2022 AFL National Draft and Rookie Draft 28 & 29 November 2022

[liz]

Hagan & Jones are 175 & 178cm mid and defender. We have a lot of players in this range, 170-180. What we do need is a taller, strong mid and and mid size defender, or another tall defender. We also need another ruck.

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Do we? I count four on the list - Gulden, Papley, Sheldrick and Wicks (with Wicks officially measuring in at the top end of the range). Campbell is listed at 181cm.

Does that count as a lot? How does it compare to other teams? I just did a quick scan of the squad lists in a copy of the Record for 2022. Most clubs have at least this number. Some - Melbourne, Richmond, Gold Coast for example - have 6-7, including a few at the very bottom of this height range.

I'm not advocating that we particularly need another sub-180cm player but I don't think it would be an issue if the recruiting team deemed one to be best available at one of our picks and added him to the squad.

[BRS328]

You raise a good point Liz. I expect Campbell and Sheldrick to become starting 22 players in the near future, which leaves Wicks as the only depth player in this category.

[Mark26]

This "size matters" debate is quite interesting. Give me a team full of Errol Guldens over Lachlan McAndrews any day of the week. Doesn't matter if you're as short as Paps. If you can play, you can play.

[Ludwig]

Do we? I count four on the list - Gulden, Papley, Sheldrick and Wicks (with Wicks officially measuring in at the top end of the range). Campbell is listed at 181cm.

Does that count as a lot? How does it compare to other teams? I just did a quick scan of the squad lists in a copy of the Record for 2022. Most clubs have at least this number. Some - Melbourne, Richmond, Gold Coast for example - have 6-7, including a few at the very bottom of this height range.

I'm not advocating that we particularly need another sub-180cm player but I don't think it would be an issue if the recruiting team deemed one to be best available at one of our picks and added him to the squad.

I'm not against drafting smaller players if the quality is there, but if addressing overall player height, I recall that we go into nearly every game as the shorter team. I won't check every game, but we were the shorter team in all 3 finals.

I would focus more on taller players for this draft, including midfielders like Allen and Hustwaite, to close the height gap with the rest of the comp. I particularly worry about the number of super tall kpps, like the King brothers and McKay brothers, and all those other sides with plus 2 metre forwards. Our smaller defenders are not particularly good in the air, so we should look to transition to a taller defence as more teams use game tactics to get height mismatches in their forward lines. This works quite well against the Swans, and is an area we should address.

[AB Swannie]

This "size matters" debate is quite interesting. Give me a team full of Errol Guldens over Lachlan McAndrews any day of the week. Doesn't matter if you're as short as Paps. If you can play, you can play.

I agree. Height, especially for midfielders is one of the most overrated metrics. It can be beneficial as a supplementary trait but should not be anywhere near the primary qualification for selecting or not selecting a player.

I know some people scoff at this but please read Moneyball. Remove preconceptions about how a player should look and focus on their ability.

[rojo]

I'm with Ludwig in this. One telling example in the grand final.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Yes we lost comprehensively in the GF but that is not just because our mids were not as tall on average as the Cats.

There was a "web" of reasons we lost not a mono problem of lack of midfield nor backline height.

"Draft for best available and trade for roles required" is generally the no1 strategy for most teams

The Cats by winning a GF may have shown that u can attract seriously superior "roles required" if ur home ground and club is based in Melbourne, plus also young talent via massive draft upgrades.

Enticing say Issac Smith over to the Cats is alot easier for the Hoops then it is for us at the Swans......

Re our recruitment we have gone heavy on inside mid recruits last year and we do have a stack of outside mids etc

I can't wait to see who we target in the draft

[Ludwig]

Just to be clear, I am not implying that the GF loss had anything to do with height.

Last year all our ND draft picks were in the low 180s in height. I think this year we shouldn't repeat that, because there will be a price to pay some time down the line when we've all forgotten about the 2022 draft. I am simply saying that more height should be added to our list, if the opportunity should arise. And it seems as though it will arise, based on most of the draft power rankings. So it's a good time to strike.

[wolftone57]

Here's a SEN interview of Isaac Keeler. There's a bit of praise from the interviewers after the conversation, when he is compared to Luke Jackson as the kind of player who can play forward and in the ruck. He knows that he's going interstate and says that's okay.

He's drifting out on some draft boards, particularly on Cal Twomey's, but I can't help but like this guy. Seems like a really good fit for us as a long term prospect, plus he is very likely to be available in our part of the draft. This doesn't happen all that often for us, in part due to using early draft picks to match bids on quality academy players.

He's very much a Paddy Ryder type of player. Unless there's something wrong with him, like competitiveness issues, we shouldn't pass up the opportunity to draft this kind of player. It could be a long time before the opportunity arises again.

Why Crows chose against nominating draft prospect under NGA rules

I agree. He is, a rare talent. He is so versatile that he can even play as a pure mid. Wow. He is also capable of taking the biggest of Marks. I like him heaps

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[wolftone57]

No one expected Ted Richards to end up being the much loved Ted Richards Mk 1 when he arrived either. Give Francis a chance.....don't write him off yet.

Yes Teddy played on Jonno Brown, who kicked 8 on him and he was promptly dropped. He played only sporadically for Bombers before being traded. A bit like Francis really, an early draft pick who never reached his best at his first club for one reason or another.

I think Francis has a good show of becoming a top player if he knuckles down. The fitness regime will help him heaps

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[wolftone57]

Actually no, there was a minority, an unheralded and belittled minority that thought at the time he was a good selection.
And referring to that minority at this point as "no one" - that's just doubling down.

I was never sure about Hickey. I had a lý seen him on a handful of occasions and thought him a pretty good player. But nothing like he has proven to be for us. He was always versatile but I think coaches never coached him well. Not only that he had injury concerns his whole career and they could never get him right. Our fitness people have done that.

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[gloveski]

Just to be clear, I am not implying that the GF loss had anything to do with height.

Last year all our ND draft picks were in the low 180s in height. I think this year we shouldn't repeat that, because there will be a price to pay some time down the line when we've all forgotten about the 2022 draft. I am simply saying that more height should be added to our list, if the opportunity should arise. And it seems as though it will arise, based on most of the draft power rankings. So it's a good time to strike.

Great analysis Ludwig . One of the reasons I’m a big fan on Allen is he has height and plays in and around the ball . With Mills being our current tallest midfielder now Kennedy has retired it’s an area we need to address . Someone like Allen given his build would start on a wing but eventually could be a tall inside mid that would complement our current midfield make up . Very handy player to have that plays wing who can be another marking target on the way out . Who then can also play inside as needed .

As for Cowan who I’m also a big fan of, he is a great intercept mark is high 180’s in height and has the versatility to go through the midfield as well .

Keeler I can see the attraction also has height has great potential upside and once again is versatile .

Height with versatility is our screaming need in my opinion and there seems to be a few more than promising selections around our first two picks .


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