2018 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[barry]

I see your logic rb4x, but I dont think a team should be penalised for bidding for a player.

The logic of why teams bid for player is a bit of a mystery to me. Essentially Blakey has nominated Sydney as his preferred team by coming in under a father-son rule. Isnt that the same as Cyril Rioli saying he wasnt interested in being drafted by anyone outside of Melbourne.
Why would Gold Coast bid pick 6 for blakey when they know he doesnt want to go there.

[rb4x]

Easy answer as to why GC might bid on Blakey at 6. It forces the Swans to use some of there pick 38 which will slide down the order and potentially below another GC pick. Not the case in this instance but at no cost to GC they can still get the preferred player they want at 6 and also hurt the Swans which might also advantage them. Not the case at present but with pick trading still live they could possibly engineer something.

[barry]

Easy answer as to why GC might bid on Blakey at 6. It forces the Swans to use some of there pick 38 which will slide down the order and potentially below another GC pick. Not the case in this instance but at no cost to GC they can still get the preferred player they want at 6 and also hurt the Swans which might also advantage them. Not the case at present but with pick trading still live they could possibly engineer something.

But why would Gold Coast bother ? Seems an unneccessary distraction from their own pick strategy. And introduces the risk of swans not matching and getting a player who doesnt want to be there. Big risk, low upside.

Do you think there is some sort of informal block of clubs which go through and make sure special picks (father-son/academy) arent bargins and nominate a club to do the heavy lifting (ie put a bid in)

[bloodspirit]

There is nothing to suggest that there have been any vexatious bids in any of the years that the discount for Academy players and father-sons have been operating. Seems well premature to start looking at deterrent measures. So far all bids that have been made have been quite legitimate as far as I recall. If anything, the bids often tend to come later than the player's talent suggests they might deserve (which is understandable).

[stevoswan]

Looks like the new boys are settling in well....

Swans recruit ready to fill vacant Hannebery role - AFL.com.au

[707]

Anyone seen the full list of F/S, NGA & Academy nominations? I believe the listing period closed last week but can't find anything on the AFL website.

Be interesting to see just how many draftees are already tied to clubs.

[chalbilto]

Hi 707, I did a google search and came up with this link from BF forum Draft Profile - Father/Sons & Academy Selections 2018 | BigFooty

[liz]

Hi 707, I did a google search and came up with this link from BF forum Draft Profile - Father/Sons & Academy Selections 2018 | BigFooty

I think that reiterates 707's point - it's just a list of everyone who some BF poster thought was eligible, not those that clubs have actually nominated.

[Mountain Man]

Interesting that GWS have 7 Academy names; Brisbane 5; Suns 3; Swans 2.
I understand the lists are not official ....
But says something

[bloodspirit]

Foxsports have created a list of the top 50 ranked potential draftees. They have published in two tranches: 1-25 and 26-50. The latter is interesting because it indicates some of the talent they reckon is to be found around where we will be drafting with our three picks after Blakey. The talent includes a number of inside mids (including Ely Smith) at least one of whom I would think we would draft because (a) it is an area where we are a little light on for depth; and (b) it represents a position where you can get good quality and value for a pick at the end of the second round.

Chris Doerre aka Knightmare has also published a phantom draft for the first three rounds of the draft and it's interesting to see some of the names he has us selecting: AFL Draft phantom Chris Doerre Knightmare first three rounds.

[bloodspirit]

But why would Gold Coast bother ? Seems an unneccessary distraction from their own pick strategy. And introduces the risk of swans not matching and getting a player who doesnt want to be there. Big risk, low upside.

I don't agree. Nick Blakey is worth pick 6. In the unlikely event that we did not match the Suns would celebrate and back themselves to retain him and profit from their good fortune, potentially leveraging off any existing relationship Stuey Dew has with him. They probably have at least as much chance of retaining a NSW boy as a Victorian (or WA/SA boy).

[Odysseus]

Potential Rookies: Sydney has sought and received permission to audition three New South Wales-based footballers before the draft.

