List Mgmt. List Management 2025-26

[240volt]

So on June 5 at post #1,693 in this thread, C4 starts the Bailey to Port theory. Almost 4 months, I doubt that theory is still alive - for 2025 trade period at least.

After the GF I said I have to find out where the Bailey to Port talk started.

Will be interesting if he is a RFA in 2026. Will Brisbane match any offer put to him? If he is an RFA, we wont have the draft capital to price him out if we are going after Dougie and Zak stays.

If he isn't an RFA, Brisbane will be somewhat happy to get a first round pick for him which probably is between pick 15 and 20 before player bids.

Pipe dreams

 

[squinto]

So on June 5 at post #1,693 in this thread, C4 starts the Bailey to Port theory. Almost 4 months, I doubt that theory is still alive - for 2025 trade period at least.

After the GF I said I have to find out where the Bailey to Port talk started.

Will be interesting if he is a RFA in 2026. Will Brisbane match any offer put to him? If he is an RFA, we wont have the draft capital to price him out if we are going after Dougie and Zak stays.

If he isn't an RFA, Brisbane will be somewhat happy to get a first round pick for him which probably is between pick 15 and 20 before player bids.

Have Port Adelaide ever matched an offer for players leaving??
Always thought Amon & Impey should have been kept, but understand the contracts landscape has changed significantly since then!
I think that’s the difference with the top teams, they attract good players & also retain them.

 

[shewho]

Bailey next year could work. Brisbane are in a position that they couldn’t match a big $ bid. Remember they spent big on Doedee as well as having to reward all their premiership players. They’ll pay for Allen and maybe more. Have to hope Bailey wants a shot at 3 in a row.

 

[Relativity]

i genuinely dont see how we compete for a flag any time soon.
Brisbane will be around the mark for years. they have had the benifits from cheap academy players and cheap father sons. now they are closing that loop hole. we wont get the same benifits.
then theres teams like sydney, who benefit thr same, geelong and collingwood who work outside the salary cap.
the next 5 to 8 years have already been decided. no teams can catch up with the loop holes now closed

I think it was C4 who floated the idea of reigning in the academy/fs picks by limiting how many a club can select over a 5 year period. This would maintain the incentive for clubs to invest in their academies without penalising clubs like ours because of some arbitrary shut off date. I think this could work.

 

[P4Life]

Bailey next year could work. Brisbane are in a position that they couldn’t match a big $ bid. Remember they spent big on Doedee as well as having to reward all their premiership players. They’ll pay for Allen and maybe more. Have to hope Bailey wants a shot at 3 in a row.

Im with you Shewho, but i think a condition of this will be that Butters has to stay. End of 2026 Bailey wants to get back to SA and he has his choice between Port without Butters or the Crows, I'm thinking the Crows will be considered the closer to Flag.

 

[jakey]

i genuinely dont see how we compete for a flag any time soon.
Brisbane will be around the mark for years. they have had the benifits from cheap academy players and cheap father sons. now they are closing that loop hole. we wont get the same benifits.
then theres teams like sydney, who benefit thr same, geelong and collingwood who work outside the salary cap.
the next 5 to 8 years have already been decided. no teams can catch up with the loop holes now closed

Sorry, but this is just such nonsense. No one can tell you with any accuracy who's going to drop off and who's going to rise over the next 5-8 years. Its as likely as anything that people will be bed wetting about the dynasties of 3 different clubs in about 2 October's time. A club with a proper coach and a few good players can nail a couple D&T periods and win a flag.

 

[philthy05]

So on June 5 at post #1,693 in this thread, C4 starts the Bailey to Port theory. Almost 4 months, I doubt that theory is still alive - for 2025 trade period at least.

After the GF I said I have to find out where the Bailey to Port talk started.

Will be interesting if he is a RFA in 2026. Will Brisbane match any offer put to him? If he is an RFA, we wont have the draft capital to price him out if we are going after Dougie and Zak stays.

If he isn't an RFA, Brisbane will be somewhat happy to get a first round pick for him which probably is between pick 15 and 20 before player bids.

