List Mgmt. 2025 Draft/Trade/FA Thread – everything must go!

[Scythe]

Just pinning this, as per previous years. Thanks as always to Lore.

Final trade/FA period results
Out:

• Charlie Spargo
• Judd McVee
• Christian Petracca
• Clayton Oliver
• Picks 28, 42 and 61
• Melbourne Second-Rounder (2026)
• Melbourne Third-Rounder (2026)
• Melbourne Fourth-Rounder (2026)
• Melbourne Fourth-Rounder (2027)

In:

• Jack Steele
• Changkuoth Jiath
• Brody Mihocek
• Max Heath
• Oscar Berry (Rookie)
• Picks 7, 8, 37 and 71 (2025)
• GC First-Rounder (2026)
• GWS Third-Rounder (2026)
• GC Third-Rounder (2027)

 

[Topkent]

I get this is part of the Lamb pile on, but as good as Matt Kennedy has been he’s not what Melbourne need(ed) IMO.

A slow predominantly inside mid. Sure he can go forward and in hindsight he could’ve been useful. Once Bontempelli got back Kennedy was less prominent. If Treloar had been fitter Kennedy probably would’ve had less prominence again.

Carlton have probably got the most similar midfield to Melbourne. Good at contested ball, but on the slow side with poor disposal. They decided Kennedy was surplus.

Kennedy is a nice depth type player. An upgrade on Sparrow but not a difference maker for Melbourne.

On the other names there isn’t the currency at Melbourne or desire I’d imagine from Curnow to make that happen.

Aleer is talked up massively. He’s athletic, but he’s been just OK when I’ve watched him.

Stracevich. Meh. Solid player with concussion history. A back who wants to play midfield. He’d be free and if he wanted to come to Melbourne on a moderate deal great, but he’s not a difference maker.

Quick look at the stats shows Kennedy kicked 21 goals this season. Bit more than a slow inside mid by the looks.

 

[Crusty Demon]

Just pinning this, as per previous years. Thanks as always to Lore.

Less than half of the bottom seven teams (including us) currently their own first-rounder, lol

Such a strong draft hand to work with too lol

 

[Lord Nev]

Such a strong draft hand to work with too lol

It's a crap draft, we're doing the smart thing like we did in 2022 and not investing too much in it.

 

[Proper Gander]

It’s going to be a boring trade/draft period isn’t it?

Ah well. Coach / CEO & President flipped gives something a bit different to look at.

 

[Bluelegs]

It's a crap draft, we're doing the smart thing like we did in 2022 and not investing too much in it.

In fairness we did try and trade three firsts for Bailey Humphrey that year.

 

[Demon Attack]

It’s going to be a boring trade/draft period isn’t it?

Ah well. Coach / CEO & President flipped gives something a bit different to look at.

I'm sure we can get another 100 pages out of it!

 

[Demon Attack]

People can sook about Lamb as much as they want, and he has had a bad few years for sure. But why the **** would a good player come here unless they are paid crazy Saints money? We have to pay that amount to our own players to keep them.

If someone wants to go to a Vic club, the preference I see it is:
Cats (their own tier due to location, which appeals to some people)
Pies/Hawks (good big clubs)
Blues/Dons/Tigers (bad big clubs)
Dogs (good small club)
Saints/Roos (bad small clubs)
Us (dumpster fire small club with a shit location)

It's a miracle we got May and Lever I have no idea how they managed that. Money?

We have to absolutely nail drafts to be relevant imo because A grade trades and free agents aren't realistic for us.

 

[danster168]

I get this is part of the Lamb pile on, but as good as Matt Kennedy has been he’s not what Melbourne need(ed) IMO.

A slow predominantly inside mid. Sure he can go forward and in hindsight he could’ve been useful. Once Bontempelli got back Kennedy was less prominent. If Treloar had been fitter Kennedy probably would’ve had less prominence again.

Carlton have probably got the most similar midfield to Melbourne. Good at contested ball, but on the slow side with poor disposal. They decided Kennedy was surplus.

Kennedy is a nice depth type player. An upgrade on Sparrow but not a difference maker for Melbourne.

On the other names there isn’t the currency at Melbourne or desire I’d imagine from Curnow to make that happen.

