Draft Strategy

[St Dave]

I was going to post this in the positivity thread but though it is related to the King/Hammer debate there and the intent is to be positive, I figured it was maybe a bit off topic there so I made a new thread.

As much as I know going back to the draft for another quality mid or two is probably the right list strategy, I am also pretty happy with what we have seen from the developing mids coming through, and if we can get an LDU type I might be happy to give guys like Garcia and Pou and Owens another preseason to crack on next year. So if we don't end up with a top end pick I am not sure what I would want the club to do, so I thought it would be interesting to see what others would do in the situation below.

Let's say we improve a bit towards the end of the year and after all the draft mucking about we end up with pick in the 8-12 range. With questions over Hammer and King and the other areas where people feel we need improvement, do you feel like the club should take the 6th-10th best mid in the draft or should we go for one of the top 3 forwards (or backs)? Would you prefer pick 10ish was the basis for the LDU trade or are we happy waiting for him to be an RFA next year?

Draft watchers might know more about the quality coming through (I believe it is supposed to be mid deep), and what might be available around that range.

[Otiman]

Best available, midfield or key position.

Haven't we learned that drafting first rounders on need is doomed to fail?

[B.M]

You just draft the best talent available onto the list - especially in the First Two rounds

LDU will cost our first round selection

Are we willing to sacrifice that?!

[Devilhead]

We definitely should be looking at another young ruck ... either through draft or trade

Also mids and a small forward

Personally I think this particular draft year is ordinary (compared to last few) but there are always some players who will make it

LDU next year as an FA but we risk North actually coming good and then him wanting to stay

[Vortex]

Best available as long as it's a midfielder.

[SinCitySainter]

LDU is going to cost more than 1 first rounder and let's be realistic if he looks gettable he will end up at one of the bigger Melbourne clubs. Let's forget about trying to trade in a star midfielder, it will cost too much and we are just not desirable enough of a destination.

We need to go to the draft and a pick in the 8 to 10 range is unlikely to do us any good. We are stagnating in the mid-table wasteland and that means embrace being horrible for a couple of years or accept midtable obscurity. Our only option is the draft and a lot of luck.

Going hard on the draft is no certainty to be successful but for a club like ours any other approach is an assured failure. We need to consider a full reset and they may mean Battle has to be allowed to leave and maybe even look to trade a Sinclair or a Steele as they would command a good price. As we are stuck with Mr negative as our coach I just hope he has the guts to do something brave. However, if I had to put money on it I would guess mid table is what he is aiming for as his prime motivation is Ross not St Kilda.

[St Dave]

I don't think best available is always the right choice. Particularly when you can't guarantee the 5th pick will always be the 5th best player.

Best available maybe for the top few picks where the quality is so much higher, and you obviously don't reach from pick 8 to a player projected for pick 20+ just because of need (that's what trading down picks is for), but if we end up with pick 10 and one of the top 2 key forwards is expected to go at pick 12, I feel like we need a good forward to support King rather than the 8th best mid.

If we do end up with another mid round pick, maybe the plan should be to try to find a way to get up the order more to make our pick more impactful.

[D.B.Cooper]

On LDU, other than being obscenely over compensated, not sure why a guy who has played his career to date in a basket case club would consider going to mid to lower level club with no profile.

If he leaves he’ll still get decent coin at a big club, play at the MCG, etc…

Do you think Gresh would be sitting back right now saying “what have I done”?

Every year we talk up our ‘war chest’ and chasing big names, and how does that work out?

The only way we get anyone is pay above odds for players like Hill, Hannebery etc.

[Devilhead]

Gresh went from a club playing Finals to lower mid level club who got whacked by 126pts and 70pts in the last 2 games of the season

[saynta]

Gresh went from a club playing Finals to lower mid level club who got whacked by 126pts and 70pts in the last 2 games of the season

Good riddance. If a player wants out then they can f*** off as far as I am concerned.

[cwrcyn]

It's all about $$$$$$ from Gresham. He was on a huge contract with us. Now he's on a huge contract at Essendon. You have to wonder about their salary cap. Gresham would be ranked about 17th on their list, yet he's on big money. However, I'm sure The Bombers, true to form, are sticking by the rules

[SaintPav]

Gresham has been ok but hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. Hardly value for money.

He’s also lost a bit of pace the last few because of his leg injuries which means he’s not as damaging as he was in the first 5 years of his career.

[mad saint guy]

Gresham has been ok but hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. Hardly value for money.

He’s also lost a bit of pace the last few because of his leg injuries which means he’s not as damaging as he was in the first 5 years of his career.

Out of curiosity I just checked his stats and after kicking 9 goals in the first 6 games he's kicked 1 in the following 6. And that's without much midfield time at all. Going pretty poorly at the moment

[magnifisaint]

You just draft the best talent available onto the list - especially in the First Two rounds

LDU will cost our first round selection

Are we willing to sacrifice that?!

Andrew Brayshaw would be better.

[magnifisaint]

Gresham is bog average. Can't run and can't kick over a jam tin