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Strategy Trade and List management Thread Part 5 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

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I know, but Buss was a high draft pick. Almost all of the players drafted around him have played, Buss doesn’t appear to be close right now.

Point being he was a pretty reasonable investment being our first rounder, JoD changed the landscape a little, and we’re trying to win a flag while Bont is in his prime. How much time do we afford an asset like Buss?

I’m in no rush to see him off or anything, Keath likely wont play beyond next year and Gardner has gone backwards. There could be a place for him and if we lost him, our young defender stocks dwindle further.

If west coast were asking I’d hear them out, though. Depends on what we think Buss’ timeline is and what is on offer. We could potentially turn a long term asset into something that helps sooner.

Also keeping in mind that we recruited Keath and Jones to immediate effect, got games out of Gardner from the mid season draft, and signed JoD partway through the season from another sport - there are avenues to top up in that area.

Personally I would lean towards looking long term and investing in a few of our young guys, Buss included, but with Bevo around (and the age of some of our key players) we will always be pushing to win now, and using high draft picks on skinny talls doesn’t always completely marry up with that
Busslinger could absolutely play now he and O'Donnell are of a very similar standard
 
JoD was definitely an unexpected shakeup in that Busslinger space. I have to wonder if we even draft Buss if we already had JoD on the list at that stage.

Of course they’re not like for likes, and Buss is younger, but if the plan for the next couple of years is Jones + Keath/Gardner + JoD, or just two of those, that does mean Buss is waiting a long while for a role in the seniors.

Ideally JoD becomes a 2nd tall kpd, Buss third tall. But trying to challenge for a flag at the same time in the short term could make that awkward.

I hope Buss becomes the intercepter we badly need but I would understand if true and we played ball with the eagles.

Our older KPPs will miss games due to minor soft tissues more often, and a LTI may end their career.

We'd be crazy not to have multiple young KPDs on the list.
 

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JoD was definitely an unexpected shakeup in that Busslinger space. I have to wonder if we even draft Buss if we already had JoD on the list at that stage.

Of course they’re not like for likes, and Buss is younger, but if the plan for the next couple of years is Jones + Keath/Gardner + JoD, or just two of those, that does mean Buss is waiting a long while for a role in the seniors.

Ideally JoD becomes a 2nd tall kpd, Buss third tall. But trying to challenge for a flag at the same time in the short term could make that awkward.

I hope Buss becomes the intercepter we badly need but I would understand if true and we played ball with the eagles.
I’m surprised how quickly JOD has filled out. He has noticeably bulked up since his debut. I wonder what we’ll see next year after a preseason.
 
Buss isnt a full back and we’ll be disappointed if we expect that of him. He’s a very good mark with a smart footy brain and good distribution out of the backline.
Which is a big hole in our backline currently. Would have to be a very good offer to let him go and only if he asked for it
 
You can’t write off a 196cm skinny defender after a season ! It might take him another three years to make it into the senior team . Or he might not make it …. Gotta give him a chance
Especially one who had his entire first preseason wiped out with shoulder surgery. Really keen to see him get a proper base under his belt next year
 
phillips wants to return home to be with his family in Tasmania .

If Sweet leaves I hope we do have our eyes on other options . Ideally someone who challenges for the No 1 ruck spot rather than a permanent second fiddle . No-one wants to see Buku in the ruck again.
 

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Especially one who had his entire first preseason wiped out with shoulder surgery. Really keen to see him get a proper base under his belt next year
Also half of his u18 year. He's a longer term project which is fine.
His reading of the ball in flight was the best in his class so I'm happy to show a bit of patience. JOD has 12 months on him and at least 3-4kgs right now. I'm glad we have some talls coming through.
Even if Croft projects as a defender not a forward, we don't have much in the way of under 30 defensive talls so having a pipeline of kids developing is a good thing
 
phillips wants to return home to be with his family in Tasmania .

If Sweet leaves I hope we do have our eyes on other options . Ideally someone who challenges for the No 1 ruck spot rather than a permanent second fiddle . No-one wants to see Buku in the ruck again.
If Tom Downie is mentally up to being in the AFL spotlight he's the first I'd look to sign.
 
Busslinger is a must keep.
Nearly all KPD can’t kick or intercept as well as him. His field kicking and vision is great too.

I would rather keep Buss instead of a top 5 pick.
How much do you think his field kicking and vision was critical to our decision to draft him? If his disposal was just so-so might we have picked a winger (like Cowan) or a midfielder or another small defender?

Everyone knew we needed more tall defenders but there were perhaps other options further down the draft or in the Rookie Draft or trading. That's a path we've taken quite a bit to pick up handy journeymen (Gardner, Keath etc) but we've always come up a bit short of the class we need there (compare them to the sort of players that have served other clubs well ... McGovern, Taylor, Lever, Stewart, etc). If you're marking everything in sight then maybe disposal is not quite as critical. However the need would have been heightened by Gardner's limited marking and Keath's disposal & vision shortcomings.

I'm all in for getting a side that's chock full of good kicks (on both feet) and players with vision. You don't need high possession counts if your DE% is consistently 80-90% and you end up with lots of score involvements. Players with both (eg Daniel) are gold.

We all pay lip service to the importance of disposal & vision but perhaps our recruiters lose sight of it at times when we have the opportunity to pick up discount players who simply rack up good numbers, who spoil well or have good closing speed.
 

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Busslinger is a must keep.
Nearly all KPD can’t kick or intercept as well as him. His field kicking and vision is great too.

I would rather keep Buss instead of a top 5 pick.
Is Buss actually a good intercept defender though?

I haven't actually seen any good evidence of this.

Josh Weddle, who was drafted 4 picks after Buss, looks like a much better prospect to me.
 
I'd give Toby McLean another year. Still only 27, a huge club culture guy, good depth at the very least. He imo needs to Mclean out though and work purely towards endurance, agility and skills.
He did that last summer. It doesn't seem to have helped with the agility and speed issues that have kept him out of the side..

Im ok with leaving Mclean on the list for the reasons that you mention. However from a purely dispassionate list management point of view (like thats a thing) I'd let him go.
 
You can’t write off a 196cm skinny defender after a season ! It might take him another three years to make it into the senior team . Or he might not make it …. Gotta give him a chance
I saw him for the first time after the team returned to post Christmas training. He of course was not involved in the scratch match and was only doing the lightest of drills and some very short run throughs. It was pretty obvious that he was still hampered by the shoulder and not in the best shape, because he was trailing in behind the other players doing their rehab away from the main group.

He is coming from so far back because of his pre-season shoulder reco that it's actually incredible that people in here have been calling for him to debut. Which was indicative of our KPD stocks and their form than it ever was of his, which has been just ok, but with the occasional showing of what he's capable of. I dont doubt that the club wrote of his entire season as a development year the moment the called out his name on draft night.

He'll be fine when he debuts which baring a catastrophic injury list this year will probably be some time next year. When it does happen It'll be as a 3rd intercepting tall. For mine, the next preseason will be his first and he's a couple more away from playing as a genuine KPD.
 
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