List Mgmt. Draft thread - 2025 (remaining picks: 29, 34)

[Keys]

Live draft hand
R1: 1 (Duursma), 4 (CDT), 19 (Lindsay)
R2: 29, 34
RD: 1

Draft picks pre-draft
R1: 1, 2, 13
R2: 34, 41
RD: 1

List spots available
Main list: 2 (includes Duursma, CDT, Lindsay)
Cat A Rookie list: 1 (expecting Robertson, Macrae and Schoenberg to join as SSP signings)
Cat B Rookie list: 1

Draft order

Spoiler

Draft prospect video highlights (thanks to noobermensch)

Rookie Me Central 2025 Draft Guide

2025 AFL Draft Guide

online.fliphtml5.com

Matthew Clarke on Gettable 17/11

Spoiler

Cal Twomey’s Phantom Draft

Spoiler

 

[Underdog]

Nah developing a successful, winning mentality with the development squad is pretty important IMO. If the WAFL didn't saddle us with ammo top ups it would be a different story.

Last article I saw on this topic said that we were some way off the caps for salary and points. I also suspect that we have talent ID issues which comes back to our lack of investment into the WAFL setup. There are plenty of country footballers that should be WAFL players.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Drafting players to be depth for our WAFL side is everything that is wrong with that setup. I mean it's good having these extra spots but for it to make sure we don't get flogged in the WAFL is just stupid.

We have 4 extra rookie spots, if you think this assistance package is so we can go deeper in the rookie draft in the hope we unearth a talent, you're taking the wrong approach.

We have a very young team that needs development which won't happen if the Beagles are getting flogged every week. Drafting players for depth - be it someone like Blamires from the VFL or giving a delisted player a second shot (Schoenberg, Hobbs, Berry, Blight) - will add more value to our developing side while also probably having a better chance at success than a late rookie draft pick from a shallow draft.

 

[Underdog]

We have 4 extra rookie spots, if you think this assistance package is so we can go deeper in the rookie draft in the hope we unearth a talent

I think it is. Those rookie picks can be high risk / high reward, so we're giving ourselves more opportunity to find a diamond in the rough.

If we need mid talent to top up the WAFL, we should be recruiting them outside the AFL system. We have the money and points available to do so. They would even get a job with the club or sponsor.

 

[eaglevision]

In his post trade week interviews, Clarke said one of their objectives was to get a third pick inside the top 15 which they achieved as part of the Starcevich trade - taking out the priority pick that was effectively for Starcevich we gave up what was then 16 and 23 for 23,34 and 52

I think there’s little doubt we intend to use that pick and will try to move it further up the order if possible although that looks unlikely due to the limited options

What we do with our later picks is less certain although with only 5 main list spots open (per Clarke) the picks we have (34,41,53,58) is two too many - if those picks aren’t consolidated or traded into 2026 the two late R3 picks will vanish into the ether

Looking through mocks and the picks lost due to bid matching for the Queensland clubs picks 34 and 41 move up to 30 and 37 areas which would be enough points to match a bid at pick 18 onwards.

Or we could trade 34 and 41 now to Gold Coast for pick 29 which would give them an extra 101 points

Where our NGA players and Banfield fit in to all this I’ve no idea. If we get to our 4th pick overall without having to match a bid, do we use it on someone like Curtin, Swadling, Rodriguez or another interstate option

Do we expect bids to come? Williams seems likely to have one at some point, but with Twomey suggesting only 44-57 picks likely to be used could Williams be the only one to attract a bid

Trade up for that Gold Coast pick (29) to use as a fourth draft selection and hold 53 to match a late bid on Williams. Then add Banfield (Cat A) and Evans (Cat B) as rookies post draft

That’s 7 spots filled, leaving two remaining to add mature aged players to the rookie list

Delisting Livingstone would open up another list spot on the rookie list which could be used to list Walley or add another player via the RD or as a SSP signing

We’ll have a better idea on bids closer to the draft but taking a fourth live selection possibly means missing Williams or Banfield. As it stands I’d hope it falls something like this:

2,13 for 5,6
34 for F2 (SYD)
41 for F2 (ADEL)

53, 58 I estimate will come into 44, 47

1-Duursma
5-Sharp
6-Cumming
44, 47-Williams match
80-Banfield match
Cat A: Champion, Robertson, Lual, Cripps/Swallow
Cat B: Evans, Walley

