No Oppo Supporters The Sun Lounge (Suns posters only)

[Suns of Anarchy]

Corbett takes half a dozen contested marks on the G against Collingwood, boots 4 and helps win us the game.
Corbett’s strengths not utilised and he slowly goes to the medi sub then languishing in the 2s kicking 5.
Collingwood desperate for tallish forwards offer Corbett games and a 4 year deal.
Gold Coast ask for a 4th round pick in a future draft.
Corbett becomes a 40 goal a year hit up key forward.
Am I doing this right?

 

[SandyToes]

Corbett takes half a dozen contested marks on the G against Collingwood, boots 4 and helps win us the game.
Corbett’s strengths not utilised and he slowly goes to the medi sub then languishing in the 2s kicking 5.
Collingwood desperate for tallish forwards offer Corbett games and a 4 year deal.
Gold Coast ask for a 4th round pick in a future draft.
Corbett becomes a 40 goal a year hit up key forward.
Am I doing this right?

Nearly but not quite
We take a KPF as our first pick in the draft to essentially cover for the loss of Corbett who ends up playing 2 senior games and is delisted to Southport after 4 years

 

[eppo67]

Corbett takes half a dozen contested marks on the G against Collingwood, boots 4 and helps win us the game.
Corbett’s strengths not utilised and he slowly goes to the medi sub then languishing in the 2s kicking 5.
Collingwood desperate for tallish forwards offer Corbett games and a 4 year deal.
Gold Coast ask for a 4th round pick in a future draft.
Corbett becomes a 40 goal a year hit up key forward.
Am I doing this right?

Yes.
Let's hope a coach who values players strengths comes on board.

 

[SandyToes]

You do get the impression Dew and the selectors sit down on Thursday and think of reasons to keep players out of the team rather than just looking at how they played footy on the weekend

 

[Mt Isa Mustang]

random question - at the games there is the competition to win the plungie pool, folks getting to kick the ball yada yada.
how do the pick the competitors for that?

I was lucky enough to have competed in that this year (am not winning a pool unfortunately)

I attended a game and then got called the following week saying my membership ticket had been randomly selected because I attended and I could partake in the competition for the following game.

Got a signed mini footy for competing.

 

[Supersuns]

Sorry but I’ve actually had enough of your constant digs at Dew. We all know you don’t like him but just stop continuing to had subtle digs at him! You are going on and on about it.

He isnt wrong mate

 

[nutstar]

Sorry but I’ve actually had enough of your constant digs at Dew. We all know you don’t like him but just stop continuing to had subtle digs at him! You are going on and on about it.

You know there’s a block button if you ever get sick of a poster?

I’ve not used it, but I’m told it’s there…. Nearly needed it for Peel, but I think that problem sorted itself out.

 

[Ben Drever]

Sorry but I’ve actually had enough of your constant digs at Dew. We all know you don’t like him but just stop continuing to had subtle digs at him! You are going on and on about it.

Everyone’s entitled to an opinion. Especially eppo67 who brings us a lot of good inside knowledge/ dirt

One of the best posters we have in this forum

 

[Suns of Anarchy]

You do get the impression Dew and the selectors sit down on Thursday and think of reasons to keep players out of the team rather than just looking at how they played footy on the weekend

Their expectations of some of the players seems excessive. Rather than focus on and play to strengths, it seems that there is little flexibility.
We know Brodie’s an inside contested mid who should be there feeding it out by hand.
Instead he’s languishing in the seconds. Move him on when he’s contract is up but use him for his strengths. It drives me insane

 

[eppo67]

Their expectations of some of the players seems excessive. Rather than focus on and play to strengths, it seems that there is little flexibility.
We know Brodie’s an inside contested mid who should be there feeding it out by hand.
Instead he’s languishing in the seconds. Move him on when he’s contract is up but use him for his strengths. It drives me insane

The perfect example of exactly that is Lyons. We delisted him and he could possibly win a Brownlow Medal.
Just let that sink in
Unbelievable.

 

[The Victorian]

The perfect example of exactly that is Lyons. We delisted him and he could possibly win a Brownlow Medal.
Just let that sink in
Unbelievable.

There is a list manager too btw. His name is Craig Cameron

 

[SandyToes]

The perfect example of exactly that is Lyons. We delisted him and he could possibly win a Brownlow Medal.
Just let that sink in
Unbelievable.

Still claim Dew used to get Leslie and Lyons mixed up
Jack was indeed sloooow-but IMO underrated and a much better footballer than Caleb Graham
So many of us shook our heads when Lyons was delisted because every time he played he was often the only guy getting hold of the footy for us in those years

 

[Suns of Anarchy]

There is a list manager too btw. His name is Craig Cameron

He was told he’d be playing NEAFL. That wouldn’t be from a list manager

 

[Meteoric Rise]

I know this thread says no oppo supporters but I am hoping people won’t mind me giving a few thoughts here, I am only interested in being constructive.