Aleer is talked up massively. He’s athletic, but he’s been just OK when I’ve watched him.

Stracevich. Meh. Solid player with concussion history. A back who wants to play midfield. He’d be free and if he wanted to come to Melbourne on a moderate deal great, but he’s not a difference maker.

I agree that hindsight is 20/20 regarding Kennedy. But he's better than Trac, Oliver, Viney etc. on current form. so he would've been really good. And would've been cheap.

Aleer is also better than May and Lever. And young. A perfect fit.

Starcevic is a jet. Who is a good player in a top 4 team. We came what 13th or 14th. He would make us better.

Hell why aren't we even linked to Buku Khamis. He's a decent player that's just stuck behind Darcy, Naughton and now Croft. He has some upside worth exploring. And wouldnt be that expensive. He's at least super athletic and provides flexibility.

Zane Duursma I called out a while ago and we were apparently keen but heard nothing since. How about Luke Pedlar, basically a better version of Kade Chandler if they can get him fit. A real goer. more like a small Ben Keays.

Lamb just loves hacks. And he had to be sacked. We're still suffering from the Schache, Mcadam, Billings, Fullarton nonsense.

 

[danster168]

Lord Nev lolling but you are all for Max Heath. Moneyball you call it..? Come on. He's a spud.

 

[danster168]

People can sook about Lamb as much as they want, and he has had a bad few years for sure. But why the **** would a good player come here unless they are paid crazy Saints money? We have to pay that amount to our own players to keep them.

If someone wants to go to a Vic club, the preference I see it is:
Cats (their own tier due to location, which appeals to some people)
Pies/Hawks (good big clubs)
Blues/Dons/Tigers (bad big clubs)
Dogs (good small club)
Saints/Roos (bad small clubs)
Us (dumpster fire small club with a shit location)

It's a miracle we got May and Lever I have no idea how they managed that. Money?

We have to absolutely nail drafts to be relevant imo because A grade trades and free agents aren't realistic for us.

That's why we should be dumping may, Lever, Trac and Oliver and starting again.

 

[Demon Attack]

That's why we should be dumping may, Lever, Trac and Oliver and starting again.

We'd be lucky to get one first, one second and one third rounder in total in a terrible draft year for them all. Last year was the time to shop May and Lever. We have decent youth imo, guess I'll convince myself I'm keen to see what the new coach does.

 

[Proper Gander]

People can sook about Lamb as much as they want, and he has had a bad few years for sure. But why the **** would a good player come here unless they are paid crazy Saints money? We have to pay that amount to our own players to keep them.

If someone wants to go to a Vic club, the preference I see it is:
Cats (their own tier due to location, which appeals to some people)
Pies/Hawks (good big clubs)
Blues/Dons/Tigers (bad big clubs)
Dogs (good small club)
Saints/Roos (bad small clubs)
Us (dumpster fire small club with a shit location)

It's a miracle we got May and Lever I have no idea how they managed that. Money?

We have to absolutely nail drafts to be relevant imo because A grade trades and free agents aren't realistic for us.

I think money swung it big time for May and Lever.

Plus we looked a better prospect. We were just off making finals when Lever came over, and had just won two finals when May shifted, so there was a more positive outlook.

These days it’s difficult to see how we could be a worse prospect for a good player with plenty of options.

 

[Crusty Demon]

I think money swung it big time for May and Lever.

Plus we looked a better prospect. We were just off making finals when Lever came over, and had just won two finals when May shifted, so there was a more positive outlook.

These days it’s difficult to see how we could be a worse prospect for a good player with plenty of options.

Plus we had Todd Viney getting it done. Lamb cant. Maybe with Buckley there might be more interest. But Lamb has done a terrible job and should be out the door with Richo asap

 

[Bluelegs]

I think money swung it big time for May and Lever.

Plus we looked a better prospect. We were just off making finals when Lever came over, and had just won two finals when May shifted, so there was a more positive outlook.

These days it’s difficult to see how we could be a worse prospect for a good player with plenty of options.

Yeah that seems to be where players like to go. Either a perrenially contending club like Collingwood, Geelong or Sydney, or a club with a young list that look about to enter contention like Adelaide, Hawks or Gold Coast.

