Game Day The 2025 Draft Day Thread

[UseR2006]

And a song to sing as we watch,

Hey Matty Clarke by Kevin (Random260) Wilson :

Hey Matty Clarke you campaigner, where the **** is Sharp
I’ve looked at all these other spuds and there’s no one that I like
I wrote you a ****ing letter and posted about it twice
You dopey ****ing Richmond fart, you forgot my ****ing Sharp

If I wanted a stupid ruckman type, I would’ve bloody asked
And this half back flank and temu mid, you can shove right up your arse
You’ve stuffed the bloody order up, it’s enough to make you spew
But it’s not just me who’s snakey, SGIO is dirty too

Next time I come to see ya, I’m going to punch you in the guts
And I’ll sack the other recruiting knobs and kick Toddy in the nuts
You just wait 'til next year when you go back to the draft
And me and me little GIO come stomping through the door
And we'll say, yeah, you wait for it

Hey Pyke and Woosh you smell his breath
And check his bloodshot eyes
And don't listen to him eagles fans 'cause he tells ****ing lies
He's just a ****ing useless campaigner and he's not even very bright
'Cause the stupid ****in' w***er, forgot me ****in' Sharp

Hey Matty Clarke you campaigner, where the **** is Sharp
I’ve looked at all these other spuds and there’s no one that I like
I wrote you a ****ing letter and posted about it twice
You dopey ****ing Richmond fart, you forgot my ****ing Sharp

A Quick Ai rendition: https://suno.com/s/blQP3cSnulhqYb5g
It's funny how it interrupted the lyrics XD

 

[eagles rule]

Tell me who you’d have preferred from the list spots we had? I believe we cooked

I`m happy with who we drafted , glad we got FRod as well ..

 

[HoneyBadger35]

Thought I'd count number of first rounders each club has taken in the last 5 drafts. Pretty surface level analysis and doesn't account for where those picks were taken.

Crows - 7
Lions - 7
Collingwood - 3
Carlton - 4
Geelong - 3
Freo - 4
GWS - 11
Gold Coast - 11
Essendon - 7
North - 9
Sydney - 5
Dogs - 6
Tigers - 9
Eagles - 8
STK - 6
Hawks - 7
Port - 3
Melbourne - 8

CLIFF CLIFF CLIFF CLIFF CLIFF

 

[Keys]

Went down some curious pathways along the journey but overall it’s a pretty good end result

Losing the F2 we got from the Saints stings given we effectively gave away Ryan for a one pick upgrade- only the club knows how necessary that trade was to secure Lindsay as insurance if GC matched their bids

Shame about Evans and especially Banfield but right or wrong the club only rated them as rookie options. Picking up Rodriguez mitigates the Banfield miss

No real idea what went pear shaped with Walley and leaving a spot vacant isn’t ideal. Hopefully we find a way to fill that over preseason - maybe Walley can knuckle down and earn a reprieve

 

[Mr Q]

No all it meant was additional flexibility so we COULD have matched a bid if we WANTED to. It doesn't reduce any list flexibility next year given the volume of out of contract players. That is simply incorrect.

It absolutely reduced flexibility next year.

We can be 99% certain that Cripps is retiring next year - but if he's a rookie, that means we get one rookie spot. If he's a main list player, that means we get one precious main list spot back next year.

That means that we need one less spot from other players on the main list - and that means we can possibly retain a player where we think they might be useful, but they haven't shown that yet rather than have to sacrifice them for a late spot.

 

[Weshi]

If we leave our second cat b rookie spot vacant I will burn the club to the ground.

Who are you suggesting we fill it with?

 

[WA footy mad]

Wow they really fu**ed up the late part of the draft, they are still not admitting that it was a really bad move not to rookie cripps. Nobody in there right mind would have taken him. pick 1 Fred Rodriguez pick 2 Cripps it was so easy. I listened to them trying to explain why they didn't rookie Cripps, you could tell he was weaving and ducking and had no real answer. Anyway it was still a good draft for WC

 

[rebel23]

The West Australian is reporting that we have declined to take Wes Walley even though we have a spot available for him.

Probably can't find him to tell him

 

[Coasters7]

Not fit for international cricket and never will be. Playing our best batsmen regardless of position was always the play

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

I guess the club was a bit put off by Walley always getting around in that Swans beanie.

Nice to see us pick up Frod anyways. Stoppage player, probably starts half forward. Have mentioned it before but his kicking off both feet inside 50 would be a huge bonus for us if he can put it together.

 

[AsterixTheGaul]

So looking at who is out of contract in 2026, I make it 15 from our continuing list
Hewett
Brockman
Long
Cripps
Maric
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
B Williams
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

Trades
Starcevich 4 years
Young 3 years

3 year contract draftees
Duursma
CDT
Lindsay

2 Year contract draftees
Allen
T Williams

1 year rookie draftees
Rodriguez

SSP
Robertson and Macrae 2 years
Schoenberg 1 year (plus trigger)


Cripps will be 34 next year so highly unlikely to go on

I make it 10 playing for their careers
Brockman
Long
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

So any excuse by Clarke that we were worried about making room in 2026 are flawed.

 

[bzparkes]

Not fit for international cricket and never will be. Playing our best batsmen regardless of position was always the play

 

[Keys]

Not fit for international cricket and never will be. Playing our best batsmen regardless of position was always the play

Not sure drafting cricketers would be our best option

Maybe as a cat B we can add Mitch Marsh

 

[Keys]

So looking at who is out of contract in 2026, I make it 15 from our continuing list
Hewett
Brockman
Long
Cripps
Maric
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
B Williams
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

Trades
Starcevich 4 years
Young 3 years

3 year contract draftees
Duursma
CDT
Lindsay

2 Year contract draftees
Allen
T Williams

1 year rookie draftees
Rodriguez

SSP
Robertson and Macrae 2 years
Schoenberg 1 year (plus trigger)


Cripps will be 34 next year so highly unlikely to go on

I make it 10 playing for their careers
Brockman
Long
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

So any excuse by Clarke that we were worried about making room in 2026 are flawed.

