List Mgmt. 2023 GWS Giants List Management - Academy, Free Agent, Trade, Draft

[Giant Strides]

Trade Period, October 6–18

• Restricted & Unrestricted Free Agency Period: Friday, October 6, 9am – Friday October 13, 5pm (bid matching ends Monday October 16, 5pm)
• Trade Period (1), picks & players: Monday, October 9, 9am – Wednesday October 18, 7.30pm

Quiet Period, October 19–November 20

• Trade Period (2), picks only: Monday, October 23, 9am – Friday November 10, 5pm
• List Lodgement 1*: Tuesday, October 31, 2pm
• Delisted Free Agency Period (1): Wednesday, November 1, 9am – Wednesday November 8, 5pm
• Delisted Free Agency Period (2): Friday, November 10, 9am–5pm
• List Lodgement 2*: Tuesday, November 14, 2pm

Here's the list of GWS players who are out of contract in 2023 (I'll progressively cross them out as they re-sign):

• Lachie ASH
• Callan WARD (Free Agent)
• Brayden PREUSS
• Tom GREEN
• Finn CALLAGHAN
• Lachlan KEEFFE (Free Agent)
• Jake RICCARDI
• Harry HIMMELBERG (Free Agent)
• Cam FLEETON - delisted (25/9/23)
• Matt FLYNN (Free Agent) - signed by West Coast as an Unrestricted Free Agent
• Xavier O'HALLORAN
• Jack BUCKLEY
• Callum BROWN

Rookie lists:

• Phil DAVIS (Free Agent) - retiring at end of 2023 season
• Jacob WEHR (Free agent)
• Dan LLOYD (Free Agent) - retiring at end of 2023 season
• Cooper HAMILTON
• Wade DERKSEN
• Nick MADDEN (Cat B) - assumed re-signed due to 2 sources of info
• Jason GILBEE (Cat B) - delisted (25/9/23)

Current list sizes (for when we get to list/draft/trade speculation):

• main list = 36 minus 3 (Fleeton, Flynn + Kennedy delisted with a view to be re-selected in the rookie draft)
• rookie A = 6 minus 2 (Davis, Lloyd)
• rookie B = 2 minus 1 (Gilbee)
• total = 44 minus 5

This is the future pick spreadsheet that comes into play only at trade time, as future picks are used in end of season (2023) trading:


Here's the 2023 AFL Academy Squad, so these (roughly) represent the best players for next year as they stand now:

2023 NAB AFL ACADEMY​

NAME	SURNAME	STATE	STATE LEAGUE CLUB	COMMUNITY CLUB
Lachlan	Cabor	NSW/ACT	Sydney Swans Academy	Shellharbour
Nate	Caddy	VIC M	Northern Knights	Yarrambat
Jack	Callinan	TAS	Tasmania Devils	Clarence
Caiden	Cleary	NSW/ACT	Sydney Swans Academy	Sydney University
Daniel	Curtin	WA	Claremont	West Coast
Jack	Delean	SA	South Adelaide	Reynella
Zane	Duursma	VIC C	Gippsland Power	Foster
Mitchell	Edwards	WA	Peel Thunder	South Mandurah
William	Green	VIC M	Northern Knights	Northcote
Riley	Hardeman	WA	Swan Districts	Caversham
William	Lorenz	VIC M	Oakleigh Chargers	Boroondara Hawks
Kane	McAuliffe	SA	North Adelaide	Central Augusta
Colby	McKercher	TAS	Tasmania Devils	Launceston
Ashton	Moir	SA	Glenelg	Plympton
Connor	O'Sullivan	NSW/ACT	Murray Bushrangers	Albury
William	Patton	SA	West Adelaide	Mitcham
Nathan	Philactides	VIC M	Oakleigh Chargers	Blackburn
Ethan	Read	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Palm Beach Currumbin
Archer	Reid	VIC C	Gippsland Power	Inverloch-Kongwak
Harley	Reid	VIC C	Bendigo Pioneers	Tongala
Archie	Roberts	VIC M	Sandringham Dragons	Hampton Rovers
Jake	Rogers	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Broadbeach
Ryley	Sanders	TAS	Sandringham Dragons	North Launceston
Cooper	Simpson	VIC C	Dandenong Stingrays	Mount Martha
George	Stevens	VIC C	GWV Rebels	South Warrnambool
Koltyn	Tholstrup	WA	Subiaco	Newtown-Condingup
Orlando	Turner	NT	West Adelaide	South Alice Springs
Jed	Walter	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Palm Beach Currumbin
Nick	Watson	VIC M	Eastern Ranges	East Ringwood
Darcy	Wilson	VIC C	Murray Bushrangers	Wangaratta Rovers

Happy speculating for 2023!

