Recruiting AFL Trade & Free Agency IX

[Lore]

Spoiler: 2021 Key Dates

AFL TRADE, DRAFT AND FREE AGENCY DATES 2021

Grand Final
Saturday September 25

Draft Combine – Vic Country
Friday October 1

Restricted and Unrestricted Free Agency Window
Friday October 1 – Friday October 8

Delisted Free Agency Window 1
Wednesday October 3 - Monday October 15

Trade Period (picks and players)
Monday October 4 (9am) – Wednesday October 13 (7.30pm)

Draft Combines (States and Regions)
VM: Saturday October 9 (tbc)
Qld: Sunday October 10
Tas: Monday October 11
SA: Saturday October 16
WA: Sunday October 17
NSW&ACT: tbc
NT: will join SA or Qld

Trade Period (picks only)
Monday October 18 – Monday November 15

List Lodgement 1
Friday October 29

Delisted Free Agency Window 1
Wednesday November 3 (9am) – Tuesday November 9 (5pm)

List Lodgement 2 (Final date for primary list delistings)
Wednesday November 10 (2pm)

Delisted Free Agency Window 2
Thursday November 11 (9am) – Monday November 15 (5pm)

Draft Nominations Due
Wednesday November 17 (3pm)

Pre-Season Commences (First to fourth year players)
Monday November 22

National Draft
Round 1: Wednesday November 24 (7pm)
Round 2–end: Thursday November 25 (7pm)

Rookie Upgrade Period
Thursday November 25 (10pm) - Thursday November 25 (11pm)

Delisted Free Agency Window 3
Thursday November 25 (10pm) - Thursday November 25 (11pm)

Pre-Selected Rookie Nominations Due (Includes Academy, Father/Son)
Friday November 26 (12pm) - Friday November 26 (12.30pm)

Preseason Draft
Friday November 26 (3pm)

Pre-Selected Rookie Notification
Friday November 26 (3.15pm)

Rookie Draft
Friday November 26 (3.20pm)

Final List Lodgement
Monday November 29 (4pm)

Pre-Season Commences (All other players)
Monday December 6

Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period (SSP)
December - March (tbc)

Current Contract Status
2021 Draft Watch
Father/Son and NGA
Adrian Dodoro

 

[Godzke]

so captain obvious question here - why did Alec Waterman cut it with the Eagles?

 

[11kgm]

so captain obvious question here - why did Alec Waterman cut it with the Eagles?

was sick with glandular fever could no longer be a mid, went and became a forward at WAFL level

 

[Maxabillions]

Will sign waterman today according to herald sun

 

[Obeanie1]

Will sign waterman today according to herald sun

Mark today down...................the father son code is no longer........

 

[Obeanie1]

It is about optics, but not the optics I think you're alluding to.

Players need to understand that if they are performing at a certain level whilst on trial, that they will be picked up. Not just for them, but for every other player that might be deciding between training with us, or training with someone else.

An example of BAD optics, is allowing Nick Hind to be drafted by St Kilda ahead of us.

He kicked 3 goals in the final quarter after sitting out the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Opposition would have been tired etc and he comes back on fresh. One goal was a 50m penalty.

People getting a tad carried away with a four goal performance in a scratch match.

 

[Maxabillions]

Mark today down...................the father son code is no longer........

You delisted him...

You can have Jake Long if you want?

 

[JT_the_Man]

He kicked 3 goals in the final quarter after sitting out the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Opposition would have been tired etc and he comes back on fresh. One goal was a 50m penalty.

People getting a tad carried away with a four goal performance in a scratch match.

4 goals in 2 quarters is pretty impressive no matter what way you look at it.

 

[Lore]

Fred: #42?: Alec Waterman - Welcome to Essendon!

 

[blitzer]

He kicked 3 goals in the final quarter after sitting out the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Opposition would have been tired etc and he comes back on fresh.

So essentially he's a forward version of Naitanui. Got it.

 

[Old Campaigner]

anyone have a copy of this article they care to past here?

 

[11kgm]

anyone have a copy of this article they care to past here?

Circumstance has forced Essendon to temper its expectations, but injuries and departures have opened the door for a new order that could be very special.

