Recruiting Trade & Free Agency VII

[Lore]

We can't trade our first without bringing another first in.

 

[ghostdog]

Parish is kept out of the midfield by McGrath, Shiel and Merrett because the four of them are broadly similar. We don't really have anybody in the 22 that does the role which Brodie plays.

At the Suns, Brodie is behind Swallow, Greenwood and probably Bowes. Swallow is perennially underrated, Greenwood is top 6 in the comp for clearances and Bowes would probably get a game for us too.

Could do a lot worse than burn a pick in this years draft on Brodie IMO.

Behind Rowell now as well.
189cm and 89kg makes him similar in size to Hibberd, so he's definitely a big boy. How well does he play though?
I prefer the likes of Brodie, Sier and Constable than Wines. Cheaper and able to be developed.

 

[ghostdog]

Just checked the centre bounces last night. There was 20. So 60 starting midfielders

Shiel 17
McGrath 15
Tipungwuti 11
Smith 11
Merrett 4
Parish 2

So there’s our mix. Guys getting squeezed out and can’t get into the centre clearances? That’s because Tippa and Smith are in there a lot.

That’s what to remember I guess when Hibberd can’t get a game in the middle. Or when Parish leaves the club to play in the middle elsewhere.

I want to say that is unbelievable, but it is totally believable. Why can't we play the forwards forward and the mids in the middle. How difficult is that? I understand the need to build sustainability through versatility, but you don't do that by killing the game. It screams incompetence to me.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I want to say that is unbelievable, but it is totally believable. Why can't we play the forwards forward and the mids in the middle. How difficult is that? I understand the need to build sustainability through versatility, but you don't do that by killing the game. It screams incompetence to me.

It seems totally ridiculous. Surely Parish and Merrett should swap places with Tippa and Smith.

 

[JayJ20]

Just checked the centre bounces last night. There was 20. So 60 starting midfielders

Shiel 17
McGrath 15
Tipungwuti 11
Smith 11
Merrett 4
Parish 2

So there’s our mix. Guys getting squeezed out and can’t get into the centre clearances? That’s because Tippa and Smith are in there a lot.

That’s what to remember I guess when Hibberd can’t get a game in the middle. Or when Parish leaves the club to play in the middle elsewhere.

And we wonder why we're so up and down. Maybe if we stuck with our core 4-5 natural mids, then we may build some chemistry in the middle. It's a total mess.

Shiel, Clarke, Hibberd, Parish and McGrath should be attending most centre bounces until Stringer gets back. I don't mind having Walla in there late in the game.

 

[ghostdog]

It seems totally ridiculous. Surely Parish and Merrett should swap places with Tippa and Smith.

And we wonder why we're so up and down. Maybe if we stuck with our core 4-5 natural mids, then we may build some chemistry in the middle. It's a total mess.

Shiel, Clarke, Hibberd, Parish and McGrath should be attending most centre bounces until Stringer gets back. I don't mind having Walla in there late in the game.

It's diabolical.
We drafted Hibberd to fill the obvious need for a big body inside and release more of Merrett and Shiel, as well as allowing Stringer to stay forwsrd more: we don't.
Clarke tags out numerous of the opposition's best mids, enabling us to string together some impressive wins: we don't do that either.
Parish demonstrates on more than one occasion that when he plays on ball he makes things happen: we don't do that.
Walla demonstrates season after season that he's one of the best small forwards in the game: no, we play him through the middle.
Smith clearly isn't the same player he was two years ago, but we play him in the middle over Parish who we drafted as a mid.
We bring Shiel in thinking he's our big body: no, he's a receiver and distributor.
Cutler comes in as a big body. All well and good but he's not an inside mid.
Zaharakis contributes sweet FA week after week but continues to get kissed on the **** at selection.

Compare us with Port (which makes me crazy with annoyance because I hate Port):
SPP continues to get games because Hinks develops the young players. Even Amon turns it on now.
Wines hits a form slump, Hinks drops him, even though he's VC. Zaharakis lives.

