Parker about to sign for another 3 years

[billyboob]

Seems like a very manageable group of signings....With Mummy the notable exception.

If anything, Mummy will be looking for something long term as insurance against injury. I think the Swans will be accommodating.

They'll all sign imo. Bolton might retire and Morton could be pushed out.

Morton will get another year.

[Dosser]

As per usual, we do need to trim our list at the end of the season...

[DA_Swan]

Lamb will be hard to keep - would walk into Demons , Dogs or Saints top team and given our depth and the bigger bucks other teams will be able to offer especially now that he has had a taste of senior footy with all our injuries don't see why he would stay - hopefully we won't have the same injuries next year - the realities of being a successful club - we cant keep them all and he is too good to play NEAFL for another year.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

No way we'll let Lamb go. Top 20 pick and we're just seeing how good he can be.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Lamb was awesome on the weekend, break out game

[barry]

The consequence of being a gun team is salary cap issues.
First you jettison depth. Done.
Second you start early retirements. Marty gone already. Jude to go. Maybe even goodes?

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Bolton doesn't have long left tbh, and I'm not sold on how well LRT can recover.

As harsh as it sounds I'd let Morton go before Lamb or White and Armstrong should be shown the door. He's a hack.

[liz]

No way we'll let Lamb go. Top 20 pick and we're just seeing how good he can be.

If he's out of contract and being offered more money and/or senior football opportunities by other clubs, we may not have a choice. Hopefully he loves being at the Swans as much as the likes of Hanners, JPK and Parker seem to, and is prepared to back himself to retain his spot next season and beyond.

At very worst, if he does decide pastures might be greener elsewhere, the last few weeks have shown he is capable of playing at senior level, so we should get back a pick around what we spent on him. Hopefully he decides to hang around a bit longer, though.

[Doctor J.]

Great news on Parker.

He reminds me of a young Luke Power in a very powerful Brisbane line up...except I think our Luke is more of a hard nut.

Going to be tough to keep all our players at the end of this year. Interesting list management exercise ahead.

[Melbournehammer]

The list management is not as hard as it might be for us because there actually isn't a really large group of the middle aged players - the 26-30 year olds as a consequence of the disappointing recruiting for those years between 2003 and 2008. We can quite easily back end contracts with players because we know that goodes, bolton, lrt, shaw will all be leaving over the next 2-3 years.

Hence internally (and I don't know how we do it) I'd be surprised if the salary scale was much out of whack. The better players and longer players would be on good coin and the system would be structured the whole way through the list.

The harder part is whether we can squeeze everyone in to the team who thinks they should be playing first team football. So far I think we've done a good job of running a club where young players come in, play ressies for a year without too much expected of them and then are expected to start pushing for selection in years 2 and 3. Thats only a problem if your best mate or that hack you played better than as a 16 year old is getting a run somewhere else or if other clubs start valuing you higher than what we do. but this is hard for other clubs because the value only goes up when they start playing first team football.

[Ludwig]

Bolton doesn't have long left tbh, and I'm not sold on how well LRT can recover.

As harsh as it sounds I'd let Morton go before Lamb or White and Armstrong should be shown the door. He's a hack.

Agree about Lamb and White, although I wouldn't call Tony a hack, I do think we should try to find him another club. I think Lamb may well keep McGlynn out of the team next year and make him a depth player. It's going to be very tight for spots. Not a reflection on Benny, but more a recognition that Lamb brings a very good skill set to the side.

If Lamb can keep his spot in the side this year, I think he will sign on. Maybe even if he doesn't.

I cannot see a spot for Morton or Armstrong in the team going forward, and their spots would be better used to bring in new prospects in the draft.

[mcs]

Bolton doesn't have long left tbh, and I'm not sold on how well LRT can recover.

As harsh as it sounds I'd let Morton go before Lamb or White and Armstrong should be shown the door. He's a hack.

I'd keep Morton well before Armstrong. I've seen nothing from Armstrong to remotely suggest he has improved substantially at the swans, and looks nothing but a depth/fringe player at best - certainly imo not good enough to command a spot in our top 22.

[rojo]

We need Mummy, Smithy and AJ too. I hope we are chasing their signatures!!

As for the others, I agree with Liz that with Lamb and possibly Jesse it may depend on whether they can be guaranteed a spot in the best 22 next year. If Jude goes, Rohan will take his spot (not necessarily his position) which means Jed will be competing with Benny and Morton for a place and Jesse with Reid and Goodes if Adam continues on, so there is no guarantee. I would really try to hang onto Lamb but as Doctor J said some tough decisions are going to have to be made.

Morton and Armstrong might be happy to stay on as depth players. I don't know about Dre, he may not be happy to continue on as a depth player, but has he shown enough for another team to want him?

[Swansongster]

I am a little unsure of trade rules regarding on- and out-of-contract listees and would appreciate some enlightenment.

Can on-contract players be traded at any time? Or does the player have to agree to a trade before it can take place?

Can out-of-contract players leave a club for a better offer (or better opportunity) if they choose to without any trade benefit to the incumbent club?

Am I right to assume that if out-of-contract players can't come to terms for a new contract they just enter the pre-season draft and have to go to the first club that matches their terms?

So applying this to the current Swans situation:

If Mummy, White, Lamb or any of the can get a better offer, do we get anything for them leaving?

Can we trade a quality first 22 or fringe player to another club for higher draft picks to reduce salary cap pressure (if that becomes an issue)?

What are our options and likely strategies?

Sorry for all the questions (just one more). Where do i find a definitive reference that explains all of the trade and draft rules?

[Doctor]

I agree that it's great news on Parker. There may have to be some tough decisions made but Mattner's retirement will have helped and I think we're all expecting Jude to go too, although his salary is already tempered by him being on the Veterans' List. I would imagine that Lamb will stay as he's getting a decent run in the side now. The problem is that our midfielders, other than ROK, all have plenty of years to go. I think it's unlikely that we'll let a first round pick that is now playing first team footy go though. Sadly, LRT's future may be an issue too (only because of injury of course).