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Better than.

Yeah. That doesn't mean they were gifted a flag. See above.

No one is gifted a flag. WC had first-round picks but they didn't work out. They need to go and nail a few drafts.

Hard times for the blue and gold Chtulu.

WC are bound for their first ground zero rebuild. Maybe not this year. Maybe not next year. But it's coming. Thank heavens we won a flag without three guns in Naitanui, Gaff and Sheppard. We went 3-0 against Collingwood that year. We spanked Richmond by 50 points. And we destroyed Melbourne...

We "rebuilt" for 3 years and then played in a PF in 2011, because we still had some older superstars like Cox, Kerr and Glass. This won't be like that. I actually think we might have a period of 4-5 years without finals unless we nail the next 2-3 drafts. Sketch a WC best 22 born 1993 or...

He'll coach out his contract. I think we both expect that? Barrass will be a FA who would be Band 1 or Band 2. Agreed. The cliff is coming. I just don't think we'll do anything dramatic to accelerate it. We need to nail some drafts.

But what are you talking about in practical terms? At some point in the next year or so, the pivot towards youth will happen, by necessity. In the medium term, WC desperately need 2-3 good drafts. Currently, Duggan is the youngest player on our list that we drafted in the first round. That was...

Simpson won't be sacked early. And I doubt WC will endorse "sliding down the ladder". WC just need to start nailing some early picks. Anything more dramatic than that is overdoing it. There is a cliff coming anyway. That slide will happen naturally.

Good luck with that.

Good luck with that.

In terms of list management, West Coast's greatest shortcoming has been its inability to draft and develop midfielders. Now would be a good time to turn that around. They need badly to pull a few rabbits out of the hat, otherwise it could get ugly.

No rebuild. https://www.afl.com.au/news/686910/one-more-year-west-coast-greats-ink-new-deals It's going to need to be a pretty aggressive pivot some time after that. Good thing we just delisted our most recent first-round draftee.

So although there are questions marks about many young players, which is inevitable, NM are more advanced in terms of rebuilding through youth, which is also unsurprising.

So I'd suggest Hawthorn are at least 3 drafts away from us having a real idea of how their next decent side will look.

What would each team's best 22 look like, if limited to players born 1996 or later? So basically, 25 or younger at the start of next year. I did a similar exercise for WC recently and it's not pretty.

If Hawthorn played finals, still relying on that older group, would that indicate a successful rebuild?

Adelaide are probably more advanced in their rebuild but that can change quickly.

WC have done nothing to indicate they will start the season expecting to miss finals and instead blood kids. Either way, Simpson is contracted until the end of 2024, so any talk of him being sacked is fanciful. That basically takes him through to the start of a major rebuild.

No major clean-out at WC and Hurn and Kennedy will go around again. This year's draft looms as particularly vital. Desperately need to get the first-round selection right. As for 2022, it looks like the last ride before a partial reset at the very least. Could be a long year if they don't start...

Doesn't look like any rebuild is on the cards just yet. Some old blokes poised to play on, some youngsters out the door. They'd want to start 2022 strongly. The best 22 will still have plenty of talent but it will probably be the oldest in the league.

No kidding.

Sure, they're not mutually exclusive.

I disagree. Nailing early picks is key.

Does Melbourne winning a flag make a case either way? I don't buy the argument that they turned it around quickly, despite finishing 17th in 2019. The list build took several years. But it also shows it can be done if you draft well.

Seriously? That's crazy talk. It's true that Melbpurne finished 17th in 2019 but they made a PF in 2018. Their trajectory was heading upwards overall. They were not a club at rock bottom in 2019.

Surely we're not using Brownlow votes as a metric. FMD. Besides, you already rated NicNat above Gawn. Three weeks ago, you didn't even have Gawn in the best 10 players in the comp. Apparently Aaron Naughton has Gawn covered as well, despite finishing behind more than a dozen in the Coleman this...

The AFL website's rolling coverage of their own event is awful. Do these guys not know how to run a live blog?

But you rate Naitanui above Gawn.

Your rationale for Naughton being top 10 was that he's the "most dangerous forward in what might be the best team in the comp". I don't think that makes any case at all. Does the same rationale hold true for Melbourne's most dangerous forward? Melbourne might be the best team in the comp. So...