Nah, that was SOS' "amazing" 4 for 1 GWS trade.

These recruits have been far more targetted.

Comparing established players like Ainsworth and Hayward to Glen Bowyer et al. is nonsensical.

You missed David Clarke from Geelong. The speed demon.

What trades would have made you happy?
I had a real appetite for a player like Humphrey, and was disappointed it didn't happen, but we have picks 9 & 11 instead.

The team/list we had in 2025 is far more superior to the 2004 team imo, and a different set of circumstances leading into the Trade period.
Lets wait to see what happens after the SSP pick(s)

If you believe Injury and a lack of depth to cover injury killed our 2025 season, then its not a great comparison.
We won all games with less than 8 out injured.
We had an average of 10 out all season.

2004 wasn't impacted by injury. That team exceeded expectations.
Thank god we earned a priority pick and landed Walker; our only pick in the draft.
Maybe you are just comparing the incoming group of Trades and not the List?
I thought 2004 trades were uninspiring at the time. Players past their best.

10 wins with the addition of an A Grader in Stephens, who actually wasn't traded for.
Stevens was a PSD pick up so he doesn't count in the comparison till our SSP and rookie selections have been made.

Scotland was the quality player who had played in a GF for the Pies.
Hayward has played in 2 GF's, so has Florent.

I think Chesser has more pace and skills than Johnston, McGrath and Teague.
The latter 3 couldnt hit a target by foot.

Harwood came to us when he was past his best as a 27yo, and 28 yo the year he played.
Maybe you see the same with Florent being 27yo. Florent would kill Harwood in a foot race.

Give you a tip: Carlton 2026 team will be better and outperform the 2004 team.
Not a great comparison.

I'm hoping for a KPF and a KPD in the SSP. Then I will be more than happy, if we get a free hit with pick 9, get Dean with pick 11 and Ison, before Walker and the compromised drafts.

I think we will be better in 2026 than we were in 2025.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I agree Bondi, 2026 will be a step up.

One can’t deny the 2 recruits we brought from the Bloods (Newman and Hewett) have been a great success. Great leadership and culture. I am most excited that we’ll get more of that culture with Hayward and Florent. I expect it to elevate the energy in th joint - a shift away from the disharmony of 2025

4 great players from a great culture, who know chasing tackiling defending and 1 percenters are not negotiable. That stuff will be contagious with 4 former Bloods. Can't devalue that sort of skillset.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

As we contemplate next season, I was wondering what do people think about our choices from last year’s trading/draft period 1 year later with some hindsight and exposed form?

Especially the following three questions:
1) Was Jagga the right choice for us at no.3?
2) Should we have rather traded our first round picks for Dan Houston?
3) Would we have been better off using those picks in the early teens in the draft (which I think ended up as picks 15 and 17 after bid matching)?

Top 20 picks below for reference:
1 Richmond Sam Lalor

2 North Melb Finn O’Sullivan

3 Carlton Jagga Smith

4 Adelaide Sid Draper

5 Brisbane Levi Ashcroft

6 Melbourne Harvey Langford

7 Richmond Josh Smillie

8 St Kilda Tobie Travaglia

9 Gold Coast Leo Lombard

10 St Kilda Alix Tauru

11 Melbourne Xavier Lindsay

12 Richmond Taj Hotton

13 Essendon* Isaac Kako

14 Richmond Jonty Faull

15 Port Adelaide Joe Berry

16 West Coast Bo Allan

17 Fremantle Murphy Reid

18 GWS Giants Oliver Hannaford

19 GWS Giants Harrison Oliver

20 West Bulldogs Cooper Hynes

Thoughts?

FWIW, I think we made the right call not to put our resources into Houston.
Regarding pick no.3, I don’t think Sid Draper has set the world on fire yet, although this could change as he matures (although one of the arguments for Draper was that he could step straight in and have a big impact). Harvey Langford has shown a lot but not exactly what we needed. So I think it was really a choice for us between Jagga and Draper.
Murphy Reid plus one other were realistic options for those mid-teens picks. Not sure who the other pick would be.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with our decisions at the time. Obviously, a lot depends on how Jagga develops. But, assuming he is at least a handy player and not a dud…

The kids that I have spoken to say that Jagga was the best player in the draft. So I think we have a good one. It would be nice to see it one day. Hopefully 2026 validates that decision.

