List Mgmt. 2025 List Management Discussion - Part V

[Hubnester]

2025 List Management Discussion - Part 5

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
​

 

[Mat Mann]

The Melbourne game in the last quarter it was Hall that got 1st clearance 3 times at centre bounce and dished off to NAS

Check out Hall in the last qtr, NAS got the recognition, but it was Hall imo who was the standout, quality touch after quality touch

 

[Leigh58]

Absolutely. And I think it's a good point that St.Kilda as a suburb was a gathering place for people of all sexualities and walks of life. It's as much part of that area's identity as Footscray being working-class, Hawthorn being comfortable and family friendly, Melbourne being inner-suburban lawyer-types, Essendon being a place you'd only live if you really had to, Collingwood being a place you'd only pass through if you had to etc. Identity as a club is important to me, even though I started following the Saints because I could get to Moorabbin easily from Bentleigh.

As far as the indigenous work goes. We have probably the best reputation right now, as far as indigenous players wanting to come here. It was clearly a significant factor in Nas staying, which most people on here agree is one of the most significant things to happen to this club in a long time. I don't care how much time a BigFooty user thinks they spent at a club, there's no telling how valuable or otherwise the groundwork for our indigenous culture during the Finnis years was to the state we're in today.

But, honestly, the concept that working on these things takes away from a club's focus on, and ability to win football matches is about the most moronic, idiotic and nasty/despicable takes that I've regularly heard on social media. It's generally spouted on Facebook with spelling so appalling it's barely comprehensible, and it's really just an excuse to spout self-centered, hostile takes on society in a way that makes the spouter feel like they're not actually being a pr!ck.

We lost matches because of the end of the Lyon/Riewoldt era, the Watters debacle, the McCartin/Billings disasters, other woeful drafting, playing it safe after the Lovett and other incidents, crappy coaches, having our hands tied due to finances, Seaford and countless other tangible reasons. Finnis did his bit to help pull us out of that world into the situation we're in now, which is a pretty optimistic one. People who still blame him for the losses and want an excuse to dribble on with their anti-inclusive attitudes should try to be a bit better imo. It says a lot more about them than it does about Finnis.

Love this, agree with every single word.

I think it's a great shame we gave up the Pride Match. I understood the need to be a bit more football-centric but that was the one thing we should have fought to hold on to. Won't shock me if another club picks it up in a few years and grows it into something fantastic.

Anyone potting those initiatives as leading to our terrible run of results is living on another planet. The drafting from the beginning of our rebuild through to '21 where we got Nas, Windy and Owens was so unbelievably poor we could have had the entire Geelong coaching and administration staff and I doubt we would have played a final.

First two picks from each draft from 2013 - 2020:

Billings, Dunstan
McCartin, Goddard
Gresham, White
Long, Battle
Clark, Coffield
King, Bytel
Byrnes, Connolly
Allison, Highmore

Besides King we whiffed on every pick - and the other two we got right we lost!

Worth remembering that when people get their back up about the trades for Hill and the like. The way we were drafting we probably end up taking Cooper Stephens with that pick.

I have always been 100 % football centric when it comes to the saints.
I also agree that our drafting was abysmal during those years, as was our player development. It was a bad era. Especially as we had been conditioned to (relative) success and footy enjoyment between 2004 and 2011. And were mainly at Moorabbin.

Keep in mind, besides the 1960's and early 1970's, 2004-2011 was the most successful period ever in our long history. We were pretty good in relative terms!

The results of subsequent years have sadly been more similar to the "normal", in terms of our overall history.

May the next era from 2026 be our best ever. We seem to have laid a solid foundation.

 

[Sir Owens]

We should do a top 10 most punchable faces in the AFL. Mackie is right up near the top in my book.

Had a massive whinge about the Battle compo last year. Smug campaigner.

 

[unrelentingbelief]

Rewatching the Sydney game, heaps of kids in there, a few skill errors but f me the hunger in this group is frickin palpable.
I don’t even feel nervous about next season, we’re on ladies and gentlemen
(Steele was huge im gonna miss that man so much)

 

[austinnn]

Love this, agree with every single word.

