Rumour GFC 2025 Player Trading, Drafting FA, Rumours and Wish lists Pt 2

[CatTricks]

We have one. We didn’t play him

Is Bews legitmately off to Freo?

 

[crocsta]

We need one of the following to lift next year to be 3rd tall lead up forward - Martin, Henry, Molier, Edwards, Polkinghorne.

My bet is on Polkinghorne

 

[CatToTheFuture]

IMO, the ONLY way that Brisbane stuffs this up is if they mismanage their salary cap. The draft is irrelevant to them because they have a conveyor belt of nga players that only they have access to. Blowing up their salary cap is the only way they ruin this. That is going to be difficult to do in the short term because so much of their top end talent is very young and thus relatively cheap compared to their output. Ashcroft x 2, fletcher, morris, the next nga kids, etc are going to be undervalued contract wise for the next 3+ years.

It is why I am glad they are bringing in Draper and Allen. They are both going to be well paid on decent length contracts, and they are both coming off question marks. Draper is a mobile ruckman coming off a major Achilles injury (huge red flag) and Allen has been injured and poor for the best part of 2 years. It is not a risk I would be taking if I was Brisbane, recruiting those types of players are literally the only way they could ruin their current dream situation.

Look, they might be awesome and it doesn’t matter, but it is not without risk. If those guys don’t work out, then it makes it much more difficult to cover when players like starcevich and Bailey leave because of a salary cap squeeze.

The rest of the league also has to target all Brisbane players coming off contract to at least drive up the price for Brisbane to keep them. If I see another lions nga or fs prospect not get aggressively bid on in the draft I am going to spew up terry Wallace style.

Yeah hopefully they come unstuck with it but I think Draper and Allen will be perfect for them

 

[Hinkley29]

Rumour has it the Perth lifestyle was not very good for Neale’s wellbeing or relationship when he was at Freo, so will be interesting to see how things play out.

Is that where he got his ridiculously lame tattoos?

If so, he should stay in Brisbane.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Going to be an interesting trade period , Worpel at the very least helps the midfield untill we can get a A grade..Marshall is an improvement on Stanley but burning pick 17 for a 30 year old leaves a sour taste in my mouth

We won’t get Cunrow and we don’t need him unless we plan to put JC on the wing ..and even then I don’t see how a trade happens( maybe develop Henry as a winger?)

Wells and Mackie need to do some absolute magic for the late picks ..a faster big bodied mid like Stevens would be amazing

Clark the interesting one , been very impressed over his last two finals and he clearly has the skills but he’s not the answer to the midfield issue

Pick 17 (plus potentially more) for a 30yo hurts but I think thats the way we will go and conways injuries have forced our hand. Hopefully marshall can keep playing well into our 30s.

I agree a beast who can win clearances like Stevens but actually spread run (which Stevens cant) would be great.
Its nice to see people come around on Clark hes been harshly judged on here i always felt he was a good pick in a poor draft. I do agree his lack of strength (for now) is a barrier as an inside mid and we are stacked for small forwards so he is probably going to have to play as a small defender for now while we try and build his core strength and his tank.

 

[Hinkley29]

Is Bews legitmately off to Freo?

I have no idea.

All I know is that we didn’t play him against hawthorn when we needed to (it didn’t cost us) or against Brisbane when we needed him (and it cost us big time).

 

[Hinkley29]

Yeah hopefully they come unstuck with it but I think Draper and Allen will be perfect for them

If they are at 85-90% of their previous output it will be huge for them.

But I think that is a big if.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

People are being too critical with Neale with those "over the top" kicks that fell short to Andrews.
That was on the kicker, that is a system that we run, the deepest forward will lead back towards goal taking his defender with him, opening up space behind for a player to slot into.
Problem was yesterday we either stopped looking to that option when it was there (third quarter, Blicavs long to Neale, fell short to Andrews while ignoring a wide open Close at the 50) or players weren't working hard enough/Lions closing down that option.

I think some of it was on Neale. He was doubling back too far and too far to be hit up effectively. He wanted to get away from Andrews but asked too much of the kicker.

you are both partly right. We sat behind the goals and there was a couple of times i was screaming for neale to lead back quickly at the kicker to force Andrews to move with him and away from the intercepting spot so we could get guys like dempsey in behind. But also the delivery to neale was absolutely awful and gave him no chance.

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

Wonder if the club will entertain the idea of Oliver again.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I have no idea.

All I know is that we didn’t play him against hawthorn when we needed to (it didn’t cost us) or against Brisbane when we needed him (and it cost us big time).

Look I hindsight Stanley was poor after a break and bews should have been on Cameron instead but I dont think it cost us the game. Because mcinerney came back in I can see why they did it. The reality is because of his age and fringe status jed was always going now even if he played yesterday so it doesnt change anything for 2026.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Wonder if the club will entertain the idea of Oliver again.

Wonder if the club will entertain the idea of Oliver again.

I think his contract is too bad for it to be workable isnt it?

 

[Hinkley29]

you are both partly right. We sat behind the goals and there was a couple of times i was screaming for neale to lead back quickly at the kicker to force Andrews to move with him and away from the intercepting spot so we could get guys like dempsey in behind. But also the delivery to neale was absolutely awful and gave him no chance.

