How can McGovern be ranked at 4 in 2025?
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Have Richmond passed North and west coast
- Thread starter SunshineBoy
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How can McGovern be ranked at 4 in 2025?
Geez theres a lot of royal blue and white when adding in north players.
Glad Reid managed to crack the top 10 though. That’s promising
You'd hope so, after 8 years of rebuilding.Geez three a lot of royal blue and white when adding in north players.
Glad Reid managed to crack the top 10 though. That’s promising
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Might finally make it out of the bottom 4, you reckon?
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That’s the dream
I hear ya
Geez theres a lot of royal blue and white when adding in north players.
Glad Reid managed to crack the top 10 though. That’s promising
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Just looking at this I was like “who the fck is Liam Fawcett?”
Now I’m like “how the fck does 5 possessions, 2 marks and 1 goal, no hitouts, give you such a high player rating?”
What a stupid statistical system
How could he be above Shanahan, Armstrong, Faull
It is a very strange system. The less games you play, the higher you rate. It probably rewards actions that are successful very highly and punishes turnovers harshly and stuff, so if you only have 5 possessions but they're all 100% effective, you'll get a higher rating over someone who had 25+ kicked a couple of goals but also gave away a few free kicks.
I get a guy like Reid being dragged down by giving away frees. Makes perfect sense.
And I guess I get things like effectiveness coming into it but that 5 disposal game must have been pretty bloody good, despite the Zane Dursma like stats
4 of his 5 disposals were score involvements. Thats the only explanation. No tackles. No contested marks.
Very strange
That would definitely amplify it.
Enjoy the cricket
Well the cricket is a little boring at the minute so I thought I’d start a bit of a new conversation in this thread, unearthing some of the young, unknown players from the 3 lists.
These are 3 of the youngest lists in the comp (WC 18th, Tigers 16th, North 14th). So there must be heaps of 1-4 year players that we don’t know much about.
So the loose rules around this are as follows:
- no top 10 picks
- no players taken in the 2025 national draft
- the theme is under discussed players. So, as an example, Shanahan, Faull and Trembath fit the criteria, they’ve been discussed a fair bit so not in the spirit of this post.
There are 3 categories
1: One player that has played under 30 games that is on the precipice of being best 23, or really cementing their position as a good afl player. The basic theme is a player that oppo fans wouldn’t know much about.
2: Two players that have played 0-5 games that you are excited about long term and why.
3: one player that has been forgotten about due to injury
So, for North
1: borderline best 23 player about to cement himself
Riley Hardeman
Played 17 games in 2025, establishing himself as a best 23 defender. Unlike sheez, Kerch and FOS who have played plenty footy down back to start their career, Hards was drafted as a defender. This shows in both his one on one defending and his intercept ability be it punching or marking.
Would probably be the only guy on the list that’s a genuine racking kick. When he’s kicking long 55-65 metres good things tend to happen. His short kicking is not as good and is the main area of focus to work on.
Coming into his 3rd season, Riley should be playing 23 games.
2: two young players (not discussed much) under 5 games that could be good long term
- Taylor Goad
North just have elite rucks. It’s always been the way. Whilst Xerri is really only just getting started at 26, his heir apparent is developing very well.
207cm and a 2.92 second 20m time, it’s all about height and athleticism with Goad. In his first year at the club he looked a million miles off it, getting hidden in the vfl in the back pocket. Track watchers noted a different guy coming back for his second preseason in 24/25. Looking bigger and fitter he was troubling Xerri in match sim in every dept other than one vs one wrestling. He still looks well behind the mark in this specific area.
This carried over into the vfl season where he went from about 5 possessions per game in his first season to 13-14 in his second. Inc games where had around 10 clearances. A lovey kick, capable of 60 metre bombs, with contested marking an area of focus to work on.
But when he gets the footy and can run with it (out of stoppage for example) he is a sight to behold with his pace and height. Doubt he debuts in 2026, but signed to the club until end of 2028.
