2020 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[mattybloods]

What's with the talk of Hewitt maybe leaving? Unless there's some sort of solid evidence of a player wanting out (or others wanting in), we should be staying upfront in our posts that it's just conjecture.

This is RWO, not the Melbourne media, so let's at least keep some vague relationship with reality.

Until he signs a contract for next year he's a possibility of leaving

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[Blood Fever]

What's with the talk of Hewitt maybe leaving? Unless there's some sort of solid evidence of a player wanting out (or others wanting in), we should be staying upfront in our posts that it's just conjecture.

This is RWO, not the Melbourne media, so let's at least keep some vague relationship with reality.

Agree. Lot of nonsense thrown out there from countless Melbourne footy journos. Feeding the neuroses of the nuffies and justifying their jobs.

[stevoswan]

What's with the talk of Hewitt maybe leaving? Unless there's some sort of solid evidence of a player wanting out (or others wanting in), we should be staying upfront in our posts that it's just conjecture.

This is RWO, not the Melbourne media, so let's at least keep some vague relationship with reality.

Hear, hear!

[Nico]

We aren't going to be active in trades this year. We don't have the picks available to us, or a player that's an asset that we're willing to move.
I suggest considering Majak as a ruck option that's free on the open market. He never got a proper run in the ruck due to the durability of Goldstein. But he together with Aliir could form a formidable partnership of ruck/forwards.

We need to be prepared for shifting back to pick 5. Bulldogs are #1, and Adelaide will likely get #3 as comp for Crouch (after their current #2).

Getting Crouch is hard to judge the value in. Similar to Daniher, we can easily pay overs for one of them. Given we are already doing that for Buddy and Reid, that carries risk of squeezing out players we'd ideally keep.

I can't see how Crouch would be a pick 3 compo. Martin maybe, but Crouch is a round 2.

[Markwebbos]

I can't see how Crouch would be a pick 3 compo. Martin maybe, but Crouch is a round 2.

And not in our interest to offer him a deal that would push our pick 3 back to 4. Interesting times!

I'm still not convinced we are in the market for Crouch, but then I was totally blindsided by Buddy.

[707]

Here's our drafting targets - A question asked of draft watcher "Knightmare" as to who are the best kicks in this draft, he replied

Elijah Hollands, Jack Ginnivan, Connor Downie (Haw) and Errol Gulden (Syd) are among those top of mind I'd have in the conversation. Definitely add Campbell. He's a top 1-3 kick. One of if not the most damaging kick.

So we all on board for elite kickers this draft?

[707]

And not in our interest to offer him a deal that would push our pick 3 back to 4. Interesting times!

I'm still not convinced we are in the market for Crouch, but then I was totally blindsided by Buddy.

Every body except for the leak proof half dozen involved were blind sided by that!

Crouch to us? Just a manager's hot air to pump up his client as I suspect the offers are below getting the Crows pick 2. JD yes, Crouch no.

[SwanSand]

I am not too surprised that we don’t have anyone in under 22 top 22 players. Many of the players are nearly 22 in that list and some of them such as king brothers are actually excellent.

I don’t think having an elite talent Of 1-3 players helps to win premierships anyway. If we have hardworking multiple players in the second 22 maybe, we should do very well. Our lads who have talent are all 20 and under - Rowbottom, Stephens, Jmac and McCartin.

Florent and Ling are the ones who were probably expected to get into that list but they are not and that is a bit disappointing.

I would get Elijah, Campbell and Gulden in this draft. Not worry about KPD or KPF. It takes years to develop them anyways and we can certainly buy them in a year or 2 if we think we are otherwise ok on our list.

Fix midfield depth First with talented 2 way runners and good kickers, followed by elite line breakers. This with atleast competitive Ruck. We have elite small forwards lined up already and I think our wing is going to be ok. Then we worry about KPF.

The best example of this is Brisbane Lions.... great midfield depth and ruck without good KPF and still doing well in the competition.

