Who will be better in 2026? Geelong or Gold Coast.

[SSSSSS]

As terrible as they are I think they are doing better than what their results suggest.

I can see a lot of green shoots. A spine consisting of Reid, Ginbey, Shanahan and Edwards is a really good start. Waterman is still only 27, so should at least be able to hold the fort down until they develop another KPF option.

Duursma and Lindsay I am big fans of. I was less sold on CDT (never been a huge fans of rucks in the first round) but he impressed me the most out of their draftees in pre-season. McCarthy has proven himself to be a solid player, though I prefer him at half back but I can see why they're throwing him in the middle.

I am concerned with Bo. I think he's a great athlete and cracks in hard but his footy IQ is a bit concerning.

There is a lot to like. Obviously they've got a ways to go and likely a few more seasons of pain but I can see a solid team forming.

 

[bzparkes]

As terrible as they are I think they are doing better than what their results suggest.

I can see a lot of green shoots. A spine consisting of Reid, Ginbey, Shanahan and Edwards is a really good start. Waterman is still only 27, so should at least be able to hold the fort down until they develop another KPF option.

Duursma and Lindsay I am big fans of. I was less sold on CDT (never been a huge fans of rucks in the first round) but he impressed me the most out of their draftees in pre-season. McCarthy has proven himself to be a solid player, though I prefer him at half back but I can see why they're throwing him in the middle.

I am concerned with Bo. I think he's a great athlete and cracks in hard but his footy IQ is a bit concerning.

There is a lot to like. Obviously they've got a ways to go and likely a few more seasons of pain but I can see a solid team forming.

Bo's an interesting one.

Had a bit of a mare in the first half but was one of our better performers in the 2nd. For his supposed kicking flaws, he kicked at 100%(min dyou, he kicked long most times but they were generally well directed).

Just needs to make sure he's using his one-wood currently, which is his pace and power, and leave the cute stuff to those better equipped for it.

 

[Bluelegs]

Here's the thing though

2023
The Media pre-draft: Eagles should split pick 1 for more draft picks and pass on getting Harley Reid
The Media post-draft: Why didn't the Eagles split the pick?? They could have got more talent in
2025
The Media pre-draft: Eagles should split picks 1 and/or 2 and get more draft picks and pass on Duursma/CDT
The Media post-draft: Why didn't the Eagles split the picks?? They could have got more talent in

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

Media has the memory of a goldfish and flip flops every year on their opinion based on a whim

As it stands though if we hadn't have split the pick in 2022, we likely would have gone with Wardlaw or Cadman as North were locked in to Sheezel. Happy to end up with Ginbey from that pick as he's developing into a good defender and Wardlaw's injury problems. Hewett the wild card there and if he can get over his own injury problems.

Cadman would have been a good get, but another key forward isn't high on our needs when we already have Shanahan, Archer Reid and CDT now with hindsight.

How do these points contradict eachother?

 

[kane249]

How do these points contradict eachother?

They dont, you missed my point

2022: Why did they split the pick?
2023: Why didn't they split the pick?
2024: Why did they split the pick?
2025: Why didn't they split the pick/s?

You dont win either way, media flip flops their opinion on a whim.

Had we split 23 and 25 we would cop flak for not taking Harley, Duursma and CDT

 

[Scotland]

Biggest problem with WC currently is the age and experience profile of the 23. Not quite at GC/GWS levels but also not built with start-up concessions so not feasible to take 10 picks in one draft. Not going to win too many games when your 10 least experienced players have played 68 games between them but the alternative was having Hunt, SPS, Witherden, Petruccelle, Rotham, Jones etc. who were all 50-100+ gamers and we were getting smoked. We're on the right path but not close to the finish.

 

[Rich01]

Harley was a no brainer. No one apart from the clown Sam Mclure said they shouldn’t pick him.

Sheezel over Ginbey and Hewitt every day of the week.
Jagga over Baker and Bo Allan - I’d go the former.

CDT over Farrow and Dovaston. Too early to tell but I think all will be good. CDT may end up a class above, but time will tell. They went quantity over quality in 22 and the opposite in 25.

They certainly have been ballsy though.

