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Whilst I agree in principle with the idea of perhaps focusing more on drafting eastern states talent to bolster our potential talent pool - especially as the deplorable state of our junior talent development becomes more evident ,it’s still a bit more nuanced than that and in particular the point at which our list is at currently at

over the next 3/4 years or so we need to be very mindful of what type of player and their mindset is we bring in especially if their vic kids- as simply there’s not going to be many “openings” in our b23

if we end up picking a midfielder from Victoria who has no real second position then the reality is they’re likely to sit at peel for 3 years with the odd game here and there before hightailing it back home -in which case our return on investment will be depreciated- or we could end up in the GC/GWS predicament where your overpaying young draftees just to keep them.

And this is where (particularly in this specific case) fred - if wallsys see it’s so too,is actually a pretty good option
-Best mates with Toby ,died in the wool Freo fans family and not to keen to leave home and is likely happy enough to stay on at standard players wages early on

because outside of small fwds we really do need some young/developing mids but convincing some vic kid to hang around for 3 years running round at rushton will be hard sell at this point in time

So unless their fwds and small medium fwds at that any new draftee we pick up is looking at some serious time in the WAFL

The other part of this equation is the overall effect on the salary cap- by and large a higher % of WA players means we’re likely getting best value for as they’re probably staying for under market rates so combined across the squad it should give us that little more cap room to still chase players that fit needs
 

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We have had plenty of years where noone would seriously consider coming here. 99% of the time we were used as a bargaining chip by managers to get their players better deals elsewhere.

Ill take a "boring" trade period where we add a b23 McVee and only lose depth players like Reidy and Brodie any day of the week
 
We have had plenty of years where noone would seriously consider coming here. 99% of the time we were used as a bargaining chip by managers to get their players better deals elsewhere.

Ill take a "boring" trade period where we add a b23 McVee and only lose depth players like Reidy and Brodie any day of the week
McVee is best 22, he's probably even best 18.
 
People are getting their knickers in a knot. That gift to WC was given with a smile on Walls face.

We don't bid on your academy players if you don't bid on ours. With Lucas Robinson available next year it would make sense to broker a little deal with some chump change headed to our busted arsed brother.
 
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If Warner wanted to go WC then he wouldn’t have re-signed. Don Pyke was all over Warner like a rash and he decided to re-sign for two years. I know a board member and WC were pushing hard for Warner earlier this year like really hard. Yet he declined and re-signed.

We are some chance to get Warner the conclusion of his next contract. Just a feeling.
Can't remember which podcast it was, might have actually been Broden Kelly?

Said Freo were hugely keen and deliberately said they were more than West Coast but he's chosen Sydney and they had to turn his head back around. So if what you say is true, West Coast were probably never under consideration*
 

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Can't remember which podcast it was, might have actually been Broden Kelly?

Said Freo were hugely keen and deliberately said they were more than West Coast but he's chosen Sydney and they had to turn his head back around. So if what you say is true, West Coast were probably never under consideration*
Well we wined and dined him and his partner at Crown, so clearly we were having a decent crack. All I can pass on is that West Coast were going hard.

I was responding to an off the cuff comment about WC offering pick 2 for Warner. I think they would offer that and more (he knows their interest) but no point he declined.

As for Freo I’d expect we’re in his agent’s ear regularly expressing our interest especially as a free agent.
 
I know I should let sleeping dogs lie but you can't look at the WC Bris pick swap in isolation of McVee. I think everyone agrees there was a premium paid by us in the pick swap, it's just a matter of opinion on whether you think it was worth it or not.

It seems there were three rough pathways available to land McVee:

1) Something like trading pick 12 for McVee and 27 (I'm assuming Melb would have accepted this). This would have left us with 27 and 33 as our two usable picks. Rightly not pursued by Freo.

2) The pick swap. Freo get trade done early and our first two retained picks are 19 and 46. I completely get why many feel we should still have a pick in the 30s but if we think the draft falls away badly after the first 25 and we want to protect our 2026 draft hand then this path trumps above. I know everyone thinks we were a circuit breaker for Bris WC but I am not so sure that we weren't the aggressive party to obtain a pick that was a circuit breaker for our own trade ie I think Bris and WC could have done something without involving us.

3) Hold the line and say take pick 33 or walk him to PSD. I don't like this path as it creates an unnecessary void where we risk not getting McVee, as much as others don't believe this would have been the case.

For me on balance I think Walls got this right. Pick 23 in a weak draft is a very cheap price for a quality player. The premium (which in my view is not as massive as it is being portrayed by some) that was paid in the pick swap is worth removing the uncertainty on McVee, especially in a supposed weak draft that is heavily compromised.
4) trade 12 to Bombers for 21&27, plonk 27 on the table for McVee and keep 33, 44 & 50, in the dees want a sweetener they can have 44 added to 27 and we still keep 33 and 50.
Bombers are desperately trying to move up and pairing our 12 with their 5/6 is more likely to get it done than 21 or 27
 
If Warner wanted to go WC then he wouldn’t have re-signed. Don Pyke was all over Warner like a rash and he decided to re-sign for two years. I know a board member and WC were pushing hard for Warner earlier this year like really hard. Yet he declined and re-signed.

We are some chance to get Warner the conclusion of his next contract. Just a feeling.

Yep, I get all of that, but Curnow is a big fish and they currently don’t have the currency.

They’re looking at guys like Florent and Rowbottom to push out. The players do need to have a say.

If Eagles put pick 2 on the table, Swans find the currency for Curnow and they might just bite the bullet with the belief he is likely gone in 2 years anyway.

Would help with the books too I’d imagine.

I don’t think he’ll leave either. I’m just saying are Eagles even considering it? It seems like a fairly straight forward ask at minimum.

Hell, I’d be annoyed if we haven’t approached him, but we don’t have nearly the currency Swans would want.
 

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Nah McVee was rated very highly internally by Melbourne. They are pretty annoyed he chose to return home. Besides, Wallsy was the one targeting him and that should say it all.
Worst case scenario IMO is that he's around 15-20 on our list when he's fully fit.

Think he has the potential to be a really good HBF and become much better than that by the 2nd or 3rd year with us. We'd then have that player for 8-9 more seasons.
 

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