A flaky club like Melbourne who imploded the moment we tasted some success with a playing group that all seem to hate each other does not seem like a fun work environment.

 

[Bluelegs]

Think the biggest issue with our list management is that since the flag there hasn't really been much of a vision for where to take the list or how to fill the gaps. We failed to attract a lot of players which meant we had to invest in the draft, and then acted like that was always our plan. When we were actually able to get players in they turned out to be busts like Grundy and McAdam.

We've needed a key forward for years and couldn't even get a cheap option like Chol or McStay when they were on the move.

 

[Topkent]

Think the biggest issue with our list management is that since the flag there hasn't really been much of a vision for where to take the list or how to fill the gaps. We failed to attract a lot of players which meant we had to invest in the draft, and then acted like that was always our plan. When we were actually able to get players in they turned out to be busts like Grundy and McAdam.

We've needed a key forward for years and couldn't even get a cheap option like Chol or McStay when they were on the move.

We drank our own bath water thinking we had a dynasty list built already

 

[booshboy]

We drank our own bath water thinking we had a dynasty list built already

This 100%. We were so arrogant we thought we'd turn up again in 2022/2023 without improving the list or developing the game plan and it was just going to happen for us- We didn't have the salary cap to attract any big fish but we could have done way more to bring in quality role players if we had a genuine appetite to improve. The acquisitions of Billings, Hunter, McAdam, Fullerton, Schache etc etc were nothing more than an afterthought.

We clearly went after Grundy, but him coming over just highlighted how pedestrian Goody was tactically.

 

[Bluelegs]

We drank our own bath water thinking we had a dynasty list built already

Maybe. We had a lot of weird targets too though like we tried to get Cerra after 2021, and made a lot of pitches to players who knocked us back to get better offers from their current clubs like Georgiades. Maybe our money was getting eaten up by too few but we had a mil that we threw at Jackson lying around as well.

The fact that we brought Fullarton in and Goodwin went out of his way to mention his disdain for him makes me think that Lamb and Goodwin weren't really on the same page.

 

[Topkent]

Maybe. We had a lot of weird targets too though like we tried to get Cerra after 2021, and made a lot of pitches to players who knocked us back to get better offers from their current clubs like Georgiades. Maybe our money was getting eaten up by too few but we had a mil that we threw at Jackson lying around as well.

The fact that we brought Fullarton in and Goodwin went out of his way to mention his disdain for him makes me think that Lamb and Goodwin weren't really on the same page.

We're kinda agreeing too, instead of becoming an attractive club we just assumed we were. I think it all speaks to the complacency of the club on every level.

 

[Lord Nev]

Lord Nev lolling but you are all for Max Heath. Moneyball you call it..? Come on. He's a spud.

"All for Max Heath" might be an oversell Dan. I'm not excited by it in the least, I can just understand the logic behind it and can also understand that it likely won't be the only list change we make.

 

[Lord Nev]

Plus we had Todd Viney getting it done. Lamb cant. Maybe with Buckley there might be more interest. But Lamb has done a terrible job and should be out the door with Richo asap

Viney had nothing to do with the May trade. Lever mayyyyybe, but it was about that time that Lamb took over from him.

This has been covered a fair bit on here before.

 

[danster168]

We'd be lucky to get one first, one second and one third rounder in total in a terrible draft year for them all. Last year was the time to shop May and Lever. We have decent youth imo, guess I'll convince myself I'm keen to see what the new coach does.

that's fair. and I agree last year was the year.

 

[schmuttt]

I think it's fine to whack Lamb for some horrible contracts but us not being able to attract talent has nothing to do with him.

 

[Crusty Demon]

Viney had nothing to do with the May trade. Lever mayyyyybe, but it was about that time that Lamb took over from him.

This has been covered a fair bit on here before.

Personally, I don't think it's a coincidence that our list management has been terrible since Todd left. If it's part of Lamb's job, then he should be held accountable.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

I think it's fine to whack Lamb for some horrible contracts but us not being able to attract talent has nothing to do with him.

We have to blame SOMEONE schmooty. They kind of go hand in hand, we cant attract anyone so we spend big to retain our own.