Game Day 2023 AFL Draft - The Late Male Edition

[arsesmart]

Lol, yes they did.

The biggest gap us general public have in understanding how to play any one position on the ground seems to be most commonly cavernous re the wing position. So many posts don't really rate overly highly in the footy IQ stakes.

 

[BrunoV]

I would place no weight, pun intended, on players not making it under Dew.

Wright (2014 pick 8 - Ess), Ah Chee (2015 pick 8 - Bris), Scrimshaw, Brodie, Bowes (2016 picks 7, 9, 10 - Haw, Freo, Gee) are 5 top 10 picks he couldn't find a way to utilise despite his team being horrible. That's not to say anything about the way he utilised the rest of his available talent.

I'm mindful of not seeing the draft as an objective and accurate ranking of quality, no such thing exists. But 5 picks is far too much to attribute to bad luck or coincidence.

If Dew was anything slightly to the positive side of appalling, GC would have been a finalist by 2022. If he was a good coach he would have made and won finals in 2021. 6 years in and there was nothing positive about GC that you could distinguish from maturity of another set of high picks.

He's a prime example of AFL boards not being able to tell the difference between inertia and stability.

Short version, you've wanted Sharp for a while. I would remain confident that there is a good reason for that.

 

[Bigger]

Sharp on exposed form won't even get close. I mean, Sharp isn't even on a list right now.

I'd be hoping Chapman, Stanley, Aish and O'Driscoll are well in front of him in the queue for wing incumbency.

Just quoting this for posterity. You have fought manfully the Henry corner but this Sharp stuff is taking the fight too far.

Jez is going to smoke the memory of Liam Henry. Just ******* destroy it and make us laugh out loud that we ever thought it necessary to defend the little leaver.

Trust me. You can be proud you were loyal but you’ll have a chuckle at yourself.

 

[Yeti]

So we won the trade period, we won the draft. Next we win pre-season.....

= profit?

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

So we won the trade period, we won the draft. Next we win pre-season.....

= profit?

Won the SSP period as well, 4 from 4 - next step we win the bottom half of the ladder - HUZZAH!!!

 

[ROGS]

What an ignorant post.

Entitled to my opinion and that is McDonald is just an OK player but doubt he is worth two first rounders Lets see how he goes this year and i will be in touch say August 2024

 

[more_of_bito]

Wasn’t Acres easily replaceable though?

And yes Acres is way better than Henry but still.

Ask that question again in 3 years. Acres was a great wing and had a great finals series. I don’t think him being on the park last year at Freo would have got us into the finals. He was a loss but everyone is replaceable and by 2025 would be interested if he’s still in the Blues best 23.

 

[Retzlaff]

I’ve got a feeling Simpson, Murphy and Delean could be a special draft haul for us. Simpson in particular looks like he will thrive in an elite environment. Murphy tested at the combine like Alex Pearce 2.0 minus the lower leg injuries; and Delean is a natural forward with an offensive game and more than a bit of swagger. Could be the 7 beers I’ve had this arvo but I’m bullish as hell on these three.

I also haven’t felt this bullish since our haul of Josh Simpson, Tanner Smith and Max Duffy back in 2012

 

[ubiquitous226]

I also haven’t felt this bullish since our haul of Josh Simpson, Tanner Smith and Max Duffy back in 2012

I liked Max!

 

[theGav56]

I’ve always maintained that to be our worst list management decisions in recent times.

The way I saw Henry was that his best games were just him finding himself uncontested in a lot of space meaning he would be a good option for that kick out of defence from say a Ryan who did the actual intercepting. His disposal again was rarely special. That to me is a lot more easily replaceable

Trading pick 4 for Hogan may give that a nudge.

 

[s_wd6]

Trading pick 4 for Hogan may give that a nudge.

Nah at least that had some sort of merit behind it. 25 year old WA key forward who had kicked 40+ basically every year. Filled a need.

Getting rid of a b22 player with no replacement and for a pick that ended up being 60 is the dumbest decision I can think of and there’s literally nothing that justifies it

 

[arsesmart]

Just quoting this for posterity. You have fought manfully the Henry corner but this Sharp stuff is taking the fight too far.

Jez is going to smoke the memory of Liam Henry. Just ******* destroy it and make us laugh out loud that we ever thought it necessary to defend the little leaver.

Trust me. You can be proud you were loyal but you’ll have a chuckle at yourself.

Henry? At the end of the day it's logically compatible to say Henry offered value last year, but that we can move on and improve as a team. But I did not mention Henry in that post.

Also, logically speaking, Sharp and Henry are different people and distinct from each other. Irrationally building up Sharp doesn't tear down Henry, nor vice versa. There's zero need or logic in conflating the two (albeit when you feel burnt we can tend to conflate things).

I've just looked very closely at a couple of Sharp's best games for GC (as a wing highlights often don't tell an accurate picture and his highlights at the level are sparse). As I said above he's got some developing to do. Nothing I've seen suggests he's anything but very ordinary in his decision-making, but I am hopeful he can improve.

 

[Dockeroo]

I reckon both sharp and Henry will be both be doing well to still be in the AFL system in 5 years time.
But at least sharp showed well in the time trials so he’s off to a good first impression anyway.

 

[Purple Suit]

I reckon both sharp and Henry will be both be doing well to still be in the AFL system in 5 years time.
But at least sharp showed well in the time trials so he’s off to a good first impression anyway.

Sharp needs to have a chat with Sam Menagola. He use to win time trials too and it took his third club till it all clicked. Let’s hope Sharp can figure it out at his second.

