List Mgmt. 2025 List Management Discussion - Part IV

[Hubnester]

2025 List Management Discussion - Part 4

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
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[phantom13]

how is it not? both clubs have courted players, both clubs walked away...at the crux, its identical

Show me where any it saying Geelong walked away? That’s the difference

 

[gringo2011]

According to Sam Edmund

Saints offered a 2026 2nd and 2027 3rd for Aleer and 2027 2nd

GWS said no

Saints walked away

Apparently there was a level of board intervention to prevent trading of more future picks

GWS are off their heads if they refused that. He’s barely worth a third round pick.

 

[Armoooo]

If anyone can’t see the above. I’d argue you are far too caught up in your own emotions.

What an incredible lack of awareness.

You're the one with an emotional investment in defending your club, which you obviously see as an extension of your identity.

Anybody who can view this rationally can see that saints appear to have dogged Aleer. Survey fans from 17 other clubs and the view would be unanimous.

What yoy are experiencing is classic cognitive dissonance. You have an emotional need to defend the club at all costs and you are incapable of rational thought.

Im not a bedwetter, this isn't the end of the world. Just unprofessional. The false equivalences are just making people seem desperate.

 

[heynow85]

Show me where any it saying Geelong walked away? That’s the difference

They offered 3 first rounders for Curnow…..

 

[Diehard Saint]

Remember them courting Jack Steven for 3 years only to offer a pick in the 50’s or they’d take him for nothing?

Yeah exactly. **** Geelong.

Tbh Jack was a shell of his former self when he eventually got there. He was having his emotional issues and I think we were just happy to facilitate the move he needed.
Wasn’t a brilliant player there either.

So I can’t hang Geelong on that.

 

[saintmike65]

I think we need to take stock of what we’ve done this off season and get off our high horse when something goes wrong without knowing the full picture. Football administrators makes decisions in the best interest of the club, whilst we try to take care of players, club comes before individuals..

Aleer is only worth it at the right trade price, nothing more or nothing less. And if our situation changes which it sounded like it has, then all bets are off. Simples.

Can I take a company to court if they promised me a job and then had to withdraw the contract because of budget or internal issues? No. It’s not ideal, but it’s life. Criticising the club from a morality perspective is really poor.

You makes some good points but playing devil's advocate the optics aren't great

 

[The Punter]

The "three first rounders" for Curnow is exactly why we need to stop referring to rounds in describing picks (they change size every year) and refer to number instead.

Geelong first rounders aren't very good ones. They're not the same as North Melbourne first rounders.

 

[Diehard Saint]

If that's true about Marshall then we are really ****ing with the trade week norms this week. Went back on a nominated guy, pretty much denied a request and got all our deals done before Friday

We did say we were not going to trade him unless it was on our terms.

Ross said this right from the start.

Loving this hard-arsed look.

 

[phantom13]

They offered 3 first rounders for Curnow…..

Because we walked away (as it’s reported) they could also still offer a player.

Again, as it’s reported we’ve walked away.

 

[MrFoster]

That's a ridiculous, incredibly poorly thought out straw man argument.

The clubs should have known whether a deal was possible before getting Aleer to nominate. They don't just go into these things blind. The clubs know what the backbone of the deal is before trade week and then just sort out the finer details.

GWS wanting a future 2nd involved would not have been a surprise.

You're desperate for the giants to be the bad guys here. But even if they said a 2nd rounder was a non negotiable today, it may not be on Wednesday afternoon with the PSD threat hanging over their head.

It maybe just an excuse we gave them. How do you know it’s not because we’ve changed course to something else better.

 

[dougiemac]

Why??? BECAUSE NOW WE ARE RELEVANT AND GIVE NO FXCKS! The club is more important than a verbal agreement that was made that may or may not have become unnecessary to our needs VS the cost of making it happen for the sake of what’s morally right

Saints have arrived my friends️️

Yep. Trump Derangement Syndrome is old hat. We now have SDS - Saints Derangement Syndrome. Very contagious.

 

[mighty_sainters]

Matthew Lloyd - “I think a future second is completely fair for a player that can’t get a game for GWS”.

People are talking for the sake of talking here.

Hold strong Saints, don’t come out and apologise whatever you do.

 

[seasonedsainter]

Glad we didn’t take Aleer or bend the knee. Couldn’t gaf how it looks or what other people think. The manager is a money-hungry pea-brain. GWS can ead. Also very glad the Cats haven’t got Marshall (yet). Of course they wouldn’t pony up the arrogant flogs. Marshall is great cover for King et all resting forward. So it goes and on we go!

 

[gringo2011]

I'm looking forward to Marshall in the FWD line next year. He'll be tough to outmark, so at the very least he should halve contests against the likes of Harris Andrews types. Ball spills to ground, Ryan goal, Higgins goal, Collard goal. This should be significantly pleasing saints fans.

Losing quality players and match winners to move sideways is a risky game. Keeping quality while bringing in more makes you deeper and better. We just have to make it work now.

 

[phantom13]

There isn’t a positive spin on this nor am I desperate for anything.

