Draft 2021 AFLW Draft discussion

[The_Wookie]

Hi guys,

the live Draft thread is now open here.

Draft - The 2021 AFLW National Draft, 6.45pm AEST on womens.afl & the AFLW app

Click for a Full list of drafted players >> ============================ The 2021 AFLW Draft will take place on Tuesday, July 27 in a virtual format, commencing at 6.45pm AEST on womens.afl and the AFLW Official App. Like last year, it will be a studio show, hosted by Nat Edwards, Sarah...

www.bigfooty.com

 

[PMBangers]

This is the best, great work GC Suns
Cats & Saints have been shafted

Would be the first time that the zone nomination has actually benefitted a Northern State side more than VIC sides to be fair, Gold Coast took the opportunity whilst the other two clubs sat on their hands assuming it was tied up, can't fault Suns here

 

[Stan Judkins]

Would be the first time that the zone nomination has actually benefitted a Northern State side more than VIC sides to be fair, Gold Coast took the opportunity whilst the other two clubs sat on their hands assuming it was tied up, can't fault Suns here

Yep good to see, probably have 3 bloody good players with their 1st 3 picks, Rowbottom, Levi & hopefully Pauga
They need them to be honest, list isn't great ATM
Saints & Cats must be thinking WTF just happened??? and running around with hands in the air & devastated looks on their faces
They must have been the hare, rather then the GC Suns who were the tortoise, oh well their loss

 

[BrutThough]

Great result. I do now however have to think with Patrikos & the Prespakis sisters all at different clubs. Essendon will likely pick up at least one, if not 2 when they come into the comp.

Any chance that scares Geelong off?

 

[PMBangers]

Any chance that scares Geelong off?

All messaging from Geelong has been they'll take best available which would be Prespakis

 

[Vacuous Space]

This is the best, great work GC Suns
Cats & Saints have been shafted

North have now effectively been pushed out four spots without moving. Two from the priority picks, one from GWS trading their pick to Carlton and now Rowbottom exiting the draft pool.

Worrying times for the clubs that have Patrikios & the Prespakis sisters

I mean, alarm bells were ringing the moment neither Maddy nor Georgia opted to extend their contracts.

 

[PMBangers]

Victorian clubs rocked as Suns pull off AFLW heist

Powerful midfielder Charlie Rowbottom, the sister of Sydney men’s player James, is heading to the Gold Coast to begin her AFLW journey.

www.theage.com.au

The Cats are tipped to take Prespakis, the sister of Carlton star Maddy, with their first pick. Tess Craven is in contention to head to the Saints.

Now that's interesting indeed, didn't expect Craven to be in contention that early

 

[Stan Judkins]

Victorian clubs rocked as Suns pull off AFLW heist

Powerful midfielder Charlie Rowbottom, the sister of Sydney men’s player James, is heading to the Gold Coast to begin her AFLW journey.

www.theage.com.au

Now that's interesting indeed, didn't expect Craven to be in contention that early

I wouldn't expect Saints to take Craven with Vic pick No 2
From their podcast the recruiter said "they have a need for speed & midfield depth coming into this year's NAB AFLW Draft."
If they want speed & midfield depth, that would be Stella Ried now, wouldn't it?

 

[PMBangers]

I wouldn't expect Saints to take Craven with Vic pick No 2
From their podcast the recruiter said "they have a need for speed & midfield depth coming into this year's NAB AFLW Draft."
If they want speed & midfield depth, that would be Stella Ried now, wouldn't it?

Unless they go REALLY left field and take Maykaylah Appleby , but yes I would've thought so

 

[Stan Judkins]

Unless they go REALLY left field and take Maykaylah Appleby , but yes I would've thought so

Ha ha, Maykaylah Appleby, now that's really left field for the Saints 1st pick, but not so left field for Dogs coach Nathan Burke's addiction for Northern Knights

 

[PMBangers]

Ha ha, Maykaylah Appleby, now that's really left field for the Saints 1st pick, but not so left field for Dogs coach Nathan Burke's addiction for Northern Knights

Those Knights are a good breed tbf

 

[Stan Judkins]

Unless they go REALLY left field and take Maykaylah Appleby , but yes I would've thought so

Actually, a player that is definitely in the running for Saints 1st pick would be Grace McRae, wasn't she high up in the coaches votes?

