List Mgmt. 2025 List Management Discussion - Part 3

[Hubnester]

2025 List Management Discussion - Part 3

Now that our season is over, and news is starting to break - it's time for a fresh thread.

This thread is to discuss all things list management - trades, draft, free agency, delistings and more.
As we are now officially in our off-season, we'll be wanting to keep this thread more strictly on-topic than the previous iterations.
Be respectful. You are allowed to disagree with someone - but play the ball, not the man. Repeat offenders will have their posting rights revoked.

Thanks to Lore once again for this incredibly useful spreadsheet.

2025 KEY DATES
Free Agency Period: Friday, October 3rd - Friday, October 10th
Trade Period: Monday, October 6th - Wednesday, October 15th
AFL Draft: Wednesday, November 19th - Thursday, November 20th

See Also:
2025 Year in Review Rumours & Confirmed Movements 2025 Draft Discussion
​

 

[SaintsofSteel]

Tauru is just a kid, looks like a kid in both his face and build and is another young draftee.

Imo he has superstar written all over him, just give him a couple of years to add some muscle. Silvagni isn’t battle but he’s a smart combative player who will strengthen our team down back and has shown how versatile he is.

I liked Battle and I was hoping he’d stay but he’s gone and I’m very happy with what we’ve replaced him with.

I'm not happy - I think supporters are way ahead of themselves if they believe Tauru is going to get to Battles level in the next couple of years. For one Battle is an elite kick and great decision maker.

Tauru has shown a great leap and courage but not much else at this stage. When you think the club want to challenge in the next couple of years Tauru won't be playing key position by then. Battle is playing in a prelim this weekend.

Losing Battle for 850k per year and not having a replacement was really poor list management. We now have an injury prone JSOS, admittedly as free agent on the same coin with no guarantees he plays more the a dozen games per year. Thats not a win in my books...

 

[phantom13]

Why are they worth a lot more? My point was that they costed the same as Battle - except one extra list spot which I don't see as an issue

I'd argue we get a positive return from that deal if we start making finals and our defence returns to being one of the best in the comp. I don't think its a case of player X is better than player Y. If the team as a whole sees finals success over the next few years then we won't be looking back

Aleer at $700 (or whatever) and JSOS at $800 is $1.5.

Battle would have stayed for $900-$950 if we didnt cook the negotiations or a mil by the time we did.

We need both to cover him, thats prety clear otherwise wed just get one.

I disagree with the secondary statement but theres no way to know. If we did all these moves we are doing with Battle our defence wouldnt need to work and wed be further along the progrssion train than we are, a decent chunk of our issue this year were defensive, Battle would have made a big difference there IMO.

Battle went, Tauru in. Thats the comparison and its as direct as it gets.

 

[Yawkey way]

Sure, dont disagree.I just dont think you can argue we can replace Battle, or even cover for him with what were getting in and even if you did Aleer and JSOS cost more money than Battle did.

I’m not seeking to replace battle I think he’s a better player at Hawthorn due to their mix.

We need to concentrate on our mix including replacing a criminally underrated Jimmy Webster.

 

[phantom13]

I reckon that changes real quick if Wilkie doesnt take them up.

 

[Fehring]

Here you go doggies

There's got to be a culture part to this. My view is that Goody should have been sacked a few years back b/c he was very, very close to the players (including socially) and the culture among the players was rotten. So, by virtue of being so close to them, he owned the culture - more and more so as the years rolled by.

May's comment to the little guy who kicked a lot of goals this year was rank (I'm blanking on his name) - that the Dees would have lost the Grant Final in 2021 if he'd been picked. That has always stuck with me. Being willing to stick the knife right where you know it hurts your teammate the most is just unfathomable to me.

I am just a peanut on the outside looking in, but this looks like a good move for the culture. Big statement from King.

 

[phantom13]

There's got to be a culture part to this. My view is that Goody should have been sacked a few years back b/c he was very, very close to the players (including socially) and the culture among the players was rotten. So, by virtue of being so close to them, he owned the culture - more and more so as the years rolled by.

May's comment to the little guy who kicked a lot of goals this year was rank (I'm blanking on his name) - that the Dees would have lost the Grant Final in 2021 if he'd been picked. That has always stuck with me. Being willing to stick the knife right where you know it hurts your teammate the most is just unfathomable to me.

I am just a peanut on the outside looking in, but this looks like a good move for the culture. Big statement from King.

Melksham.

May is a raging ****wit, from many many sources public and private.

I still think the dogs look hard, the area of need they have is obvious and its basically him (or at least what he was)

 

[SaintsofSteel]

Boyd played one game mate. In round 1.

He wasn’t seen again.

Heath played 4 - after PROVING he had improved enough to get a jumper.

