Saad.

It was more situation than strategic.

But one club defied the norm … Geelong.

As a rival said: “We were trying to sell out of that draft because it was a volatile market. The value of a first-round pick was lessened because of the market situation”.

Geelong had done just that in trade period. The Cats coughed up three early picks for Jeremy Cameron (GWS) – but then they went shopping for a way back in to the first round.

And they meant business.

Their future first-round pick was on the table, and as the annual ‘the cliff is coming for the Cats’ off-season commentary circled it seemed an attractive offer.

Richmond had showed the most interest before the draft and so the Cats called at No. 20 when it was on the clock. Macrae had just been made a Magpie and so the Tigers pulled the trigger, pulling a precious pick out of one difficult draft and placing it in the next one.

It left Geelong grinning. The Cats grabbed Max Holmes at No. 20 in what was the boldest call of footy’s most bizarre draft.

This kid had played one – yes, one – Coates League game; in 2019 (he broke his arm that year and Covid killed 2020).

SAM LANDSBERGER’S RE-RANKED TOP 10​

Pick 1 Errol Gulden (Syd) (Originally No.32)
Pick 2 Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (WB) (No.1)
Pick 3 Max Holmes (Gee) (No.20)
Pick 4 Logan McDonald (Syd) (No.4)
Pick 5 Braeden Campbell (Syd) (No.5)
Pick 6 Oliver Henry (Coll/Gee) (No.17)
Pick 7 Heath Chapman (No.14)
Pick 8 Beau McCreery (Coll) (No.44)
Pick 9 Riley Thilthorpe (Ade) (No.2)
Pick 10 Archie Perkins (Ess) (No.9)

But the contending Cats had perennially been picking at points in the draft where a Holmes-type was history. So when else were they going to gain access to one of the very best runners? This kid was elite and had a strong body to boot.

Holmes’ mother is former Olympian Lee Naylor and Max won the under-18 400m hurdles in 2019. By draft night he had grown 12cm and put on 12kg since scouts had last seen him play school footy.

Remember this year when Max motored home in the grand final sprint at the MCG?

Geelong mined Max’s junior coaches for information and when those answers aligned with its opinions it grew fonder.

There was one slight problem however. How does a list management team convince a premiership coach (Chris Scott) and football boss (Simon Lloyd) they should trade their future first-round pick for a kid there is bugger all vision of?

Powerbrokers backed the plan and, save for a 2022 grand final week hammy weak, it has paid off to the Max.

.

Geelong’s gamble on Holmes appears to have paid off. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
After all, every club had access to the same evidence that year and so the Cats weren’t going to be caught napping.

Truth be told, Richmond liked Holmes, too.

The Tigers knew the upside from his family history, but moving pick No. 20 into 2021 – and then converting one-time rookie pick Mabior Chol into a second-round selection – helped them reload with five picks inside 30.

It was a golden draft hand coming down from a dynasty and the Tigers still have high hopes that several of Tom Brown (No. 17), Tyler Sonsie (No. 28), Sam Banks (No. 29) and Judson Clarke (No. 30) will take flight.

As for No. 9 pick Josh Gibcus — you can replace ‘high hopes’ with ‘supreme confidence’.

Trading out No. 20 in 2020 did not mean the Tigers went home empty-handed.

Richmond recruiter Matt Clarke and his then-right-hand man Will Thursfield (now North Melbourne chief recruiter) spent Melbourne’s early lockdowns surfing the web for Richmond’s next star.

“There was a fair bit of footy still being played outside Victoria at the time,” Clarke told the Herald Sun.

“We treated every weekend per normal – just that we couldn’t travel.

“We set up a schedule, as we normally would, with the games being played, allocated them to guys and we would just watch live streams, rather than waiting to sit back and watch edited vision during the week.

“It might be, ‘OK, at 11am I’m going to do the SANFL under-18s game, and then I’ll flick to the Launceston v Glenorchy TSL game, which is on YouTube in the afternoon and watch it live and write notes from that’.”

Some senior recruiting figures like Derek Hine (Collingwood) and David Walls (Fremantle) evacuated Victoria via their club’s hubs for a live look at prospects.

But Clarke set up the SANFL app on the Apple TV in his front room, while the QAFL’s strong YouTube connection beamed down the first glimpse of the next Tiger – Samson Ryan (pick 40 in 2020).

“We were watching the big fella play for Sherwood up there,” Clarke said.

“We had a guy on the ground in Queensland watching live at that point too, and he was giving us good direction.”

The Tigers did not need a ruck when Ryan roared to life on the small screen.

But Callum Coleman-Jones was in strife in the hub and he and Chol each had 12 months’ left on their contracts and so selecting Samson stacked up.

