Rumour Rumour File

[HBF]

We've been down the trading path and we're stuck in the peloton. It's time we fully embraced the 'lottery' of the draft and leave the ways of Big jack and the chequebook behind. I'm not convinced our coaching panel needs more resourcing, money may be better spent gaining us an edge in rehab, recruiting etc.

Because we have come from so far back, we have needed to get some experience into the club. I truly believe that because we have loaded up on so many kids, we can really identify some areas we need to work on, and get some players from other clubs that can help us.

 

[No1Suspect]

Because we have come from so far back, we have needed to get some experience into the club. I truly believe that because we have loaded up on so many kids, we can really identify some areas we need to work on, and get some players from other clubs that can help us.

Clubs will be asking for everything and the kitchen sink this year, everyone will be overpriced... and i wouldn't give up 1 & 2 picks unless it was an absolute no brainer which is unlikely.

A healthy stream of young tallent through the club is vital. In 2-4 years time when our window opens our kids of the 'now' will be mature bodied men and the kids we draft this year will be coming of age! the kids after them will be subjected to a success period and i guess conditioned to finals and big time games inturn allowing us to have more than a 2-3 year window where we can push for a premiership.

 

[thylacine60]

Rumour we were going to hit in hard at Freo tonight. Oh dear.

 

[Ryan Dixon Webb]

Nice effort, but we wasted some good opportunities.

 

[Silvagnis]

Thank **** we have Lappin in charge of our brilliant forward structure and developing our forwards.

I hope GC or GWS doesn't try to poach Skinny.

 

[AlphaBlue]

Thank **** we have Lappin in charge of our brilliant forward structure and developing our forwards.

I hope GC or GWS doesn't try to poach Skinny.

rumour has it they offered him a 4 year contract with 3 million

 

[Blue Dimension]

More knee-jerk reactions to tonights loss. Scoring efficiency was still good. When we went forward we were dangerous. The game was lost in the midfield.

 

[blues4flag]

Thank **** we have Lappin in charge of our brilliant forward structure and developing our forwards.

I hope GC or GWS doesn't try to poach Skinny.

Being too harsh on him. We've had to completely rework our forward line from being totally Fev centric.

In terms of goals per game, we've had a far more even spread this season. We've had 4 guys who's averaged 1.9 goals a game this season (Betts, Garlett, Waite, Setanta) compared to only Fev last year (Murphy and Gibbs both 1.7).
Also 7 guys who've averaged 1 goal a game or more, compared to 5 last season.

Our biggest problem today was getting the ball out of our defensive half of the ground, not scoring. We had 22 scores from 44 entries compared to Fremantle's 28 from 59.

 

[Blue Dimension]

Our biggest problem today was getting the ball out of our defensive half of the ground, not scoring. We had 22 scores from 44 entries compared to Fremantle's 28 from 59.

That hurt us big time. Our get out card that we've played a lot this year is to go long to the ruckman and more often than not our rucks have been creating a contest, using their bodies and clunking marks. Tonight we tried to do the same but Sandilands just dominated time and time again.

Anyway, back to rumours in the "rumour file" I think.

 

[Dramoth]

And if you have suitors willing to pay can you blame him?

Not really mate... with the AFL allowing the GC17 and GWS to rape the rest of the clubs, then you would expect a lot of average players to suddenly want to be paid the same as the champion level players.

 

[Sir CJ]

I wish Drummond wasn't injury prone, because he would be such a good addition to our lineup, we need some1 who is reliable on the kickouts and can release Gibbs into the midfield where he can do most of his damage

 

[Dramoth]

Because we have come from so far back, we have needed to get some experience into the club. I truly believe that because we have loaded up on so many kids, we can really identify some areas we need to work on, and get some players from other clubs that can help us.

I would go with this...

We have some experienced players who are not leaders or are not actually that good. We need 1-2 experienced mature players (read 26-28 years old) who can stabilise certain areas.

We have Waite up front who will have his foil in Henderson for a couple more years with Setanta as a fill in player for one of those 2 players.

We need an experienced CHB who can be there for a couple of years because we have seen that Thornton isnt in the list at the moment because of his attitude and on-field behaviour. If he was to suddenly get back to his old form, then he would be a welcome fill-in at CHB.

 

[stabface]

Taken from the Draft Predictions thread

Andrew Walker to anywhere but Carlton(according to some people in the know and GC and the Crows are keen). Not a happy boy ATM, but needs to be traded as he's still got another year to go on his contract.

 

[pickman]

If his unhappy and wants to be elsewhere let him go if we can get some reasonable compensation.

If it is true that Walker is unhappy at Carlton then it's a lose-lose, bad for him and the club won't get the best out of him.

 

[NAUGHT5]

Walker would seem like the perfect candidate to be Sydneyized.

Rhys Shaw style.

 

[Sin City]

Walker would seem like the perfect candidate to be Sydneyized.

Rhys Shaw style.

If it's true that he wants out, which will be a pity, then I'd be looking at a deal with North Melbourne. They have Rawlings, Thompson, Grima, Firito and maybe Petrie/Tarrant down back but no fast, line breaking rebounder and are using Casey McMahon to do it. Thier first round pick is 17 which would be a fair swap if there are no players that appeal to us.

