‘Waste the remaining years’.Yes those picks did build our flag team, thats no question, but we didn't play finals until the 4th year after getting Dusty, that was Jack and Sheddas 7th year.
This is a well trodden path for the draft BUT by doing that, we waste the remaining years of our current group, whilst getting mediocre first round draft picks. We would have to fall completely off a cliff, to get a few years of top 5 draft picks. We are aiming to do this rebuild / reset backwards. Ie. we have all the supporting cast, we just don't have those top line midfielders anymore (we only have Prestia) so we are looking to do it via trade.
Just because its a different strategy to the 1 you want doesn't mean its bad. Focusing everything on the draft won't get us close to flag with our current group, and that means we waste the remaining years of Cotch, Jack, Lynch, Martin, Grimes, Tarrant, Broad, McIntosh, Pickett etc by being also rans in the next few years. To take that step from finalists, to premiership contenders we need to add quality NOW, not in 3-4 years once they've matured.
I understand your concern on the talls particularly, and we all have the same concerns about who is coming in for Jack, but if our plan is to go for Marshall in 2 years as a FA then this will be genius and will keep us in premiership contention for at least another 5 years. Don't be expecting too many top 10 draft picks during that time.
For the last two years we have been expected to make top 4. This year we were rather lucky to finish the H&A in 7th.
There are no guarantees that two good players, one with all sorts of health red flags, are going to make us fortified against ‘wasting’ years.
You are also forgetting the development we might expect from the great field of Mids and other utilities, we were dealt last year.
I agree we should be after both GWS players but giving away a future Ist is still not a good move by any measure.