Mitch Clark?

[the doc]

His season has been pretty good for the Dee's and securing a KPF is still high on our agenda. Was there any consensus on what we were asked to give up? Picks 16 &/or 20 (or was it a later pick in the end?) as well as 800k?

It will be interesting to see what Sheridan and Crozier (he looks pretty good) become but in hindsight pushing hard for an early settlement at trade week or being prepared to risk $ may have paid off this time.

Anyway - would've, could've and should've. What are your thoughts on how we played this one?

 

[Wigarus]

My thoughts are that we played it out over 6 months ago and there are plenty of threads discussing this exact topic.

He's a Melbourne player, maybe your on the wrong board?

 

[tacopavlich]

I think would've, could've, should've is a good way to put it. At least it gives me better confidence in our recruiting when we target a KPF.

 

[willoblue]

would we have possibly seen a team with Sandilands, Griffin, Clarke & Clarke in the 22?

 

[free at last]

I think would've, could've, should've is a good way to put it. At least it gives me better confidence in our recruiting when we target a KPF.[/

What about Jack Anthony?

 

[creamygoodness]

We screwed up, refer to my thread about it if you want to bask in my football genius

 

[Sman-21]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

He hadnt shown anywhere near this ability for anyone to be stupid enough to give up so much.
Brisbane wanted both our first round picks plus he was asking for big money.
He had shown some potential but never enough to warrant such a crazy price.
Not to mention pretty much throughout the whole saga Clark had said only wanted to play in perth.
Nobody was to know some crazy man from another club would offer him crazy amounts of money and then all of a sudden he was no longer desperate to play in perth.

The club did the right thing at the time based on what he had achieved so far in his career.
Plus it seemed highly likely if push came to shove we could of got him for nothing if he stuck to his word.
The way he went back on his word says alot about his character imo.
Stuffed up our plans an also screwed Brisbane out of a bidding war with all the other clubs being able to bid for him.

Its done move along.

 

[creamygoodness]

Funny how people on here are so keen to move on from this screw up yet are so quick to criticise any remotely bad trade from 5-10 years ago.

The thing is S-man, he had shown that ability, two years ago he was in the AA squad. Athletic 6'7 guy who was still developing, had some setbacks, but was ripe for a break out. I'm still pissed off we missed out on him as he would have solved so many problems. Suddenly we have a big key target who can take a contested mark, and we would have a young key forward to rely on when Pav declines/retires.

 

[Quokka]

The way he went back on his word says alot about his character imo.

I disagree with that part, he wasnt to know that someone would throw a crazy offer out either. To start with we were delaying while we were trying to get a second pick and stay in the first round come the draft and that left the door open. Negotiations were open for all parties, he got a better offer and took it. You dont play footy forever and so good on him.


It's looking like a good move by melbourne at the moment but who knows how he'd have played for us and the Lyon game plan. Either way its an old discussion and a dozen trades should and shouldn't have been done every trade week if you use hindsight.

 

[PapaJ]

I think the thread is legitimate, and might be again next year and in the future. People are always going on about if we had of..... Bloody hell, how sick am I of hearing 'Darling v Pitt', or even stuff going right back to the 90's - sometimes it's annoying, but it belongs here nonetheless.

FWIW, I think we did the right thing in the end given how it all was going down. I would love to have him. Blind Freddy can see that a big target up front would do us nicely, but there is a price and when Melbourne got involved, and working on the (mis)information that Clark wanted WA only when in the end that wasn't his only priority ... we could have thrown the kitchen sink at them to get him, but I'm glad we didn't.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

I disagree with that part, he wasnt to know that someone would throw a crazy offer out either. To start with we were delaying while we were trying to get a second pick and stay in the first round come the draft and that left the door open. Negotiations were open for all parties, he got a better offer and took it. You dont play footy forever and so good on him.


It's looking like a good move by melbourne at the moment but who knows how he'd have played for us and the Lyon game plan. Either way its an old discussion and a dozen trades should and shouldn't have been done every trade week if you use hindsight.

Is it really ?

Schwab has made the moves he made when he was at Freo.
This is a very expensive gamble and has achieved one win.

 

[Clay Davis]

Is it really ?

Schwab has made the moves he made when he was at Freo.
This is a very expensive gamble and has achieved one win.

Yeah, at round 11 last year, Melbourne were half a game outside the eight. They've gone backwards in a massive way. Of course, all their fans have a serious case of Ripperitis.

 

[Quokka]

Yeah Melbourne look worse than ever but its still hard to fault Clark's efforts since he joined them. For me it could well still work out win win all round, Lions got the deal they wanted, Clark got massive $ (and is quickly becoming a fan favourite) and you can't blame Melbourne for liking the deal so far, whether its good long term is their risk.

...and as for Freo, yeah I'm still glad that we didn't turn around and beat Melbourne's offer, more than any other club it was too risky to go down that path (imo), we've done it before and would have got crucified if we had got Croad mkII. Regardless of how Clark does at Melbourne it would have been too many eggs in one basket for me. Anyway we've still got the extra salary cap, they'll be new trade options and free agency so it's hardly final score time.

 

[Nickos66]

Moot point, who cares now. It's happened.

 

[Pusswah]

Not too fussed. Is this season's output worth more than 800k a year plus our first round pick?
Doubtful.