Canberra Demons teammates Mitch Maguire and Angus Baker, both 20, plus Jack Blair, a raw 205cm ruckman from UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs, are the trio.

Permission to train: Crows, Swans trialling fresh faces - AFL.com.au

Some more background of Jack Blair- a Pyke in the making?
205cm, 112kg rugby convert nicknamed 'Beanstalk' in rookie mix - AFL.com.au

Can I go back to this to ask someone who knows - I have no clue on such matters - what does it actually mean that we have "sought and received permission to audition" these three players? Does it mean, for example, that we have exclusive access to taking them onto our rookie list, or just what is the significance?

The leads different posters have given suggest that they would all certainly be worth an audition.

[liz]

Can I go back to this to ask someone who knows - I have no clue on such matters - what does it actually mean that we have "sought and received permission to audition" these three players? Does it mean, for example, that we have exclusive access to taking them onto our rookie list, or just what is the significance?

The leads different posters have given suggest that they would all certainly be worth an audition.

It just means that they're training with us so the club can have a look at them. Clearly it signals an interest in them but not necessarily priority access to them.

You have to ask permission from the AFL to have non-listed players train so other clubs get a signal that you are interested in them. It stops clubs having a secret look at smokies. And they have to be overage - you can't invite the standard draftees to train with you, though presumably Blakey could as a member of the academy (and maybe other academy players too - I'm not sure if there are any restrictions on them).

It sounds like Blair might qualify as a Cat B rookie. I don't know the exact parameters. Usually this means they haven't been registered in an official Australian Rules league for the past three years. Blair has (the article says he played with UNSW this year) so maybe there is a little leeway. The article certainly suggests he could be a Cat B rookie. If so, this means he can sign directly with the club (if he wishes) without going through the draft. You've probably seen various articles in recent months about other clubs signing Irishmen and basketballers as Cat B rookies.

Although the Swans don't have priority access to Maguire and Baker prior to the National Draft, it is possible they can sign them before the rookie draft if they go through the ND and PSD undrafted. Again, I am not 100% sure of the rules but the fact they are NSW boys who played in NSW in 2018 (if you loosely categorise the ACT as part of NSW) means they might qualify. Certainly we can preselect (in the rookie draft) any academy players who make it through the ND undrafted. But access seems to be a little broader than just our academy. Both Harry Cunningham and Sam Fisher were taken as priority rookies in their respective years, even though both were in the Giants' academy, not the Swans. Of course, this means the Giants had passed on them.

Maguire has garnered a little attention beyond the shores of NSW/ACT after winning the NEAFL RS award in 2018, and coming 4th in the overall MVP award. So there's maybe some chance he could be taken in the ND. There's possibly some chance, too, for Baker but probably a much lower one.

Maguire is, by the way, an ex-Giants academy player, while Baker is an ex-Swans academy player.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Interesting that GWS have 7 Academy names; Brisbane 5; Suns 3; Swans 2.
I understand the lists are not official ....
But says something

It says that the AFL screwed us over when they allocated the zones in order to look after their favourite baby.

[liz]

It says that the AFL screwed us over when they allocated the zones in order to look after their favourite baby.

The Giants' zones were more advanced (in terms of how ingrained AFL was/is) but I think the Swans' zones are catching up fairly quickly. I believe there are more Swans players in the recently announced U17 and U18 AFL Academy squads for 2019 than Giants players, and a few more Swans players a little unlucky to miss out.

We also benefit from the handful of players we have drafted being true locals - really just Heeney and Mills at this stage but with a few more to join them in the next few seasons (I suspect). I reckon having Heeney and Mills play for their local team does more to inspire other kids in the non-traditional regions than Setterfield, Kennedy, Steele and Hopper have done for the Giants' aligned zones (noting that the first three of those are no longer even with the Giants). Hopefully Nicholas Shipley can do something to inspire kids actually in western Sydney.


And while that BF page listed a lot of academy players available to the Giants in this year's draft, I think it mostly reflects that whoever compiled the list knew more about the Giants players than the Swans ones. Of those, only Briggs looks a ND certainty this year.