 

[kane249]

Sheezel over Ginbey and Hewitt every day of the week

North were always taking Sheezel first, was never an option for us

It was either Cadman or Wardlaw.

 

[Rich01]

North were always taking Sheezel first, was never an option for us

It was either Cadman or Wardlaw.

Who knows what would have happened if you opted out of that trade. We are dealing in hypotheticals.

But West Coast had pick 2 originally and that’s where Sheezel ended up being taken.

 

[stallon]

Who knows what would have happened if you opted out of that trade. We are dealing in hypotheticals.

But West Coast had pick 2 originally and that’s where Sheezel ended up being taken.

Anyone who knows anything about that 2022 draft knows that we were never getting Sheezel lol

Cadman/Wardlaw vs Ginbey+Hewett, im taking how it turned out

 

[stallon]

Sheezel over Ginbey and Hewitt every day of the week.
Jagga over Baker and Bo Allan - I’d go the former.

Jagga over Baker and Allan id not rush into. 30 touches while doing **** all with it doesnt scream a huge miss, not when we got our BnF winner last year and a guy who had a similarly ruined first season in the AFL.
Jagga looks like the better side of the equation right now because hes played 2 games and racked it up, but let Allan have a chance to show something too

Also dont forget we got a couple other players from that deal too with further pick splits and trades

 

[kane249]

Who knows what would have happened if you opted out of that trade. We are dealing in hypotheticals.

But West Coast had pick 2 originally and that’s where Sheezel ended up being taken.

Yes because North traded down

They had pick 1. They spilt their pick because Horne-Francis was leaving.

Wardlaw and Sheezel had both indicated they didnt want to leave Victoria (soft metro boys that they are)

Cadman had indicated he had no problems moving interstate so Eagles had him as their target

GWS also wanted Cadman, and got in on the Horne-Francis deal to trade up to get him

When it looked like Cadman was going to GWS, West Coast split their pick as Ginbey was their next target and they knew they could get him later. Hewett was the bonus

So that's why the top picks that year ended up
1) Cadman (pick traded from North)
2) Ashcroft (pick matched by Brisbane)
3) Sheezel (pick traded from West Coast)
4) Wardlaw (pick traded by GWS)

 

[Rich01]

When it looked like Cadman was going to GWS, West Coast split their pick as Ginbey was their next target and they knew they could get him later. Hewett was the bonus

No, it was done in one big trade.
There was no reaction by West Coast, they deliberately gave up rights to the number 2 pick in the draft.

 

[kane249]

No, it was done in one big trade.
There was no reaction by West Coast, they deliberately gave up rights to the number 2 pick in the draft.

Yeah it was done in one big trade, that was the end result.

I just gave you the build up to it. There was a lots of moving parts to it because it all evolved after the Horne-Francis trade request.

If North had kept pick 1 they would have either taken Sheezel at 1, or bid on Ashcroft and taken Sheezel at 2.

West Coast would have likely taken Cadman at 2, Wardlaw was the risk with his injuries and home sickness.


Saying West Coast traded pick 2 which was Sheezel is the laziest of takes, it ignores everything else that went on.

 

[bzparkes]

Yeah it was done in one big trade, that was the end result.

I just gave you the build up to it. There was a lots of moving parts to it because it all evolved after by the Horne-Francis trade request.

If North had kept pick 1 they would have either taken Sheezel at 1, or bid on Ashcroft and taken Sheezel at 2.

West Coast would have likely taken Cadman at 2, Wardlaw was the risk with his injuries and home sickness.


Saying West Coast traded pick 2 which was Sheezel is the laziest of takes, it ignores everything else that went on.

No point explaining it mate, he's just pretending not to understand. He knows fully well we could've never got Sheezel.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

How many of West Coast players would get into a combined best 23 with North Melbourne, it would be less than 5 IMO.

It is true West Coast are young, but they also seriously lack talent, if you go back through the last 6 drafts its quite concerning, I would say only Ginbey, Long, Hewett & Harley Reid are locks to make it as AFL footballers, the rest have real big question marks.

