North Melbourne's struggle in attracting elite or A grade players

[Blackas87]

Targeting the wrong players. Would of been interesting if they thrown a big contract in front of Shiel.

 

[WA ROO]

Not what we need.

His foot skills are fairly average.

Really???
Even if true he would a huge upgrade for North's midfield

 

[Heisenberg_]

Haha, jeez that's seriously s**t

I know right?
Who gets pizza from Dominoes ffs

 

[The Filth Wizard]

I know your club prides itself on having “industry-leading” media access, but yeah they certainly got ahead of themselves going public on those intentions.

The brand damage has been somewhat significant and it must be frustrating as a supporter to see Hawthorn, Carlton & St Kilda get off relatively lightly for missing out on Shiel given he actually moved clubs too.

I’ve never bought much into brand damage, seems to be an opposition supporter line. I’m yet to see it affect North in any negligible way. This thread alone shows the majority of people are pretty rational about it. Saints and Carlton have their own separate issues, Hawthorn is only this last few weeks missing targets. I’m sure plenty are giving them hell. And the club that gazumped all three of them today went through the ultimate in brand damage not too long ago.

 

[hilly]

Arden St's facilities are as good as anyones
The rest is correct though

Gold Coast is going well.

 

[hilly]

Legit couldnt get Ubereats to come to Arden St.

Some great players you've sponsored there.

 

[Russian Demon]

Enjoy A grade pickup...... Dom Tyson!

 

[naturally north]

Gotta target who's gettable.

They threw the house at Gaff, makes you wonder why they didn't have a crack at Shiel.

Gaff was free from a trade pov, we need our first pick in 2019 & 20 for......

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Enjoy A grade pickup...... Dom Tyson!

Looks like it'll be a straight swap for a rookie draft VFL ruckman with 8 games under his belt. Not too bad comparitively.

 

[Russian Demon]

Looks like it'll be a straight swap for a rookie draft VFL ruckman with 8 games under his belt. Not too bad comparitively.

Yeah why he wants us is a mystery to me.... must REALLY want to leave, or wants a longer deal for security.

Either way, he'll be fine in the VFL as a Spencil replacement

 

[GroggSquad]

I’ve never bought much into brand damage, seems to be an opposition supporter line. I’m yet to see it affect North in any negligible way. This thread alone shows the majority of people are pretty rational about it. Saints and Carlton have their own separate issues, Hawthorn is only this last few weeks missing targets. I’m sure plenty are giving them hell. And the club that gazumped all three of them today went through the ultimate in brand damage not too long ago.

I'm not trying to stick the boots in, but you honestly can't rule out the possibility of North's failure to secure the signatures of Kelly & Martin last year having some influence on selling the club to Gaff.

We have to be real here - players use social media and they see the memes. Trent Cotchin even went to Mad Monday last year dressed as Ralph Carr in a North jumper, which I thought was pretty average for the record. Surely the negative commentary around North's failure to attract a big fish would have the stars of the game questioning the future success of the club?

Essendon have done well to sign players after the supplement saga, but maybe this is because most believe they didn't intend to cheat and their only mistake was trusting their sport scientist. They still have talent across the ground, a state-of-the-art facility and the big Victorian club thing may appeal to some. The names they have recruited aren't really A-grade talent either.

 

[The Filth Wizard]

I'm not trying to stick the boots in, but you honestly can't rule out the possibility of North's failure to secure the signatures of Kelly & Martin last year having some influence on selling the club to Gaff.

We have to be real here - players use social media and they see the memes. Trent Cotchin even went to Mad Monday last year dressed as Ralph Carr in a North jumper, which I thought was pretty average for the record. Surely the negative commentary around North's failure to attract a big fish would have the stars of the game questioning the future success of the club?

Essendon have done well to sign players after the supplement saga, but maybe this is because most believe they didn't intend to cheat and their only mistake was trusting their sport scientist. They still have talent across the ground and the big Victorian club thing may appeal to some. The names they have recruited aren't really A-grade talent either.

If he went elsewhere, maybe. There's no doubt now it was us or them. He stayed at the club that just won a premiership he missed through an out of character suspension, on the other side of the country, and announced it the weekend of their best and fairest. At the moment we don't even know the terms of Gaff re-signing so we can't even compare that.

We went into this trade window with three known targets and as it stands we've got two of them. Gaff was a big one, with more money, because he was a free agent.

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Yeah why he wants us is a mystery to me.... must REALLY want to leave, or wants a longer deal for security.