EDIT: 11/12/22 - Added Free Agent status to OOC player list
EDIT: 24/2/23 - Crossed out Tom Green

12

Tom Green

Age

23

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

5star

from OOC player list! (Woo Hoo!!) & Added 2023 Coates Talent League Fixture Link
EDIT: 27/2/23 - Crossed out Finn Callaghan from OOC player list! (Woo Hoo Hoo!!!)
EDIT: 27/4/23 - Crossed out Jacob Wehr from OOC player list
EDIT: 10/5/23 - Crossed out Jack Buckley from OOC player list
EDIT: 9/7/23 - Crossed out Callum Brown from OOC player list
EDIT: 18/7/23 - Crossed out Lachie Ash from OOC player list
EDIT: 20/7/23 - Crossed out Xavier O'Halloran from OOC player list
EDIT: 3/8/23 - Crossed out Harry Himmelberg from OOC player list
EDIT: 9/8/23 - Crossed out Wade Derksen from OOC player list
EDIT: 17/8/23 - Noted Dan Lloyd retiring at end of season
EDIT: 19/8/23 - Crossed out Jake Riccardi from OOC player list
EDIT: 28/8/23 - Noted Phil Davis

1

Phil Davis

Age

33

Ht

197cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.2

5star

T

1.7

4star

MG

55.5

1star

D

8.5

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.3

2star

MG

55.5

1star

D

14.0

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.4

4star

retiring at end of season
EDIT: 25/9/23 - Noted Cam Fleeton & Jason Gilbee delisted
EDIT: 4/10/23 - Noted Flynn, Preuss & Keeffe situations
EDIT: 9/10/23 - Updated Flynn to WCE, removed Preuss from OOC player list
EDIT: 12/10/23 - Updated Madden with 2 sources of information
EDIT: 19/10/23 - Updated Keeffe & Hamilton re-signed
EDIT: 31/10/23 - adjusted main list numbers with Adam Kennedy

40

Adam Kennedy

Age

31

Ht

183cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.9

4star

K

8.4

3star

HB

6.5

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

245.6

4star

D

1.0

1star

K

1.0

1star

HB

0.0

1star

M

0.0

1star

T

0.0

1star

MG

10.0

1star

D

18.6

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

8.8

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.4

4star

delisting (with a view to be re-selected in rookie draft)

 

[GWS Goose]

Hey everyone.

Just Wondering what the knocks on Sam Gillbee where for him to get delisted after only a year?

Asking as he has just be signed up for the Eagles WAFL team.

Not sure
He runs very well and look like he kicked alright
Very light weight though

 

[Andre the Giant]

Hey everyone.

Just Wondering what the knocks on Sam Gillbee where for him to get delisted after only a year?

Asking as he has just be signed up for the Eagles WAFL team.

Runs well but too skinny, a strong northerly will blow him out of the stadium!

His job is to keep Harley comfortable and settled. Great idea bringing him over for loose change.

 

[Giant Strides]

Call me cynical, but ...

... I wonder if the only reason we rookied Gilbee last year (albeit, he was available to us because everyone else passed on him) was looking ahead to the 2023 draft, knowing he was friends with Harley Reid, when we were holding out some hope of trading up for the #1 pick?

Is that too cynical to think we'd do that, a year out?

 

[Orange crush]

Call me cynical, but ...

... I wonder if the only reason we rookied Gilbee last year (albeit, he was available to us because everyone else passed on him) was looking ahead to the 2023 draft, knowing he was friends with Harley Reid, when we were holding out some hope of trading up for the #1 pick?

Is that too cynical to think we'd do that, a year out?

A bit of a long bow. I think ... it sounds like he has played well and another year he might have kept a spot, but we have a fair bit of competition for spots having lost few players this year. Ddin't we also delist someone who made the vfl team of the year?

 

[Giant Strides]

A bit of a long bow. I think ... it sounds like he has played well and another year he might have kept a spot, but we have a fair bit of competition for spots having lost few players this year. Ddin't we also delist someone who made the vfl team of the year?