- Zach Banch
At the other end of the spectrum, diminutive Banch seems to be doing everything possible to cement himself as the clubs 1st choice small forward in 2026. Likely to be paired with konstanty and or Dovaston, Banch will hopefully bring some much needed pressure in the forward line.
As a mid season draft pick, this is banch’s first pre season and word is he has made tremendous gains physically, which is a stand out on the track.
3: The forgotten man
- Josh Goater
Such a disappointing 2 years of injury for Goater. Looked the part from game 1, or even kick 1, where he set up a goal off half back. Played some very good footy in his second year, with dash and nice long kicking out of defence.
First game of 2024 he held Toby Greene goalless in round 1, only to do his Achilles in the last few minutes of the game. The good news is that he came back without seeming to have lost his pace. The bad news was that 2025 saw soft tissue after soft tissue injury.
Went to Dubai post season with a north physio and the club believes soft tissues are a thing of the past. Time will tell but if he can get up and going, along with Hardeman and FOS, rebound out of the backline from genuine defenders looks sorted.
I think this is where so much of the improvement is coming from on the North list. They have a lot of latent young talent picked up in the 20-40 draft range.
2021 pick 22 Goater, pick 35 Curtis(already well established)
2022 pick 26 George
2023 pick 20 Goad, pick 22 W Dawson, pick 23 Hardeman(already seems established)
2024 pick 27 Whitlock
And they jumped into this segment of the draft again in 2025 taking Blakey Thredgold at 26. So that is 8 players taken in the 20-35 range in 5 drafts, which is a lot and may be part of a deliberate strategy to target that range in the draft, especially for rucks and KPP's. You would be surprised if the Roos don't end up with about 5 decent long term players from that lot. The Roos have however traded their 2026 rd 2 pick away to help get Dovaston.
North probably have a couple of holes on their list they would have hoped George and Goater would be filling by now, but an egregious run of injuries for the pair has prevented that.
Everyone expects the North top 5 picks from the last 4 drafts to provide a lot of the team's growth in coming seasons and I can see their point. I think where North will surprise most few people is through the development of all these second round types above, a couple of who we can already see are good. The ruck and 3 kpp's you would obviously expect will take a bit longer to develop, but each year should bring improvement.
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In terms of Richmond, we have a few to choose from but strictly by the rules created by the o/p a lot of our guys are excluded from the different categories.
1 - player on the cusp, <30 games) I think inside mid McAuliffe is the one from the under 30 gamers who oppo fans mightn't know much about. He has played 14 promising games in between an annoying array of injuries in his 2 seasons on the list. Strong body with a reasonable burst of speed and penetrating kick. Plenty of things in his game he will be hoping to improve, as you would expect. Tank, disposal precision, decision making, and defensive knowhow are all areas with room for improvement. reports from pre-season training are mainly encouraging, and the Tigers will be hoping for good continuity in 2026 with maybe 50% CBA's on his journey to becoming a starting inside mid.
2 - 2 players 0-5 games to be excited about) We only have 3 who qualify here. Alger, Gray, & Fawcett. We are getting strongly positive reports on all of them from pre-season training, though that won't necessarily mean much once the games start.
Alger was amongst the youngest in the 2024 draft who was within a couple of weeks of qualifying for the 2025 draft. He doesn't have a super obvious specialist role but will likely be a winger/high half forward type who can drift forward to take marks and score goals. Has a really good tank, is quick and is crafty. He will be looking to move into the double figures games area in 2026, but still has plenty of time on his side to develop physical strength and defensive acumen. Most Tiger supporters are optimistic about Alger.
Gray is a refugee from the 2021 draft class. He looked really good in his 3 AFL games as a 3rd tall defender. I have seen a lot of him in the VFL and his strengths and weaknesses are quite obvious. He is quick, can run and strong overhead both marking and spoiling, and reads the ball well in the air. He is a bit rustically skilled in some ways, as you would expect from a player playing suburban footy 2 years ago, but this should improve. Will need to strengthen his tackling, this is a clear weakness from what I have seen. Interesting 2026 ahead for him. Like Alger, I doubt he starts in the best 23 but could easily end up playing a dozen games.