First, I can feel the pain of Suns supporters. I heard Cochrane’s interview on The Couch last night and I could also feel his pain. I thought one interesting thing he pointed to was the financial cost of running the Academy which covers a very vast area, and that some relief in that area would be appreciated, and I thought that was something the AFL and the other clubs should consider.

The sport will be better for the Gold Coast Suns being competitive, there can be no argument about that, so the club is well worth investing in. As an outsider it is difficult to know exactly how that investment should be spent, but the effort should continue to be made.

Your playing stocks to me seem fine in terms of overall talent, and for most of the Suns life since 2011 this has been the case. What you have always lacked is a critical mass of mature players. These 27-32yo types that all strong teams have, normally making up around a third to a half of their team, or in some cases more.

Bulldogs on the weekend, despite fielding a team with a quite young average age of 25 years 8 months, had Hannan, Bruce, Liberatore, Duryea, Keath, Crozier, Johannisen in the 27-32 age bracket. All appear to be legitimate best 25 type players on their list at present. They may not be world beaters but these guys will really know what they are doing within the team’s system and should also be able to act to keep other players on track whilst the game is unfolding.

Suns fielded Ellis, Swallow, Greenwood, Day, Smith, Sexton in this age bracket. But of those, Smith for whatever reason does not appear to be AFL standard. I say for whatever reason as i am conscious he came off a fairly serious injury to be picked in the AFL team when the ruck cupboard was otherwise bare. Day, an admirable player was off one VFL match from a long term injury and was up against it. Swallow appears to have been injured early in the match. And Sexton has spent time recently in the VFL, seemingly on merit. You were down to 2-3 players in this age bracket who can realistically impact strongly on the match. Sexton, Ellis, Greenwood. So to me it is little wonder the team looked a bit rudder-less. It is obvious the club has been trying to correct this issue and imo have rightly brought in Ellis, Greenwood and others like Townsend, Atkins, Murdoch etc to try to correct this imbalance. Over the next couple of years the likes of Collins, Lemmens, Weller, Miller, Markov will move into this age bracket and that should help a bit, but you could probably use a couple more Ellis/Greenwood types to help in the meantime. You are one of the very few clubs who should be looking to recruit decent quality 26 year olds for this reason. That alone would help a little.

Some other things I think have led to your last couple of poor looking efforts.

Not having a competitive ruckman is a killer. No matter what people say in footy, this has always been the case. Not having a star ruckman is no impediment to success, most if not all of the last 10 premiers have not fielded a star ruckman. But to have 3 genuine ruckmen on your list of 49 was a real list management error, especially when one is over the age of 31. You were hideously unlucky that all 3 have been seriously injured but this has exposed your lack of options. You addressed this somewhat at the mid-season draft bringing in Moyle, who looks a great prospect, but it seems you are also interested in bringing in Chol from Richmond and I think you need perhaps him and one more of this forward/ruck hybrid type as well so you don’t ever get a repeat of what happened this year when Witts unfortunately went down.

Another thing I noticed that I think looks a terrible error of man management. Rowell is a great player, we all know that. But sending him straight back into AFL mid season off a long term injury when he has barely played footy for almost two years is criminal. Give the guy 3/4 of a game then a full game in the twos as a bare minimum preparation to playing an AFL match. Freo did this recently with Alex Pearce, 2.5 WAFL matches prior to making his AFL comeback and he did really well against the Suns gun Ben King when he came back.

The only other thing I think that could use revisiting is he possession style game plan. All teams need to be able to play this way at times, but Suns could probably move on from this for now to a take it on in the corridor style, for the remainder of this year at least. The young Swans did this in the second half of last season and it seems to have helped them this year.

So I am not sure that much needs changing. Some of the changes are clearly already underway. But my recommendations from watching would be:

1. Don’t ever carry thin ruck stocks on your list into a season,

2. One or two young players are reportedly wanting out. Use this as leverage to get just another 1-2 talented or at least AFL competitive 26 year old types into the club, players of this age will come for the security of solid 4 year+ contracts and a defined role.

3. Don’t re-introduce players from long term injuries straight into AFL football no matter how good they are, I really hated seeing that with Rowell.

4. Now you have nothing to lose, jazz the game style up a bit for the remainder of 2021.

5. And last but not least, I think the club is largely on the right track on field and off. So maintain faith and be patient.

 

[Mt Isa Mustang]

I know this thread says no oppo supporters but I am hoping people won’t mind me giving a few thoughts here, I am only interested in being constructive.