2019 - Callum Jamieson, Ben Johnson
2020 - Luke Edwards, Isiah Winder
2021 - Campbell Chesser, Brady Hough, Rhett Bazzo, Jack Williams, Greg Clark
2022- Reuben Ginbey, Elijah Hewett, Harry Barett, Noah Long
2023- Harley Reid, Archer Reid, Clay Hall, Harvey Johnston
2024- Bo Allen, Jobe Shanahan, Tom Goss, Lucca Grego, Hamish Davis

 

[Doashuey]

How many of West Coast players would get into a combined best 23 with North Melbourne, it would be less than 5 IMO.

It is true West Coast are young, but they also seriously lack talent, if you go back through the last 6 drafts its quite concerning, I would say only Ginbey, Long, Hewett & Harley Reid are locks to make it as AFL footballers, the rest have real big question marks.

2019 - Callum Jamieson, Ben Johnson
2020 - Luke Edwards, Isiah Winder
2021 - Campbell Chesser, Brady Hough, Rhett Bazzo, Jack Williams, Greg Clark
2022- Reuben Ginbey, Elijah Hewett, Harry Barett, Noah Long
2023- Harley Reid, Archer Reid, Clay Hall, Harvey Johnston
2024- Bo Allen, Jobe Shanahan, Tom Goss, Lucca Grego, Hamish Davis

The last 6 drafts would be 20-25 but it wouldn't suit the argument to include CDT, Duursma, Lindsay and Allen? Especially when you could slot in 2019 where our first draft pick was 49.
You can also lock in Hough and Shanahan while you are at it. Barring injury, both will play 200+ games in all likelihood.

 

[SSSSSS]

How many of West Coast players would get into a combined best 23 with North Melbourne, it would be less than 5 IMO.

It is true West Coast are young, but they also seriously lack talent, if you go back through the last 6 drafts its quite concerning, I would say only Ginbey, Long, Hewett & Harley Reid are locks to make it as AFL footballers, the rest have real big question marks.

2019 - Callum Jamieson, Ben Johnson
2020 - Luke Edwards, Isiah Winder
2021 - Campbell Chesser, Brady Hough, Rhett Bazzo, Jack Williams, Greg Clark
2022- Reuben Ginbey, Elijah Hewett, Harry Barett, Noah Long
2023- Harley Reid, Archer Reid, Clay Hall, Harvey Johnston
2024- Bo Allen, Jobe Shanahan, Tom Goss, Lucca Grego, Hamish Davis

B: Ginbey Edwards Archer
HB: FOS Comben McCarthy
C: W. Duursma Sheezel McKercher
HF: Curtis Shanahan Dovaston
F: Waterman Larkey Long

Foll: Xerri H. Reid LDU

I/C: Powell Wardlaw Yeo Hewett Trembath

If I had to give it a go for a combined best 23 on talent/form I'd have the above. Maybe swap one of the mids on the bench for a runner/utility (Hewett being the weakest of the bunch and first to go).

10 WCE players. 13 NM players, with a few more senior players for North (as you'd expect).

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

The last 6 drafts would be 20-25 but it wouldn't suit the argument to include CDT, Duursma, Lindsay and Allen? Especially when you could slot in 2019 where our first draft pick was 49.
You can also lock in Hough and Shanahan while you are at it. Barring injury, both will play 200+ games in all likelihood.

Agree the 2025 draft class looks promising, but think its unfair to include after 1 AFL game. The rest we have some visibility over. The question is what has caused the mess WCE find themselves in and to have that many misses over a sustained period when drafting goes along way to answering the question.

 

[Lia]

As terrible as they are I think they are doing better than what their results suggest.

I can see a lot of green shoots. A spine consisting of Reid, Ginbey, Shanahan and Edwards is a really good start. Waterman is still only 27, so should at least be able to hold the fort down until they develop another KPF option.

Duursma and Lindsay I am big fans of. I was less sold on CDT (never been a huge fans of rucks in the first round) but he impressed me the most out of their draftees in pre-season. McCarthy has proven himself to be a solid player, though I prefer him at half back but I can see why they're throwing him in the middle.

I am concerned with Bo. I think he's a great athlete and cracks in hard but his footy IQ is a bit concerning.

There is a lot to like. Obviously they've got a ways to go and likely a few more seasons of pain but I can see a solid team forming.

