Dr Tigris
Brownlow Medallist
Fair point. I just think we desperately need pace and something different in the middle - especially as Taranto and Hopper still have 4-5 years left.
I'm no draft expert - but from the descriptions, Robey, Grjl, and Cumming seem to fit the bill.
IMHO you must look at least 5 years ahead with the draft. By then Hopper and TT will be gone, or just about gone. We'll need to fill our midfield out. So Sharp would be perfect as a foil for Lalor and Smillie, and freeing up and feeding our faster players.
But we also need speed and skill.
And we need to fill roles on the flanks etc.
There is a range of things we need for the future.
So for 2025 we need to strengthen the long term squad, in whatever ways give us the best bang for the next decade. That is a balance of risk, potential, role and our future plans. i.e. who we think we will pick up next year will impact this year. e.g. if 2026 has a lot of skilled runners then outside speed is not such a pressing issue. Which FA's we think might be available will impact on who we go for. I would certainly go Sharp if available as he is as close to a certain B+/A grader as you will get. Grilj = run and carry we need. Robey is super high level potential, but does he fill a list hole and how likely do we think he'll be that good?(Footy dept, not BF). Cumming is a really good looking all round mid, but is he as good as Sharp? And, of course, WC might not pick CDT - who is an elite talent.
The 2025 draft might fix some speed problems. But that is not absolutely necessary for the next year or two. What we really need is to build the best talent we can, and then we fill in the holes. Last year we went for the highest level talent for the spine and midfield. This year I wonder if we will still go highest return. That's Robey and Grilj probably - CDT if available. But maybe we will look to safely fill holes to ensure the team will work long term - Sharp and Cumming probably. Then X Taylor is around. interesting year for us.





