Pick 58: Jasper Alger

[Diocletian]

Saved the night.

Which of the first seven selections upset you?

You do realise we only made two selections on the second night don't you? 

[ajGreen]

Saved the night.

Which of the first seven selections upset you?

You do realise we only made two selections on the second night don't you? 

You have Thomas Sims rated that poor of a prospect?

" STRENGTHS:

+ Athleticism
+ Creativity
+ Leading patterns
+ Marking
+ Physicality
+ Versatility "

[Tiger Khosh]

Got nothing against Sims. Know squat about him. Hope he becomes the best ruck/fwd in the league.

I think on the balance of the draft another mid would have been better, especially since we could have taken Allen/Reid, before our deep dive into the key position market.

[camboon]

I’m pleased we are building the spine with rated keys on top of the big mids, successful clubs have gone done that  , a long way to go but we can bring in  some mids and flankers next year on a need basis

[ajGreen]

Got nothing against Sims. Know squat about him. Hope he becomes the best ruck/fwd in the league.

I think on the balance of the draft another mid would have been better, especially since we could have taken Allen/Reid, before our deep dive into the key position market.

If we take a mid earlier. Good chance Armstrong or Trainor are gone by the later picks? Very happy to get those two on the books.

Landing two of the 'big 6' mids is a pretty good result.  Hotton has big ceiling too.

I think Alger has been described as a 'high' half forward too and he is 17 until the end of the year. Might end up as a mid option.

Looking at the list of smalls that went after Sims I'm reasonable comfortable overlooking them.  Need to save some room for Hopper (who might bounce back?) and Taranto and potentially Duursma/Sharp next draft pool

I liked the sounds of Jack Ough but maybe HQ didn't want another giant midfielder. Christian Moraes hasn't developed as expected and his kicking sounds a bit shaky. Tom Gross appears to be pretty solid but slipped to 46.

Reid does sound quality back you can't get everyone

[Tiger Khosh]

You may be right and obviously we’d never know but other than Tauru, every key position player was taken at our picks.
14 - Faull
21 - Trainor
23 - Armstrong
27 - M.Whitlock (remember this was our pick we traded to the kangas)
28 - Sims

The next key position player who got drafted was Shanahan at #30.

Just seems we could have snuck in another top end mid at 14 and gotten every other player at our next pick just obviously missing out on Sims. If one of Faull or Armstrong had been taken before that we could have just replaced them with Shanahan or J. Whitlock. I won’t pretend I follow the draft closely enough to know whether that would have been a big downgrade on the kp part.

But your right in the sense that you will always be able to get quality mids at the top end of the draft which we should have access to a couple next year. Whereas kp’s are more hit and miss so you have to throw more darts before getting your bullseyes.

[MintOnLamb]

You may be right and obviously we’d never know but other than Tauru, every key position player was taken at our picks.
14 - Faull
21 - Trainor
23 - Armstrong
27 - M.Whitlock (remember this was our pick we traded to the kangas)
28 - Sims

The next key position player who got drafted was Shanahan at #30.

Just seems we could have snuck in another top end mid at 14 and gotten every other player at our next pick just obviously missing out on Sims. If one of Faull or Armstrong had been taken before that we could have just replaced them with Shanahan or J. Whitlock. I won’t pretend I follow the draft closely enough to know whether that would have been a big downgrade on the kp part.

But your right in the sense that you will always be able to get quality mids at the top end of the draft which we should have access to a couple next year. Whereas kp’s are more hit and miss so you have to throw more darts before getting your bullseyes.

I see your point but we have quite a few mids at present, will half of them sit on the bench all year??

[Andyy]

You may be right and obviously we’d never know but other than Tauru, every key position player was taken at our picks.
14 - Faull
21 - Trainor
23 - Armstrong
27 - M.Whitlock (remember this was our pick we traded to the kangas)
28 - Sims

The next key position player who got drafted was Shanahan at #30.

Just seems we could have snuck in another top end mid at 14 and gotten every other player at our next pick just obviously missing out on Sims. If one of Faull or Armstrong had been taken before that we could have just replaced them with Shanahan or J. Whitlock. I won’t pretend I follow the draft closely enough to know whether that would have been a big downgrade on the kp part.

But your right in the sense that you will always be able to get quality mids at the top end of the draft which we should have access to a couple next year. Whereas kp’s are more hit and miss so you have to throw more darts before getting your bullseyes.

I see your point but we have quite a few mids at present, will half of them sit on the bench all year??

Can't believe we signed up Dow.

Wouldn't give him a game above Taranto, Hopper, McAuliffe, Ross, Prestia and any of the draftees.