Fawcett is a 2023 draft pick 40 key forward. He had a wretched run of injuries in his first season but got a bit of continuity at the back end of the 2025 season and was noticeably improving as the year progressed. Getting great reports on him in pre-season. I am really unsure what to expect from him in 2026 and beyond. I am hoping for him to continue maturing as a player and I am sure we will get a good look at him at AFL level during the season.
3 - player who has been forgotten about due to injury) The obvious ones here would be Smillie and Gibcus, but they are excluded from the discussion due to being top 10 picks. Looking through our list these are the players who could benefit from better continuity after facing injury challenges in recent years - Prestia(excluded as top 10 pick), Lynch, Lefau, possibly Ralphsmith.
However I think the key one here is Jonty Faull, who got through 16 games in his debut season despite no pre-season. He has had a good pre-season so far and I think the combination of that and hopefully a bit more stability around him on the forward line, he is likely to make some people really take notice of him in 2026.
1 - player on the cusp, <30 games) I think inside mid McAuliffe is the one from the under 30 gamers who oppo fans mightn't know much about. He has played 14 promising games in between an annoying array of injuries in his 2 seasons on the list. Strong body with a reasonable burst of speed and penetrating kick. Plenty of things in his game he will be hoping to improve, as you would expect. Tank, disposal precision, decision making, and defensive knowhow are all areas with room for improvement. reports from pre-season training are mainly encouraging, and the Tigers will be hoping for good continuity in 2026 with maybe 50% CBA's on his journey to becoming a starting inside mid.
2 - 2 players 0-5 games to be excited about) We only have 3 who qualify here. Alger, Gray, & Fawcett. We are getting strongly positive reports on all of them from pre-season training, though that won't necessarily mean much once the games start.
Alger was amongst the youngest in the 2024 draft who was within a couple of weeks of qualifying for the 2025 draft. He doesn't have a super obvious specialist role but will likely be a winger/high half forward type who can drift forward to take marks and score goals. Has a really good tank, is quick and is crafty. He will be looking to move into the double figures games area in 2026, but still has plenty of time on his side to develop physical strength and defensive acumen. Most Tiger supporters are optimistic about Alger.
Gray is a refugee from the 2021 draft class. He looked really good in his 3 AFL games as a 3rd tall defender. I have seen a lot of him in the VFL and his strengths and weaknesses are quite obvious. He is quick, can run and strong overhead both marking and spoiling, and reads the ball well in the air. He is a bit rustically skilled in some ways, as you would expect from a player playing suburban footy 2 years ago, but this should improve. Will need to strengthen his tackling, this is a clear weakness from what I have seen. Interesting 2026 ahead for him. Like Alger, I doubt he starts in the best 23 but could easily end up playing a dozen games.
Fawcett is a 2023 draft pick 40 key forward. He had a wretched run of injuries in his first season but got a bit of continuity at the back end of the 2025 season and was noticeably improving as the year progressed. Getting great reports on him in pre-season. I am really unsure what to expect from him in 2026 and beyond. I am hoping for him to continue maturing as a player and I am sure we will get a good look at him at AFL level during the season.
3 - player who has been forgotten about due to injury) The obvious ones here would be Smillie and Gibcus, but they are excluded from the discussion due to being top 10 picks. Looking through our list these are the players who could benefit from better continuity after facing injury challenges in recent years - Prestia(excluded as top 10 pick), Lynch, Lefau, possibly Ralphsmith.
However I think the key one here is Jonty Faull, who got through 16 games in his debut season despite no pre-season. He has had a good pre-season so far and I think the combination of that and hopefully a bit more stability around him on the forward line, he is likely to make some people really take notice of him in 2026.
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181 pages of 17th arguing against 18th
This thread really is something.
This thread really is something.
Hey mate. North finished 16th.
Say straw man again
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