Game Day The 2025 Draft Day Thread

[UseR2006]

And a song to sing as we watch,

Hey Matty Clarke by Kevin (Random260) Wilson :

Hey Matty Clarke you campaigner, where the **** is Sharp
I’ve looked at all these other spuds and there’s no one that I like
I wrote you a ****ing letter and posted about it twice
You dopey ****ing Richmond fart, you forgot my ****ing Sharp

If I wanted a stupid ruckman type, I would’ve bloody asked
And this half back flank and temu mid, you can shove right up your arse
You’ve stuffed the bloody order up, it’s enough to make you spew
But it’s not just me who’s snakey, SGIO is dirty too

Next time I come to see ya, I’m going to punch you in the guts
And I’ll sack the other recruiting knobs and kick Toddy in the nuts
You just wait 'til next year when you go back to the draft
And me and me little GIO come stomping through the door
And we'll say, yeah, you wait for it

Hey Pyke and Woosh you smell his breath
And check his bloodshot eyes
And don't listen to him eagles fans 'cause he tells ****ing lies
He's just a ****ing useless campaigner and he's not even very bright
'Cause the stupid ****in' w***er, forgot me ****in' Sharp

Hey Matty Clarke you campaigner, where the **** is Sharp
I’ve looked at all these other spuds and there’s no one that I like
I wrote you a ****ing letter and posted about it twice
You dopey ****ing Richmond fart, you forgot my ****ing Sharp

A Quick Ai rendition: https://suno.com/s/blQP3cSnulhqYb5g
It's funny how it interrupted the lyrics XD

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Makes very little sense

The last two days summarised perfectly

 

[JADED]

It would be bloody hilarious if we take Callum Ah Chee in the PSD. It would serve Adelaide right for sharking Curtin from us. I wonder how high he's set his financial terms, surely we can afford it

Apparently what he priced himself at is almost entirely front loaded into the first 2 years (as much as can be at least) of a 5 year deal.
So an expensive exercise for anyone wishing to poach. He'll get to Adelaide. We'll find out in 30 mins.

We've seen a lot more bidding and sharking other teams targets this year.
Surely StKilda are just building trade collateral to try (and fail) landing a fish named Harley one day.
#givebackBanfield.

 

[TOA.]

Of the many things I want the club to bottom out from this draft, is how Twomey and seemingly everyone else knew our plan to bid on Murray and Addinsall. The exact thing we needed to do to execute that plan to make it work, was to keep it under our hats but we had ***ing Twomey podcasting and writing about it a week out - God knows how long Gold Coast knew about it. Just chuck it on the pile of things that a competent club would have had under control - and it was clearly within our control.

 

[PRANKSTER666]

We should take George Stevens because a) he fits the bill and b) I hate Geelong.

 

[plays tall 1]

No chance we go for George Stevens given the priority given to athletics.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Of the many things I want the club to bottom out from this draft, is how Twomey and seemingly everyone else knew our plan to bid on Murray and Addinsall. The exact thing we needed to do to execute that plan to make it work, was to keep it under our hats but we had ***ing Twomey podcasting and writing about it a week out. Just chuck it on the pile of things that a competent club would have had under control - and it was clearly within our control.

Doesn't everyone leak to Twomey, which is why he's so accurate?

Regardless, we could have and should have made it impossible for Gold Coast to match. We had Picks 1 and 2, anything we realistically wanted with the three picks we had in the first round, we could have had. And Addinsall was realistic.

 

[TOA.]

I'm confused about Walley. I thought we did list him before the draft: https://www.afl.com.au/news/1454423/west-coast-eagles-academy-draft-hopefuls-aware-they-may-be-leaving-the-nest-says-wesley-walley#:~:text=Walley is among four players,big-bodied onballer Charlie Banfield

Now we have just changed our minds given he made it to the rookie draft???

 

[Hook461123]

Maybe we forgot to send the email....

 

[Mr Q]

Problem is, we're not privy to the internal discusssions on what the club wants to do in the post-season. So we get half the information, then clutch on to things like NGA/FSs like they're certainties - then melt when they're not.

I would guess now, that the priorities - rightly or wrongly were:

• Get some mature bodies in the defensive section of the ground (Starc + Young)
• Use the extra CatA spots to get some AFL ready bodies in the midfield (Robertson, Macrae, Schoenberg)
• Take five picks in the draft
  • Get the best two in the draft with 1/2 (Duursma, CDT) - unless godfather offers for them came along.
    • Bid on Uwland and Dean
  • Pick for a spot of difference with our 3rd pick (Lindsay - for his kicking)
    • Have a go for Addinsall - not necessarily expecting it to work though
  • Take Williams and a high upside pick (S.Allen) with our remaining picks
• If any of our other FS/NGAs get through, then take one as a CatB*
• No idea what we'll do with the remaining rookie space, we'll know in a few minutes. It does sound like another SSP slot is most likely, but there is some good talent still in the rookie pool, so maybe?

*I don't know what Wes Walley has done that he's not been taken here, certain that Banfield or Evans would have been.

 

[TOA.]

Doesn't everyone leak to Twomey, which is why he's so accurate?

