List Mgmt. Contracts, trades, draft - 2021 offseason edition

[Keys]

So the 2021 season is officially done and dusted.

It’s time now to fully turn our attention to the off season and what we can do through the trade period/draft to chase down Melbourne in 2022.

List and personnel changes have already been made and I’ll update this OP as and when any further changes are made.

As it stands these are our official list changes :

Out -
• Venables (R) - retired
• Vardy - retired
• Hutchings (R) - delisted
• Ah Chee (R) - delisted
• Ainsworth - delisted
• Johnson - delisted
• Collins (R) - delisted
• Brander - cluster*
• Cameron - retired/delisted not that it was officially acknowledged by the club
• Sheppard - retired

Inactive listed -
• Cole
• Chesser

In -
• Petrevski-Seton - traded for pick 52
• Chesser - Pick 14
• Hough - Pick 31
• Bazzo - Pick 37
• Williams (Jack) - Pick 57
• Clark - Pick 62
• Dixon - SSP
• Joyce - SSP
• Strnadica - SSP
• Naish - SSP

Players on main list - 37 (Including 2 inactive)
Players on rookie list - 7

Future trade picks :
In - Port Adelaide future 2nd
Out - Future 4th

Assistant Coaches :
• Out - Graham, Hickmott
• In - Schofield (Strategy and Stoppage), Knights (Midfield), Wiley (WAFL coach), Brennan (development)

Link to contract status of all players -

The Contracts Thread

Updated (20/3/24) the status of all contracts for people’s reference : Overall List - 44 Players : Main List(37), Rookie List(5), Cat B(2) Contracted until the end of 2027 (2) : Tom Barrass (8/10/95) - Signed a 5 year extension (2023,2024,2025,2026,2027) on an existing contract set to...

www.bigfooty.com

 

[Trav22]

Some of you boys need to calm down,
there will be another “Matt Johnson” at next years draft and the one after that.

A 17 year old kid is not going to be the savior of our club.
I initially melted with the Chesser pick but am starting to come around to it, especially if they can develop him into a dynamic mid (Kelly/ yeo). With what was left on the board I liked our later selections.

keep in mind we don’t move/lose players like a Fremantle or st kilda, we also rarely finish in the bottom 8 so we don’t have the draft capital like some of the less successful clubs. (Fremantle, Gold Coast, Carlton)

Premierships are not won in

I'm fairly certain the R4 was to appease port as part of the earlier deal (14 + F2 for 12 + F4 sounds closer to fair).

If that is correct then I really like the planning and foresight around how it went down. Not only was the 1st round trade decided early and nutted out - but we had clearly told Port we had a specific player in mind late who we thought other clubs may be interested in before our 5th pick.

So Port trusted us (similar to Sydney a couple of years back), which probably meant we got better value for 12, but also allowed us to hide our plan from other teams so they couldn't jump ahead in the 4th round (or didn't see the need to).

For any shortcomings we may discuss, the trust our team have built in the industry is evident and does have advantages.

On SM-G986B using BigFooty.com mobile app

wasn’t the future 4th traded so we could actually enter the draft at that stage so we could select Clark ?

 

[Godfather32]

Some of you boys need to calm down,
there will be another “Matt Johnson” at next years draft and the one after that.

A 17 year old kid is not going to be the savior of our club.
I initially melted with the Chesser pick but am starting to come around to it, especially if they can develop him into a dynamic mid (Kelly/ yeo). With what was left on the board I liked our later selections.

keep in mind we don’t move/lose players like a Fremantle or st kilda, we also rarely finish in the bottom 8 so we don’t have the draft capital like some of the less successful clubs. (Fremantle, Gold Coast, Carlton)

Premierships are not won in


wasn’t the future 4th traded so we could actually enter the draft at that stage so we could select Clark ?

There's "Matt Johnsons" at every draft, we just haven't picked one for years

 

[BOND 007]

Hi Bond...Good hearing from you again mate.

Quick question. If we were wanting a line breaker, I'm curious as to why you wanted Chesser over Sinn?
Was it the fact you rate Chesser as having better foots kills and the ability to play midfield?

Also, Chesser (dare I say it), looks to have some Judd like qualities. What is his core strength like?? (Juddy has an amazing core, almost impossible to tackle to the ground)

WC thought Chesser offered a better package than Sinn. And by package I mean football & non football skills.

As to core strength - we'll find out soon enough when Nic's around

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

wasn’t the future 4th traded so we could actually enter the draft at that stage so we could select Clark ?

If you have the list spots, you can keep picking, you'll just be at the back of the queue.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

WC thought Chesser offered a better package than Sinn. And by package I mean football & non football skills.

