List Mgmt. 2026 List management - pt.1

[MOLTEN GANGLANDS]

I wasnt extrapolating for 100% I was extrapolating to 80%

extrapolating has too many syllables

 

[Teflon]

It’s great feedback for Pou
I’m sure Joey knows what he’s doing providing it but it was very honest to the point of…not sure he’ll make it asa. Contest mid …
IF he doesn’t …what is he ?

 

[littlecreatures]

Yes he played as a mid in those games as 20 year old

Captain Paddy finding a different and new meaning to his circle jerk

 

[ThomasR]

It’s great feedback for Pou
I’m sure Joey knows what he’s doing providing it but it was very honest to the point of…not sure he’ll make it asa. Contest mid …
IF he doesn’t …what is he ?

just watched it, the compilation of his overhead handballs was particularly damning

I have been avoiding collecting this receipt as it's still premature. but after his purple patch at the end of '24 I got pilloried by all and sundry on here for suggesting we should trade him to the Crows as his stocks would never be higher, and I had doubts on him eventually becoming an A grade mid, for the exact same reasons that have been highlighted lately. for pick 4 in a "superdraft" and Rachele I think it was. good luck getting either of them now let alone both

that subtle aversion to contact has always been there and it's a hard one to train out. he hides it pretty well, like the guy at work who is always looking busy but not doing much. but once you see it, it's very hard to unsee. so often he runs to very low percentage spots around contests where he is unlikely to impact. but he is there, split stepping, flailing, corralling and looking like he wants to be involved. but never a step ahead of the play and working out where the dangerous space actually is, or physically imposing himself

for someone so gifted aerially he also has an annoying penchant to run under the flight of the ball, or turn around and attempt to rove an uncontested oppo mark

that is not to say he is soft, from behind the comfort of my keyboard. it's a brutal game. but compare his attack on the ball to someone like Boxshall (maniac), it's night and day and hard to see that gap closing. it's why I think Boxy - and even moreso his mate Banfield - are more likely to become that A grade inside mid over time, despite having many more flaws in their games than Pou at present. the non-negotiables are covered

that's fine, there are plenty of other positions on the field where it's less important, and he has some unique attributes. he's not the only one either, Wilson is in a similar boat. Brad Hill is about to become a life member. but we need to settle him somewhere else, as he's not showing the improvement required right now to play the role

and like I said 18 months ago, I will be more than happy if he makes a complete fool out of me and steps up. I also once thought Kozzie Pickett was the worst player to ever set foot on an AFL field, so it wouldn't be the first time

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Imagine if we had drafted a guy with concussions issues who is one bad knock away from retirement.

Didn't Trainor just have the one concussion in the finals during his draft year? I don't think this is anything like a Mattress situation.

 

[stfan]

That was some really good feedback for Pou. The footage of those awful over the head handballs, just take the contact and do the simple thing. He's overcomplicating it.

Still reckon he can make it as a mid but just wouldn't mind him simplifying it for a bit, shovelling out simple hands and not trying to make something awesome happen every time.

Trying to do the incredible to often was a bad flaw of Gresh's too.

I think Pou is too wrapped up in his own mind of being a freak player.

He just needs for now to concentrate on playing good effective football, and forget the highlight reel focus.

 

[stavro#4]

Not sure Trav was that high on any other club's hit list .... would have slipped out to late teens I reckon

I am just not sold on his decision making & skills .... solid VFL / Country football vibes

That's me .... hope I am wrong

Travaglia arguably had the smallest range bar the guys who went top 3-4. He was universally expected to go in that 8-10 range.

His game and impact was purely down to a big tank and a huge appetite for competition where he could execute the fundamentals really well plus had huge versatility due to his size.

His game wasn’t built on a leap or some insane speed. It’s a pretty transferable talent set.

Take Tauru for instance and he was as high as pick 2 and as low as pick 10 but he was flying up draft boards as the Bont of the class. A could be anything from a key forward star to a Jeremy McGovern interceptor with some insane intercept stats never seen before at the level.

Ultimately Tauru has played 14 games. Travaglia has played 12 - but really only 11 as he never got subbed on in one game and a few of those were as sub.


They are absolute babies in AFL terms.

 

[Ricmel]

Agreed. You can see the benefit that dropping guys back to the VFL to find form and confidence has. It's why Garcia is already more effective as a mid than pou. Box will come back hungry and desperate to firm up a spot. Both these guys already show more defensive intent and look better inside mid propositions. I do think Pou has them covered up forward tho

Right now, all the "kids" - Pou, Wilson, Garcia, Box, Banfield, Trav, Tauru etc - have the benefit of some time. Hope they all make it, some showing better signs than others.

