List changes and trade bait

[Go Swannies]

Probably the last year we'll get anything for Reg and Ted, too. Package the three of them?

[troyjones2525]

Totally Agree! I do rate Bird like Liz does also but he plays in a position that is our strongest with plenty of other options. It's a hard call on a loyal swans player but could ultimately be the right one and worth the risk. Draft picks are never sure things but recruiting is getting better and better each year and you need to try and move up to get the best talent.

[wolftone57]

I wouldn't cry, but I would be dissappointed. I think Bird is a lot more valuable to the team than most RWOer's do.
With Bird, Kennedy and Mitchell around the ball (apart from the centre bounce obivously) we have a very skillful set of hands feeding the ball out. Just need TomD to keep improving to help out Myke. :-)

I think we have to be a bit careful here. Mikie will be 31 next year and we need to look beyond that too. We need to start to blood the likes of Nanka & Naismith as well. I think going back to a four man bench next year will help. We can run a ruck off the bench as there will no longer be a sub and there will be four rotations not three.

I agree we must get Mitchell intro tip top fitness. Tommy, Lukie, Birdie, Benny & Joey as the inside mids. Macca out of centre square & either into forwards or back. Kizza forward or outside mid. I would rather turn kizza into a small forward feeding off Buds or Tip.

Speaking of Tip! NO MORE RUCK! Only at forward set ups. We were murdered in the GF by two specialist rucks who gave their mids first use by great ruck work. We need to do the same. In 2012 we had two rucks & won a premiership over a club that had one. In 2013, Clarkson learned from that and played two ruck and we one and we got slaughtered. He also learned you need a specialist FF in a GF. We didn't!

As for trade bait. Mal is gone. Membrey is touted as wanting to go, so let him. If he doesn't want to be here he is nothing short of useless to us. I can understand Biggs wanting to leave as he has played quite well, when he has been given a chance at senior level, but still doesn't get upgraded. We drafted Dick & Lockyer (I had high hopes for him) onto the senior list instead of upgrading Biggs. I would not have drafted Dick to the Senior list and definitely would have upgraded Biggs. dick's disposal was dicky at best.

I don't think we need any trades this year. Trust the draft.

[Matt80]

Probably the last year we'll get anything for Reg and Ted, too. Package the three of them?

No trade value in Richards at his age. Best to try and get as much as you can out of him.

Grundy comes off contract at the end of 2015 and I think he will enjoy a free agency investigation like Malceski. Someone posted on Red and White that Grundy was frustrated with his level of remuneration.

[Chookbilly]

The Bird trade is about opportunity and budget management. We have had no free agency fire power this year because of the tight nature of our cap. Next years free agency may be exciting as there are some great prospects becoming available. We need to make the cap savings now. Malceski has freed up some room and Bird will ad some more room. We can then front end some contracts in 2015, which will leave us more room to move late next year.

We need to also create opportunity room for midfielders such as Mitchell, Hewitt, Heeney and Jones. I believe at their best that all four of those midfielders have more upside than Craig Bird, if they can play a lot of senior football. What would Sir Alex Ferguson do? He would back the kids and sell Bird.

The early 2nd round probably gets us a decent young KPD prospect to work with.

You forgot to finish with "this is just my opinion" ...... Or do you have inside knowledge of our salary cap and payment structure?

Maybe if Dew leaves us we can recruit Sir Alex as a senior assistant. Actually screw that! Dismiss the entire coaching panel and let Sir Alex have complete control. He is after all the oracle when it comes to our great game.

[wolftone57]

I wouldn't cry, but I would be dissappointed. I think Bird is a lot more valuable to the team than most RWOer's do.
With Bird, Kennedy and Mitchell around the ball (apart from the centre bounce obivously) we have a very skillful set of hands feeding the ball out. Just need TomD to keep improving to help out Myke. :-)

I agree Bird is much more valuable than people credit. He is reliable mostly and that can't be said for all. The up & coming stars like Reid are patchy. There are other senior players who are also patchy & two of them are the captains. Sack Macca from the Captains role and give the second captain role to Lukie. At least he is hard at it & unrelenting and he won't point fingers and bitch at the players for every indiscretion. He will just lead by example, the same as Hodge.

[bondy]

No trade value in Richards at his age. Best to try and get as much as you can out of him.

Grundy comes off contract at the end of 2015 and I think he will enjoy a free agency investigation like Malceski. Someone posted on Red and White that Grundy was frustrated with his level of remuneration.

He should be remunerated on marks taken and docked for punching the ball.