 

[Pie 4 Life]

So the special announcement for next week...

draftcentral.com.au

This domain may be for sale!

afl.draftcentral.com.au

 

[Jeremias]

So the special announcement for next week...

draftcentral.com.au

This domain may be for sale!

afl.draftcentral.com.au

Awesome. Looking forward to it.

 

[Vacuous Space]

Victorian clubs rocked as Suns pull off AFLW heist

Powerful midfielder Charlie Rowbottom, the sister of Sydney men’s player James, is heading to the Gold Coast to begin her AFLW journey.

www.theage.com.au

Now that's interesting indeed, didn't expect Craven to be in contention that early

Even if Craven doesn't go pick 4, at the very least, that news probably means she doesn't make it past pick 12. Prior to the Rowbottom news, I'd have thought Craven in contention for that pair of Carlton picks. It was interesting to hear the Dogs list manager on the CTTG pod say that they had a clear top-5, then a drop-off. Entirely likely that different teams have different draft boards, but it matched up with what I'd been thinking. I'd thought the top-5 to be Prespakis/Rowbottom/Reid/Slender/Friend, but maybe I've overrated someone in that group and underrated Craven.

I wouldn't expect Saints to take Craven with Vic pick No 2
From their podcast the recruiter said "they have a need for speed & midfield depth coming into this year's NAB AFLW Draft."
If they want speed & midfield depth, that would be Stella Ried now, wouldn't it?

Was that the CTTG Saints podcast? Because that didn't have any Saints people on, which I thought was disappointing until I heard the North ep, which made me want my 15 minutes back. At least the Saints discussion was interesting, even if I disagreed with a lot of it. In particular, I didn't get the speed thing. The Saints drafted the fastest player from the 2019 combine (Xenos) and Smith would have been close to the fastest if they'd actually run a combine last year. Kate McCarthy isn't losing many footraces. From my perspective, the Saints just need more good players, so just take the BPA - which is probably Reid anyway.

 

[PMBangers]

so just take the BPA - which is probably Reid anyway.

Yeah I'm in a few minds about the Saints. I had Rowbottom and Prespakis as a tier above the next 3, and the 3 of Slender, Friend and Reid are pretty close for me, so best available is more weighted towards what your preference or needs are. Without too much knowledge on the ins and outs of the Saints, I'd be going Slender with the view of putting her in the backline because that's the area I feel is weakest, especially for talls, for you guys, or possibly Friend to pair with Greiser. I think you're set mids wise, and would probably be better suited to hoping a Ling sort is available at your second first rounder for a mid anyway to release Smith or Patrikios to the outside

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

This has absolutely shattered me. Got all excited for Prespakis or Rowbottom. What’s the point of finishing so low if not to get a top 2 pick?

 

[Vacuous Space]

Yeah I'm in a few minds about the Saints. I had Rowbottom and Prespakis as a tier above the next 3, and the 3 of Slender, Friend and Reid are pretty close for me, so best available is more weighted towards what your preference or needs are. Without too much knowledge on the ins and outs of the Saints, I'd be going Slender with the view of putting her in the backline because that's the area I feel is weakest, especially for talls, for you guys, or possibly Friend to pair with Greiser. I think you're set mids wise, and would probably be better suited to hoping a Ling sort is available at your second first rounder for a mid anyway to release Smith or Patrikios to the outside

I just can't go past Reid. I don't think she's had a bad game all year. Even in the Falcons loss, she managed a goal and a decent amount of the footy, especially considering they had her up forward for most of the game. It's possible that Friend or Slender wind up better, but I think that's an unnecessary gamble.

Ling or somebody like that (Yassir, maybe?) at the second pick makes more sense to me if they're not confident in Vesely's health. I know you're not as keen, but I still like Gillard at that pick, even after the Price signing. I also think they should be taking a good look at Aurora Smith, particularly if they don't take Reid first.

 

[Cursed Cat]

This has absolutely shattered me. Got all excited for Prespakis or Rowbottom. What’s the point of finishing so low if not to get a top 2 pick?

Cats AFLW fans have been through all this before; we could have had a shot at Maddie Prespakis in our first crack at the draft - the Victorian Metro/Geelong region split only lasted a couple of years and it came in very late in the 2018 season; for months it looked like we'd get Prespakis and Nina Morrison, who were the consensus 1-2... oh well; at least we could look forward to local Falcons gun Lucy McEvoy joining the club in 2019 right? Nooooo. Lucky we had Nina coming back from that unlucky 1st knee injury and tough nut Liv Purcell developing strongly and becoming a young leader of the club

Women who participate in this competition are unable to make a legitimate living from their passion and talent for Aussie Rules; the trade-off for their commitment is a practical approach to player movement; hard to begrudge that even though it has burned my club a couple of times.

