List Mgmt. 2025 List Management Discussion - Part 3

[Hubnester]

2025 List Management Discussion - Part 3

Now that our season is over, and news is starting to break - it's time for a fresh thread.

This thread is to discuss all things list management - trades, draft, free agency, delistings and more.
As we are now officially in our off-season, we'll be wanting to keep this thread more strictly on-topic than the previous iterations.
Be respectful. You are allowed to disagree with someone - but play the ball, not the man. Repeat offenders will have their posting rights revoked.

Thanks to Lore once again for this incredibly useful spreadsheet.

2025 KEY DATES
Free Agency Period: Friday, October 3rd - Friday, October 10th
Trade Period: Monday, October 6th - Wednesday, October 15th
AFL Draft: Wednesday, November 19th - Thursday, November 20th

See Also:
2025 Year in Review Rumours & Confirmed Movements 2025 Draft Discussion
​

 

[aidansbonor]

I dont think we made a bad decision taking Crouch.
It was going to be Crouch AND Caldwell until the offer we put to Caldwell's management that they had accepted, suddenly wasn't big enough.
Caldwell is no better than Dow or Carroll.

Caldwell's gotta be better than Dow and Carroll without saints glasses on

 

[ScrappyDo]

In: TDK, JSOS, Flanders, Ryan
Out: Pick 12 after FA/FS/NGA/NA rubbish.

I want miniPou, but Flanders and Ryan is a better use of that pick.

Plus, I heard him called J'vaarn the other day, I thought it was Jeaven - like Heaven/Michael Bevan. He's still my boy and I was one of the first but I think I like him a little less with that pronunciation.

I see no justification for trading out our 1st this year, GC won't want it and it's too high a price for Flanders anyway. He's a clear case for a future 1st probably with some junk back our way.
That means we only need cobble together enough for Ryan which shouldn't be too much of a challenge.
Minimum draftees is 2 so lets say Pou2 and Fincher, we'll need 6 off the list.

Boyd
Gus
Jones
Cordy
Jimmy

Leaves only 1 more to trade/delist, probably Monty given that he'd be outside the best 22 at that point.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

They’re going to make me wait for my Sudanese, aren’t they

 

[Speck]

Story was we had Caldwell until Crouch confirmed he was coming over and then Caldwell didn’t think he was getting midfield minutes (which is why he was leaving GWS) and went to Essendon.

Legit happened within 24 hours

That really was diabolical list management. Caldwell should have known that Crouch was coming and we should have sold it to him as a partnership

 

[Mat Mann]

I see no justification for trading out our 1st this year, GC won't want it and it's too high a price for Flanders anyway. He's a clear case for a future 1st probably with some junk back our way.
That means we only need cobble together enough for Ryan which shouldn't be too much of a challenge.
Minimum draftees is 2 so lets say Pou2 and Fincher, we'll need 6 off the list.

Boyd
Gus
Jones
Cordy
Jimmy

Leaves only 1 more to trade/delist, probably Monty given that he'd be outside the best 22 at that point.

minimum is 3 isn't it? but Hall?Cooper/Hammer getting upgraded off the rookie list would count as 1 each, so could do that

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

I see no justification for trading out our 1st this year, GC won't want it and it's too high a price for Flanders anyway. He's a clear case for a future 1st probably with some junk back our way.
That means we only need cobble together enough for Ryan which shouldn't be too much of a challenge.
Minimum draftees is 2 so lets say Pou2 and Fincher, we'll need 6 off the list.

Boyd
Gus
Jones
Cordy
Jimmy

Leaves only 1 more to trade/delist, probably Monty given that he'd be outside the best 22 at that point.

Has Jones been delisted already?

 

[malevu]

I'd use Byrnes for trade capital for someone like Ryan

 

[ScrappyDo]

Aleer to JSOS is an interesting pivot... JSOS won't cost any draft capital. Makes me think that we need that for Ryan or Flanders.

Other possibility is both, allowing Caminiti to go forward again especially if Marshall leaves.

