Lore
Moderator ❀
- Dec 14, 2015
- 44,904
- 66,337
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- Jye Caldwell & Georgia Clarke
- Moderator
- #3,176
Was more referring to these sorts of posts (quoted below). In the last month Myers has dropped himself, Begley and Laverde have come back from injury, the back 6 has solidified, Parish has found some form in the rain with more midfield minutes, and D.Clarke has got a rising star nom. Even Ambrose and Guelfi have been getting some recognition. So with regard to recontracting perhaps the landscape has changed a bit, or we’ve learnt a bit more about what the kids are capable of and what our best 22 might look like moving into next year.
It is hard to move on contracted players unless they are wanted elsewhere so I won't talk about them.
Our uncontracted players though I would like to see.
Ambrose - 1 year
Baguley - Cut
Myers - Cut
Brown - Cut
D Clarke - Cut (maybe re-rookie)
Francis - Trade
Guelfi - 1 year
Hartley - Cut
Tippa - 2 years
Parish - 2 years
Redman - 2 years
As for the rookies
Clarke - Cut
Dea - Cut
Draper - 2 years (maybe upgrade)
Jok - 1 year
Long - Cut
McNeice - Cut
Mynott - 1 year (maybe upgrade)
Would be keeping Brown for another year. He has played some good games despite him being a B grade third forward / defender.
The rest I could deal with.
redman 4 years
Agree with most of that.
Im not sure i'd cut Brown given what he's shown in patches. If Joey goes down, Brown can come in for him and do a job.
But that doesn't excuse us from looking for a 3rd tall forward. We are too short in the forward line.
Francis i wouldnt trade. Play him back where he belongs. That patch in 2018 wasn't a fluke. That's what he can do. Can we bloody get him there.
If we can i'd give Parish and Redman 4 years each. Both are long term parts of our future.
I would be aggressively looking to trade some senior depth for whatever we can get
Zaharakis
McKenna (Brissy were keen a couple of years ago)
Hurley - get us back into the early 1st rd (Bonar and our 1st back from GWS would be ideal)
These are players we won't miss as much as other areas and have currency we need.
Stop with the flankers and small mids
Get a tall mid and tall forward.
A tackling fiend would be nice too.
Trade out anyone to get enough cap to get Grundy in and build around him. We need a decent ruckman for once. Give him 1.5mil a season he is pace setter.
Trade Zaha, Myers, Langford, Leverde, etc use cap space on Grundy and fill the remaining spots with kids from the rookie draft.
Agree with this except for Francis, he has shown enough to stay so no to trading him, I would trade Zakka ahead of Francis, and keep Brown for depth.
I would trade Francis
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
i would train Francis
Think Myers and Baguely should be done, Clarke is what he is - emergency ruck / tall forward cover - hard to be too critical that he’s not all that good given we’re running an injury list to our talls a mile long.
Brown stays, he works his ass off to offer a marking target up the ground every week, kicks straight, and actually leads at the ball. Plus can play at either end.
Zaharakis needs to go back to the VFL and either show he can bust a gut every week like a Gaff, or stay there.
Don’t mind Ham playing in Baguely’s spot for now, he runs hard to constantly offer an option and his disposal is neat enough.
Think with Draper injured it’s shown how thin we are for young tall forward / ruck talent, and we aren’t going to be much better off in 2 or so years down back if Zerk Thatcher and Hartley can’t fill the void of Hooker and Hurley.
Laverde is probably worth another year, but his constant run of injury is putting him in the realm of plenty of other talented players who never quite made it due to their bodies, not lack of talent.
Long we need to make a call on at the end of this year, either he plays AFL or he goes. D. Clarke and Mynott probably have another 12 months in them if their VFL form is strong come the end of the year.
Like to see;
Out: Baguely, Dea, Long. Calls made on McNiece, Laverde and Langford.
Bring in one or two SPP and Worpel types who will compete hard and are natural midfielders, not flankers, use Dodoro’s knack for spotting talls to grab some late to chance on development.
A lot of our players are either just coasting through their careers (Zaharakis), chronically underperforming (Myers) or just getting games from a lack of better options (Bellchambers).
Polarising players:
Langford - not a mid but should be persisted with as a marking half forward. Keep.
Brown- isn't a super star, he is reliable, works hard and most importantly he can kick straight. Worth keeping on the list.
Paddy Ambrose - not the most dynamic user of the ball but he is safe and shows physical hardness. Has elite endurance and as a point of difference to any key defenders on the list. Gives us a good match up for the aerobic forwards. Keep keep keep.
Bellchambers - can't stand this glacial cream puff. Unless we can lure a number 1# ruck from elsewhere we might need him for a bit longer unfortunately.
Dylan Clarke - a rare young mid on our list who isn't built like a twig. Kicking isn't great but I would give him another 12 months because there is so much else to like about him.
Trade:
Zaharakis - peaheart. Sends a message to the rest of the group.
Gleeson - behind Redman, Ridley and Francis for a spot in the backline. An extra pick for him third could be handy unless the club the has plans for Ridley, Redman and Francis in other spots on the ground, then he should stay.
Hartley - handy player but doesn't look like getting a game anytime soon. Perhaps trade him or just delist so he can get to a new club easily.
Delist:
Long - should have been delisted two years ago.
Dea - thanks for the service, no longer needed.
Myers - the embodiment of all things wrong with this club over the last 10-15 years.
McNeice - battler, not up to it.
Bags - thanks for giving 100% each week, no longer up to it.
Zac Clarke - only saw his debut game for the club. Absolutely nothing to be gained by keeping him around.
Rookie list:
Laverde - last chance to salvage a career from the rookie list, otherwise delist.
Draft:
No more small/medium forwards or small/medium defenders, we need some tall timber across the ground and another genuine mid.
Gleeson plays pretty much the same role we are expecting Francis to and so far he has proven to be a better player
Gleeson if he comes back like he was playing towards the end of 2017 is ahead of Francis by a fair margin.
No body is going to trade for Zaka or Hartley.
Gold coast could take Zaharakis for pick 30 odd.
I would have said Zaharakis was the embodiment of what's wrong with our club over the past decade. Soft front runner that goes to water under pressure.
Gleeson played all of ten good games, loose at half back 18 months ago. If he's really ahead of Francis then he needs to prove it all over again. Also noting it took Gleeson 4.5 years to actually put that form together.
We certainly need to change something structurally. I'm a big fan of trying Ridley and Gleeson as wingers. We get very little from Zaharakis, Smith and Parish playing there currently.
Part of our poor transition is our midfielders don't lead well and with the exception of Heppell are incredible poor over head. Having them there would help elevate the lack of presenting from HF and give us another option outside of counter attacks off half back that often go over the midfield altogether. Another thing I really like about them is tidy and effective disposal without needing to take risks. Good at quickly hitting the 45 that Shiel, Myers, Parish and Heppell struggle with.
They also offer natural defensive positioning, that can help both set up the wall at half forward for repeat entries without rolling up the entirety of the defence allowing protection down back and help with general defensive transition.