 

[Frigate]

Meh. Clarke would certainly have been a good fit, however our stuff ups in over paying for "the perfect fix" has never been even close to respectable. The reality is that until we sort out our midfield on a permanent basis we will be still struggling to win consistently.

I was pleased we put our foot down on a reasonable price, and the fact that it folded was because we finally played it tough. Much like the Lyon decision on the other foot. I believe if we can get our hands on the football and better delivery into the forward 50 will result in more goals.

If we traded and paid through the roof for Clarke, and then he got injured (lets face it he has a history), or he simply did not result in wins then there is nothing gained.

Finally, to me he showed the world that to him he just wanted to leave Brisbane. He made a smoke screen and then cashed out at the last minute and now he plays for a team that are potentially going to take out the wooden spoon.

 

[Nodgey]

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

If we paid overs for MC we'd have been pilloried all over again - "typical Freo, Modra, Croad, Taz etc etc". We didn't take him and we're still pilloried for losing what he potentially could have given us. Lose/lose situation here.

FWIW I think MC has been bloody good this year. He provides a presence, he takes strong marks and he plays with a tough-guy attitude I admire. But whether he c/would have done the same in purple will never be known...

 

[more_of_bito]

Figure if we are repeating threads I'll just copy my last response completely disagreeing with creamygoodness

"F@@ken joke, definitely not a convert. The Dees got smashed, Pies stopped half way through the 2nd. if anything showed us today that every team footy GM should be fired for passing of D Swan at pick 53. The rest is just stupid blaming Bond.
Clark would have been paid 750k, Buddy Franklin is on 800k!! Pav sandi on 600k (with Vets) Technically he would be the highest player in our cap so Bond did exactly the right thing for our club and told him to walk.

Take pick 16 27 over Clark any day. Better question, would you pay pick 12 for Mitch Clark? No. Brisbane are laughing."

 

[Frigate]

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

If we paid overs for MC we'd have been pilloried all over again - "typical Freo, Modra, Croad, Taz etc etc". We didn't take him and we're still pilloried for losing what he potentially could have given us. Lose/lose situation here.

FWIW I think MC has been bloody good this year. He provides a presence, he takes strong marks and he plays with a tough-guy attitude I admire. But whether he c/would have done the same in purple will never be known...

Luckily for me, I have super smooth silent typing skills, and like to tap my fingers with a closed mouth.

MC has been good, but he has certainly not changed Melbourne's fortunes around. If anything this trade has been a disaster for them. They had a capable forward playing some great footy in 2011 in Brad Green who is now struggling to fit in the same team, they have paid lots of money for a player that is not an answer to their problems and they have parted with much needed draft picks.

I stand by our decision to walk the line.

 

[malpaso]

Am I missing something? He's got 5 more goals than Pavlich whilst parking himself predominantly in the forward 50.

 

[Purple Suit]

I think getting Stynes number gave him extra motivation this year and he's delivered. In a crap team that isn't putting in effort, he really stands out. But put him in Freo, with a different structure, who knows.

Why sell the farm when free agency comes in next year? That's two extra players we have because of it and the cash for a free agent. Win win for everybody

 

[theGav56]

Funny how people on here are so keen to move on from this screw up yet are so quick to criticise any remotely bad trade from 5-10 years ago.

Out of interest, and trying to ignore hindsight, to try and solve the problems of a non-functional forward line, how would you rank the trades of;

1) Croad; A young, explosive KPP who had already had enough impact to be selected in the international rules, and taken at pick 6. He was packaged with MacPharlin so difficult to independantly rate the trade, but lets say pick #1.

2) Tarrant; a former gun AA forward who seemed to have lost his way, but with undoubted skills. Pick #8 + steak knives.

3) Clark; A promising ruckman who has shown some potential to play forward. Pick #12 which they got for him, or #16 + #22 (or a promising player such as Clarke) which they wanted from us.

I think the Tarrant trade looks the most likely to succeed as a fix for the forward line. Croad I would also rate as having a higher chance at the time of being a successful KPP than Clark.

For me those trades are a little difficult to clearly separate, which makes me pretty happy with the way the club went about it.

 

[Freomaniac]

Looking back at It. Im Glad we kept our picks instead of Getting mitch Clarke. $750,000 a year for potientially good player 4 years was a bit of a gamble. Yet on the other hand, Freo are allegedly going after a proven forward in Travis cloke for 1 million a year.

Had we traded our 1st round pick to get Mitch Clark, It would of gone against our culture, Recruiting and development since 2007.

Free agency is around the corner. Im not exactly a genius but since we have an extra 1million to spare in the cap. I would rather Spend 1 million on 2 free agents paying $500,000 each on a solid inside mid and another $500,000 on a solid foward which is what we need.

On the other hand we could just take a risk and Use our draft picks to recruit what we need.

 

[Sman-21]

He hadnt shown this ability and consitancy as a forward to risk it.

Based on his performance this year its looking like it would be worth it.
Based on his career when we were thinking about it, was very risky and not worth it.

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

Given that the prevailing sentiment on Freo BF was that Mitch Clark wasn't worth much, it'll be interesting see to which posters thought he was a dud but now blame Bond for not getting the deal done.