Our backline fell apart a bit this year. Not against a reset at all.

Gotta keep in mind we've had Hammer as a emergency measure and Tauru who'll both be better for another preseason, plus there's hope Dougs will be back.
Wilkie, Dougs/Hammer, Hastie
Sincs, Jsos, Tauru
Stocker/Clark

Not great but not terrible either.

I like that we now have both Hammer and Keeler both sitting on the fringe with plenty left in them.

 

[ScrappyDo]

Has Jones been delisted already?

I don't think so but he'd be lucky to get another year. Probs have to wait till after trade period.

 

[ScrappyDo]

minimum is 3 isn't it? but Hall?Cooper/Hammer getting upgraded off the rookie list would count as 1 each, so could do that

May be the case.

 

[stfan]

Hey Saints Fans

Not coming in to be inflammatory, but the McKenzie news is his management leaking for an increase on his extension being worked through

Whilst I’m sure you guys are keen,

err no we are not.

If you had of read our forum before you would know that the sentiment by most hear is that we dodged a bullet by Cam not be abled to be Drafted as an NGA player.

 

[Joffaboy]

Caldwell's gotta be better than Dow and Carroll without saints glasses on

In my view he is just a b player, nothing more.

 

[sainter7]

Have included Flanders, Aleer, Ryan, and TDK. No Mackenzie or JSos. Ages are for round 1 next year. Players 29 or older in red. However can see Sinclair playing for 5+ more years like zorko/pendles. Think we should prioritise drafting a TALL back, not another 194cm defender. 198+ preferably. Develop them for 3 years while wilkie is still AA standard. Macrae seems to be a rough pickup, is slow and 2 more years could be rough. Could replace Steele with Hall and have Collard in the forward line to better our pressure.

Despite all this, think our young talent looks really promising, all those positions look very pleasing, Hastie maybe not confident with but shows promise, a small defender could be an ideal pickup but hard to find. If Flanders is a no go, could flick Henry back or maybe Clark off HB if he's not injured for once. Very keen to see what this could be, and our depth should be better than it has been for a while, some not so bad names out of my best 23!

Feel free to disagree

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Ryan - not sure on this one, is a good marking small forward but at 29, taking a risk he can recapture his past form..

Ryan more importantly is a perfect mentor for Collard who is similar in style so will be able to help fast track his development

 

[ESPN8 The Ocho]

They’re going to make me wait for my Sudanese, aren’t they

You sound like you’ve had a big night and are waiting for a kebab.

 

[txbyhull]

Trade Hypothetical:

Steele to WC for Liam Ryan

One of the few hypotheticals I've seen that Eagles fans wouldn't balk at. Unfortunately for the Saints its either a player that slots cleanly into our best 15-18, a ridiculous current year pick, or overs with future picks. Its increasingly likely we only take 3 max 4 picks into the draft this year.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Remember when we took Crouch over Caldwell.

I hope JSOS over Aller isn’t another sliding doors decision.

I’d be all in on JSOS if I had to choose between the 2.

These decisions can be crucial.

You got understand that we went with Crouch as he cost us nothing in terms of draft capital and he brought experience .... that experience helps with youth development ..... then of course we replaced him with Macrae ..... once Macrae leaves ..... our young mid group should be ready to take the reins full time and steer the ship.

Everyone bangs on about deveolpment but that doesn't just come from coaches .... older experienced players have significant input

To me this has been a smart planned methodical list build .... and we are still putting feelers out for players who may consider us in upcoming years when they come out of contract or reach FA

 

[Sarcoidevo]

I see no justification for trading out our 1st this year, GC won't want it and it's too high a price for Flanders anyway. He's a clear case for a future 1st probably with some junk back our way.
That means we only need cobble together enough for Ryan which shouldn't be too much of a challenge.
Minimum draftees is 2 so lets say Pou2 and Fincher, we'll need 6 off the list.