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Jagga

Realistically we will not know the answer till their careers are at least at the half way mark, but careers of good players can last 10-15 years, sometimes longer, but I believe we did well with Jagga selection over the picks 15 and 17 and so glad we avoided Houston.

Going into last year's draft we were expecting to replace some of the experience we lost and to fill a glaring gap at CHB, which was created by Marchbank (and Liam Jones) departure, and finding a small forward we have failed to find since Bettsy left, and a need to add some speed to our strong, contest centric midfield group. We also had an opportunity to look at the option to add a great kick from HB, something we thought could add but not a desperate need (till Newman did his patella in the preseason) but the price for FA Houston at $800K pa for 5 years at 28yo.

WE can be grateful we dodged a bullet with Houston who turns 29yo next year, and currently undergoing hip surgery after a failed year at Collingwood.

Joe Berry was the name we were hoping for to fill the small forward gap, but its too early to make a call on him, but Reid at 17 looks a beauty. Obviously we placed our faith in Motlop, Durdin and Williams (hence traded out Owies)

I am strongly of the opinion based on what I did see of him in the presason Jagga will be a star, whereas the Berry and Reid will be very good players who do not bring to the team what Jagga can. Jagga is freakish and elusive when he has the ball. He gives us speed in the middle. He's different to Draper, and I believe he compliments what we have got (legacy Cripps/Hewett, stars Walsh/Cerra) and what we have coming (B.Campo and Walker) moreso than than Draper. Lets hope JaGGA shows everyone what he's made of this year...after his ACL. If not in 2026, he will in 2027. We had plenty of depth in the midfield with Lord, Williams and the 2 Hollands boys whop were training for the midfield roles).

I think we filled the CHB spot with an amazing player in ther future in O'Farrell but didnt fill our immediate need (not till after the draft when SOS put his hand up), but to everyone's amazement, he actually showed he can make the CHB spot his own at 19yo. Smart move to trade and lose a midfielder of the type we had ample in Kennedy, to get us a KPD, and lets not forget the insurance we brought in, Haynes for nothing.

Injury wasn't our friend in 2025, starting the season with 13 injured in round 1 and ending the season with 16 out, and we didnt have cover for that sort of number: 2nd worst hit in the AFL after effendopes. I don't blame our derailed year on anything but injury, and the bad attitude of a few players in Charlie, SOS and Elijah poisoning the culture.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Only seven rule changes ? Is the AFL serious about making a mockery of the game or not? I want 10 now and half a dozen changes of interpretation mid season or why even bother

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And thus TDK's value shoots up. Ah well. I like the new shrugging rule, hopefully the cheats get reamed (to clarify, I mean any player who tries to con the umpire: * would be "Cheats" with capital C!)

What will be really interesting is how quickly they adapt. It's all trained.

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The only way for some people to understand is for them to be on the receiving end

Left wing moralists
In self serving denial
They shit me no end

RIP Charlie Kirk (was/were)

They want the game sped up, start doling out 50s to all the players that dick around getting up from packs/handing the ball back so their teammates can get back into position.

Yes, I tend to agree.
The question was triggered by a photo of a (disappointed Carlton supporter) friend with Draper after last year’s draft.

I’m feeling a lot more optimistic than I was when I first heard the Curnow wanted out.

I’m sure Timid Tom is already workshopping ways to concede goals so he can get back to the circle & show off his beaut jumping skills.

Pittonet will be standing on the centre dot & tunnelling every cauliflower that wants to jump on him. We’ll see how many times they want to get back up.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

Amazing what support from the AFL will do.
Imagine if we had received a rescue package of 3 years of priority picks and a zone in the NT.

The new stand rule could be interesting, if the penalty is still 50 metres then the outcome for the offending team could be pretty significant (easy goals)

All this talk of gaining 3 seconds per game here and 4.5 seconds per game there, and not a word about the @#$%&! score review system

Speeding up the game. ? its too fast now . I"d like it to slow down a bit actually . And that stand rule which is already a debacle is going to turn into a monumental fiasco .

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All my dangerous friends

This is one of the reasons I'm enjoying local footy at the moment. You don't really notice the umpires that much as they have time to make a relatively informed decision, and the structure and game style is relatively traditional

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And that's why I have been a regular at the VFL for similar reasons .

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All my dangerous friends