Brisbane will be back to back , maybe 3 peat champions when Zac is ooc, having just made Draper and Allen big free agency offers and a bunch of players needing contract extensions , including will Ashcroft who’s ooc in 2026 and will have an insane jump in contract from his rookie extension to likely one of the highest paid players in the afl.


If they can match a free agency offer for Bailey the system would be broken.

 

[Waspy79]

Have Port Adelaide ever matched an offer for players leaving??
Always thought Amon & Impey should have been kept, but understand the contracts landscape has changed significantly since then!
I think that’s the difference with the top teams, they attract good players & also retain them.

I believe the intent with matching an offer is not to retain the player, but to force a trade with the destination club.

I don't think Port have tried this on yet, and I doubt Impey was a RFA, and possibly Amon wasn't either.

Butters will be RFA (if he remains unsigned) - I can almost guarantee Port will force a trade if he seeks to leave as a single first round draft pick is not adequate compensation.

 

[PJ Power]

I think our list could compete with Brisbane with tweaks to our small/high forward, wing and small/lockdown defender positions. That and a massive, ruthless mindset-culture change across the board.

 

[TeeKray]

I think our list could compete with Brisbane with tweaks to our small/high forward, wing and small/lockdown defender positions. That and a massive, ruthless mindset-culture change across the board.

We need to move away from the BigFooty/Kane Cornes obsession with lists. The fact is you statistically have a 1/18 chance of having the best list at any given point in time and realistically it's close enough to a 0% chance in the real world given the advantages enjoyed by the northern clubs and the big Victorian clubs.

Sure, you need some level of talent to compete, but you don't need to be the absolute best. And sure, there will be some years (like this year) where the most talented team does in fact run the table and there won't be much you can do. But the focus should be on developing that winning culture you have referred to because until we see a paradigm shift in that regard there is no chance this club ever wins a premiership no matter what the list looks like.

 

[PJ Power]

We need to move away from the BigFooty/Kane Cornes obsession with lists. The fact is you statistically have a 1/18 chance of having the best list at any given point in time and realistically it's close enough to a 0% chance in the real world given the advantages enjoyed by the northern clubs and the big Victorian clubs.

Sure, you need some level of talent to compete, but you don't need to be the absolute best. And sure, there will be some years (like this year) where the most talented team does in fact run the table and there won't be much you can do. But the focus should be on developing that winning culture you have referred to because until we see a paradigm shift in that regard there is no chance this club ever wins a premiership no matter what the list looks like.

I agree with this. Getting more and the most out of the players we have through culture, attitude, mindset, development, strategy, game style, conditioning and management is the way to leap frog back to the top.

The point I was trying to make is that we have good enough cattle but there are 2-3 areas where we need stronger players. Whether they can be developed from within remains to be seen.

 

[240volt]

I think our list could compete with Brisbane with tweaks to our small/high forward, wing and small/lockdown defender positions. That and a massive, ruthless mindset-culture change across the board.

Your being honest and saying our list as it stands right now is good enough to win a flag with some tweaking?

 

[all seeing eye]

Its becoming clearer that todays game is won with high quality mids and a fleet of high half forwards who work both ends of the ground. Put our draft stocks into continually building these areas , in our case those hhfs as a priority.

 

[240volt]

Its becoming clearer that todays game is won with high quality mids and a fleet of high half forwards who work both ends of the ground. Put our draft stocks into continually building these areas , in our case those hhfs as a priority.

Also a big defender like Andrews who can take any big forward but can also control the game from the back line.
Players that run with the ball and actually kick over 50m to a forward line that has players on the move.
Small forwards that actually kick goals.
Defenders that don’t have brain fades when they have the ball in the open part of the ground.
A ruck who continually doesn’t tap the ball to the opposition players.
You could go on forever.

 

[PJ Power]

Your being honest and saying our list as it stands right now is good enough to win a flag with some tweaking?

Our rucks should not be inferior to Brisbane or Geelong’s.

Our midfield (Butters, JHF, Bergman, Rozee, Drew, Wines, Brodie) should be able to match all other midfields including Brisbane’s.
There’s no reason for us not to demand and expect more from Drew and Wines to get back to their best. What’s their excuse?