Assuming current Cat As are: Hutchinson, Brock, McCarthy, Newton

 

[twce13]

We’ll have a better idea on bids closer to the draft but taking a fourth live selection possibly means missing Williams or Banfield. As it stands I’d hope it falls something like this:

2,13 for 5,6
34 for F2 (SYD)
41 for F2 (ADEL)

53, 58 I estimate will come into 44, 47

1-Duursma
5-Sharp
6-Cumming
44, 47-Williams match
80-Banfield match
Cat A: Champion, Robertson, Lual, Cripps/Swallow
Cat B: Evans, Walley

Assuming current Cat As are: Hutchinson, Brock, McCarthy, Newton

We would need 6 or 7 spots to have access to 53 and 58. As it stands I think we have trouble trading out pick 53 or 58.

 

[Mr Q]

This point can't be made enough. Seems to me that most other reserves sides are genuine standalone teams in their own right. We lose most games even with afl players in the team, can't even imagine how bad it would be if we had another injury crisis or something and beagles had to stand on their own.

Problem with reserves for us is that we have four choices:

• Standalone WAFL side as per Beagles - but the WAFL puts a lot of restrictions around that which makes it hard to get a reasonable team together.
• WAFL alignment (as per Dockers/Peel or former Eagles alignments with EP/Perth) - which gets the full team setup, but you don't have anywhere near the control over the use of the players as the aligned club's primary focus is winning the WAFL, not building the aligned AFL club's player base up.
• Having the players all over the place in the WAFL as per the old days - but then they don't play together. And again, less control over how the players are used. Probably even less than with an alignment.
• Move the ressies into the national reserves - which would give us the same deal as the east coast clubs, but the sheer cost is prohibitive to send a second team travelling (and you know that the travel weeks would not be aligned).

Every option here is shit.

 

[eaglevision]

We would need 6 or 7 spots to have access to 53 and 58. As it stands I think we have trouble trading out pick 53 or 58.

Sorry it wasn’t clear but we only have 5 main list spots so pre draft we trade the 34 and 41 for the F2s so we carry in 1,5,6,53,58. 53 and 58 are held and come into 44 and 47 (or so) by the time we need to match a bid.

 

[Farmer Lister]

Last article I saw on this topic said that we were some way off the caps for salary and points. I also suspect that we have talent ID issues which comes back to our lack of investment into the WAFL setup. There are plenty of country footballers that should be WAFL players.

If that's true then the hubris from such a rich club not properly investing in the WAFL side is appalling. Hopefully that's more a fault of the old guard and Pyke and co have made it more of a priority.

I quite enjoy watching the Beagles play but it seems like there is hardly any info/updates from the club about what's happening with the team.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

I think it is. Those rookie picks can be high risk / high reward, so we're giving ourselves more opportunity to find a diamond in the rough.

If we need mid talent to top up the WAFL, we should be recruiting them outside the AFL system. We have the money and points available to do so. They would even get a job with the club or sponsor.

Who was the last rookie list player we drafted who had any career of note?

Talent scouting is such a science now that its very very unlikely someone taken as a very late rookie pick can be the next Cox, Priddis, McGovern, Fletcher, QLynch. Add that there's now 18 clubs, meaning the talent is spread even thinner and it becomes a very low percentage play looking for gems in the rookie draft.

While I agree that it would be ideal to take these depth players via the WAFL system, the reality is that nobody wants to play for the Beagles because they're a development squad, not a genuine WAFL club.

 

[Hook461123]

Who was the last rookie list player we drafted who had any career of note?

Talent scouting is such a science now that its very very unlikely someone taken as a very late rookie pick can be the next Cox, Priddis, McGovern, Fletcher, QLynch. Add that there's now 18 clubs, meaning the talent is spread even thinner and it becomes a very low percentage play looking for gems in the rookie draft.

While I agree that it would be ideal to take these depth players via the WAFL system, the reality is that nobody wants to play for the Beagles because they're a development squad, not a genuine WAFL club.

McCarthy looks pretty good.

Newcombe, Durham, Josh Tracey, Patrick Voss, J Buckley, McVee, Liam Baker, Housten, Papley, Sinclair

Plenty of good rookie listed still in the AFL

 

[Underdog]

Who was the last rookie list player we drafted who had any career of note?