First, I can feel the pain of Suns supporters. I heard Cochrane’s interview on The Couch last night and I could also feel his pain. I thought one interesting thing he pointed to was the financial cost of running the Academy which covers a very vast area, and that some relief in that area would be appreciated, and I thought that was something the AFL and the other clubs should consider.

The sport will be better for the Gold Coast Suns being competitive, there can be no argument about that, so the club is well worth investing in. As an outsider it is difficult to know exactly how that investment should be spent, but the effort should continue to be made.

Your playing stocks to me seem fine in terms of overall talent, and for most of the Suns life since 2011 this has been the case. What you have always lacked is a critical mass of mature players. These 27-32yo types that all strong teams have, normally making up around a third to a half of their team, or in some cases more.

Bulldogs on the weekend, despite fielding a team with a quite young average age of 25 years 8 months, had Hannan, Bruce, Liberatore, Duryea, Keath, Crozier, Johannisen in the 27-32 age bracket. All appear to be legitimate best 25 type players on their list at present. They may not be world beaters but these guys will really know what they are doing within the team’s system and should also be able to act to keep other players on track whilst the game is unfolding.

Suns fielded Ellis, Swallow, Greenwood, Day, Smith, Sexton in this age bracket. But of those, Smith for whatever reason does not appear to be AFL standard. I say for whatever reason as i am conscious he came off a fairly serious injury to be picked in the AFL team when the ruck cupboard was otherwise bare. Day, an admirable player was off one VFL match from a long term injury and was up against it. Swallow appears to have been injured early in the match. And Sexton has spent time recently in the VFL, seemingly on merit. You were down to 2-3 players in this age bracket who can realistically impact strongly on the match. Sexton, Ellis, Greenwood. So to me it is little wonder the team looked a bit rudder-less. It is obvious the club has been trying to correct this issue and imo have rightly brought in Ellis, Greenwood and others like Townsend, Atkins, Murdoch etc to try to correct this imbalance. Over the next couple of years the likes of Collins, Lemmens, Weller, Miller, Markov will move into this age bracket and that should help a bit, but you could probably use a couple more Ellis/Greenwood types to help in the meantime. You are one of the very few clubs who should be looking to recruit decent quality 26 year olds for this reason. That alone would help a little.

Some other things I think have led to your last couple of poor looking efforts.

Not having a competitive ruckman is a killer. No matter what people say in footy, this has always been the case. Not having a star ruckman is no impediment to success, most if not all of the last 10 premiers have not fielded a star ruckman. But to have 3 genuine ruckmen on your list of 49 was a real list management error, especially when one is over the age of 31. You were hideously unlucky that all 3 have been seriously injured but this has exposed your lack of options. You addressed this somewhat at the mid-season draft bringing in Moyle, who looks a great prospect, but it seems you are also interested in bringing in Chol from Richmond and I think you need perhaps him and one more of this forward/ruck hybrid type as well so you don’t ever get a repeat of what happened this year when Witts unfortunately went down.

Another thing I noticed that I think looks a terrible error of man management. Rowell is a great player, we all know that. But sending him straight back into AFL mid season off a long term injury when he has barely played footy for almost two years is criminal. Give the guy 3/4 of a game then a full game in the twos as a bare minimum preparation to playing an AFL match. Freo did this recently with Alex Pearce, 2.5 WAFL matches prior to making his AFL comeback and he did really well against the Suns gun Ben King when he came back.

The only other thing I think that could use revisiting is he possession style game plan. All teams need to be able to play this way at times, but Suns could probably move on from this for now to a take it on in the corridor style, for the remainder of this year at least. The young Swans did this in the second half of last season and it seems to have helped them this year.

So I am not sure that much needs changing. Some of the changes are clearly already underway. But my recommendations from watching would be:

1. Don’t ever carry thin ruck stocks on your list into a season,

2. One or two young players are reportedly wanting out. Use this as leverage to get just another 1-2 talented or at least AFL competitive 26 year old types into the club, players of this age will come for the security of solid 4 year+ contracts and a defined role.

3. Don’t re-introduce players from long term injuries straight into AFL football no matter how good they are, I really hated seeing that with Rowell.

4. Now you have nothing to lose, jazz the game style up a bit for the remainder of 2021.

5. And last but not least, I think the club is largely on the right track on field and off. So maintain faith and be patient.

Thanks
Think most of what you’ve said is obvious to everyone here really.