You still banging on about Boyd when neither player will be on our list in 2026 is the weirdest argument, especially as Boyd did nothing to prevent Heath from playing

Heath was improving last year when given the opportunity, the same as this year. As soon as he got the No 1 job he took off. Take your blinkers off list fillers have never worked and never will.

Melbourne are just as stupid keeping Campbell on their list, he is never going to be AFL standard. He just hinders the kids development below him who might actually improve to a greater level.

Look at Dodson the minute he got a full game as the No 1 ruckman in the VFL.

 

[stavro#4]

I'm not happy - I think supporters are way ahead of themselves if they believe Tauru is going to get to Battles level in the next couple of years. For one Battle is an elite kick and great decision maker.

Tauru has shown a great leap and courage but not much else at this stage. When you think the club want to challenge in the next couple of years Tauru won't be playing key position by then.

Losing Battle for 850k per year and not having a replacement was really poor list management. We now have an injury prone JSOS, admittedly as free agent on the same coin with no guarantees he plays more the a dozen games per year. That not a win in my books...

Tauru has played 10 games in his first season.

He has already equaled the club spoil record. He has shown an elite ability to leap and mark - whilst averaging over 1 intercept mark a game. He has shown he can positively contribute at both ends and has supporters across all clubs wishing they had him.

This is a kid that hasn’t done a pre season in a couple of years. Came to us with a significant Injury and had a stop start run leading to his debut.

Kinda boggles the mind if any supporter looked at him after his 10 games and thought, yeah let’s put a lid on his ceiling over the next few years instead of thinking.

Yeah sky’s the limit based off of this sample size.

 

[BrutThough]

Can we get May just so he doesn’t dominate us lol? Seems to play the game of his career against St Kilda lately.

Not when Keeler is playing

 

[akaifu]

Aleer at $700 (or whatever) and JSOS at $800 is $1.5.

Battle would have stayed for $900-$950 if we didnt cook the negotiations or a mil by the time we did.

We need both to cover him, thats prety clear otherwise wed just get one.

I disagree with the secondary statement but theres no way to know. If we did all these moves we are doing with Battle our defence wouldnt need to work and wed be further along the progrssion train than we are, a decent chunk of our issue this year were defensive, Battle would have made a big difference there IMO.

Battle went, Tauru in. Thats the comparison and its as direct as it gets.

I was comparing the Tauru + JSOS package to Battle. Aleer isn't that relevant from my POV, I think he's just an upgrade on Cordy who was on similar coin to the 600k Aleer has been offered as the base deal iirc? An extra layer of depth with upside to become a B-grader

So imo its JSOS 800k + Tauru 150k = 950k Battle (iirc that was our final offer to him?)

If we want to compare Battle vs Tauru directly then yeah Tauru will have to be multi-AA and probably premiership player but I genuinely think he has the upside for it IF we develop him properly - which Damian Carroll has shown he should be able to do given the development of Nas and guys like Garcia/Pou who could be on a similar trajectory to stardom

 

[Yawkey way]

I'm not happy - I think supporters are way ahead of themselves if they believe Tauru is going to get to Battles level in the next couple of years. For one Battle is an elite kick and great decision maker.

Tauru has shown a great leap and courage but not much else at this stage. When you think the club want to challenge in the next couple of years Tauru won't be playing key position by then. Battle is playing in a prelim this weekend.

Losing Battle for 850k per year and not having a replacement was really poor list management. We now have an injury prone JSOS, admittedly as free agent on the same coin with no guarantees he plays more the a dozen games per year. Thats not a win in my books...

We’re living in a different football world now and you need to acknowledge that.

Battle money last year was eye popping, now it just looks very good. Yes the club screwed up and yes battle also played us.

He’s been very good at Hawthorn but no better than he was last year for us, he’s simply in a better backline in a better team.

I’ll stick by my call Tauru will be a superstar, way more valuable than Battle.

 

[stavro#4]

Heath was improving last year when given the opportunity, the same as this year. As soon as he got the No 1 job he took off. Take your blinkers off list fillers have never worked and never will.

Melbourne are just as stupid keeping Campbell on their list, he is never going to be AFL standard. He just hinders the kids development below him who might actually improve to a greater level.

Look at Dodson the minute he got a full game as the No 1 ruckman in the VFL.

By all means. Please keep claiming your big win is Max Heath and how he is supremely rated at other clubs… coming across as the break glass emergency.

Or how poor of a decision the club made on Boyd.

It’s the weirdest take on here for sometime. Because Boyd didn’t prevent Heath from playing more games than he did. Probably make the argument Boyd helped Heath if anything.

 

[SaintsofSteel]

Tauru has played 10 games in his first season.

He has already equaled the club spoil record. He has shown an elite ability to leap and mark - whilst averaging over 1 intercept mark a game. He has shown he can positively contribute at both ends and has supporters across all clubs wishing they had him.

This is a kid that hasn’t done a pre season in a couple of years. Came to us with a significant Injury and had a stop start run leading to his debut.

