I mean.....Gold Coast look to have fleeced both you and Port in that deal.
And Houston would want to get back to near his best, or this deal is pretty poor for Collingwood.
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Do Collingwood need to enter a rebuild phase?
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And Houston would want to get back to near his best, or this deal is pretty poor for Collingwood.
Howe has only had 1 season above 20 games in the 2020s, and has avg less than 15 games per season.
J.Elliott is hit and miss, he had a good 2023 and a great 2025 but outside of those years is another who avgs 15 games.
So it is really only Pendles, Crisp and Sidey of the veterans who have been consistent contributors playing 20+ games every season.
Should we do what "smart clubs" have done and force them out like North did with Booma or Melbourne did with McDonald and Hawks with Hodge?
Club legends who still offer plenty of on and off field leadership...and are still very solid players they are much more valuable to a list of 40 then a couple of extra 18-19 year olds.
The kids - Swadling, Allen, DeMattia, Parker, Harrison, Steele, Anderson, Printable, Ryan - will develop by watching how Pendles and Steele go about it at training and in VFL.
Not sure why so many fans have accepted using the senior AFL team as a development team?
He is the present.
Top10 player for us in 2025, Naicos running mate in the midfield already and was vital in us finishing top4. Naicos and Long, a great pair of 22-23 year olds who are the engine of our midfield.
Mynamesinuse
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The fact is they’re coming to an end and a rebuild is required. The issue is there’s not a host of kids ready to step up on the list.
Long will be lucky to be on a list in 27.
Collingwood has been consistently rebuilding our list.
Only 9 of the 2018 GF team played in the 2023 premiership team.
Once Sidey, Howe and Pendles finish....give it another 3 years and then Moore and Maynard will finish etc.
Hard to predict which kid steps up and claims a spot, like Long did. What you actually want is a list of mature mid 20s type of quality.
Below is a Pies 18 using our 2026 list but not including any veterans who are 30+
Backline is strong, with great mix of talls, smalls and rebounding
Quaynor, Frampton, McInnes
Houston, Moore, Maynard
Midfield is also strong with one of the top rucks, Daicos bros
Lipinski, Perryman, J.Daicos
Cameron, N.Daicos, N.Long
Forwards are smallish but dangerous enough
McReery, McStay, B.Hill
Schulz, DeGoey, H.Harrison
Of those 18 half were not even on the list back in 2021 under N.Buckley.
And the important factor is that in 2026 we do have our veterans to add to that core. We just need a few kids to push up and claim a spot and much easier for a kid to slot in and develop when surrounded by experience than if thrown in the deep end with other kids.
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The Kings Ransom
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They still will.
But maybe not the best of the best.
A guy like Switkowksi is 29 and has probably not made huge amounts throughout his career would be the type of player who would be attracted to Collingwood given the name, reputation, chance for 3rd party deals etc..
Justin Mcinerny might like playing on the MCG 15+ games a year.
The Kings Ransom
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Backline is strong, with great mix of talls, smalls and rebounding
Quaynor, Frampton, McInnes
Houston,
Midfield is also strong with one of the top rucks, Daicos bros
Lipinski, Perryman, J.Daicos
Forwards are smallish but dangerous enough
McReery,
Schulz,
You still included 4 players that will be 30+ before round 1 next year.
You could replace them with: Buller + West up front, ?ruck, ?tall defender
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Its cute that people think a rebuild phase is a thing nowadays. Eagles/North/Saints are more than enough proof that its not possible in the imaginary way people think it is.
Whats the point in "rebuilding" when you have zero access to the best 2 players in the next draft in Walker and Cochrane? If your not getting the cream of the crop what are you aiming for exactly?
I think for the teams in the top 8 the answer is clear. Keep building what you have. Reality is at the bottom their isnt anything to find amongst the little scraps that remain
Whats the point in "rebuilding" when you have zero access to the best 2 players in the next draft in Walker and Cochrane? If your not getting the cream of the crop what are you aiming for exactly?
I think for the teams in the top 8 the answer is clear. Keep building what you have. Reality is at the bottom their isnt anything to find amongst the little scraps that remain
Strapping Young Lad
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See the first page of this thread.
If they couldn’t get the attention of Rowell, LDU or Richards in 2025 they’re highly unlikely to get anyone of note in 2026 when the list is another year older and looking like they need to rebuild at the same time that Tassie come in.
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Rebuild how? People keep throwing the word out without any actual definition to it.
How do they rebuild exactly?
Strapping Young Lad
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I guess in your reality Richmond, Adelaide and Hawthorn haven’t all gone through a rebuild in the last 5 years by going back to the draft?
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Pies current issue appears to he a lack of key forwards & goal scoring power.
Imagine if Curnow selected the Pies instead of the Swans.
Also, think you need a 2nd quality tall defender, but you have been able to get away with it.
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That side is mid ring at best and I wouldn’t be counting on Hill anytime soon.
