Autopsy Welcome to Freo Liam Henry – Fremantle’s 3rd 2019 National Draft Pick [Match bid Pick #9]

[chinggis77]

We're at risk of becoming a nursury club IMO the longer if we get into a cycle of players leaving after going through 4-5 years of development and nearing their peak. That leaves us not good enough to ever win anything, just constantly developing, which creates a further impetus for the next lot of players to seek success elsewhere.

Spin it however you want but having players like Henry, Cerra and potentially Darcy leaving before their prime years only has the effect of setting us back, regardless of what draft picks or role players that get thrown our way. We were all crying out on this board for someone to step up on the wing and lo and behold, Henry does, only to lose him.

 

[Mogumber]

What Chinggis said.
Bell should take responsibility for that imo

 

[arsesmart]

I'd probably disagree with a good amount of those: Weller (a Gold Coast boy), Brad Hill and Lobb (their girls dragged them away) and maybe Henry (seems like a city slicker). The first three also correlate with the trades that I'd do 10 times over (especially Weller and Hill, that gave us our future midfield in Brayshaw and Serong).

Neale, Acres and Logue though you'd think should be unpoachable. We were an unserious club when Neale left, bringing in a bunch of players with baggage thinking we'd fix them, and instead we enabled them. Acres and Logue was the club being stingy with the cap (Logue probably fairly, Acres definitely unfairly).

I'm looking at recruitment before I look at anything else in terms of explaining the high turnover. A lot of the trades have worked out fine, but some of the issues that have led to players leaving you'd think the club would've known at the time they recruited those guys.

Going through the entrails of the carcass is not telling most of us anything new. I'm sure the majority here are pretty much aware of individual "reasons" to leave. Playing the blame game and prosecuting each individual case is (worse than) missing the point. By lingering our look back we're at greater risk of missing what might be the way forward.

What I'm trying to get at is more about the sum than the parts.

It's the Earth's weight that stops things from randomly floating off into space. It's not that we can't leave its orbit, but that given the substantial weight of the Earth, it takes massive resources and efforts to do so.

My point is what we can do so these random things are outweighed by the pull of staying here. Obviously, given the sum of the inexplicable poaches (Weller had lived here longer than the GC, how are the partners and families experiences, the urbanites and entrepreneurs can't be stimulated here?) what we're doing isn't enough.

How active is the club at investing in player engagement? Is it a relentless, leading and comprehensive approach? Or is it a tick-the-boxes, standard and I-guess approach?

 

[s_wd6]

Going through the entrails of the carcass is not telling most of us anything new. I'm sure the majority here are pretty much aware of individual "reasons" to leave. Playing the blame game and prosecuting each individual case is (worse than) missing the point. By lingering our look back we're at greater risk of missing what might be the way forward.

What I'm trying to get at is more about the sum than the parts.

It's the Earth's weight that stops things from randomly floating off into space. It's not that we can't leave its orbit, but that given the substantial weight of the Earth, it takes massive resources and efforts to do so.

My point is what we can do so these random things are outweighed by the pull of staying here. Obviously, given the sum of the inexplicable poaches (Weller had lived here longer than the GC, how are the partners and families experiences, the urbanites and entrepreneurs can't be stimulated here?) what we're doing isn't enough.

How active is the club at investing in player engagement? Is it a relentless, leading and comprehensive approach? Or is it a tick-the-boxes, standard and I-guess approach?

Yeah you're reading too much into things.

 

[arsesmart]

We're at risk of becoming a nursury club IMO the longer if we get into a cycle of players leaving after going through 4-5 years of development and nearing their peak. That leaves us not good enough to ever win anything, just constantly developing, which creates a further impetus for the next lot of players to seek success elsewhere.

Spin it however you want but having players like Henry, Cerra and potentially Darcy leaving before their prime years only has the effect of setting us back, regardless of what draft picks or role players that get thrown our way. We were all crying out on this board for someone to step up on the wing and lo and behold, Henry does, only to lose him.

