With the bombers now having pick 7 and likely to have at least 1 more early pick does anyone have any thoughts on using pick 3 on Campbell? Dodo could be quite likely to put a bid in for him with an early pick which might be hard for us to match.
There's a bit of legitimate anxiety with the draft order and it being compromised. Here is status quo at the moment as I see it ...
1. Adelaide - Ugle-Hagan (Dogs match)
2. Adelaide - McDonald
3. North - Thilthorpe
4. Sydney - either Hollands or GB
5. Hawthorn
6. Gold Coast
7. Essendon
8. Essendon
If Adelaide get pick 2 for Crouch (which would be criminal compensation for losing him), then I still see either Hollands or GB still available at our pick. It would be foolish if Adelaide ends up with pick 2 and trades with Essendon because it's rare to be able to nab two potentially elite players like McDonald and Thilthorpe. They could become the foundation of a very good team. The trick is keeping them together and have them buy into staying at your footy club. That's something the Gold Coast is beginning to do.
Even if Essendon swaps for Adelaide's potential pick 2 compensation, would they really bid on Campbell over Thilthorpe or McDonald? What if we declined to match? You typically bid on the player you want and rate at that point of the draft. Would Essendon be happy walking away with Campbell at pick 3 (if we decide not to match)? I can't see it happening. They'll be wanting to replace JD with a KPF to satisfy everyone at Bomberland.
I think we stay the course and end up with a good player before we need to match for Campbell or we use pick 3 (which is fast becoming pick 5) to trade in a gun from another team ... and then match for Campbell and Gulden.
Which players, if any, generated a compensation bid as high as pick 2? I don't think there are any.
Tom Lynch garnered pick 3 for Gold Coast, Dale Thomas pick 11 for Collingwood, Brendon Goddard pick 13 for St Kilda, James Frawley pick 3 for Melbourne, Tom Rockliff pick 19 for Brisbane and of course Franklin pick 19 for Hawthorn.
Pick 2 for Crouch is the highest ever awarded and clearly well over what Crouch is worth on the open market. This draft is becoming a mess with all the extra picks added, highly rated NGA's and no Vic U18 form line. We will do well with pick 4 and the two academy players who we know intimately.
It's a bit disturbing that Daniher garnered the Dons a first round compensation pick for a 3 year contract. How can the AFL then justify less than a first round compensation pick to the Crows for Crouch getting 5 years? Even if the amount p.a. is less, the contract overall would still be a worth a fair bit more overall. Surely Daniher's contract is only $700K p.a. if he plays consistently, not as a base wage? And yet surely that can't be the basis of calculating the compensation because there's so much risk it won't happen, can it?
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