2019 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Aprilbr]

I agree that our midfield has declined significantly. In 2016 it was amongst the best. Three years later it is amongst the worst. Our clearance and contested possessions numbers relative to others bears this out. I'm sure the Swans list management team are well aware of this. Question is whether we try to rebuild it through the draft or try to buy in a ready-made midfielder like Oliver from the Dees. Assuming we could pull such a deal off it's likely to cost us a lot.

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[Cosmic Wizard]

Quick update on our picks:

SYD 4 Sydney Swans
SYD 24 Sydney Swans
SYD 40 Sydney Swans
SYD 52 Sydney Swans
SYD 57 Sydney Swans
SYD 58 Sydney Swans
SYD 76 Sydney Swans

Would like us to pick up the three picks from the third round from the bulldogs.

WB 42 Western Bulldogs
WB 44 Western Bulldogs
WB 45 Western Bulldogs

We can offer them Cameron and Naismith; they are looking for experience ruckmen in case English goes down.

They get to keep their first two round picks, we pick up three more picks.

We can use these picks to move up the ladder; i.e. GWS needs more picks for their academy prospects.

Carlton also has two picks the third round.

CARL 39 Carlton
CARL 46 Carlton

They are not looking for more kids, they have enough, but mature solid players.

Offer them Fox and Maibaum. Both are not long term requirements.

Instead of trying to get first or second round picks which won't happen, lets trust our recruiters to find some gems.

[barry]

Looks like we could have an extended stay in the bottom half of the ladder.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

So recruiting Buddy was idiocy?

I didn't mention Buddy.

My admittedly intemperate reference to idiocy was to the idea of investing a huge part of the salary cap in a single player/s.
I'll leave aside players names - and simply state that:

1) Investing close to 20% of the salary cap into 2 players is a particularly high risk strategy. So too is
2) Buying players at the peak of the powers/earning ability as distinct from those who will continue to develop

I hope that neither point will attract too many neigh-sayers. Most of us can remember 2 premierships, the recruitment for which particularly avoided those pitfalls. Sadly some of us can remember many more decades worth of premiership free seasons where the Swans didn't avoid those pitfalls.

Lastly I'd say no player trade can ever be considered without a cost/benefit analysis. Sometimes the benefits seem to overshadow the cost part of the analysis - the higher the profile the greater the overshadow.

As to an evaluation of Buddy - In general most dialogue about him remains more akin to the distastefully sycophantic gushings of Bruce, than to serious evaluation. So I suspect it will require at least the additional 3 more seasons before a final judgement can even be attempted upon RWO's favorite metaphorical Sacred Cow.
Conceivably it may actually never be possibly - I do remember several comments on RWO to the effect that, even in hindsight, Neville Fields was a great idea.

[Bloods05]

I hope that neither point will attract too many neigh-sayers.

Like Horse you mean?

[Markwebbos]

Quick update on our picks:

SYD 4 Sydney Swans
SYD 24 Sydney Swans
SYD 40 Sydney Swans
SYD 52 Sydney Swans
SYD 57 Sydney Swans
SYD 58 Sydney Swans
SYD 76 Sydney Swans

Would like us to pick up the three picks from the third round from the bulldogs.

WB 42 Western Bulldogs
WB 44 Western Bulldogs
WB 45 Western Bulldogs

We can offer them Cameron and Naismith; they are looking for experience ruckmen in case English goes down.

They get to keep their first two round picks, we pick up three more picks.

We can use these picks to move up the ladder; i.e. GWS needs more picks for their academy prospects.

Carlton also has two picks the third round.

CARL 39 Carlton
CARL 46 Carlton

They are not looking for more kids, they have enough, but mature solid players.

Offer them Fox and Maibaum. Both are not long term requirements.

Instead of trying to get first or second round picks which won't happen, lets trust our recruiters to find some gems.

You seem to want to do a "Full Carlton" rebuild. I'm not so keen and don't think the club is either.

The ruck situation does need to be resolved, but trading out the two best rucks at the club may not be the answer. Who is going to ruck in 2020? And how are we going to get them to the club? If we lose Naismith we'd have to find someone better to replace him.

Fox might have limited currency. Maibaum has yet to play in the AFL and is coming off an ACL, so is worthless at the trade table.

I do like the idea of moving up the order c/o GWS, but I think they'll be super keen to get in a player before Green if they can.

It does feel like this is going to be a huge off-season for the club!

[Syd Swan]

Quick update on our picks:

SYD 4 Sydney Swans
SYD 24 Sydney Swans
SYD 40 Sydney Swans
SYD 52 Sydney Swans
SYD 57 Sydney Swans
SYD 58 Sydney Swans
SYD 76 Sydney Swans

Would like us to pick up the three picks from the third round from the bulldogs.