I think we just need to see more of Bo, first half of last year was a wipe out due to illness etc. Has clear strengths and weaknesses but just needs to play. I think most of us were happy to see him in the team last weekend.

 

[Scotland]

Jagga over Baker and Allan id not rush into.

It's a stupid binary discussion.

Sheezel (Wardlaw/Cadman really) vs Ginbey and Hewett is fair game. We either do the trade and have picks 9 and 14, or we don't and have pick 3. Even if we do get Sheezel let's not pretend he's transformed North. 68 games almost 2000 possessions, 12 wins.

Trading pick 3 as part of the Baker deal was dumb at the time, is dumb today and will be dumb for the rest of time. Picks 15 and 17 is simply not enough for pick 3, regardless of how we used them. A decent list manager would've brought in Baker and kept pick 3, or brought in Baker and gone to the draft with more than pick 15.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

B: Ginbey Edwards Archer
HB: FOS Comben McCarthy
C: W. Duursma Sheezel McKercher
HF: Curtis Shanahan Dovaston
F: Waterman Larkey Long

Foll: Xerri H. Reid LDU

I/C: Powell Wardlaw Yeo Hewett Trembath

If I had to give it a go for a combined best 23 on talent/form I'd have the above. Maybe swap one of the mids on the bench for a runner/utility (Hewett being the weakest of the bunch and first to go).

10 WCE players. 13 NM players, with a few more senior players for North (as you'd expect).

Good try, I would think Jy Simpkin, Cam Zurhaar & Luke Parker would make the side, not sure who they push out.

 

[Doashuey]

Agree the 2025 draft class looks promising, but think its unfair to include after 1 AFL game. The rest we have some visibility over. The question is what has caused the mess WCE find themselves in and to have that many misses over a sustained period when drafting goes along way to answering the question.

Fair enough, but using those drafts to claim we don't have much talent whilst ignoring 2025 draft in which we brought through a heap of high-end talent is a bit disingenuous (let's not forget McCarthy either btw). Sure they have only played 1 game but the talent is obvious to all. I don't think including the 19 or 20 drafts goes any way to answering a question about draft misses considering we finished 5th both years which were relatively weak drafts and in any case we had sent those picks to Geelong for Kelly. Those traded picks didn't amount to much either so can hardly be considered draft misses.
The fact is we are several years behind North in our rebuild and have only really brought in top end talent over the past 3 years (and yes it was a failure to identify the issue earlier and start trading out players of value to start building earlier). Whereas North have been drafting from the pointy end for about 6 or 7 years and those early picks are now maturing. We have the talent but they need some time to develop.
3 years from now I think a combined WC/North team would be a fairly even split.

 

[CharlieMortdecai]

Good try, I would think Jy Simpkin, Cam Zurhaar & Luke Parker would make the side, not sure who they push out.

Probably not Jy on recent form (except very recent, he was pretty good on the weekend). I don't watch West Coast enough to make an educated comment, but Hardeman and Dyl Stephens are two others with a case.

 

[Billy ray]

they moved to the cursed lathlain park after their last premiership, and thats that

 

[Sphynx]

B: Ginbey Edwards Archer
HB: FOS Comben McCarthy
C: W. Duursma Sheezel McKercher
HF: Curtis Shanahan Dovaston
F: Waterman Larkey Long

Foll: Xerri H. Reid LDU

I/C: Powell Wardlaw Yeo Hewett Trembath

If I had to give it a go for a combined best 23 on talent/form I'd have the above. Maybe swap one of the mids on the bench for a runner/utility (Hewett being the weakest of the bunch and first to go).

10 WCE players. 13 NM players, with a few more senior players for North (as you'd expect).

Is this on some sort of perceived talent thing or something else? Im confused, as you have the likes of Waterman and Yeo in there, but don't have Baker, despite being your highest rated player last year.

IF it's on actual performances of a combined side like that person was alluding, it's laughable.


Zuhaar would have won West Coasts goal kicking last year by almost 20 goals, but 1 game Dovaston from our own side would be ahead of him?

Like Duusma is selected and Simpkin who averaged 23 disposals a game and kicked 15 goals isnt...

If it's on talent, I'd have a few players ahead of even the North players you have listed.

I'd need to understand the criteria tbh.