Boyd
Gus
Jones
Cordy
Jimmy

Leaves only 1 more to trade/delist, probably Monty given that he'd be outside the best 22 at that point.

Not sure I would be wanting to trade out of next years draft which looks a better than this years crop .... in a perfect world we keep both this years & next years 1st round pick ... or split this year's ... see below

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Re: Flanders - We could look to split our 1st round pick (currently 7) with someone like North for pick 20 & pick 21 (two 2nd round picks) ... and flick one of those to GC for Flanders and keep one for the draft

North would be happy to jump up the order to get a highly rated tall and Gold Coast get 730pts or so for their Academy picks .... we get Flanders and a draft slider

Pick 7 is 1543pts and Pick 20 + 21 is around 1478pts

With those Academy picks coming in Flanders is surplus to demands at GC and his output has dropped off also ... reckon end of first round ... start of 2nd round is about right .... no way he is Top 10 pick

 

[tomjoad]

Caldwell's gotta be better than Dow and Carroll without saints glasses on

It's hard to know...neither Carroll or Dow have managed to get on the park much due to niggles, infections, and injury.
I liked the look of Carroll and was surprised he didn't get more of a chance throughout the year when not injured. He was doing well in the VFL when fit.

 

[Suburbanhack]

Perhaps I’m in the minority but I just don’t get why we would pursue JSOS. He's not overly tall, strong, aggressive or quick. He's not young and is always injured. Is a solid B - at best with a history of breaking down. Have we learnt nothing from recruiting banged up players from other clubs with a history of being injured? While still largely unproven I reckon Aleer has more potential and more upside than JSOS. Same witrh CMac. We have an enough of his type already and he doesn't make us better. Would rather we concentrate on keeping Windy, developing Hall, Box and Wilson and getting Henry fit. CMAc is surplus.

 

[tomjoad]

They’re going to make me wait for my Sudanese, aren’t they

Wasn't there a Sudanese fella at RSEA park a couple of weeks ago!?
You never know...
You may be lucky yet El Dardarino.

 

[gringo2011]

Does this mean if we get him we lose Windy?

This is a terrible draft. I'd be trading out of it. I'd say you'd need our natural first or Marshall compo for Flanders and Hawks probably push for our natural first for CMac. You'd have to negotiate to get the natural pick to Hawks with something coming back to get other trades done IMO. Hope that the Suns just want to get a trade done.

Flanders is worth it. His 2024 was exceptional off HB with runs on ball. Like getting another Sinclair level player and he uses the ball really well. CMac doesn't make a whole lot of sense seeing as we already have a heap of mids in development but getting high picked kids into the club isn't a bad thing.

We have to sign Windhager. Hopefully this is just a bit of posturing before getting it done. He's homegrown talent, he's unique and hard to replace. You'd be crazy to lose him, a lot of the players coming in won't be a massive upgrade to actual game day but does massively improve our bottom 4 to 6 players and fattens out our depth.

 

[austinnn]

Don't hate it.
Fitness is an issue, but a very solid pick up if he stays fit.
Adds a bit more experience to the backline with Wilkie and Sinc's. Three old heads, and two or three under 25's.
Throws the Aleer acquisition out a bit though, if it happens at all.

No idea how accurate this scoop is but swapping jsos for aleer is a good move. Cheaper and a good balance with all the really young defenders we have

 

[gringo2011]

The best way I can describe him is he reminds me of a typical Brisbane midfielder.

He’s a bit like Will Ashcroft in that there’s no obviously flaw, but there’s no one outstanding trait. He has capacity to hit the scoreboard but doesn’t do it regularly.

Some would describe him as vanilla but I think he’s a very well rounded young mid.

He's less flashy than Ashcroft who can look very exciting at times. CMac plays a very flatline game, he's more even than anything. You are basically buying on potential. Unless you think Phillipou is already fully formed you expect that you are getting a semi developed kid from a good system. Who knows how much more he's got in the tank.

He doesn't excite me much but he'd be better than most of the players in the first round of this draft IMO.