Draft Expert PMBangers 2025 Draft Thread

[The_General#1]

Off the top of my head; Greeves, Rodriguez, Onley, NHH, Taj Murray, Jasper Hay, Kalani White, Hetherton, Walley all missed out on the ND

Thx. I could be wrong but that seems like more than usual. Strange draft.

The other thing I can never understand is how so many players get drafted out of WAFL colts when it’s a sub par comp. The better players stand out cause the majority are . Or SANFL ressies. Not good enough for the 1s. But good enough for AFL.

 

[King Patty]

Dees can just list Kalani White as a rookie now under father son?

 

[Demon 16]

Dees can just list Kalani White as a rookie now under father son?

Yep.

 

[TJG1996]

Hi Bangers,

Big fan of your work as always - unsure if you rate Taj Murray - could go and have a look in the thread, but whatever - do you think he was stiff not to get picked up? Not a lot of 200cm kids can move through traffic like he does, wondering why a player like CDT (with obviously more runs on the board) goes at 2 in the open draft, but Murray can't get a look in from any of the 18 clubs.

I feel like there's a failure on the league as a whole to leave kids as athletic and talented kids on the board when they're the ones who could benefit from the rookie list the most, when most clubs are using it as a rule following exercise and salary shuffler.

 

[PMBangers]

Hi Bangers,

Big fan of your work as always - unsure if you rate Taj Murray - could go and have a look in the thread, but whatever - do you think he was stiff not to get picked up? Not a lot of 200cm kids can move through traffic like he does, wondering why a player like CDT (with obviously more runs on the board) goes at 2 in the open draft, but Murray can't get a look in from any of the 18 clubs.

I feel like there's a failure on the league as a whole to leave kids as athletic and talented kids on the board when they're the ones who could benefit from the rookie list the most, when most clubs are using it as a rule following exercise and salary shuffler.

Traits wise there was heaps to work with for Murray and I'd argue there was more upside with him than Emmett, Ludowyke and definitely Curtin.

At a deeper level I feel there's a failure on the league in their development pathways in NT overall tbh, and KPPs as well given they need more attention and specialised training to develop properly.

My tangent-y take is if the AFL is serious about keeping first nations and diverse people in the game they need to add list spots specifically for those that qualify, and they should do the same for KPPs in a way that operates like the rookie list (can only be on there for a set amount of time, and only once) given KPP specific development is pretty poor outside of AFL clubs

 

[tenderwarrior]

PMBangers with GCS getting all five of their academy prospects, how do you rate each of them value-wise for where they ended up going in the draft?

 

[PMBangers]

PMBangers with GCS getting all five of their academy prospects, how do you rate each of them value-wise for where they ended up going in the draft?

Uwland, Murray and Patterson were good value, Addinsall felt a bit early but considering the picks they used it balanced out to good value. Coulson ended up being free from my understanding so hard to argue that one

 

[dean33]

PMBangers love your work. Thoughts on the tigers draft haul this year?

 

[PMBangers]

PMBangers love your work. Thoughts on the tigers draft haul this year?

Think the Tigs did the best with what they had, I wouldve gone Robey over Cumming but can understand why Sam would be prefered, and Grlj was the perfect pick imo

 

[THE_GUN]

Think the Tigs did the best with what they had, I wouldve gone Robey over Cumming but can understand why Sam would be prefered, and Grlj was the perfect pick imo

I think the Tigers like most other teams see Robey as a foward first then some mid time and Richmond took 3 talls in Armstrong , Faull & Sims and already have Fawcett who is looking good and decided to go pure mid in Cumming

I like Robey but i love Cumming more and was hoping for the Cumming/Robey combo
but Grlj does fit a desperate need and Richmond decided to go full on speed with the 4 picks and looking at doing the same with the last Rookie spot

 

[King Patty]

At a deeper level I feel there's a failure on the league in their development pathways in NT overall tbh, and KPPs as well given they need more attention and specialised training to develop properly.

so your keen for the indigenous rookie list?

It does seem that VIC clubs are more focused on the ethnic kids that qualify in the Victorian zone and not really bothering with the NT. Like for the Bombers it took Munkara coming down and playing SANFL to take a risk on him and that was only a cat B spot in the end.

I was hoping we would get the indigenous rookie pick this year.
I wouldn't make it Cat B zone only or have a age limit.
Can pick indigenous talent from anywhere.
But clubs can prelist indigenous academy players if miss out on draft straight to indigneous rookie list.

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

I have enjoyed the Eagles fans on twitter post 7pm last night, but if I was in the Eagles shoes I wouldve made the exact same decision, I was really enamoured by Williams at the Champs with, obviously his athleticism, but also his cleanliness and disposal, whereas I only see 2 AFL traits in Evans (Athleticism and contested game) and maybe 1 with Banfield, so to me Williams is the most likely to make it of the 3.

Obviously biased.
But reckon WC will rue not having Banfield & Boxshall on their list.

 

[Heaps of fun]

so your keen for the indigenous rookie list?

It does seem that VIC clubs are more focused on the ethnic kids that qualify in the Victorian zone and not really bothering with the NT. Like for the Bombers it took Munkara coming down and playing SANFL to take a risk on him and that was only a cat B spot in the end.

I was hoping we would get the indigenous rookie pick this year.
I wouldn't make it Cat B zone only or have a age limit.
Can pick indigenous talent from anywhere.
But clubs can prelist indigenous academy players if miss out on draft straight to indigneous rookie list.

I forgot about Munkara, he was all the craze on BF for a year.

 

[mattyc75]

Obviously biased.
But reckon WC will rue not having Banfield & Boxshall on their list.

Boxshall is different but yeah we shouldve done everything we couldve to get banfield on our list
And it wouldn't have been hard. Move cripps to the rookie list

 

[jdstorm]

so your keen for the indigenous rookie list?

It does seem that VIC clubs are more focused on the ethnic kids that qualify in the Victorian zone and not really bothering with the NT. Like for the Bombers it took Munkara coming down and playing SANFL to take a risk on him and that was only a cat B spot in the end.

I was hoping we would get the indigenous rookie pick this year.
I wouldn't make it Cat B zone only or have a age limit.
Can pick indigenous talent from anywhere.
But clubs can prelist indigenous academy players if miss out on draft straight to indigneous rookie list.

I think one of the biggest challenges many indigenous players face is adapting from remote rural NT life to Melbourne city life.

It’s just an extra hurdle players face and for clubs to have to navigate. Clubs typically try and navigate as few hurdles as possible.

some form of Quota system where 4-6 extra list spots got created only for indigenous players and put some sort of salary cap mechanism in place that incentiveses clubs not to just rotate through the cheapest players possible in those spots and let’s see what happens.

My guess would be good things