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Delisted 40. Will Hayes

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Will be interesting to see if the club has a highlight package ready to go. They do for Sam Durdin. If not, might suggest Hayes was not a Plan A, B or C


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Has been terrific in the VFL, by far our best player to the degree we’ve looked second rate without him.

But… do we need another mid?

It does send a great message to the Carlton boys playing VFL that if you put in you’ll be rewarded and Hayes has put in. Also, he knows the game plan.


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He can compete for a wing spot against Cottrell, Newnes and O'Brien.Let's see if we can end up with 2 decent wingers out of that lot.
 
Appears to be more of a ball magnet than Boyd (not that that is the be all and end all)

Is strong and wins his own ball. That will suit our game plan.
 

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Hayes is far too good for VFL. Whether he will cut it at AFL is another story, but he’s been our cleanest mid and runs all day. Also can lay a tackle.

I think they have concerns about Cuners ever getting up and of course there’s Dow whose looking less and less likely being at the club next year. Also Philp has not shown much beyond a great last quarter against Preston last week and as we saw JC is still raw. So, I can see why they’ve gone this way.

The fact that no-one picked up Ballenden makes me wonder how much of it was media hype with his name floating around.


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Yep when you look at it this way it's not that surprising.

Could also add he's far outperforming Setterfield who is on thin ice and Ed Curnow is on his last legs.

Obviously our coaches would know him well and Ash Hansen too from his time at the Dogs...definitely trust they know what they're doing if they don't think guys like Ballenden are going to make it.
 
I'm such a **** pessimist but...

I really hope we don't get injury news in the next week that makes this selection seem a bit more obvious.

Unfortunately with the luck we've had, my mind goes straight there.

We have enough bodies to play midfield. This one seems more like rewarding VFL form and creating wing competition as they aren't exacting tearing it up in that position at the moment.
 
I share that concern.

I do wonder if the price Ballenden put on his head priced him out of our price range and didn't rate anybody else.

Ultimately, we addressed one need and got the most AFL ready player at that.
Ballenden would have been silly not to work it out with the clubs prior to setting his terms!
 

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From what I've seen so far, Will Hayes is an upgraded version of Jack Carroll. Natural position is on-ball but just as comfortable playing through the wing or up forward.

The fact that Ballenden nominated financial terms and an 18 month contract makes sense that we didn't pick him up, and the only other decent KPP which I can think of is Mutaz El Nour. Happy that at least with Hayes we can build on our wingers.
Maybe right this minute but Carroll's ceiling is way beyond.
 
Ballenden would have been silly not to work it out with the clubs prior to setting his terms!
As I posted when it was announced that he set his terms.

WWT pay him 30-35k to play for them.

They set him up with a job allowing him to meet his football commitments at 65k

To go back to the AFL system he could receive a significant reduction in wage, incur the costs of moving across the country, and potentially be delisted in 3 months.

He did the right thing by that and although he was overlooked I stand by that.
 

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He can compete for a wing spot against Cottrell, Newnes and O'Brien.Let's see if we can end up with 2 decent wingers out of that lot.
In that case there's every chance he could play seniors and is a somewhat needs pick as well as being our best VFL player.

Is strong and wins his own ball. That will suit our game plan.
We have enough bodies to play midfield. This one seems more like rewarding VFL form and creating wing competition as they aren't exacting tearing it up in that position at the moment.

Can he play HFF? Competition for someone like Carroll who's in that position currently.

We have our starting 5 mids who are locks, but Hayes could very well form a key part of our depth. Dow was OK vs Collingwood but his lack of defensive running doesn't suit our team and could see him being trade bait. Setters looks on thin ice...Hayes probably above him already in the pecking order. Ed Curnow will probably retire this year. Jack Carroll is only a 2nd year player and as we saw on the weekend, might not quite be ready.

So it's not implausible that Hayes could soon be our first mid replacement for any of our main 5 mids if they miss through injury. I don't think we would pick a player just to be a token 'rewarding our VFL system' selection.
 
From memory, Hayes debuted against us and I remember being impressed with him that night and surprised he was getting much of a game for the Dogs.

I like this policy of drafting natural, hard-working footballers. I firmly believe foot soldiers are underrated in footy, solid citizens who are skilful, ball magnets, neat skills and tough role players. All premiership sides have them to support the A graders. They do their job, apply pressure and make the most of opportunities.

I'm hopeful Hayes fits this mould in our side.
 
As I posted when it was announced that he set his terms.

WWT pay him 30-35k to play for them.

They set him up with a job allowing him to meet his football commitments at 65k

To go back to the AFL system he could receive a significant reduction in wage, incur the costs of moving across the country, and potentially be delisted in 3 months.

He did the right thing by that and although he was overlooked I stand by that.

Might just be in a position where he doesn't want to move interstate for a 6 month contract on minimum chips. Probably has a job to maintain.

I wasn't aware of his situation...

Still, you have to back yourself and give yourself the best opportunity to succeed.
Let's say he did get a 6months contract now; if he was good enough - what would the next contract be $$$ wise?
 
From memory, Hayes debuted against us and I remember being impressed with him that night and surprised he was getting much of a game for the Dogs.

I like this policy of drafting natural, hard-working footballers. I firmly believe foot soldiers are underrated in footy, solid citizens who are skilful, ball magnets, neat skills and tough role players. All premiership sides have them to support the A graders. They do their job, apply pressure and make the most of opportunities.

I'm hopeful Hayes fits this mould in our side.

I remember watching some Dogs game where he played and to be honest looked pretty average...wasn't surprised he got delisted.

But he's older now and in our system so has probably improved.

Agree he's the perfect low investment, role player type though. Seems versatile in the roles he can play, is a hard worker, hard runner and does the defensive stuff. That's all your role players need to do, like McIntosh and Castagna during Richmond's premierships.
 

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