Bradshaw a Swan

[bennyfabulous]

[QUOTE=Bas;463424]

It should be noted that its rare to win a premiership without previous finals experience in your players.
QUOTE]


Unless you're St Kilda

Im not sure where this is coming from. Cant remember the last st kilda premiership. I assume your having a dig at the saints in which case im right with you.

[liz]

All our efforts should go into constructing our next premiership team. The chances are very high that Bradshaw won't be part of that, even if he plays for 2-3 years and doesn't get injured again.

Using your logic:-

You clearly don't believe we stand a chance in the next 2-3 years.

So why aren't you advocating we delist Kirk, Goodes and at least one of the Boltons? Because you can't think they'll be part of the next premiership either.

[CJK]

Anyone who does not want to see Bradshaw in red and white is kidding themselves.

This.

[Jeffers1984]

I'm starting to get really excited on the prospect of Bradshaw joining us. Better stay calm as it's still a little while till December.

[Cheer Squad]

What happens if the guy we draft instead never plays a game after breaking down like many of the guys we have drafted in the national draft over the last few years (Willoughby pick 15 for example) ? And what if pick 55 does not play a game are we better off?

Simple. We won't have to spend as much on a draft pick compared to Bradshaw. We've got more money to spend in the future.

[Cheer Squad]

Using your logic:-

You clearly don't believe we stand a chance in the next 2-3 years.

So why aren't you advocating we delist Kirk, Goodes and at least one of the Boltons? Because you can't think they'll be part of the next premiership either.

I'm simply being hard-nosed about the list. Bradshaw is on the wrong side of 30 and had a serious knee injury only a couple of years ago. IMHO, we're better off looking for another youngster. We can get good service from the best of our remaining experienced players. Natural attrition will take of Kirk etc over the next few years.

There's certainly no advantage for the club with the wholesale de-listings you suggest, even if most of our remaining experienced players will not be part of our next premiership.

I'd love to see us win next year but I don't think it's likely. Check out today's Herald for another opinion on where we're at.

Gen Next must fly for Swans as wily old birds go - RFNews - realfooty.com.au

[magic.merkin]

Simple. We won't have to spend as much on a draft pick compared to Bradshaw. We've got more money to spend in the future.

well seeing as though you don't get to store up salary cap dollars, what does it matter, we HAVE to spend a minimum, I'm not sure where we are at currently, must be under (due to the offer)? He signs a contract it runs out and we move on. There will be plenty of dollars free'd up in the next few year with retirements. He will just add to it, as it stands for the next 2 years I don't see us needing big dollars to lure anyone, and contracts are stitched up for most.

[liz]

IMHO, we're better off looking for another youngster.

The thing is that we're discussing the last place on the list. There is an exceedingly low chance that a youngster we'd chose with our final pick, be that in the ND, PSD or rookie draft, will become a decent player, especially in a year where the draft is touted to be very shallow.

[Primmy]

This.

And that.

Bring in a carthorse to calm and teach the workhorses. If we get him, fantastic.

[SimonH]

well seeing as though you don't get to store up salary cap dollars, what does it matter, we HAVE to spend a minimum, I'm not sure where we are at currently, must be under (due to the offer)? He signs a contract it runs out and we move on. There will be plenty of dollars free'd up in the next few year with retirements. He will just add to it, as it stands for the next 2 years I don't see us needing big dollars to lure anyone, and contracts are stitched up for most.

The minimum (92.5% of the cap) is as much of an issue as the maximum for a club in the Swans' position. Take out BBBH's salary, half of MOL's salary, half of Leo's salary, Crouch's salary, and now Jolly's salary from our 2009 player payments. Plus while we paid Fosdike and Kennelly little or nothing in '09, at the time of preparing contracts we must have budgetted to pay them within the cap, so they come off the 100% as well. Even adding in fairly generous contracts to Seaby, Mumford and Jesse White, it's hard to see how we wouldn't be more than 7.5% down on our '09 budget. Then on top of that we have the option of counting only half of Goodes' salary (surely our highest-paid player) and half of either JBolt or Kirk's salary by sticking them on the veterans list.

If we didn't get Bradshaw, then likely there'd be some relatively generous contract extension offers to our mid-tier players. And the worst place for a club to be, is to be forced to spend on players more than they're truly worth. That entrenches mediocrity. Can you imagine the ordinary mid-career players running around at Melbourne on seriously good coin, just because they have to pay 92.5% of the cap?

It sounds perverse, but if Bradshaw retires just when Currie, Bird and Hannebery are becoming entrenched superstars of the game, that will give us cap breathing space at just the right time.

List management in the modern age is fiendishly complicated.

[Plugger46]

The thing is that we're discussing the last place on the list. There is an exceedingly low chance that a youngster we'd chose with our final pick, be that in the ND, PSD or rookie draft, will become a decent player, especially in a year where the draft is touted to be very shallow.

Exactly. He's not going to be keeping a young superstar off the list. He's still playing good footy and we won't have to give up anything to get him.

Bradshaw has shown throughout his career that he can work with multiple forward targets too, so he won't be stunting anyone's development.

Haven't heard a decent reason not to take him yet.

[reigning premier]

Don't want him. Period.

Too old, too injury prone.

Wait until next year when we can get Buddy or Roughead. Then we'll be back in contention.

[Bas]

Wait until next year when we can get Buddy or Roughead. Then we'll be back in contention.

Under the Christmas tree?

How do you propose we get either of the two? To say we trade for them is nonsense, with what?

It is Bradshaw for a PSD pick.

The Herald article doesn't say much apart from outlining history. Swans lose experience then struggle for years, bombers do same and win premiership. So no one knows.

Remember it was all our experienced players that had us finish 5th last this year. Last year we limped into the finals and thrashed by Dogs and our experienced players didn't give a yelp.

[hammo]

The thing is that we're discussing the last place on the list. There is an exceedingly low chance that a youngster we'd chose with our final pick, be that in the ND, PSD or rookie draft, will become a decent player, especially in a year where the draft is touted to be very shallow.

And I assume if the spot isn't taken by Bradshaw it will be left to Playfair. So that makes it an easy decision for me.

Bradshaw will play out of the goal square like Lynch was able to do effectively for the Lions in 01-04. Roos has talked up the value of this role many times, usually identifying it as a role Goodes would eventually play in his final years.

Unlike Fevola, Bradshaw has proven he can function in a multi-pronged forward line so it makes sense for us in that regard. Recruiting Fevola would have caused a rethink of our entire forward set up. Fevola would have also cost us far too much in terms of draft picks, whereas we can get Bradshow for nothing.

White will benefit enormously by not being the no. 1 forward so early in his career. He'll be able to work on his game without being smothered by the elite fullbacks such as Scarlett and Lake.

[Reggi]

The Herald article doesn't say much apart from outlining history. Swans lose experience then struggle for years, bombers do same and win premiership. So no one knows.

That 1993 S&Don premiership team was the luckiest team and worst premiership team in my lifetime, a shocker,in fact they were lucky in that the competition didn not know how poor Olarenshaw and Calthorpe, Paul Hills were, they were just very lucky the WC eagles were struggling with injury

It's a balance, but I'd take him