Why can’t JHF look at Daicos, Holmes and Ashcroft and not get more out of himself to perform the way they do consistently and in big games? The BS of being young doesn’t wash. Ashcroft has two NS by his third year. Has not played a bad final out of 8. I’m scratching my head to remember a memorable JHF - or Butters, or Rozee - performance in a final.

Bergman should become a point of difference in our midfield from here on. A powerful two-way mid who can go head to head and beat the opposition’s best defensively while driving the footy offensively.

Our wings lack a Dempsey, Josh Daicos or McLuggage. We had a history of giving away/losing wingmen under Hinkley and not maximising their value. I can’t see an A-grade wing on our list, unless Lai or Evans can be fast-tracked into that role. Personally, I’d let J. Burgoyne settle as a defender because he can defend well. Try Lai as that mid-sized, high marking, power wingman. Moraes on the other wing running the lines.

Key positions are not dire. Brisbane won the flag with Morris, Gallop and the Big O. Whitlock can be better than Gallop. Morris is a freak but Georgiades although older, is just as good, if not better. One of Lukosius, Marshall or Visentini needs to become a reliable third option, without being injured every second week.

Tall backs - you can’t tell me BZT and Ratugolea can’t be as reliable as Lester and Gardner. Sure Andrews is a superstar and Aliir is not his level, but he’s not shabby either, and Ramm has shown Andrews-like qualities in the early stages of his SANFL career.

That leaves small-high forward and small-mid defenders. By far the biggest weakness of our list and where Brisbane, Geelong, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Adelaide and GWS all shit on us. We need to nail those parts of the ground.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

So is Trade Radio talking non-stop about Port's incoming recruits?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

And tbh, I'm quite happy if we are not on this merry-go-round for a change.

Let the other team's supporters get heartburn for a change.

 

[jakey]

Our rucks should not be inferior to Brisbane or Geelong’s.

Our midfield (Butters, JHF, Bergman, Rozee, Drew, Wines, Brodie) should be able to match all other midfields including Brisbane’s.
There’s no reason for us not to demand and expect more from Drew and Wines to get back to their best. What’s their excuse?

Why can’t JHF look at Daicos, Holmes and Ashcroft and not get more out of himself to perform the way they do consistently and in big games? The BS of being young doesn’t wash. Ashcroft has two NS by his third year. Has not played a bad final out of 8. I’m scratching my head to remember a memorable JHF - or Butters, or Rozee - performance in a final.

Bergman should become a point of difference in our midfield from here on. A powerful two-way mid who can go head to head and beat the opposition’s best defensively while driving the footy offensively.

Our wings lack a Dempsey, Josh Daicos or McLuggage. We had a history of giving away/losing wingmen under Hinkley and not maximising their value. I can’t see an A-grade wing on our list, unless Lai or Evans can be fast-tracked into that role. Personally, I’d let J. Burgoyne settle as a defender because he can defend well. Try Lai as that mid-sized, high marking, power wingman. Moraes on the other wing running the lines.

Key positions are not dire. Brisbane won the flag with Morris, Gallop and the Big O. Whitlock can be better than Gallop. Morris is a freak but Georgiades although older, is just as good, if not better. One of Lukosius, Marshall or Visentini needs to become a reliable third option, without being injured every second week.

Tall backs - you can’t tell me BZT and Ratugolea can’t be as reliable as Lester and Gardner. Sure Andrews is a superstar and Aliir is not his level, but he’s not shabby either, and Ramm has shown Andrews-like qualities in the early stages of his SANFL career.

That leaves small-high forward and small-mid defenders. By far the biggest weakness of our list and where Brisbane, Geelong, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Adelaide and GWS all shit on us. We need to nail those parts of the ground.

