List Mgmt. 2026 List Management

[juzza316]

Is he actually gettable via free agency?

The way I see being able to do it is Cerra traded out, Butters comes to us on a back loaded contract where he's paid the majority after Cripps retires. Our cap should already be fairly healthy. Just seems doable to me.

I think we will find a way to get talls and a ruck. I am all for a mixture of a senior ruck/KPP or two who have a few years left and some draftees. Just who those names are I am not sure yet. A similar scenario to us getting Haynes and Essendon getting Goldstein. A quality older player or two for cheap plus some tall kids in the draft works IMO.

Could always wait and see where Jed Walter is at years end too if he fits our needs. He's a key forward, how would he go as a CHB? Is he versatile? I am not sure we will need a front line key tall though but lets see. Would someone like Witts for a few years do it if he is gettable?

I don't think we will be looking for best 22 talls at the end of the year so much but definitely looking for reserves and depth.

How will Cerra being traded out help get us Butters? Cerra would net us a mid second rounder (pending how many more hammies he pings this year) at best. Port are going to match, there are no if's but's or maybe's.

Walter was from the GC academy, hard to see him leaving and again would cost us in trades. Why would we want to play him CHB? We need KPF more than KPD in my opinion. Mckay goes down and there is no-one, at least in the backline we have Dean and HOF to come through longer term.

Witts will be 35 in September 2027. With the new ruck rules at that age he won't be able to jump over a jam jar not sure we want him. We need an athletic ruckman that can jump.

 

[Beyond Blue]

I agree we were one good tall defender short in 2024. Young has never really taken that spot. 2025 was a bit different as SOS did make it his own and Haynes also came in for support in the air.

But right now if Derksen gets a spot and HOF seems to be ahead of schedule and Dean looks good - the depth is definitely there. Weit will play R0. You've got to be happy with where it's at now?

I will be happy with our key defenders if we get Derksen.

I’m concerned however that by the time HOF and Dean are good players it will be 2 years down the track and by that time we will be looking for replacements for Hewett and Cripps, possibly Weitering and McKay.

I thought in the 2024 offseason we should have gone hard for Barrass. Yes the cap was tight and we didn’t have a lot of trade capital but there would have been ways to do it if we’d identified it as the priority.

Anyway that horse has bolted so I have to let it go.

 

[Bletch]

Is he actually gettable via free agency?

Not really. He's an RFA, meaning Port can match an offer, and they should have plenty of scope to do so, irrespective of the offer. So it will come down to a trade, and we won't have the capital, given we're committed to Cody. UNLESS, it looks like Cody will drop down the order. That doesn't look likely at this stage.

 

[RAPPA]

if we want to have a genuine shot at landing Butters then I expect the Club will try to land Hinkley in some capacity

 

[Chookaradley]

Question. Where is the legitimate leg speed on our list?. Strong runners yes, but bonafide leg speed?. Cottrell maybe, Saad, but struggling to find much else.

 

[Soapy V]

Question. Where is the legitimate leg speed on our list?. Strong runners yes, but bonafide leg speed?. Cottrell maybe, Saad, but struggling to find much else.

Wilson, Chesser. Byrne looks quick over 20m

 

[CrippaTheGoat9]

Butters isn’t coming here.

 

[Bluebag13]

Wilson, Chesser. Byrne looks quick over 20m

Also leg speed will show up with good ball use

 

[Jacks Seething Rage]

I know it is only a glimpse of Derksen but in my mind he looked like a keeper.

To me Haynes was a stop gap player last year.

When Newy went down he did an admirable job after a very shaky start. He could still be valuable this year.
However, he is getting on, is not a great kick and is slow. We need to go past him IMO.

Derksen at 24 is ten years younger and may be just the ticket.

 

[Benaly28]

Question. Where is the legitimate leg speed on our list?. Strong runners yes, but bonafide leg speed?. Cottrell maybe, Saad, but struggling to find much else.

Ball movement will mask leg speed

 

[Not since 1910]

Ball movement will mask leg speed

One of the biggest fallacies in football. There's a reason our midfield get exposed in transition defence and its precisely due to a lack of leg speed which leaves them incapable of adequately pressuring the opposition unless the game is heavily congested.

Kicking ability generates plenty offensively, but it does not alleviate the need for it defensively and it also doesn't open up our ability to move the ball by hand through the corridor. Two things which we've been desperately crying out for the last few years.

 

[Blue By Blood]

One of the biggest fallacies in football. There's a reason our midfield get exposed in transition defence and its precisely due to a lack of leg speed which leaves them incapable of adequately pressuring the opposition unless the game is heavily congested.

True. But I wouldn't say Neale, Dunkley, Ashcroft, McCluggage are that much quicker? A lot of our issues come down to how badly we turn the ball over leaving our mids an impossible job to cover back on the counter.. no team could defend transition with how atrociously we butcher the ball going forward.

 

[haveago]

Ball movement will mask leg speed

You need to have both if you want to contend.

 

[SOS Rules]

Not according to my contacts. We’re right in the mix

Not sure how we get this done given that Cody will spend some of our draft capital that we could potentially use to trade with PA. Like some others, I would prefer we avoid a massive amount of money tied up in one player and use the dosh to add three very solid players that may address depth concern in more than one area of the ground. Butters would be great but I'm not sure we're in the right space (i.e. need him to make us premiership ready) to accommodate him.

