I can't help but notice rumour threads on other club boards and feel like we're missing out to some degree, especially considering the off season has just begun for us. I know we've had issues with rumour threads on our board in the past but I think the main issue was that we had people from other clubs coming in just to troll us so I've decided to add the 'SUNS Posters ONLY!' tag just to keep any kind of trolling to an absolute minimum. I've also added an asterisk there for trusted posters on our board such as Jen2310 to get involved in this thread as well. Our ITK (In The Know) poster is generally eppo67 so keep an eye out for his posts in this thread if you're looking for credible information. Trolling will not be tolerated in this thread and above all else, let's have some good discussions + keep things productive in this thread.
Okay, now that we've set the parameters of this thread, let's get to the rumours that are doing the rounds at the moment.
RUMOUR 1 - CLARKO
First up is Alastair Clarkson. I know Clarko has said he wants to have 2022 off but only a few weeks ago he said he was going to be coaching Hawthorn in 2022 so obviously his plans aren't as concrete as some statements would have you believe. As we all know, the rumour of the last month or so was that we were courting Clarkson to join us and that was confirmed tonight on Footy Classified:
I think it's really important to note a few things here. Firstly, Clarkson has officially said no to becoming the head coach of Collingwood AND Carlton but only said no to taking up a director of coaching role with us. As far as we're aware, we have not yet offered him the head coaching role and therefore we don't know the answer to that question should it come up over the next few weeks. Caro suggested last week that the AFL is very frustrated with our situation and may go over Mark Evans' head if he is not to act in the next few weeks but you'd have to assume nothing will be done until after our Club Champion night in a week and a half from now. So it could be a very interesting few weeks coming up when it comes to our head coaching position.
RUMOUR 2 - GENERAL MANAGER OF FOOTBALL/ASSISTANT COACHES
It should probably also be mentioned that our general manager of football John Haines is apparently also under the pump and could be replaced soon by Tristan Salter, Wayne Campbell or Craig Cameron according to reports. We've also been linked with Michael Voss moving to our club as an assistant coach.
RUMOUR 3 - TRADE/FREE AGENCY TARGETS
So we're officially chasing free agent Luke Dunstan as of this afternoon:
www.afl.com.au
Another rumour our of Adelaide from a few weeks ago suggested that a "big name player" from Port Adelaide was heading our way this off season. Some on our board are convinced it's free agent Hamish Hartlett and more optimistic onlookers think there's a chance we're going to trade for a guy like Charlie Dixon who may be interested in returning home to QLD.
We were linked to Levi Casboult last week.
We've been linked to Richmond pair Callum Coleman-Jones and Mabior Chol a few times this year but it's possible that interest has cooled. We were also linked to Fremantle's Rory Lobb earlier in the season.
Another free agent that could come into play for us this off season may be Luke Parker but nothing has officially linked us to him at this stage.
RUMOUR 4 - RE-SIGNING OUR YOUNG TALENT
So the rumour is that there is a lot of confidence internally that Ben King will put pen to paper this summer to stay with us long term on a big deal. Obviously we're going to have to offer Kingy huge money this time around and I think his signature is the most important one when it comes to retaining our young talent next year because we know he's close with Luko. I think we'll also see Touk officially sign his long term deal over the summer as well. We'll have to get going on re-signing Lukosius and Rankine next year.
Okay I think that's enough to get this thread started!
Okay, now that we've set the parameters of this thread, let's get to the rumours that are doing the rounds at the moment.
RUMOUR 1 - CLARKO
First up is Alastair Clarkson. I know Clarko has said he wants to have 2022 off but only a few weeks ago he said he was going to be coaching Hawthorn in 2022 so obviously his plans aren't as concrete as some statements would have you believe. As we all know, the rumour of the last month or so was that we were courting Clarkson to join us and that was confirmed tonight on Footy Classified:
I think it's really important to note a few things here. Firstly, Clarkson has officially said no to becoming the head coach of Collingwood AND Carlton but only said no to taking up a director of coaching role with us. As far as we're aware, we have not yet offered him the head coaching role and therefore we don't know the answer to that question should it come up over the next few weeks. Caro suggested last week that the AFL is very frustrated with our situation and may go over Mark Evans' head if he is not to act in the next few weeks but you'd have to assume nothing will be done until after our Club Champion night in a week and a half from now. So it could be a very interesting few weeks coming up when it comes to our head coaching position.
RUMOUR 2 - GENERAL MANAGER OF FOOTBALL/ASSISTANT COACHES
It should probably also be mentioned that our general manager of football John Haines is apparently also under the pump and could be replaced soon by Tristan Salter, Wayne Campbell or Craig Cameron according to reports. We've also been linked with Michael Voss moving to our club as an assistant coach.
RUMOUR 3 - TRADE/FREE AGENCY TARGETS
So we're officially chasing free agent Luke Dunstan as of this afternoon:
Suns interest as ball-magnet exits Saints, Chip finally cooked
A flurry to finish the season hasn't saved Luke Dunstan, while veteran James Frawley announces retirement
www.afl.com.au
Another rumour our of Adelaide from a few weeks ago suggested that a "big name player" from Port Adelaide was heading our way this off season. Some on our board are convinced it's free agent Hamish Hartlett and more optimistic onlookers think there's a chance we're going to trade for a guy like Charlie Dixon who may be interested in returning home to QLD.
We were linked to Levi Casboult last week.
We've been linked to Richmond pair Callum Coleman-Jones and Mabior Chol a few times this year but it's possible that interest has cooled. We were also linked to Fremantle's Rory Lobb earlier in the season.
Another free agent that could come into play for us this off season may be Luke Parker but nothing has officially linked us to him at this stage.
RUMOUR 4 - RE-SIGNING OUR YOUNG TALENT
So the rumour is that there is a lot of confidence internally that Ben King will put pen to paper this summer to stay with us long term on a big deal. Obviously we're going to have to offer Kingy huge money this time around and I think his signature is the most important one when it comes to retaining our young talent next year because we know he's close with Luko. I think we'll also see Touk officially sign his long term deal over the summer as well. We'll have to get going on re-signing Lukosius and Rankine next year.
Okay I think that's enough to get this thread started!