Having someone like chol on the list is useful backup to the designated ruckman on game day but you can’t rely on him to bethe main ruck in the case of injury as evidence by recent game when nicnat ragdolled him.
The type of forward we really need is a mature. big tall forward who crashes packs, never gets outmarked and gives our small conaiatent crumbing opportunities. Do you know of any in that 25-29 age bracket?

we’ve taken the vfl easing in approach with most injuries, I’m sure rowell would have played vfl if we didn’t have the bye the week before freo game. He probably could have done with a second vfl game.

The trick is getting the talented / definite best 22 25 year old to come to without grossly ovepaying them.
We potentially have to overpay many players to stay when the side is
A) unsuccessful
B) in a state where 3rd party deals (media, product endorsement etc) aren’t available to supplement salary

this obviously screws thesalary cap and makes player rentention harder long term.

undortunately with eade/Ashcroft/Clayton era we have a gaping hole in 24-27 age group on our list. Miller and Lemmens the only drafted players in this age bracket with Corbett burgess Weller markov Atkins all bought in to fill the void.

 

[Camsta]

I know this thread says no oppo supporters but I am hoping people won’t mind me giving a few thoughts here, I am only interested in being constructive.

First, I can feel the pain of Suns supporters. I heard Cochrane’s interview on The Couch last night and I could also feel his pain. I thought one interesting thing he pointed to was the financial cost of running the Academy which covers a very vast area, and that some relief in that area would be appreciated, and I thought that was something the AFL and the other clubs should consider.

The sport will be better for the Gold Coast Suns being competitive, there can be no argument about that, so the club is well worth investing in. As an outsider it is difficult to know exactly how that investment should be spent, but the effort should continue to be made.

Your playing stocks to me seem fine in terms of overall talent, and for most of the Suns life since 2011 this has been the case. What you have always lacked is a critical mass of mature players. These 27-32yo types that all strong teams have, normally making up around a third to a half of their team, or in some cases more.

Bulldogs on the weekend, despite fielding a team with a quite young average age of 25 years 8 months, had Hannan, Bruce, Liberatore, Duryea, Keath, Crozier, Johannisen in the 27-32 age bracket. All appear to be legitimate best 25 type players on their list at present. They may not be world beaters but these guys will really know what they are doing within the team’s system and should also be able to act to keep other players on track whilst the game is unfolding.

Suns fielded Ellis, Swallow, Greenwood, Day, Smith, Sexton in this age bracket. But of those, Smith for whatever reason does not appear to be AFL standard. I say for whatever reason as i am conscious he came off a fairly serious injury to be picked in the AFL team when the ruck cupboard was otherwise bare. Day, an admirable player was off one VFL match from a long term injury and was up against it. Swallow appears to have been injured early in the match. And Sexton has spent time recently in the VFL, seemingly on merit. You were down to 2-3 players in this age bracket who can realistically impact strongly on the match. Sexton, Ellis, Greenwood. So to me it is little wonder the team looked a bit rudder-less. It is obvious the club has been trying to correct this issue and imo have rightly brought in Ellis, Greenwood and others like Townsend, Atkins, Murdoch etc to try to correct this imbalance. Over the next couple of years the likes of Collins, Lemmens, Weller, Miller, Markov will move into this age bracket and that should help a bit, but you could probably use a couple more Ellis/Greenwood types to help in the meantime. You are one of the very few clubs who should be looking to recruit decent quality 26 year olds for this reason. That alone would help a little.

Some other things I think have led to your last couple of poor looking efforts.

Not having a competitive ruckman is a killer. No matter what people say in footy, this has always been the case. Not having a star ruckman is no impediment to success, most if not all of the last 10 premiers have not fielded a star ruckman. But to have 3 genuine ruckmen on your list of 49 was a real list management error, especially when one is over the age of 31. You were hideously unlucky that all 3 have been seriously injured but this has exposed your lack of options. You addressed this somewhat at the mid-season draft bringing in Moyle, who looks a great prospect, but it seems you are also interested in bringing in Chol from Richmond and I think you need perhaps him and one more of this forward/ruck hybrid type as well so you don’t ever get a repeat of what happened this year when Witts unfortunately went down.

Another thing I noticed that I think looks a terrible error of man management. Rowell is a great player, we all know that. But sending him straight back into AFL mid season off a long term injury when he has barely played footy for almost two years is criminal. Give the guy 3/4 of a game then a full game in the twos as a bare minimum preparation to playing an AFL match. Freo did this recently with Alex Pearce, 2.5 WAFL matches prior to making his AFL comeback and he did really well against the Suns gun Ben King when he came back.

The only other thing I think that could use revisiting is he possession style game plan. All teams need to be able to play this way at times, but Suns could probably move on from this for now to a take it on in the corridor style, for the remainder of this year at least. The young Swans did this in the second half of last season and it seems to have helped them this year.