Talent scouting is such a science now that its very very unlikely someone taken as a very late rookie pick can be the next Cox, Priddis, McGovern, Fletcher, QLynch. Add that there's now 18 clubs, meaning the talent is spread even thinner and it becomes a very low percentage play looking for gems in the rookie draft.

While I agree that it would be ideal to take these depth players via the WAFL system, the reality is that nobody wants to play for the Beagles because they're a development squad, not a genuine WAFL club.

There's not a lot of fresh selections, and lots of redrafted players, but there is still value to be picked.

2019: Brad Close
2019: Connor Budarick
2020: Josh Treacy
2020: Jack Ginnivan
2020: Lachlan McNeil
2021: Ned Long
2021: Karl Worner
2021: Patrick Voss
2021: Ollie Dempsey
2021: Judd McVee
2022: Seth Campbell
2022: Tylar Young

Can't really get any more recent than that (even 2022 is stretching it)

 

[plays tall 1]

Keen draft watcher Ed Pascoe (aka eDPS) has confirmed that CDT tested at 201cm at the Combine not 204cm.

In eDPS’s draft thread he’s posted numerous other heights. Interesting to see that Schubert’s down to 194cm.

 

[Mr Q]

Who was the last rookie list player we drafted who had any career of note?

Harry Edwards is looking pretty good right now (Rookie pick 18, 2018)

McCarthy of course, technically not a rookie draft, but drafted as a rookie in the MSD.

 

[amazingjoshy]

Problem with reserves for us is that we have four choices:

• Standalone WAFL side as per Beagles - but the WAFL puts a lot of restrictions around that which makes it hard to get a reasonable team together.
• WAFL alignment (as per Dockers/Peel or former Eagles alignments with EP/Perth) - which gets the full team setup, but you don't have anywhere near the control over the use of the players as the aligned club's primary focus is winning the WAFL, not building the aligned AFL club's player base up.
• Having the players all over the place in the WAFL as per the old days - but then they don't play together. And again, less control over how the players are used. Probably even less than with an alignment.
• Move the ressies into the national reserves - which would give us the same deal as the east coast clubs, but the sheer cost is prohibitive to send a second team travelling (and you know that the travel weeks would not be aligned).

Every option here is shit.

Everything that's wrong with our current setup right here.

The best development for these kids is to play in a team where the primary focus is winning

 

[Underdog]

Harry Edwards is looking pretty good right now (Rookie pick 18, 2018)

McCarthy of course, technically not a rookie draft, but drafted as a rookie in the MSD.

Tyrell Dewar is also looking good as a Cat B rookie from 2023.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

There's not a lot of fresh selections, and lots of redrafted players, but there is still value to be picked.

2019: Brad Close
2019: Connor Budarick
2020: Josh Treacy
2020: Jack Ginnivan
2020: Lachlan McNeil
2021: Ned Long
2021: Karl Worner
2021: Patrick Voss
2021: Ollie Dempsey
2021: Judd McVee
2022: Seth Campbell
2022: Tylar Young

Can't really get any more recent than that (even 2022 is stretching it)

Without wanting to go back and forth - my main argument is that its a low percentage play hoping to find a player in the rookie draft instead of getting more mature players who are known quantities - all those players were very early picks in the rookie draft. Won't our 4 additional rookie spots fall at the tail end of the rookie draft?

P.S. Mccarthy wasn't a rookie draftee, he was pick muddaforking #1 in the illustrious mid-season draft!
P.P.S Harry Edwards was 7 years ago. Not really a success rate to hang our hat on.

 

[Keys]

We’ll have a better idea on bids closer to the draft but taking a fourth live selection possibly means missing Williams or Banfield. As it stands I’d hope it falls something like this:

2,13 for 5,6
34 for F2 (SYD)
41 for F2 (ADEL)

53, 58 I estimate will come into 44, 47

1-Duursma
5-Sharp
6-Cumming
44, 47-Williams match
80-Banfield match
Cat A: Champion, Robertson, Lual, Cripps/Swallow
Cat B: Evans, Walley

Assuming current Cat As are: Hutchinson, Brock, McCarthy, Newton

I like it and if Clarke can pull that off he deserves a statue- I have doubts that the other clubs do those trades
• Essendon need to be massively into CDT to consider that trade. The reasons it looks good for us are the same reasons why they keep what they have
• Adelaide and Sydney don’t really need extra picks and like all clubs are going to be reluctant to trade future picks into this year - it’s becoming pretty clear clubs aren’t enthusiastic about this draft and with the revised bid matching rules on the horizon I don’t see many clubs shifting their 2026 picks

But if all that happens it’s pretty close to a dream result

As a footnote, you’ve got Cripps on the rookie list but we have the 5 main list spots needed in your scenario without shifting him - so we’d have an extra rookie spot which I’d be looking to fill with someone like Blamires, Murdoch, Clohesy or Macrae.