As to core strength - we'll find out soon enough when Nic's around

"Good bloke" private schoolboys make the best footballers

 

[BOND 007]

Couple of things

The pick swap with Port to land us an extra future 2nd was very good and I think it indicates the premium sides had to pay to trade up in this draft given that pick only moved them up 2 spots. With that in mind I have no criticism that we didn’t trade up for an additional early pick, especially Freo’s pick 21 as it seemed clear from the coverage that they were asking a lot for it which you’ve confirmed.

Won’t lie, I wanted Johnson with our first pick but if you’ve prioritised pace by choosing Chesser then fair enough and I think Clark can address the coalface mid we need. Hearing Clark speak at his press conference I am really happy with that selection as he sounds like a ripping bloke that is driven to do all he can to succeed

If I could rate Clark out of 10 as a person I would mark him an 11. He thoroughly deserved his chance & it's up to him now.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

Did Blake schlesnlog get picked up?

 

[BOND 007]

Thanks for the insights BOND 007 always appreciated. Hope the Day One melts amused you and horrified you in equal measures

My post-draft thoughts, such as they are:

The Eagles have great confidence in a) the additions of Schofield, Knights and Wiley having an immediate impact and b) keeping the first choice midfield fit for a series crack at 2022. Shuey, Yeo, Kelly, Redden, Sheed and Gaff being fed by Saint Nicholas Naitanui is still a seriously impressive combination ON PAPER.

We may see an end to the frankly ridiculous situation of playing inside mids like West on a half forward flank. The return of Rioli and a fitter Ryan (seriously disappointing in 2021 after a breakthrough 2020) and Petch, as well as the recruitment of a genuine half forward option in Hough points to this. Again, this puts a lot of confidence in the medical team to sort their sh*t out.

Even if he doesn't play in the guts for the first few years, Chesser could be a weapon of half back (yes, I know, HBF transitioning to midfield lol). Jetta's retirement had a bigger impact than I think the West Coast brains trust anticipated. You can't teach the vision he had.

Speaking of teaching, you've mentioned it before, that the Eagles see tackling as a teachable skill. We have seen absolutely no proof of this, and (Clark with our very last pick aside) the recruitment team drafted players whose identified weaknesses are tackling. I'm sure you understand all eyes will be on this in 2022. Which again, suggests supreme confidence in Schofield, Knights and Wiley.

Clark is ready to play. Clark and West provide genuine depth IN THE GUTS. Again, all eyes will be on this in 2022. If they end up stuck on a HFF, well, yeah.

All in all I see it as:

Chesser - Jetta replacement, hoping for a longer term move to midfield
Hough - LeCras/Cripps replacement
Bazzo - Gov replacement
Williams - At the very least, provides competition for the other Williams and Waterman
Clark - Provides injury cover and competition for guys on the edge of the first choice midfield (like a Sheed).

tl:dr West Coast sees the main issues as being off-field, and has confidence this playing group can go all the way in 2022.

Tackling is a teachable skill - it's a matter of having the right teachers & the will to want to teach it.

Enter Schofield & Knights

 

[bzparkes]

If chesser and hough arent training with the midfield day 1 of preseason weve already lost the draft
Both have the capabilities so you'd hope thats where they are developed

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

ROB in the interview stated they see them both as midfielders and that Chesser will most likely start as an outside mid before moving to a more inside role. No mention of any intention playing as a hbf at all.

 

[ArdentEagle]

For the board experts, how would you rank Elijah Hewitt as a talent??
I REALLY like what Ive seen of him thus far (which isn't that much)

We are due for a generational midfielder

 

[ArdentEagle]

If I could rate Clark out of 10 as a person I would mark him an 11. He thoroughly deserved his chance & it's up to him now.

After watching his interview, I told my Wife that I have a new favourite player. (bit tongue in cheek but he really won me over!)

 

[BOND 007]

Obviously the more high picks you have the more you should nail it, and there are less out and out drafting blunders today than 15 years ago, but Hawthorn still won 4 flags in 8 seasons just after drafting Beau Dowler, Max Bailey (injuries cruelled any chance he did have), Beau Muston, Mitch Thorp and Brent Renouf in the top 25 across 2005 and 2006. Those five combined for 124 games at the Hawks, with Renouf playing an additional 16 at Port.

They had a pretty handy couple of drafts just prior to that though

 

[Trav22]

If you have the list spots, you can keep picking, you'll just be at the back of the queue.

correct, but if someone has a draft pick before yours they can pick up said player before you have the chance to.

Clearly we were scared of Clark getting picked up prior to our next pick.
It’s a FR4 pick, who cares….
We have an extra second next year
I know which pick I would rather heading into next year

 

[Godfather32]

Tackling is a teachable skill - it's a matter of having the right teachers & the will to want to teach it.

Enter Schofield & Knights

And a game plan that encourages it...

