Opinion txbyhull 2026 Draft Thread

[Thunderstruck]

Yea arguably the best two SA players in Cochrane and Van Dyk miss the champs which is most disappointing. Gives the opportunity for someone else to stand up mind you.

 

[txbyhull]

Yea arguably the best two SA players in Cochrane and Van Dyk miss the champs which is most disappointing. Gives the opportunity for someone else to stand up mind you.

Champs I think will be a chance for Kodah Edwards to solidify himself as an A grade mid prospect with genuine forward 50 damage, or he falls a step back to the mid first area.

He is currently in a weird grey area with Marlon Neocleous and a few others where I can’t tell if they’re battling with your Drever, Texeira, Snell, Butler, Williams types or more your Mellody, Herbert, Chapman, Matthews, El Souki areas

If no Van Dyk it’ll be interesting to see how he goes as one of the main men in the middle in terms of X-factor against other top liners

 

[THE_GUN]

Yeah if I am not mistaken is it back stress related? It's very unfortunate as I really liked him coming into the year. A part of the squad so I'll certainly be praying for him

Im still hoping Richmond pick AVD with our 2nd rounder , Hope the kid recovers and gets back

 

[dylan93]

Prasad has been re-added back into Melbourne's NGA.

 

[txbyhull]

Prasad has been re-added back into Melbourne's NGA.

Interesting! Noted. What happened there? Obviously was in, then out, and now back in? Good for the Dees though

 

[dylan93]

Interesting! Noted. What happened there? Obviously was in, then out, and now back in? Good for the Dees though

No idea. They're always changing rules with NGAs. We're often given the poo end of the stick. Mac Andrew being the main one.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

View attachment 2616644

Vague idea of a mock draft. Some trades in there pre-draft; Butters, Walter, Humphrey, Gruz, Marshall, Ridley, Cripps, Merrett, FRE F1 all moving. Trades not the important part, not really worth discussing.

Can't figure out in all of the movements what happened to Collingwood's second round pick. Not even listed in the "origin" column, and nothing I can see makes sense as a trade.

 

[txbyhull]

Can't figure out in all of the movements what happened to Collingwood's second round pick. Not even listed in the "origin" column, and nothing I can see makes sense as a trade.

gruzewski

 

[txbyhull]

Quite a shame to be hearing El-Souki has broken an ankle and will miss Champs. Very exciting player as we all know and seeing him on the biggest stage I’d wager would’ve solidified him in the first round.

Lucky Doggies LM team have been handed a real good chance to get him without any impact from a Butters trade. Still think he’s handily the second best small in the class, but you’re more high forward hybrid players may get a look in the first round instead. Templeton had a good game over the weekend hitting the scoreboard heavily

 

[THE_GUN]

Quite a shame to be hearing El-Souki has broken an ankle and will miss Champs. Very exciting player as we all know and seeing him on the biggest stage I’d wager would’ve solidified him in the first round.

Lucky Doggies LM team have been handed a real good chance to get him without any impact from a Butters trade. Still think he’s handily the second best small in the class, but you’re more high forward hybrid players may get a look in the first round instead. Templeton had a good game over the weekend hitting the scoreboard heavily

I know the kid's brother inlaw and he is devastated
Western Bulldogs have been in constant contact and assured him he is well withing their plans and are covering all medical and rehab costs and will support him all the way. He is a great kid

 

[txbyhull]

On that note actually, and as I sit here procrastinating my 'Legacies of Empires' final assessment, I think that the draft position of your Cody Templeton type operator will probably say a lot about positional value in the modern draft landscape.

In a similar manner to Arki Butler, Templeton operates extremely well as a skillful general forward or forward half utility that can both impact in and around stoppage as well as inside 50, in your Dylan Moore, Toby Greene mould. I think he’ll be very popular with supporters, but curious to see how he is rated come draft time (obviously pending champs performances). He doesn’t stand out to me with an AFL level physical trait.

I know the kid's brother inlaw and he is devastated
Western Bulldogs have been in constant contact and assured him he is well withing their plans and are covering all medical and rehab costs and will support him all the way. He is a great kid

He seems a good sort, and I’d hope that he remains in good spirits. Done wayyy more than enough to be drafted, and in a position of utmost value in modern footy wouldn’t surprise me if (to the Dogs’ chagrin) he still cops a bid in the top 20-25. As a fan of footy first and foremost before any club I hope that he recovers well and doesn’t face issues with it in the future, knee and below injuries can be a real cluster ****.

 

[THE_GUN]

On that note actually, and as I sit here procrastinating my 'Legacies of Empires' final assessment, I think that the draft position of your Cody Templeton type operator will probably say a lot about positional value in the modern draft landscape.

In a similar manner to Arki Butler, Templeton operates extremely well as a skillful general forward or forward half utility that can both impact in and around stoppage as well as inside 50, in your Dylan Moore, Toby Greene mould. I think he’ll be very popular with supporters, but curious to see how he is rated come draft time (obviously pending champs performances). He doesn’t stand out to me with an AFL level physical trait.


He seems a good sort, and I’d hope that he remains in good spirits. Done wayyy more than enough to be drafted, and in a position of utmost value in modern footy wouldn’t surprise me if (to the Dogs’ chagrin) he still cops a bid in the top 20-25. As a fan of footy first and foremost before any club I hope that he recovers well and doesn’t face issues with it in the future, knee and below injuries can be a real cluster ****.

Im actually hoping he gets a bid later now and ends up at the doggies
If they get Butters they wont be able to match an early bid but hope he gets to them now

 

[txbyhull]

Im actually hoping he gets a bid later now and ends up at the doggies
If they get Butters they wont be able to match an early bid but hope he gets to them now

Definitely could be the case that he falls slightly as is the nature of the draft post-champs, you’ll always have big risers after that and after finals and vfl appearances. Confident he makes it to the doggies

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

gruzewski

An early second round pick seems steep when we just picked up Podhajski in the MSD, who's a similar type.

