Toast Welcome to Fremantle Matthew Johnson (pick 21 2021 AFL Draft)

[Taylor]

Drafting a player with the hope of luring his already proven brother to your club in two years would be such poor list management that you'd believe a future first and pick #23 would be offered.

Just further validates that I was right in ranking him at our top ten picks and grateful that we picked him up for a pick we traded a future second for and got another top ten pick back with it as a sweetener.

Gold Coast gave us two top ten picks for a second rounder next year that could be in the mid thirties.

 

[FreoRicci]

Shows how highly we rated him to refuse an offer like that

Gee if Hawthorn bottomed out next season, that’s around pick 3-5? Or was it their second of the first round.
Ah who cares. We’ve essentially got three top 10 players for trading out Cerra and getting Brodie.
Gold Coast gifted us Johnson. God they’ve given us Christmas presents and ham lately

 

[theGav56]

Trading with GCSs is a generational opportunity that we have feasted from.

 

[Tonga Bob]

Shows how highly we rated him to refuse an offer like that

Yeah I was told this this morning and I struggled to believe it. Apparently it was a decision we debated to the minutes before we picked him.

I kinda wish it hadnt got out to more official sources because that's a lot of pressure on the kid. I'm not sure you can really justify turning that offer down, regardless of where we rate Johnson...

bloody hell you’d surely have to think we’d need to have given something else in that deal, but does show how incredible for us it is that he slipped through

I’m ok with getting our man this year and developing him for our tilt, but still…

 

[freo_leo29]

Hawks are a genuine 18th chance next year

I reckon we had to give our F1 in that deal

 

[heypenny]

It would have been with our future first going back.

Otherwise I'm sure Hawthorn would have been able to offer their future first to any of the teams from pick 12 onwards on Wednesday which would have been snatched it up (allowing them to keep pick 23 too).

 

[theGav56]

It would have been with our future first going back.

Otherwise I'm sure Hawthorn would have been able to offer their future first to any of the teams from pick 12 onwards on Wednesday which would have been snatched it up (allowing them to keep pick 23 too).

Good point.

re-looking at the draft, some decent players in the 20s but Johnson easily top of the wazza.

 

[Paracleet]

There is 0% chance the Hawks offer wasn't a swap of future firsts +23. You'd be bonkers to think otherwise.

E.g. Us finishing 9th next year and them 17th values the trade at 8. Take out our F1 and it's basically pick 1 they'd have been offering which obviously we'd take.

 

[more_of_bito]

There is 0% chance the Hawks offer wasn't a swap of future firsts +23. You'd be bonkers to think otherwise.

E.g. Us finishing 9th next year and them 17th values the trade at 8. Take out our F1 and it's basically pick 1 they'd have been offering which obviously we'd take.

100% agree with this. Hawks ain’t giving up a top 5/10 pick in 2022 and 23 without strings attached.

 

[Taylor]

#5 and #23 for #12 and #21 would make sense.

But I still don't care. If a player is good enough, pick them. It's the cheapest they will ever be, especially if you try and trade for them later.

 

[thewiz0033]

I just read the full article. It said that it is unclear if the offer included our first round going back to the Hawks

completely misleading headline on the article about the “hawks mega offer for sliding star”

 

[Spirit Level]

Brawshaw, Serong, Johnson and Erasmus has the potential to be such a dynamic midfield, they all bring something different to the table

 

[Docker82]

Trading with GCSs is a generational opportunity that we have feasted from.

GC have traded in so many future picks that that a similar opportunity will exist next year.

It's really just whether we're the ones taking the opportunity or someone else.

It's honestly incompetent list management at the highest degree which only ever seems to benefit the clubs GC is trading with.

 

[theGav56]

#5 and #23 for #12 and #21 would make sense.

But I still don't care. If a player is good enough, pick them. It's the cheapest they will ever be, especially if you try and trade for them later.

Unfortunately 23 and 21 are the only known picks there, and given both teams value Johnson as a top 10 pick, that weighs massively in Hawthorn's favour.

Next year's picks are unknown, and represent a gamble we do not need to take. They could end up being reversed. Collingwood have kindly provided a very sobering lesson in that regard.

The only way that trade makes sense is if we valued 2 other players as highly as Johnson.

 

[Paracleet]

Unfortunately 23 and 21 are the only known picks there, and given both teams value Johnson as a top 10 pick, that weighs massively in Hawthorn's favour.