 

[ArdentEagle]

After watching all the vids of Chesser I can find, I think Brad Johnson

Brad Johnson

Age

47

Ht

182cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.7

5star

K

14.1

5star

HB

5.6

4star

M

5.9

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

1.5

5star

No current season stats available

D

12.8

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

2.6

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

1.2

3star

G

0.6

3star

said it best with his comparison to Ryan Griffen.
Seems apt I think.

 

[Eastcoasteagle]

dick

Huh? Think you misunderstood my post. I wanted Dittmar as I know his quality, I was stating if he wasn't left as somebody had taken him already. I'd pass on taking someone else.

 

[Bacchus]

The bottom line is the recruiting team thought/think that Chesser is the better player of the two to meet the club’s perceived needs. Or were there other factors in play? If there were this has not been explained yet and probably never will be. Chesser’s exposed form appears to be more at u/16 level, and because of injury and COVID disruptions he hasn’t played much in the last two years. Johnson had two very good performances against SA this year. Chesser may well be a very good, long standing player, hopefully he is, but from the outside he clearly appears a riskier bet.

 

[LemmingMaster]

Ok my take on our Draft and my emotional rollercoaster as it unfolded.

Night 1.

I went in with high expectations that at around our first pick we would be able to pick up an A Grade midfielder, my reasoning was that IF three tall's were taken prior to our pick ( as I expected ), then we were in pole position to finally nab a quality midfielder ( by the way I didn't even factor in Dacios and Darcy in my calculations as they were already accounted for ), so things were tracking well when Andrew, Amiss and Gibcus were all taken before our pick, I was also further delighted when NWM was taken by the Saints as that removed the one mid that I didn't want with our pick.

The stars were staring to align as I was really chipper that we get one of the following and this was my preferred order:

Hobbs
MJ
Sinn

Then news comes through that we have traded back two spots with Port....... ok we can still get one of my " wish list three" .
Port take Sinn.... I am happy two still left.
Essendon take Hobbs ......... *#^* a few choice words were hurled across the room...... ok so we now take MJ

Pick # 14.

Then Campbell Chesser is called out.
Initial reaction was deflation and dejected and the computer screen almost became a one punch victim.

I really like Chesser as a player and like the skill set that he brings, as his speed, his run and carry is a thing we very much need, plus his kicking is top notch.
The kid has a very smart footy brain and reads the play so well.
From a needs perspective he does address some of the things that our list lacks so he very much fits the bill.
I had him projecting as a wingman at the next level.

I rated him in the 15-25 range depending on the Clubs needs that took him, I thought he was Brisbane or Sydney bound.

We took him at 14 so not a reach in my white board thinking.

The problem I had was that, I had my heart set on a quality inside mid.
Hobbs IMO would have been a perfect fit, I call him "Joel Selwood Lite", but alas that was not to be.

That said the deal that we did with Port, gaining their future second rounder was a very smart and opportunistic piece of work. Well done

Really like the player but I was pissed with the pick.

Went to bed in a really shitty mood and rather sulky..... yes I know grow up.... I was indeed being a petulant child.

But I was also optimistic that with our two second rounders, the following night that we could get a couple of B - B+ Mids so all was not lost

Night 2.

Pick # 31.

Did not have give a flying **** who we picked up in regards to the name with this pick, rather I just wanted at least one genuine midfielder and there was a deep list of players that I would have been very happy with, Hough was on that list so when we selected him I was really pleased.

I had only seen him play three times, all of which were predominantly as a HFF ...... BUT ....... in all three of those games he showed glimpses and strong signs that he had midfielder skills.
What or rather who he reminded me of was Mark Le Cras pre his knee injury.
I like that he reads the play so well, plays taller than his 189 cm and he does have really sticky hands.
Also I was impressed that he is a one touch player, with really good hand and foot skills.
What I noticed about him ( and this is why I can see him as a genuine mid ) is that he has absolutely no trouble finding his own football in heavy traffic.... things happen when he is around the ball.

Very happy with this pick.

Pick # 37.

A short wait and then next pick we call Bazzo's name out, now this I was almost expecting as he was still on the board and in fact I thought we may well have taken him with our previous pick. He is the sort of player that just had RO'B name written all over him.
Given RO'B history, I new that at some stage, at the right point in the draft, we would take another tall, well here it was and a quality pick it was too.

I had a draft range 20 - 30 on Bazzo so the fact that he fell a few more spots represented excellent value.

What I had seen of Bazzo I liked - here are a few things:

Reads the ball well in flight.
Great intercept mark.
Can play either end.
Can play on smalls and talls.
I viewed him as a Will Schofield with better skills and more attacking.

Again happy with the pick.

Pick # 57.

