Grade your team's draft 2023

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Essendon fans - if both Curtin and Caddy were on the board at Essendon's pick, which was your club taking first. DOD looked p155ed when the crows picked Curtin.



I'm confused as to why they posted this.

Just makes Caddy realise how much they would have preferred Curtin.
 
I'm confused as to why they posted this.

Just makes Caddy realise how much they would have preferred Curtin.
Or that if the crows picked wilson or leake or o'sullivan, it left both curtin and caddy there at geelongs pick and they were content with which one geelong didn't take...or were expecting geelong to take curtin leaving caddy.

Once we took curtin, they were dead worried cats take caddy or maybe cats trade the pick to a side that would take caddy..so they jumped and traded up and to be fair if they really rated caddy, then it was the right move to eliminate the rest of the competition from pulling the rug out from under them.
 

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Happy what we got this season Watson was in most clubs and recruiters top 5, and he was real need, McCabe was in most top 20s, and we got him cheaper as a F/S, Ryan looked good for SA in the Under 18 carnival and Dear as F/S improved over the year and was worth a punt

We traded to overhaul our underperforming forward line and what we got is an upgrade of what we had and will help out Lewis and Breust

Also pretty happy with our previous 2 national drafts with the picks we had

2022 Mackenzie 7, Weddle 18, Hustwaite 37, O’Sullivan 46, B. MacDonald 51

2021 Ward 7, Butler 23, C. MacDonald 26, Serong 53

Only one not to have debuted is O’Sullivan who got close but got injured which ended his season

We beat the 2 teams who played off in Grand Final, with the second youngest list, so I think we heading in the right direction with Mitchell as Coach
 
I’m going a B+ for Pies.

With the picks we had, I think both boys project higher than where they were selected. And they fit our needs, with Mitchell soon to be replaced, along with WHE / Howe… plus Markov being a fringe player.

Would’ve been an A if they hadve found a way to get back into the late second round to nab Ollie Murphy, but the lack of pace (and mongrel?) has obv scared off more than a few recruiters, so maybe they know better than me…
 
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I'm confused as to why they posted this.

Just makes Caddy realise how much they would have preferred Curtin.

Curtin is a severe flight risk, was not going to stay in Melbourne after his 3 year initial contract is up.

Adelaide is considerably closer to Perth than Melbourne, so the Crows have a chance of retaining him, but there is no way North would have passed on Curtin if they didn't think they could get a long term commitment from him.

Caddy is bit of a high risk/high reward selection for the Dons (similar to Tsatas whom I think is unfortunately an inspired selection by Essenon who will be a very very good player)
 
A+

We had no right to do as well as we did when you consider the hand we started with.

I'm very happy with all our picks but specifically Delean, To get a player like Jack Delean at pick 60 is a steal, He's a player who "knows where the goals are" as they say, He kicked 53 goals in the 3 different competitions he was in this season. Ranging from snaps on the run after breaking tackles, set shots after contested overhead marks, mercurial snaps from the pocket, long bombs you name it, He certainly isn't one-dimensional, and his ceiling is very very high.
 
C/C+ considering where our picks were at.

We've invested on a hybrid tall in ZZ and medium talls in Lloyd, Morris. If one of these come good to become best 22, we would've done well out of this draft.

Reece is a late arrival to footy so hoping for a high upside punt. Lets see how it pans out.
 
Or that if the crows picked wilson or leake or o'sullivan, it left both curtin and caddy there at geelongs pick and they were content with which one geelong didn't take...or were expecting geelong to take curtin leaving caddy.

Once we took curtin, they were dead worried cats take caddy or maybe cats trade the pick to a side that would take caddy..so they jumped and traded up and to be fair if they really rated caddy, then it was the right move to eliminate the rest of the competition from pulling the rug out from under them.

Dodo seemed pretty certain we would like a key back. I think he wanted Curtin to be available for us to pick, which left Caddy for them.

Fair bit of talk we were after Caddy pre draft but I don't think he was a priority. Cameron should have 3-4 years left and we have Ollie Henry also as an undersized marking target. We really need a big key forward to replace Hawkins, not a tweener. I think we would have taken O'Sullivan regardless to lock in SDK/Jack Henry/COS as the key backs for the medium / long term.
 
Essendon fans - if both Curtin and Caddy were on the board at Essendon's pick, which was your club taking first. DOD looked p155ed when the crows picked Curtin.



Clubs and the AFL need to put out more behind the scenes footage like this from the War Rooms. Love it.

Also, I'd say he was pissed because Curtin being selected there would have had a domino effect on them getting Caddy. He said straight away, "Caddy's gone boys."

I imagine if it was a toss up between the two literally everyone is taking Curtin though.
 

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Interesting. Could go one of two ways for you guys I reckon.

Either Watson goes on to become one of, if not THE best small forward ever. Or Curtin / Sanders / Caddy become loyal stars for their respective clubs, with Hawk fans looking back and saying “why not us…”

Btw McCabe and Dear also look like v handy pickups. Developing / talented father / sons have pretty good track records in the league. Still don’t know how Josh Daicos slid to 57? When looking at the genes the kid was packing…
 
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Interesting. Could go one of two ways for you guys I reckon.

Either Watson goes on to become one of, if not THE best small forward ever. Or Curtin / Sanders become loyal stars for their respective clubs, with Hawk fans looking back and saying “why not us…”

The D+ is a reference to last year's draft.
Apparently Mackenzie at 7, Weddle at 18 and Hustwaite (all 195cm of him) 'didn't address our need for a big bodied midfielder'. All time howler from Fox Sports.