Kevin Sheedy never just enters a room, he appears from nowhere with all the theatrics of a Broadway veteran.
On Thursday at Carlton’s Parkside cafe, ahead of the Essendon-Blues scratch match, up bobbed Sheedy between two pot plants as an adjoining table discussed the new version of the baby Bombers.
Watch every match of the 2021 AAMI Community Series LIVE on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now & start streaming instantly >


“You have just got to play these kids,” said Sheedy, 29 years after he gave a willing band of youth their chance midway through the 1992 season.
An hour later there was No.8 selection Nik Cox as a preposterously tall wingman, Sam Draper doing a more than passable Max Gawn impression and Archie Perkins sidestepping Sam Docherty with all the swagger of future star.

Towering Nik Cox has the Dons excited by his prospects. Picture: Getty Images
History charts that Sheedy’s mob would win the flag by 1993, with a blend of audacious young kids and veterans like Tim Watson.
Essendon knows this is no Port Adelaide-style bounce where three first-year draftees help slingshot the club back into finals contention.
No, this is very much a club realising that for all of its intent to challenge with acquired talent (Devon Smith, Dylan Shiel, Jake Stringer), it had no option but to dramatically change tack and go back to the draft.
And in a manner that might see that 6000-day long drought since a winning final extend for some years yet.


Essendon knows it, the fans who watched on Thursday know it, and, as soon as everyone is on the same page, the rest of the supporter base can get on with acknowledging this might be a bottom four-and-building year, rather than a top-four-and-challenging season.

It’s not all doom and gloom if Zach Merrett leaves the Bombers in free agency. Picture: Getty Images
In the off-season, Essendon lost four players who should be in their absolute peak, both in skill and age demographic – Adam Saad, Joe Daniher, Orazio Fantasia and Connor McKenna.
Michael Hurley’s gaunt appearance on Thursday – having lost up to 10kg and still barely able to walk – highlights that any 2021 games will be a bonus from here, given his hip infection.
Cale Hooker has lost up to 6kg and will play forward.
At 32, retirement could have been on the cards, but he dedicated himself to becoming a lighter, more agile player. With his soft-tissue problems he has a real challenge to play regular impactful football, while Dyson Heppell’s foot issues have seen him pensioned off to half back.
It adds up to seven players repurposed, diminished in impact or gone to rival clubs instead of taking the Dons to the promised land.
As assistant coach Blake Caracella inferred on Thursday, this could be a rollercoaster year.
“(Jy) Caldwell played really well. He is a strong-bodied inside mid who will complement (Andy) McGrath and (Zach) Merrett and (Dylan) Shiel and (Kyle) Langford,” Caracella said.
“We have quite a deep midfield and a lot of young kids to fill spots around them.”
That’s the bad news.
Here is the good stuff.

Archie Perkins has been impressive in his time at the Bombers. Picture: Getty Images
A bottom-four year might hand the Dons the draft capital to put together two exceptional drafts, and the bedrock for the resurgence.
The Dons can’t afford to lose another 25-year-old – this time Zach Merrett – who will take his time considering his free agency options and might still walk.
Get your copy of the gloss Footy 2021 magazine at selected Coles and Woolworths supermarkets and participating newsagents with your Herald Sun for $7.95
But if he did, in a year where the Dons finished bottom two, the reward would be a top-three draft pick in a national draft that is finally uncompromised, handing Essendon five top-10 picks in two years.
The Draper comparison isn’t a throwaway line.
The 22-year-old, with eight games under his belt, is capable of, at some stage in his career, being the best ruckman in the game.

Could Sam Draper be the Dons’ version of Max Gawn. Picture: Getty Images
He is wild and at times cumbersome, all arms and legs as he charges around the ground.
Like Gawn he throws at himself at every high ball then, moments later, he’s at the bottom of the pack squirting out a handball or booting the footy up field.
Refined, he ain’t.
But he just might be something special for the next decade.
Essendon thinks Nik Cox will start Round 1 on the wing but could develop into a pure mid, while Harry Jones’ first real steps in Bombers’ colours as a marking tall were highly encouraging.
Throw in No.10 pick Zach Reid, Jordan Ridley, Ned Cahill and Nick Hind off half back, a rejuvenated Peter Wright, Caldwell’s emergence as an inside mid and the kids will be all right.
Now it is up to Ben Rutten to sell the message with transparency and insight — as he works behind the scenes to rid this list of selfishness and individualism.
It might not be the preferred path from as recently as early last year, but Essendon knows it is the only way forward.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Cheers!

Pretty much what I thought it would be but interesting nonetheless

 

[fairbump_playon]

Will sign waterman today according to herald sun

I bet they had to use a really stocky pen for the contract

 

[Towno78]

Mark today down...................the father son code is no longer........