Regardless, we could have and should have made it impossible for Gold Coast to match. We had Picks 1 and 2, anything we realistically wanted with the three picks we had in the first round, we could have had. And Addinsall was realistic.

I agree but this was different to just being "interested in someone", which I think Twomey gets from agents not clubs BTW. This plan needed us to essentially sneak up and ambush GC, so they didnt expect the bid and compile so many points. It was quite a unique plan (and I like the thinking) but turned out to be poorly executed.

 

[Lach72]

I'm confused about Walley. I thought we did list him before the draft: https://www.afl.com.au/news/1454423/west-coast-eagles-academy-draft-hopefuls-aware-they-may-be-leaving-the-nest-says-wesley-walley#:~:text=Walley is among four players,big-bodied onballer Charlie Banfield

Now we have just changed our minds?

Maybe they’re going to SSP him to see of he can knuckle down

 

[BartBart]

Ultimately the Eagles aren't going to continue to be losers because they messed up a couple of things during the draft. What really matters is if they nail the high-impact draft picks in the first round and develop them properly. I at least feel encouraged with the signings of three mature-aged midfielders that the club has identified the Beagles' dreadfulness as a serious detriment to player development, so hopefully we we will be better in that area. Then it just comes down to whether players like Bo Allan, Duursma, CDT and Lindsay were the right players to take in those spots. If so, then missing out on Addinsall (who's far from a sure thing and most rankings rated him lower than Lindsay) and losing Banfield and Evans won't make much difference at all.

We have yet to see if we as fans can trust the club to be able to develop our younger players.

Problem is, we're not privy to the internal discusssions on what the club wants to do in the post-season. So we get half the information, then clutch on to things like NGA/FSs like they're certainties - then melt when they're not.

I would guess now, that the priorities - rightly or wrongly were:

• Get some mature bodies in the defensive section of the ground (Starc + Young)
• Use the extra CatA spots to get some AFL ready bodies in the midfield (Robertson, Macrae, Schoenberg)
• Take five picks in the draft
  • Get the best two in the draft with 1/2 (Duursma, CDT) - unless godfather offers for them came along.
    • Bid on Uwland and Dean
  • Pick for a spot of difference with our 3rd pick (Lindsay - for his kicking)
    • Have a go for Addinsall - not necessarily expecting it to work though
  • Take Williams and a high upside pick (S.Allen) with our remaining picks
• If any of our other FS/NGAs get through, then take one as a CatB*
• No idea what we'll do with the remaining rookie space, we'll know in a few minutes. It does sound like another SSP slot is most likely, but there is some good talent still in the rookie pool, so maybe?

*I don't know what Wes Walley has done that he's not been taken here, certain that Banfield or Evans would have been.

The reaction in the box after the Addinsall bid was matched strongly looked as if it we thought we were a very strong chance to get him.

 

[stallon]

I agree with most of this but think they got a bit greedy once they had successfully improved the draft picks by bidding to eliminate quite a few picks after the clubs involved had to match. Allen is a pure wingman who is injured while Banfield is also rated as a wingman but with much more to his game. There’s not much between them in terms of speed and endurance and in this situation the club would normally pick a local player. Somebody decided to take a punt on the chance they could get both if Banfield slid to the rookie draft. This was never on as the tip was the Saints were interested. Poor decision! They were never going to get all of the NGA players though as they simply did not make the space…..as you say.

From everything ive seen and heard since the draft Allen seems the FAR superior athlete, and likely far superior wingman with way more upside.

Allen slid due to his injury, many would argue Banfield was a bit of a reach by the saints 10-odd picks later

 

[bzparkes]

*I don't know what Wes Walley has done that he's not been taken here, certain that Banfield or Evans would have been.

The rules also changed this year, so he can stay in the NGA until he's 21. They might just get him to train as an SSP this offseason as he impressed last preseason. Can add him then(I think) or add him in the next draft after another development year.

 

[Lyyynnnchy]

People have been complaining for years we're not ruthless enough with senior players and their contracts(I agree) yet piss their pants when we pass on club-tied players because we don't rate them as high as non-club tied players.

Pick a lane.

I haven't moved lanes at all and neither have most

The bolded is exactly what everyone is complaining about. We should have been ruthless with Cripps, at least, so we could have an extra list spot

And we didn't "pass" on Banfield, we literally didn't have a spot to match the bid because we kept Cripps on the main list.

Stop justifying a major stuff up by the club

 

[jdisc]

does nominating mean we're obliged to take them? im not understanding the confusion

you have a vested interest in nominating as many players as you are realistically interested in who may gain interest from other clubs, no?

 

[Yeahnahmate]

A modern day poet once so eloquently said:

I don’t want no more NGAs
I want Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves

 

[bzparkes]

I haven't moved lanes at all and neither have most

The bolded is exactly what everyone is complaining about. We should have been ruthless with Cripps, at least, so we could have an extra list spot

And we didn't "pass" on Banfield, we literally didn't have a spot to match the bid because we kept Cripps on the main list.

