2016 trading and drafting (merged thread)

[Nico]

Mullen us getting desperate for another commission.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Jack Fitzpatrick is a newly delisted ruck. I wonder why Hawthorn is getting rid of him as they are not exactly blessed with picks and he did ok for them in the first game where they called him up.

They have also let Spangher and Litherland go. It would be funny if we picked up Spangher again (versatile tall depth player) but I can't see it happening. Don't know much about Litherland.

I like Litherland. I've got a quite few Hawk mates who know a lot about the club and they thought highly of him. I'd like to pick him up: Axe falls at Hawthorn with cult hero among seven cut - AFL.com.au

[rb4x]

Pure speculation but X shared a house with Tom Mitchell and Harry C. With these delistings the Hawks now have four vacancies on their senior list and their first draft pick is 88. Surely X would be better value than one of those picks and can be picked up for nothing as a delisted free agent. A replacement perhaps for the Spang. Hawks could not trade for X as upgrading our pick 93 to 88 would not cut the mustard.

[crackedactor]

The whole XR delisting matter is bizarre! I know Hannas used the term bizarre! in his twitter account the first time XR requested to be traded. My theory is that he held contract talks with the Swans and they were unimpressed with his altitude and rather than persist with him, they thought it would be better to let him go.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Another phantom draft: https://afldraftcentral.com.au/2016/...draft-central/
They have us taking Jack Graham. I don't think we'd be interested but it would be romantic to have a Jack Graham at the club again.

[Markwebbos]

The whole XR delisting matter is bizarre! I know Hannas used the term bizarre! in his twitter account the first time XR requested to be traded. My theory is that he held contract talks with the Swans and they were unimpressed with his altitude and rather than persist with him, they thought it would be better to let him go.

The Swans won't have changed their opinion on his value as a player since they offered him a 2 year contract, so it must be something else

[Meg]

I thought I read some where that the academy bidding on draft day changed this year.
For every draft pick you use to make up the points required to get the players you want, you must have that amount of space on your list.
Example if you use 3 picks to get one player you must have 3 spots available.
Does anyone know if this is correct if so GWS may need to delist some more players.

This rule was announced several weeks ago. I have also seen somewhere that this was being delayed by a year because clubs had made trading decisions last year re future draft picks based on the existing rules.

One of those clubs being the AFL's monstrosity love-child.

If the rule is brought in after this coming draft, there will be a lot less trading of more lower picks worth more points for fewer higher picks worth less points. This is because teams will lose the extra picks (and points) if they don't have the same number of (or more) spots on their senior list at the start of the draft.

A sports writer on 'The Roar' said some weeks ago that this would not apply for academy clubs this year (because clubs took decisions last year based on the previous rules). I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere else but the way GWS has gone about accumulating picks suggests this is correct.

There is a bit of clarification about the status of 'hidden picks' in an AFL website article today, as below. It sounds as if Maltopia is correct in that the exemption to the new rule will only be applicable for this year (and only to a club that traded in future picks in 2015).

"The AFL this year changed rules relating to the 'hidden picks' used by clubs to bank draft points, but the Giants can have an additional three picks due to an allowance given to clubs who traded in future picks in 2015 because when those deals were made the clubs didn't know the rules were set to be altered."

Another Giants academy prospect moving up the draft order - AFL.com.au

[Ludwig]

The Swans won't have changed their opinion on his value as a player since they offered him a 2 year contract, so it must be something else

There are 2 factors here.

1. Clubs don't want players who would prefer to play somewhere else. Why would you have a player on your list who would likely leave when a better opportunity comes along.
2. Having believed that he was headed to another club we may have provided to have 4 live picks in the draft. If he had accepted the contract offer we may have had a different draft strategy, for example, one where we opted for a pick in the 30s in lieu of pick 46 and 49.

[dimelb]

The whole XR delisting matter is bizarre! I know Hannas used the term bizarre! in his twitter account the first time XR requested to be traded. My theory is that he held contract talks with the Swans and they were unimpressed with his altitude and rather than persist with him, they thought it would be better to let him go.

I don't think his height's a problem at 195cm.

[rb4x]

Towers has signed for another two years.

[Meg]

I don't think his height's a problem at 195cm.

Eagle Eye again, what a hoot!

