Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 8 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

[_Mike_]

Opposition supporters coming to troll , you have been warned

 

[grassman75]

It's incredible how moving on Macrae and Daniel - as painful as that was - has opened up so much flexibility for the club.

The fact that there's been zero headaches in re-signing Darcy or Richards is evidence of this. With a cap squeeze, it could have gotten to the point that they felt underpaid or offended by our initial offer, and then would decide test the market. Even if they did stay, it would be for more than what they're currently on.

The fact that it neither of those players did is huge - both are million dollar players, but are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars less than what they could be if coming out of contract this year because they both re-signed in the immediate aftermath of moving on Macrae/Daniel when we gave them a good initial which led to not much later negotiating.

That's how we can afford to pay Butters his $1.5+ million a year.

It honestly wasn’t that painful. Maybe for some, but the world (except Norf) could see Daniel had been found out 2 years before and was costing us and Macrae just wasn’t the same player - this has been proven at the Saints.

It’s a business now - we love them and thank them for 2016 and their service but hard calls have to be made and I’m glad we finally manned up and did it. It’s set us up for years of sustained success imo

 

[grassman75]

Kane is so furious about the Butters to the Dogs talk. He says Port should fight back and offer Freijah $1.2m a year.

Toys. Cot

 

[VitalDread]

It's on the afl app. Click on the drop down option in the match centre section and choose talent league

The AFL app having height and age is a godsend
I don't have to compare bloody league years now haha

 

[Libbaaaa]

It honestly wasn’t that painful. Maybe for some, but the world (except Norf) could see Daniel had been found out 2 years before and was costing us and Macrae just wasn’t the same player - this has been proven at the Saints.

It’s a business now - we love them and thank them for 2016 and their service but hard calls have to be made and I’m glad we finally manned up and did it. It’s set us up for years of sustained success imo

Caleb got an extra year from North as well.

 

[JohnnySteel]

The AFL app having height and age is a godsend
I don't have to compare bloody league years now haha

They have Hok at 195cm now. Nice little growth spurt.

 

[Mojorisin]

They have Hok at 195cm now. Nice little growth spurt.

He has slipped under the radar in my opinion. Nice that all our F/S and academy kids this year fill very different positions.

 

[JohnnySteel]

He has slipped under the radar in my opinion. Nice that all our F/S and academy kids this year fill very different positions.

Would certainly be a nice haul if we can pull it off.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

He has slipped under the radar in my opinion. Nice that all our F/S and academy kids this year fill very different positions.

Things can change with West/Cooney, but both are late draft prospects at this stage.

We just don't want a situation where we get our maths and timing and preference of who to draft wrong as it relates to the bidding, and miss a player.

If for no other reason than we still get a 10% points discount. Even if we don't rate them as highly as another player, it's still the better draft pick if we rate them at least 90% as good as the other.

That's what the Swans did with Carmichael - stuff up their planning and intelligence where bids would come - and they passed on Carmichael (and his 10% discount) before having to live draft 2 players - without a discount - before that bid came. If they had their time over, they'd have matched the bid on him.

 

[Mojorisin]

Things can change with West/Cooney, but both are late draft prospects at this stage.

We just don't want a situation where we get our maths and timing and preference of who to draft wrong as it relates to the bidding, and miss a player.

If for no other reason than we still get a 10% points discount. Even if we don't rate them as highly as another player, it's still the better draft pick if we rate them at least 90% as good as the other.

That's what the Swans did with Carmichael - stuff up their planning and intelligence where bids would come - and they passed on Carmichael (and his 10% discount) before having to live draft 2 players - without a discount - before that bid came. If they had their time over, they'd have matched the bid on him.

With respect to the Swans recruitment team, Kyle sort of rose up ranks late. I do agree though and things are only going to get harder this year.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

With respect to the Swans recruitment team, Kyle sort of rose up ranks late. I do agree though and things are only going to get harder this year.

