Looking Forward ...

[GhostofJimJess]

I'm interested in what might eventuate with our veterans at seasons end.

By my calculations, we should have THREE blokes ready to go onto the veterans list for having ten years service at the club - Wayne Campbell, Matthew Richardson and Duncan Kellaway ... would I be right ?

If so, we are faced with the problem of only being allowed TWO of these guys on half pay. Assuming that Cambo and Richo will be the two chosen, what does that mean for Duncan. Will he take a major paycut and begin a new contract, or will he be given a gold watch?

Also, each of the following players will also reach the conclusion of the current contracts - Biddiscombe, C.King, Houlihan, Hilton, Rogers, Cameron, Zantuck, Rodan, Krakouer, McGrath, Fiora.

One would think that at least the first six on that list might be in a bit of strife, and given this is tipped to be one of the strongest drafts ever, there might also be some others on our list who may be sacrificed in order to attain at least one of the Top 5 picks.

 

[Dean3]

Good thoughts Ghost.

I reckon this is Duncan Kellaway's last year. He'll either retire or they'll tap him on the shoulder (not too heavily though, it might dislocate!). Cameron may be in the same boat. Then I hope they delist and/or trade 4 more, with King and Bidders at the top of the queue. My gut feeling is that Rogers and probably Houlihan will survive (untradeable), while Pettifer, Hall, Fiora and Hilton may be the tradeables.

If we're looking at gaining a top 5 pick, then Bowden might come into calculations.

 

[rfctigerarmy]

Just when our midfield comes together you think trading Bowden is the answer. I disagree.

I wouldnt trade Rogers. He is a very good tagger even though he is quiet and hes a player everyone always forgets about. While Hilton, Pettifer, Fiora and Hall on the other hand are tradable.
I would think Hall may be a good one to trade as we have Schulz coming up.

Fiora is a great player. Fantastic. Except that he never seems to get the ball. Hilton is also a bit like this.

If your looking for a top 5 pick, I wouldnt have a clue who to get rid of. I wouldnt change the midfield though. Thats just stupid.

 

[Dean3]

I don't WANT to trade Bowden, but you have to trade some quality to get a top 5 pick...who else?

 

[Rodan#18.]

looking fwd

The veteran list : Right now I believe Campbell is the only vet on the list. Duncan Kellaway and Rogers will be eligible next year. As we are 3 short already this year...with those two being either veterened or delisted...will give us room for 5 new players.

Co-incidentaly...the vet rule change takes effect next year. That means that a club can have 6 rookies/veterans on the list. So a club can choose 6 veterans or 6 rookies. Or a combo of 3 vets and 3 rookies.

BTW - Richo was born in 75 and needs to be 30 before he is eligible.

Retiring : I'm sure Cameron has verballed that he will be hanging the boots up. Judging by the last few weeks...that would be a wise move(IMHO). Dunc may also follow.

Delisting : A few candidates. Salary and contracts aside ; King, Bidders, Nicholls, Mills and Hyde for starters. But those would give us room for 11 recruits and I doubt the draft is that strong.

Trading : Hilton ; Fiora ; Pettifer ; Dragicevic if possible.
And anything's possible...look at Bourke and Daffy. Id' be happy to see the club swap for talls or for picks.

Recruiting. Blind freddy can see that we need 6 new kids. 3 Midfield athlete/runners and 3 tall mobile key position types, including a ruckman.

Summary : our dream team ; intact and on paper is pretty good. Trouble is they get so many damn injuries. Especially our key position guys.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Originally posted by Dean3
I don't WANT to trade Bowden, but you have to trade some quality to get a top 5 pick...who else?

exactly.while its well known i have somewhat of a beef with bowden the fact is he,s about the only one who we can afford to trade of the midfield group.
to trade bowden for?
robert murphy[bulldogs]
nathen brown[bulldogs]
chris judd[west coast]
of the 3 obviously judd would be the target however i doubt very much the eagles would go for this trade.
however a nathen bown plus maybe a ray hall in the mix may be enough while a straight swap for murphy may eventuate however highly doubtful if brown stays at the bullies.

of the others id say fiora for a guerra or even a murphy could be a win for us.
hall,s name should be thrown around with the bullies,bombers and carlton and demons as likely candidates.
for hall:
bullies see above
bombers:henneman sp?
carlton:god knows
demons:lamb

cheers!

 

[CJH]

I agree on Duncan. It would be interesting to find out how many games he has actually played over the past 4 years? Would be lucky to have made it out into 25% of those games?

Biddiscombe and King are just marking time - they only exist at the moment as true 'reserve' players. Only making up the numbers when injury levels become diabolic.

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Leon Cameron sign a last minute bargain basement contract? I am sure I read a report where his fitness was a concern from last year and he was going to be delisted but earnt a reprieve after an impressive showing during the pre-season.

Hilton is continuing to disappoint - still tends to go AWOL too often. Hence his dropping this week.

Houlihan is doing just OK. He would be 50/50 in terms of keeping his place.

I would suggest that we tie up Fiora on a contract right now, especially if we intend to trade him! Would hate for him to walk without anything in return!

Would suggest that Zantuck and Rodan will be kept as they are performing pretty well.

McGrath is interesting. I am still waiting to see what he is like at the top level - he is obviously a project player and may be given more time to develop both physically and skill-wise.

As discussed in a previous thread, targetting Judd should be a priority but with definitely not using Coughlan as the bait! I still suggest that using Bowden or Gaspar (though his market value has dropped a bit since then!) would be the right move in this respect.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Thanks Rodan ... overlooked the 'turned 30' part of the deal on Richo - I thought it was just 10 years at the same club. Which is a damn shame, because even half of Richo's salary = a lot.

Assuming at least 5 of the Top 6 picks go to the Bulldogs, Carlton and Geelong, let's have a look at the type of player they might be targetting ... and see if we can oblige.

Bulldogs - Will look cheap and middle-long term, so would probably be reluctant to trade their Top 6 pick(s). Maybe Tall defenders ? Gaspar, Holland, Fiora, AK. Any one of these would be worth a high trade for us. The best hope from the Bulldogs is one of their highly-paid stars (eg Brown). Hall may also be a real option in any package offered, given that Luke Darcy will almost certainly be at Victoria Park.

Geelong - Seemingly overloaded with young on-ballers. Also their defense seems quite solid. 20-25 year-old marking forwards maybe their aim. Again Fiora, Hilton, Bowden, Hall. (I think it's pretty safe to assume that they won't be interested in Bidders and Houlihan!)

Melbourne - They'll go young (i.e. raw 18 year olds), or, at best, maybe another marking forward, but probably only Bowden or Fiora would interest them.

Carlton - If they somehow wind up with a Priority pick - No way in the world Pagan would trade it. End of story.

Even if we wanted to trade Richo now, I think we've missed the boat. As for Rogers, Mills, Pettifer et.al. I htink the boat left the dock quite some time back.