Rumour GFC 2024 Player Trading, Drafting FA, Rumours and Wish lists Pt 1

[Lana]

Well the first line is key. If the group of high end fa’s/ trades that we have been linked to decide to side step us … then maybe we have to play what we have.

We've been targeting (linked to) a blue chip mid in that 25-27 age bracket since 2020, they've been picking other clubs.

 

[Turbocat]

We've been targeting (linked to) a blue chip mid in that 25-27 age bracket since 2020, they've been picking other clubs.

Who were the guys we missed on? I cant remember?

Hopper was one for sure. If Smith and others this year join him then yes its becoming a trend. To be honest it would not worry me to much… as you have inferred…its sort of a litmus test. .. then again ..going by Hopper… its sort of test on the players judgement to.

 

[Lana]

You've got to credit the club for knowing where we're at. Going all in after 2020 was a genius move that won us a flag.

They could've been sucked in to going big again since then but knew the time was likely passed. So we walked away from Hopper when the price got too much and focused on young talent.

It'll take time but clearly our young talent is miles ahead of anything we've had in a long time. Fast forward 2-3 years and things will look alright. Just need to develop that group and try to find a bit more quality anywhere we can.

Disagree with this. It'll be mainly the young players on the list currently developing into those roles. Not so sure about key forwards but the midfield and ruck look basically sorted to me they just need development.

Being better then our past doesn't say much, we had a gulf of non-mature elite midfield recruitment talent between Guthrie and Holmes.

Every team has some kids, We'd be in the bottom quartile in an objective comparison(if it was possible to do one).

 

[Lana]

Who were the guys we missed on? I cant remember?

Hopper was one for sure. If Smith and others this year join him then yes its becoming a trend. To be honest it would not worry me to much… as you have inferred…its sort of a litmus test. .. then again ..going by Hopper… its sort of test on the players judgement to.

In 2020 we were linked to both Crouch and Viney when they were both free agents

 

[supahoops]

Really? bad luck for the kid. historically … has it seen many top end kids slip too far?

A while ago now but there was a young kid from Bendigo who slid to us with questions on his knee, played a few games iirc

 

[supahoops]

You've got to credit the club for knowing where we're at. Going all in after 2020 was a genius move that won us a flag.

They could've been sucked in to going big again since then but knew the time was likely passed. So we walked away from Hopper when the price got too much and focused on young talent.

It'll take time but clearly our young talent is miles ahead of anything we've had in a long time. Fast forward 2-3 years and things will look alright. Just need to develop that group and try to find a bit more quality anywhere we can.

Yeah I’m not too concerned with our midfield in 2 years with the upside of Holmes, Clark, Dempsey and Mullin. Knevitt is the one we really need to come on plus a couple of imports.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Being better then our past doesn't say much, we had a gulf of non-mature elite midfield recruitment talent between Guthrie and Holmes.

Every team has some kids, We'd be in the bottom quartile in an objective comparison(if it was possible to do one).

I don't think we'd be in the bottom quartile at all. Just by pick positions I don't think we'd be in the bottom quartile let alone taking into account guys like Holmes and Dempsey who are miles ahead of they're draft position.

Look at the 6 drafts since 2019 and SDK, Holmes, Bruhn, O Henry, Dempsey, Clark, O'Sullivan and maybe Conway would go top 18 if you redid those drafts.

There are 18 clubs so you should have 1 per year so we have more than our share of top end talent over recent years. But we're very good at talking down our young talent. Essendon fans will tell you Tsatas is a gun while he can't get a game but Clark doesn't look a superstar while playing in a terrible midfield and our fans are writing him off as a bust.

Of course we haven't had talent on tap like some clubs but if we're smart with development and recruiting we can overcome that and be a very good team. It'll take time though.

 

[CHAWKTS]

I think we need to solve one problem at a time. Inside mids is the issue that has the potential solutions

When you say inside mids what are you thinking of?

My issue (which maybe the same) is that we have the same type of players going through there. No pace or explosion in the mix (when danger not playing which is most of the time). Adelaide and Essendon had the same problem but have made bold decisions in season (with the same list) to change it up. They have moved or left out some very reputable players (shields, laird etc) as they were same paced. And bought in some skill and explosion.

Our staples are Bruhn, Atkins, parfait, Bowes, Clark, Guthrie. All variations of the same type of player. Then moc and blitz and Duncan and sometime 2E go through but again all one paced. we get beaten for reaction time and speed out the back of the stoppage.

Once the game was lost we saw Holmes Miers and Mullin go through and I thought we went from badly losing to breaking even (or losing less!).

For us to advance in the future and frankly in 2024 I think we need to have either these 3 or players like them more permanently in the rotation. We can backfill Miers (Dempsey forward, close, mannagh) and Holmes (Mullin, wiltchire, Atkins) so I would hope they consider permanent move in the middle.