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Richmond absolutely suck, you guys barely made the finals and Adelaide have taken 8 years to get to a point where they are competing in finals, mainly caused by bringing in A players via trade like Dawson and Rankine. I mean when they lost 1 of those they fell to a absolute heap.
I dont see Adelaide as a successful rebuild and you are clutching at straws if thats your example
Yes it was an over 30 team.
KPs are the weak spot, have 4 raw kids and like all clubs hope a couple come good...but likelihood is they won't make it.
Why bringing in a 25 year old VFL player Mihocek previously was a great move, which is the Buller thinking.
Ruck will need to identify an option to bring across from somewhere.
Yep, IMHO it is KP at both ends where we need a few to stand up in the next couple of years.
But I just don't agree with the premise of rebuilding and being rubbish and playing kids.
After AFL got rid of the priority pick for winning 5 games or less (which we used to get Pendles) the incentive to be shite ain't there.
And if you decide to "rebuild" you potentially set yourself up for a decade in the wilderness like Carlton, North etc. no guarantee you will jump back up quickly.
Would prefer to target established players in their mid 20s, and just have a few kids coming through.
We all know what these threads are about....bantering (aka Stirring) other posters into getting a reaction. The number of bottom half clubs "supporters" who are posting in this thread speaks volumes for the credulity of the arguments. "Do Collingwood need..." to do anything will get you a reaction on this site....it's the means to an ends that runs the AFL media for goodness sakes. Anything Collingwood (especially negative stuff) SELLS cos there's 17 other clubs out there that love nothing better than to hate the Pies.
Clubs at the top of the ladder have had to think outside the square in building up their lists for years now. Geelong for all its natural advantages has won 2 flags in the past 15 years and yet its constantly held aloft by all and sundry as the yardstick in list management and club culture. Collingwood on the other hand has also won 2 flags in the past 15 seasons yet its constantly questioned and ridiculed by the footy media and in here by all other 17 clubs.
It's OK, we get it, we've always got it....you don't like the Pies (for whatever reasons) and that's ok....just don't expect us to roll over and accept drivel when its spoken.
The draft (as it currently stands and has done for the past 5 seasons or so)...is a shambles. The ability to draft gun young players is so heavily biased towards the Academies and father son/s that clubs have had to work around the draft confines in an attempt to develop their lists. You'll notice I didn't say "improve" their lists because in some teams cases its been about developing what might have seemed like pretty basic athletes into GUN players. Both Geelong and Collingwood have had to do this and I'm constantly amazed to see posters questioning Geelong's reliance on Dangerfield or Cameron or Collingwood's on Pendlebury or Sidebottom. Geelong has Blicavs a player brought in as an athlete and developed into the most adaptable player in the AFL....whoa be tied if he ever gets injured because Chris Scott relies on Blic's more than just about any other player. Drafted as a rookie.
Collingwood have just waved goodbye to our favourite Yank. Big Mase had never touched a footy before Collingwood developed him. Now he's a Premiership player and holds the record for contested marks in an AFL Final.
The clubs at the top of the tree have to get lucky with father sons to get access to the best juniors. Otherwise its a chook raffle for picks and you find yourself with 5 or 6 half back flankers.
So.....do Collingwood need to rebuild? Since McCrae joined us (thankyou, thankyou, Wrighty for picking him) we've turned over the list bar a few old blokes and we've pretty much restructured the entire club. We've gone through the truth telling process, the racism trials and the restructure of our medical, financial and recruitment staff. We've found a few kids along the way Harrison was almost embedded in the 22 before he did his knee, Long looks good in the guts and Parker and Steele demanded finals games in the season just past. We have some promising talls coming on (so much so that Checkers and Coxy both were informed that their services we no longer required) and this November we just picked up three new young mids.
To my mind the "rebuild" you all cry out for (because apparently it means we'll no longer be relevant to finals calculations) has already been happening since Fly took control.
I have no intention to debate whether any other club should do X, Y, or Z about their own players because I have only superficial knowledge about their club's inner workings (bar Geelong and the Pies).
I don't think the Pies need to enter a "rebuild" because I'm very confident they've been in one for 4 years already.
Clubs at the top of the ladder have had to think outside the square in building up their lists for years now. Geelong for all its natural advantages has won 2 flags in the past 15 years and yet its constantly held aloft by all and sundry as the yardstick in list management and club culture. Collingwood on the other hand has also won 2 flags in the past 15 seasons yet its constantly questioned and ridiculed by the footy media and in here by all other 17 clubs.
It's OK, we get it, we've always got it....you don't like the Pies (for whatever reasons) and that's ok....just don't expect us to roll over and accept drivel when its spoken.
The draft (as it currently stands and has done for the past 5 seasons or so)...is a shambles. The ability to draft gun young players is so heavily biased towards the Academies and father son/s that clubs have had to work around the draft confines in an attempt to develop their lists. You'll notice I didn't say "improve" their lists because in some teams cases its been about developing what might have seemed like pretty basic athletes into GUN players. Both Geelong and Collingwood have had to do this and I'm constantly amazed to see posters questioning Geelong's reliance on Dangerfield or Cameron or Collingwood's on Pendlebury or Sidebottom. Geelong has Blicavs a player brought in as an athlete and developed into the most adaptable player in the AFL....whoa be tied if he ever gets injured because Chris Scott relies on Blic's more than just about any other player. Drafted as a rookie.