I just hope that the club and supporters do not fall into the Billings, Clark, Coff, Acres etc trap of holding on to players for dear life on the basis that some day they will break out and go from C grade to A grade. Not many players with 50-70 games under their belt suddenly become another player altogether.

I mean after nearly 10 years there are still some supporters in here waiting for Clark to break out. The pre-season thread had just about every Saints player under the age of 23 making All Australian this year.

The club (and supporters) need to be objective and take a fail fast approach to list management.

 

[gringo2011]

Travaglia arguably had the smallest range bar the guys who went top 3-4. He was universally expected to go in that 8-10 range.

His game and impact was purely down to a big tank and a huge appetite for competition where he could execute the fundamentals really well plus had huge versatility due to his size.

His game wasn’t built on a leap or some insane speed. It’s a pretty transferable talent set.

Take Tauru for instance and he was as high as pick 2 and as low as pick 10 but he was flying up draft boards as the Bont of the class. A could be anything from a key forward star to a Jeremy McGovern interceptor with some insane intercept stats never seen before at the level.

Ultimately Tauru has played 14 games. Travaglia has played 12 - but really only 11 as he never got subbed on in one game and a few of those were as sub.


They are absolute babies in AFL terms.

He was just off the top rung with guys like Lindsay but ahead of the more speculative types. We sat in a bit of an awkward spot unfortunately. Too early to jump on the speculative ones and too late to get the absolute cream.

 

[stavro#4]

He was just off the top rung with guys like Lindsay but ahead of the more speculative types. We sat in a bit of an awkward spot unfortunately. Too early to jump on the speculative ones and too late to get the absolute cream.

I’m not concerned with either pick.

If anything the move I think we should have tried to make - is going back in with so much talent on the board in the second round or even moved the Barrat pick higher.

(I know we tried to send our F1 in for Berry and he looks very vanilla at the minute)

 

[beside the seaside]

He was just off the top rung with guys like Lindsay but ahead of the more speculative types. We sat in a bit of an awkward spot unfortunately. Too early to jump on the speculative ones and too late to get the absolute cream.

You know what's kind of funny. Everyone was talking about how crap the 2025 draft was compared to 2024, but Duff-Tytler and Duursma look unbelievable for the Eagles!

A couple of guys taken above ours have been injury impacted and have done nothing too in Smillie and Draper.

Looking down the list Reid is the obvious one that would have been nice to land, Shanahan a great get for the Eagles and almost drifted to our pick (two picks off).

Langford would have been very handy.

 

[SaintsofSteel]

Joey on 1st crack just took aim at Pou and his form, also said he's not sure Pou will make it as a mid

Pou's lack of inside physicality worries me, particularly for a kid wanting to become a midfielder.

I have said it before but he should be getting ripped by the club for the no look over the head handballs. Very few advantage the team, it looks like he doesnt want to take on tacklers, it looks timid and panicking. His pressure acts or lack thereof are no where near the base line for a midfielder. Then there is his distinct lack of hurt with and without the footy.

He might make it, but he needs to start doing the tough things required of a midfielder. Otherwise he is simply going to spend his career floating in and out of games as a half forward.

Hopefully he does get there and quickly, as we desparately need these kids we are putting all our time and resources into to start having impacts.

 

[gringo2011]

Right now, all the "kids" - Pou, Wilson, Garcia, Box, Banfield, Trav, Tauru etc - have the benefit of some time. Hope they all make it, some showing better signs than others.

I just hope that the club and supporters do not fall into the Billings, Clark, Coff, Acres etc trap of holding on to players for dear life on the basis that some day they will break out and go from C grade to A grade. Not many players with 50-70 games under their belt suddenly become another player altogether.

I mean after nearly 10 years there are still some supporters in here waiting for Clark to break out. The pre-season thread had just about every Saints player under the age of 23 making All Australian this year.

The club (and supporters) need to be objective and take a fail fast approach to list management.

We have a deeper pool of young talent this time. Probably lucky if one in 10 becomes elite and you'd expect 2 out of every 10 to not make it. The middle pool usually range from A and B graders to GOPs. We are also finding a few outside the first round.

Kids like Hall, Boxshall, Garcia etc all look equally as likely as our FRDPs. The problem back then was that we weren't adding enough talent to push them out.

We have one elite player (Nas), a few A graders- Wilkie, Sincs, Hall, a bunch of Bs - TDK, Flanders, Higgins, Windy, Owens, Hill, Wilson, You, Silvagni etc.

The list is much much better than it has been in a long while. If we can get King back and guys currently inconsistent move up to push into B grade, we should improve fast. Need a bit of injury luck too.