To do that though they need to leave out (or move to another position) I reckon 3 of the current mids (given danger will come back). Not sure Tanner can play another position and I think he and maybe Bowes are the ones we want to invest more in? So Parf, Atkins, Guthrie I think need to be re thought - which is harsh on all of them maybe….but

 

[CatRiot]

What are the other options is my next question.
A process of elimination of sorts.
Hugh McG? Not an inside bull. Again 1-1.2 mil per to pry out?
LDU ?? Not and inside Mid. Plus plenty of coin.

Left of centre options.

Can Zurhaar. 26yo 191/90kgs can he play inside? I think so. Motivation needed here IMO.
Ben Keays. 27yo bigger than our mids but not a Big Bull. underrated by plenty. We asked the question years ago.
Isaac Cumming. 25yo 188/85 ?? Playing in a deep midfield contingent. Jury out 4me.
Connor Nash. 25 198/94 ?? Love this guy. A better version of 2E ? Has plenty of upside. Big bastard.

Whisper of sorts.
Josh Battle from Saints. Inquires have been made. Decent defender only 25yo. Free Agent.
Liam Duggan again inquires have been made. Top 5 in the B&F 3 outta 4 years. Leader. Great addition for a team in transition?? Again a Free Agent.

Then of course there is Bailey SMITH.
Not an inside mid but would be a walk up start on the wing/pitch when the ball is bounced.

I reckon Bailey Smith can become an Inside Mid.

We have the wrecking ball George Stevens on the list... I think he will be a quick developer by next season given his size.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

We do need one but it’s not our top priority with our early pick/s.

No one said early picks they said trade for later picks.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

What are the other options is my next question.
A process of elimination of sorts.
Hugh McG? Not an inside bull. Again 1-1.2 mil per to pry out?
LDU ?? Not and inside Mid. Plus plenty of coin.

Left of centre options.

Can Zurhaar. 26yo 191/90kgs can he play inside? I think so. Motivation needed here IMO.
Ben Keays. 27yo bigger than our mids but not a Big Bull. underrated by plenty. We asked the question years ago.
Isaac Cumming. 25yo 188/85 ?? Playing in a deep midfield contingent. Jury out 4me.
Connor Nash. 25 198/94 ?? Love this guy. A better version of 2E ? Has plenty of upside. Big bastard.

Whisper of sorts.
Josh Battle from Saints. Inquires have been made. Decent defender only 25yo. Free Agent.
Liam Duggan again inquires have been made. Top 5 in the B&F 3 outta 4 years. Leader. Great addition for a team in transition?? Again a Free Agent.

Then of course there is Bailey SMITH.
Not an inside mid but would be a walk up start on the wing/pitch when the ball is bounced.

Battle is going to hawthorn.

I doubt duggan leaves wce.

 

[Turbocat]

In 2020 we were linked to both Crouch and Viney when they were both free agents

Yes linked, give you that ... but Im not sure they really are prime examples of us being on the nose. For example Viney stayed.

If Bail Smith turns his nose up … and goes to Haw ..then Im with you.

 

[Lana]

I don't think we'd be in the bottom quartile at all. Just by pick positions I don't think we'd be in the bottom quartile let alone taking into account guys like Holmes and Dempsey who are miles ahead of they're draft position.

Look at the 6 drafts since 2019 and SDK, Holmes, Bruhn, O Henry, Dempsey, Clark, O'Sullivan and maybe Conway would go top 18 if you redid those drafts.

There are 18 clubs so you should have 1 per year so we have more than our share of top end talent over recent years. But we're very good at talking down our young talent. Essendon fans will tell you Tsatas is a gun while he can't get a game but Clark doesn't look a superstar while playing in a terrible midfield and our fans are writing him off as a bust.

Of course we haven't had talent on tap like some clubs but if we're smart with development and recruiting we can overcome that and be a very good team. It'll take time though.

This shows the problem with drawing an arbitrary point(not really arbitrary 2019 the best place to draw the line for us), start it at 2017 and we gain nothing, Carlton just gained 23 year old Walsh and 24 year old Cerra etc. Those names are pretty much all we got, half of which aren't even proven.

 

[Footy Smarts]

This shows the problem with drawing an arbitrary point(not really arbitrary 2019 the best place to draw the line for us), start it at 2017 and we gain nothing, Carlton just gained 23 year old Walsh and 24 year old Cerra etc. Those names are pretty much all we got, half of which aren't even proven.

You've skipped Miers from 2017 who's pretty handy. And if you move back to 2016 we've got Stengle, Z Guthrie and J Henry (not sure exactly where they'd go but top 30 surely).