We don’t have to value a player at the same level of opposition clubs.

Let’s be really clear on the state of play.

We have 2 players who have nominated a trade. Marshall Geelong Aleer to us.

Marshall is contracted and Geelong haven’t given a ****, offered what they have thought is fair. It hasn’t got the deal done. They just moved on to Curnow. Applauded.

Aleer is out of contract. Could walk to us in the draft. We have an agent seemingly not willing to do that and getting pissy we won’t pay whatever the giants want and we are getting slammed.

Both players will be losing money in 2026 from these actions.

The simple fact is that there won’t be one single club at fault for this. But you also can’t sit there and expect the saints to bend over on both deals when they have sorted Ryan and Flanders incomings with little fuss and sent Heath packing seemingly during our first conversation with little issue - as Lamb had said we hadn’t yet spoken at 1pm yesterday.

If anyone can’t see the above. I’d argue you are far too caught up in your own emotions. We probably go back to the table on both deals. If Geelong gives us what we want. It probably makes it easier to do Aleer.

I’ve got zero emotion about it. Both instances make sense for us to do but you can’t possibly argue what we’ve done is the accepted practice.

The whole footy world is calling us campaigners over the Aleer deal, we’ve probably gotta accept that and say “sure but we’re doing what’s best for us so **** you all”.

 

[gringo2011]

I can't believe there are people suggesting we have handled this well. Some even saying Aleer and the manager are the bad guys.

It's proof some fans will just back the club in no matter what. It's been really poorly handled and makes us look very unprofessional.

It’s not well handled but we have had much worse moments that have had FA fall out. Dunstan’s exit and cutting off Caldwell’s manager were properly bad but had zero media attention. They have framed it as embarrassing but at the end of the day the Giants would only let him go for overs. Exactly the same as Marshall.

 

[phantom13]

It maybe just an excuse we gave them. How do you know it’s not because we’ve changed course to something else better.

I mean we could hypothesis til the cows come home but that looks more and more ridiculous tbh.

 

[DT_35]

how come 1 find the photo of Marshall and TDK training together?

 

[mighty_sainters]

I’ve got zero emotion about it. Both instances make sense for us to do but you can’t possibly argue what we’ve done is the accepted practice.

The whole footy world is calling us campaigners over the Aleer deal, we’ve probably gotta accept that and say “sure but we’re doing what’s best for us so **** you all”.

Proof will be in the pudding.

If as stated player managers will be up in arms over this, let’s see if we are ever able to trade for a player again. If trade radio wasn’t a thing, this gets moved aside so quickly.

It’s a story, a good story so the media will ride it for clicks which is totally acceptable.

The next time we trade for a player, this is old news. I for one hope it happens this window.

 

[gringo2011]

He also said we should have ditched TDK instead of Aleer

He’s a pro troll. He’s on brand.

 

[BrutThough]

Matthew Lloyd - “I think a future second is completely fair for a player that can’t get a game for GWS”.

People are talking for the sake of talking here.

Hold strong Saints, don’t come out and apologise whatever you do.

Llyod said he wasn't AFL standard a few days ago?

Looks like we arent the only people flip flopping this trade period.

 

[Diehard Saint]

Why?

Geelong haven’t wanted to pony up what we wanted for Marshall. That seems to be okay for them.

100%

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

It seems we'd have been better off just letting it run through to Wednesday and saying we couldn't get a deal done.

Which would have left Aleer well & truly stranded.

He & his management have 5 days to find a new home if he wants.

Or he can go into the PSD.

 

[stavro#4]

I’ve got zero emotion about it. Both instances make sense for us to do but you can’t possibly argue what we’ve done is the accepted practice.

The whole footy world is calling us campaigners over the Aleer deal, we’ve probably gotta accept that and say “sure but we’re doing what’s best for us so **** you all”.

I’m not claiming it’s accepted practice. But again I don’t care about the outcomes for any other club.

If 17 other clubs were fair towards us and bender our way during every deal for players they wanted. I’d have no issue doing that the other direction.

Factually Flanders and Ryan came in with no issues. Heath went out with no issues.

The moment we start acting like other clubs - one being Geelong that we have been vocal we will act like, which their supporters celebrate that they will “walk away” and has been clear in the Marshall thread, our club becomes the target for poor trade ethics.

 

[phantom13]

It’s not well handled but we have had much worse moments that have had FA fall out. Dunstan’s exit and cutting off Caldwell’s manager were properly bad but had zero media attention. They have framed it as embarrassing but at the end of the day the Giants would only let him go for overs. Exactly the same as Marshall.

We probably got lucky on Caldwell with the bombers coming through and no one really wanting to make a big deal out of it from his management.

I watched a fair bit of content on the Dunstan stuff and ultimately he made himself look like a complete dickhead so again we dodged the bullet.

People keep saying no one cares about this but the clearly do and what’s happened here is pretty much unprecedented. So we really don’t know what the fallout will be, I suspect it won’t be extreme but I also doubt it blows over in a day.