2018 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Ludwig]

Didn't Hawthorn and Melbourne get up to similar shenanigans in the Frawley FA move?

Yes. I think that one was quite similar. But it seems legal, so why not?

[KTigers]

I think we should go after Josh Kelly. Give him enough money to buy a house in Martin Rd, Centennial Park, and he'll be
able to walk to work. Then we'll have the two best players in the league.

[Ludwig]

I don't really get the obsession with getting another high pick this year. We are already close to guaranteed getting one of the top echelon of draftees even if our first pick is no 19 (unlikely, I know). As you have commented already, our pipeline of young talent doesn't look too bad at all. Our issue this year is that too many of our "best 22" are young, and without the incredibly consistent performances that we got from our top dozen or so players in 2016 (and especially our top 5 - all All Australians), the team is looking tired and can't sustain their efforts over four quarters or from week to week.

I don't especially care about rebuilding the team now. I want it to be ultra-competitive in 2019 and 2020 and 2021. Anyone we draft next year will be a few years off being a top contributor to the team. So will many of the current younger crop, but they'll be one, two or three years closer than anyone we draft at the end of this season. If we were completely bereft of young talent, things might look different. But we're not and I don't see the point of wanting to sacrifice a player who should be in his prime (and hopefully can get back to that level with an off-season of rest and a decent pre-season). If he has set his heart on leaving, that's another matter. Then it comes down to making the most of the situation. But I can't see why the club would actively want to get rid of him to draft another 18 year old.

The Mitchell situation was a bit different. He was out of contract, and by the time the trade period came along, he'd made up his mind he wanted to leave. A rebalance of our midfield away from five one paced plodders (however skilled) also made some sense. I don't think it makes as much sense now. We need strong bodies capable of winning contested ball. I think we have a decent amount of outside speed on the list. It just needs to mature.

Swapping Hanners for a top 10 draft pick is okay, but probably doesn't make sense given our age profile, as you point out. What makes it attractive is that there is a rare combination of circumstances this year where we can have our cake and eat it too.

We can use the salary cap space freed up by getting a high quality mature replacement. It could work because there are a couple of FAs that can make that happen: Andrew Gaff (king hit aside) and Luke Dahlhaus.

Say we just transfer Hanners' salary to Gaff and get that extra top 10 pick, we could have another potential elite player on our list from the draft and a mature player as good as Hanners.

It's not often that we are going to have a top academy pick likely to get a bid ahead of our 1st pick as well as the opportunity to do a free agent swap for a tradable player in the same year; and a year with a strong top of the draft.

We have 12 senior players in the 21-24 age demographic: Lloyd, Cunningham, Aliir, Jones, Hewett, Heeney, COR, Papley, Melican, Mills, Dawson and Ronke. In around 3 years, when this group is at its peak is when we should have our best opportunity for another premiership. But I think that our list is strong enough to have a serious crack in any year with a favourable run with injuries.

[barry]

Stkilda, like norf, can't attract anyone. They are cashed up (with cap space) so they will pay overs . We should drive a hard bargain. None of this $200k rubish

[Markwebbos]

There’s more from Sam McClure on SEN today. I infer from this that we don’t have a cunning trade / free agency card up our sleeve, or that we are playing the game to get as much for Hanners as we can.

I hope that it really is the case that we expect him to get back to his best next year. It would make a HUGE difference if he did.

Contracted Swan Hannebery a priority for St Kilda: McClure

“McClure indicated the Swans want their premiership star to remain at the club and see out his current deal.

“I spoke to people at Sydney yesterday, they want Dan Hannebery to stay at the club,” he added.

“They think he’s a very good player and I want to put on the record that John Longmire is a very, very big fan.

“They’ve been a lesser team without him this year and the games that he's played he has been clearly injured, he’s had calf and hip issues since the back-end of last year.

“They’re (Sydney) hoping to get him back this year, but at his best he’s a three time All-Australian, finishing top five in the Brownlow Medal three times.

[liz]

There’s more from Sam McClure on SEN today. I infer from this that we don’t have a cunning trade / free agency card up our sleeve, or that we are playing the game to get as much for Hanners as we can.

I hope that it really is the case that we expect him to get back to his best next year. It would make a HUGE difference if he did.

Contracted Swan Hannebery a priority for St Kilda: McClure

“McClure indicated the Swans want their premiership star to remain at the club and see out his current deal.

“I spoke to people at Sydney yesterday, they want Dan Hannebery to stay at the club,” he added.

“They think he’s a very good player and I want to put on the record that John Longmire is a very, very big fan.

“They’ve been a lesser team without him this year and the games that he's played he has been clearly injured, he’s had calf and hip issues since the back-end of last year.

“They’re (Sydney) hoping to get him back this year, but at his best he’s a three time All-Australian, finishing top five in the Brownlow Medal three times.

I think it's obvious that the club - and probably Longmire particularly - rates him very highly. He's been picked whenever he can get his body onto the ground, regardless of whether the accumulation of injury / lack of preparation is curtailing his ability to play at a reasonable level.

He's the kind of player we desperately need in the team (the fit version) and his trade value would be at its lowest point. Makes zero sense for the club to want to trade him.