Either way, he'll be fine in the VFL as a Spencil replacement

I reckon there has to be promises made on game time... he's contracted to us for two more seasons so length shouldn't be an issue. I'm sure everybody on both sides is confused but I'd imagine both sides will be happy come the trade finalisation.

 

[Russian Demon]

I reckon there has to be promises made on game time... he's contracted to us for two more seasons so length shouldn't be an issue. I'm sure everybody on both sides is confused but I'd imagine both sides will be happy come the trade finalisation.

Well he won't get 22 with us. I get there are a few teams u can play 2 ruckmen against, but unless a forward tall goes down he'll be in the magoos a lot of the year.

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Well he won't get 22 with us. I get there are a few teams u can play 2 ruckmen against, but unless a forward tall goes down he'll be in the magoos a lot of the year.

Then that makes it all the more surprising. Something has been brewed though.

 

[Jibroni]

Then that makes it all the more surprising. Something has been brewed though.

I was say insurance for Gawn othwerwise i cant see Pruess getting a game.

 

[The Filth Wizard]

I was say insurance for Gawn othwerwise i cant see Pruess getting a game.

End of the day a four year deal is a lot for a back up Ruckman who has two years left where he is. You’ve offered something to turn his head over job security, especially when our main ruck is not young.

 

[windyhill]

So they've got money to spare, can't land the big fish. How long until their players ask for a pay rise ? If they haven't already ?

 

[captain blood 17]

So they've got money to spare, can't land the big fish. How long until their players ask for a pay rise ? If they haven't already ?

I’ll go one better, how long before players like Cunnington etc crack the shits as they are getting paid unders on what they could get elsewhere while North flash the cash at imports? Can’t be good for morale.


Sent from my iPad using righteous Bhodi manpower

 

[BIRDBRAIN]

I'm trying to think, have WCE ever attracted A-grade talent? We landed Yeo but he wasn't A-grade at the time. Same Kennedy, who we got for our Brownlow medalist, which was seen as a loss at a time. We've never just got a big fish, why does North want to so bad?

 

[The Filth Wizard]

I’ll go one better, how long before players like Cunnington etc crack the shits as they are getting paid unders on what they could get elsewhere while North flash the cash at imports? Can’t be good for morale.


Sent from my iPad using righteous Bhodi manpower

What makes you think players are being paid unders? They're all contracted at dollars they've agreed upon.

It's not like when it happens we're the first club to have a player over a million dollars a season. Some, like Richmond, have more than one around that mark. Are your second level players crying out or are they happy with what they have and what improves their chances of (another) flag?

 

[citizen-erased]

Targeting the wrong players. Would of been interesting if they thrown a big contract in front of Shiel.

Given Shiel opted for the bombers, who were offering less than the other suitors, i doubt anything would have come from it.

if you're gonna use a war chest, target the mercenaries chasing cash.
I think they were unlucky with Gaff. I reckon he was moving until the Eagles won a flag and he watched 22 team-mates get a medal.

Lynch may have come off.
BB and Lynch is formidable.

Still, no major signings and finished just outside the 8 last year. not all doom and gloom

 

[astro1212]

youre a lawyer yet spend hours on the SRP board? Surely you dont have time for both. Im calling BS.

Its a "community based" position. Totally plausible to have lots of downtime.

 

[GroggSquad]

Given Shiel opted for the bombers, who were offering less than the other suitors, i doubt anything would have come from it.

if you're gonna use a war chest, target the mercenaries chasing cash.
I think they were unlucky with Gaff. I reckon he was moving until the Eagles won a flag and he watched 22 team-mates get a medal.

Lynch may have come off.
BB and Lynch is formidable.

Still, no major signings and finished just outside the 8 last year. not all doom and gloom

Carlton and St Kilda are cellar dwellers though, while many feel Hawthorn are on the decline considering their lack of first round draft talent from the past decade.

North and Essendon have similar potential for success (with both just finishing outside the 8 last year), so I think the extra cash from North would have got him over the line if they wanted him.

 

[Coalface]

It’s a risky strategy by North. They risk pissing off other clubs by simply inflating players’ contracts (eg. Dusty), which in turn makes other clubs less likely to deal fairly with them.

Trying to bully/bribe players just doesn’t work. You just end up with players that move just for money.

Richmond were stuck in that mid-table position for a long time. It’s very difficult to get out of there.

Bully? Do you even know what that word means?

"it was horrible, the contract had so many zeros, and the were throwing fistfulls of cash at me, the horror, the bullying...."