I hope we hit this draft hard, let go of more than the required 3 players and start building for the future. We're going to face an exodus of players over the next few years and I don't believe we're ready for it.
Goodes, ROK, Shaw, Richards, LRT, Mattner, Bolton, Malceski and Pyke will all be gone from our starting 22 over the next 2-3 years.
The 3 definites imo are Seaby, Meredith and Moore. White might stay depending on their intent to draft a ruckmen or not, Spangher is not forcing his way into the senior team, his injuries are a fair way behind him and Walsh is taking his spot. Could be gone this year.
Hope we can snag a trade for TDL back west, but Fremantle don't need him, they have a superior version of him in Mayne and West coast really don't need him either with their forward line.
We've been hearing this since Kelly, Lockett & Schwass finished................................we've had our most successful era for 70 years after this.
You need to have more faith in our system. You might as well say over the next 2 to 8 years we'll lose a lot of players. Of course we will!
The key is who we gain in this period & for 10 years now, we have built a culture where we attract players to our club because from the other side, they have a great respect for the way we goi about things.
Now if a player struggles to get regular game time at a particular club, more often then not, if they fit a position we require filled in the team, then we offer them a contract with the promise of "do it our way, listen, work hard & do your time & we'll give you a start in our best 22".
Morton, Walsh, Everitt & Armstrong are the next batch that are in the process of hopefully taking the next step. They just have to be patient & have our gameplan & team discipline drilled into them whilst they play in the reserves. Their attitude towards this long education, determines how resilient they become & how much they will cherish their position in the team should they have the intestinal fortitude to go along with the process & make it. Unfortunately some get distracted along the way & won't make it.
We really only need a couple a year to hit the ground running with the opportunity we present them with. The competition is littered with players that aren't given the opportunity they desire for their best position on the ground. Have a look at Simpkin of Geelong. He was on our list but didn't step up for us. Geelong now have a player that at least was educated in our system & fine tuned by the Geelong system. He's doing OK! Our club is ahead of the pack with this 'new' way of recruiting.
Keep the faith because amongst those four (Morton, Walsh, Everitt & Armstrong), I believe we will develop at least two permanent fixtures in our best 22 for the next 5 or 6 years.
That's a better strike rate than some teams have fared by having 3 picks in the top ten in the draft! It's done Melbourne no favours.
Just my thoughts!