Past players - what are they up to?

[Legs Akimbo]

What obfuscation are you talking about? I can't recall ever reading more candid comments from a coach.

Imagine you spent big coin on a 1978 Porsche that is completely clapped out and sits in your garage all day. You tell all your mates you own as Porsche. You knew it had broken head gaskets, a Speedo that doesn't work and leaks more oil than deep horizon. They laugh at you but it doesn't matter to you because you own a Porsche and they don't.

The coach is disarmingly honest about eveything except the wisdom of drafting a mature player with poor kicking skills on squillions with major body issues.

The obfuscation was being honest about his condition without really explaining why knowing all this they traded him in anyway!

"Richardson said the Saints had been diligent in the Hannebery deal that secured the veteran player, but admitted that the Saints had not expected their star recruit to be struggling so significantly."

Longmire can be robotic and evasive but this is pretty breathtaking.

Take your pick but you can't be diligent, aware and surprised simultaneously.

[Blood Fever]

Personally I thought Newman was mishandled (i.e. played in wrong position) and under utilised (i.e. played in NEAFL) last year. I suspect Carlton will get more out of him this year.

The cynics will no doubt sneer that he's only playing for Carlton and that he's too soft, but I think he's a good footballer

Fair enough but who would he replace?

[caj23]

Fair enough but who would he replace?

Lol a 30 + possession half back flanker with pinpoint delivery over 50 metres

I’m pretty sure we could’ve made room for him

[Velour&Ruffles]

Imagine you spent big coin on a 1978 Porsche that is completely clapped out and sits in your garage all day. You tell all your mates you own as Porsche. You knew it had broken head gaskets, a Speedo that doesn't work and leaks more oil than deep horizon. They laugh at you but it doesn't matter to you because you own a Porsche and they don't.

The coach is disarmingly honest about eveything except the wisdom of drafting a mature player with poor kicking skills on squillions with major body issues.

The obfuscation was being honest about his condition without really explaining why knowing all this they traded him in anyway!

"Richardson said the Saints had been diligent in the Hannebery deal that secured the veteran player, but admitted that the Saints had not expected their star recruit to be struggling so significantly."

Longmire can be robotic and evasive but this is pretty breathtaking.

Take your pick but you can't be diligent, aware and surprised simultaneously.

You make a reasonable point, although I give him more credit than you do for this:

“Did we think it was going to be as significant as this? No, we didn’t.

“But we did know that we were getting in a bloke that we needed, to some extent, to rebuild. Probably not to this extent, but that’s OK.

That's about as close as anyone get's to admitting a mistake in this AFL era of heavily media managed communications - they mostly speak like politicians, saying just enough that they can claim they did give an answer while at the same time leaving some wriggle room or plausible deniability.

I think they felt that they might be able to do with him what Hawthorn did with Sean Burgoyne - get him through what seem to be major but surmountable injuries and then have a proven class act for many years to come. Richardson is now admitting that the task is bigger than they thought. True, he's not engaging in frenzied self-flagellation at this stage but nobody would and it's not realistic to expect it. Overall, it's still a far more candid comment than I would have expected in the circumstances. I actually like the fact that he's admitted the task is bigger than they thought - that is unusually honest by industry standards, particularly at this early stage, and unavoidably does expose them to criticism of their due diligence. It does make me feel a bit sorry for Dan though. He has "been" (to use Richardson's ominous past tense) a champion player - and a Swans great - and deserves better than to fizzle out as a dud deal and shadow of his once great self.

[Blood Fever]

Lol a 30 + possession half back flanker with pinpoint delivery over 50 metres

I’m pretty sure we could’ve made room for him

Yeah, just what we needed last night, a slowish flanker to combat Bulldogs quick ball movement and runners.

[liz]

Yeah, just what we needed last night, a slowish flanker to combat Bulldogs quick ball movement and runners.

Newman in yesterday's team probably would have improved the balance. But so would the inclusion of either COR or (maybe) Thurlow, both of whom were available for selection. So it's certainly a long stretch to suggest Newman's trade cost us last night's game.

[caj23]

Newman in yesterday's team probably would have improved the balance. But so would the inclusion of either COR or (maybe) Thurlow, both of whom were available for selection. So it's certainly a long stretch to suggest Newman's trade cost us last night's game.

I don’t think anybody suggested his trade cost us the game so I’m not sure where you got that from

I simply believe his treatment and subsequent trade was a mistake. To date he’s shown he’s a far more capable player than COR or Thurlow

[wolftone57]

I don’t think anybody suggested his trade cost us the game so I’m not sure where you got that from

I simply believe his treatment and subsequent trade was a mistake. To date he’s shown he’s a far more capable player than COR or Thurlow

I agree. I think we treated Nic very badly.

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[Ludwig]

I've been a fan of Newman and pushed for him to get a shot in the seniors. I think he did okay, especially in 2017. But I also think we did Nic a favour by trading him Carlton where he is likely to get a regular spot in the senior side. With us, he would have been a fringe player and almost certainly overtaken by any number of players with more pace, like COR, Stoddart and Ling. At his age, Nic needs to play regular senior footy now. I think trading him was the right thing to do.

[rb4x]

COR yes. Stoddart might well be on the chopping block at the end of the year and the jury is out on Ling who is safe with his contract extension.

[Ludwig]

COR yes. Stoddart might well be on the chopping block at the end of the year and the jury is out on Ling who is safe with his contract extension.

Don't think so. Try 2020.

Stoddart signs on - sydneyswans.com.au

[caj23]

I've been a fan of Newman and pushed for him to get a shot in the seniors. I think he did okay, especially in 2017. But I also think we did Nic a favour by trading him Carlton where he is likely to get a regular spot in the senior side. With us, he would have been a fringe player and almost certainly overtaken by any number of players with more pace, like COR, Stoddart and Ling. At his age, Nic needs to play regular senior footy now. I think trading him was the right thing to do.

He might be overtaken by these guys in the future, but so might Jake Lloyd, we're not picking teams to win games in 2025.

The point is he should be playing regular senior games for us, but for reasons unknown to those outside the inner sanctum, our match committee didn't rate him

[Melbourne_Blood]

I don’t mind Newman but he is extremely soft and pretty slow , and rarely stood up for us when it counted . Bit of a downhill skier , at least when he was with us .


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[Industrial Fan]

I don’t mind Newman but he is extremely soft and pretty slow , and rarely stood up for us when it counted . Bit of a downhill skier , at least when he was with us .


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watch the last few minutes of the Essendon come back last year, and note his involvement.

Bit of positive and negative revisionism with Newman going on this board at the moment. He was a solid utility player, won’t cost us a flag that he’s gone - doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have contributed either.

[barry]

Newmans problem is his speed. Otherwise a very handy footballer. But you can't teach speed, so while he could do well in H&A, he could be exposed in finals.