Rumour GFC 2025 Player Trading, Drafting FA, Rumours and Wish lists Pt 3

[cats_09]

2025 AFL Draft and Trade Dates:​

Fri Oct 3 - Fri Oct 10: 2025 Free Agency Period
Mon Oct 6 - Wed Oct 15: 2025 Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period
Wed Nov 19 - Thu Nov 20: 2025 Telstra AFL Draft

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I kind of don't get why people think the trade package is what would hold butters back from going to Geelong.

The big hurdles are that Butters needs to want geelong and geelong has to meet his contract demands.

If those conditions are met the trade capital doesn't matter. Port can take the compo or take the package but they aren't taking neither.

Academic though because the noise is he's a done deal to the bulldogs

We will have the same cap space as the dogs and likely more.
So it will come down to 2 things 1) whether he wants Geelong over anywhere else and 2) whether we are prepared to break our 'pay structure' and offer him over 1.5 a year (which we easily have the room to do but may choose not to). Obviously the 2 points are linked as he may not want us unless we offer the money he wants.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

My dog walker friend from the GFC indicates we have a big interest in SouthOz.
Roosters players... from Modbury.
Also talked of a kid name Felix Nippa??
We talked of Mellor a bit... they like him a lot.
Holmes & Mukunda... he didnt add much.
Dont be surprised if we go hard on others teams NGA's/Academies, as they will be targeted.
Anyways. Fingers crossed we nab a diamond in the ruff or two.

If you mean Felix kneipp he reminds me a bit of retschko which is ironic.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

We'll trade into next year.

We have to find a buyer to do that and there aren't many buyers (the uncertainty over the bidding rules dont help).

 

[Lingsface]

Can anyone tell me a reason to why we wouldn't trade pick 19 and 40 for pick 17 and 44 ? They can just use that pick on Annabale bid and move up 4 places in their other selection which will allow them to match a bid on another academy prospect. Pick 17 could open up the door to a player like NHH, Lindsay or Marsh which I believe one will slip but just how far might be the difference of 2 picks.

 

[Lana]

Can anyone tell me a reason to why we wouldn't trade pick 19 and 40 for pick 17 and 44 ? They can just use that pick on Annabale bid and move up 4 places in their other selection which will allow them to match a bid on another academy prospect. Pick 17 could open up the door to a player like NHH, Lindsay or Marsh which I believe one will slip but just how far might be the difference of 2 picks.

Pre-draft that trade would lose points for Brisbane.

Depending on the order of the bid matches they'll get better offers, they'd be hoping that Annabale is the 3rd player matched. The collapse of the picks in the 20s will raise the value of picks in the 30s and 40s which will make it easy for them to pick cycle. The loophole is still there hanging by a thread.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

Tom Hawkins is the only one I can really think of. His kicking in the back half of his career was remarkably better, even accounting for "yips".

I don't think his kicking was mechanicslly better, but after such longevity, he worked out what worked better for him. He had the advantage of a lot of that kicking being from a set shot. For a right footer, his set shot kicking from the wrong pocket was very goid.

Stewie Loewe would be another. His kicking never improved, but with some help, he worked out a set shot routine that improved his accuracy.

 

[dudusmaximus]

I am shocked that people have such concrete convictions either way. Anything could happen. Dozens of variables are at play. To the point where it's pointless even giving our opinions on likelihood. It's a maybe until it's not - that's it.

Some folks live & breathe "Recruiting" during Oct/Nov and "Coaching" during the other months

With some, it is a short line from feeling some shame at losses, to accusing the Players/Coach of being shameless. Players are trained to "reset", not linger on emotions.

 

[Generalissimo]

By that age, your kicking is pretty much set. I'm struggling to think of one player in the 50+ years that I've played and watched footy, who has improved their kicking to any degree from a reasonably early age.

The Irish players seem to adjust well from the somewhat high and loopy kicks of Gaelic football to the more low and flat passes in AFL. Compare Mullin's kicking at the start of his career to now. Much less up and under.