 

[gringo2011]

You know what's kind of funny. Everyone was talking about how crap the 2025 draft was compared to 2024, but Duff-Tytler and Duursma look unbelievable for the Eagles!

A couple of guys taken above ours have been injury impacted and have done nothing too in Smillie and Draper.

Looking down the list Reid is the obvious one that would have been nice to land, Shanahan a great get for the Eagles and almost drifted to our pick (two picks off).

Langford would have been very handy.

I considered 2024 super deep but a soft front end compared to some years. So far it just looks like a very good draft all round.I think I said a lot of the best talent would be in the late teens and 20s. 2025 was the opposite with a good front end and then a pretty even lot of unremarkable talent outside the first round.

 

[The Punter]

Pou's lack of inside physicality worries me, particularly for a kid wanting to become a midfielder.

I have said it before but he should be getting ripped by the club for the no look over the head handballs. Very few advantage the team, it looks like he doesnt want to take on tacklers, it looks timid and panicking. His pressure acts or lack thereof are no where near the base line for a midfielder. Then there is his distinct lack of hurt with and without the footy.

He might make it, but he needs to start doing the tough things required of a midfielder. Otherwise he is simply going to spend his career floating in and out of games as a half forward.

Hopefully he does get there and quickly, as we desparately need these kids we are putting all our time and resources into to start having impacts.

He might be getting internal criticism for that. We don't know. If you want to see him getting "ripped by the club", then that is not so much about Pou getting better.

 

[beside the seaside]

I considered 2024 super deep but a soft front end compared to some years. So far it just looks like a very good draft all round.I think I said a lot of the best talent would be in the late teens and 20s. 2025 was the opposite with a good front end and then a pretty even lot of unremarkable talent outside the first round.

Watching Barratt last weekend he may end up surprising a few (including me). Looked very composed. Whether that translates to AFL we'll see.

Box was a really nice late pick for us.

 

[gringo2011]

Pou's lack of inside physicality worries me, particularly for a kid wanting to become a midfielder.

I have said it before but he should be getting ripped by the club for the no look over the head handballs. Very few advantage the team, it looks like he doesnt want to take on tacklers, it looks timid and panicking. His pressure acts or lack thereof are no where near the base line for a midfielder. Then there is his distinct lack of hurt with and without the footy.

He might make it, but he needs to start doing the tough things required of a midfielder. Otherwise he is simply going to spend his career floating in and out of games as a half forward.

Hopefully he does get there and quickly, as we desparately need these kids we are putting all our time and resources into to start having impacts.

Why is everyone jumping off him? I'm pretty sure he's still winning more contested ball than our other mids. His blind hand balling is a bad habit but he's probably played less than a dozen games as a mid. We don't have any other mids available with Macrae, Dow and Clark all down.

He's kept up with the best midfield in footy for 3/4 of last week. It's not the 1980s anymore. You don't need to bash and crash. Keeping your feet and playing two way footy is much more benefit that hip and shouldering everyone around you.

Composure, skills under pressure, working your way through heavy traffic and learning set plays to get the ball outside all come with game time and experience.

No guarantee any player makes it but every match played in the middle at AFL level is probably probably worth 10 at VFL level. This is fast tracking his development. The coaches must think that he's the one worth putting the time into. They'd know more than most of us.

 

[The Punter]

Why is everyone jumping off him? I'm pretty sure he's still winning more contested ball than our other mids. His blind hand balling is a bad habit but he's probably played less than a dozen games as a mid. We don't have any other mids available with Macrae, Dow and Clark all down.

He's kept up with the best midfield in footy for 3/4 of last week. It's not the 1980s anymore. You don't need to bash and crash. Keeping your feet and playing two way footy is much more benefit that hip and shouldering everyone around you.

Composure, skills under pressure, working your way through heavy traffic and learning set plays to get the ball outside all come with game time and experience.

No guarantee any player makes it but every match played in the middle at AFL level is probably probably worth 10 at VFL level. This is fast tracking his development. The coaches must think that he's the one worth putting the time into. They'd know more than most of us.

There was one in the third quarter where he burst from stoppage and kicked long on his right foot. It's not hard to see the possibilities. I'm with others: he needs serious continuity.

 

[beside the seaside]

Why is everyone jumping off him? I'm pretty sure he's still winning more contested ball than our other mids. His blind hand balling is a bad habit but he's probably played less than a dozen games as a mid. We don't have any other mids available with Macrae, Dow and Clark all down.

He's kept up with the best midfield in footy for 3/4 of last week. It's not the 1980s anymore. You don't need to bash and crash. Keeping your feet and playing two way footy is much more benefit that hip and shouldering everyone around you.

Composure, skills under pressure, working your way through heavy traffic and learning set plays to get the ball outside all come with game time and experience.