[giant]

I see Serong, a player many pundits had us selecting at pick 5 last year, won the best first year player. There is much positivity around Stephens here, and he's obviously a talented kid - but arguably, Serong might have been our third best midfielder already if we'd selected him. Beetson, who gets so many draft selections right, seems to get way too cute when it comes to the (non-academy) first round picks - dare I say it, Stephens has the whiff of Paddy Vezpremi about him. God I hope that's not how it plays out.

[Aprilbr]

I think Stephens will really develop. Elite runner and can already win possessions. Needs to build up and learn. Give him time please. I recall thinking that McVeigh was a dud in his first season or two. How wrong was I!

[MattW]

I see Serong, a player many pundits had us selecting at pick 5 last year, won the best first year player. There is much positivity around Stephens here, and he's obviously a talented kid - but arguably, Serong might have been our third best midfielder already if we'd selected him. Beetson, who gets so many draft selections right, seems to get way too cute when it comes to the (non-academy) first round picks - dare I say it, Stephens has the whiff of Paddy Vezpremi about him. God I hope that's not how it plays out.

I don't see the Vezpremi comparison at all. Vezpremi look like he struggled at the level pretty much straight away, whereas Stephens clearly has class (IMO), confidence and is improving game on game. With respect, I can't even conceive of a basis you'd make that comparison.

[SwanSand]

Some of these decisions are made keeping in mind what’s coming and what we have got. Serong probably may be similar to Campbell and hence not selected and also we need better wingman and players who can be inside and outside too. Hence Stephens. I think we did well there.

[TheBloods]

I am not too surprised that we don’t have anyone in under 22 top 22 players. Many of the players are nearly 22 in that list and some of them such as king brothers are actually excellent.

I don’t think having an elite talent Of 1-3 players helps to win premierships anyway. If we have hardworking multiple players in the second 22 maybe, we should do very well. Our lads who have talent are all 20 and under - Rowbottom, Stephens, Jmac and McCartin.

I do not agree that you don't need 1-3 players with elite talent to win premierships. A quick glance at every premiers from the last however many years will tell us that.

Richmond - Dusty, Cotchin, Lynch, Grimes all elite. Could argue the same of Houli and Prestia.
West Coast Eagles - Kennedy, Shuey, Gaff, Nic Nat, McGovern. Possibly Hurn, possibly Yeo.
Western Bulldogs - Bont, Macrae, only two, but two is better than none.
Hawthorn - Buddy, Roughead, Hodge, Mitchell, Rioli, Burgoyne. Possibly Gunston, possibly Gibson, possibly Birchall, possibly Lewis.

Can any of us say with a straight face that there are any elite talents of that level on this list? Heeney perhaps but he is 24, hasn't shown it thus far. Maybe Dawson, maybe Rowbottom, maybe McCartin. Possibly Blakey. None even close to elite yet though. We cannot afford to be complacent with this list thinking it is good enough and does not need elite talent added to it.

[liz]

dare I say it, Stephens has the whiff of Paddy Vezpremi about him. God I hope that's not how it plays out.

Veszpremi could play football, skills wise, but had low stamina when he arrived and never managed to build it up to the level required to play senior AFL even a decade or so ago (and the level required has probably got tougher since then). Stevens seems like the antithesis of Veszpremi in that respect.

(Also, Beatson wasn't in charge of recruitment when Vez was recruited. He was in a consulting role, but I believe it was Maxfield who made the final call to pick Veszpremi.)

[The Big Cat]

I see Serong, a player many pundits had us selecting at pick 5 last year, won the best first year player. There is much positivity around Stephens here, and he's obviously a talented kid - but arguably, Serong might have been our third best midfielder already if we'd selected him. Beetson, who gets so many draft selections right, seems to get way too cute when it comes to the (non-academy) first round picks - dare I say it, Stephens has the whiff of Paddy Vezpremi about him. God I hope that's not how it plays out.

A couple of years down the track Stephens will be elite and Serong just another grab and kick it player. Remember Rhys Palmer and dare I say it, Lewy Taylor.