Stop justifying a major stuff up by the club

They passed on Banfield because they said they'd take him and Evans if they made it to the rookie draft but they already had an idea they'd get bid on before then. Evans said it himself in his post-draft interview.

We didn't have a spot, because we were only ever taking 5 players. They prioritized others over Banfield.

Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it was a 'stuff up'.

Missing out on a late 2nd rounder in a weak draft because the club thought other players were better isn't a mistake.

Stop trying to paint it off as one, simply because you don't like what they did.

 

[Keys]

Of the many things I want the club to bottom out from this draft, is how Twomey and seemingly everyone else knew our plan to bid on Murray and Addinsall. The exact thing we needed to do to execute that plan to make it work, was to keep it under our hats but we had ***ing Twomey podcasting and writing about it a week out - God knows how long Gold Coast knew about it. Just chuck it on the pile of things that a competent club would have had under control - and it was clearly within our control.

If we were interested in Murray and/or Addinsall we would have to do some level of due diligence on them which would include meeting them at least once, maybe more

They are both Gold Coast Academy players so they would have been well aware of our interest

Now ask yourself this - Cal Twomey seemed completely across our intent to bid on them but very little, if any, knowledge about who our next option was if the bids were matched. Or who we might draft with our 4th pick, or if we’d even use it other than to match a bid on Williams

So the one part of our plans, other than the obvious picks of Duursma and CDT, he knew about was the GC bids

Maybe, he was fed the information on the bids by the Suns, along with their intention not to match - which would explain Twomey’s confidence that West Coast would get Addinsall

Just a thought

 

[Peptide Pig]

No chance we go for George Stevens given the priority given to athletics.

Shot put and discus are still track and field and George is stronk

 

[Lyyynnnchy]

From our 2025 list we lost:
• McGovern
• Sheed
• Hunt
• Ryan
• Allen
• Petruccelle
• Jamieson
• Chesser
• Rawlinson
• Livingstone

And added Starcevich and Young via trade

Mostly older players being replaced by draftees - 5 so far plus Walley today and maybe 1 more in the RD

An already young list got younger




From the moment we got those 4 extra rookie list spots the club identified those as allowing them to add some mature aged players and/or our NGAs

There was a clearly identified need to bring in experience which we’re doing with Robertson, Macrae and Schoenberg

Had Banfield not attracted a bid, he would be getting added to the rookie list which appears was always our intention

Had Evans not attracted a bid, he’d would be going on our Cat B list instead of Walley

The plan, whether people agree with it or not, was to bring in some top end talent through the draft with 4-5 picks, then build the age profile of the list through the rookie spots and add some extra young talent from our F/S and NGA players if they were available. Unfortunately they weren’t

And we decided not to create an opening by cutting deeper because it would make us even younger still





There’s only 8 players on our list from 2021 - we’ve swapped out 36 of 44 over 4 years with some players coming and going in that time span

We’ve turned over our list plenty and at some stage we need to take a breath and give those new faces time to develop

As of now 28 players have joined via the various drafts from 2021-25

You can’t just keep replacing older players with draftees because their development becomes compromised



Hence the need for those mid aged players to improve our depth - it creates competition for senior spots and improves the standard of our WAFL side, which helps development



Yes we do, but I doubt we wait until mid season to fill a spot

Latest would be early next year when the SSP window closes like we did with Brock

No one's arguing that we have turned over a lot of players or that we need some older heads

Being so general as to say, we have turned over enough players, we need to ensure we have some mature bodies around them, is all well and good but it's not drilling down deep enough. The specific point is that Cripps and Barnett won't offer anything at all next year, be it mature bodies around the contest or whatever else. Cripps is shot and Barnett is lucky to get a game with the Beagles

The 4 additional rookie spots is to get the mature bodies that will actually provide something next year

I'll let Barnett slide, if he miraculously comes good next year, he offers 6+ years of playing. Cripps is 1 season at most, not a chance of a game or more than that, over the chance, even if it's a low one of gaining a player who can make a difference to our side going forward

 

[Proeagle]

Eagles on the clock now for pick 1 in the rookie draft

LIVE FROM 3PM AEDT: Big names to be re-drafted, summer signings loom

Watch the 2025 Telstra Pre-Season and Rookie Drafts live on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live app on Friday, November 20

www.afl.com.au

We chose Fred Rodriguez yaaay.

 

[Yeahnahmate]

They’ve been on clock a while

 

[Mr Q]

I haven't moved lanes at all and neither have most

The bolded is exactly what everyone is complaining about. We should have been ruthless with Cripps, at least, so we could have an extra list spot

And we didn't "pass" on Banfield, we literally didn't have a spot to match the bid because we kept Cripps on the main list.

Stop justifying a major stuff up by the club

But this is only valid IF the club actually rated Banfield as a main list target. I think we now know the answer to that.

If they only rated him as "hey, he'll fit the bill for a Cat B rookie if he's still available" then everything makes sense.

By not making a space for him, we effectively did pass on him (unless we got him on a one year rookie contract), and if he got taken by someone else we said "good luck". I'd be surprised if he didn't know that prior to the night.

 

[archiemoses]

if they were passing they wouldnt wait 5 mins surely?