Kinda boggles the mind if any supporter looked at him after his 10 games and thought, yeah let’s put a lid on his ceiling over the next few years instead of thinking.

Yeah sky’s the limit based off of this sample size.

No one's putting ceiling on the kid just being realistic with the fact he will need time to get there.

He is a baby but his kicking is below average and his decision making needs a lot of work.

 

[phantom13]

I was comparing the Tauru + JSOS package to Battle. Aleer isn't that relevant from my POV, I think he's just an upgrade on Cordy who was on similar coin to the 600k Aleer has been offered as the base deal iirc? An extra layer of depth with upside to become a B-grader

So imo its JSOS 800k + Tauru 150k = 950k Battle (iirc that was our final offer to him?)

If we want to compare Battle vs Tauru directly then yeah Tauru will have to be multi-AA and probably premiership player but I genuinely think he has the upside for it IF we develop him properly - which Damian Carroll has shown he should be able to do given the development of Nas and guys like Garcia/Pou who could be on a similar trajectory to stardom

Dont agree with the first bit at all but fair enough.

Second bit is effectively saying the same thng im saying, Tauru has to be at least equal to Battle for us to win. Im not saying he cant do that but hes got some work to do cause Battle was and is very very good.

 

[heynow85]

 

[snails13]

Once again other clubs rate our players higher than we do. Most of the forum were calling for Heath to be delisted last year, I would have backed him in to fill the Boyd role. How did that end up for all you doubters.

Moose might not become a super star but he is and always was twice the AFL ruckman Boyd was ever going to be.

Likewise Battle people were happy to see him walk out, well how has that turned out for you all. He is now an All Australian CHB and is considered one of the best trades for the year.

Then the uneducated raise Tauru, well he might become a decent player but physically he is a long way off (years) ever hoping to fill a key positional role. As I've said before losing Battle was the dumbest thing the club have done since SOS was made list manager. Shortly followed by wasting a list position on Boyd.

Ya forgot to mention Billings,Gresham and Coffield

 

[stavro#4]

No one's putting ceiling on the kid just being realistic with the fact he will need time to get there.

He is a baby but his kicking is below average and his decision making needs a lot of work.

You put a ceiling on him when you claimed

“I think supporters are way ahead of themselves if they believe Tauru is going to get to Battles level in the next couple of years. For one Battle is an elite kick and great decision maker.”

And his decision making is hardly looks poor. He looks like a kid deferring to more experienced players and not wanting to screw up.

At training, he was regular getting coached on just about every facet of his game during match sim. From positioning. To body work. To where to place his kicks etc.

Haven’t ever scratched the surface on this kid.

 

[akaifu]

Heath was improving last year when given the opportunity, the same as this year. As soon as he got the No 1 job he took off. Take your blinkers off list fillers have never worked and never will.

Melbourne are just as stupid keeping Campbell on their list, he is never going to be AFL standard. He just hinders the kids development below him who might actually improve to a greater level.

Look at Dodson the minute he got a full game as the No 1 ruckman in the VFL.

So you reckon Brisbane are stupid for having Darcy Fort when Oscar McInerney got injured? That they would've won the premiership without Fort?

 

[SaintsofSteel]

By all means. Please keep claiming your big win is Max Heath and how he is supremely rated at other clubs… coming across as the break glass emergency.

Or how poor of a decision the club made on Boyd.

It’s the weirdest take on here for sometime. Because Boyd didn’t prevent Heath from playing more games than he did. Probably make the argument Boyd helped Heath if anything.

Take your head out - Boyd when playing VFL was rucked in front of Heath, mainly because he was useless elsewhere.

You have obviously never played the game or played in the ruck. Ruckman need work in the main gig not playing at FF to develop their games.

Dodson exploded when Heath made the AFL side, it's not rocket science.

 

[John2010362340]

Tauru has played 10 games in his first season.

He has already equaled the club spoil record. He has shown an elite ability to leap and mark - whilst averaging over 1 intercept mark a game. He has shown he can positively contribute at both ends and has supporters across all clubs wishing they had him.

This is a kid that hasn’t done a pre season in a couple of years. Came to us with a significant Injury and had a stop start run leading to his debut.

Kinda boggles the mind if any supporter looked at him after his 10 games and thought, yeah let’s put a lid on his ceiling over the next few years instead of thinking.

Yeah sky’s the limit based off of this sample size.

Get his tank up, he would be a dominant wingman.

 

[Sainter93]

How’s that exodus looking

 

[stavro#4]

Get his tank up, he would be a dominant wingman.

Jeremy McGovern down back.

Or Roo like upfront.

Clubs choice from here in my eyes.

 

[Captain Paddy]

Generational destination club streak continues

 

[phantom13]

Windy signed, 4 years, hallelujah.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

I’m a bit worried about retaining Windy.