Yep. Not saying that the Swans team didn't have a very difficult task, they clearly did, and you can never be certain for when your players would be bidded on.

But it's also fair to say that the Swans team slightly failed in that task of war planning, game planning for different scenarios, and then missed out on Carmichael in a bit of a panic in that planning. This was in part because they were incorrect in their assessment that Max King would be bidden on earlier. In the end, they've drafted Jevan Philippou and Billy Cootee, rather than Lachie Carmichael and whatever the last pick in the draft would have been (which could have been Cootee himself anyway as only 9 non-attached players were drafted after Cootee and he was an unheralded state league mature-ager).

Our team have their work cut out for them - accepting that it is difficult and our 4 attached players will rise and fall up the draft rankings a lot as the trade period and draft progresses, our team still needs to be on their game to not miss out like the Swans did.

 

[Deadly Darcy]

Toys. Cot

Probably the first time I’ve agreed with Cornes in 3 years of drivel. It’s exactly what we did getting Tom Boyd prepped when Griff walked on us. We obviously f’d up the coach in that situation but I would have gone close to quitting footy if Ryan had gone and we hadn’t fought back the way we did. I do feel for the Port supporters and they should get vocal soon as a leadership group!

 

[bullish23]

I still struggle to understand how the suns had enough points for 5 academy selections under 20 (plus trading for Trac), and somehow the Swans didn’t have enough points for a pick 20.

 

[Mojorisin]

I still struggle to understand how the suns had enough points for 5 academy selections under 20 (plus trading for Trac), and somehow the Swans didn’t have enough points for a pick 20.

Because the suns always slide back for extra points a year in advance plus still lose young players at an alarming rate.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

I still struggle to understand how the suns had enough points for 5 academy selections under 20 (plus trading for Trac), and somehow the Swans didn’t have enough points for a pick 20.

Because the suns always slide back for extra points a year in advance plus still lose young players at an alarming rate.

They benefitted from an incredibly weak draft year too.

Flanders, Fiorini, Ainsworth and Budarick, plus the two picks in the 20's that Melbourne handed back (to get the picks in teh top 10) for Petracca, don't go for as high as a draft pick in a year with a stronger, deeper draft.

Gold Coast didn't care what those picks represented in the talent you could add with live draft selections, because they only needed points.

The pick in the late 30s we handed over for Budarick was pointless to us. We didn't think that we could get much draft talent for it, well, not in comparison to a pick in the 40s or 50s in a different year.

It was a meaningful amount of points for Gold Coast to be able to match those bids though.

 

[BLACAE]

U18s comp started this weekend

Western Jets - Khales El Souki, Hok Marial
Geelong Falcons - Jaxon Cooney
Calder Cannons - Levi West

Thanks mate.

 

[dogwatch]

They benefitted from an incredibly weak draft year too.

Flanders, Fiorini, Ainsworth and Budarick, plus the two picks in the 20's that Melbourne handed back (to get the picks in teh top 10) for Petracca, don't go for as high as a draft pick in a year with a stronger, deeper draft.

Gold Coast didn't care what those picks represented in the talent you could add with live draft selections, because they only needed points.

The pick in the late 30s we handed over for Budarick was pointless to us. We didn't think that we could get much draft talent for it, well, not in comparison to a pick in the 40s or 50s in a different year.

It was a meaningful amount of points for Gold Coast to be able to match those bids though.

Pound for pound we did very well out of that Budarick trade - probably on a par with GCS's Petracca deal.

Do I hear you say "Wot?" Well hear me out.

Recent form suggests the Petracca trade has been a good investment for the Suns because his performances in the first couple of games this year were outstanding. He was playing with a new burst of freedom and confidence. However the occurrence yesterday of the dreaded "hamstring awareness" could be ominous for a player now in his 30s. Even if the Suns are playing it down. If I was a Suns fan I'd still be happy because Trac is exactly the sort of explosive player you want to bring in. A good risk/reward option when you are firmly in the premiership window.

