Player Watch Liam McMahon (Delisted 2022)

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At the end of last year I thought he was a bust and would have agreed with his delisting. As even the attempts to change his position were only a thinly veiled attempt to see if he had anything they could use.

He surprised me though, with his progress in the defensive line. Still not up to playing a role in the AFL but at least there were positive signs. His assets were his kicking. It was elite in comparison to others we have in the VFL. He had penetration and could spoil at 198cm. But his man marking was ordinary. And he needed another 8-10kg to be AFL ready.

Unfortunately for McMahon he is a victim of the times. No longer are teams able to put the 3/4 years into developing players and hoping they’ll get something from them. Unless they show signs in the first two years and play games. They are done now. Look at Rantall. He had even less time. Especially with the MSD. You can pick up 22-24 year olds playing in the WAFL/SANFL/VFL as automatic fill ins without lifting a finger in development.

I hope the kid gets rookied. But I won’t be holding my breath.


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Both had the 2 years specified for kids taken in the national draft.
 
Both had the 2 years specified for kids taken in the national draft.

Randall had the two worst years though with both 2020 and 2021 being a vfl write off . I think it’s hard delisting anybody after two years, especially talls. McMahon can count himself unlucky but the club has made the call.
 
Randall had the two worst years though with both 2020 and 2021 being a vfl write off . I think it’s hard delisting anybody after two years, especially talls. McMahon can count himself unlucky but the club has made the call.
Given we are looking for key position players, this kid being cut at such a young age suggests the club feels there are significant enough issues in his game that they can't be fixed. Would have thought another year wouldn't hurt.
 

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Given we are looking for key position players, this kid being cut at such a young age suggests the club feels there are significant enough issues in his game that they can't be fixed. Would have thought another year wouldn't hurt.

What gets me with that is why spend pick 33 or so on a speculative kid unless you are prepared to off the bat give him 3-4 years?

I’d blame Hine… but by the looks of it the new regime values 2nd hand plug in and play role playing KPP over developing kids for 3-4 years (before they potentially can play seniors)

Says to me that unless a KPP talent slips through that they will draft a mid or two this year
 
What gets me with that is why spend pick 33 or so on a speculative kid unless you are prepared to off the bat give him 3-4 years?

I’d blame Hine… but by the looks of it the new regime values 2nd hand plug in and play role playing KPP over developing kids for 3-4 years (before they potentially can play seniors)

Says to me that unless a KPP talent slips through that they will draft a mid or two this year
Especially given the recruitment of McStay and Frampton. The best KPF prospect (Cadman) will be out of our range, but if we took Keeler I wouldn't be surprised (with a pick nabbed from either Geelong or the Dees).
 
We didn’t know it was pick 2 though as much as you with the benefit of hindsight think it was obvious.
Whilst we didn't know it was pick 2, we should have known that every pick between 1 and 18 is more valuable than pick 30 and 31...
 
Randall had the two worst years though with both 2020 and 2021 being a vfl write off . I think it’s hard delisting anybody after two years, especially talls. McMahon can count himself unlucky but the club has made the call.

Different discussion. Both contracted for 2 year periods October to October was the only point I was making.
 
Whilst we didn't know it was pick 2, we should have known that every pick between 1 and 18 is more valuable than pick 30 and 31...

That’s why we got two in exchange. You and I both know that the draft never goes in the exact order of tslent. Water under the bridge now but that deal was the least of our problems in 2020.
 
Maybe we are getting Weideman from Melbourne as part of the Grundy transaction? So again, McMahon is not required.
 

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Does a 25 year-old dud make a 2nd year prospect unnecessary?
To be honest, I've seen nothing of McMahon to suggest he has a future. Can give him another year, but it may be just delaying the inevitable. He was recruited as a forward, but was poor and had to be thrown to defence. In defence, he gets lost and panics when 1v1 rarely beating his opponent.
He seems to be very vocal on the ground, but just doesn't look up to it. Charlie Dean is well ahead of him. Would I take Weideman or McMahon? Weideman without a doubt.

Not saying that will happen, and maybe the reason is as simple as the cub not thinking he is up to it and would rather have the list spot for draftees of which I'm sure at least 1 will be a tall key position player. We are all of a sudden going to be full of key talls. Probably an imbalance in the list.
 
To be honest, I've seen nothing of McMahon to suggest he has a future. Can give him another year, but it may be just delaying the inevitable. He was recruited as a forward, but was poor and had to be thrown to defence. In defence, he gets lost and panics when 1v1 rarely beating his opponent.
He seems to be very vocal on the ground, but just doesn't look up to it. Charlie Dean is well ahead of him. Would I take Weideman or McMahon? Weideman without a doubt.

Not saying that will happen, and maybe the reason is as simple as the cub not thinking he is up to it and would rather have the list spot for draftees of which I'm sure at least 1 will be a tall key position player. We are all of a sudden going to be full of key talls. Probably an imbalance in the list.
I think Weideman is a waste of a roster slot if we're adding Frampton.
 
We also got some points back in 2021 for Naicos that was the equivalent to about a second rounder I think

The original trade was pick 24, 30 and a future fourth round pick for our future first. If in the same draft, 30 and a future fourth might be enough to trade up from 24 to about 18 - not much higher though.

We then traded down pick 24 a couple of times in order to get 2 future thirds for Daicos picks.
 
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That’s why we got two in exchange. You and I both know that the draft never goes in the exact order of tslent. Water under the bridge now but that deal was the least of our problems in 2020.
No it was the final compounding of the 2020 disaster. Club kept double downing on mistakes. 2020 draft was partly used as a PR exercise to settle fan unrest. Jake Niall sitting in to report on activities, convoluted draft machinations, which were subsequently reported very favourably. Unfortunately we traded the 2021 1st based on about the least valuable senario there was. And it came back to bite us which was no surprise.
 
No it was the final compounding of the 2020 disaster. Club kept double downing on mistakes. 2020 draft was partly used as a PR exercise to settle fan unrest. Jake Niall sitting in to report on activities, convoluted draft machinations, which were subsequently reported very favourably. Unfortunately we traded the 2021 1st based on about the least valuable senario there was. And it came back to bite us which was no surprise.

Agree with all of this.

Memo to the club: if we lose Grundy and Henry this year, I want the best possible return for them. A late second this year and an opportunity for a puff piece on a draftee pales into insignificance vs. a future first and some deferred gratification. Good PR isn’t worth compromising our outcomes.
 

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