Trade target discussion (merged thread)

[Melbournehammer]

I think Watts has the potential to be a far better player, I'm mindful it hasn't been realised to date but I think Melbourne has been a pretty horrible place for him to try to grow.

From what I have seen watts could play the goodes role for us pretty well. hff pass the ball well, rove a few packs and not worry too much about defending.

[Plugger46]

I reckon Watts would be very useful in a good team. If he was taken at pick 20, people would judge him totally differently.

[waswan]

Holding out hope of Bird and a late pick for Watts or a straight swap, Roosy is looking our way hope he doesn't try for N Smith again unless its for Howe

I Haven't read all 70 pages but has Adcock come up ? Surely, a 2yr deal for a 29yr old former captain is better than Dempsey ? He would be cheap too
Adcock & McVeigh rotating between HBF & HFF would be awesome

[crackedactor]

I reckon Watts would be very useful in a good team. If he was taken at pick 20, people would judge him totally differently.

Still quite amazed that Watts was taken ahead of Nic Nat, Ziebell and of course our very own Hanners. But I agree that his defensive aspects of his play is not great and he needs to be around better players to release the pressure of being the go to man and the high expectations associated with being No.1 I think he would be an asset for the Swans.

[sprite]

If we are serious about Watts from Melbourne, offer them Bird and Lloyd.

For Watts and their Second round pick.

We have Heeney / Rose that are far more capable than Lloyd who has shown nothing in pressure games.

[Ludwig]

We definitely need another ruckman but Pyke retiring should give us some cap space to front end a contract or two as well

If the reports are right, then Buddy's salary increases by $500k next year plus we lose another $200k from our salary cap due to the the COLA transition, and then around another $200k the following year when we go to the rent allowance. So I'm not too sure we've got cap space to front end contracts. Furthermore, all those players that had COLA in their last contract will start 10% down due to the loss of COLA when we negotiate their next contract. We will have salary cap challenges for some time to come. It should ease once the AFLPA renegotiate a salary cap.

From what I have seen watts could play the goodes role for us pretty well. hff pass the ball well, rove a few packs and not worry too much about defending.

I don't think you can play on the Swans and not worry about defending. I'd worry that being in a forward line with Buddy and Tippett, Watts would just drift out of games rather than try to impose himself on games when there are a couple of bigger forwards running out there demanding the ball. Everyone knows that Watts has talent, but you have to ask why it hasn't shown through yet.


On Pyke and recruiting:

Pykey had a great 2012 GF and followed up with such a promising 2013. It's a shame that injury stopped his progress. His retirement gives us some more room to acquire a ruckman, but I don't think we need to panic over it.

None of the kinds of players we would have need for look all that inspiring this year and I would rather pass than just add players to our list to fill our depth chart.

I think Liz is right that neither Sinclair nor Lycett would be keen to leave the Eagles. Sinclair is a forward who has learned enough about rucking to spell Natanui. He compliments Nicnat well, and would probably work a good partnership with Tippett, but is really an ordinary player and would have problems as a first ruckman or anything other than a 3rd option forward.

Leuenberger remains the best option given that he's a FA. He's the best of the ruckmen on offer this year, but comes with the risk of being injury prone. It's hard to know just how big that risk is until after the fact.

As for KPDs, Michael Talia is no star, and may not amount to anything, but there is hope that he might follow somewhat in the path of his brother in another environment. Tom Barrass from WC might be a better option if he were willing to leave WC as part of a Jetta trade.

In the end, I'm not sure that what's on offer at the moment is all that much better than what we already have on our list and we might be better off standing pat and developing those players than chasing even more inexperienced or injury prone players. Necessity is the mother of invention. We probably wouldn't have known just how good a key defender Jeremy McGovern is if not for the loss of McKenzie and Brown due to season ending injuries.

For those concerned about our game plan, not having a prime ruckman offers an opportunity to develop a different plan and look at the stoppages compared to other clubs, a point of difference that other clubs may not be well prepared for. Rather than plan on winning the taps, we set up to defend at the stoppages and utilize our contested ball winning ability to create turnovers and score quickly. So we go from a stoppage oriented game to a quick transition game. What's wrong with that? I seemed too work well for the WB.

We can bank Mills, maybe Dunkley and hopefully have a high enough pick left to take a shot on previous AFL KPPs Mitch Brown or Michael Hartley. And turn our list building focus to 2016.

[Levii3]

We have to trade Bird to Melbourne for Watts we have enough depth in the position with lloyd and Robbo Hewett. McAllen will still be around

With pyke retiring we only have four players on our list over 30 (McVeigh, McGlynn, Teddy and Grundy next year)

Do we get compo pick for retiring players?

[AnnieH]

Well, I didn't see Myke Pyke early retirement coming!!
Now we need to find two rucks.
Oh dear.

[Ludwig]

Well, I didn't see Myke Pyke early retirement coming!!
Now we need to find two rucks.
Oh dear.

I found them. Their names are Naismith and Nankervis, and believe it or not, they are already on our list.

[churry]

I found them. Their names are Naismith and Nankervis, and believe it or not, they are already on our list.

And Tippett.

[waswan]

Bird is basically a freebie for us, been a great player but we have a few coming thru who can do his job so could be a win win
Lloyd has been disappointing, i rate him but he was Mr Clean Hands a few years back and was good in big games despite his experience but those 2 qualities left him this year

With Jones/Cunningham coming through i wonder if he is surplus

[longmile]

Well, I didn't see Myke Pyke early retirement coming!!
Now we need to find two rucks.
Oh dear.

I think we just desperately need 1 ruck. Our other 3 rucks can fill in when needed and we have Tippett

[Ludwig]

If we are serious about Watts from Melbourne, offer them Bird and Lloyd.

For Watts and their Second round pick.

We have Heeney / Rose that are far more capable than Lloyd who has shown nothing in pressure games.

I can't see Melbourne going for such a trade, especially given that their 2nd pick is mid 20s.

I think this assessment and other negative assessments of Jake Lloyd are unwarranted. He's been an outside player who has now played 43 games and averaged over 20 disposals last year. That's only 3 fewer than Kieran Jack, who has the advantage of playing a fair amount on the inside. And Rose has a long way to go to reach Lloyd's level.

I do think that Lloyd needs to continue his improvement if he wants to hold a spot in our senior side. His main challenge is to get the body strength required to win the ball in contested situations and break tackles instead of relying solely on evasive maneuvers. He's got a good footy brain, is a good decision maker for his age and has shown that his disposal is of a high quality. He needs to find a way to gain more time and space for himself so he can use those skills with less pressure on him. I don't know if he will achieve this, but he seems a very determined person. He's not the quickest player going around, but he's a hard runner that never goes out of the game, which will be a very valuable trait with the reduced interchanges.

[goswannies]

Speaking of rucks, how about a totally speculative rookie pick in Dawson Simpson from Geelong??

28 games in 8 year, after too many injuries, but everyone lucks got to change right??

209 cm, cost us nothing, we don't give up points of picks, and will be better than most if he can stay on the park.

Staying on the park is the problem for all ruckmen it seems!

Coming from Geelong, he's a chance. Statistically we've had a spud (Chambers), a even par (Playfair pinch hitter at best) & a sausage eating diamond (Mummy).
Take Playfair out of the equation if you consider him a forward, then, statistically speaking, Simpson is 50:50 proposition.

[Ludwig]

Simpson is 50:50 proposition.

You're probably right. He's a 50% chance to be injured and a 50% chance to be fit and play poorly.