 

[Underdog]

Without wanting to go back and forth - my main argument is that its a low percentage play hoping to find a player in the rookie draft instead of getting more mature players who are known quantities

Sure, but we should be recruiting them through the WAFL system. AFL clubs just don't have the list space to recruit players to play reserves.

From memory, the hit rate of known quantities through the rookie draft is also pretty dire (where it's not a club relisting their player).

 

[No Hassle Hough]

Keen draft watcher Ed Pascoe (aka eDPS) has confirmed that CDT tested at 201cm at the Combine not 204cm.

In eDPS’s draft thread he’s posted numerous other heights. Interesting to see that Schubert’s down to 194cm.

Does the Combine measure heights with bare feet?

Someone mentioned here previously, that the AFL clubs measure height wearing footy boots. Probably, accounts for a couple of cms variance

 

[Underdog]

Sure, but we should be recruiting them through the WAFL system. AFL clubs just don't have the list space to recruit players to play reserves.

From memory, the hit rate of known quantities through the rookie draft is also pretty dire (where it's not a club relisting their player).

Notable Rookie Draft selections between 2019-2022

New Players
2019: Brad Close
2019: Connor Budarick
2020: Josh Treacy
2020: Jack Ginnivan
2020: Lachlan McNeil
2021: Ned Long
2021: Karl Worner
2021: Patrick Voss
2021: Ollie Dempsey
2021: Judd McVee
2022: Seth Campbell
2022: Tylar Young

Recycled Players (where they are not relisted to their own side)
2019: Ben Keays

Interestingly, selecting recycled players appears to be much less successful

 

[PRANKSTER666]

I've settled on Duursma and CDT.

CDT has the same height and athletic profiles as TDK and Jackson, the new ruck/forward prototypes.

I have long believed tap ruckmen are an overrated commodity and another ruck/follower is another avenue offering a different skill set, one I believe is more important in the ever evolving game.

For us to rebuild towards another flag you obviously need to draft well and take some risks on upside/potential, in this case the potential to be a unicorn type.

Sharpe is a dime a dozen, grab an inside mid at 13 or wait until next year and take best available mid.

 

[CountryLad]

Pick 34 hearing we have interest in two WA boys
Sam Swadling
and
Cody Curtin

Swadling is an interesting one. I was big on him at the start of the year. Felt he was mostly played out of position at the state champs. His numbers are off the charts at colts level and played a few decent league games. 189cm and knows how to find the ball and we need a few players that can do that. Can see the knocks on him in terms of speed and kicking. He’s certainly worth a punt if it’s a lower pick though.
Is he a bit like a Chad Warner that’s a WA boy that’s going under the radar, maybe not as developed as some in other competitions, people have written him off because they haven’t paid enough attention to what he can do rather what he can’t ?

 

[bzparkes]

Swadling is an interesting one. I was big on him at the start of the year. Felt he was mostly played out of position at the state champs. His numbers are off the charts at colts level and played a few decent league games. 189cm and knows how to find the ball and we need a few players that can do that. Can see the knocks on him in terms of speed and kicking. He’s certainly worth a punt if it’s a lower pick though.
Is he a bit like a Chad Warner that’s a WA boy that’s going under the radar, maybe not as developed as some in other competitions, people have written him off because they haven’t paid enough attention to what he can do rather what he can’t ?

He's a woefully bad kick and would need to completely change his kicking to play at AFL level. That's according to Mick Ablett.

 

[Obeanie1]

No-one

So there are no pure mids after pick 12?

 

[Keys]

Who would you rather - Sam Swadling or Charlie Banfield because if we draft Swadling we may not have a list spot to match a bid on Banfield if one comes

Personally I’d prefer Banfield