Re: This year, and main talking point will be Watson vs Curtin. I understand the 'best available' argument depending on how you rate him, but Sanders was a horrible fit for us. Our midfield is stacked and the only thing you could argue we might need in there is a classy/line breaking mid in the Rozee or Bailey Smith types. Sanders will be a good player but he doesn't fit that mould at all.
 
The D+ is a reference to last year's draft.
Apparently Mackenzie at 7, Weddle at 18 and Hustwaite (all 195cm of him) 'didn't address our need for a big bodied midfielder'. All time howler from Fox Sports.

Re: This year, and main talking point will be Watson vs Curtin. I understand the 'best available' argument depending on how you rate him, but Sanders was a horrible fit for us. Our midfield is stacked and the only thing you could argue we might need in there is a classy/line breaking mid in the Rozee or Bailey Smith types. Sanders will be a good player but he doesn't fit that mould at all.
Don’t really get that. A team like Essendon (few years back) could’ve said “hey with parish and merrett, Andrew Bradshaw doesn’t fit our needs… so we rate jaidyn Stevenson higher”. Gotta go best available in top ten, surely…
 
Curtin is a severe flight risk, was not going to stay in Melbourne after his 3 year initial contract is up.

Adelaide is considerably closer to Perth than Melbourne, so the Crows have a chance of retaining him, but there is no way North would have passed on Curtin if they didn't think they could get a long term commitment from him.

Caddy is bit of a high risk/high reward selection for the Dons (similar to Tsatas whom I think is unfortunately an inspired selection by Essenon who will be a very very good playet

Adelaide is only about 750k closer to Perth than Melbourne, I don't think it makes a difference either way. It's a long way, no matter which way you look at it.

His family didn't look too happy, neither did he but the Crows are a strong club. I think he'll get into their system and culture and stay loyal.
 
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Don’t really get that. A team like Essendon (few years back) could’ve said “hey with parish and merrett, Andrew Bradshaw doesn’t fit our needs… so we rate jaidyn Stevenson higher”. Gotta go best available in top ten, surely…

I'm 100% certain we rated Watson as the better talent.

Just explaining that if it came down to Watson, Curtin and Sanders with a negligible gap between the 3, Sanders would have been our last choice from a positional and player type perspective.
 
Maybe a B, our three late picks are obviously super speculative but I really rate Joel Freijah and think we probably got a steal. Sanders was the right choice, with Libba, Treloar, and Macrae not getting any younger.
 
Dodo seemed pretty certain we would like a key back. I think he wanted Curtin to be available for us to pick, which left Caddy for them.
I still don't get this. If he was certain you (Geelong) wanted a key back, surely he should have expected you to pick O'Sullivan at your pick, thereby leaving Caddy to Essendon at the next pick.

All these trades up for one pick confuse me somewhat. If the club is willing to trade down, surely that signals to the club trying to trade up that they don't actually need to. So ask the question, and if the answer is yes, say you've changed your mind.

I realise there's a small chance that another club might be talking to Geelong to get that pick so they can draft Caddy. But with if Essendon knew that Geelong would be all in on O'Sullivan once Curtin was gone, Geelong almost certainly wouldn't have traded back any further or they'd risk missing O'Sullivan.
 
A +

Added a future second-round pick at no cost, we now have a full deck of cards for 2024

Added 5 good-looking youngsters, clearly, we recruited for speed and skill

Took as risk with Schoenmaker’s but if he can behave himself he could be one of the steals of the draft.
Shoenmaker brought some of his underage team mates a beer ( oh no the horror) it's not like he got his neighbours cat pregnant or something ... he'll be fine ..and most probably will end up a steal ...until the Tassie team comes in that is
 
Curtin is a severe flight risk, was not going to stay in Melbourne after his 3 year initial contract is up.

Adelaide is considerably closer to Perth than Melbourne, so the Crows have a chance of retaining him, but there is no way North would have passed on Curtin if they didn't think they could get a long term commitment from him.
Do you honestly think the fact Adelaide is an hour by air closer to Perth makes any difference whatsoever?
 
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Listen to the audio. It is obvious that the concern with Curtain going to the Crows was that Geelong would take Caddy.

Geelong were never realistically likely to prioritise an undersized key forward ahead of a kpd so essendon didnt need to worry about that. Unless they thought we were going to trade the pick to melb and they were going to take caddy (but they seemed set on tholstrup anyway) then they didnt need to trade with us.
 
Doggies fans quietly happy I think. B+.
We traded a lot for Sanders but for me we had to turn the average Dunkley compensation into something decent.
Sanders is an Uber professional kid who will leave no stone unturned to get the best out himself. Libba and Treloar both close to the end, Bailey Smith possibly gone next year.
Croft is a project but to add 2 first round picks is decent. Many think he’ll be developed as a Key defender.
The club is very excited about Freijah upside. Been linked with him for months and were considering him with our original first rounder before the trade and Croft jumped up. He’s a great size for a modern day wing with good endurance.
Drafted a manchild developing ruck.
O’Driscoll could be anything, a real boom or bust type. Ridiculous athletic profile and expect him to developed as a small forward.
Traded in former top 10 player in Coffield as well.
The biggest thing for the Dogs though are the off field changes in coaching support. On paper it looks like a much stronger and more experienced group.
 

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