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

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Hawthorn was actually rolling with four key forwards for much of the second half of the year (Gunston, Lewis, Chol, Dear).

 

[TerryFilk]

Hawthorn was actually rolling with four key forwards for much of the second half of the year (Gunston, Lewis, Chol, Dear).

Ditched it for a reason and they can afford to play with 3 talls though because one of them is the secondary ruck + they have an elite group of smalls and very dynamic players across the ground.

 

[pantskyle]

The article doesn’t state that Essendon’s offer of 2 top 10 picks was for pick 1 only, you’re speculating. It suggests that Essendon were prepared to offer 2 top 10 picks but didn’t bother to formalise it because it became apparent the price for pick 2 was something akin to the price for pick 1, which price was higher than 2 top 10 picks.

The article doesn’t state we were trying to move up for Sharp, it says we were trying to move up for the Sharp pick i.e. the pick Essendon used on Sharp. It’s certainly open to interpretation that we were trying to move up for Dovaston not Sharp.

I personally did not hear we were trying to trade up for Sharp and I know we rated Doveston around that spot.

 

[wce_all_da_way]

I personally did not hear we were trying to trade up for Sharp and I know we rated Doveston around that spot.

Trading up with Sharp on the board and taking anyone else would have led to some very tasty reading here.

 

[pantskyle]

Trading up with Sharp on the board and taking anyone else would have led to some very tasty reading here.

Delicious.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

The Walter situation is interesting, if he’s in and out of the team, I have little doubt he’ll look to leave and we’d be his preferred landing spot - he turned down Carlton this past off season, he likes comments all the time about him and West Coast too haha.

But if we got him there’d be significant balance issues here, we’ll probably be forcing CDT into the team fairly quickly along with Archer, Flynn, Waterman and Shanahan, adding Walter into that mix makes things pretty tough, becomes less tough if Archer becomes a genuine #1 ruck but he’s likely 3-4 years away from that if ever.

Would Waterman look elsewhere if we wanted Walter? Given his age and the clubs timeline, maybe… but seems unlikely still, so there’d be a pretty big logjam.

The cost to get Walter would be high. I'd rather spend that capital on a gun mid rookie, or an established quality midfielder, based on the reasons you've set out above.

 

[Coasters7]

The cost to get Walter would be high. I'd rather spend that capital on a gun mid rookie, or an established quality midfielder, based on the reasons you've set out above.

I don’t think it would be. If he’s seen as gettable it’s because he barely played in the seniors all year and that would be two years in a row.

I wouldn’t be offering much for that, and if that’s their expectation for a bloke they don’t play, who would also be unhappy by that point, then goodluck to them.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

I don’t think it would be. If he’s seen as gettable it’s because he barely played in the seniors all year and that would be two years in a row.

I wouldn’t be offering much for that, and if that’s their expectation for a bloke they don’t play, who would also be unhappy by that point, then goodluck to them.

He's played 14 and 16 games in his two seasons so far. They clearly rate him.

Yes that added JUH, but that was a free swing, and if he gets his head together it allows them to let King walk in free agency (adding a first round pick), and frees up space again for Walter.

 

[Mattman93]

From the Swans behind the draft video, who is who

View attachment 2485791

How reliable do we suppose this actually is? CDT (presumably) at 10 is certainly interesting.

 

[bzparkes]

How reliable do we suppose this actually is? CDT (presumably) at 10 is certainly interesting.

Swans have never been good historically at actually picking talls, which is why they keep trading for them.

 

[WCE_Phill]

I know where disappointed around the strategy around the draft, list spots, burning FR2, banners ect

But on reflection, seeing press conferences and looking into the draftee

I got a sneaky feeling that we'll look back on this draft in 5 years and a main drivers in on field success

I gonna go on a limb and say we got 5 best 22 players!

 

[steve hucka]

Hopefully the Eagles are going to do a draft day Video. Like other clubs have done recently....

 

[Eastern Rangers]

How reliable do we suppose this actually is? CDT (presumably) at 10 is certainly interesting.

Why is CDT at 10 surprising?

I know some posters proclaimed without evidence of that every club has him top 5 in the draft.

 

[Mattman93]

Why is CDT at 10 surprising?

I know some posters proclaimed without evidence of that every club has him top 5 in the draft.

Didn't say surprising.

As I've said a few times, I'm very unconvinced by CDT in general and even more so as the right pick for us.

 

[In The Rod We Trust]

How reliable do we suppose this actually is? CDT (presumably) at 10 is certainly interesting.

I suspect every club would be different in the way that they grade players. As an organisation Sydney don't seem to rate talls or rate them well so perhaps they have a lower calculation on talls.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

I suspect every club would be different in the way that they grade players. As an organisation Sydney don't seem to rate talls or rate them well so perhaps they have a lower calculation on talls.

With CDT his ranking will be determined all on the likelihood of him hitting his potential (which i assume all rated highly). The difference between him being 2nd or 10th is probably the difference between thinking he's an 90% chance to hit his optimal outcome or a 70% chance to hit his optimal outcome.

 

[Rowan18]

I suspect every club would be different in the way that they grade players. As an organisation Sydney don't seem to rate talls or rate them well so perhaps they have a lower calculation on talls.

It can also be dependent on their needs. They've got Grundy and Curnow, so not looking for a forward/Ruck

 

[Keys]

There’s an article on Code Sports that goes into detail on how Gold Coast were able to successfully match all the bids on their academy players and also draft Avery Thomas

It highlights that planning was made two years in advance in the knowledge that this year’s crop was going to be particularly strong. With that in mind they built their own draft simulator/points calculator to plan out what they needed.