WTF are our coaches doing?
Hibberd got more footy at Williamstown. Clarke, if he'd been nurtured instead of spurned, could now be twice the player he is currently. And he's smart too. It actually makes me mad. Some of the bodies Port has available to get around the ball: Boak, Wines, Ebert, Hartlett, SPP. Look at the size hete, then look at the size of ours. Still Hibbo gets omitted.

I've just about had it, and I consider myself a patient person.

 

[andleanback]

Lyons was also overlooked by GC, wouldn’t read too much into that.

Sometimes you have to concentrate on what a player can do well, not what they dont do well.

 

[eDPS]

Sometimes you have to concentrate on what a player can do well, not what they dont do well.

Gee tell that to our supporters haha

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It's diabolical.
We drafted Hibberd to fill the obvious need for a big body inside and release more of Merrett and Shiel, as well as allowing Stringer to stay forwsrd more: we don't.
Clarke tags out numerous of the opposition's best mids, enabling us to string together some impressive wins: we don't do that either.
Parish demonstrates on more than one occasion that when he plays on ball he makes things happen: we don't do that.
Walla demonstrates season after season that he's one of the best small forwards in the game: no, we play him through the middle.
Smith clearly isn't the same player he was two years ago, but we play him in the middle over Parish who we drafted as a mid.
We bring Shiel in thinking he's our big body: no, he's a receiver and distributor.
Cutler comes in as a big body. All well and good but he's not an inside mid.
Zaharakis contributes sweet FA week after week but continues to get kissed on the **** at selection.

Compare us with Port (which makes me crazy with annoyance because I hate Port):
SPP continues to get games because Hinks develops the young players. Even Amon turns it on now.
Wines hits a form slump, Hinks drops him, even though he's VC. Zaharakis lives.

WTF are our coaches doing?
Hibberd got more footy at Williamstown. Clarke, if he'd been nurtured instead of spurned, could now be twice the player he is currently. And he's smart too. It actually makes me mad. Some of the bodies Port has available to get around the ball: Boak, Wines, Ebert, Hartlett, SPP. Look at the size hete, then look at the size of ours. Still Hibbo gets omitted.

I've just about had it, and I consider myself a patient person.

The big Bulldogs midfield beats everybody up too. Except Brisbane are beating them, with Neale and Zorko leading the clearances.

 

[JayJ20]

The big Bulldogs midfield beats everybody up too. Except Brisbane are beating them, with Neale and Zorko leading the clearances.

It's not all about size, which may appear like I am contradicting myself. Neale is a natural inside mid who is very strong. About 10 kg heavier than Parish. Give me him over most big bodied mids. If you look at Brisbane's midfield, their big bodies allow for Neale and Zorko to get some separation to clear the ball with purpose. They do the blocking and shepherding then run in waves to provide options down the line. They play as a team.

McGrath goes in to get the ball with 4 opposition players charging at him. No one to block for him. It's no wonder blind kicks have become a feature in his game. Shiel gets tagged out of the game with no one to help him. We play as individuals rather than a team. Clarke and Hibberd may not get 10 clearances each, but it helps players like Shiel and McGrath play to their potential. Both Clarke and Hibberd run both ways and give us a hard edge in contests. It'll help us play as a team.

 

[Red Black and Blue]

It's not all about size, which may appear like I am contradicting myself. Neale is a natural inside mid who is very strong. About 10 kg heavier than Parish. Give me him over most big bodied mids. If you look at Brisbane's midfield, their big bodies allow for Neale and Zorko to get some separation to clear the ball with purpose. They do the blocking and shepherding then run in waves to provide options down the line. They play as a team.

McGrath goes in to get the ball with 4 opposition players charging at him. No one to block for him. It's no wonder blind kicks have become a feature in his game. Shiel gets tagged out of the game with no one to help him. We play as individuals rather than a team. Clarke and Hibberd may not get 10 clearances each, but it helps players like Shiel and McGrath play to their potential. Both Clarke and Hibberd run both ways and give us a hard edge in contests. It'll help us play as a team.