Right.
A generational talent, hailing from possibly the most famous Essendon name in history walks out on his father's club.
And you think we should care we picked up a rookie who you delisted a few years ago?

 

[Obeanie1]

Right.
A generational talent, hailing from possibly the most famous Essendon name in history walks out on his father's club.
And you think we should care we picked up a rookie who you delisted a few years ago?

Lol.....I had to stop and think what are you talking about......

Carry on.

 

[JayJ20]

Luke Beveridge says Josh Dunkley is ‘not at his best’ and there’s ‘pressure on for his spot’

He shocked Dogs with a ‘head-scratcher’ trade request. Now Dunkley’s spot is under threat

www.foxsports.com.au

Why would Bevo say this publicly? He'll end up driving Dunkley's value down by the end of the year because he'll either drop him at some stage or keep playing him out of position (or both).

 

[boncer34]

Luke Beveridge says Josh Dunkley is ‘not at his best’ and there’s ‘pressure on for his spot’

He shocked Dogs with a ‘head-scratcher’ trade request. Now Dunkley’s spot is under threat

www.foxsports.com.au

Why would Bevo say this publicly? He'll end up driving Dunkley's value down by the end of the year because he'll either drop him at some stage or keep playing him out of position (or both).

This is the same man that helped hold Stringer under the bus as the root of all evil at the Dogs and then expected full price at the trade table.

 

[VelvetSledge]

Luke Beveridge says Josh Dunkley is ‘not at his best’ and there’s ‘pressure on for his spot’

He shocked Dogs with a ‘head-scratcher’ trade request. Now Dunkley’s spot is under threat

www.foxsports.com.au

Why would Bevo say this publicly? He'll end up driving Dunkley's value down by the end of the year because he'll either drop him at some stage or keep playing him out of position (or both).

This is the same man that helped hold Stringer under the bus as the root of all evil at the Dogs and then expected full price at the trade table.

This. Really takes me back.

 

[JayJ20]

This is the same man that helped hold Stringer under the bus as the root of all evil at the Dogs and then expected full price at the trade table.

This. Really takes me back.

Yep. Another Stringer situation looming.
Not really a wise guy especially with Dodoro lurking. You keep that in house.

Almost guaranteed he'll drop him at some stage when Treloar is fit. Bont, Libba, Smith, Macrae and Treloar would be ahead of him. Martin plays ahead of Dunkley in the ruck. Bont, Naughton and Bruce play ahead of him as a forward. JUH too whenever he is ready.

Imagine Dunkley vs Dunkley in the VFL?

 

[owen87]

This is the same man that helped hold Stringer under the bus as the root of all evil at the Dogs and then expected full price at the trade table.

Bevo really seems like a bit of a moron I have to say.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Bevo really seems like a bit of a moron I have to say.

Bevo seems very emotionally driven. Sounded like a jilted lover when talking about Dunkley’s shocking betrayal

 

[BrunoV]

Luke Beveridge says Josh Dunkley is ‘not at his best’ and there’s ‘pressure on for his spot’

He shocked Dogs with a ‘head-scratcher’ trade request. Now Dunkley’s spot is under threat

www.foxsports.com.au

Why would Bevo say this publicly? He'll end up driving Dunkley's value down by the end of the year because he'll either drop him at some stage or keep playing him out of position (or both).

This is the same man that helped hold Stringer under the bus as the root of all evil at the Dogs and then expected full price at the trade table.

He's a stubborn bastard, Beveridge.

Very hard to be at your best when you're playing a role that you're really only supposed to be pinch hitting in.

Where exactly is the need for a slow 190cm marking forward next to English/Martin, Naughton, Bruce and Bont? I assume JUH will be a factor sooner rather than later.

 

[11kgm]

bevo is a campaigner

 

[JayJ20]

He's a stubborn bastard, Beveridge.

Very hard to be at your best when you're playing a role that you're really only supposed to be pinch hitting in.

Where exactly is the need for a slow 190cm marking forward next to English/Martin, Naughton, Bruce and Bont? I assume JUH will be a factor sooner rather than later.

Yep. He can't seem to keep his emotions out of this.

Then Bulldogs want us to trade for Dunkley the mid, not Dunkley the undersized and slow KPP.

I never understood the reason for keeping Dunkley.

The acquisition of Martin makes Dunkley's role in the ruck redundant.
The acquisition of Treloar makes his role in the midfield shaky.
The acquisition of JUH makes his role in the forwardline redundant.

I don't think they thought this through.

 

[DapperJong]

Bevo wears cargo shorts and skates mini ramp LOL