List Mgmt. 2025 Premiership(s) List Making and Trading

[jackster83]

Every club is about to delist several players and draft a handful of kids. If we disregard the year everyone ages up then every club is about to have a decrease in average age. And most will be drafting in more 18 year olds than us.

Look, I agree that we're about to get younger as a squad. Just not dramatically so.

The main difference is we won't have too many experienced depth guys to choose from. Crouch, Smith, Murphy, Burgess and Schoenberg all gone.

 

[1990crow]

The main difference is we won't have too many experienced depth guys to choose from. Crouch, Smith, Murphy, Burgess and Schoenberg all gone.

This will be good for our future. Nicks actually being forced to pick players who might still be here in 5 years time when he's gone.

 

[Vader]

Maybe not required depends if we Father/Son Stevens and is not drafted we can Rookie List automatically. Or an alternative that we pass on 3rd Pick and hope Stevens gets through or not match bid. Otherwise isn't there a List Lodgements done before Rookie & PSD Draft.

From Google AI:

• Primary list: The primary list can have a maximum of 38 players.
  
  
• Rookie list: Each club can have a maximum of six eligible Category A rookies and three eligible Category B rookies.

No... because we need to make a minimum of 3x ND selections, including rookie upgrades. Passing on our 3rd round pick and drafting Stevens in the RD does not meet this criteria.

 

[Vader]

I think there'd be more of a risk of someone like Port taking Cook than Jones.

And the downside of this is?

One of the primary factors when choosing which player to downgrade is expendability. You pick a player you don't mind losing, should another club gazump you.

Should Port (or another club) gazump us with Cook the only changes are:

• We may end up paying some of his 2026 salary (if his salary at the new club is less than his previous contract with the AFC).
• We get to make a "live" pick in the RD, which we were not expecting to have.

 

[Vader]

Maybe not required depends if we Father/Son Stevens and is not drafted we can Rookie List automatically. Or an alternative that we pass on 3rd Pick and hope Stevens gets through or not match bid. Otherwise isn't there a List Lodgements done before Rookie & PSD Draft.

From Google AI:

• Primary list: The primary list can have a maximum of 38 players.
  
  
• Rookie list: Each club can have a maximum of six eligible Category A rookies and three eligible Category B rookies.

The AI information is correct - but incomplete. To clarify those list sizes... Clubs can have a maximum of 42 players on their senior + Cat A rookie lists. They have 3 options:

• 36x senior + 0-6x Cat A
• 37x senior + 0-5x Cat A
• 38x senior + 0-4x Cat A

They are under no obligation to fill their Cat A rookie lists completely, though this rarely happens. Only in cases of extreme salary cap pressure are clubs prevented from filling their lists.

In 2025 we had a 38+4 list structure, and it is likely that we will have the same list structure in 2026.

Cat B rookies are additional to the 42 player cap. We will have Indy Cotton on our Cat B list in 2026.

Our list changes to date have been:
OUT: Smith (ret), Crouch (ret), Strachan (ret), Murphy (del), Schoenberg (r)(del), Burgess (r)(del), Gallagher (r-B)(del)
IN: Maley (trade), McAndrew (r)(PSSP)

This leaves us with 3x senior and 1x Cat A rookie list vacancies. If we commit to selecting Ah Chee in the PSD, then that leaves us with 2x senior and 1x Cat A rookie list vacancies. This means that we would need to delist/re-draft one of our existing senior players in order to meet the AFL's mandatory minimum of 3x ND selections.

 

[BRL121]

No... because we need to make a minimum of 3x ND selections, including rookie upgrades. Passing on our 3rd round pick and drafting Stevens in the RD does not meet this criteria.

criterion

 

[Syd Crow]

criterion

That used to be a pub.

 

[crow2crow]

Every club is about to delist several players and draft a handful of kids. If we disregard the year everyone ages up then every club is about to have a decrease in average age. And most will be drafting in more 18 year olds than us.

Look, I agree that we're about to get younger as a squad. Just not dramatically so.

Its a lot. 1.375 years not 0.3 years we will be back near the bottom as I said. Lets wait for the official stats from fox but it will be significant

 

[cmndstab]

Its a lot. 1.375 years not 0.3 years we will be back near the bottom as I said. Lets wait for the official stats from fox but it will be significant

It will be closer to 0.3 or 0.4 years per player since the remaining players will all be a year older.

We're already closer to the bottom than the top. We will be a bit closer again to the bottom.

 

[Crow till I die]

I think there'd be more of a risk of someone like Port taking Cook than Jones.

To be honest, its not going to move the needle if they or aother side did take him or jones or sholl whichever player we look to re rookie.

 

[Cromulant]

To be honest, its not going to move the needle if they or aother side did take him or jones or sholl whichever player we look to re rookie.

There's a player in Cook i reckon

 

[Stripple]

I think the honest answer is they looked at the options they liked and realised they were gonna cost too much.

If we’re in to Bailey we don’t want to spend all our cash and picks too early.

It means we probably will struggle again in finals, but if we’re planning for the long haul then we can’t afford to do another Gibbs trade.

Obviously though that line doesn’t really sell well so “organic growth” it is.

Yeah think it's now vs long term success. Easy to get sucked in to our minor premier finish and think we are premiership material with one addition or minor tweaks. Better to aim for prolonged stay at the top when curtin/draper/tt/rachelle hitting their peak - need to give ourselves multiple cracks at a flag. Still worth exploring the short term fixes but considering what gold coast paid - its too much collateral.