Meanwhile Budarick looks like he will shift the dial for us, contrary to my initial reaction. His early season form has met with almost universal acclaim (and some surprise) from Dogs fans. He is also part of a larger solution to our defensive woes. The jury may still be out on our defensive solution but already we have gone from about 7th-10th flag favourite and seemingly headed for an early exit after a probable wild card game to being second favourite for the flag, behind only ... the Gold Coast Suns. Add to that Budarick is still not yet 25 so it seems likely we'll get 5 more years out of Budarick than the Suns will out of Petracca. (No, I'm not suggesting Budarick is on the same level as Petracca.)

Congrats to Gold Coast on their 2025 list management. That was a great haul. They are starting to do their list building a lot smarter and more professionally than they did a few years ago. But then they have the considerable heft of the AFL's many draft concessions and academy policies pushing them along. Year after year of top 10 picks. Exclusive access to so many top 20 picks.

By contrast we get nothing other than the occasional raspberry from the AFL. Yes, we've been lucky with FS picks but that wasn't the AFL's doing. We got bugger all assistance or relief for enduring the JUH saga and saving them some embarassment. They've even carved up our academy zone. So instead we have to be extremely astute with our meagre means. We need to find bargains and exact-fit players to fill our structural weaknesses.

On that score I reckon Budarick was a pound-for-pound trade every bit as good for us as the Petracca one was for the Suns.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

At first Budarick looked a bit small and insignificant to be the defender we so needed, but what an impressive start he’s made. Maybe our recruiters know what they’re doing

 

[BallaratBulldog]

We absolutely needed a small defender just as much as a gorilla defender on the FB since Duryea retired.

Has the ability to play forward if we were desperate.

Has a few nervous moments but Good pick up so far.

 

[Golden_6]

At first Budarick looked a bit small and insignificant to be the defender we so needed, but what an impressive start he’s made. Maybe our recruiters know what they’re doing

The pleasent suprise with him is that he's more than just a dour defender. I was unaware that his foot skills and volume were that of a genuine half back flanker. Budarick is looking like a two way player at this stage.

 

[willofwest]

To complete the team , I would still like to get a big 1 on 1 full back like a Butts for example.

 

[grassman75]

To complete the team , I would still like to get a big 1 on 1 full back like a Butts for example.

Is that so you can sing “I like big Butts and I cannot lie”

 

[Golden_6]

To complete the team , I would still like to get a big 1 on 1 full back like a Butts for example.

There’s still a real need for it with Lobb at 33 showing slight signs of slowing down. JOD & Buku have the ability to continue on in 2nd & 3rd tall roles long term.

Butts showed a side of his game that I didn’t know he had on Friday night. His ball use is a little shaky but if everyone else is at least average and above, it should be fine to carry.

 

[GetDimmaBack]

At first Budarick looked a bit small and insignificant to be the defender we so needed, but what an impressive start he’s made. Maybe our recruiters know what they’re doing

Was watching a GC game a few years ago and he was doing very well for a first season player.
Kind of followed him ever since, put him into my fantasy team most years, only to see him getting hurt regularly.
Always thought he’d be a star if he stayed fit…
Pretty happy to see him traded to us!

 

[Mofra]

The pleasent suprise with him is that he's more than just a dour defender. I was unaware that his foot skills and volume were that of a genuine half back flanker. Budarick is looking like a two way player at this stage.

I thought he was that dour defender we desperately needed. I was over the moon when we grabbed him, but his rebound game is much better than I expected.

 

[Testekill]

I thought he was that dour defender we desperately needed. I was over the moon when we grabbed him, but his rebound game is much better than I expected.

I was one of the biggest Get Budarick people on here and I just thought that he was a small defender that would actually beat his man. The rebounding is just an unexpected bonus that helps Dale out.