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
​

 

[gringo2011]

There’s every chance we get the sugar hit for the first year and play finals like we did in 2020 but it’s the year after that will be telling. Not going to lie this whole “go all in to make Nas happy” thing makes me super nervous.

Hopefully the foundations are a fair bit better this time. I think the pool of young talent is deeper and better but Essendon show how quickly that can fall apart.

Surely we can't be so cursed as to have three rebuilds consecutively fall over before bearing fruit?

 

[Armoooo]

Merrett - 30 in early October, injury history, contracted, captain = 2 x FR picks

Steele - 30 in early December, less injury prone (played "sore"), contracted, captain = Late 2nd/Early 3rd.

Make it make sense

One has been elite his entire career and still playing top level footy.

The other had 2 or 3 good seasons in an otherwise serviceable career and is far from a certain starter going forward.

 

[Mat Mann]

Hustwaite looking to get out of Hawks gringo2011

 

[AFaiL]

Yes: Windy, Jones, NWM, Clark, Stocker, Keeler, Marshall, Henry, Pou, Tauru, Dodson, Wood, Sinclair, Hall, Sharman, Heath, Caminiti

No: Higgins, Collard, Macrae, Hill, Steele, Owens, King, Byrnes, Dow, Butler, Carroll, Howard, Wilson, Hastie, Schoemakers, Garcia, Wilkie, O'Connell

Maybe: Travaglia, Boxshall

I must say, this is where bias comes in

Happy to add Windy tho he is able to play various mid roles but not forward or back

The others have played various roles, mainly to no effort. Happy to add Wood and Clark. The rest have not shown a genuine ability to play multiple roles to any great effect. Keeler prob has some potential

 

[The Punter]

I must say, this is where bias comes in

Happy to add Windy tho he is able to play various mid roles but not forward or back

The others have played various roles, mainly to no effort. Happy to add Wood and Clark. The rest have not shown a genuine ability to play multiple roles to any great effect. Keeler prob has some potential

I mean, there are players who aren't good players on my lists. But Heath is equally effective as a ruckman as he is a forward on exposed form.

Windy can play back.

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

I must say, this is where bias comes in

Happy to add Windy tho he is able to play various mid roles but not forward or back

The others have played various roles, mainly to no effort. Happy to add Wood and Clark. The rest have not shown a genuine ability to play multiple roles to any great effect. Keeler prob has some potential

Travaglia can play H.B & wing

Wilson H.F & wing

 

[Diehard Saint]

Hopefully the foundations are a fair bit better this time. I think the pool of young talent is deeper and better but Essendon show how quickly that can fall apart.

Surely we can't be so cursed as to have three rebuilds consecutively fall over before bearing fruit?

Life and luck is so fickle.
Imagine for one minute Nas had left.
We’d be 180 degrees in a different place right now.

 

[stfan]

There’s every chance we get the sugar hit for the first year and play finals like we did in 2020 but it’s the year after that will be telling. Not going to lie this whole “go all in to make Nas happy” thing makes me super nervous.

Personally, I believe the “go all in to make Nas happy” thing is in the main just what the Club was planning on doing anyway now. It was always the plan since RTB arrived to bring in experienced players from this year and the War Chest was constructed for this reason.

The War Chest that has been built is time limited (By only spending 95% of the Salary Cap , and preloading contracts of some existing players), and so it is "Use It or Lose It Time" starting from this trade period.

“Go all in to make Nas happy” may possibly have altered the mix slightly, but of those have said they want to join us, only Liam to me would be perhaps be someone we would not have targeted now.

We are certainly a better finals chance, and Flag chance with Nas., but the plan was to bring in experienced players now.

I do believe however that Nas extending has made it much easier to have our targets decide to join us.