Yep, we should be fairly skeptical about the likelihood of Benjamin-Buttoning our way to a premiership.

 

[arsesmart]

Yeah you're reading too much into things.

So... the second approach then?

 

[EastcoastDocker]

Would this be the first time a player has moved away from a club for non family, non gf/spouse, non opportunity but rather 'lifestyle' reasons?

Its a bit of a concern that the culture of the place couldn't offset 'lifestyle'.. all the other reasons to move are understandable.

 

[apuchar]

Would this be the first time a player has moved away from a club for non family, non gf/spouse, non opportunity but rather 'lifestyle' reasons?

Its a bit of a concern that the culture of the place couldn't offset 'lifestyle'.. all the other reasons to move are understandable.

I think all his best mates are over there.

 

[CaseySibosadoHOF]

Going through the entrails of the carcass is not telling most of us anything new. I'm sure the majority here are pretty much aware of individual "reasons" to leave. Playing the blame game and prosecuting each individual case is (worse than) missing the point. By lingering our look back we're at greater risk of missing what might be the way forward.

To me, you have to look at every individual case to spot patterns and see if there's something to do about it. Without that, you're haplessly pointing out a problem that everyone can see without real strategic attempts to solve it.

We made a point in 2020 to stop getting the "talented but lazy/have off field issues" archetype. Hogan, McCarthy, Matera, Dixon all went that off-season. The 2016-2018 era Dockers would've seen Stack get delisted and go "he's got talent, sign him up".

It seems like in 2023 we corrected (arguably overcorrected) for 1 of the key mistakes in 2022: not offering players adequate deals at the right time. We could've retained Logue and Acres, but we got stingy. You look at this year, the deals offered for Brodie, Worner, Treacy, Amiss, extended Johnson a further year, Fyfe and Walters done fairly quickly. We spotted a flaw in what we did in 2022 and changed course in 2023.

That's not to say it's perfect: it never is. But to me, the way to resolve past errors is to look at every case, spot a pattern in behaviour that led to those errors and address it.

 

[s_wd6]

Would this be the first time a player has moved away from a club for non family, non gf/spouse, non opportunity but rather 'lifestyle' reasons?

Its a bit of a concern that the culture of the place couldn't offset 'lifestyle'.. all the other reasons to move are understandable.

Lachie Neale used the whole “want to get out of the fishbowl” to justify his move to Brisbane.

 

[Daddoo]

Not sure I would call him a "gun" quite yet. Maybe I just have high standards, but shouldn't he at least play one full season before he's considered a "gun"? Not saying he's a bad player, but let's cool the jets a bit. Maybe Foxfooty must has a different metric. They are pretty smart people over there.



Poor kid. Must be hard. A club brings you in and you train with them starting when you're 13 years old, they mentor you and help you develop your skills, and then you don't like that the coach asks you to work on your game in the WAFL and you don't get as many chances as you like one season? If this is true, then that's all I need to know. Later dude. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Freddy to the wing. NoD on the other one. Aish to rotate in. Problem solved.

P.S. Sam Sturt

1

Sam Sturt

Age

23

Ht

190cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.7

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.7

3star

M

2.3

2star

T

1.0

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.7

2star

K

4.0

1star

HB

3.7

3star

M

2.3

2star

T

1.0

2star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.7

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.7

3star

M

2.3

3star

T

1.0

3star

G

1.3

5star

says hi.

 

[s_wd6]

So do we get his trade request today? They've got exit meetings don't they?

 

[Taylor]

So do we get his trade request today? They've got exit meetings don't they?

I'm expecting JL to put a pitch to Henry today, so if you don't see Colin Young walking into the club today he might have a new manager by tomorrow - and then a new contract with Fremantle.

But Colin isn't stupid.

 

[wakojako]

View attachment 1790034

Not sure I would call him a "gun" quite yet. Maybe I just have high standards, but shouldn't he at least play one full season before he's considered a "gun"? Not saying he's a bad player, but let's cool the jets a bit. Maybe Foxfooty must has a different metric. They are pretty smart people over there.