Yeah, you're right, bit too cynical.

 

[Orange Agent]

He would of have had to go past Wehr and Fahey to get a game. Similar types.

 

[captainMyCaptain]

 

[dlanod]

In the lead-up to the first round of the AFL Draft last Monday night, all attention centred on Curtin's landing spot and Greater Western Sydney's pick No.7. With Curtin projected to slide, the Giants had multiple offers from five clubs for the pick.

One was from the Eagles, who were willing to trade their future first-round pick for the Giants' selection this year.

The Giants looked at all options but had decided they wanted to prioritise drafting small forward Phoenix Gothard. They proposed a trade with the Saints, which would have seen the Giants give up pick 16 and a future second-round pick to take the Saints' pick 13.

That would have put the Giants ahead of North Melbourne, who had a level of interest in Gothard, as well as the Saints, who were also in the mix for the Murray Bushrangers prospect, and all but lock GWS in to grab the goalkicker.

If that deal had gone through, the Giants would then likely have accepted the Eagles' offer of their future pick – which could be a top-three pick next season – and allowed West Coast to couple Harley Reid with a Curtin coup. But the Saints said no, conscious that a slide of three spots would risk their access to Darcy Wilson given Adelaide and North's interest after their selection. The Giants moved in a different direction, leaving Adelaide to swoop on Curtin.

...

On the night, the Giants discussed packaging a future first-round pick with their next pick to get the Swans' selection and grab Leake, however the Swans were aware of St Kilda's interest in Will Green at the selection after theirs so weren't eager to move back. The Swans selected the young ruckman and will let him develop under trade recruit Brodie Grundy in coming seasons.

The Giants weren't ready to stop, though, with Leake surprisingly still available. Now only one pick off, they made a certainty of it, doing a deal with St Kilda to push up one spot and grab him. The Saints were set on Wilson and knew the Giants wanted Leake, so were comfortable shifting back the position, essentially grabbing a future second-rounder (the price they paid for Freo recruit Liam Henry) for the move.

The Giants, too, were happy to do the deal given a future pick had come their way as part of the earlier Adelaide trade. Like the Bombers' move of one spot, the deal was as much to beat other clubs from trading into the pick as it was to buy St Kilda's selection. And that was necessary, too, with North Melbourne and Adelaide interested in trading up as well as Leake lingered. For North, it would have been one of their fourth or fifth first-round picks plus a future second-rounder to jump the queue, however again the Saints did not want to slide back that far.

 

[Giant Strides]

Must be the only club whose draftees are not "tearing it up on the training paddock".

Tassie Product Rapt to Call Sydney Home

James Leake wants to stay put at the Giants when his home state of Tasmania enters the competition in 2028.

www.gwsgiants.com.au

The GIANTS' five new draftees are living in a share house together, but that’s proving to be a challenge in itself. "We're struggling a little bit at the moment. Our cooking's not the greatest, so we're working on it, but I'm sure we'll be fine eventually," Gothard said. Leake said it was a "pretty big adjustment", but the group was enjoying their new lifestyle. "I think the good thing about all five of us is we're all pretty similar. We're not really big characters, we're all pretty down to earth, so it works quite well," Leake said. "We'll have to see if I say the same thing in a few weeks."

 

[GWS Goose]

really interesting read.

 

[GWS Goose]

Must be the only club whose draftees are not "tearing it up on the training paddock".

Tassie Product Rapt to Call Sydney Home

James Leake wants to stay put at the Giants when his home state of Tasmania enters the competition in 2028.

www.gwsgiants.com.au

The GIANTS' five new draftees are living in a share house together, but that’s proving to be a challenge in itself. "We're struggling a little bit at the moment. Our cooking's not the greatest, so we're working on it, but I'm sure we'll be fine eventually," Gothard said. Leake said it was a "pretty big adjustment", but the group was enjoying their new lifestyle. "I think the good thing about all five of us is we're all pretty similar. We're not really big characters, we're all pretty down to earth, so it works quite well," Leake said. "We'll have to see if I say the same thing in a few weeks."

That is the January headline.
December news is all about laughing at how the newly drafted kids cant cook and clean and have never used an iron.

We are sticking to the tried and true media path.

 

[Giant Strides]

That is the January headline.
December news is all about laughing at how the newly drafted kids cant cook and clean and have never used an iron.