[Meg]

Towers has signed for another two years.

Ludwig will have fun with this:

"Swans Head of Football Tom Harley says it?s great to have Towers on board for another two years." .... "He adds a point of difference to our team and has the ability to impact the game in a number of ways."

[dejavoodoo44]

I remember viewing the NEAFL GF and noting how fat Abe Davis looked. He had a very poor game as well, although it could be passed off as due to his return from injury. But Zac Jones had the same injury and recovery period and had a blinder. It was hard not to be impressed by Abe's ability to read the play and take a strong mark, but he often drifted out of games. Maybe this was a reason why he played a number of games on ball. When he did, he had some of his best games. It can be hard to tell whether someone has the work ethic to be an AFL footballer. Abe wouldn't be the first to fall over in this regard. We can't be sure if he will be drafted as a rookie, but after 2 years in the AFL system on back of being in the academy, you wouldn't think so.

New Phantom Draft

One of the best amateur draft followers, Chris Doerre, better known as Knightmare, posted his phantom draft on ESPN: Knightmare first 2017 AFL phantom draft

I was surprised to see Scrimshaw at GC's first pick. I commented earlier that I thought he might be a target for GC, but wouldn't have thought he would go this early. This opened up a number of interesting choices available to the Swans. Chris notes the need for pace in his comments for both of our 1st round picks, which I agree with in general, but I wouldn't say we are desperate. In any case, this draft has a lot of quality players with good pace to choose from, so it's not an issue.

Chris has Oliver Florent going to us at pick 9, followed in the draft by Taranto and Logue. I still think it would be a gift to see Taranto still available at our pick, and think we would have to take him if he is. I see him in the class of an Isaac Heeney, and too good to pass up. I would drop Florent just behind Logue, but wouldn't be disappointed if we drafted him.

Jarrod Berry is shown as going to the Bulldogs just ahead of our pick, so he might still be available, and would be my choice this late in the draft. Chris has us taking Cedric Cox, someone who has risen a lot this year in the draft considerations, but I don't think he's the best match for our needs. Chris still has Gallucci and Sam Powell-Pepper available at our pick and would prefer either of these.

It's looking very good that we will land 2 high quality players with our first 2 picks this year. If it came down to trading Tom Mitchell for Tim Taranto, I wouldn't have a 2nd thought about it.

I think that the main thing that I'm learning from all the phantom drafts, is that the more I read, the more confused I get. Though, there seems to be some sort of consensus, that we need somebody somebody with pace and kicking skills. And that it seems likely, that we'll be able to take someone matching that description at pick 9.
In regards to a few people mentioning Jack Fitzpatrick, I think that it would be a reasonable move, to use a low draft pick to increase our ruck depth. He seems to have some skills and pace, is only 25 and we wouldn't have to fork over too high a salary.

- - - Updated - - -

Ludwig will have fun with this:

"Swans Head of Football Tom Harley says it?s great to have Towers on board for another two years." .... "He adds a point of difference to our team and has the ability to impact the game in a number of ways."

A number of ways? Well, both good and bad.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Chris has Oliver Florent going to us at pick 9, followed in the draft by Taranto and Logue. I still think it would be a gift to see Taranto still available at our pick, and think we would have to take him if he is. I see him in the class of an Isaac Heeney, and too good to pass up. I would drop Florent just behind Logue, but wouldn't be disappointed if we drafted him.

Jarrod Berry is shown as going to the Bulldogs just ahead of our pick, so he might still be available, and would be my choice this late in the draft. Chris has us taking Cedric Cox, someone who has risen a lot this year in the draft considerations, but I don't think he's the best match for our needs. Chris still has Gallucci and Sam Powell-Pepper available at our pick and would prefer either of these.

It's looking very good that we will land 2 high quality players with our first 2 picks this year. If it came down to trading Tom Mitchell for Tim Taranto, I wouldn't have a 2nd thought about it.

I can't see us taking Taranto. He's a great player but he's not a great kick which is what we need. We need someone who is an excellent kick and/or has excellent speed.

[stellation]

I wonder if it came down to a choice between Dean and Xavier?

I really liked X, but in hindsight that may just have been partly due to the romance of him being Ted's brother. One of my lasting memories of him is watching him running in a straight line and not really being able to tell if he was on a lead or just coming off the ground.