So I am not sure that much needs changing. Some of the changes are clearly already underway. But my recommendations from watching would be:

1. Don’t ever carry thin ruck stocks on your list into a season,

2. One or two young players are reportedly wanting out. Use this as leverage to get just another 1-2 talented or at least AFL competitive 26 year old types into the club, players of this age will come for the security of solid 4 year+ contracts and a defined role.

3. Don’t re-introduce players from long term injuries straight into AFL football no matter how good they are, I really hated seeing that with Rowell.

4. Now you have nothing to lose, jazz the game style up a bit for the remainder of 2021.

5. And last but not least, I think the club is largely on the right track on field and off. So maintain faith and be patient.

Love it when Richmond fans lecture us that we need to bring in experience, leadership and some tall stocks. Maybe don’t vulture our club of our captain and best players then wonder why we’re a complete shambles?

100% agree with what you’ve written, and it’s a really good analysis so thanks for taking the time - just irks me that everyone can’t understand why we can’t retain players, yet every team treats us as a breeding ground for talent that they can pick the eyes of when they’re ripe. When all we get is draft picks for kids to start the cycle again….. or fringe 22 players that we’ve got to pay through the teeth to stay.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Thanks
Think most of what you’ve said is obvious to everyone here really.

Having someone like chol on the list is useful backup to the designated ruckman on game day but you can’t rely on him to bethe main ruck in the case of injury as evidence by recent game when nicnat ragdolled him.
The type of forward we really need is a mature. big tall forward who crashes packs, never gets outmarked and gives our small conaiatent crumbing opportunities. Do you know of any in that 25-29 age bracket?

we’ve taken the vfl easing in approach with most injuries, I’m sure rowell would have played vfl if we didn’t have the bye the week before freo game. He probably could have done with a second vfl game.

The trick is getting the talented / definite best 22 25 year old to come to without grossly ovepaying them.
We potentially have to overpay many players to stay when the side is
A) unsuccessful
B) in a state where 3rd party deals (media, product endorsement etc) aren’t available to supplement salary

this obviously screws thesalary cap and makes player rentention harder long term.

undortunately with eade/Ashcroft/Clayton era we have a gaping hole in 24-27 age group on our list. Miller and Lemmens the only drafted players in this age bracket with Corbett burgess Weller markov Atkins all bought in to fill the void.

Love it when Richmond fans lecture us that we need to bring in experience, leadership and some tall stocks. Maybe don’t vulture our club of our captain and best players then wonder why we’re a complete shambles?

100% agree with what you’ve written, and it’s a really good analysis so thanks for taking the time - just irks me that everyone can’t understand why we can’t retain players, yet every team treats us as a breeding ground for talent that they can pick the eyes of when they’re ripe. When all we get is draft picks for kids to start the cycle again….. or fringe 22 players that we’ve got to pay through the teeth to stay.

I would like to pick up on a couple of points here.

First, would any thoughts of not being able to retain players due to being in the QLD market be negated by the fact Brisbane are currently thriving in QLD and without the obvious benefits that came from their Fitzroy merger that preceded their three consecutive Premierships in the early 2000’s? They have recently attracted Daniher, Neale and Cameron, biggish wage types, and other stability enhancing senior players like McCarthy, Birchall, Adams, and dare I say it, Lyons. They got Robinson as well as a freebie. Of those, only Cameron is not in that 27-32 age bracket I wrote about in my first post and he is 26. Birchall is in fact out the other end at 33. But it is easy to see:

A) they have actively sought to recruit a critical mass of mature players and
B) they have been able to convince these players to relocate to Brisbane from interstate.

is there any real reason the Suns could not replicate the Lions’ strategy here?

Regarding a player like Chol I more or less agree with what Mt Isa Mustang has said there. But he is a mature bodied 200cm 3rd 4th or 5th ruck option on your list who could play other roles but step in to take the first ruck mantle in times of injury crisis, like now. So you need one or two of these mature hybrid ruck types on your list and you just don’t have them at present. From recent years think Casboult, McKernan, Roughead, Jackson Trengove, Keefe. Fourth choice rucks, probably 2nd choice in a key position but they can at least compete in a crisis. I think it has been shown to be an error not to have one of these guys kicking around on your list. It looks obvious the club is seeking to address this so I am not too concerned about it going forward. It makes sense in many ways Chol will be your man, but if not I am sure you will be contacting the likes of Fullarton and Ballenden from up the road.

"The type of forward we really need is a mature. big tall forward who crashes packs, never gets outmarked and gives our small conaiatent crumbing opportunities. Do you know of any in that 25-29 age bracket?”

This person is obviously Sam Day, who is 28 now. I watched him closely in 2020 and I thought he was excellent. Once he went down with a long term injury your cupboard was bare, especially as you lost your ruck stocks almost simultaneously. So that was just really unlucky, but again, a Casboult, McKernan type would have been really useful. So who is around?

