Would this team give some of the cellar dwellers a run for their money?

[liz]

Not this year, given two are injured and three of the taller players are very raw. And admittedly the bench is suspect (and short). But I wouldn't be surprised if all are ready to play senior football this time next year.

It's clearly not our best team, but all these players have been selected for a reason. And I reckon there are many teams in the competition it wouldn't get disgraced by.

FB Brennan Grundy Bevan
HB Kennelly CBolton Malceski
C Barlow Kirk Murphy
HF O'Keefe White Buchanan
FF Laidlaw O'Loughlin Bird
Fol Currie Goodes Jack

Int Thornton Smith ?? ??

[reigning premier]

C'mon Liz..... That's pretty optimistic.

Take out MO'L, Kirk and Kenelly and that team starts to look a whole lot softer....

I get your point (i.e. We've got some good young 'uns in the pipeline), but yes, they would get beaten by almost everyone except Melbourne.

[Robbo]

Would beat Melbourne, Carlton and maybe Fremantle.

[liz]

C'mon Liz..... That's pretty optimistic.

Take out MO'L, Kirk and Kenelly and that team starts to look a whole lot softer....

I get your point (i.e. We've got some good young 'uns in the pipeline), but yes, they would get beaten by almost everyone except Melbourne.

The criterion isn't age.

If I was merely spruiking our youngsters I'd have included the likes of Vezspremi, Moore and Schmidt, amongst others.

[reigning premier]

The criterion isn't age.

If I was merely spruiking our youngsters I'd have included the likes of Vezspremi, Moore and Schmidt, amongst others.

Oh... I thought the Criterion might have been something to do with reality. Like all of these guys ever playing together in the one team.

My mistake. You continue on there Liz.

[shaun..]

You could probably include O'Dwyer and Playfair for the I/C...but that backline looks worrying. Is White better positioned as a CHF than a CHB or FB?

[liz]

Yeah, some of the best positions are debateable. But I needed a CHF and White seemed the most likely. Grundy could possibly fit there, but he looks more like a close-to-the-goal square forward, if he's a forward.

I did think about sticking O'Dwyer on there but I'm still 50/50 about him. The rest I am more confident about. And I completely forgot about Playfair. He fits the bill, probably as the best CHF option available.

[Bloody Hell]

Can we make a rule that noone can put Bevan in the last line of defense in any team....ever.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

I have to admit, I don't think I get the idea of this thread. Are we talking about what our team could look like in 3-4 years?

The entire back three are very suspect. Brennan, Grundy and Bevan don't fill me with any confidence.

Thornton, Jack, Barlow and Murphy will all make it, but where are Moore and Vez? I'm not sold on the idea of White, but he's a KPP so he could really develop his game over the next 3 years or so. Also, I'm suprised McVeigh isn't atleast on the bench, though I'd have him on the ground and Bird playing off the bench.

Bird - Should make it
Laidlaw - I know nothing about him
Smith - Could be something, we should know by next year
Currie - Again I know little about him

I'd have Mattner ahead of Brennan and Richards ahead of Grundy, but again I don't really know what this thread is about, so someone correct me if I have the wrong idea.

[Bloody Hell]

I have to admit, I don't think I get the idea of this thread.

Looks to do with draft location...Liz???

[Bloody Hell]

40+

FB Brennan 44 Grundy Bevan
HB Kennelly CBolton 3 Malceski 64
C Barlow 58 Kirk Murphy 26
HF O'Keefe 56 White 79 Buchanan 52
FF Laidlaw 51 O'Loughlin 40 Bird 59
Fol Currie 49 Goodes 43 Jack 57

Int Thornton 54 Smith ?? ??

60 Adam Schneider

Are you writing off 65 Peter Faulks?

Playfair 44

Got bored....looks like over 40 in a draft...except Murphy, though guess he has to do with being Irish.

Yes, we have been lucky/skillful in drafts/recruiting.

Wrong about the 40 thing......(should have kept going!)

Could be over 40 in the draft plus other drafts (ie preseason, rookie etc)

[goswannie14]

I have to admit, I don't think I get the idea of this thread. Are we talking about what our team could look like in 3-4 years?

You're not alone RP, I'm still trying to work it out.

[ScottH]

I reckon it might be sooner than 3-4 years.

[Ludwig]

Here's a squad where the oldest player is Adam Goodes:

FB Laidlaw LRT Richards
HB Kennelly CBolton Malceski
C Mattner Bird McVeigh
HF O'Keefe Barlow Murphy
FF ODwyer White Buchanan
Fol Currie Goodes Jack

Int Jolly Moore Ablett Schmidt

Emergencies: Bevan Brennan Thornton Smith Vespa DOK Grundy

This could be our team in a couple of years, and if it's any indication of how the future will look by the way Jack has come through the system, I can only be optimistic. The younger guys have more than met expectations based on reports from the ressies. Kieran Jack is already a star, IMO. Probably in our best 10 so far this year. Even the emergencies look good. A lot to look forward to.

[liz]

Sorry - wasn't intended to be obscure. I thought it was obvious who'd I picked/left out.

I was just trying to put together a team that could feasibly take the park using just players taken away from the top end of the draft. I know we've had some really good players come through with later picks but recently there's been a relative explosion of players coming through our rookie list. I wanted to see how good/bad a team we might have with no first or second round draft picks. I've excluded players we traded 1st or 2nd round picks for (like Spida, Jolly, Mattner. Hall and Teddy) and also left out any zone selections (Barry, Mathews, LRT). And while it wouldn't win any premierships (or possibly many matches) I don't think it would be disgraced against a lot of sides - certainly in a year's time.

I have optimistically factored in some development into 4 players yet to play a game and 1 with just one to his name. But I am very bullish about two of those (Murphy and Currie), moderately bullish about another two (White and Laidlaw) and optimistic about the chances too of Smith (long term). The eligible players I left of are those who could make it but I wouldn't predict they will with any certainty.

I remember reading a comment from a Dawks fan before the 2006 draft questioning whether it was worth them even participating in that draft because they didn't - first time in a while - have a plethora of picks in the top 20. We're not the only club to have found lots of real talent outside rounds 1 and 2 of the draft but we've certainly done pretty well.