The trades of a number of players this year and last, plus their willingness to empty out virtually their entire 2026 draft hand to secure points this year were key to their success

In a way, it should really be no surprise that the club with the most experience at manipulating draft points is/was the best at doing it.

The article highlights just how incredulous the journalist on some of the pick swaps for points that, in reality, were kinda obvious with a reasonable knowledge of how the points are calculated - in particular, the way late picks increase in value as earlier picks get wiped out

It means you get paragraphs like this

West Coast was shocked when Gold Coast chose to match its bid on Addinsall at pick 18 after doing the exact same thing only minutes earlier when the Eagles called Murray’s name.

Rival clubs not clued into the Suns’ ultimate strategy were convinced there was no way they could successfully match bids on all five of their academy-tied players and yet by the end of night two, Gold Coast had not only achieved that feat but also added Tasmanian defender Avery Thomas.

When he says “rival clubs were shocked” read journalists.

Where the article is useful is in how it explains the suns were within 5 points of not being able to pull of their draft strategy (which included landing Thomas)

Instead they called Thomas’ name – and although that made Coulson nervous, he need not have been. Because the Suns had run the numbers through the simulator and knew if the midfielder’s name was called next at pick 29 they still had the draft capital to match.

If a bid came at 29 for Coulson the Suns needed 431 DVI points to match and they had 436 to play with. Those measly five spare points were even less than the difference between picks 53 and 54 – the final two selections with value attached to them.

The 5 points left scenario didn’t play out in reality - it was only a theoretical one if a bid came for Coulson as early as pick 29. Turns out it didn’t come until pick 46 so in reality they had 436 points to spare

So they were always going to be able to match a bid on Addinsall, even if we’d bid on Patterson at pick 3.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

Did the article go through how those draft picks increased in points as bids were made? Tried to find the final draft order post all the pick trades just before the draft, but can't locate it.

 

[TY24]

So they were always going to be able to match a bid on Addinsall, even if we’d bid on Patterson at pick 3.

Gee that'll ruffle a few feathers

 

[amazingjoshy]

There’s an article on Code Sports that goes into detail on how Gold Coast were able to successfully match all the bids on their academy players and also draft Avery Thomas

It highlights that planning was made two years in advance in the knowledge that this year’s crop was going to be particularly strong. With that in mind they built their own draft simulator/points calculator to plan out what they needed.

The trades of a number of players this year and last, plus their willingness to empty out virtually their entire 2026 draft hand to secure points this year were key to their success

In a way, it should really be no surprise that the club with the most experience at manipulating draft points is/was the best at doing it.

The article highlights just how incredulous the journalist on some of the pick swaps for points that, in reality, were kinda obvious with a reasonable knowledge of how the points are calculated - in particular, the way late picks increase in value as earlier picks get wiped out

It means you get paragraphs like this



When he says “rival clubs were shocked” read journalists.

Where the article is useful is in how it explains the suns were within 5 points of not being able to pull of their draft strategy (which included landing Thomas)



The 5 points left scenario didn’t play out in reality - it was only a theoretical one if a bid came for Coulson as early as pick 29. Turns out it didn’t come until pick 46 so in reality they had 436 points to spare

So they were always going to be able to match a bid on Addinsall, even if we’d bid on Patterson at pick 3.

https://archive.is/8UOaS

This is the article (unlocked) I think

Would've thought all clubs are using some sort of software in this day and age tbh

 

[PRANKSTER666]

Would've thought all clubs are using some sort of software in this day and age tbh

Yeah, we have always been ahead of the curve is this area...

View attachment ms paint.webp

 

[shooshka]

There’s an article on Code Sports that goes into detail on how Gold Coast were able to successfully match all the bids on their academy players and also draft Avery Thomas

It highlights that planning was made two years in advance in the knowledge that this year’s crop was going to be particularly strong. With that in mind they built their own draft simulator/points calculator to plan out what they needed.

The trades of a number of players this year and last, plus their willingness to empty out virtually their entire 2026 draft hand to secure points this year were key to their success

In a way, it should really be no surprise that the club with the most experience at manipulating draft points is/was the best at doing it.

The article highlights just how incredulous the journalist on some of the pick swaps for points that, in reality, were kinda obvious with a reasonable knowledge of how the points are calculated - in particular, the way late picks increase in value as earlier picks get wiped out

It means you get paragraphs like this



When he says “rival clubs were shocked” read journalists.

Where the article is useful is in how it explains the suns were within 5 points of not being able to pull of their draft strategy (which included landing Thomas)



The 5 points left scenario didn’t play out in reality - it was only a theoretical one if a bid came for Coulson as early as pick 29. Turns out it didn’t come until pick 46 so in reality they had 436 points to spare

So they were always going to be able to match a bid on Addinsall, even if we’d bid on Patterson at pick 3.

Quite possibly the reason we tried a number of times to trade up from 13 (or 19 as it ended up) using a F2 (I’m assuming we only ever offered the Saints’ pick) - which we eventually did with the Hawks.

An Addinsal bid at 14 or 15 may have had a different outcome.

 

[Mr Q]

So they were always going to be able to match a bid on Addinsall, even if we’d bid on Patterson at pick 3.

It was also worth doing so that they actually paid the value of the Academy players (as best we could). If everyone just left Murray and Addinsall on the table, then GC would have still got them, but they would have also had a bunch of other picks to use.

 

[CoastersFlag No.5]

We obviously wanted to upgrade our own picks by forcing Gold Coast to use up their stockpile of picks I think getting Josh Lindsay out of it plus CDT makes it a win. As long as Sam Allen comes out of his ACL well it's pretty much a win.