Crows: Frampton 24, Himmelberg 23. Tough to prise away and maybe not entirely suited in the ruck at this stage.

Lions: Fullarton 22, Balleneden 22. Both of some interest, but are they good enough? For this type of 3rd/4th ruck role, maybe.

Blues: Casboult 31. Can do this role and is surplus at Blues really, but might be cooked.

Magpies: Cox 30, Roughead 30 might be gettable on 2-3 year deals on reasonable money like $350-400k. Either could be suitable.

Bombers: Stewart 27, maybe, unsure about him in the ruck but he is tall enough and has shown he can compete ok as a forward and back. A deal with some security for 3 years might get him.

Dockers: Alex Pearce is 26 and 201cm. Poor injury history, unsure of contract status but no harm enquiring and attempting to get a high quality 26yo into the club. Wouldn’t come cheap. Will leave Brennan Cox 22yo out as not ruck size but if looking for a guy who can play key forward or back, worse options around.

Cats: Jenkins 32, just NO. Stanley is 30 and worth keeping an eye on if he can’t get back in. He might have some appeal on a 2 year deal as a forward/ruck. Probably not what the Suns need though, he is about as physical as the tooth fairy.

Giants: Nil

Hawks: Nil

Demons: Nil

North: Xerri 22. I think this guy might be the type you are looking for in the making. Very competitive player, not super classy but already shown strong ruck form in VFL and some glimpses forward in AFL. Probably tough to get him out of North but if the Suns fancied him then a decent sort of offer may do it.

Port: With Lycett, Ladhams and Hayes all on their list, all probably AFL quality rucks, all worth keeping an eye on. But none are probably the exact type the Suns need. If you are looking for a right here right now ruckman starting from 2022 though, these guys are all worth consideration. Something has to give there, the youngest is Hayes at 22 and he is ready to start playing.

Tigers: Chol 24, Coleman-Jones 22 are both suitable and I have read the Suns are interested in either or both, and rightly so. I feel you will likely pick one of these guys off with a decent offer Richmond cannot match, to show it can and does work both ways, to satisfy Camsta

Saints: nil, maybe keep an eye on Alabaskis a 211cm 24yo cat B rookie 2 years in the system.

Swans: Probably nil unless you could do something with Sam Reid, 29yo 196cm key forward who is shockingly injury prone.

Eagles: Realistically nil unless you prised away 29yo 200cm relief ruck Nathan Vardy who could step straight into your number one ruck role for 2022.

Bulldogs: Nil.

So there are a few tall forwards/rucks/relief rucks out there who could possibly be suitable for the Suns from next season who might be gettable with decent offers re role and financial security, without commanding marquee wages. Some of them have the added bonus of being mature. I wouldn’t be surprised if you grab one or two of these guys. Perhaps an older ruck who can step straight in like Mason Cox, and a younger forward/ruck type like Chol or Coleman-Jones.

I think you also want another 1-2 decent running players in this 25+yo age range. Plenty of those out there too.

 

[Mini GF]

I will forever be pissed that our Suns Lounge has been besmirched this way. Intentions good or bad I don’t give a friars tuck.

 

[Mt Isa Mustang]

I would like to pick up on a couple of points here.

First, would any thoughts of not being able to retain players due to being in the QLD market be negated by the fact Brisbane are currently thriving in QLD and without the obvious benefits that came from their Fitzroy merger that preceded their three consecutive Premierships in the early 2000’s? They have recently attracted Daniher, Neale and Cameron, biggish wage types, and other stability enhancing senior players like McCarthy, Birchall, Adams, and dare I say it, Lyons. They got Robinson as well as a freebie. Of those, only Cameron is not in that 27-32 age bracket I wrote about in my first post and he is 26. Birchall is in fact out the other end at 33. But it is easy to see:

A) they have actively sought to recruit a critical mass of mature players and
B) they have been able to convince these players to relocate to Brisbane from interstate.

is there any real reason the Suns could not replicate the Lions’ strategy here?

Regarding a player like Chol I more or less agree with what Mt Isa Mustang has said there. But he is a mature bodied 200cm 3rd 4th or 5th ruck option on your list who could play other roles but step in to take the first ruck mantle in times of injury crisis, like now. So you need one or two of these mature hybrid ruck types on your list and you just don’t have them at present. From recent years think Casboult, McKernan, Roughead, Jackson Trengove, Keefe. Fourth choice rucks, probably 2nd choice in a key position but they can at least compete in a crisis. I think it has been shown to be an error not to have one of these guys kicking around on your list. It looks obvious the club is seeking to address this so I am not too concerned about it going forward. It makes sense in many ways Chol will be your man, but if not I am sure you will be contacting the likes of Fullarton and Ballenden from up the road.