Agree, which is why letting Houston go was insane, and Rioli's retirement so disappointing. With some smart list management and a cultural reset we can absolutely win a flag. Its just a bit ****ed we have such a crap draft hand this year, so the growth is going to need to substantially come from within if we're to improve next year. #sacksutcliffe

 

[The Terrible Thinker]

Agree, which is why letting Houston go was insane, and Rioli's retirement so disappointing. With some smart list management and a cultural reset we can absolutely win a flag. Its just a bit ****ed we have such a crap draft hand this year, so the growth is going to need to substantially come from within if we're to improve next year. #sacksutcliffe

Carr is redoing the foundations with our depth because that is all the scope he has to work with this preseason. Clearly the focus is developement of the current list and we definitely need elevate our fitness base to counter any talent deficiencies.

 

[Waspy79]

Agree, which is why letting Houston go was insane, and Rioli's retirement so disappointing. With some smart list management and a cultural reset we can absolutely win a flag. Its just a bit ****ed we have such a crap draft hand this year, so the growth is going to need to substantially come from within if we're to improve next year. #sacksutcliffe

If we had drafted Murphy Reid then the view would be the opposite. Please become a good to very good player Berry. I think elite is out of the question.

 

[Willsy10]

On paper Brisbane have the most stacked list, they bat deeper than any other team and their best footy is at another level to every other team. They look reasonably set up for the future too, which is quite concerning for the other 17 clubs. I think they will compete for another couple years at least.

On paper i don't think the other teams that made the finals are much better than our team though. Geelong would probably kill to have any one of Butters, Rozee or JHF in their team.

Geelong are a well oiled machine though, they have an outstanding ability to extract maximum output from whoever takes the field for them, but i think Brisbane's best was always going to be too good.

But I'm actually less worried about the Cats, Pies, Hawks, & Crows and more worried about the Suns and Freo moving forward. Suns and Freo are the most stacked with young talent and have the most scope for improvement.

 

[The Terrible Thinker]

On paper Brisbane have the most stacked list, they bat deeper than any other team and their best footy is at another level to every other team. They look reasonably set up for the future too, which is quite concerning for the other 17 clubs. I think they will compete for another couple years at least.

On paper i don't think the other teams that made the finals are much better than our team though. Geelong would probably kill to have any one of Butters, Rozee or JHF in their team.

Geelong are a well oiled machine though, they have an outstanding ability to extract maximum output from whoever takes the field for them, but i think Brisbane's best was always going to be too good.

But I'm actually less worried about the Cats, Pies, Hawks, & Crows and more worried about the Suns and Freo moving forward. Suns and Freo are the most stacked with young talent and have the most scope for improvement.

The only thing holding Freo back is a competent coach. They should not have limped into finals then bust out so easily this year. They had to make a semi final at least. Next year is preliminary or bust for Longmuir.

Suns on the other hand will stack up further and Hardwick will get the most out of them too as this is his pet project. I thought he was cooked after Richmond but this season has proven most wrong.

 

[PJ Power]

If we had drafted Murphy Reid then the view would be the opposite. Please become a good to very good player Berry. I think elite is out of the question.

As one of the posters here who was most critical of Berry's output in 2025, I was heartened - perhaps too optimistically - by what he showed over the last month. He got his contest and defensive actions better which were the most glaring weaknesses up until then. I don't know if he will become elite or not - there's nothing to suggest he will based on what we've seen - but I do think he'll improve steeply over the next 2-3 years.

I'm also deliriously hopeful about MacKinlay, who has good size and serious pace.

Berry and MacKinlay as high HFs, with Richards and eventually SPP, is what we currently have on the list. It's miles from being proven, but it has some potential and could surprise us.

The bigger issue is finding the small forward who gives opposition defences headaches around goal. Hopefully, Tommy Cochrane can be one out of the box to fill that need.

We need to draft/trade at least one, and preferably two more into this mix.

 

[Blinky Nyland]

Have Port Adelaide ever matched an offer for players leaving??
Always thought Amon & Impey should have been kept, but understand the contracts landscape has changed significantly since then!
I think that’s the difference with the top teams, they attract good players & also retain them.

Impey was traded on compassionate grounds. With the death of his father, it fell to Jarman to take care of his siblings and he believed he could do that best with his family connections in Victoria.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Malcolm Rosas Jr nominated Sydney as his preferred destination. There were some posters here keen on him.