[Diocletian]

You may be right and obviously we’d never know but other than Tauru, every key position player was taken at our picks.
14 - Faull
21 - Trainor
23 - Armstrong
27 - M.Whitlock (remember this was our pick we traded to the kangas)
28 - Sims

The next key position player who got drafted was Shanahan at #30.

Just seems we could have snuck in another top end mid at 14 and gotten every other player at our next pick just obviously missing out on Sims. If one of Faull or Armstrong had been taken before that we could have just replaced them with Shanahan or J. Whitlock. I won’t pretend I follow the draft closely enough to know whether that would have been a big downgrade on the kp part.

But your right in the sense that you will always be able to get quality mids at the top end of the draft which we should have access to a couple next year. Whereas kp’s are more hit and miss so you have to throw more darts before getting your bullseyes.

I see your point but we have quite a few mids at present, will half of them sit on the bench all year??

Half our talls will be either sitting on the bench or playing wing once Lynch, Gibcus, Young & Lefau are all fit again. Then there's the two cat B basketballers who'll probably have to be sent to a lower league(where they frankly belong at this stage). Lefau at least can play in the guts.

[Tiger Khosh]

You may be right and obviously we’d never know but other than Tauru, every key position player was taken at our picks.
14 - Faull
21 - Trainor
23 - Armstrong
27 - M.Whitlock (remember this was our pick we traded to the kangas)
28 - Sims

The next key position player who got drafted was Shanahan at #30.

Just seems we could have snuck in another top end mid at 14 and gotten every other player at our next pick just obviously missing out on Sims. If one of Faull or Armstrong had been taken before that we could have just replaced them with Shanahan or J. Whitlock. I won’t pretend I follow the draft closely enough to know whether that would have been a big downgrade on the kp part.

But your right in the sense that you will always be able to get quality mids at the top end of the draft which we should have access to a couple next year. Whereas kp’s are more hit and miss so you have to throw more darts before getting your bullseyes.

I see your point but we have quite a few mids at present, will half of them sit on the bench all year??

Half our talls will be either sitting on the bench or playing wing once Lynch, Gibcus, Young & Lefau are all fit again. Then there's the two cat B basketballers who'll probably have to be sent to a lower league(where they frankly belong at this stage). Lefau at least can play in the guts.

From the guys who played in the middle last season, only really TT, Hopper, Prestia and Mcauliffe remain that I can think of. Bolton and baker gone (both mainly used fwd anyway), Graham gone. Sonsie isn’t used in midfield for whatever reason, Ross gets played on the wing. Dow, well jury well and truly out on his long term prospects.

So think we have heaps of room for top end talent mids. Especially when you consider Lalor and Hotton are very capable to play forward aswell as the question marks on Prestia and Hoppers continued fitness issues.

[Andyy]

From the guys who played in the middle last season, only really TT, Hopper, Prestia and Mcauliffe remain that I can think of. Bolton and baker gone (both mainly used fwd anyway), Graham gone. Sonsie isn’t used in midfield for whatever reason, Ross gets played on the wing. Dow, well jury well and truly out on his long term prospects.

So think we have heaps of room for top end talent mids. Especially when you consider Lalor and Hotton are very capable to play forward aswell as the question marks on Prestia and Hoppers continued fitness issues.

Don't know how the jury could possibly still be out on this guy? I suspect they only signed him knowing that the other blokes were leaving.

Been on the list 5 years and could have close to 100 games under his belt by now if he was going to be a good player. Yeah you could argue he was drafted by a premiership team etc but still if he was showing any signs you'd see at least 50-75 games and some Brownlow votes etc.

As things stand he's at 34 games, no votes, and his best year was 2024 when we were ravaged by injury and he managed 17 games averaging 15.6 touches a game, only a third of which are kicks, and about 2 tackles. No scoreboard impact. Not once has he turned a game or hurt an opposition team.


I'd be playing any of the draftees ahead of him from R1 tbh. He's on the list as depth, surely.

[ajGreen]

From the guys who played in the middle last season, only really TT, Hopper, Prestia and Mcauliffe remain that I can think of. Bolton and baker gone (both mainly used fwd anyway), Graham gone. Sonsie isn’t used in midfield for whatever reason, Ross gets played on the wing. Dow, well jury well and truly out on his long term prospects.

So think we have heaps of room for top end talent mids. Especially when you consider Lalor and Hotton are very capable to play forward aswell as the question marks on Prestia and Hoppers continued fitness issues.

Don't know how the jury could possibly still be out on this guy? I suspect they only signed him knowing that the other blokes were leaving.