We are sticking to the tried and true media path.

Only for interstate clubs, though. The mumma's boys staying in Victoria haven't left home!

 

[Giant Strides]

Inside the draft: How Dons landed Caddy, Saints cash in on pick scramble

Cal Twomey reveals the behind-the-scenes dealings during a dramatic first round at the 2023 AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

The article also indicates that Saints weren't looking at James Leake with their pick, and we essentially threw away the future second round pick gained for the Curtin trade for nothing. We also apparently tried to trade with every club from Melbourne backwards, offering various future picks, including 2024 first round!

But their night didn't stop there. Having secured their main target, the Giants got busy again with Leake still on the board to land their next priority. They tried to woo Melbourne into shifting back three spots by using (what was) pick 16 and two future second-round picks. No deal.

Sydney was up next. On the night, the Giants discussed packaging a future first-round pick with their next pick to get the Swans' selection and grab Leake, however the Swans were aware of St Kilda's interest in Will Green at the selection after theirs so weren't eager to move back.

The Giants weren't ready to stop, though, with Leake surprisingly still available. Now only one pick off, they made a certainty of it, doing a deal with St Kilda to push up one spot and grab him. The Saints were set on Wilson and knew the Giants wanted Leake, so were comfortable shifting back the position, essentially grabbing a future second-rounder (the price they paid for Freo recruit Liam Henry) for the move.

 

[dlanod]

Inside the draft: How Dons landed Caddy, Saints cash in on pick scramble

Cal Twomey reveals the behind-the-scenes dealings during a dramatic first round at the 2023 AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

The article also indicates that Saints weren't looking at James Leake with their pick, and we essentially threw away the future second round pick gained for the Curtin trade for nothing. We also apparently tried to trade with every club from Melbourne backwards, offering various future picks, including 2024 first round!

But their night didn't stop there. Having secured their main target, the Giants got busy again with Leake still on the board to land their next priority. They tried to woo Melbourne into shifting back three spots by using (what was) pick 16 and two future second-round picks. No deal.

Sydney was up next. On the night, the Giants discussed packaging a future first-round pick with their next pick to get the Swans' selection and grab Leake, however the Swans were aware of St Kilda's interest in Will Green at the selection after theirs so weren't eager to move back.

The Giants weren't ready to stop, though, with Leake surprisingly still available. Now only one pick off, they made a certainty of it, doing a deal with St Kilda to push up one spot and grab him. The Saints were set on Wilson and knew the Giants wanted Leake, so were comfortable shifting back the position, essentially grabbing a future second-rounder (the price they paid for Freo recruit Liam Henry) for the move.

Mmmm I can't help but feel you're trying to push a particular narrative given you've excluded the very next paragraph that also contains extremely relevant information:

The Giants, too, were happy to do the deal given a future pick had come their way as part of the earlier Adelaide trade. Like the Bombers' move of one spot, the deal was as much to beat other clubs from trading into the pick as it was to buy St Kilda's selection. And that was necessary, too, with North Melbourne and Adelaide interested in trading up as well as Leake lingered. For North, it would have been one of their fourth or fifth first-round picks plus a future second-rounder to jump the queue, however again the Saints did not want to slide back that far.

 

[Giant Strides]

Mmmm I can't help but feel you're trying to push a particular narrative given you've excluded the very next paragraph that also contains extremely relevant information:

The Giants, too, were happy to do the deal given a future pick had come their way as part of the earlier Adelaide trade. Like the Bombers' move of one spot, the deal was as much to beat other clubs from trading into the pick as it was to buy St Kilda's selection. And that was necessary, too, with North Melbourne and Adelaide interested in trading up as well as Leake lingered. For North, it would have been one of their fourth or fifth first-round picks plus a future second-rounder to jump the queue, however again the Saints did not want to slide back that far.

No narrative/agenda at all (in my opinion). Just a personal view that they didn't maximise the trade value from Curtin. If you want to describe that as a "narrative" then fine. Am I not allowed to have an opinion?

I think that the reporting on both the attempted trade and our actual trade with St Kilda yielded the view that Saints were pretty strong on Wilson and didn't want to trade backwards (except with us) for fear of losing him. How did they know we wouldn't pick him after the trade swap? Presumably we had a good idea of their target, and they of our's. Because we'd failed to get them to agree on the first trade (for the Curtin pick), we should have had at least an inkling of the strength of their thinking, hence the risk of them trading to North or Adelaide was pretty small IMHO.

