Josh Dunkley

[Ampersand]

By the way, where is this idea that Dunkley could only ever play midfield for us coming from? I understand that's where his strength is currently but young versatile players like him develop in other positions all the time. He could turn out to be a pretty useful half-back or a 3rd tall defender.

From memory, Rampe started out as a half-forward/midfielder and has become a pretty handy defender for us.

[R-1]

He's big and can mark a bit, but he's reportedly a pretty pure inside physically dominant mid type. Can tackle and can win the ball.

[Levii3]

He wouldn't have to wait that long for a spot in the team McVeigh retires in two years time (think he plays both midfield and hb in VFL?), or if his disposal efficiency is better than Mitchell he could take his spot.

[Ampersand]

But there's a difference between keeping the Swans informed and satisfying the curiosity of fans. For all we know, the Swans might not have yet made a firm commitment to him. Read Emma Quayle's latest book and you'll realise how much work the recruiters of each club do in the last few weeks leading up to a draft. They'll be going back over their vision and notes from the last year or two on each possible recruit and re-evaluating list management and draft strategies upon completion of trade week. The Swans may themselves be evaluating who they think might be available with later picks (which is harder than usual, given they don't know what Mills will cost and hence where their first live pick might fall) and determining whether those players might better suit the list mix than Dunkley would.'

We only have to wait a few short weeks and everything will be known.

You're making it sound like I just want my curiosity satisfied. I don't. I seriously don't care whether he comes or not but it's apparent to me that we increased our points to accomodate Dunkley should he decide to come to the Swans. We already had enough to get Mills so if Dunkley doesn't end up coming then we haven't optimised our draft positioning or protected Mills from a vexatious bid.

What I believe, and this is just a theory, is that Dunkley would prefer to go to 3-4 Victorian clubs before the Swans and we're his fallback in case it becomes obvious he'll end up in WA, SA or QLD. Fair enough but I don't buy this "undecided" nonsense.

[jono2707]

At this stage I could take it or leave it whether we do or don't get Dunkley. Mills is the gem here - its very likely he'll be an outstanding player for us for a long time. We'll pay whatever we need to to secure Mills and whoever else we get will be icing on the cake.

I tend to agree with a few others here that Dunkley may not be the best fit for us at the moment anyway so I'd probably be just as happy with whoever we pick up in the draft along with Mills.

[Ludwig]

I agree with Ampersand in that it appears that we have set ourselves up to deal with the eventuality that Mills will be bid on at 3 and Dunkley will nominate us. But no one can be sure what will actually play out. So the best we could do was to plan for the most likely scenario.

Josh is nearly 9 years younger than JPK. So all things being equal, he could end up being our big bodied inside mid for a stretch of 9 years. That's not a bad run. If Josh chooses to enter the live draft then it's pretty much of a lottery as to where he will end up. If he chooses the Swans and we take him, even if it doesn't work out with us (say for lack of opportunities), he still would have a better chance of landing at a club of his choice through a trade.

[S.S. Bleeder]

By the way, where is this idea that Dunkley could only ever play midfield for us coming from? I understand that's where his strength is currently but young versatile players like him develop in other positions all the time. He could turn out to be a pretty useful half-back or a 3rd tall defender.

From memory, Rampe started out as a half-forward/midfielder and has become a pretty handy defender for us.

I believe he's spent plenty of time at half back in his time.

[barry]

If tigers bid 12 they can have him. Anything over 20 we should get him.

[caj23]

For all we know he's committed and the Swans are playing ducks and drakes

[Triple B]

You would suspect he would know that the Swans have a long history of 'doing the right thing' by their players and as Ludwig said, if after 2 or 3 years it became obvious he wasn't going to break into our midfield he would almost certainly get himself back to Melbourne pretty easily via a trade...

[bloodspirit]

I'll be shocked if Mills gets past both Melbourne and Essendon.

Maybe it's a bit too dodgy to be the Swans' style but I couldn't help wondering when we basically gave Bird to Essendon for nothing (instead of pick 25 as was being reported the day before) whether there was an unwritten part of the deal that they wouldn't bid on Mills at 4 or 5. Is this just crazy thinking? Or might clubs do something like that? Obviously some clubs are prepared to bend the rules some of the time because sometimes they have been caught - hello Adelaide etc. And surely something like this would be less risk of being caught. Just a bit of trust and a handshake. It costs Essendon nothing because whoever bids on Mills won't get him anyway, and it sees us effectively gain more points than whatever pick 25 would have cost Essendon.

Also, if this didn't happen - do people think we should have attempted something like this??

[Mug Punter]

Maybe it's a bit too dodgy to be the Swans' style but I couldn't help wondering when we basically gave Bird to Essendon for nothing (instead of pick 25 as was being reported the day before) whether there was an unwritten part of the deal that they wouldn't bid on Mills at 4 or 5. Is this just crazy thinking? Or might clubs do something like that? Obviously some clubs are prepared to bend the rules some of the time because sometimes they have been caught - hello Adelaide etc. And surely something like this would be less risk of being caught. Just a bit of trust and a handshake. It costs Essendon nothing because whoever bids on Mills won't get him anyway, and it sees us effectively gain more points than whatever pick 25 would have cost Essendon.

Also, if this didn't happen - do people think we should have attempted something like this??

I think we'd be mad to even drift any discussion with academy picks.

Having said that the Bombers could well justify taking him at 4, provided he doesn't go at 1 or 2 I reckon he is pretty good value even at 3.

This is a bit of an unusual situation this year. The good situation will be where we start to get good crops or 5 or 6 kids between picks 20 and 50. There will be no way we will be able to get phantom picked on them and we'll get a batch of 4-5 kids in the 20-30 draft pick bracket. I reckon that is still a good 10 years away.

Let's not also forget the benefits of this system in terms of community engagement too

[707]

The silence is deafening!

Given the AFL website even has stories about non nomination of F/S like McPherson not nominated by the Bullies, I would have thought us nominating Dunkley would have got airplay.

If it's not a puff piece on dead news day Saturday tomorrow, then I fear he not coming.

[nomae]

Maybe it's a bit too dodgy to be the Swans' style but I couldn't help wondering when we basically gave Bird to Essendon for nothing (instead of pick 25 as was being reported the day before) whether there was an unwritten part of the deal that they wouldn't bid on Mills at 4 or 5. Is this just crazy thinking? Or might clubs do something like that? Obviously some clubs are prepared to bend the rules some of the time because sometimes they have been caught - hello Adelaide etc. And surely something like this would be less risk of being caught. Just a bit of trust and a handshake. It costs Essendon nothing because whoever bids on Mills won't get him anyway, and it sees us effectively gain more points than whatever pick 25 would have cost Essendon.

I've seen this theory floated before, could be true, could be mere speculation - but imagine the s---storm if it plays out - Eddie will be front page of the Herald Sun the next day, headline 'SWANS BRIBE DONS TO RORT DRAFT'.

Just imagining the shade of red his face will turn makes me really hope that it happens.

[Auntie.Gerald]

this happens every year 'scratching backs'

its not new under the sun