If the club are backing in that group of 10 to come good, which you’d hope they are, and most of them do then spots become tight

Big development year coming up which hopefully starts with a more competitive WAFL side

 

[SAweagle]

Not fit for international cricket and never will be. Playing our best batsmen regardless of position was always the play

100% Mcsweeney got the same medicine last summer. Aussie cricket is in all sorts once the current crop finish up.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

No real idea what went pear shaped with Walley and leaving a spot vacant isn’t ideal. Hopefully we find a way to fill that over preseason - maybe Walley can knuckle down and earn a reprieve

Veeeeeeeerrrrryyy generous reading could be that it’s a shot across the bow; e.g. you’re not professional enough yet and we’re not rewarding that. Knuckle down and we will get you in next year.

I think that’s a very generous assessment, as I’d have thought the better way to keep an eye on people would be on your list in a pro environment, but I can’t think of any other reason they’d leave the slot empty.

What does this all mean for his WAFL eligibility, could he wind up at the Beagles?

 

[Proeagle]

So looking at who is out of contract in 2026, I make it 15 from our continuing list
Hewett
Brockman
Long
Cripps
Maric
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
B Williams
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

When I saw the length of that list, I first thought crap, that's a lot of work for the club to do. But looking at the names, only Hewett is 100% safe, the rest have some work to do to keep their spots.

Maric, Champion and Brockman I like, the rest, I wouldnt lose too much sleep over at this stage. Hope they improve.

 

[RanaNaved]

Fred looks like the young Alan Parrish in the original Jumanji movie

 

[Ellroy80]

So a question for all the colts affeciendos - if you had just 1 spot for Evans or Banfield or Rodriguez - who would you take?

I have a friend who has been involved in footy for a long time. Works in the industry, knows his stuff. Claremont nuffie. Reckons it was a big mistake in not taking Banfield.

 

[Wooshaaaa]

So looking at who is out of contract in 2026, I make it 15 from our continuing list
Hewett
Brockman
Long
Cripps
Maric
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
B Williams
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

Trades
Starcevich 4 years
Young 3 years

3 year contract draftees
Duursma
CDT
Lindsay

2 Year contract draftees
Allen
T Williams

1 year rookie draftees
Rodriguez

SSP
Robertson and Macrae 2 years
Schoenberg 1 year (plus trigger)


Cripps will be 34 next year so highly unlikely to go on

I make it 10 playing for their careers
Brockman
Long
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

So any excuse by Clarke that we were worried about making room in 2026 are flawed.

One things for sure, if we have another 1 win season, not only will some be cut, but some might run and request a trade.

Massive 12 months ahead.

The ideal situation is players wanting out only because they can't get a game in a successful team and want more opportunities. That's the environment that needs to be created.

 

[mattyc75]

No Walley is staggering. Why did we nominate if we weren't interested?

If they couldn't be arsed engineering a situation to allow us 2 take our 2 best club linked players i doubt they could be bothered with the worst of the 4

 

[mattyc75]

I have a friend who has been involved in footy for a long time. Works in the industry, knows his stuff. Claremont nuffie. Reckons it was a big mistake in not taking Banfield.

I agree, his end to the year was outstanding

 

[DorothyG]

Why doesn't anyone vent at Toddy, he must have had some input as he was there in the room for both nights.

Wash your mouth out son.

I won't here a bad word spoken about Toddy

 

[Farmer Lister]

So looking at who is out of contract in 2026, I make it 15 from our continuing list
Hewett
Brockman
Long
Cripps
Maric
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
B Williams
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

Trades
Starcevich 4 years
Young 3 years

3 year contract draftees
Duursma
CDT
Lindsay

2 Year contract draftees
Allen
T Williams

1 year rookie draftees
Rodriguez

SSP
Robertson and Macrae 2 years
Schoenberg 1 year (plus trigger)


Cripps will be 34 next year so highly unlikely to go on

I make it 10 playing for their careers
Brockman
Long
Johnston
Flynn
Cole
Barnett
Bazzo
J Williams
Champion

So any excuse by Clarke that we were worried about making room in 2026 are flawed.

From that list I reckon Brockman and Bazzo are pretty safe, probably Flynn too if we can't trade in a better ruck. Jack Williams looking pretty fit this preseason, and others may come on a bit so you never know

 

[Mr Q]

If the club are backing in that group of 10 to come good, which you’d hope they are, and most of them do then spots become tight

Big development year coming up which hopefully starts with a more competitive WAFL side

Champion is a rookie, and we'll need to promote Hutchinson, so that's two of those 10 gone already.

 

[mattyc75]

North got rid of all their 30yos and just last year, had to bring in a cooked Darling and Parker to steady the ship.



He was our leading goal kicker, Ryan was 2nd and he's now gone.

We'd be relying on the likes of Owies and Tyler Brockman to kick 20+ goals a year with him gone.

Do I think he'll play the entire year? Probably not. I hope he's usurped and relegated to WAFL but the onus is on a young player to be better than him, not be gifted games for free.



Now you're just being ridiculous.

I think our forward line will be relying on Waterman more. He wouldve been our highest goal scorer if not injured.
Newton and Hutchinson should be getting games there too and will add something
Secretly hoping Owies comes good too