 

[Lana]

You've skipped Miers from 2017 who's pretty handy. And if you move back to 2016 we've got Stengle, Z Guthrie and J Henry (not sure exactly where they'd go but top 30 surely).

That's still quite a small number of players for 8 drafts/trade periods.

I've been playing around with a way to value clubs respective lists, I've settled expected games remaining. Function of pick, games played and age. Last time I calculated end of 2022, ours was the bottom of the league which made sense at the time but we really haven't turn the list over much since then.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

List spots is an issue? How many do you wish to add? What types are we thinking?

I'm not really thinking. I'm just emotional. I need to see some mids cracking in

 

[Footy Smarts]

That's still quite a small number of players for 8 drafts/trade periods.

It's really not. If you bring in 1 very good (say potential AA) player per draft and 1 role player you're recycling your team about right (24 players across 21-32 years of age).

Unless our development falls off a cliff we'll smash through that from the 2016-2023 drafts. Stewart, Stengle, Z Guthrie, J Henry, Miers, Atkins, Holmes, T Kelly, Close, SDK, Bruhn, O Henry, Dempsey, Conway, Clark and O'Sullivan is already 16 in 8 drafts and a bunch of them are excellent players. That's giving zero credit for any of Bowes, Parfitt, Mullin, Knevitt, etc let alone any chance a speculative pick or two from recent drafts comes good.

 

[sexyhunk]

one of the reason why we been able to stay competitive for good 20 years without constant father sons and NGA picks are we able to sign big time FA like dangerfield and cameron. that in itself set us apart from richmond and hawthorn who went and got good to very good players via trading. i wouldnt be surprise the club has identiify targets and been working on it for couple of years. most likely someone from the area

 

[Footy Smarts]

one of the reason why we been able to stay competitive for good 20 years without constant father sons and NGA picks are we able to sign big time FA like dangerfield and cameron. that in itself set us apart from richmond and hawthorn who went and got good to very good players via trading. i wouldnt be surprise the club has identiify targets and been working on it for couple of years. most likely someone from the area

Not true. We traded for both Cameron and Danger. In both cases plenty of people around here said we overpaid initially.

Richmond and Hawthorn actually got much more high profile free agents in Lynch and Frawley than we ever got.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

What players can we get from Gold Coast that are only playing 2s?

I'd have a crack at Davies for cheap.

Might never be a superstar, but would round out the future bmidfield we have to just needing the crown jewel.

Unfortunately, that last one is the hardest to find. We're either going to have to buy one, or draft them ourselves and wait another 3 years, so we're in a bit of predicament in that regard.

 

[year of the cat]

One would have to consider him..even trying to do a Holmes…. if we look like we may drop some fish might bite.

If we really feel like its mids we lack..then we should be trying to add picks this year. I have said my position ..is id be happy just to go to draft but if we could look at the Suns or Brisbane. Anyway to get an extra R1.


Sort of in sideline. Did we miss one with Chlosey? The kid going to GC with all that talent and still gets in.

Much will depend of course whether we go after a mature aged mid which will almost certainly require our R1 to be used.

If not, probably a little early now to be predicting where our draft position will be but you’d think the likes of Hotton or Lalor will come into consideration. If we continue to drop ladder position throughout the season then others will open up. Moraes is one I’d be keen on if available.

 

[terry_bright]

one of the reason why we been able to stay competitive for good 20 years without constant father sons and NGA picks are we able to sign big time FA like dangerfield and cameron. that in itself set us apart from richmond and hawthorn who went and got good to very good players via trading. i wouldnt be surprise the club has identiify targets and been working on it for couple of years. most likely someone from the area

We had to trade for both Cameron & Dangerfield.

Richmond got Lynch for nothing under free agency.
Hawthorn got Frawley under free agency.

Issac Smith and to a lesser Trent Rivers are the only players of note we have got through free agency.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

If you're bringing in a 21 year old like Perkins that's fine but I'm not sure we're in the list development stage to go hard at traded in mids unless they're genuine superstars.

I think we need to take our medicine a bit and get guys like Conway, Clark, Bruhn and Dempsey another 40 games and see where we're at.

Bringing in 21 years olds would hardly be a problem, that would be committing to the under 25 group, which is what we should be doing.

I'd be with you if you said 26-27, as that's Taranto & Hopper territory...but 21 is more than fine.

 

[CatRiot]

I'm not really thinking. I'm just emotional. I need to see some mids cracking in

Menstrual or too much soy in your latte? hehe

Jokes!

 

[Catman]

I used to be the same until our experiment with Isaac Smith.
2 great years without sacrificing any draft collateral sounds better the more i look back at the Isaac Smith acquisition.

He wasn't based over the other side of the country with a young family. Yeo's a gun, but I just don't see him moving over the other side of the country for a 2 year deal. A longer deal may prise him away though?

Not sure his questionable durability is what we need either.