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Opinion 2023 AFL Draft Prospects

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dav1d
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Who do you want for our first pick at the AFL Draft?


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    104
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This feels like a realistic best case scenario to me:

Darcy Wilson with our first pick
Trade Brisbane’s first rounder into next year
Match Croft
Trade back in to the second round with a future pick and take someone like Clay Hall, Kane McAuliffe, or Sam Frangalas

Two mids, Croft, and a good draft hand next year.
 
Right now a lot of teams like to run a trio of a very skilled type, a bull, and a burst mid. Bont, Libba, Treloar for us.

Looking into the future, Baz should be that burst mid. West has bull tendencies, but he’s not big. We don’t have that silky skilled type coming through. I’d love us to draft both a bull and a great kicking skilled type, and some extra pace wouldn’t hurt at all.
Viney isn't big either. Nor was Selwood or Clay Smith. West just needs to be given a chance.
Could Caleb be our skilled midfielder ?
 
In today’s age

Interesting that the vast majority of those have a birthday in the first six months of the year. A handful in the September quarter and only one of the 25 (Leake, ranked 20) has a birthday in the final quarter of the year. And even that was only just - he was born on 2 October.

At an age when kids are rapidly turning into men this distribution is surely no accident.

Moral: look for some value in late developing kids with birthdays in October November and December.

Dalrymple was onto this a decade ago. Bontempelli being a classic example.
 

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Interesting that there is three rucks in the top 25, would we, should we?
Never want to draft a ruck again. Either rookie a state league Ruck or trade for one.
No point drafting one when they either never come on or get traded out after putting in the effort to develop them.
Personally, if English goes I'd prefer to bring in a stop gap and try to develop Darcy & Croft to split Ruck/Forward, like a more talented Cox, Cameron combo.
 
Never want to draft a ruck again. Either rookie a state league Ruck or trade for one.
No point drafting one when they either never come on or get traded out after putting in the effort to develop them.
Personally, if English goes I'd prefer to bring in a stop gap and try to develop Darcy & Croft to split Ruck/Forward, like a more talented Cox, Cameron combo.
We’ve already go the best state league ruck.
 
Interesting that there is three rucks in the top 25, would we, should we?
No for me - consider Sean Darcy in the 2nd round, then Draper, Marshall and McInerney taken in the rookie draft. All in Tim English's year.

One of those rucks is tied to the Suns academy anyway
 

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After matching all their bids on their 3 academy players it would drop 3 spots
Doubt all three get bid inside the top 5 picks. Even then if they did, pick 8 is still better than our best pick being pushed out to 15 or more where we will be pushed out of Wilson territory. Might be the best chance to nab one of the top four mids in this draft.

If someone stupidly overpays for an injury prone and average defender in McKay (then they are idiots). But I doubt it will happen. North fans are overrating him in thinking someone will offer a contract north of 800k for him. But IF they end up getting compensated with Pick 3 for him, and then also convince the AFL to allow them to exploit a loop hole to get Sanders. Then our first pick will be pushed back 4 spots, and technically can argue a fifth if Sanders is removed from the pool.

Now if Eagles request a priority pick from the AFL, in which I think they will. What if they get rewarded with one?

North, and Eagles will be rewarded for crap list management at the expense of others trying to fill gaps in their list. Those two and the Suns will own the draft. It is honestly lining up to be the most compromised draft since the expansion teams really.
 
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Doubt all three get bid inside the top 5 picks. Even then if they did, pick 8 is still better than our best pick being pushed out to 15 or more. If North get a high end pick for McKay, and then we have three bids for GC, thats 4 spots we get pushed down. If AFL grants North access to Sanders, the third best MID in this draft. Access to him outside the draft, by exploiting a loop hole. Then you can technically say we have now been pushed back a 5th spot, due to one high end talent being removed from the pool. It is lining up to be the most compromised draft since the expansion teams came in.

Watch North potentially get gifted from the AFL with a hand of Picks 2, 3 and Sanders.
It is Compromised draft but what can you do we have gotten lucky With JUH and Darcy
 
It is Compromised draft but what can you do we have gotten lucky With JUH and Darcy
Of course we cannot complain. JUH yes we were fortunate. And I have no issue with FS picks in general. The jury is still out on both of them as well. We won't know how lucky we were until the end of their careers really.

But even those two drafts were no where near as compromised as this one may potentially be as a whole. I have no issue with NGA and FS stuff directly for any teams at all.

I like the nostalgia of the whole FS thing. Hardly many have gone on to be A graders anyway. Fans and teams sooked about teams with NGA access based on the JUH pick alone. The AFL changed it to no bids matched inside the top 40, now the same teams and fans are sooking because they want access to NGA players again.