"The type of forward we really need is a mature. big tall forward who crashes packs, never gets outmarked and gives our small conaiatent crumbing opportunities. Do you know of any in that 25-29 age bracket?”

This person is obviously Sam Day, who is 28 now. I watched him closely in 2020 and I thought he was excellent. Once he went down with a long term injury your cupboard was bare, especially as you lost your ruck stocks almost simultaneously. So that was just really unlucky, but again, a Casboult, McKernan type would have been really useful. So who is around?

Crows: Frampton 24, Himmelberg 23. Tough to prise away and maybe not entirely suited in the ruck at this stage.

Lions: Fullarton 22, Balleneden 22. Both of some interest, but are they good enough? For this type of 3rd/4th ruck role, maybe.

Blues: Casboult 31. Can do this role and is surplus at Blues really, but might be cooked.

Magpies: Cox 30, Roughead 30 might be gettable on 2-3 year deals on reasonable money like $350-400k. Either could be suitable.

Bombers: Stewart 27, maybe, unsure about him in the ruck but he is all enough and has shown he can compete ok as a forward and back. A deal with some security for 3 years might get him.

Dockers: Alex Pearce is 26 and 201cm. Poor injury history, unsure of contract status but no harm enquiring and attempting to get a high quality 26yo into the club. Wouldn’t come cheap. Will leave Brennan Cox 22yo out as not ruck size but if looking for a guy who can play key forward or back, worse options around.

Cats: Jenkins 32, just NO. Stanley is 30 and worth keeping an eye on if he can’t get back in. He might have some appeal on a 2 year deal as a forward/ruck. Probably not what the Suns need though, he is about as physical as the tooth fairy.

Giants: Nil

Hawks: Nil

Demons: Nil

North: Xerri 22. I think this guy might be the type you are looking for in the making. Very competitive player, not super classy but already shown strong ruck form in VFL and some glimpses forward in AFL. Probably tough to get him out of North but if the Suns fancied him then a decent sort of offer may do it.

Port: With Lycett, Ladhams and Hayes all on their list, all probably AFL quality rucks, all worth keeping an eye on. But none are probably the exact type the Suns need. If you are looking for a right here right now ruckman starting from 2022 though, these guys are all worth consideration. Something has to give there, the youngest is Hayes at 22 and he is ready to start playing.

Tigers: Chol 24, Coleman-Jones 22 are both suitable and I have read the Suns are interested in either or both, and rightly so. I feel you will likely pick one of these guys off with a decent offer Richmond cannot match, to show it can and does work both ways, to satisfy Camsta

Saints: nil, maybe keep an eye on Alabaskis a 211cm 24yo cat B rookie 2 years in the system.

Swans: Probably nil unless you could do something with Sam Reid, 29yo 196cm key forward who is shockingly injury prone.

Eagles: Realistically nil unless you prised away 29yo 200cm relief ruck Nathan Vardy who could step straight into your number one ruck role for 2022.

Bulldogs: Nil.

So there are a few tall forwards/rucks/relief rucks out there who could possibly be suitable for the Suns from next season who might be gettable with decent offers re role and financial security, without commanding marquee wages. Some of them have the added bonus of being mature. I wouldn’t be surprised if you grab one or two of these guys. Perhaps an older ruck who can step straight in like Mason Cox, and a younger forward/ruck type like Chol or Coleman-Jones.

I think you also want another 1-2 decent running players in this 25+yo age range. Plenty of those out there too.

We've clearly actively targeted mature players
In the past 4-5 years (at the time of recruitment)

Weller (22)
Ellis (26)
Hombsch (26)
Markov (24)
Greenwood (28)
Burgess (23)
Corbett (22)
Murdoch (27)
Witts (24)
Townsend (27)
Collins (25)
Atkins (26)

Tony Cochrane this week identified there were 2 additional mature aged players the club thought we had secured over last off season but they backed out
Obviously we've secured more fringe players but I would suggest we are constantly communicating with more renowned players but been unable to secure them.

Definitely need another ruck. Neither Smith nor Conroy were AFL level so if Witts went down we would have been stuffed. Definitely poor from the list management here.

If it didn't dawn on you, the tall forward that doesn't get outmarked and brings the ball to ground I was mentioning was Tom Lynch.

You've obviously never seen Sam Day live - gets pushed out and held out of contests incredibly easily, goes up with 1 hand, never crashes a pack and often gets out marked by opposition defenders. He has strengths but consistently creating an aerial contest is clearly not one of them. It was only his first game back but Aliir absolutely destroyed us last week - a common occurrence.