Next year's picks are unknown, and represent a gamble we do not need to take. They could end up being reversed. Collingwood have kindly provided a very sobering lesson in that regard.

The only way that trade makes sense is if we valued 2 other players as highly as Johnson.

I mostly agree. I think if we valued two other players as *close* to, but just short of, Johnson then you'd also take the deal. If we value him as clearly much better (a genuine top 10 player and alternatives we valued at around the pick they were going to go) then it makes sense to take in him given the level of uncertainty in how the deal would pan out. I.E. although it's likely we will finish several places higher than Hawthorn that has to weighed against the possibility that we won't.

 

[theGav56]

I mostly agree. I think if we valued two other players as *close* to, but just short of, Johnson then you'd also take the deal. If we value him as clearly much better (a genuine top 10 player and alternatives we valued at around the pick they were going to go) then it makes sense to take in him given the level of uncertainty in how the deal would pan out. I.E. although it's likely we will finish several places higher than Hawthorn that has to weighed against the possibility that we won't.

My personal option regarding available players at that pick was Butler. Looks terrific as a small hungry forward who can play midfield. And of course Goater.

But even then I don't fancy the gamble on the exchange of first round picks. We would be downgrading in this year's draft for uncertainty in next year's draft. It needed a decent additional pick imo to make it a certainty that we come out in front.

Pretty stoked to have Johnson who I would have happily replaced with either of our first two picks.

 

[Jezzitizle]

Brawshaw, Serong, Johnson and Erasmus has the potential to be such a dynamic midfield, they all bring something different to the table

O’Driscoll too.

From memory he hardly had a pre-season last year.

I’m hoping he can become a Clayton Oliver type beast, the way he moves reminds me of him.

Not necessarily as good but that style of player.

 

[FreoRicci]

O’Driscoll too.

From memory he hardly had a pre-season last year.

I’m hoping he can become a Clayton Oliver type beast, the way he moves reminds me of him.

Not necessarily as good but that style of player.

Oliver also took a while to mature. OD needs a big off season in the next few years like Fyfe. Can also see him being a jet. He improved as the season went on this year, just his tank/fitness lagged

 

[ilikepotatoes]

O’Driscoll too.

From memory he hardly had a pre-season last year.

I’m hoping he can become a Clayton Oliver type beast, the way he moves reminds me of him.

Not necessarily as good but that style of player.

He was initially expected to miss half the season when he was drafted.

Looking forward to seeing him play, hopefully anywhere but half back, next season.

 

[Tbonefreo]

That's insane if true!

No wonder they were passed and pick Serong before our pick

They didn't take Serong to piss us off. That would be crazy

 

[Tbonefreo]

Trading with GCSs is a generational opportunity that we have feasted from.

We sure have. We're not the only ones though. When King leaves surely there won't be another bailout package

 

[freo_leo29]

The club has clarified in their draft part 2 article that the offer was F2 and a 2nd for 21

Multiple clubs offered the same thing, so I reckon Hawks, Cats and Tigers all approached with that deal, Hawks was the hardest one to turn down but I'm comfortable with the decision.

 

[Tbonefreo]

The club has clarified in their draft part 2 article that the offer was F2 and a 2nd for 21

Multiple clubs offered the same thing, so I reckon Hawks, Cats and Tigers all approached with that deal, Hawks was the hardest one to turn down but I'm comfortable with the decision.

Never believed for a second we would turn down that offer.
If it's too good to be true it usually is

 

[Van_Dyke]

The club has clarified in their draft part 2 article that the offer was F2 and a 2nd for 21

Cal Twomey said similar things in his article today - interesting aspect is WCE thought about trading up to 15 but seemingly the player they wanted wasn’t there… clearly didn’t like Johnson

https://www.afl.com.au/news/689980

 

[arsesmart]

They didn't take Serong to piss us off. That would be crazy

Was it Ken Judge who said the WC standard procedure was to undercut Freo wherever they could, even if they had to go out of their way to do it? Sam Mitchell been there and is very much of the same cloth (e.g. his serial kneeing days). Plus it's very much a free swing at that pick and if they think that'd disrupt our plans why not?

A similar but opposite example might be GWS not bidding on Cottonwool's F/S with the pick they got from them. Maybe some sense of added alignment.