 

[small 4wards]

The Irish players seem to adjust well from the somewhat high and loopy kicks of Gaelic football to the more low and flat passes in AFL. Compare Mullin's kicking at the start of his career to now. Much less up and under.

his left leg hits some absolute darts from time to time. Just speed and power on a kick which barely goes above head height.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

The Irish players seem to adjust well from the somewhat high and loopy kicks of Gaelic football to the more low and flat passes in AFL. Compare Mullin's kicking at the start of his career to now. Much less up and under.

Don't forget the ball is round in Gaelic footy compared to our oval-shaped air conveyance. Aerodynamically they move very differently!

 

[catswhiskers]

Casboult (Carlton / Suns) was good example of learning to kick while on a list. Side of a barn comes to mind inhis first half of career, much improved later.

 

[cats_09]

Can anyone tell me a reason to why we wouldn't trade pick 19 and 40 for pick 17 and 44 ? They can just use that pick on Annabale bid and move up 4 places in their other selection which will allow them to match a bid on another academy prospect. Pick 17 could open up the door to a player like NHH, Lindsay or Marsh which I believe one will slip but just how far might be the difference of 2 picks.

There's no reason we wouldn't be looking at options, but while teams can continue to trade draft picks until draft night, it's unlikely we see much pre-draft movement from that side of things and instead it'll be a draft night decision

 

[goyoucatters]

Casboult (Carlton / Suns) was good example of learning to kick while on a list. Side of a barn comes to mind inhis first half of career, much improved later.

I think it's instructive that so many of the examples of players who are seen to have improved their kicking during their career are referenced solely in relation to their goalkicking. I'm struggling to think of prominent examples of players who notably improved their field kicking as their AFL career progressed.

It makes sense to me to that it would be more likely that a player can improve their routine and their technique in relation to goalkicking, where opposition pressure really cannot play a significant role in affecting the outcome. Improve how 'repeatable' you can make your goalkicking routine, and the inevitable outcome will be more predictable results. Whereas field kicking is always going to have to deal with far more variance in the level of opposition pressure being applied, with a corresponding decrease in favourable output becoming increasingly likely.

So until I see (or am reminded of) specific examples of players who really amped up the quality of their field kicking over time, I'm going to stay with the hypothesis that middling kicks entering the system don't rise far above that level over their time at AFL level. Which leaves me still unconvinced of the merits of taking on players who show strong traits in other areas but are known to be questionable kicks. It's just not something that tends to trend markedly upwards in a player's career. And precision kicking could barely be more valuable in the game than it is now.

Anyway, let's see what the club thinks about all this when it comes to the draft again this year. After all, amongst many other things, the GF showed that mediocre to bad field kicking really does catch up with you against the best opposition.

#iwwt

 

[TheEscapeClub]

Casboult (Carlton / Suns) was good example of learning to kick while on a list. Side of a barn comes to mind inhis first half of career, much improved later.

Levi was just another Stewie Loewe, a horrible kick who worked on a routine to make him more accurate kicking for goal.

 

[Reg Hickey]

I think it's instructive that so many of the examples of players who are seen to have improved their kicking during their career are referenced solely in relation to their goalkicking. I'm struggling to think of prominent examples of players who notably improved their field kicking as their AFL career progressed.

It makes sense to me to that it would be more likely that a player can improve their routine and their technique in relation the goalkicking, where opposition pressure really cannot play a significant role in affecting the outcome. Improve how 'repeatable' you can make your routine, and the inevitable outcome will be more predictable results. Whereas field kicking is always going to have to deal with far more variance in the level of opposition pressure being applied, with a corresponding decrease in favourable output becoming increasingly likely.

So until I see (or am reminded of) specific examples of players who really amped up the quality of their field kicking over time, I'm going to stay with the hypothesis that middling kicks entering the system don't rise far above that level over their time at AFL level. Which leaves me still unconvinced of the merits of taking on players who show strong traits in other areas but are known to be questionable kicks. It's just not something that tends to trend markedly upwards in a player's career. And precision kicking could barely be more valuable in the game than it is now.

Anyway, let's see what the club thinks about all this when it comes to the draft again this year. After all, amongst many other things, the GF showed that mediocre to bad field kicking really does catch up with you against the best opposition.

#IWWT

Kane Tenace.