 

[son of dominator]

there is a rumour going round that Starchamber has agreed to stop posting new threads - can anyone confirm this

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

If it's true that he wants out, which will be a pity, then I'd be looking at a deal with North Melbourne. They have Rawlings, Thompson, Grima, Firito and maybe Petrie/Tarrant down back but no fast, line breaking rebounder and are using Casey McMahon to do it. Thier first round pick is 17 which would be a fair swap if there are no players that appeal to us.

There is no way anyone in their right mind would cough up a first round draft pick for Andrew Walker.

 

[serenityNow]

there is a rumour going round that Starchamber has agreed to stop posting new threads - can anyone confirm this

Would be very disappointed if this were true. I find Starchamber to be very intelligent and informative.....His jokes are second to none and his thought provoking views make this forum a better place.

I find it amazing that someone could smoke the Reefer and sink the piss so heavily, yet still come here to post, and be so coherent & so easy to read.

I'm sure he's sitting in his wheelchair staring out the asylum window, just thinking of a new thread to kick off.

 

[Sin City]

There is no way anyone in their right mind would cough up a first round draft pick for Andrew Walker.

The BigFooty group think mentality is to jump off players as soon as they have a form slump but to be all over them after one good game. People on here would've thought his price was sky high after he made the AFL team of the week three times in four games this season. The truth is clubs don't make decisions based on what people on BF think, he can be a very good player who fills an important deficiency for them and there are much worse players that have been traded for more than pick 17.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

The BigFooty group think mentality is to jump off players as soon as they have a form slump but to be all over them after one good game.

Agree with this - but that's life.

You could do 10 good things, yet still always be remembered for the one bad thing you do.

I actually like Walker as a player and I agree he has come on in leaps and bounds ... but I believe that if we were to trade him out we would get offers around the 2nd round+ mark.

So unless he wants out - we would be better off keeping him.

People on here would've thought his price was sky high after he made the AFL team of the week three times in four games this season.

Not sky high .. but an improvement from what it was previously (which was pittance).

Lets face it .. he showed what he could do in a handful of games this season and he was subsequently dropped after some shockers - IMHO that hardly warrants a first round pick

The truth is clubs don't make decisions based on what people on BF think, he can be a very good player who fills an important deficiency for them

What deficiency would that be?

A running rebounding defender/forward/winger (I'm not sure even Andrew knows where he plays best).

Add to the fact that he is injury prone, has suspect disposal at the best of times, isn't clean when the ball is on the deck (most of the time) and can no longer stick tackles.

and there are much worse players that have been traded for more than pick 17.

Every trade decision is unique given the nature of the draft for that particular year.

This year is looming to be a strong draft, whereas last year was a weaker 'watered down' draft.

The only way Andrew will command a first round pick is if a club on the way up or with its premiership window open identify a gap in their list which requires an needs immediate fix (assuming thats Andrew) and slightly overpay.

The club needs to do their due diligence first, like we seemingly did with Mclean and ask themselves:

• Will Walker be more likely to make it and contribute more to our list than Player X at pick #17?
• Does Walker fill a direct need for us?
• Is Walker medically sound to perform the role we want him to play?

I'll finish up by stating that I'm a fan of Andrew, he has X factor and athleticism and he's a decent size, however in my opinion if anybody ever considered offering up a first round pick (which I don't believe they will) we should take it and run.

 

[Sin City]

The only way Andrew will command a first round pick is if a club on the way up or with its premiership window open identify a gap in their list which requires an needs immediate fix (assuming thats Andrew) and slightly overpay.

The gap he would fix is their huge lack of a running, rebounding defender. I don't think it's over paying when he would become the go to man out of the back line, he'd do quite well. It's just that at Carlton there are about four guys that think they're the main rebounding defender.

Shoulders haven't bothered him this year even when he broke his collar bone. I hope the rumours are untrue as well, I like him but if it's true this is the sort of deal we should be pushing for.

 

[Silvagnis]

I actually like Walker as a player and I agree he has come on in leaps and bounds ... but I believe that if we were to trade him out we would get offers around the 2nd round+ mark.

So unless he wants out - we would be better off keeping him.

Hmmm, second round pick.

If Walker wants out, I would take that and use it on a KPF or rebounding sweeper who is a good kick.

And I'm one of his biggests fans.

I expect Grigga to go given the delay in his re-signing.

Targeting sweepers and outside mids with good disposal is a must if we trade Jacobs, Grigg and Walker for draft picks.

First round pick should be used on the best available tall.

One of Lynch, Cook, McCarthy or Watson should be there.

If it's true that he wants out, which will be a pity, then I'd be looking at a deal with North Melbourne. They have Rawlings, Thompson, Grima, Firito and maybe Petrie/Tarrant down back but no fast, line breaking rebounder and are using Casey McMahon to do it.

Legspeed is overrated.

Give me a James Kelly or an Enright over a quick flanker who burns the ball.

The gap he would fix is their huge lack of a running, rebounding defender. I don't think it's over paying when he would become the go to man out of the back line, he'd do quite well.

They'd probably back Urquhart to have a good 2011 to give them a good ball user off half back.

Urquhart might struggle to break into their new midfield.

Liam Anthony will return from injury too, so half back might be Urquhart's go.

 

[carlton09]

Well if Tex want's out I would consider talking to Brisbane about a Drummond - Walker trade

 

[luigiblues]

Carlton still chasing pavlich