Sorry, the GF is still a bit raw for me.

[Bloodthirsty]

I agree Swans need hands-on captaincy. Parker would be good. Him or Derickx.

[wolftone57]

No trade value in Richards at his age. Best to try and get as much as you can out of him.

Grundy comes off contract at the end of 2015 and I think he will enjoy a free agency investigation like Malceski. Someone posted on Red and White that Grundy was frustrated with his level of remuneration.

Well lets sell him this year then. He stuffs up more than any other player. He is crap against the power forwards and has needed to do more strength work for years now but hasn't. opposition teams target him & Shaw to make mistakes and they do. reg is sus one out against power forwards & rucks, even Westoff beats him in a marking contest and I wouldn't exactly call him a power forward. If Reg wants out let him go! I'm quite happy for him to hit the road.

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He should be remunerated on marks taken and docked for punching the ball.

Sorry, the GF is still a bit raw for me.

Me too! Reg was the worst player on the ground! Shaw was next! Then Jetts & Reid. The worst example was Macca! Finger point and accuse Macca it does wonders!

[Matt80]

You forgot to finish with "this is just my opinion" ...... Or do you have inside knowledge of our salary cap and payment structure?

Maybe if Dew leaves us we can recruit Sir Alex as a senior assistant. Actually screw that! Dismiss the entire coaching panel and let Sir Alex have complete control. He is after all the oracle when it comes to our great game.

Don't disrespect Sir Alex. The man is a legend in the management of World Sport. He could be an elite coach at any sport that he wanted to coach or had a passion for.

I mentioned his name in regards to young players because he always backed them and was not afraid to move on experienced players to create opportunity.

[dimelb]

I think the club's valuation of Bird is nearly as high as mine; I also think they should have backed that estimate and started the GF with him on the field. I don't know whether it would have changed anything but we would have had a better chance of dealing with the hardened Hawk mids. As for trading him ? yer dreamin.

[wolftone57]

I think there is a bit of truth to the rumour of some players not being really happy not only about the Buddy deal but also the Tippett deal. I think they are senior players and this rumour Reg is not happy with his pay packet reinforces it for me. The problem with bringing in high profile talent to a workmanlike team is egos get put out of joint. just when they had won a premiership and were starting to think of themselves as stars they then have a couple of blow ins who get paid four times what they do. Must grate a bit. I also think that Sammy is not sure of his role in this forward set up.

[Ludwig]

The Swans are a very good team that had a miserable GF. There is no need to make wholesale changes. We have a lot talent in the pipeline, so much so that some very good prospects can't break into the senior side.

I disagree with some of the negative comments about Reg and Ted. Most teams have 3 tall defenders. We managed with these 2 shortish (by KPD standards) to concede the fewest points in the league. The 3 KPDs that made AA this year, Rance, Talia and Hooker, I would rate only marginally better than Ted and Reg, who as combination make a pretty solid duo. For me, the obvious 1st move to make is putting the (IMO unfairly) much maligned Sam Reid to help Ted and Reg by adding height and pace to our backline.

We have 4 depth KPDs, AJ, XR, Allir, Davis, all either inexperienced or injured; so no question we have a weakness there. Luckily both Ted and Reg have been very resilient and rarely miss a game. I think we need to get through next season and see what pans out with our defenders and if there are gaps that need filling, do it then.

[caj23]

Chillax people, we were one bad game away from a premiership, we have a young list, a genuine superstar of the game and I reckon I've heard half the list thrown up as trade bait

We need to improve again next year and look at our key defensive prospects going forward, but players who are regulars in the seniors like Bird, Reid and Grundy are not on the trade table, and losing Membrey and Biggs is not the end of the world

[Ludwig]

I think there is a bit of truth to the rumour of some players not being really happy not only about the Buddy deal but also the Tippett deal. I think they are senior players and this rumour Reg is not happy with his pay packet reinforces it for me. The problem with bringing in high profile talent to a workmanlike team is egos get put out of joint. just when they had won a premiership and were starting to think of themselves as stars they then have a couple of blow ins who get paid four times what they do. Must grate a bit. I also think that Sammy is not sure of his role in this forward set up.

I am surprised by your comment. Given that you rate Reg our worst GF player, I thought you would say that whatever he is getting, he is being overpaid. And why would you care what your 4th worst rated player thinks? I am a bit confused. Are you suggesting that we should not have signed up Franklin and instead used that money to top up the salary of our worst player and make the poor performing Reid the centerpiece of our forward line?