Player Watch 2018 retirements and delistings

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It's a side effect of adding an extra 80 players into the system eight years ago, it's diluted over the almost a decade but it was effectively requiring an extra second round of AFL quality players to maintain the club level (assuming the quality of the lists being added being very heavily first round weighted) - so there has been a trend to hold onto the established older players for at least a few years now.

There isn't the quality pushing them out yet.

I have no agenda with this, it was always going to happen until the expansion sides grew their influence enough to attract at least as much talent to the draft as they have taken from the rest of the competition.

I don't want to run the numbers on the success rate of first round picks in the expansion era compared to the decade before due to the aforementioned massive expansion of the first round where previously it would be 16 players in the first round, maybe 18 if there were a couple of pre-draft priority picks) and comparing that to 2011 where there were 26 players taken before the end of first round compensation picks would be opening up too much risk of an outlier influencing the data.
 

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Shame he never got a medal, but not everyone can i guess.
Still remember how brilliant he was in the 2010 qualifying final, only player on his team who wasn't complete rubbish that night.
Barry Hall going all Barry Hall and conceding three frees (from memory) in about twenty seconds was great fun though.
 
I only just heard about Mackenzie's retirement of 5 days ago.

Was stiff to miss AA in 2013 and his 2014 snub (his peak) was galling. Won the B&F over the Brownlow medallist and played a very compelling Glass 2.0 style game. One of the best tall defenders to watch for an entire game.

Sadly, only managed 26 more games after 2014. Missed the entire 2015 & 18 campaigns. Never quite regained his best form and some newly excellent defensive stocks (McGovern & Barrass) made him less important. Still, had that classic moment in the dying moments of the EF final last year, and his winning goal against the Saints in 2013 was hilarious. His kicking in defense made Glass look lace-out. In the late 00s he was one of the leading 1 percenters in the league. And as someone who simultaneously finished high school in 2006, I'll always remember that Eagles draft class.

Thanks for being yet another fantastic Eagles defender!
 
Surely played one of the great last games, one of the engine room Giants that got them back into it.

GWS never saw the best of him, but he was always one of our best and most consistent finals performers...
 

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Towers is a bit of a nothing player, though. Kind of guy that would've been more useful if he was born 20 or 30 years ago.

189cm, so not a key forward. Averages 14 touches, 3 marks and half a goal a game. Doesn't get a lot of ball, doesn't kick a lot of goals, isn't particularly good at any one aspect.

If we had him as depth I'm struggling to see what kind of role he would play. Would be a downgrade on Jake Waterman who is 20 and has played 15 games.
 

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