Nah mate, Rory Atkins should return to the Cavemen, @Bandit was adamant that he was worth an early 30s pick though trade negotiations so it would be a bargain pickup at this stage of the draft !
Pretty similar outcome to the ORFFU draft (pick 38). I was surprised he didn’t go ahead of a few other rookies in this draft and would have happily taken him at 27 if my preferred player had been selected prior.
You & @That KI Guy have both picked up some fine hauls of youngsters this draft again. #trusttheprocess
Given @ChiefRussell's very impressive track record in the ORFFA I definitely view it as a positive that he was considering drafting Dylan Roberton. Whilst my selection of Roberton is a risk, from my point of view it was a risk worth taking and in the end it was an easy decision to select him with the Devils Round 2 pick at number 35 overall, especially given that it was unlikely he would have been available for my next selection at 53. Most of the 24 players on the Devils list entering the 2020 PSD were established in their AFL club’s best 22 and I don’t expect any CMD players to retire at the end of a season so I could afford to take a risk on a player who has played four games in total during the past two seasons and might not play again if he has more issues with an elevated heart-rate, but on the flip-side will clearly be in CMD’s best 15 if he gets a clear run at it. I will be recruiting another experienced defender in the pre-season and will be very conservative with that selection to get a balance in terms of risk. In November last year Roberton mentioned that he planned to be back for Round 1 of the 2020 season. When he had the first episode with his heart in an away game for St Kilda at Geelong in Round 4, 2018, he wasn’t on any medication and they weren’t aware of the condition he had. Although he had another issue right at the end of the 2019 pre-season, since then he has spoken to doctors overseas, they now know more about his condition and Dylan has a mini-defibrillator installed in his chest. Everything has been going well for Roberton during the 2020 pre-season and with the mechanisms he and the medical staff have in place several things would need to go wrong for a similar outcome to that Round 4 game against Geelong in 2018 when he collapsed. In 2017 Roberton finished runner-up in the Saints best and fairest and was selected in the All-Australian squad of 40. In two of his last three completed AFL seasons from 2015 to 2017 Roberton played at least 20 games and averaged at least 90 points per game so there is massive upside for the Saints in the AFL and the Devils in the ORFFA if things go well. As a Saints supporter I hope Roberton gets a clear run at it on the footy field however his health is the most important thing and I am confident that he and the doctors will be making responsible decisions regarding this.
@dmandrews I will be pissed if he explodes this year having carried his useless carcass on the Knob bench for the last 2 seasons, as with most of us 2 seasons of doing nothing is about my maximum tolerance level. His heart is a worry though, if it flares up at all you can guarantee his doctors will bench him.
Thats me done. Pretty surprised I managed to snaffle every one who was (realistically) on my list. Thanks again to Len. Makes a draft so smooth a cat could do it.
Nuffers are holding picks 73 and 91 (approx 72 and 80 in terms of live picks) If when pick 73 gets closer a team wants to trade offload their weakest listed player to the Nuffers in exchange for a live pick at 73 please send me a pm. No guarantee I will accept and forwards/rucks/mids preferred as I have 8 defenders already. Cheers TTH