I think it's a great shame we gave up the Pride Match. I understood the need to be a bit more football-centric but that was the one thing we should have fought to hold on to. Won't shock me if another club picks it up in a few years and grows it into something fantastic.

Anyone potting those initiatives as leading to our terrible run of results is living on another planet. The drafting from the beginning of our rebuild through to '21 where we got Nas, Windy and Owens was so unbelievably poor we could have had the entire Geelong coaching and administration staff and I doubt we would have played a final.

First two picks from each draft from 2013 - 2020:

Billings, Dunstan
McCartin, Goddard
Gresham, White
Long, Battle
Clark, Coffield
King, Bytel
Byrnes, Connolly
Allison, Highmore

Besides King we whiffed on every pick - and the other two we got right we lost!

Worth remembering that when people get their back up about the trades for Hill and the like. The way we were drafting we probably end up taking Cooper Stephens with that pick.

I say this a lot, but I think it was as much about poor development as drafting. The development is on the coaches and the director of footy and it hurts to say but yes, there wasn't enough rigour in the selection of those responsible for that development or the reviewing of the coaching development processes. I think we were probably not stringent enough.

Was that because we were distracted by our inclusive causes? Of course not. It was more likely that we were desperate to be not seen by football people as a ****-up club or an unreliable rabble. Keep stable and out of the news was the order of the day.

How could we have got more quality people to work with us? To prove that we were a genial and solid employer I guess is what we thought.

 

[Sully111]

Gin

Ginnivan
Sam Mitchell
James Sicily
Bailey Smith
Damien Barrett (C)
Andrew Mackie
Kai Loman
Jordan Lewis
Kane Cornes
Chad Cornes
Hutchy (VC)

 

[austinnn]

The coaches were set up to fail because of the footy department. The indigenous support structures look better run now but who knows how much that contributed.

If we had no money to employ better footy department staff we should have kept one officer and spent on other areas. As I said at the time we should have paid to have the best recruiter money could afford during a rebuild.

Calling it despicable is childish and overly dramatic. It was a period of absolute time wasting with no vision for success. You weren't at the club and a long way of seeing it in action. There was very little chance of us moving forward until we reinstated Lyon and he built the structures to move us forward.

If we'd kept Lethlean, Gags and Rath I think we'd be where Essendon are right now. We talk about sliding doors but we were nearly ready to make Rath and Lethlean the most powerful men at inside the footy club.

Yep, I'd agree. Expecially with that last paragraph. Gah, I'd forgotten that!

Thank God for Lindsey Fox and his luxury yacht!

 

[SainterinSydney]

Thankfully, I dont think we will have any players in the State of Origin teams except maybe Sinclair in Vic team.

 

[Banger9798]

or you could do 11, send out on a cricket field to face another team, consisting of
Joel Garner
Andy Roberts
Michael Holding
Malcolm Marshall
Curtly Ambrose
Jeff Thompson
Dennis Lillee
Brett Lee
Mitchell Johnson (2013/14 ashes)
Shoaib Akhtar
Dale Steyn

all in their prime of course

Of all of them,Andy Roberts bowled the most terrifying spells ((Thommo 2nd place )
God I miss the Windies!

 

[Mav3rick]

One thing we can bank on since SOS and Lyon have returned is everything is planned and happens for a reason.

The 3rd picks would have a specific purpose - we just don't know what it is yet.

That's... wishful thinking. We've done well in our trades, but the simple truth Melbourne only have three picks in 2026 as it stands, Heath was worth next to nothing and we were doing Steele and ourselves a favour by accepting peanuts for him to leave. The West Coast pick was a throw in to even up the value a bit.

I do expect we might package on or two of those picks to jump back into this year's draft though, hopefully to nab a slider

 

[Diehard Saint]

Thankfully, I dont think we will have any players in the State of Origin teams except maybe Sinclair in Vic team.

I really hope so.
Imagine getting a bad injury out of a games like this.
Not interested in our players playing at all.

 

[Mav3rick]

Because he played his best season up in GC with no one watching people underrate him. He looked genuinely elite in 2024. If he can play like that Saints fans will be blowing their loads.