Collingwood have just waved goodbye to our favourite Yank. Big Mase had never touched a footy before Collingwood developed him. Now he's a Premiership player and holds the record for contested marks in an AFL Final.
The clubs at the top of the tree have to get lucky with father sons to get access to the best juniors. Otherwise its a chook raffle for picks and you find yourself with 5 or 6 half back flankers.
So.....do Collingwood need to rebuild? Since McCrae joined us (thankyou, thankyou, Wrighty for picking him) we've turned over the list bar a few old blokes and we've pretty much restructured the entire club. We've gone through the truth telling process, the racism trials and the restructure of our medical, financial and recruitment staff. We've found a few kids along the way Harrison was almost embedded in the 22 before he did his knee, Long looks good in the guts and Parker and Steele demanded finals games in the season just past. We have some promising talls coming on (so much so that Checkers and Coxy both were informed that their services we no longer required) and this November we just picked up three new young mids.
To my mind the "rebuild" you all cry out for (because apparently it means we'll no longer be relevant to finals calculations) has already been happening since Fly took control.
I have no intention to debate whether any other club should do X, Y, or Z about their own players because I have only superficial knowledge about their club's inner workings (bar Geelong and the Pies).
I don't think the Pies need to enter a "rebuild" because I'm very confident they've been in one for 4 years already.
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Clubs that have remained at the top of the tree for an extended period without bottoming out have either got lucky with F/S or academy kids.
Or landed big name free agents.
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The lack of unity among the comp and disillusionment among the fan base.
Collingwood are our only hope.
Collingwood are our only hope.
The Kings Ransom
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Yeah, when you said exclude 30+ I took it as 30 and over.
Buller is a good pick up I think. Sydney seemed particularly pissed to lose him after putting in substantial work ‘on and off field’ to help him develop to the point of AFL level.
Not sure you can rely on McStay so having some kpf depth is needed.
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There are a lot of people on here saying that Collingwood should have started the rebuild a few years ago and that Collingwood are about to plummet down the ladder. But the real questions are which of the rebuilding clubs have done a good job of it? And who should Collingwood look to emulate with their rebuild?
Have North rebuilt well?
What about the Eagles? Maybe to soon for them.
Melbourne? They got a flag. But also stuffed it up with a lot of high picks squandered and now may have fallen in a hole again. They also recruited a few decent players in trade and got their captain with a late draft pick. So it wasn't all about drafting which some people seam to focus on.
What about the number 1 draft pick specialist Carlton? Probably the least successful team since the introduction of the draft. They did get 5 number 1 picks but their best finish in the last 25 years has been a prelim. Both Richmind and Hawthorn have had awesome patches but have also been poor for long periods of time as well.
The teams you want to emulate are Geelong, Sydney and Collingwood. They may have not won the most premierships. But they have had the most chances at winning them and that's what you want to give your list the best shot at winning one.
Have North rebuilt well?
What about the Eagles? Maybe to soon for them.
Melbourne? They got a flag. But also stuffed it up with a lot of high picks squandered and now may have fallen in a hole again. They also recruited a few decent players in trade and got their captain with a late draft pick. So it wasn't all about drafting which some people seam to focus on.
What about the number 1 draft pick specialist Carlton? Probably the least successful team since the introduction of the draft. They did get 5 number 1 picks but their best finish in the last 25 years has been a prelim. Both Richmind and Hawthorn have had awesome patches but have also been poor for long periods of time as well.
The teams you want to emulate are Geelong, Sydney and Collingwood. They may have not won the most premierships. But they have had the most chances at winning them and that's what you want to give your list the best shot at winning one.
Strapping Young Lad
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You are notorious for doing this, you make a statement like “how can teams even rebuild” then when you are presented with 3 teams that have done that or are continuing to do that, you move the goal posts and make a different argument about “those clubs haven’t won a flag, so rebuilding doesn’t work”.
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You used club that took 8 years to make a final and said they rebuilt well….
That is just facts.
Strapping Young Lad
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You’re doing it again.
Where did I say they rebuilt well? I didn’t.
You said clubs can’t rebuild. You argued Collingwood don’t have that option. It was just plainly wrong.
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You are saying Collingwood should move and hope to make finals in 8 years time from now as your argument that it can be done..
Id say if it took you 8 years to do something, then it isnt something worth doing
How far back are you going ?
Jackson, Pickett, Rivers, Langford, Lindsay, Windsor etc. aren't stuff ups.
Are you going back almost 20 years to the Scully era ? FFS
And Gawn was pick 34 in 2009. You call a top 35 pick a ''late pick'' ?
You have some strange views, Son. At least Fadge seems to enjoy your rubbish.