No guarantee any player makes it but every match played in the middle at AFL level is probably probably worth 10 at VFL level. This is fast tracking his development. The coaches must think that he's the one worth putting the time into. They'd know more than most of us.

It's the weekly news cycle of footy. Someone has to be to blame for a loss. He's this weeks scapegoat.

 

[stavro#4]

Why is everyone jumping off him? I'm pretty sure he's still winning more contested ball than our other mids. His blind hand balling is a bad habit but he's probably played less than a dozen games as a mid. We don't have any other mids available with Macrae, Dow and Clark all down.

He's kept up with the best midfield in footy for 3/4 of last week. It's not the 1980s anymore. You don't need to bash and crash. Keeping your feet and playing two way footy is much more benefit that hip and shouldering everyone around you.

Composure, skills under pressure, working your way through heavy traffic and learning set plays to get the ball outside all come with game time and experience.

No guarantee any player makes it but every match played in the middle at AFL level is probably probably worth 10 at VFL level. This is fast tracking his development. The coaches must think that he's the one worth putting the time into. They'd know more than most of us.

Is the blind handballing a habit or is it evidence that he can see the game unfolding and other midfielders aren’t on that wave length.

The amount of times in opening round Daicos & the Pies shot blind over the head handballs that they just ran onto and the crowd got their balls tickled watching it - is that a poor habit or a team in the same wavelength?

I agree at times he should collect and take the tackle. But this is a very new part of his game and it makes me wonder if he is trying to keep the ball alive while drawing in the tackler and avoiding the HtB.

There needs to be better balance to it aswell.

 

[gringo2011]

Is the blind handballing a habit or is it evidence that he can see the game unfolding and other midfielders aren’t on that wave length.

The amount of times in opening round Daicos & the Pies shot blind over the head handballs that they just ran onto and the crowd got their balls tickled watching it - is that a poor habit or a team in the same wavelength?

I agree at times he should collect and take the tackle. But this is a very new part of his game and it makes me wonder if he is trying to keep the ball alive while drawing in the tackler and avoiding the HtB.

There needs to be better balance to it aswell.

Definitely. Fine line between brilliance and stupidity sometimes. In a side full of elite experienced mids maybe it looks like genius. Probably for now he needs to watch it.

 

[Saintbloke]

A lot of skillful players will pick up possessions in most positions on the ground.. exceptions being maybe a small forward in the ruck, or a bulky tall fullback playing as a goal sneak. The history of the game shows that some players are a natural in a certain position- a natural mid, a natural KP player, a natural winger etc. Young guys like Boxshall and Garcia are looking like natural mids with the animal instinct and body on the line attitude, where Pou looks like a skillful forward playing in the midfield. We need Pou in the forward half where we are struggling at the moment, he is a natural forward ffs.

 

[SG34]

Is the blind handballing a habit or is it evidence that he can see the game unfolding and other midfielders aren’t on that wave length.

The amount of times in opening round Daicos & the Pies shot blind over the head handballs that they just ran onto and the crowd got their balls tickled watching it - is that a poor habit or a team in the same wavelength?

I agree at times he should collect and take the tackle. But this is a very new part of his game and it makes me wonder if he is trying to keep the ball alive while drawing in the tackler and avoiding the HtB.

There needs to be better balance to it aswell.

I wonder if it’s part of the new ‘fast-game’ mantra? Same for Marshall’s mortars.
If Pou held on to the ball and allowed himself to get trapped in likely expectation of another ball up, it looks pretty ordinary, percentage football (almost like rugby league to my untrained eye) and the game slows down.

I think a lot of the ‘fast game’ tactics will settle down. (If it is indeed what is happening)

 

[Ads734]

The Pou thing is purely timing. It’s reps and timing. With certain guys especially guys who have jiggles, sometimes it takes a block of games to get back to the speed of AFL.

I find Clark is like that. Once he has a block of 4-5 games you notice his decision making really improve.

I think Pou is like that. Against the lions you could see his timing and ball winning get better.

I know it’s psychological too but I do believe once he gets to 30 touches for the first time we’ll see some strong growth. It’s like a silent glass cieling. Windy was like that.

 

[stavro#4]

I wonder if it’s part of the new ‘fast-game’ mantra? Same for Marshall’s mortars.
If Pou held on to the ball and allowed himself to get trapped in likely expectation of another ball up, it looks pretty ordinary, percentage football (almost like rugby league to my untrained eye) and the game slows down.

I think a lot of the ‘fast game’ tactics will settle down. (If it is indeed what is happening)

It’s all possible.

It’s a young midfield group working it out and they haven’t been able to do 4 quarters of it yet.