Brisbane’s big bodies are overstated. CEY wasn’t there last year and Brisbane were higher ranked in both contested ball and clearances and Berry plays mostly on the wing, significantly behind Zorko, Lyons and Zorko for centre bounce attendances. Their big body is Lyons at 83kg and 6 foot. When you’re hard enough and clean enough you don’t need to be a monster.

 

[JayJ20]

Brisbane’s big bodies are overstated. CEY wasn’t there last year and Brisbane were higher ranked in both contested ball and clearances and Berry plays mostly on the wing, significantly behind Zorko, Lyons and Zorko for centre bounce attendances. Their big body is Lyons at 83kg and 6 foot. When you’re hard enough and clean enough you don’t need to be a monster.

Yeah sure big bodies aren't always necessary, but you have to look at the players we have. Lyons and Neale are both natural inside mids. They're both better inside mids than anyone we have on our list. Lyons was averaging almost 14 contested possessions and 7 clearances in his last year at Gold Coast. Neale averaged almost 16 contested possessions and 8 clearances last year. For reference, Watson at his peak averaged 7 clearances and 14 contested possessions. When you have ball winners of that magnitude, you don't really need much support. Despite that, Brisbane still recruited CEY.

Lyons and Neale do their best work in contested situations. Shiel and McGrath do their best work accelerating away from congestion. If Shiel played at Brisbane, he'd be the 3rd mid and a clearance machine receiving all those handballs from their inside mids. With us, he's pretty much tagged out of the game. Instead of playing natural inside mids like Clarke or Hibberd to feed the ball to Shiel, we make Shiel our main source of contested possessions/clearances. Sure Shiel can win his own ball, but relying on him and a first year mid in McGrath to win clearances is a stretch. Hence why I believe we should be providing Shiel and McGrath with support.

 

[Lore]

Just checked the centre bounces last night. There was 20. So 60 starting midfielders

Shiel 17
McGrath 15
Tipungwuti 11
Smith 11
Merrett 4
Parish 2

So there’s our mix. Guys getting squeezed out and can’t get into the centre clearances? That’s because Tippa and Smith are in there a lot.

That’s what to remember I guess when Hibberd can’t get a game in the middle. Or when Parish leaves the club to play in the middle elsewhere.

R9

Player	Fantasy	TOG	CBA
Dylan Shiel	58	81%	19
Andrew McGrath	65	80%	15
Tom Bellchambers	25	74%	13
Darcy Parish	60	82%	9
Devon Smith	64	80%	9
Sam Draper	55	78%	8
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti	33	86%	6
Zach Merrett	58	79%	5

R8

Player	Fantasy	TOG	CBA
Tom Bellchambers	65	88%	19
Andrew McGrath	118	85%	17
Zach Merrett	138	74%	14
Darcy Parish	73	82%	13
Devon Smith	47	85%	9
Mitchell Hibberd	81	80%	4
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti	58	88%	2
Shaun McKernan	46	89%	1
Will Snelling	92	88%	1

R7

Player	Fantasy	TOG	CBA
Andrew McGrath	76	79%	19
Andrew Phillips	72	80%	18
Zach Merrett	74	82%	18
Devon Smith	76	79%	15
Darcy Parish	65	77%	13
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti	41	79%	8
Shaun McKernan	45	82%	7
Ned Cahill	31	80%	2

You can find the rest here https://www.afl.com.au/fantasy/news

Cool, didn't know that was a thing. I stay as far away from fantasy footy as I can

Player​	R1 (21)​	R2 (26)​	R4 (18)​	R5 (21)​	R6 (18)​	R7 (25)​	R8 (20)​	R9 (21)​	R10 (80*)​
Tom Bellchambers	19​	25​	15​	​	​	​	19​	13​	​
Andrew Phillips	​	​	​	20​	16​	18​	​	​	​
Sam Draper	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	8​	19​
Shaun McKernan	​	​	3​	1​	2​	7​	1​	​	1​
Dylan Shiel	18​	22​	13​	18​	6​	​	​	19​	17​
Jake Stringer	15​	14​	10​	17​	​	​	​	​	​
Andrew McGrath	12​	20​	13​	17​	15​	19​	17​	15​	15​
Zach Merrett	10​	1​	6​	​	11​	18​	14​	5​	4​
Darcy Parish	1​	7​	​	4​	12​	13​	13​	9​	2​
Devon Smith	2​	6​	6​	7​	9​	15​	9​	9​	11​
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti	5​	7​	2​	​	​	8​	2​	6​	11​
Mitch Hibberd	​	​	​	​	1​	​	4​	​	​
Will Snelling	​	​	​	​	​	​	1​	​	​
Ned Cahill	​	​	​	​	​	2​	​	​	​
Kyle Langford	2​	1​	4​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Jacob Townsend	​	1​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​