 

[Not since 1910]

True. But I wouldn't say Neale, Dunkley, Ashcroft, McCluggage are that much quicker? A lot of our issues come down to how badly we turn the ball over leaving our mids an impossible job to cover back on the counter.. no team could defend transition with how atrociously we butcher the ball going forward.

Ashcroft, Dunkley and McCluggage are fantastic runners with good closing speed. Cripps, Hewett and Cerra, while very very good players in their own rights... Are not the same type of athlete as any of those three - Hence why nobody would ever accuse the lions of having an issue with being 'one paced' like the Blues are.

Add to that Bailey and Rayner who both roll through the middle in spurts who are extremely powerful players capable of breaking lines with their run too. We've got Williams who's capable of doing the same, but he's made of tissue paper and is nowhere near as reliable as others playing that similar role.

Keeping Walsh and Jagga fit and in form through the year will be the key for our engine room if we want to see any sort of success.

 

[Blue By Blood]

Ashcroft, Dunkley and McCluggage are fantastic runners with good closing speed. Cripps, Hewett and Cerra, while very very good players in their own rights... Are not the same type of athlete as any of those three.

Add to that Bailey and Rayner who both roll through the middle in spurts who are extremely powerful players capable of breaking lines with their run too. We've got Williams who's capable of doing the same, but he's made of tissue paper and is nowhere near as reliable as others playing that similar role.

We definitely need to add more speed to the mix but I stand by the fact that even those Brissy boys wouldn't have been able to defend on transition being caught out of position with how badly we burn the ball. We turn it over so badly that all our players our out of position chasing tail. Hopefully this year things are improved in that regard. Yes those guys are fantastic runners but no real advantage over our guys in pure speed. In congestion they defend better. Put them in our midfield with our turnovers and they'd look just as ordinary..

 

[bradfisher14]

Ball movement will mask leg speed

Difficult to move the ball if you're too slow to gain possession of it.

 

[Aphrodite]

Not according to my contacts. We’re right in the mix

 

[GoBlues!]

Question. Where is the legitimate leg speed on our list?. Strong runners yes, but bonafide leg speed?. Cottrell maybe, Saad, but struggling to find much else.

I think unforced errors/turnovers have killed us in the past - players getting caught out of position when the ball comes back, makes teams look slow when the opposition get a break on you.

Most good teams don’t necessarily have a lot sprinters, but better skills and fewer turnovers is what makes the biggest difference. Hoping to see improvement in this area this year with our new starters and recruits.

 

[TheBlueCampaigner]

We’ll have enough on our plate fending off $2m offers for Jagga from the likes of StKilda once they lose Naz to worry about stumping up $1.5m or over for Butters. Can’t see it happening also when considering Port can match bids.

 

[BlueLocke]

Smith, Walsh and Lord (kinda) have enough pace to help mask some of our issues. Cerra used to move better as well but I think his strings are kaput now.

Was absolutely an issue when the midfield was Cripps, Hewett and Lord for huge minutes last season. Hopefully not so much this year with some of the additions. Looking at you, Chesser and Hollands.

As much we all love Cripps, he really needs to be either impacting offensively or unleashing Walsh, Smith because when opposition midfielders run off him he looks like he’s wearing concrete boots. He’s probably the best player in the game when he’s on, so up to the coaches to make it happen with our set ups.

 

[Chookaradley]

Smith, Walsh and Lord (kinda) have enough pace to help mask some of our issues. Cerra used to move better as well but I think his strings are kaput now.

Was absolutely an issue when the midfield was Cripps, Hewett and Lord for huge minutes last season. Hopefully not so much this year with some of the additions. Looking at you, Chesser and Hollands.

As much we all love Cripps, he really needs to be either impacting offensively or unleashing Walsh, Smith because when opposition midfielders run off him he looks like he’s wearing concrete boots. He’s probably the best player in the game when he’s on, so up to the coaches to make it happen with our set ups.

Lord is not quick at all. Walsh is an elite runner, but doesn't have elite leg speed imo. Holland's the same. Chester and Smith who knows but I suspect aren't genuinely quick

 

[dablues]

Lord is not quick at all. Walsh is an elite runner, but doesn't have elite leg speed imo. Holland's the same. Chester and Smith who knows but I suspect aren't genuinely quick

I agree with your observations re Lord, Walsh and Hollands. Chesser is quick look at his highlights, express. Smith is nippy.

 

[Bulldogs85]

Just sharing

 

[teddy-hopkins]

I will be happy with our key defenders if we get Derksen.

I’m concerned however that by the time HOF and Dean are good players it will be 2 years down the track and by that time we will be looking for replacements for Hewett and Cripps, possibly Weitering and McKay.

I thought in the 2024 offseason we should have gone hard for Barrass. Yes the cap was tight and we didn’t have a lot of trade capital but there would have been ways to do it if we’d identified it as the priority.

Anyway that horse has bolted so I have to let it go.

If we got Barrass we definitely wouldn't have ended up with Jagga. Barrass nearing the end of his career. It worked out well.

Cripps could easily play another 5 years yet. He's never relied on pace.