DA, and I'll be honest here, you were a central reason as to why I left this site for two years, so................and I don't want to appear like a precious petal but........ I don't appreciate the tone, I don't appreciate the inference that I'm lining an 18 year old for some special character assassination & I don't appreciate people scanning my posts and making false accusations. The least you can do is read the content before launching into the riot act.
On the topic of Gibcus, he's not more evolved than Jake Lever who went at pick 14, Lever was a 16 beep triathlete, he was a swingman & he had outstanding kicking skills. According to most he's not quite as talented as Naughton who was the last top 10 defender, even using that comparison seems to be a prickly issue but Naughton went at 9, ironically the same pick that we will likely have. If it's not reasonable to draw direct comparisons to that situation then I'm lost, perhaps better not to even mention his name? Would that make people feel more comfortable?
And to be clear, I am not against grabbing a KPD I just question the wisdom of going down that route in a midfielders draft, particularly when there are tall midfielders available who are historically as rare as hens teeth. Gibcus at 15 would appear to be a reasonable bet, provided we can grab at least one tall mid with the first. If we go Gibcus at 9 then we probably miss out on a tall mid entirely, Goater has trained at Essendon & the Bombers didn't do a deal with Hawthorn. They value pick 13 & my hunch is Goater is their target.
Gibcus is just as much a project player as Goater, they both possess outstanding athletic profiles, they both have composure issues & they both have some potential in multiple positions. Goater gets the nod from my perspective because he's had a little more experience as a mid, Gibcus doesn't have the runs on the board as a forward, at least for now, so there's a little more shooting blind. Those who have seen a bit more of him like yourself may have another view, that's fine, all I'm trying to do is piece together the clues and make the best judgement with the best available information.
If we go something like this -
9. Gibcus
15. Sonsie
26. Taylor
28. Butler
then we need to find a taller mid down the order, not sure I like Knevitt & Ned Long as much as the others in the first round, I think the drop off is too great, a much bigger drop off than say the difference between Gibcus & Alleer. This is important in terms of forming a squad with an ironclad floor.
If we went down this route
9. Johnson
15. Gibcus
26. Taylor
28. Butler
I see a more rounded squad and much more room to pick off a 180cm mid like Sheldrick, who I think might be there in the third round. It means overlooking Sonsie but the drop off from Sonsie to say Sheldrick not as stark, at least not in my opinion.
If Gibcus isn't available at 15 then that's just the way the cookie crumbles, it will probably be a similar situation with Goater who I like a lot. But that doesn't mean I would reach with our first selection.