View attachment 1790037

Poor kid. Must be hard. A club brings you in and you train with them starting when you're 13 years old, they mentor you and help you develop your skills, and then you don't like that the coach asks you to work on your game in the WAFL and you don't get as many chances as you like one season? If this is true, then that's all I need to know. Later dude. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Freddy to the wing. NoD on the other one. Aish to rotate in. Problem solved.

P.S. Sam Sturt says hi.

This is why I don't understand why we should all be happy and forgiving of Liam because he prefers the lifestyle of Melbourne. No worse than Lobotomy leaving for money. NGA product that the club has nurtured for 10 years, and been very patient with despite some terrible performances.

 

[malpaso]

Liam wants to leave, whoopee. What an overblown thread.

 

[King Tenz]

Liam wants to leave, whoopee. What an overblown thread.

It's BigFooty. Everything's overblown.

 

[PurpleWizard]

Ever since his draft year, he's dreamed of playing in Melbourne. Good on him for having big goals and dreams. Freo as a club should have been able to sell our dream, we couldn't, and sadly that seems to be a common trend.

He's made big steps of improvement this year. I never thought he'd get the tank required to play on the wing, but he proved me wrong. If he can tidy up his footskills and keep improving his contest and toughness (improved heaps the season) he has the potential to be an AA wingman. Plus, I think he will get there, he's proven he has the work ethic, as every year he has been picked round 1 after putting in the hard yards. I hope he stays because as the club has been saying, I do feel we are the best club for him.

 

[gungho]

If one of those stirring, spine-tingling and inspiring speeches were required at Cockburn at the 11th hour to entice Henry to stay, I'd really hope JL isn't the one delivering it.
Edit: Apparently JL did.....

 

[freo_leo29]

Twomey says he's likely to leave and it's down to hawks, north and saints

 

[Bender571]

Official now

Fremantle can confirm Liam Henry has requested to be traded in the upcoming AFL Trade Period.

The 22-year-old is out of contract at the end of season after playing 43 games through his four seasons.

A product of Fremantle’s Next Generation Academy, Henry has been involved at the Club since he was 15 years of age. He officially became a Fremantle Docker when Freo matched Carlton’s bid at no.9 in the 2019 National Draft.

The winger has played career-best football in 2023, seeing his disposal average increase from 9.3 per game in 2022 to 20.4 this year.

Executive General Manager of Football Peter Bell said the Club was disappointed by the trade request.

“It is disappointing that Liam Henry has opted to explore his options, especially considering we have been involved in his development since he was 15 and he has taken some significant steps forward this year,” Bell said.

“We made a significant investment in Liam, not just through our Next Generation Academy, matching Carlton’s bid under NGA concession rules in the 2019 Draft, and it was pleasing to see his potential come to fruition this year.

“We will have this investment and his talent as a winger front of mind when looking to facilitate a trade.”

The Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period will commence on Monday 9 October and wrap up on Wednesday 18 October.

Fremantle have also informed ruck/forward Eric Benning he will not be offered a contract for 2024.

Drafted at no.54 in the 2021 AFL Draft, Benning played 29 reserves and one league game for Peel in his two years on Fremantle’s list.

“It’s a difficult time of year when we have to make decisions on our players’ futures, and today we did inform Eric Benning that he would not be offered a contract for 2024,” Bell said.

“We thank Eric for his efforts in his two seasons at Fremantle and wish him all the best in his futu
re endeavours.”


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[Lach72]

Gorn

 

[MadMundy]

He's officially requested a trade. Sounds like Young got into his head after all, it's sad, you'd think he would be so easily influenced and could make his own decisions.

 

[s_wd6]

Twomey says he's likely to leave and it's down to hawks, north and saints

That's incredibly s**t for us. None of them can give us anything close to what we'll want.

 

[freo_leo29]

It's official, requested trade

 

[Mogumber]

F**k