(oh, wait… )

 

[standupand]

I think it's instructive that so many of the examples of players who are seen to have improved their kicking during their career are referenced solely in relation to their goalkicking. I'm struggling to think of prominent examples of players who notably improved their field kicking as their AFL career progressed.

It makes sense to me to that it would be more likely that a player can improve their routine and their technique in relation to goalkicking, where opposition pressure really cannot play a significant role in affecting the outcome. Improve how 'repeatable' you can make your goalkicking routine, and the inevitable outcome will be more predictable results. Whereas field kicking is always going to have to deal with far more variance in the level of opposition pressure being applied, with a corresponding decrease in favourable output becoming increasingly likely.

So until I see (or am reminded of) specific examples of players who really amped up the quality of their field kicking over time, I'm going to stay with the hypothesis that middling kicks entering the system don't rise far above that level over their time at AFL level. Which leaves me still unconvinced of the merits of taking on players who show strong traits in other areas but are known to be questionable kicks. It's just not something that tends to trend markedly upwards in a player's career. And precision kicking could barely be more valuable in the game than it is now.

Anyway, let's see what the club thinks about all this when it comes to the draft again this year. After all, amongst many other things, the GF showed that mediocre to bad field kicking really does catch up with you against the best opposition.

#iwwt

Plenty of examples of players who significantly improved their field kicking over their careers.

A few who come to mind straight off the bat are:

Stevie J - I mean it was never a weakness as such, but early in his career he would try the impossible every time and more often than not miss the target. Then he improved and became an absolutely maestro with his field kicking.

Gryan Miers - As a draftee, field kicking wasn't really a stand-out feature of his game, but it became truly elite over the past few years.

Tom Hawkins - Late in his career, his field kicking had improved to such a high level that I sometimes felt that those skills were almost wasted having him play as a deep key forward. His field kicking was probably better than his goalkicking and I think that was a skill that came later in his career.

 

[Vdubs]

By that age, your kicking is pretty much set. I'm struggling to think of one player in the 50+ years that I've played and watched footy, who has improved their kicking to any degree from a reasonably early age.

They can't all kick like Shannon Neale but they really need to bring some above average skills in other areas like Dangerfield does, and there aint too many Dangers around.

There were lots or reasons we lost the gf but I'd have Max and his kicking at the top of the list.

One current day player for starters- Mark Blicavs- very ordinary right foot kick only, and over time, has developed good right and left foot kicking.

 

[goyoucatters]

Plenty of examples of players who significantly improved their field kicking over their careers.

A few who come to mind straight off the bat are:

Stevie J - I mean it was never a weakness as such, but early in his career he would try the impossible every time and more often than not miss the target. Then he improved and became an absolutely maestro with his field kicking.

Gryan Miers - As a draftee, field kicking wasn't really a stand-out feature of his game, but it became truly elite over the past few years.

Tom Hawkins - Late in his career, his field kicking had improved to such a high level that I sometimes felt that those skills were almost wasted having him play as a deep key forward. His field kicking was probably better than his goalkicking and I think that was a skill that came later in his career.

In relation to SJ, I think he mostly just became better at using his undoubted kicking skills to the team's advantage. Began attempting less of the miraculous and consequently hit more targets.

With Gryan, I believe he hasn't really kicked the ball that differently over time. His teammates appear to have become better at reading his intent, and he has also worked out which of his kicks is most likely to get the job done on any given occasion.

And I just think we saw more of Toma further from goal over the course of his career, and this allowed everyone to see how well he placed and weighted his delivery of the football.

In all three cases, then, I didn't see their field kicking move from being average to good/great. To me, they were all very adept in their field kicking when they joined the AFL and simply improved their overall execution from there. Who are the players who were average kicks early on before becoming appreciably better later in their career? If you accept that players like SJ, Gryan, and Toma were pretty handy kicks from the start, who are the Cats players that spiked from ordinary to pretty estimable over their time at the club? I'm struggling to think of any for myself.

 

[goyoucatters]

One current day player for starters- Mark Blicavs- very ordinary right foot kick only, and over time, has developed good right and left foot kicking.

This will end well. There are some on here (I'm not one of them) who absolutely despise Blitz kicking on his left.