What has become quite clear from the video of the evening and the stories is how highly Caruso regarded Phoenix Gothard, and secondarily James Leake, and the price that they were willing to pay to get them. Presumably we agree that we hope that they got their assessments correct.

 

[GWS Goose]

Inside the draft: How Dons landed Caddy, Saints cash in on pick scramble

Cal Twomey reveals the behind-the-scenes dealings during a dramatic first round at the 2023 AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

The article also indicates that Saints weren't looking at James Leake with their pick, and we essentially threw away the future second round pick gained for the Curtin trade for nothing. We also apparently tried to trade with every club from Melbourne backwards, offering various future picks, including 2024 first round!

But their night didn't stop there. Having secured their main target, the Giants got busy again with Leake still on the board to land their next priority. They tried to woo Melbourne into shifting back three spots by using (what was) pick 16 and two future second-round picks. No deal.

Sydney was up next. On the night, the Giants discussed packaging a future first-round pick with their next pick to get the Swans' selection and grab Leake, however the Swans were aware of St Kilda's interest in Will Green at the selection after theirs so weren't eager to move back.

The Giants weren't ready to stop, though, with Leake surprisingly still available. Now only one pick off, they made a certainty of it, doing a deal with St Kilda to push up one spot and grab him. The Saints were set on Wilson and knew the Giants wanted Leake, so were comfortable shifting back the position, essentially grabbing a future second-rounder (the price they paid for Freo recruit Liam Henry) for the move.

The very next line indicates we were concerned about others trading in

"And that was necessary, too, with North Melbourne and Adelaide interested in trading up as well as Leake lingered."

 

[dlanod]

No narrative/agenda at all (in my opinion). Just a personal view that they didn't maximise the trade value from Curtin. If you want to describe that as a "narrative" then fine. Am I not allowed to have an opinion?

It looked very much like you were picking and choosing your facts by cutting out relevant context.

I think that the reporting on both the attempted trade and our actual trade with St Kilda yielded the view that Saints were pretty strong on Wilson and didn't want to trade backwards (except with us) for fear of losing him. How did they know we wouldn't pick him after the trade swap? Presumably we had a good idea of their target, and they of our's. Because we'd failed to get them to agree on the first trade (for the Curtin pick), we should have had at least an inkling of the strength of their thinking, hence the risk of them trading to North or Adelaide was pretty small IMHO.

In general (coming from the NFL world of similar trades), clubs are generally pretty open about their plans to facilitate these trades. They would have known who we wanted and while we may not have known who they wanted, obviously they wouldn't have traded with us if they knew we were targeting the same players. St Kilda would have known who else was interested in Leake based off the calls (us, NM, and Adelaide), and bid the various clubs up to extract maximum value given they knew they were wanting a different player.

Obviously we were the low risk option moving back one spot, NM out because it would result in moving too far back (per the article), and Adelaide somewhere in the middle - they'd need Wilson to slip past us and NM, which they seemingly thought was possible, whereas moving to NM's pick brought Adelaide into the mix who may have had interest in Wilson.

Unfortunately they don't mention Adelaide's bid, but that's clearly what we would've had to beat. NM's offer including their future second rounder (obviously better than ours). Adelaide had Melbourne's future second rounder, so there's a high likelihood that was on the table for their move up given what NM offered and what we traded. As such we'd either have to trade a future second or give up on getting Leake.

We weren't bidding against ourselves just to move up a pick like some speculated on the night - these trades don't happen in a vacuum - now we've got names.

What has become quite clear from the video of the evening and the stories is how highly Caruso regarded Phoenix Gothard, and secondarily James Leake, and the price that they were willing to pay to get them. Presumably we agree that we hope that they got their assessments correct.

Definitely agree.

 

[captainMyCaptain]

 

[Giant Pete]

Not sure I’ve seen a recruit change direction as quickly as Gothard (or a player ever).

 

[GWS Goose]

Not sure I’ve seen a recruit change direction as quickly as Gothard (or a player ever).

Did they release some footage?

 

[Giant Pete]

Did they release some footage?

No. Just watched all available stuff from this year on YouTube.

 

[Bulla Bullbrie]

We are now in a window to win the flag and our best chance ever.

 

[Orange crush]

We are now in a window to win the flag and our best chance ever.

You lost?