Brisbane did a good job of keeping the ball out of the hands of miers, mannagh, close and Dempsey just outside of our attacking 50. They are the guys we needed making 15-20m passes to players in our forward line, and we just never we able to manufacture that outcome. Well done lions in that regard.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

We need one of the following to lift next year to be 3rd tall lead up forward - Martin, Henry, Molier, Edwards, Polkinghorne.

My bet is on Polkinghorne

My bet is on Henry.
And honestly we need a ruck and mids way before worrying about a medium forward.

 

[Hinkley29]

Look I hindsight Stanley was poor after a break and bews should have been on Cameron instead but I dont think it cost us the game. Because mcinerney came back in I can see why they did it. The reality is because of his age and fringe status jed was always going now even if he played yesterday so it doesnt change anything for 2026.

I agree, it didn’t cost us the game.

But I always felt that the Stanley move was way too conservative. It felt like we brought him in just in case something went wrong with a tall and that meant we could use blitz as a mr fixit.

When Brisbane bought mcinerney in, I would have doubled down on being smaller and tried to exploit the fact that big o and fort are average and slow.

That all sounds great in hindsight, but I genuinely (and vocally) stated that I wanted Bews in the team from the prelim onwards. When Stewart went out it became even more important.

Cest la vie

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

I think his contract is too bad for it to be workable isnt it?

Probably. Not sure what King's intentions are but i think i saw he wants to try and keep Oliver & Petracca?

I'd only do it if the Dees took on some of the $$$ on his fat contract, and we didn't have to give up much. Worpel & Oliver would add some much needed contested grunt to our midfield.

 

[Warhorse]

you are both partly right. We sat behind the goals and there was a couple of times i was screaming for neale to lead back quickly at the kicker to force Andrews to move with him and away from the intercepting spot so we could get guys like dempsey in behind. But also the delivery to neale was absolutely awful and gave him no chance.

He was a liability in every game of the finals series. Put a line through him. He is awful when it matters

 

[Pure_Ownage]

We were looking at him a month or 2 back as a potential midfielder. Then he exploded in form.

Bailey will still go eventually i think hes the one that will fall out of there cap wise. But it wont be this year he will want to win another flag before he goes.

 

[Munich]

He was a liability in every game of the finals series. Put a line through him. He is awful when it matters

Unless Hawkins wants to come back and mentor him I'm tending to agree.

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

He's got a navicular injury.

An injury to his navicular stopped Egan's career in its tracks.

Not a false equivalence at all.

There's a chance Conway will avoid the same fate, but the odds would be concerning.

To be fair, it wasn’t the navicular injury itself that killed Egan’s career. The desperate measures taken by the medical team in ‘07 to have Egan miraculously ready to play in the GF that severely exacerbated the injury past the point of no return were what killed his career. The extremely conservative way Conway has been managed with a view to the long term is the correct strategy. As to whether he truly is cooked via other injuries? That remains to be seen.

 

[catman2006]

Unless Hawkins wants to come back and mentor him I'm tending to agree.

I would hope Hawk is currently giving him tips in a minor mentor capacity, will need a lot of attention by coaching group in the pre season.

 

[cats_09]

Will bruhn be back?? How is it looking

Without going to much into what's happening off field, we'll have something of a better understanding of what his 2026 could look like come November when the committal hearing resumes and the judge will decide if there's sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Pick 17 (plus potentially more) for a 30yo hurts but I think thats the way we will go and conways injuries have forced our hand. Hopefully marshall can keep playing well into our 30s.

I agree a beast who can win clearances like Stevens but actually spread run (which Stevens cant) would be great.
Its nice to see people come around on Clark hes been harshly judged on here i always felt he was a good pick in a poor draft. I do agree his lack of strength (for now) is a barrier as an inside mid and we are stacked for small forwards so he is probably going to have to play as a small defender for now while we try and build his core strength and his tank.

The thing that will be turning people's eye with Clark is that coming into the season even his biggest fans would have said on ball or bust.

This finals series they're have just been a few glimpses that he could rotate to half back and not be the designated opposition scoring corridor

 

[Mad_Hatter]

If rumours of SDK to the Saints for Marshall and a pick (first round SURELY), and the light whisper of bundling that pick, our first this year and first next year for a player, who could that be?
Curnow would warrant that currency, Butters probably the same but think he waits another season.
Who else could the Cats be targeting if said rumours are true?

 

[cats_09]

If rumours of SDK to the Saints for Marshall and a pick (first round SURELY), and the light whisper of bundling that pick, our first this year and first next year for a player, who could that be?
Curnow would warrant that currency, Butters probably the same but think he waits another season.
Who else could the Cats be targeting if said rumours are true?

The suggestion is it's for a midfielder - thinking that rules out Curnow

Maybe Carr is somewhat open to trading Butters this year and setting something out a standard of his expectations for the team going forward - if you don't want to be playing for Port then they're happy to move you on for the right price and build around players who want to wear the guernsey

 

[CatToTheFuture]

If rumours of SDK to the Saints for Marshall and a pick (first round SURELY), and the light whisper of bundling that pick, our first this year and first next year for a player, who could that be?
Curnow would warrant that currency, Butters probably the same but think he waits another season.
Who else could the Cats be targeting if said rumours are true?

If we are trading out SDK we better be bringing a player in that same trade period. You do not want to turn SDK into picks and then just hold picks for a year