• Aleer would probably have joined anyway. = Young
• TDK may have instead chased Finals/Premiership with the Cats on lower coin = Youngish
• JSOS is an opportunistic FA move that we would have liked, but JSOS may have decided that Pies?Dogs was better than a Nasiah-less St Kilda. = Yes a bit older, but is FA

If you look around available players who would be available to St Kilda, who would you have taken instead of whom we have landed?

And taking no-one, just wastes that expiring War Chest.

 

[gringo2011]

Yes: Windy, Jones, NWM, Clark, Stocker, Keeler, Marshall, Henry, Pou, Tauru, Dodson, Wood, Sinclair, Hall, Sharman, Heath, Caminiti

No: Higgins, Collard, Macrae, Hill, Steele, Owens, King, Byrnes, Dow, Butler, Carroll, Howard, Wilson, Hastie, Schoemakers, Garcia, Wilkie, O'Connell

Maybe: Travaglia, Boxshall

I think Wilson and Collard are both adaptable. O'Connell too and I think Travaglia was taken because of his adaptability. I guess Hastie is adaptable too. Looks like a running HBF but has potential to move to multiple outside positions.

 

[gringo2011]

Life and luck is so fickle.
Imagine for one minute Nas had left.
We’d be 180 degrees in a different place right now.

That was an absolute fork in the road moment. One way was doom and gloom and we managed to take the friendlier path fortunately.

 

[The Punter]

I think Wilson and Collard are both adaptable. O'Connell too and I think Travaglia was taken because of his adaptability. I guess Hastie is is molar too. Looks like a running HBF but has potential to move to multiple outside positions.

You may very well be right. I think we're more adaptable than we have been for a long, long time.

 

[gringo2011]

Hustwaite looking to get out of Hawks gringo2011

I'd definitely have look. He's too good to be playing VFL most weeks and going to be further down the order next year.

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

2025

Merrett 27.77 disposals per game
Steele 20.86 disposals per game

Not saying that Merrett isn't a vastly better player but he loves the old give & go & get it back.

Racks up some very very cheap possies.

 

[The Punter]

Not saying that Merrett isn't a vastly better player but he loves the old give & go & get it back.

Racks up some very very cheap possies.

I was just proffering an explanation.

 

[Armoooo]

That was an absolute fork in the road moment. One way was doom and gloom and we managed to take the friendlier path fortunately.

I honestly don't think i was going to follow footy next year.

I went to the hawks game about 2 months ago and felt like I was at a wake. With the attitude the club had taken about the academies and father sons, seeming like we were losing a generational player, I was just defeated, it felt like what's the point.

But with Nas staying, other players wanting to join and the clubs attitude not being defeatist after all, being more like an F U type of attitude, I'm actually more enthusiastic than I have been for a long time.

Regardless of how things go down, I really rate how ruthless the club is willing to be and have faith in Basset and Ross.

If we fail, at least we will have gone down swinging, instead of meekly accepting our role as a club just their to pad out the TV rights deal.

 

[akaifu]

Not saying that Merrett isn't a vastly better player but he loves the old give & go & get it back.

Racks up some very very cheap possies.

That's because he's an elite ball user though - he has the right to get it back

Just like how Nas gets free possies from kick-ins

 

[akaifu]

Merrett - 30 in early October, injury history, contracted, captain = 2 x FR picks

Steele - 30 in early December, less injury prone (played "sore"), contracted, captain = Late 2nd/Early 3rd.

Make it make sense

Merrett is one of the most durable players in the competition - more so than Steele who often plays with significant niggles

Also, 14.60 (18th) vs 10.31 (53rd) player ratings out of midfielders in the comp

 

[The Punter]

I honestly don't think i was going to follow footy next year.

I went to the hawks game about 2 months ago and felt like I was at a wake. With the attitude the club had taken about the academies and father sons, seeming like we were losing a generational player, I was just defeated, it felt like what's the point.

But with Nas staying, other players wanting to join and the clubs attitude not being defeatist after all, being more like an F U type of attitude, I'm actually more enthusiastic than I have been for a long time.

