So Biz, you mentioned that the rumour was that Brisbane had shown an interest in JC for the mid-season draft (May 29th- Nominations between Wednesday May 8- 22). By intimation Freo had interest at that point, but convinced him to not nominate on the basis that they would take him in the 2024 ND with a nod and a wink?.
By May 8th he had played 2 ressie games then debuted in league (rounds 5 & 6, and then 7 during the nomination period, before playing round 8 after; and then being dropped back to ressies). He strung together another 5 League games in the back end of the year, they were pretty unimpressive.
JC can run a bit, can mark, but otherwise feels very outside and unlikely to get his own footy. Not trying to be hard on the kid, it's all in front of him now being on a list.
However, my real point is this- it feels like we were hopelessly compromised on that 3rd draft slot, with it committed on a handshake deal no matter who was available. It feels wrong to me on all levels.
Compared to how Knobel and Emmett were treated inside two years, and the hard-nosed way we have handled certain contract dealings over the past few years, it feels professionally compromised. If Carr gets to impact AFL even as much as Emmett did it will be some sort of Miracle on Veterans Parade.