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Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 8 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

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Absolutely this! you look at our team under 27 before the draft (with Will Darcy):

Buderick W.Darcy JOD
Jaques Buss Sellwood
Davidson Sanders A.Jones
Hynes Naughton Dolan
Croft Darcy Flea
Smith Freijah Richards
Walker Cleary

Wow, that’s a lot of players.

Thank goodness we are going back to the draft to add more, instead of actually complementing our list via trades and trying to contend for a flag with our clubs best ever player before he starts to decline.
 

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I am as disappointed as anybody in the trade for JUH, and worried that he will make us pay in future as a tremendously talented young man.

However, I think some perspective is needed.
  • We have confirmation that JUH's situation posed as a distraction heading into the 2024 elimination final, and a whole year of speculation and frustration from our coaches and players in the media.
  • Despite his talent and his output at his age, of the 18 teams in the league, only one of them was willing to take him on. We weren't alone in not wanting him on the list. Only one team did no matter the cost.
  • The coach at this club has a history of working very well with and getting the most out of troubled young men, including bikie affiliates and people with active charges of armed robbery and other heinous acts.
  • Despite this history, the only offer they were willing to put to JUH was a one year, $200,000 contract that is heavily incentivised.
Regardless of which version(s) of events that you accept regarding JUH, the above is not the circumstances of somebody who is a good chance of turning it around. It paints the picture of a young man who is incredibly up against it to get anywhere.

We may end up rueing this situation in future, and we should absolutely be conducting a thorough review of our conduct and whether JUH could have been supported in any better way, whether proactively or reactively.

But to suggest that we've just given away a star player for pick 74 is not really the whole truth.

Personally, I will take a balanced approach and hope that JUH finds happiness and success - outside of football.
 
Ooh Cal Twomey said we "threw a few bombs" at contracted key backs late but didn't get any traction. Wasn't sure who so didn't reveal names.

Doubt it was any serious attempts

Just enough to say that they tried and escape any criticism
 
People say contracts mean nothing these days so we could have had a crack at literally anyone. I am not paid to identify and secure players for the club.

Others have pointed out we do not necessarily need a big name. It's yet to be seen whether Busslinger (who might not even be at the club beyond next year) and JOD can be key pillars. They are tall, but neither has shown great one on one capability. They would seriously need to get on the protein bars.
We could've looked into solid enough players in the likes of Noble, Scrimshaw, Ballard. Not those names exactly but that tier of player. If you scan every list there are plenty players like them, maybe better or worse depending on your opinion.

If you look into the histories of about half of these players, you'll realise they are actually at their second club. So other clubs have gone and recruited defenders just fine. Seems to be a Bulldogs-only issue that we cannot since we apparently will only settle for the best.

The bigger issue is our lack of urgency to solve this dating all the way back to 2017. We've had this much time to replace the likes of Boyd, Morris, Wood, Johannisen, Biggs. We've even struggled to find players to replace the fringe players we had in Roberts, Hamling. Did you know Gardner has now played more games than either of them did for us?
 

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We may end up rueing this situation in future, and we should absolutely be conducting a thorough review of our conduct and whether JUH could have been supported in any better way, whether proactively or reactively.
Not that I disagree with this sentiment but the level of escalation that we went to with AFL house using their best sports psychologists beyond any player in AFL history answers the reactive question.
 
Doubt it was any serious attempts

Just enough to say that they tried and escape any criticism
I would be highly surprised if Sam Power and Michael Regan's actions over the last day or two have anything to do with how they think their work would get perceived by fans (who outside of us non-touching-grass individuals most fans do not care about), as opposed to working hard at their actual jobs to try and make the team better.
 
Sam Power living off a moneyball trade period where we got Bruce and Keath for nothing (thanks Saints), Martin who was a good find for half a season (though we'd been chasing him for years) and a luck draw with Treloar.
We ain't a destination club, always have been that way.....we are underdogs for a reason.
We get nothing handed to us eg Plastics/Suns/Northern Acadamies
No MCG home games/ANZAC/Queens BDay to draw free agents, or pay in brown paper bags.
Sam Power is doing a fantastic job at list building with what he has.
Just the last 3 years
Rory Lobb
Matt Kennedy
Harmes
DRAFT
Fridge
Sanders
Croft
Dolan
Davo
Sellwood
Cleary
All possible best 22 next year.
 

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Not that I disagree with this sentiment but the level of escalation that we went to with AFL house using their best sports psychologists beyond any player in AFL history answers the reactive question.
I don't think we are to blame, but any situation like this requires an intensive review. There are always tiny things to be done better, no matter how well it's been handled.

A devil's advocate argument would say that we have had two #1 picks fail under this current regime as well as a long, long history of a poor reputation for indigenous players. There are definitely going to be things to improve.
 
I am as disappointed as anybody in the trade for JUH, and worried that he will make us pay in future as a tremendously talented young man.

However, I think some perspective is needed.
  • We have confirmation that JUH's situation posed as a distraction heading into the 2024 elimination final, and a whole year of speculation and frustration from our coaches and players in the media.
  • Despite his talent and his output at his age, of the 18 teams in the league, only one of them was willing to take him on. We weren't alone in not wanting him on the list. Only one team did no matter the cost.
  • The coach at this club has a history of working very well with and getting the most out of troubled young men, including bikie affiliates and people with active charges of armed robbery and other heinous acts.
  • Despite this history, the only offer they were willing to put to JUH was a one year, $200,000 contract that is heavily incentivised.
Regardless of which version(s) of events that you accept regarding JUH, the above is not the circumstances of somebody who is a good chance of turning it around. It paints the picture of a young man who is incredibly up against it to get anywhere.

We may end up rueing this situation in future, and we should absolutely be conducting a thorough review of our conduct and whether JUH could have been supported in any better way, whether proactively or reactively.

But to suggest that we've just given away a star player for pick 74 is not really the whole truth.

Personally, I will take a balanced approach and hope that JUH finds happiness and success - outside of football.
I think there is every likelihood that Jamara was a distraction even before we were going into the 2024 elimination final.

By the middle of that season his effort when the ball hit the ground was eractic at best and there were instances when he was arguing with team mates when he didn't get the forward line delivery he wanted.

No one could of seen what was coming but on reflection the warning signs were there.
 

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Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 8 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

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