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
​

 

[austinnn]

Yeah last year next year.

Tell me more about the rumour that he wants out. Is it because of a problem at the club or he prefers to go to a different club?
Is it personal or professional?

 

[hayes]

Tell me more about the rumour that he wants out. Is it because of a problem at the club or he prefers to go to a different club?
Is it personal or professional?

It was when he was in and out of the side a bit. Obviously wasn’t happy with being dropped. The story was from Damo though so have to keep that in mind.

 

[phantom13]

If Butters was a realistic chance to come, which he’s not, 2 firsts and Philippou is a no brainer

We go from having one of the worst midfields in the league, to one of the best.

Pipe dream though

Butters is absolutely a pipe dream.

When he decides to come home every Vic club will pitch to him (as we should).

As soon as we’re out of that race (which will be early) we should forget about him altogether. Floating players and whatever can cause disharmony very very quickly for a guy who is a 0% chance of picking us anyway.

All the rumours of the mass exodus and disharmony seem like bullshit this time around but they can shift real quick. There’s way more to lose than there is to gain trying to bundle up some package for a guy who wants absolutely nothing to do with us

 

[Minga]

Prefer Pou’s ceiling over Butters, easily. Different types of players, but that’s my personal preference. Yes a long way to go to see how close to that ceiling he gets, but barring injury he has all the tools and devotion to make it.

Obvs if it’s about the next two years you’d hypothetically take Butters, but I’d rather develop our own stars, and Pou is the great unknown for us, especially beyond this two year push.

This post is not to suggest that Butters is a reality, more so that I’m so glad we finally have some blue chip talent of our own coming through. 27th December bday, Pou’s very young, and shown a lot despite injury. A lot a lot, it’s not just saints fans who rate him despite limited exposure. Gimme NAS, Pou, Tauru homegrown top tier >23 year old rising stars.

 

[Yawkey way]

Oddly enough, Derksen is probably more suited to us, than Aleer was. Can play forward & back.
Could be cheap cover? for King

He can play football, he’s solid.

 

[Yawkey way]

que the same outrage that we got with Steele

Which is worse, not proceeding with a trade for a player you had interest in or telling a guy 1 year into a 5 year deal to jog on ?.

Does anyone think there will be any talk of Sydney ruining Florent’s life, being unprofessional, underhanded etc.

Before I hear any yes but Florent can just say no and has 4 years left, Aleer can just say yes and have 3 years left at gws.

 

[beside the seaside]

Just on Aleer, do we think we ever intended to do the deal or were we always just going to pull out?

One of the things he seemed to have going for him was his untapped potential, but he came into the GWS team and really didn't set the world on fire. Dod we get spooked?

The club will obviously make a statement about it in due course but I'd love to know what happened.

 

[Yawkey way]

Max is a 25 year old 200 plus cm key forward. He shouldn't need to be baby sat anymore. He's got Sharman, Owens and even Caminiti if needed.

Brisbane just won a flag with a 20 year old as their main key forward.

And agree, his value will only go down very fast after this year. Need to make hay while the sun shines.

Late first v next years second rounder, who cares.

The only reasons to entertain a trade are, it’s too good to refuse or we need the pick and space to bring in another player.

A late first isn’t getting me excited and who are linked to at present ?.

Marshall stays unless something changes, we will look like clowns making big statements about contracted players only to then fold for a lousy deal. I think folding would also undo some points we’ve run up by holding Nas and getting deals done.

 

[Diehard Saint]

Which is worse, not proceeding with a trade for a player you had interest in or telling a guy 1 year into a 5 year deal to jog on ?.

Does anyone think there will be any talk of Sydney ruining Florent’s life, being unprofessional, underhanded etc.

Before I hear any yes but Florent can just say no and has 4 years left, Aleer can just say yes and have 3 years left at gws.

Imagine then staying on at a club that tried to dump you now for someone else.
Untenable situation.

How “unempathetic” of Sydney.

 

[BrutThough]

Just on Aleer, do we think we ever intended to do the deal or were we always just going to pull out?

One of the things he seemed to have going for him was his untapped potential, but he came into the GWS team and really didn't set the world on fire. Dod we get spooked?

The club will obviously make a statement about it in due course but I'd love to know what happened.

It wouldnt surprise me if we were aiming to walk him to the PSD draft until someone turned the situation nuclear.

 

[Grav]

Why are we discussing Butters there is no way they let him walk...

Entertainment

For entertainment purposes only, might have to go on the main board and post…

Izak Rankine not happy with the way Adelaide handled his recent misdemeanour.
He now wants to join his distant relative Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera at St Kilda.

 

[Significant]

Just on Aleer, do we think we ever intended to do the deal or were we always just going to pull out?

One of the things he seemed to have going for him was his untapped potential, but he came into the GWS team and really didn't set the world on fire. Dod we get spooked?

The club will obviously make a statement about it in due course but I'd love to know what happened.

We did intend to do the trade, but it was predicated on the movement of other players to ensure we had the list spots.

Once it was clear Geelong weren't coming to the party with Marshall, and there weren't any suitors for Steele, we pulled the pin.

I think if any more of our players leave, then it may well bring Aleer back into the conversation, however the scorched earth approach taken isn't a great look.

 

[beside the seaside]

It wouldnt surprise me if we were aiming to walk him to the PSD draft until someone turned the situation nuclear.

How would it have gone nuclear though?

 

[L_W_P]

Prefer Pou’s ceiling over Butters, easily. Different types of players, but that’s my personal preference. Yes a long way to go to see how close to that ceiling he gets, but barring injury he has all the tools and devotion to make it.

