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List Mgmt. List management discussion 2026

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TheFourPillars said:
AI will certainly be the death of some industries in the near future. AI really is only in its infancy. There will always be limits to what AI can do
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Yeah, it is a bit of a worry. A lot of people will lose jobs. Call centres are already almost totally AI. Amazon recently announced the installation of their one millionth robot.

And I do really question the "Intelligence" part of AI. Who here has had any satisfaction recently when calling, say, Commbank? Telstra? Quite often you can't even get to speak to a human.
 
Lord_Espos said:
Hey team.

Just a query on our list for 2026. I understand we were not prepared to meet Essendon's demands for Merrett. Given he may only have 2 to 3 years of elite play left. And giving up three "first rounders" plus an existing player from our 22 was not something we were prepared to offer.

My question is in terms of list strategy/management (I'm a big fan of list building in the NFL), and how big trades can impact your list depth as you don't have access to first round draft picks. The 49ers (my NFL team) did this when they traded a bunch of first round picks to trade up for a quarter back. 3 first rounders. Trey Lance was a total bust, in fact one of the worst trades in history). Now that scenario is slightly different as the 49ers were trading for an unknown rookie who had never played before, whereas Merrett is elite and a known element.

I guess the principle is the same about mortgaging your future and not having first round picks.

If you draft and develop players well (as the Hawks seem to do) are the three first rounders more valuable than the one player who will be there for a shorter term?

Any thoughts on the Hawks not meeting Essendon's demands vs the picks we retained for refreshing our list in 2027, 2028, 2029?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Don't even need the NFL example to discuss the potential positives and negatives on this one.

Last year we were clearly interested in the immediate future, trading out of the first round of the draft and bringing in Tom Barrass.

This year we aimed to do the same thing, but it disnt eventuate.

As a result, we may have weakened our immediate premiership chances, however the young talent we DO draft now may be able to help us longer term, perhaps extending that premiership window.

We'll never know if Zach Merrett wins us the 2026 premiership.
However, IF we draft a young gun this year, then bring in another version of Zach Merett via trade in 12 months time, I'd say we absolutely end up well ahead of where we would have been with Merrett but without the draft pick.
 
TheFourPillars said:
AI will certainly be the death of some industries in the near future. AI really is only in its infancy. There will always be limits to what AI can do
Click to expand...
As i mentioned on another thread, one day we will legitimately be able to watch Hawks 86-89 vs 13-15 to decide who was the better team :think:. Beyond that, each of us prob will get to play in it too.
 

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Lord_Espos said:
Hey team.

Just a query on our list for 2026. I understand we were not prepared to meet Essendon's demands for Merrett. Given he may only have 2 to 3 years of elite play left. And giving up three "first rounders" plus an existing player from our 22 was not something we were prepared to offer.

My question is in terms of list strategy/management (I'm a big fan of list building in the NFL), and how big trades can impact your list depth as you don't have access to first round draft picks. The 49ers (my NFL team) did this when they traded a bunch of first round picks to trade up for a quarter back. 3 first rounders. Trey Lance was a total bust, in fact one of the worst trades in history). Now that scenario is slightly different as the 49ers were trading for an unknown rookie who had never played before, whereas Merrett is elite and a known element.

I guess the principle is the same about mortgaging your future and not having first round picks.

If you draft and develop players well (as the Hawks seem to do) are the three first rounders more valuable than the one player who will be there for a shorter term?

Any thoughts on the Hawks not meeting Essendon's demands vs the picks we retained for refreshing our list in 2027, 2028, 2029?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
It's certainly a risk / reward thing, but it's hard to make comparisons to US sport as the games are different, the talent pools are different. A quarterback is way more important to any NFL side than a single AFL player would be, so it makes sense to trade multiple first round picks for the chance to get an elite one - there are only a couple of elite players every draft. That's across the board, whether you're a terrible side or a good one. Same goes for the NBA.

As an AFL side in the position we're in - a good team, good age profile - it makes sense we'd take the risk but for a different reason. We're only a piece or two away from a flag. Geelong proved that point with what they gave up for Cameron. The disparity between what you get for a late first rounder and a mid to late second rounder isn't big enough to hold on to them if you have proven talent on offer. You can get decent players late while trading out your picks. That's unlike US sports where you might see 1 or 2 stars from most drafts with an enormous amount never even seeing game time.

The only point where I would genuinely consider it to be mortgaging the future is if you weren't a great side and you were putting up these massive trade offers.
 
Lord_Espos said:
Hey team.

Just a query on our list for 2026. I understand we were not prepared to meet Essendon's demands for Merrett. Given he may only have 2 to 3 years of elite play left. And giving up three "first rounders" plus an existing player from our 22 was not something we were prepared to offer.

My question is in terms of list strategy/management (I'm a big fan of list building in the NFL), and how big trades can impact your list depth as you don't have access to first round draft picks. The 49ers (my NFL team) did this when they traded a bunch of first round picks to trade up for a quarter back. 3 first rounders. Trey Lance was a total bust, in fact one of the worst trades in history). Now that scenario is slightly different as the 49ers were trading for an unknown rookie who had never played before, whereas Merrett is elite and a known element.

I guess the principle is the same about mortgaging your future and not having first round picks.

If you draft and develop players well (as the Hawks seem to do) are the three first rounders more valuable than the one player who will be there for a shorter term?