As Jack Riewoldt told the Herald Sun this year: “The one thing about Samson is he’s got a lot of talent, but he is an extremely hard worker and diligent. He’s always the last one off the track and trying to get better at a lot of things”.

Ryan, Maurice Rioli Jr and Geelong’s future first-rounder made for a nice post-premiership package.

So how exactly did clubs rank prospects who had barely played in order?

“You had to go back over all the vision you had of any sort of footy from under-15s and 16s,” Clarke explained.

“Every trial match that we could get our hands on, even if it wasn’t coded we’d convert it into our sports code huddle, our software, and code players out to actually get a good look at them.

“It was limited, so we were relying on as much edited vision as possible.

“Obviously the boys did a few state combines, but it was the most difficult year.”


At least one player was taken in the top 10 by a club whose main recruiting man had never attended one of his games.

It was reported the Kangas only spoke to Phillips once before pouncing at pick No.3.

Ollie Lord, the No. 49 pick who lit up last year’s qualifying final to look more like a top-15 talent, was quizzed by clubs over Zoom while sitting in his dormitory at Geelong Grammar.

It was all very odd.

Post-fire sale, Collingwood crushed it. The Pies picked Oliver Henry (now Geelong), Finlay Macrae, Reef McInnes (academy), Caleb Poulter (now Western Bulldogs) and premiership stars Beau McCreery and Jack Ginnivan (now Hawthorn).

OK, a few have departed. But they will stand the test of time as fine selections.

But the draft’s lottery-theme continued in 2021 and, after securing Nick Daicos, Collingwood chose South Australians Arlo Draper (gone), Cooper Murley (gone) and Harvey Harrison.

Back to reality, perhaps.

Unrestricted access to attend live games and conduct house visits again been a godsend for the best spotters. Why?

“Watching live you get off-ball behaviours, you get context of the game, you get the ability of players to lift when it’s really needed for their team,” one expert said.

“The vision is restricted to where the ball is, you don’t see all the lead-up.

“It might be how the kid takes it when he doesn’t get the ball kicked to him or an umpires’ decision.”

As for Zooms versus house calls?

“You get no feel for neighbourhood, how the house is looked after, very limited contact with siblings and mum and dad, because it’s just on the screen,” the expert said.

“Most clubs now do home visits, whereas if the Zoom was deemed to be better they would’ve stayed that way.”

 

[Turbocat]

We aren’t compelled to take Falcons. I think there was an emphasis towards them over covid with the uncertainty that period provided. But now the club will just take the best player or the best fit regardless of where they come from.

I think we will always have a bias towards Falcons if its the right kid for the right pick.... but ..as with the article above .. we will not be limited only to Geelong if we see the right kid to pick elsewhere.

 

[MacStradbroke]

Hawkins was our biggest gain from the system no doubt... It was a gain equivalent to anyone player a club has received .. and the system as it was allowed us to keep our R1 ..with which we picked Selwood. It was such a gain it broke the system and the rules changed.

Lets say ... in general our Father Sons have all been considered less than R1. ... and as has been shown ..a win like that with Father Son is very rare and is luck of the draw. The number of potential Father Sons mentioned ... to throw heat off the Northern gains ... we have no accomapning data on their individual potential. Just ..20 plus what ever the number was to sound as ominous as the jaws music. If 1 in 3 are draftable we will have done well ..let alone R1 level.

Ironically Brisbane can hardly complain. They gained Johnathon Brown ...from Father Son when the rules allowed you to get FSon from 50 games. In the current system they gained Ashcroft ( basically P1)... and have another coming... and Fletcher was a R1 pick too...and they still have academy picks.

Im not against the Northern clubs getting access to their local kids ..but just like with Hawkins ..I think its fair to look at the GC draft bounty and see if the system needs to be redressed cause reports are ...its not just a one of..The next couple of years is going to deliver big time. Is it right for Father like Ashcroft or Dacois or academy kids like Walter and Read to be paid with picks in the 30's or later? They thought it was wrong with Hawkins. If a club had to use their R1 on a R1 bid..it would change the system signifatly again.. but maybe its required. Getting access to the high end kids is the real adavantage. What you pay is less important. Pies would have happily paid whatever for Dacois .. what GC would do if the rule was such would be interesting. They may have to let one or two go.

Not sure how it would be structured but heard Kingy on the radio during the week proposing a system where matching f/s bids would need to be paid up in the current draft as apposed to loading up on future picks (first rounders) and essentially getting two bites of the cherry. It would make clubs scamper hard for a Nick Daicos like prospect. Sounded like it had merit to me.