 

[txbyhull]

An early second round pick seems steep when we just picked up Podhajski in the MSD, who's a similar type.

The pick falls around 30, Podhajski is 27 years old, it was before the MSD.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

The pick falls around 30, Podhajski is 27 years old, it was before the MSD.

All very fair.

 

[txbyhull]

I am 50/50 on how I feel about this style of ranking, its very hard to do it with only 4 categories that mix together for example fwd/mid's + small forwards + hybrid forwards + general forwards, but I feel like it is a bit easier to visualise the levels of talent in the pool and the strengths of certain parts of the draft?

A lot of talk recently has been about the strength of the KPP especially in the top end and the back end, as well as the strong midfield depth in the 2nd round to early third round.

This is only really half of the rankings but its the top 50ish

 

[CatToTheFuture]

View attachment 2628765

I am 50/50 on how I feel about this style of ranking, its very hard to do it with only 4 categories that mix together for example fwd/mid's + small forwards + hybrid forwards + general forwards, but I feel like it is a bit easier to visualise the levels of talent in the pool and the strengths of certain parts of the draft?

A lot of talk recently has been about the strength of the KPP especially in the top end and the back end, as well as the strong midfield depth in the 2nd round to early third round.

This is only really half of the rankings but its the top 50ish

This is a novel way to put the info forward. I like it. F50 and D50 KP players might be good to seperate but no biggie. I like the categories.

On that note - do you see Noah Williams sliding on size? A man can dream

 

[txbyhull]

This is a novel way to put the info forward. I like it. F50 and D50 KP players might be good to seperate but no biggie. I like the categories.

Thankyou mate, I only kept it 4 because I couldn't be ****ed finding other nice pastel colours

On that note - do you see Noah Williams sliding on size? A man can dream

I think that at the top end you're ultimately picking on ceiling, elite traits and POD, and the chance to be best in position in the case of non-midfielders. Williams does a lot right, but it seems to me that a few of his elite talents are more character based and mindset based; his defensive application is awesome, his grit, his competitiveness, his will to not be beaten. I think he also obviously has clean skills and an ability to find the ball, but as you say his size will always be a concern until proven otherwise.

Compared to Drever, Teixiera, Butler, even Kodah Edwards to some degree, you can really see a trait or ability that AFL teams will like. Williams strikes me as a need pick rather than a BPA pick for some team. I do think, as seen by his position in the def leaning utility, that he will be able to impact early at AFL level off a flank with his defensive pressure, IQ, endurance, and kicking in space. Even if that is a forward flank I still think that applies.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Thankyou mate, I only kept it 4 because I couldn't be ****ed finding other nice pastel colours

I think that at the top end you're ultimately picking on ceiling, elite traits and POD, and the chance to be best in position in the case of non-midfielders. Williams does a lot right, but it seems to me that a few of his elite talents are more character based and mindset based; his defensive application is awesome, his grit, his competitiveness, his will to not be beaten. I think he also obviously has clean skills and an ability to find the ball, but as you say his size will always be a concern until proven otherwise.

Compared to Drever, Teixiera, Butler, even Kodah Edwards to some degree, you can really see a trait or ability that AFL teams will like. Williams strikes me as a need pick rather than a BPA pick for some team. I do think, as seen by his position in the def leaning utility, that he will be able to impact early at AFL level off a flank with his defensive pressure, IQ, endurance, and kicking in space. Even if that is a forward flank I still think that applies.

Yeah I'm trying to think through what would suit geelong and geberally all the high cielings are long gone by our pick. We've got to look out the ACL Barkers etc sliding.

We have to look at contest winners too I think. It's a strength at VFL level currently but the George Stephens and Mitch Knevitts that are underpinning it aren't translating at senior level. His intent at the contest might mean he's vanilla to everyone else but maybe exactly what we need

 

[txbyhull]

Yeah I'm trying to think through what would suit geelong and geberally all the high cielings are long gone by our pick. We've got to look out the ACL Barkers etc sliding.

We have to look at contest winners too I think. It's a strength at VFL level currently but the George Stephens and Mitch Knevitts that are underpinning it aren't translating at senior level. His intent at the contest might mean he's vanilla to everyone else but maybe exactly what we need

I could see Geelong really liking Leo Steed and firing on him early. Archie Van Dyk is another possibility but he’s been out most of this year already and you never know what you’re really going to get at that point.

Jordan Knapp is probably the easiest pick in that regard, though he doesn’t have any standout traits he’s very much a B player in most regards.

 

[txbyhull]

Not in any particular order but separated by tiers.

edit: to clarify, I probably should've put some banding numbers across the side, but it roughly goes Top 3, Top 10, Mid First Round, Late First / Early Second, Second/Third, Third +. The math does not work out numbers wise but its the general area I think they currently could or should be drafted in

I have likely forgotten a player or two, and maybe missed some club alignments, but this is vaguely where I sit pre-champs. There's already been a few guys fade in and out of form. I don't think I rate this draft as much in terms of high level talented as the last few, but it seems deeper than last year imo. Would have 2024 ahead of both but 2025 and 2026 probably balance out imo.

I think Vic Country take out the champs pretty squarely, and I think WA may have a chance at surprising in a few games (bias) with our bottom age talent.

 

[Mutineer]

Archie Elliott as bit stiff?

 

[txbyhull]

Archie Elliott as bit stiff?

Rate him, just haven’t gotten the time to sit down and watch just him. He would’ve been in a previous ranking as a name I’ve picked up but I don’t love putting people on there if I can’t have a firm opinion