I also think it's interesting that you bring up Blitz. I probably see that there's more scope for players to really improve their kicking once they're 'in the system' if they haven't spent much time around the game before they're drafted. Which potentially makes sense of why players like the Irish boys and Blitz are raised as players whose kicking has supposedly significantly improved since they joined the AFL.

I'm still not sure I've seen that many young draftees who went all the way through the junior pathways and then suddenly found their kicking skills once they made it onto a list.

#oldhabitsdiehard
#wisdomforfooty
#wisdomforlife

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Supporters say the skills have improved these days

Wayne Closter No 1- he played in the centre for Geel in the 60s and 70s , he could kick equally well on his left foot , 50 metre drop punts on the left foot no problem at all

Today alot of players kicking for goal , run out to the right and do that hook kick , because they are not confident of kicking the ball straight

 

[Vdubs]

Supporters say the skills have improved these days

Wayne Closter No 1- he played in the centre for Geel in the 60s and 70s , he could kick equally well on his left foot , 50 metre drop punts on the left foot no problem at all

Today alot of players kicking for goal , run out to the right and do that hook kick , because they are not confident of kicking the ball straight

One reason I just loved watching the great Akermanis play. Beautiful running goals 50-60 metres out and nobody knew which was his dominant foot. GAS not bad either.

 

[Vdubs]

This will end well. There are some on here (I'm not one of them) who absolutely despise Blitz kicking on his left.

I also think it's interesting that you bring up Blitz. I probably see that there's more scope for players to really improve their kicking once they're 'in the system' if they haven't spent much time around the game before they're drafted. Which potentially makes sense of why players like the Irish boys and Blitz are raised as players whose kicking has supposedly significantly improved since they joined the AFL.

I'm still not sure I've seen that many young draftees who went all the way through the junior pathways and then suddenly found their kicking skills once they made it onto a list.

#oldhabitsdiehard
#wisdomforfooty
#wisdomforlife

I have carefully followed Blicavs all his career, and he didn't have a left foot to save himself. About half way in, his left foot became an asset. Now, it really does not matter which foot he uses, and his kicking is pretty reliable. As he has aged, it has dropped off a little the past 2 seasons. It ends well imho.

 

[standupand]

In relation to SJ, I think he mostly just became better at using his undoubted kicking skills to the team's advantage. Began attempting less of the miraculous and consequently hit more targets.

With Gryan, I believe he hasn't really kicked the ball that differently over time. His teammates appear to have become better at reading his intent, and he has also worked out which of his kicks is most likely to get the job done on any given occasion.

And I just think we saw more of Toma further from goal over the course of his career, and this allowed everyone to see how well he placed and weighted his delivery of the football.

In all three cases, then, I didn't see their field kicking move from being average to good/great. To me, they were all very adept in their field kicking when they joined the AFL and simply improved their overall execution from there. Who are the players who were average kicks early on before becoming appreciably better later in their career? If you accept that players like SJ, Gryan, and Toma were pretty handy kicks from the start, who are the Cats players that spiked from ordinary to pretty estimable over their time at the club? I'm struggling to think of any for myself.

Max Holmes? He reverted to his bad kicking in the GF. Pressure will do that. But on the whole he has improved significantly from when he first arrived.

 

[goyoucatters]

I have carefully followed Blicavs all his career, and he didn't have a left foot to save himself. About half way in, his left foot became an asset. Now, it really does not matter which foot he uses, and his kicking is pretty reliable. As he has aged, it has dropped off a little the past 2 seasons. It ends well imho.

I was merely noting that it won't end well in terms of a consensus opinion on here. Blitz kicking on his left is a notably polarising issue on this board. For my part, I think he generally executes it pretty helpfully and often clears dangerous areas with his range off the left. And he's far more capable on both sides of his body than many modern footballers, I believe.

 

[goyoucatters]

Max Holmes? He reverted to his bad kicking in the GF. Pressure will do that. But on the whole he has improved significantly from when he first arrived.

His goalkicking was bordering on appalling when he joined the club. But I think his field kicking generally looked quite good from the beginning. To the point where the GF was probably his worst outing off the boot that I can remember in his time at the club.