How Many Will Leave?

[Robbo]

According to some bloke on BF who seems to be in the know Thornton will be delisted and picked up again in the rookie draft. The same sort of thing Freo did with Crowley.

I would use 3 picks in the draft. A KP forward with our first pick, a small forward with our second and then maybe a mature aged (20/21) backman with our 3rd.

We have a heap of midfielders on our list so we don't need any in this draft. A kid called Lewis Johnston is being touted as a possible selection for us at pick 12, he's a key forward.

[sharp9]

Rookie Elevations DO NOT count as draft picks.

You can use a draft pick to take a scholarship player (we did with Bird).

Pretty sure you can't rookie a scholarship player, you have to excercise the draft, I believe.

[liz]

Rookie Elevations DO NOT count as draft picks.

You can use a draft pick to take a scholarship player (we did with Bird).

Pretty sure you can't rookie a scholarship player, you have to excercise the draft, I believe.

Incorrect on both counts.

Rules have been changed this year so that one rookie elevation can count towards the minimum of three players taken in the ND. Given the reported depth of this year's draft, it will be surprising if many clubs exercise this. They'd have to be pretty happy with the quality of their younger brigade.

As for scholarship players, they can be taken with the last ND pick. As I understand it, the player has no right to refuse (since they effectively agreed to be recruited by that club when they accepted a scholarship). But if a club doesn't want to put the player on the senior list, they have the option of offering them a rookie list place instead. The player doesn't have to accept this. They can choose to nominate for the draft instead if they want to see if another club will put them on the senior list (which is financially better for them).

There are some restrictions on rookie-ing in the sense that there is a higher age cut-off (3-4 months, though that will disappear from 2009 draft onwards). So some scholarship players may be eligible this year only for a senior spot, not a rookie spot.

There is an added concession for clubs choosing to rookie-list a scholarship player in that for the first year, they count in addition to the normal rookie quota. I guess this is aimed at encouraging clubs to give a very marginal scholarship player the benefits of at least one year on an AFL list. Even if they don't survive past that one year, they will hopefully come back to one of the NSW competitions and help to improve the overall level in a way they might not have done without that year of AFL club experience.

[SimonH]

Ed Barlow now added to the relatively short list of potentially at-risk players who have been guaranteed a spot in the 2009 list by the Swans' media division.

Good to see. Taking on board all that's been said about his woeful 2008, he's still exactly the kind of youth we need to see on our list. There were rational reasons why Adam Goodes was ignored until about #40 in the draft (it's not just that the Swans hid him under a rock). Of course Barlow could well crash and burn, but his upside is huge-- one way or t'other, he's not going to be yet another one of the seemingly endless list of Mathews-esque honest triers.

[ugg]

I haven't found an article to confirm it yet, but I have heard that Kristin Thornton and Peter Faulks have both been delisted and Matt O'Dwyer and Nick Smith have been promoted from the rookie list.

Orreal and Murphy retained on the rookie list which means Bruce along with Terlich and Beckmans are gone.

[Tuhob]

It's mentioned here:

Finalised Lists

SYDNEY FOOTBALL CLUB
DELETIONS
Brennan, Luke ? Delisted
Davis, Nick ? Delisted
Everitt, Peter ? Retired
Faulks, Peter ? Delisted
Mathews, Ben ? Retired
Thornton, Kristin ? Delisted

ADDITIONS
O?Dwyer, Matthew ? Rookie List Promotion
Shaw, Rhyce ? Exchanged from Collingwood
Smith, Nick ? Rookie List Promotion

RETAINED ROOKIES
Murphy, Brendan
Orreal, Jake

[Robbo]

A big WTF on Faulks. The future of our backline is looking very @@@@ty now.

[liz]

RETAINED ROOKIES
Murphy, Brendan
Orreal, Jake

No Bruce???? WTF?

A big WTF on Faulks. The future of our backline is looking very @@@@ty now.

Surprised on Faulks' delisting. Very surprised. Came on in leaps and bounds last year.

[Robbo]

We need to go tall in this draft, badly.

A key forward with 12 and a key back with 30.

[Triple B]

Surprised on Faulks.

As Liz said, he improved heaps this year. There were rumours last year (2007) when he disappeared towards the end of the year that he had issues. Could be something in it.

One thing is now for certain, Jesse White will be groomed for FB as was hinted at in the article earlier in the week. I for one am not unhappy about that.

[Robbo]

This decision could also mean they will continue to play Grundy down back.

[573v30]

I'm disappointed that Thornton and Faulks have to face the axe, but at the same time I'm not really that surprised given the fact they haven't played a single AFL game in 3 and 2 years respectively.

Time for the tall youngsters to step up, time to recruit some big guys and hopefully Pikey can learn the game quickly too.

[Jeffers1984]

Surely we'll pick up Thornton as a rookie? Surely?!! He was ready to explode last season if it wasn't for his unfortunate landing in a marking contest against Port.

Surely!!!!!??!?!?!!?

[ROK Lobster]

No Bruce???? WTF?

Did not see a lot of the reserves this year but that it surprising. A Canberra local, they have reasonably big wraps on him down here, and he was consistently in the best.

[liz]

Did not see a lot of the reserves this year but that it surprising. A Canberra local, they have reasonably big wraps on him down here, and he was consistently in the best.

Including in the finals, where he seemed to have some very big games. IMESHO he showed more this year than any first year rookie over the past three or four years other than Flipper Phillips.

Also seems weird that they announced a week or so ago that Beckmans and Terlich hadn't been retained but were silent then on Bruce. Haven't given up hope that his name has been omitted in error from the retained list.