Regardless of how things go down, I really rate how ruthless the club is willing to be and have faith in Basset and Ross.

If we fail, at least we will have gone down swinging, instead of meekly accepting our role as a club just their to pad out the TV rights deal.

It's why if we can:

1. Get through pre-season fit
2. Get that Opening Round game at the MCG

We have a huge opportunity for one of those future-shifting moments.

BTW, did you still feel like the Hawks game was a wake when Tauru took that mark? That bit felt fun to me.

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

There’s every chance we get the sugar hit for the first year and play finals like we did in 2020 but it’s the year after that will be telling. Not going to lie this whole “go all in to make Nas happy” thing makes me super nervous.

The way I look at it, while the new recruits might help get us moving in the right direction, it is the mass of young talent that will be dragging us into the 8 & then hopefully up from there.

Of course that 2020 group had some promising kids too who didn't pan out for a variety of reasons... but I think we are deeper now, not to mention have absolute pros running the club.

We certainly didn't have that in 2020.

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

Personally, I believe the “go all in to make Nas happy” thing is in the main just what the Club was planning on doing anyway now. It was always the plan since RTB arrived to bring in experienced players from this year and the War Chest was constructed for this reason.

The War Chest that has been built is time limited (By only spending 95% of the Salary Cap , and preloading contracts of some existing players), and so it is "Use It or Lose It Time" starting from this trade period.

“Go all in to make Nas happy” may possibly have altered the mix slightly, but of those have said they want to join us, only Liam to me would be perhaps be someone we would not have targeted now.

We are certainly a better finals chance, and Flag chance with Nas., but the plan was to bring in experienced players now.

I do believe however that Nas extending has made it much easier to have our targets decide to join us.

• Aleer would probably have joined anyway. = Young
• TDK may have instead chased Finals/Premiership with the Cats on lower coin = Youngish
• JSOS is an opportunistic FA move that we would have liked, but JSOS may have decided that Pies?Dogs was better than a Nasiah-less St Kilda. = Yes a bit older, but is FA

If you look around available players who would be available to St Kilda, who would you have taken instead of whom we have landed?

And taking no-one, just wastes that expiring War Chest.

Yes & the ones we have taken have had interest from other clubs
& they fulfill immediate needs

Marshall is not the answer in the ruck

Howard's time is nearly up

The only position we could address is the midfield & weve tried that on numerous occasions
Have a good young core coming up in that area of the field,
so not the end of the world if we dont land one.

 

[StCicatriz]

i wonder if essendon might be in the market for someone like steele

 

[stavro#4]

It's why if we can:

1. Get through pre-season fit

There has to be a better plan of player management - Then just loading up players and if you get through a survival of the fittest pre season, then you should be confident you’re good to go.

 

[gringo2011]

What if TDK goes down in a prelim next year a bit like spider Everitt did, we make it through to grand final just and have to play Geelong with Marshall as their ruckman vs Dodson and Keeler.

I'd back our players to nullify the ruck between them. Marshall will never dominate taps but he's incredible around the ground. Probably puts more pressure on our mids to make sure that we use it well.

 

[sauce_head]

What if TDK goes down in a prelim next year a bit like spider Everitt did, we make it through to grand final just and have to play Geelong with Marshall as their ruckman vs Dodson and Keeler.

Thats your classic “good problem”.

 

[St Neil]

reading between the lines... i think they're looking to get picks for Cmac and then on pass that for Merrett.

Alot of politicians barrack for Hawthorn
Bob Hawke for example?

Bob Hawke was South Melbourne’s number 1 ticket holder from the late 1960s (after he became Secretary of the ACTU) until he left the Prime Ministership in 1991.

Hawke actually chaired the emotional meeting at the Caulfield Town Hall at the end of 1981 where a small majority of South’s members voted to install the Keep South at South group as the new board of the club.

There was famous footage of Hawke donning a South guernsey at the Lake Oval barreling a torpedo punt through the goals.