I'm 100% gunning for CCJ
I'd take Chol for the right price
A few others you'd mentioned I'd be interested in, but most of them.. no thanks.
Although, we need a solution so will see how it plays out.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

We've clearly actively targeted mature players
In the past 4-5 years (at the time of recruitment)

Weller (22)
Ellis (26)
Hombsch (26)
Markov (24)
Greenwood (28)
Burgess (23)
Corbett (22)
Murdoch (27)
Witts (24)
Townsend (27)
Collins (25)
Atkins (26)

Tony Cochrane this week identified there were 2 additional mature aged players the club thought we had secured over last off season but they backed out
Obviously we've secured more fringe players but I would suggest we are constantly communicating with more renowned players but been unable to secure them.

Definitely need another ruck. Neither Smith nor Conroy were AFL level so if Witts went down we would have been stuffed. Definitely poor from the list management here.

If it didn't dawn on you, the tall forward that doesn't get outmarked and brings the ball to ground I was mentioning was Tom Lynch.

You've obviously never seen Sam Day live - gets pushed out and held out of contests incredibly easily, goes up with 1 hand, never crashes a pack and often gets out marked by opposition defenders. He has strengths but consistently creating an aerial contest is clearly not one of them. It was only his first game back but Aliir absolutely destroyed us last week - a common occurrence.

I'm 100% gunning for CCJ
I'd take Chol for the right price
A few others you'd mentioned I'd be interested in, but most of them.. no thanks.
Although, we need a solution so will see how it plays out.

Anyway, I better cease and desist before anyone else gets their knickers in a twist. I do think your club is largely on the right track and you have maybe 2-3 years to sort out all the things that need tweaking before you are going to be properly contending. I did hear Cochrane say that about the mature players but I had forgotten he said that. You will get some, there are players out there looking for all manner of opportunities, including being a senior player in a side with a lot of young guns. This is perhaps where the AFL could help out a little further and allow you some salary cap relief for two or three $600k-must-be-26-or older types for which you perhaps only need to pay half within the cap. Players who might only get $400-450k otherwise.

I hope it works out well with this crop of gun youngsters but it is no use lamenting the system that allows players to leave, that system is a given.

 

[Mini GF]

Anyway, I better cease and desist before anyone else gets their knickers in a twist. I do think your club is largely on the right track and you have maybe 2-3 years to sort out all the things that need tweaking before you are going to be properly contending. I did hear Cochrane say that about the mature players but I had forgotten he said that. You will get some, there are players out there looking for all manner of opportunities, including being a senior player in a side with a lot of young guns. This is perhaps where the AFL could help out a little further and allow you some salary cap relief for two or three $600k-must-be-26-or older types for which you perhaps only need to pay half within the cap. Players who might only get $400-450k otherwise.

I hope it works out well with this crop of gun youngsters but it is no use lamenting the system that allows players to leave, that system is a given.

And then you had to go and do another post in here.

 

[SUNS]

Anyway, I better cease and desist before anyone else gets their knickers in a twist. I do think your club is largely on the right track and you have maybe 2-3 years to sort out all the things that need tweaking before you are going to be properly contending. I did hear Cochrane say that about the mature players but I had forgotten he said that. You will get some, there are players out there looking for all manner of opportunities, including being a senior player in a side with a lot of young guns. This is perhaps where the AFL could help out a little further and allow you some salary cap relief for two or three $600k-must-be-26-or older types for which you perhaps only need to pay half within the cap. Players who might only get $400-450k otherwise.

Rules are rules mate. Although intentions are good, we have this board for a reason. The convo and chat is more than fine jsut try find another thread

I hope it works out well with this crop of gun youngsters but it is no use lamenting the system that allows players to leave, that system is a given.

And then you had to go and do another post in here.

There is a report button for a reason mate

 

[The Victorian]

So with the situation in Sydney not looking too good there was a story on 7 News last night that the Giants and Swans could be in Melbourne for a month.

We are due to play the Giants in Round 17 in Sydney so safe to think that match match be in Melbourne unless they try to move their home games to Canberra?

 

[Sun Stormer]

Their expectations of some of the players seems excessive. Rather than focus on and play to strengths, it seems that there is little flexibility.
We know Brodie’s an inside contested mid who should be there feeding it out by hand.
Instead he’s languishing in the seconds. Move him on when he’s contract is up but use him for his strengths. It drives me insane

Brodie is potentially our next Lyons!

 

[Fat Pizza]

Brodie is potentially our next Lyons!

If Brodie was ever going to get a game, it would have been this week with Swallow & Weller out. He’s definitely AFL standard, he’s in good form & has a mature body. He’s just being pushed out.


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