*The total number of centre bounces in the round 10 CBAs article has to be wrong. It should be the total number of goals scored by both teams combined plus one for each bounce that didn't result in a goal (i.e. where the quarter ended without a goal on the siren). R10 was bad but it wasn't 76 goals bad. Should be more like 20.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Just checked the centre bounces last night. There was 20. So 60 starting midfielders

Shiel 17
McGrath 15
Tipungwuti 11
Smith 11
Merrett 4
Parish 2

So there’s our mix. Guys getting squeezed out and can’t get into the centre clearances? That’s because Tippa and Smith are in there a lot.

That’s what to remember I guess when Hibberd can’t get a game in the middle. Or when Parish leaves the club to play in the middle elsewhere.

That's hilarious, on at least one occasion we had Smith and Tippa in the same centre bounce together. FMD.

I don't mind if Merrett doesn't play at the bounce because he does his best work from the outside but Parish definitely should be taking some of those appearances.

 

[Duckworth]

Both are no good. Hibberd a toiler, Clarke can’t kick. Neither solve our problems and situation inside the contest.

Hibbo did a damn good job when given midfield minutes vs the crows in the 1st quarter. Everyone looks below their best when played out of position. Which seems to be the EFC MO.
Clarke's kicking is also greatly improved this year. And although he has an odd ball drop, it was never as bad as some VFL watchers on here made it out to be.

 

[ghostdog]

It's not all about size, which may appear like I am contradicting myself. Neale is a natural inside mid who is very strong. About 10 kg heavier than Parish. Give me him over most big bodied mids. If you look at Brisbane's midfield, their big bodies allow for Neale and Zorko to get some separation to clear the ball with purpose. They do the blocking and shepherding then run in waves to provide options down the line. They play as a team.

McGrath goes in to get the ball with 4 opposition players charging at him. No one to block for him. It's no wonder blind kicks have become a feature in his game. Shiel gets tagged out of the game with no one to help him. We play as individuals rather than a team. Clarke and Hibberd may not get 10 clearances each, but it helps players like Shiel and McGrath play to their potential. Both Clarke and Hibberd run both ways and give us a hard edge in contests. It'll help us play as a team.

I've probably overcooked emphasis on bigger players when what I mean are players who could actually help release the skills of Merrett and Shiel. I'd like both of those players to be able to do damage; Merrett by foot and Shiel to burst out of the centre/stoppages and distribute. If they're being given space by the work of a Clarke or a Hibberd, we'll gain metres so much more easily.

The annoying thing is, we've had opportunity to develop these guys, and because players like Zaharakis have been given a free ride, we're now in a situation where we're still talking about needing a big bodied mid. We don't actually know if Clarke or Hibberd have a higher ceiling or not. We might not actually need to waste our currency to trade one in, but at this stage we actually have no idea. Good job Woosha.

 

[ghostdog]

Yeah sure big bodies aren't always necessary, but you have to look at the players we have. Lyons and Neale are both natural inside mids. They're both better inside mids than anyone we have on our list. Lyons was averaging almost 14 contested possessions and 7 clearances in his last year at Gold Coast. Neale averaged almost 16 contested possessions and 8 clearances last year. For reference, Watson at his peak averaged 7 clearances and 14 contested possessions. When you have ball winners of that magnitude, you don't really need much support. Despite that, Brisbane still recruited CEY.