[707]

Sam McClure and Tom Brown are peddlers of mass rubbish. Talking one night about Sloane being in the bag for Hawks and next day he's re-signed with Crows. McGovern was leaving WCE, next minute he's re-signed. The list is endless and these guys are mostly wrong. They are paid to fill papers and air time so they just make stuff up to fill void and collect a pay cheque.

There could be discussion around Hanners but if he's fixable I'd much rather have this multi AA player in our colours than Saints - or Hawks!! If Hanners is keen to go then we have a prime opportunity to do something creative, maybe Gaff would prefer the footy anonymity in Sydney? That would be a great deal.

I'm open minded but would prefer a fit Hanners and Lloyd stay, we have so much promising talent pushing up, we need these 23-27yo players to make it work.

[Flying South]

“They’re (Sydney) hoping to get him back this year, but at his best he’s a three time All-Australian, finishing top five in the Brownlow Medal three times.

This !!! These types of players don't grow on trees. And my position is that I don't want to see him go.

FWIW, my thoughts are;
- I get the feeling that the only way this trade would happen if both parties are extremely satisfied. That is, we wouldn't accept any thing less than a higher 1st round draft pick on full salary and Dan gets to go to the club of his choice. If both conditions are not met, then I think both parties will continue on business as usual. And be happy about it. A player of Dan's caliber doesn't come onto the market often and there are several Melbourne clubs who are desperate to attract an experienced AA midfielder to their list. North, Saints, Carlton, Bulldogs. They also have the picks that would satisfy the Swans, but not sure they would be attractive to Dan. Strangely enough I think Carlton would be most attractive with the younger list. Hawthorn and Melbourne would be attractive options for Dan, but they wouldn't have the draft picks to satisfy the Swans.
- I believe our current list is short of a big midfielder. Even accounting for Dawson's progression. If we lose Dan, then we will be two midfielders short. If KJ retires (likely), then we potentially may need three. We could use Dan's pick to get Walsh or Hately. But because Blakey is likely to require out next twp picks, we wouldn't get a chance to pick another until very later in the draft. Not sure about the midfield quality that late in the draft. But as Liz has said, if Dan goes, and potentially KJ, we will be very inexperienced in the midfield. I don't think the club would trade Dan if they didn't have an experienced substitute in mind. I'm not sure if Dalhaus fits that bill. I would be throwing everything we have at Gaff. Surely we have the money in the kitty (Dan's salary, KJ's and the retired Tippett).

of course a lot has to line up for these trades to take place. But we've pulled it off before. If it did, then pick 10-18 and Hannebery for pick 3-6 (Walsh/Hately) and Gaff is a great result. But if it didn't, and a fit Hannebery lined up for the Swans next year, then I could live with that as well. We can still get that big midfielder via a Lloyd/GCS trade.

[111431]

I'm not sure how trading players mid contract works from a salary perspective but St Kilda would have to match allegedly $2.4M to satisfy the swans. At the end of three yrs he will be a badly banged up midfielder given what he may have to shoulder at St Kilda. Would they really fork out $4M on a five yr contract ? However, don't underestimate the Old Xaverians pulling power - Lethlean coached them for a number of years

[Flying South]

I'm not sure how trading players mid contract works from a salary perspective but St Kilda would have to match allegedly $2.4M to satisfy the swans. At the end of three yrs he will be a badly banged up midfielder given what he may have to shoulder at St Kilda. Would they really fork out $4M on a five yr contract ? However, don't underestimate the Old Xaverians pulling power - Lethlean coached them for a number of years

St Kilda are desperate to recruit a big name player. If they can't show their fans there is a glimmer off hope for the future then memberships will plummet next year. Peoples jobs are on the line. And desperate people do desperate things. They would probably have to offer him 5 years to get him there. And I also think they would dangle the captaincy carrot.

I still think if Dan has a complete 3 month rest, he can get over whatever fitness issues he has and get back to AA form he has shown over a number of years.

[CureTheSane]

I'll go with what the club ends up deciding on this one.

If he stays I'll be happy.
If he leaves, I'll be happy so long as the deal is good.

[Markwebbos]

I'll go with what the club ends up deciding on this one.

If he stays I'll be happy.
If he leaves, I'll be happy so long as the deal is good.

The side needs Hanners back in 2016 (that is All Australian) form. I really hope that he can get the rest / surgery he needs and return to that form in 2019. However, if he goes, we need to replace him with an experienced player, a draftee won't cut it.

I'm not sure how easy it will be to find someone that good to replace him; someone who can play inside and outside like Hanners could?

[waswan]

Changed my mind
Get his sh8t together and back him in to turn his form around.

[Sandrevan]

Anyone interested in Andrew Gaff? I hear he's going cheap.

I wonder about Andrew Gaff too. It wouldn't be the first time the Swans brought in a player who had just bashed another player. Do the names Barry Hall and Tony Lockett ring a bell

[The Big Cat]

I wonder about Andrew Gaff too. It wouldn't be the first time the Swans brought in a player who had just bashed another player. Do the names Barry Hall and Tony Lockett ring a bell

Or one that needs to serve some suspension before he can play for us. Gaff may be looking for some anonymity now he will have a rep everywhere he goes