His stats when he's played midfield are eye-catching to say the least. Needs to start tackling though, I doubt Ross and the coaches will give him a very long leash as it comes to the defensive side of the game.

Very excited though, could be an A-grader

 

[Teflon]

Here’s what I heard tonight from a prominent player agent… Saints tried a play this year, quickly realising that they didn’t have collateral, list space or salary cap…ditched Aleer to have all 3 for next year with 2 targets in mind: De Goey and Butters

Please god NO De Goey he’s overrated and body is shot
No thanks
And what concerns me about that news….it took em all trade period to realise they didn’t have cap space , collateral or salary ???? WTF

 

[Tommy Wigs]

View attachment 2463101

Captain and coach

 

[Leigh58]

Please god NO De Goey he’s overrated and body is shot
No thanks
And what concerns me about that news….it took em all trade period to realise they didn’t have cap space , collateral or salary ???? WTF

I wonder how De Goey would have developed as a player and a person if the Saints of 2014 had taken him in the draft? (instead of Paddy, Petracca etc). We/he may have found it difficult.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

yeah it is different

what gringo and I moan about is always on the money

Unless… ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[stfan]

The recruiters start watching and analysing the kids at 15yo and know everything about them when they get to their draft year.

My wife's cousin who will go at about Pick 5 this year was identified by the Lions as a 10 year old. His father later swapped him to the Suns Program.

 

[L_W_P]

View attachment 2463101

Would take him at the Saints in a heartbeat

 

[jimmytigs]

Gin

Ginnivan
Sam Mitchell
James Sicily
Bailey Smith
Damien Barrett (C)
Andrew Mackie
Kai Loman
Jordan Lewis
Kane Cornes
Chad Cornes
Hutchy (VC)

tobes says hello

does wanting to see a players head smashed into the turf,then have 5 knees come down on it count?=gryan miers

 

[BucketsandBanger]

Thankfully, I dont think we will have any players in the State of Origin teams except maybe Sinclair in Vic team.

I think they’ll probably have a stupid rule where each club has to have representation.

 

[The Punter]

On SOO... WA are going to get smashed.

 

[phantom13]

On SOO... WA are going to get smashed.

It really is a dumb idea.

Im from Queensland and im a league fan as well so i get that the AFL WANTS to replicate State of Origin but its dead and it died for a reason.

Really any form of rep footy or exhibition footy is for the lower grades now. A VFL/WAFL rep game, on FTA television would have made more sense than whatever this will be.

Maybe do a state team each year and give them a jumper (ala the AA selections) but SoO in AFL is dead.

 

[The Punter]

It really is a dumb idea.

Im from Queensland and im a league fan as well so i get that the AFL WANTS to replicate State of Origin but its dead and it died for a reason.

Really any form of rep footy or exhibition footy is for the lower grades now. A VFL/WAFL rep game, on FTA television would have made more sense than whatever this will be.

Maybe do a state team each year and give them a jumper (ala the AA selections) but SoO in AFL is dead.

I like the idea of naming teams. But having gone through picking teams on the AFL website (they have a team picker thingy), WA are thin. A Victorian 2nd XXIII could probably beat them.

 

[phantom13]

I like the idea of naming teams. But having gone through picking teams on the AFL website (they have a team picker thingy), WA are thin. A Victorian 2nd XXIII could probably beat them.

Yeh i think like the AA thing make it an honorary thing and do it each year rather than trying to shoe horn in an exhibition game every year.

I know SoO started in Aussie Rules and League stole it but its just way more culturally engrained in NSW and QLD now (and even that is losing its lutre with half those states now repped by international players as well).

 

[gringo2011]

Amazed the experts didn't once mention him in post trade analysis of the Saints young players and who can step up.

Will be good to let him fly under the radar. We all rate him here. The experts will find out in 2026.

I don't think he'll stay secret for long. He is already A grade in his first year. I had him easily in our top 5 players this year. If he plays more midfield the footy world will start to notice him more and more. He'd be in the conversation for the best high half forward in footy IMO.