I still had a few mids that I liked on my white board:
Browne
Dittmar
Rankin ( although no a pure mid yet )

Note at this point in time I was thinking, well hoping actually, that we would rookie list either one of Greg Clark or Bailey Rogers as the pair are IMO plug in ready to go, in a position of need, in an age bracket that we are short on - so I wasn't considering them with this pick

We called out Jack Williams which given the state of our list, was for me a bit of a head scratcher, as I though we had already got our tall in Bazzo, after which I was thinking ........ then back to plan A and resume bolstering our midfield.

Now let me be clear I don't dislike the pick, as I felt Jack was real value so late in the draft and at the end of the day, too many quality talls on a list is a good problem to have, because if you need to trade one out then as a general rule - they garner you better value in trade capital than mids and flankers, its just a supply and demand thing.

Good player, good value here with the pick ........... Just that I questioned the need for another tall.

OK I was about ready to call it a night and wait and see what we would do in the way of rookies the next day.

Then hold on...... hold on .... news filters through that we have traded back into the draft with a late pick with a pick swap with Port, us acquiring Pick # 62 in exchange for a future fourth ........ another good piece of business as that's a nothing pick swap.
So with bated breath I am waiting and thinking just WTF did we have in mind.

Pick # 62.


Greg Clark............ yeee farking haaaaaaa.



Rapt for several reasons.

Thrilled for Clark, he finally gets rewarded for the work he has put in remodelling his game from an outside receiver into a BULL inside mid contested beast.
We got us " FINALLY " a genuine inside mid.
He is plug in ready to go and plays right away.
His selection gave our whole draft haul a lot more balance.

Loved this pick.


Day 3.

Pretty much expected the PASS.
I actually prefer this, as it now allows us to have a good close look at a few train on kids or keep a list spot open for the mid season draft.


So in Summary.

While not quite the manner, or sequence in which I would have drafted the players, the end result is a mix of players that will assist us going into the future.

I believe our list refresh will need three drafts to complete and this draft was a very good start.

As has been well stated by me, ad nauseam, I am not The Pieman's greatest fan, however I think he and his band of Merry Men did a good job this year.
Got a balanced group, addressed SOME real needs and also strengthened our draft hand for next year.

If we add in SPS, who we traded in, to the new players we took these past three days I think we made a good start to our list refresh, for the pursuit of our fifth Cup.

8.5 / 10.

Loved this write up, I really rate Sinn, hope you don't regret that call.
Still getting a second rounder had probably the player you rated was great.

 

[The_Gambler]

The bottom line is the recruiting team thought/think that Chesser is the better player of the two to meet the club’s perceived needs. Or were there other factors in play? If there were this has not been explained yet and probably never will be. Chesser’s exposed form appears to be more at u/16 level, and because of injury and COVID disruptions he hasn’t played much in the last two years. Johnson had two very good performances against SA this year. Chesser may well be a very good, long standing player, hopefully he is, but from the outside he clearly appears a riskier bet.

the south Australian team was rubbish, but still BOG is BOG. MJ performance at WAFL reserves maybe carries some weight. He is also an outside mid. I would argue his athletic capabilities and kicking are not as good as CC and that’s important when you’re looking at transition to AFL. Not wanting to inflame the anything, but WAFL u’18s and Perth school boy football isn’t the on par with Victorian under 18 system.

 

[BOND 007]

And a game plan that encourages it...

Well Schofield has been employed & trust me it's not for his good looks

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

correct, but if someone has a draft pick before yours they can pick up said player before you have the chance to.

Clearly we were scared of Clark getting picked up prior to our next pick.
It’s a FR4 pick, who cares….
We have an extra second next year
I know which pick I would rather heading into next year

Ah yep, misinterpreted your previous post thinking you meant we needed to do that trade to have a pick.

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

I think WC prioritised speed in picking Chesser over Hobbs & Johnson. They thought they could address winning the contested ball by picking Clark later.
I would've liked Goater who doesn't lack speed and was probably rated a bit higher or about the same draft range as Chesser, but he has knocks on his kicking and endurance.
We could have traded down even more to get him.
Lack of endurance can be an issue for a potential mid while WC prioritises kicking a lot, so perhaps he was never a consideration.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Well Schofield has been employed & trust me it's not for his good looks

While the proof will be in the 2022 pudding, you will send this board into a frenzy if you keep this up

 

[Obeanie1]

Not sure you should be giving lego to kids who are young enough to be in a cot tbh

I didn't obviously.

Ok throw the dummy out the cot!

 

[Dylan82]

Tidy work BOND 007.

I'll be the first to put my hand up and say that I probably fell too easily for the midfield names that were being pumped up by the commentariat and allowed my comparative ignorance of the players we took with earlier selections to cloud my initial response.

After taking some time to gain further knowledge, I've completely turned that opinion around and now believe that some inspired choices have been made from the picks that were available.

Delivered upon both immediate need and future succession planning whilst gaining more presence inside the top 40 next year.


Can't ask for much more from a draft than that.