Different argument about steele/oliver as their cost was reasonable - more about the exposure cost to our younger brigade. Do we get more out of curtin/draper by exposing them next year than having oliver/steel take their minutes.

 

[1990crow]

To be honest, its not going to move the needle if they or aother side did take him or jones or sholl whichever player we look to re rookie.

Cook could possibly be an AFL player if he really knuckles down this preseason.

Sholl and Jones have already done everything they can I think.

 

[Stripple]

Check this year's numbers out for yourself: https://www.afl.com.au/news/1341020...he-oldest-and-youngest-teams-of-2025-revealed

Excluding the clear outlier of Collingwood, there's around 2 years gap from top to bottom. Assuming everyone else stays the same (which they obviously won't) dropping 0.3 would only move us a couple of spots.

Would you not remove the 'squad is a year older' part of the equation as that applies to every team? Meaning we actually drop the 1.3 years mentioned above?

 

[moses]

Pies have delisted Tom Mitchell. Do we get him as a delisted free agent to boost the midfield?

 

[Cromulant]

Pies have delisted Tom Mitchell. Do we get him as a delisted free agent to boost the midfield?

No

 

[Daniel6]

Pies have delisted Tom Mitchell. Do we get him as a delisted free agent to boost the midfield?

Should we get Mason Coxs as well?

No, on both accounts.

 

[Vader]

Would you not remove the 'squad is a year older' part of the equation as that applies to every team? Meaning we actually drop the 1.3 years mentioned above?

The ages of the delisted players are:
Murphy - 26
Smith - 33
Crouch - 30
Strachan - 29
Burgess - 29
Schoenberg - 24
Gallagher - 23

That's a total of 194 years.

** Ages taken from draftguru, I'm not sure what date they used as their cutoff.

The ages of the replacements are (or will be in 2026):
Cotton - 18
Ah Chee - 28
Maley - 22
3x 18yo draftees = 54

That's a total of 122 years. The other 37 players remaining on the list will all have aged another year, so add 37 to that total = 159 years. That's 7 players out and 6 players in, noting that McAndrew was added to the list in the PSSP. McAndrew will be 25 years old next year.

Therefore, the cumulative age of our list will decrease by 194 - 158 - 25 = 10 years.

Given that we will have 43 players on the list, that's an average reduction of 0.23 years. This figure includes the aging of all our legacy players.

 

[1990crow]

And the downside of this is?

One of the primary factors when choosing which player to downgrade is expendability. You pick a player you don't mind losing, should another club gazump you.

Should Port (or another club) gazump us with Cook the only changes are:

• We may end up paying some of his 2026 salary (if his salary at the new club is less than his previous contract with the AFC).
• We get to make a "live" pick in the RD, which we were not expecting to have.

Downside?

Cook might be an AFL player going by some of his late season form.

We know Jones won't be.
I would hope the player who isn't good enough gets cut ahead of the other.

 

[Soggy2112]

Yeah think it's now vs long term success. Easy to get sucked in to our minor premier finish and think we are premiership material with one addition or minor tweaks. Better to aim for prolonged stay at the top when curtin/draper/tt/rachelle hitting their peak - need to give ourselves multiple cracks at a flag. Still worth exploring the short term fixes but considering what gold coast paid - its too much collateral.

Different argument about steele/oliver as their cost was reasonable - more about the exposure cost to our younger brigade. Do we get more out of curtin/draper by exposing them next year than having oliver/steel take their minutes.

Excellent points.

Fletcher, Marshall, Gallop, Ah Chee, Morris, Ah Chee, Lohmann, Dunkley, Ashcroft x2, Reville and Wilmot were all brought in after the Lions first cracked finals. That’s over half a premiership team brought in after the point where we currently are.

 

[Vader]

Downside?

Cook might be an AFL player going by some of his late season form.

We know Jones won't be.
I would hope the player who isn't good enough gets cut ahead of the other.

He might be... but it's unlikely. The odds on him making it are only marginally different to that of Jones. Jones' chances might be 10%, compared to 11% for Cook. So little as to make no difference at all.

 

[cmndstab]

Would you not remove the 'squad is a year older' part of the equation as that applies to every team? Meaning we actually drop the 1.3 years mentioned above?

That's a weird argument. If we're talking about the actual drop in age, you obviously need to include it.

On the other hand, if you're only talking in relative terms, you need to think about how many draftees the teams below us are going to bring in. No point just quoting our own number if we're talking in relative terms. Every team delists players older than 18 and brings a bunch of new 18 year olds in.

 

[dogs105]

Next year’s delisting/retirements seem pretty obvious unless some of these players improve dramatically.

Tex - retire
Sholl - delist
Cook - Delist
Borlase - Delist
Jones - Delist
Welsh - Delist

Amongst our older players, I expect Hinge and Laird to get another contract.

Some of our younger players may be seeking opportunities elsewhere; Dowling, Berry, Pedlar, Edwards, Ryan, Taylor and Butts. I am however hopeful that a couple of these cement a spot in our best 23 next year.

Welsh has been on the list for less than 12 months

 

[dogs105]

He might be... but it's unlikely. The odds on him making it are only marginally different to that of Jones. Jones' chances might be 10%, compared to 11% for Cook. So little as to make no difference at all.

That's a 10 percent higher chance!

 

[1990crow]

He might be... but it's unlikely. The odds on him making it are only marginally different to that of Jones. Jones' chances might be 10%, compared to 11% for Cook. So little as to make no difference at all.

Well, not really. 11 is better than 10.