Obvs if it’s about the next two years you’d hypothetically take Butters, but I’d rather develop our own stars, and Pou is the great unknown for us, especially beyond this two year push.

This post is not to suggest that Butters is a reality, more so that I’m so glad we finally have some blue chip talent of our own coming through. 27th December bday, Pou’s very young, and shown a lot despite injury. A lot a lot, it’s not just saints fans who rate him despite limited exposure. Gimme NAS, Pou, Tauru homegrown top tier >23 year old rising stars.

Not sure why you'd put a 2 year cap on Butters impact.

He only just turned 25. Younger than Sharman, King, Stocker, Dow, TDK, Clark, Higgins & JSOS who are all in the starting team or being kept as depth.

He's got 6+ years of elite level football left in him.

 

[Saintbloke]

Prefer Pou’s ceiling over Butters, easily. Different types of players, but that’s my personal preference. Yes a long way to go to see how close to that ceiling he gets, but barring injury he has all the tools and devotion to make it.

Obvs if it’s about the next two years you’d hypothetically take Butters, but I’d rather develop our own stars, and Pou is the great unknown for us, especially beyond this two year push.

This post is not to suggest that Butters is a reality, more so that I’m so glad we finally have some blue chip talent of our own coming through. 27th December bday, Pou’s very young, and shown a lot despite injury. A lot a lot, it’s not just saints fans who rate him despite limited exposure. Gimme NAS, Pou, Tauru homegrown top tier >23 year old rising stars.

Butters would be a priority over Pou any day for me. Pou has a lot of natural talent, but never really turned games like Butters can. I hope though that Pou can get his body right and have a great 2026 as time doesn't wait too long at AFL level.

 

[Saint Watto]

Tony74 being on the money again despite all industry experts claims is the real story here. He’s like Batman, shows up out of the blue, drops a bombshell and then just disappears.

Tony74 is better than Keyser Soze.

He just clicks his fingers......and......he's gone !

 

[Saints43]

Why are we discussing Butters there is no way they let him walk...

It's Butters or Aleer. I vote Butters.

 

[Minga]

Not sure why you'd put a 2 year cap on Butters impact.

He only just turned 25. Younger than Sharman, King, Stocker, Dow, TDK, Clark, Higgins & JSOS who are all in the starting team or being kept as depth.

He's got 6+ years of elite level football left in him.

It’s not a 2 year cap on Butters impact.

Seems pretty clear to me that season 2026 & 2027 are going to be a push to finals with our current list.

Hypothetically, going for butters and trading out long term pieces like Pou and multiple FRDP’s is pushing in on that timeline. Whereas Pou would still be developing.

Obviously we are tilting for a period of sustained success beyond 2027 also, and Butters would still be around, but we’d be giving up other potentially good players with longer careers ahead of them, again hypothetically.

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

It was when he was in and out of the side a bit. Obviously wasn’t happy with being dropped. The story was from Damo though so have to keep that in mind.

Darcy’s issue was more with Ross’ messaging to the media than actually being dropped.

He’s a very literal character so didn’t understand why Ross said that Darcy had requested a run in the VFL (when he hadn’t.) Ross was doing it to take heat off being dropped… from what I hear that sorted itself out pretty quickly.

 

[gringo2011]

Butters would be a priority over Pou any day for me. Pou has a lot of natural talent, but never really turned games like Butters can. I hope though that Pou can get his body right and have a great 2026 as time doesn't wait too long at AFL level.

He’s played 44 games so far. He was looking really good last year and did take control of matches. Chase Butters by all means but you don’t let good talent walk. You keep them and make them off limits. If Butters nominated us, Port gets what we offer as long as it’s reasonable. They have no entitlement to particular players that they’d like.

 

[Minga]

Butters would be a priority over Pou any day for me. Pou has a lot of natural talent, but never really turned games like Butters can. I hope though that Pou can get his body right and have a great 2026 as time doesn't wait too long at AFL level.

You’re right, though in his purple patch in season 2024 (IIRC) I sensed he was starting to have a say in the result of the games.

99% chance we are keeping Pou and not attaining Butters, so fortunately, I truly believe he had top class game winning potential. Barring injuries, it’s over to him to take that next step.

 

[stavro#4]

We did intend to do the trade, but it was predicated on the movement of other players to ensure we had the list spots.

Once it was clear Geelong weren't coming to the party with Marshall, and there weren't any suitors for Steele, we pulled the pin.

I think if any more of our players leave, then it may well bring Aleer back into the conversation, however the scorched earth approach taken isn't a great look.

And then your idea falls flat when you consider we pulled the pin 6 days out and Rowan still very much a chance to leave. But you are quadrupling down at this point.

 

[BrutThough]

How would it have gone nuclear though?

Someone leaked the situation to the media before we could even discuss it with the player. I doubt that was our intention when we pulled out of discussions with GWS.

 

[stavro#4]

Someone leaked the situation to the media before we could even discuss it with the player. I doubt that was our intention when we pulled out of discussions with GWS.

Agent probably canned it before we pulled the pin with GWS. It’s just what caused us to.

 

[StJimmy]

Just on Aleer, do we think we ever intended to do the deal or were we always just going to pull out?

One of the things he seemed to have going for him was his untapped potential, but he came into the GWS team and really didn't set the world on fire. Dod we get spooked?

The club will obviously make a statement about it in due course but I'd love to know what happened.

We weren’t doing the deal, changed our minds prior to trade period