I think we'll take Georgie Prespakis @ #2 in this year's draft even though she looms as a potential ''flight risk'' - she'll likely leave after one season and yet hopefully both parties can benefit from her debut season at AFLW level in 2022.

The news that Tess Craven might be bound for St Kilda is a bit of a downer for Geelong fans, as a local inside mid she'd help mitigate the loss of Purcell.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Cats AFLW fans have been through all this before; we could have had a shot at Maddie Prespakis in our first crack at the draft - the Victorian Metro/Geelong region split only lasted a couple of years and it came in very late in the 2018 season; for months it looked like we'd get Prespakis and Nina Morrison, who were the consensus 1-2... oh well; at least we could look forward to local Falcons gun Lucy McEvoy joining the club in 2019 right? Nooooo. Lucky we had Nina coming back from that unlucky 1st knee injury and tough nut Liv Purcell developing strongly and becoming a young leader of the club

St Kilda are still getting whoever they deem to be the next best Victorian player though, so it's really not anything like Geelong's previous situation.

What’s the point of finishing so low if not to get a top 2 pick?

What is the point of a draft if the 11th-placed team gets better picks than the 14th-placed team?

 

[Stan Judkins]

This has absolutely shattered me. Got all excited for Prespakis or Rowbottom. What’s the point of finishing so low if not to get a top 2 pick?

No club is entitled to a player until they read out their name at the draft
You've still got Vic pick 2, unfortunately now you can't pick Rowbottom, simple as that
In this case, Saints went to sleep & GC Suns were the early bird that got the worm, all kudo's to them

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

No club is entitled to a player until they read out their name at the draft
You've still got Vic pick 2, unfortunately now you can't pick Rowbottom, simple as that
In this case, Saints went to sleep & GC Suns were the early bird that got the worm, all kudo's to them

yeah I'm just angry at St Kilda. Of course they'd find a way to choke that

 

[Vacuous Space]

yeah I'm just angry at St Kilda. Of course they'd find a way to choke that

Not sure it's fair to pin this one on the Saints. Everything St Kilda could offer would be attached to 'if Geelong don't take you'. Gold Coast could say 'we want to take you and here's what's in it for you'. It's not like this part of St Kilda has a history of catastrophic draft failures either.

 

[Vacuous Space]

It's interesting what the official website is still calling as 'current picks'. We've had final list lodgements. I believe the only possible pre-draft changes that can happen now are players moving to the inactive list (like Duffy). After you take out the picks teams don't have a list spot for, the current picks look more like this:

Adelaide: 17, 20, 34 (SA 1-3)
Brisbane: 18, 35, 46, 53, 57 (QLD 4, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Carlton: 10, 11, 23, 26, 29 (VIC 6, 7, 14, 16, 23)
Collingwood: 29, 32, 33 (VIC 19, 20, 21)
Fremantle: 12, 31, 38, 44, 52, 58 (WA 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11)
Geelong: 2, 7, 9, 15 (VIC 1, 4, 5, 10)
Gold Coast: 1, 6, 8, 30 (QLD 1, 2, 3, 5)
GWS: 37, 49, 55, 59, 60, 61 (NSW 1-6)
Melbourne: 41, 42, 45 (VIC 24, 25, 27)
North Melbourne: 13, 19, 28, 43, 51, 56 (VIC 9, 12, 18, 26, 30, 32)
Richmond: 5, 16, 48, 50, 54 (VIC 3, 11, 28, 29, 31)
St Kilda: 4, 12, 36 (VIC 2, 8, 22)
West Coast: 3, 21, 24, 40, 47 (WA 1, 3, 4, 7, 9)
Western Bulldogs: 19, 25, 27 (VIC 13, 15, 17)

Technically, Geelong should have two more picks (47 and 55), but they've indicated they're going to sign VFL players, so I've taken those out.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Not sure it's fair to pin this one on the Saints. Everything St Kilda could offer would be attached to 'if Geelong don't take you'. Gold Coast could say 'we want to take you and here's what's in it for you'.

I agree. Gold Coast's multiple top 10 priority picks appeared to be totally useless when announced. I find it hard to believe that the AFL would grant those picks without ensuring they would count for something (be it in the form of a big trade or... getting certain draftees to nominate for the QLD zone).