Brilliant analysis
Richter.... what I get out of all that is that we have more than just the bones of a very good side. This in itself is amazing considering where most of us considered the list was positioned in the 2012/13 pre season.
I'd probably argue that Dunstan should be considered a probable A Grade talent. Acres highly promising, numerous others looking very likely to be very good AFL players (if not A Grade)- Newnes, Saunders, Curren, etc.
Absolutely no doubt that adding a key forward is paramount. We're pretty fortunate that our rebuild is occurring now rather than in the Suns/Giants set up era. I still think we're likely to finish no higher than 5th last & give us a crack at one of the key talls.
As I posted yesterday in response to Ike... I believe the club is ahead of schedule in terms of the rebuild. Last year's trading & drafting brought in 9 young players that all have the opportunity to become long term Saints. I don't think Pelchen & Bains could have predicted this when the draft strategy letter was sent. Maybe they had ear marked someone like Joey should be traded as well....
In a draft that is considered to be reasonably strong & deep at this very early stage, you would expect that clubs will only trade picks if a deal comes along that is very strong. So I expect that we will be more conservative, select 3 or 4 'live' selections, upgrade Eli & possibly Mav & see if there are any delisted free agents that fit into the plan.
I'd be happy if the club kept Armo & Gilby.... drafted 4 new kids, upgraded a few & went into 2015 with a similar list but without a few GOP's that are unlikely to be best 22 circa 2017 (TDL, Sippo, Milera, Maister, CJ are all in the gun)