Draft Day 2014: First Impressions.

[stefoid]

Looks like we picked a bunch of guys who can use the ball well, particularly by foot on the outside, and decent composure. Which is of course what we need in general.

Simon said we also looked at versatility - we arent looking to fill any particular position. Just plonk some guys who can run and use the ball anywhere the team needs them.

Interesting he mentioned Dal as being inside the F50. He might be pegged mainly now as a small forward which is where he does his best work - not sure he has the composure up the ground. Maybe the midfield was a failed experiment for him. See ball, get ball, kick goal might be his trick, but its a good trick!

[Remi Moses]

Any other key backs miss out besides Ramsay and Tyler Kytel

[Mofra]

How many key defenders do people think we should have on the list? Not counting Wood, we currently have 6 - Morris, Roughead, Talia, Roberts, Hamling & Cordy.

Of those, only Roberts & Hamling are really KPDs - and the jury is out on both.

Morris is 190cm and in his last 2 years (likely), Talia has short arms for his height and is no guarantee to make the grade, Roughy's best position is still up in the air and he gets killed by fast leading forwards.

For mien we're desperately light on for KPDs and passing on talls with all 5 picks is a worry to me.

[boydogs]

Of those, only Roberts & Hamling are really KPDs - and the jury is out on both.

Morris is 190cm and in his last 2 years (likely), Talia has short arms for his height and is no guarantee to make the grade, Roughy's best position is still up in the air and he gets killed by fast leading forwards.

For mien we're desperately light on for KPDs and passing on talls with all 5 picks is a worry to me.

There's still 6 of them, and we just picked up 2. Your concerns are valid, but it's unbalancing the list to just keep adding more of them. My point is, once we got Cordy & Hamling it was clear we weren't getting a KPD at the draft.

Trade for needs and draft for best available

[Mofra]

There's still 6 of them, and we just picked up 2.

I dispute that figure.

I count two - Hamling & Roberts, with 4 maybes or outsized types.

[F'scary]

For those who are concerned about the lack of of tall selections on draft night, I'm going to echo a couple of other posters and point out in the trade/draft period we have also acquired Boyd 200cm, Hamling 195cm, Biggs 187cm, we promoted Jong 188cm, Repath 194cm and used F/S on Z Cordy 192cm. That's 6 taller recruits. In the last 2 drafts we got Macrae 191cm, Stringer 192cm, Bontempelli 193cm. We traded a mid 20's pick form Crameri 189cm.

Ball usage and decision making have been obvious and diabolical problems for us for the past 3 years or more. The five players selected tonight have been clearly chosen to address this weakness. I applaud the direction the club has taken.

[Mofra]

For those who are concerned about the lack of of tall selections on draft night, I'm going to echo a couple of other posters and point out in the trade/draft period we have also acquired Boyd 200cm, Hamling 195cm, Biggs 187cm, we promoted Jong 188cm, Repath 194cm and used F/S on Z Cordy 192cm. That's 6 taller recruits. In the last 2 drafts we got Macrae 191cm, Stringer 192cm, Bontempelli 193cm. We traded a mid 20's pick form Crameri 189cm.

Great.

Boyd will develop into a genuine no 1 KPF, I'm sure.
Redpath - good luck to him, but I don't have much faith.
Biggs as AFL average size - I like the selection and think he may well be in our best 22 next year but calling him tall at AFL level is a stretch.
Hamling is a Mackie-liek twig with less ability. He is nowhere near ready and even when he matures may not be a genuine KPD.
Zaine will take time and isn't a genuine KPD.

That's the rub - we are desperate for KPDs and our list looks very thin for them, especially if Roughy plays ruck/forward (which I think he's better suited to) and considering 190cm Morris is in his last couple of years we really need to address this at the rookie draft.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Agree Mofra.

I was very surprised we didn't take McDonald at 45.

[F'scary]

Great.

Boyd will develop into a genuine no 1 KPF, I'm sure.
Redpath - good luck to him, but I don't have much faith.
Biggs as AFL average size - I like the selection and think he may well be in our best 22 next year but calling him tall at AFL level is a stretch.
Hamling is a Mackie-liek twig with less ability. He is nowhere near ready and even when he matures may not be a genuine KPD.
Zaine will take time and isn't a genuine KPD.

That's the rub - we are desperate for KPDs and our list looks very thin for them, especially if Roughy plays ruck/forward (which I think he's better suited to) and considering 190cm Morris is in his last couple of years we really need to address this at the rookie draft.

You may be proven correct in your assessment of Redpath and Hamling. But they are the talls we have recruited for now. I disagree, Biggs is a taller midfielder at 187cm. Zaine is now 193cm according to some sources I read and could be a KPD.

[hujsh]

Completely echo Mofra who summed up everything I wanted to say. Claiming Z.Cordy as a KPD at this stage is like claiming Shaggy as a CHB.

I also don't think including McCrae or Bonts really alleviates anything either. The worry for this list isn't general height around the ground it's specific key position deficiencies for which Boyd is the only likely improvement we've seen this period

[F'scary]

Agree Mofra.

I was very surprised we didn't take McDonald at 45.

He slid big time in the draft. We weren't the only ones who passed him by.

[F'scary]

Completely echo Mofra who summed up everything I wanted to say. Claiming Z.Cordy as a KPD at this stage is like claiming Shaggy as a CHB.

I also don't think including McCrae or Bonts really alleviates anything either. The worry for this list isn't general height around the ground it's specific key position deficiencies for which Boyd is the only likely improvement we've seen this period

We have just as big a problem with ball usage. We can't solve everything in one year. Seems to me that the club chose to focus on ball usage over KPD's and CHF probably because it assessed that the quality required of that type of player wasn't available in the draft at pick 26+.

[Greystache]

We went into the draft with the worst defence in the AFL, and after the draft we haven't improved it at all. I'm surprised we couldn't sacrifice one small forward for an extra tall defender such as Mcdonald. We go into 2015 relying on an undersized Talia, an injured Roberts, and an unlikely reject in Hamling. It seems like we've put all our eggs in a speculative basket. Even if Redpath can be a key defender, which is doubtful, we're light on. I can't understand why we didn't try to pick up at least one more tall defender. We need to hope this group of small players pays off.

[Remi Moses]

We have just as big a problem with ball usage. We can't solve everything in one year. Seems to me that the club chose to focus on ball usage over KPD's and CHF probably because it assessed that the quality required of that type of player wasn't available in the draft at pick 26+.

Agree entirely . That would be the thinking that nobody decent was available after 26

[Remi Moses]

We went into the draft with the worst defence in the AFL, and after the draft we haven't improved it at all. I'm surprised we couldn't sacrifice one small forward for an extra tall defender such as Mcdonald. We go into 2015 relying on an undersized Talia, an injured Roberts, and an unlikely reject in Hamling. It seems like we've put all our eggs in a speculative basket. Even if Redpath can be a key defender, which is doubtful, we're light on. I can't understand why we didn't try to pick up at least one more tall defender. We need to hope this group of small players pays off.

I think we do need an extra defender, but we need a decent one as well.
Is McDonald that highly touted ? He did go pick 53. We were linked with highly touted key backs that went before our pick.