Been on the list 5 years and could have close to 100 games under his belt by now if he was going to be a good player. Yeah you could argue he was drafted by a premiership team etc but still if he was showing any signs you'd see at least 50-75 games and some Brownlow votes etc.

As things stand he's at 34 games, no votes, and his best year was 2024 when we were ravaged by injury and he managed 17 games averaging 15.6 touches a game, only a third of which are kicks, and about 2 tackles. No scoreboard impact. Not once has he turned a game or hurt an opposition team.


I'd be playing any of the draftees ahead of him from R1 tbh. He's on the list as depth, surely.

Dow has only just turned 23. Stranger things have happened than him turning into an asset. He has shown some good glimpses at times imo.

We are short of small defenders too. Maybe he can slot in there 

[WilliamPowell]

Don't know how the jury could possibly still be out on this guy? I suspect they only signed him knowing that the other blokes were leaving.

Been on the list 5 years and could have close to 100 games under his belt by now if he was going to be a good player. Yeah you could argue he was drafted by a premiership team etc but still if he was showing any signs you'd see at least 50-75 games and some Brownlow votes etc.

As things stand he's at 34 games, no votes, and his best year was 2024 when we were ravaged by injury and he managed 17 games averaging 15.6 touches a game, only a third of which are kicks, and about 2 tackles. No scoreboard impact. Not once has he turned a game or hurt an opposition team.


I'd be playing any of the draftees ahead of him from R1 tbh. He's on the list as depth, surely.

Totally agree Andyy!

The other thing you didn't mention was his at times complete lack of defensive efforts. It os infuriating to watch blokes run off or past him while he either just jogs along with zero intensity or worse still stands there and does nothing. For an inside mid his tackling numbers are very poor

Of the 17 games in 2024 I reckon he was ok in 3 and that might be being generous

I've got absolutely no doubt if Baker or Graham (our 2 best tacklers) stayed he would have been delisted

[Diocletian]

From the guys who played in the middle last season, only really TT, Hopper, Prestia and Mcauliffe remain that I can think of. Bolton and baker gone (both mainly used fwd anyway), Graham gone. Sonsie isn’t used in midfield for whatever reason, Ross gets played on the wing. Dow, well jury well and truly out on his long term prospects.

So think we have heaps of room for top end talent mids. Especially when you consider Lalor and Hotton are very capable to play forward aswell as the question marks on Prestia and Hoppers continued fitness issues.

Don't know how the jury could possibly still be out on this guy? I suspect they only signed him knowing that the other blokes were leaving.

Been on the list 5 years and could have close to 100 games under his belt by now if he was going to be a good player. Yeah you could argue he was drafted by a premiership team etc but still if he was showing any signs you'd see at least 50-75 games and some Brownlow votes etc.

As things stand he's at 34 games, no votes, and his best year was 2024 when we were ravaged by injury and he managed 17 games averaging 15.6 touches a game, only a third of which are kicks, and about 2 tackles. No scoreboard impact. Not once has he turned a game or hurt an opposition team.


I'd be playing any of the draftees ahead of him from R1 tbh. He's on the list as depth, surely.

Dow has only just turned 23. Stranger things have happened than him turning into an asset. He has shown some good glimpses at times imo.

We are short of small defenders too. Maybe he can slot in there

Dow hasn't got a defensive bone in his scrawny body - he'd be even worse than he is now, which is already diabolical enough ...

[Diocletian]

Don't know how the jury could possibly still be out on this guy? I suspect they only signed him knowing that the other blokes were leaving.

Been on the list 5 years and could have close to 100 games under his belt by now if he was going to be a good player. Yeah you could argue he was drafted by a premiership team etc but still if he was showing any signs you'd see at least 50-75 games and some Brownlow votes etc.

As things stand he's at 34 games, no votes, and his best year was 2024 when we were ravaged by injury and he managed 17 games averaging 15.6 touches a game, only a third of which are kicks, and about 2 tackles. No scoreboard impact. Not once has he turned a game or hurt an opposition team.


I'd be playing any of the draftees ahead of him from R1 tbh. He's on the list as depth, surely.

Totally agree Andyy!

The other thing you didn't mention was his at times complete lack of defensive efforts. It os infuriating to watch blokes run off or past him while he either just jogs along with zero intensity or worse still stands there and does nothing. For an inside mid his tackling numbers are very poor

Of the 17 games in 2024 I reckon he was ok in 3 and that might be being generous

I've got absolutely no doubt if Baker or Graham (our 2 best tacklers) stayed he would have been delisted

2 years ago is when he should've been delisted, was  lucky RCD was out of contract and he wasn't....now been kissed on the knob again due to all the departures and gets a third extra year to impersonate an AFL footballer....