Lyons and Neale do their best work in contested situations. Shiel and McGrath do their best work accelerating away from congestion. If Shiel played at Brisbane, he'd be the 3rd mid and a clearance machine receiving all those handballs from their inside mids. With us, he's pretty much tagged out of the game. Instead of playing natural inside mids like Clarke or Hibberd to feed the ball to Shiel, we make Shiel our main source of contested possessions/clearances. Sure Shiel can win his own ball, but relying on him and a first year mid in McGrath to win clearances is a stretch. Hence why I believe we should be providing Shiel and McGrath with support.

Yep. Spot on. So the question remains, what is the go with this diabolical plan they have?

 

[JayJ20]

Yep. Spot on. So the question remains, what is the go with this diabolical plan they have?

The plan is to draft another flanker, call him big bodied and force him to play midfield.

 

[ghostdog]

The plan is to draft another flanker, call him big bodied and force him to play midfield.

F***. It would be funny if there weren't a ring of truth about it.

 

[Duckworth]

The plan is to draft another flanker, call him big bodied and force him to play midfield.

That went straight to the feelings. You just know that that's what they're thinking.

 

[andleanback]

Cool, didn't know that was a thing. I stay as far away from fantasy footy as I can

Player​	R1 (21)​	R2 (26)​	R4 (18)​	R5 (21)​	R6 (18)​	R7 (25)​	R8 (20)​	R9 (21)​	R10 (80*)​
Tom Bellchambers	19​	25​	15​	​	​	​	19​	13​	​
Andrew Phillips	​	​	​	20​	16​	18​	​	​	​
Sam Draper	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	8​	19​
Shaun McKernan	​	​	3​	1​	2​	7​	1​	​	1​
Dylan Shiel	18​	22​	13​	18​	6​	​	​	19​	17​
Jake Stringer	15​	14​	10​	17​	​	​	​	​	​
Andrew McGrath	12​	20​	13​	17​	15​	19​	17​	15​	15​
Zach Merrett	10​	1​	6​	​	11​	18​	14​	5​	4​
Darcy Parish	1​	7​	​	4​	12​	13​	13​	9​	2​
Devon Smith	2​	6​	6​	7​	9​	15​	9​	9​	11​
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti	5​	7​	2​	​	​	8​	2​	6​	11​
Mitch Hibberd	​	​	​	​	1​	​	4​	​	​
Will Snelling	​	​	​	​	​	​	1​	​	​
Ned Cahill	​	​	​	​	​	2​	​	​	​
Kyle Langford	2​	1​	4​	​	​	​	​	​	​
Jacob Townsend	​	1​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​

*The total number of centre bounces in the round 10 CBAs article has to be wrong. It should be the total number of goals scored by both teams combined plus one for each bounce that didn't result in a goal (i.e. where the quarter ended without a goal on the siren). R10 was bad but it wasn't 76 goals bad. Should be more like 20.

Parish only 2 last night. Mind boggling stuff.

 

[CBombers17]

I know he's no world beater but can anyone think of a reason we didn't take Ellis-Yolman? He's at least capable of playing a role we need filled and he may have a few years of OK footy left in him - possibly more.

 

[eth-dog]

I know he's no world beater but can anyone think of a reason we didn't take Ellis-Yolman? He's at least capable of playing a role we need filled and he may have a few years of OK footy left in him - possibly more.

Because Brisbane offered 4 years.

 

[CBombers17]

Because Brisbane offered 4 years.

Ah - fair enough. I haven't seen anything that I'd engage for that long given where we are at. Good for them though.

 

[Seb78]

I know he's no world beater but can anyone think of a reason we didn't take Ellis-Yolman? He's at least capable of playing a role we need filled and he may have a few years of OK footy left in him - possibly more.

To be fair, I'm not sure he'd offer any more that what a Hibberd, Clarke or even a Begley would, and they're all for some odd reason struggling to get games as it is. Not sure he would've been the answer to our prayers tbh.

 

[andleanback]

To be fair, I'm not sure he'd offer any more that what a Hibberd, Clarke or even a Begley would, and they're all for some odd reason struggling to get games as it is. Not sure he would've been the answer to our prayers tbh.

He’s got more power and burst speed through the hips than those two.