 

[theGav56]

Nah at least that had some sort of merit behind it. 25 year old WA key forward who had kicked 40+ basically every year. Filled a need.

Getting rid of a b22 player with no replacement and for a pick that ended up being 60 is the dumbest decision I can think of and there’s literally nothing that justifies it

The club clearly thought Sharp was coming when it stuffed up with Acres. Then they didn't get the deal done. It put things on hold for a season.

The Hogan debacle was a massive, self inflicted setback, and our due diligence was at fault.

 

[blue shark]

I reckon both sharp and Henry will be both be doing well to still be in the AFL system in 5 years time.
But at least sharp showed well in the time trials so he’s off to a good first impression anyway.

At least Sharp has speed, and can kick further
Few of our guys have a point to prove.
Any decent coach will use that.

 

[Hamann188]

The club clearly thought Sharp was coming when it stuffed up with Acres. Then they didn't get the deal done. It put things on hold for a season.

The Hogan debacle was a massive, self inflicted setback, and our due diligence was at fault.

I still maintain that Jesse would have worked out had we given him one more year.

I believe the due diligence was probably a little misguided, we probably thought we could work through his off field issues, which we couldn't in a short enough period.

Belly had to make an example of him that nobody is untouchable in the team in terms of unacceptable behavior and even though it probably was shooting ourselves in the foot, who do we become if we allow multiple transgression to slide just because you are a star (or in this case a "potential" star)? We become the Eagles.

I'd rather cop the flogging for a poor trade decision than turn into that.

 

[Dockeroo]

I still maintain that Jesse would have worked out had we given him one more year.

I believe the due diligence was probably a little misguided, we probably thought we could work through his off field issues, which we couldn't in a short enough period.

Belly had to make an example of him that nobody is untouchable in the team in terms of unacceptable behavior and even though it probably was shooting ourselves in the foot, who do we become if we allow multiple transgression to slide just because you are a star (or in this case a "potential" star)? We become the Eagles.

I'd rather cop the flogging for a poor trade decision than turn into that.

It’s a tricky dilemma
I thought we did the right thing on balance getting rid of hogan. He was a flog while he was here and had multiple indiscretions it wasn’t just one.

However I do wonder if we are now too clean cut and nice? All of the great teams in all sports have key guys that are wired differently. That are a handful to manage off the field. I’m convinced it’s part of what makes them great. You can’t have a team of 22 Caleb and Andy type characters. You need some yin to the yang.
Every team that wins anything seems to have one or two mavericks that sail close to the wind off the field.
Degoey
Stephen May
Oliver
Stengle
Even Richmond with Dustin Martin
The good eagles team of the 2000s. Hawthorn too.

You see it in other sports too all the time. Very rare a team made purely of cleanskins and model citizens win anything.
Perhaps it’s an intangible that contributes to the sum of the teams parts that can’t really be measured. I don’t know.
I’m not saying we should have kept hogan, but I wonder if JL has turned his back on these type of players a bit too much? I reckon he would be terrified to knowingly bring in a player with questionable off field antics in case they became too hard to manage. Sometimes you have to take a risk though.

 

[Bigger]

Henry? At the end of the day it's logically compatible to say Henry offered value last year, but that we can move on and improve as a team. But I did not mention Henry in that post.

Also, logically speaking, Sharp and Henry are different people and distinct from each other. Irrationally building up Sharp doesn't tear down Henry, nor vice versa. There's zero need or logic in conflating the two (albeit when you feel burnt we can tend to conflate things).

I've just looked very closely at a couple of Sharp's best games for GC (as a wing highlights often don't tell an accurate picture and his highlights at the level are sparse). As I said above he's got some developing to do. Nothing I've seen suggests he's anything but very ordinary in his decision-making, but I am hopeful he can improve.

Bit disingenuous to say you did not mention Henry in that post.

 

[arsesmart]

Bit disingenuous to say you did not mention Henry in that post.

Did I mention Henry in that post? Sorry. I thinks it must be in the invisible pixels you envisaged to concoct the story of intent you're projecting on me... instead of addressing the content of the visible pixels.

 

[sumavich]

Reckon Sharp will be fine. His 2nd shot, and as Walls said he was a 2 time All Australian in the underage. He’s got the ability, the last couple of years have been very tough. Being home could be the catalyst

 

[Orange crush]

The best clubs right now are going small in their forward line.
Collingwood & GWS would be my Top 2.
GWS just recruited another small with their first pick.
Good smalls like Collard, Hill, Shultz etc can make a massive difference.
Toby Greene etc

I’m not sure this is completely accurate …. We traded up to get Cadman at 1 and took the Gru as a 2nd tall the same draft. This year we went small, but that just balances things I think

 

[blue shark]

Reckon Sharp will be fine. His 2nd shot, and as Walls said he was a 2 time All Australian in the underage. He’s got the ability, the last couple of years have been very tough. Being home could be the catalyst

Could be the steal of the off season.
Second rounder cost us nothing.

 

[sumavich]

I’m not sure this is completely accurate …. We traded up to get Cadman at 1 and took the Gru as a 2nd tall the same draft. This year we went small, but that just balances things I think

You guys have been lucky that Hogan came good. He cost nothing. We had to go high to get amiss, and hogan trade cost us 2 to 3 years. Collingwood have a couple of talls, but their smalls are the danger

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

People like to see what they want to see. Can go back a year ago and Geelong won the flag with the two best KPFs in the comp. Melbourne won it with a dogshit forward line outside of Fritsch but incredible backline and midfield. You need a competitive advantage, with 18 blokes on a field, there are a lot of ways to get that advantage