Any thoughts on the Hawks not meeting Essendon's demands vs the picks we retained for refreshing our list in 2027, 2028, 2029?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Trading out three first rounders would've put us in an awful position in regards to future trading. Clubs would have fleeced us if we wanted to target one of their top liners in the future. Our hands would be tied big time. Can you imagine let's say, Humphrey wanted the Hawks at 22 year old??? Suns quite rightfully would ask for 5 firsts and then some.
Also, worth noting that those scums refused to give anything back in return for 4 firsts!!
If Merrett was 25/26 you may think about it but at 30? Foggettaboutit. No way.
We have drafted plenty of inside mids in the last 5-6 years. It's not like we have no choices. Not winning the premiership next year all the while getting more games into Mackenzie, Ward Butler, Day and Newcombe can only be a positive yet, if we mortgaged our future and got Zack, but ultimately failed to win the premiership, then it's a harder pill to swallow.
Two firsts are more than enough but we tried and got knocked back, even with three firsts!
We also get to further improve our list by going to the draft and adding a couple more talented kids. Merrett is Essen problem, not ours.
 
Lord_Espos said:
Hey team.

Just a query on our list for 2026. I understand we were not prepared to meet Essendon's demands for Merrett. Given he may only have 2 to 3 years of elite play left. And giving up three "first rounders" plus an existing player from our 22 was not something we were prepared to offer.

My question is in terms of list strategy/management (I'm a big fan of list building in the NFL), and how big trades can impact your list depth as you don't have access to first round draft picks. The 49ers (my NFL team) did this when they traded a bunch of first round picks to trade up for a quarter back. 3 first rounders. Trey Lance was a total bust, in fact one of the worst trades in history). Now that scenario is slightly different as the 49ers were trading for an unknown rookie who had never played before, whereas Merrett is elite and a known element.

I guess the principle is the same about mortgaging your future and not having first round picks.

If you draft and develop players well (as the Hawks seem to do) are the three first rounders more valuable than the one player who will be there for a shorter term?

Any thoughts on the Hawks not meeting Essendon's demands vs the picks we retained for refreshing our list in 2027, 2028, 2029?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

You don't really know. Pick 10 could turn out to be the next Nasiah and then you're laughing you didn't give the pick away. Or it could turn out to be the next Denver. You roll that dice a few times.

You would think you were getting 3 seasons of quality football out of Merrett. But you need only look at the Gibbs or Beams trades to know that trading for older players is fraught with risk. There are a million factors that can impact.

There's also the opportunity cost. What happens next year if Humphrey says make me a Hawk? Suddenly, you have no assets. Player managers are very likely to steer clear of places that cannot get a deal done.

Essendon's demands were 4 first round picks plus a second. They couldn't convince any of our players to go there. My personal take is that is a price only ~5 players in the AFL would command, and they are all under 30.
 
Last edited:
Rowie6 said:
So is this confirmed as his contract status has not changed?
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Not publicly but will come out in List Lodgement 1 today either way I'd imagine.
 

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Not sure if this the right place but with Dingley now available, and players have to spend time in the academy from a younger age to be available for us, could we make our Academy run like the northern states academy's and get a sponsorship for it.
 
mustang said:
Not sure if this the right place but with Dingley now available, and players have to spend time in the academy from a younger age to be available for us, could we make our Academy run like the northern states academy's and get a sponsorship for it.
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Northern academies are different though, they aren't bound by the NGA rules.
Don't think we would want to put too many resources into our NGA with no guarantee we would be able to get kids we put time and money into and we would only have a small amount of talent kids that would meet all the NGA requirements in our regions.
 
AFL Podcast titled: “Is it Will Day or bust for Hawthorn in 2026?”. A discussion that begins by asserting that Day is “by far” Hawthorn’s best player.

Seriously.

Do they think Jai Newcombe is playing for Coburg or something? I’ve rarely seen a player so disrespected because of his draft position. He has just turned 24 years old, is already one of the competition’s elite midfielders, dominating in finals and yet for some reason, each time he gets better everyone thinks he’s reached his ceiling. I can’t wait to see him improve again like he has every single year, and take his place among the top 10 in the league.
 
ReturningHawk said:
AFL Podcast titled: “Is it Will Day or bust for Hawthorn in 2026?”. A discussion that begins by asserting that Day is “by far” Hawthorn’s best player.

Seriously.

Do they think Jai Newcombe is playing for Coburg or something? I’ve rarely seen a player so disrespected because of his draft position. He has just turned 24 years old, is already one of the competition’s elite midfielders, dominating in finals and yet for some reason, each time he gets better everyone thinks he’s reached his ceiling. I can’t wait to see him improve again like he has every single year, and take his place among the top 10 in the league.
Click to expand...
Are you seriously listening to Purple?
 
ReturningHawk said:
AFL Podcast titled: “Is it Will Day or bust for Hawthorn in 2026?”. A discussion that begins by asserting that Day is “by far” Hawthorn’s best player.

Seriously.

Do they think Jai Newcombe is playing for Coburg or something? I’ve rarely seen a player so disrespected because of his draft position. He has just turned 24 years old, is already one of the competition’s elite midfielders, dominating in finals and yet for some reason, each time he gets better everyone thinks he’s reached his ceiling. I can’t wait to see him improve again like he has every single year, and take his place among the top 10 in the league.
Click to expand...
Who cares what Barrett says. He consistently shows a lack of depth in his football knowledge. Like a lot of the footy media, his personal agenda comes through in the nonsense he sprouts.

Newk is coming off two best on ground performances in finals
and has earned the right to be considered our best player. Day is Robin to his Batman until he stays on the field consistently.
 

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List Mgmt. List management discussion 2026

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