But if North get pick 3 for an average player, then it shows the AFL free agency comp system is flawed and should have been corrected long ago with the Buddy saga where the Hawks got screwed in compo for the best forward in the game since Carey. Then IF the Eagles get rewarded a priority pick for being crap due to their own poor list and fitness management. And IF North are successful with claiming Sanders, which they should have dealt with that years ago. But only chose to act once they realized he is actually a good player. Those three things are not in the same ball park.
 
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Of course we cannot complain. JUH yes, but I have no issue with FS picks in general. Jury still out on both of them as well.

But even those two drafts were no where near as compromised as this one may potentially be as a whole. I have no issue with NGA and FS stuff directly for any teams at all.

But if North get pick 3 for an average player, then it shows the AFL free agency comp system is flawed and should have been corrected long ago with the Buddy saga. If Eagles get rewarded a priority pick for being crap due to their own poor list and fitness management. And if North are successful with claiming Sanders, which they should have dealt with that years ago, but only chose to act once they realized he is actually a good player. Those three things are not in the same ball park.
The AFL will give North Melbourne pick 3 if McKay left they make the rules up as they go.
 

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Of course we cannot complain. JUH yes we were fortunate. And I have no issue with FS picks in general. The jury is still out on both of them as well. We won't know how lucky we were until the end of their careers really.

But even those two drafts were no where near as compromised as this one may potentially be as a whole. I have no issue with NGA and FS stuff directly for any teams at all.

I like the nostalgia of the whole FS thing. Hardly many have gone on to be A graders anyway. Fans and teams sooked about teams with NGA access based on the JUH pick alone. The AFL changed it to no bids matched inside the top 40, now the same teams and fans are sooking because they want access to NGA players again.

But if North get pick 3 for an average player, then it shows the AFL free agency comp system is flawed and should have been corrected long ago with the Buddy saga where the Hawks got screwed in compo for the best forward in the game since Carey. Then IF the Eagles get rewarded a priority pick for being crap due to their own poor list and fitness management. And IF North are successful with claiming Sanders, which they should have dealt with that years ago. But only chose to act once they realized he is actually a good player. Those three things are not in the same ball park.
I don’t get this Sanders talk I haven’t really read about it - so Norf not only want him to be added to their academy (on what grounds? Why isn’t he already apart of it) but then they want special treatment to draft him inside the top 40?

How does go and get ****ed sound? Surely the AFL can’t be that compromised that you they can make decisions like that on the fly - but we all know they can and will.

Would be an absolute joke
 
Fox Footy Article

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Draft picks:
14, 16, 35, 67, 70, 71

List chasm: Do the Dogs double down on a key defensive prospect? They took Jedd Busslinger with their first pick last year, but the reality is Liam Jones, 32, is the oldest player on their list, while Alex Keath, 31, and Ryan Gardner don’t fill that intercept void. It’s clear the Dogs, too, prefer Aaron Naughton to play as a forward, while Sam Darcy looms has also been played as a forward-ruck amid his fair share of injuries.

Ideal draft prospects: There’s a few key defenders in the middle to late first-round mix. If Connor O’Sullivan wasn’t there, the Dogs could look at exciting 200cm backman Ollie Murphy, who won Vic Metro’s MVP award. He’s raw and would need lots of development — but that might work in the Dogs’ favour over the coming years considering the state of play with their current key defensive stocks. The Dogs should also be asked to match a first-round bid on athletic 200cm father-son prospect Jordan Croft, whose dad Matthew played 186 games for the club. Croft is speedy and agile, yet also an accurate kick in front of goal. Considering the Bulldogs have Picks 14 and 16 — and Croft is considered a mid to late first-round prospect — it’ll be fascinating to see how the club approaches the off-season. Ideally for the Dogs, they pick up a smaller/hybrid type with one natural pick, a key-position defender with the other and a bid on Croft comes after that.
 
What is this ridiculous talk that the AFL are going to grant Sanders to North as a pre-draft access pick? On top of the McKay pick, the draft is completely ruined in the top end. North essentially receiving two top 5 picks for free (McKay is incredibly average).

So basically they're going to potentially wind up with Watson, McKercher & Sanders from one single draft pick. What a shambolic organisation the AFL is. We'll be lucky if our two first round picks end up in the top 20 at this rate. When you add in the GC academy boys, most of the top 12 are a lock to go certain clubs already.
 
What is this ridiculous talk that the AFL are going to grant Sanders to North as a pre-draft access pick? On top of the McKay pick, the draft is completely ruined in the top end. North essentially receiving two top 5 picks for free (McKay is incredibly average).

So basically they're going to potentially wind up with Watson, McKercher & Sanders from one single draft pick. What a shambolic organisation the AFL is. We'll be lucky if our two first round picks end up in the top 20 at this rate. When you add in the GC academy boys, most of the top 12 are a lock to go certain clubs already.
That is what North want. Surely the AFL don't tick it off. If they do it makes a mockery of an already broken Free agency and NGA system.
 

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