WB 42 Western Bulldogs
WB 44 Western Bulldogs
WB 45 Western Bulldogs

We can offer them Cameron and Naismith; they are looking for experience ruckmen in case English goes down.

They get to keep their first two round picks, we pick up three more picks.

We can use these picks to move up the ladder; i.e. GWS needs more picks for their academy prospects.

Carlton also has two picks the third round.

CARL 39 Carlton
CARL 46 Carlton

They are not looking for more kids, they have enough, but mature solid players.

Offer them Fox and Maibaum. Both are not long term requirements.

Instead of trying to get first or second round picks which won't happen, lets trust our recruiters to find some gems.

Jones, pick 4 and 24 to Melbourne
Pick 2 and 20 to Sydney, that way Sydney can pick one of the 2 best midfielders in the draft. From all reports after the first 2 the rest are pretty much average.
I believe Jones is replaceable and we have players coming through that can take his spot.

[Ralph Dawg]

I think there's a bit of gold to be had at the Lions and GWS, 2 clubs we have traditionally not dealt with but who we really should.
Lions have guys like Eagles, Archie Smith, Cutler, Taylor, Cox and Mathieson.
GWS have Corr, Tomlinson, Shipley, Bonar, Langdon and Lloyd.
Any of these guys would've got a start with us this year.
None are obvious out and out stars of the future but all would improve our list and overall depth.

[Ralph Dawg]

Jones, pick 4 and 24 to Melbourne
Pick 2 and 20 to Sydney, that way Sydney can pick one of the 2 best midfielders in the draft. From all reports after the first 2 the rest are pretty much average.
I believe Jones is replaceable and we have players coming through that can take his spot.

Would Jones and 24 be enough to get Oliver or Brayshaw, especially if either wanted to leave? I'd be happy with that.

[barry]

I think there's a bit of gold to be had at the Lions and GWS, 2 clubs we have traditionally not dealt with but who we really should.
Lions have guys like Eagles, Archie Smith, Cutler, Taylor, Cox and Mathieson.
GWS have Corr, Tomlinson, Shipley, Bonar, Langdon and Lloyd.
Any of these guys would've got a start with us this year.
None are obvious out and out stars of the future but all would improve our list and overall depth.

Cant speak for the Lions guys as I dont see them enough, but most of the GWS ones are list cloggers. Tomlinson has been a major disappointment. Bonar has shown nothing so far.

[waswan]

Zac Langdon a Dampier boy like Dean Cox, would be a good get for Cameron

[Ralph Dawg]

Cant speak for the Lions guys as I dont see them enough, but most of the GWS ones are list cloggers. Tomlinson has been a major disappointment. Bonar has shown nothing so far.

They are list cloggers at GWS but this is the point. We could get them to the swans in place of our proven list cloggers - they could actually do ok with us unlike some of our guys who clearly are not up to the grade.

I watch alot of Lions (I live in brisvegas), both AFL and NEAFL. Of their fringe players, I like Eagles, Smith and Taylor.

Eagles is a strong body and has good speed off the mark. He's an ex ruckman, now defender and stuck behind Andrews, Gardiner, Adams and Walker. He could be potentially good given a chance. He was actually drafted via the reality tv show the rookie.

Archie Smith is an excellent tap ruckman and pretty mobile too. Great leap being an ex basket baller. Main weakness is his forward play when resting.

Lewis Taylor has good acceleration, can break lines and knows his way around goals. Lacks an engine and work rate let's him down. Maybe if we could somehow whip him into shape, he could do a role similar to Ben McGlynn for us.

[S.S. Bleeder]

I'm not convinced Mills is the answer. His strengths appear to be as a defender, courageous in the air and the overall contest. He lacks composure in tight, prone to turn overs under pressure, either by foot or by handball. I worry that he will be badly found out at the coal face.

So where do we find our JPK and Parker successors. Rowbottom looks the goods but no one of his generation looks likely as an inside mid. Heeney,Jones, Dawson and Papley could be tried but weaken other areas. Ollie looks stronger on the outside. Hewett looks to be a good number 3 inside mid, particularly useful tagging. Other then Hewett, the rest are hybrid mids, more suitable for giving the specialist mids a break. We will not win a flag without 2-3 dominant ball winners.

Our only real solution is to recruit. Green and a proven inside mid could turn us into a top 8 side again. If you don't believe me, think about Brisbane. What has turned them from a bottom 4 side to one challenging for a flag? Lachie Neale and also Jarryd Lyons. Both proven ball winners who have now unlocked the potential in the rest of the team. I would argue that our side has even more upside. Only problem is (and it's a big one) that we can't win enough clean ball to hurt the opposition, as reflected in our consistently low scores.

From what I recall of Rowbottom bio at the time we recruited him, he is an inside mid, albeit one who is balanced, as opposed to a pure inside mid. From memory it stated that he had excellent handball skills. We need someone who is a pure inside mid just like Green. We should bid on him but won't get him.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Like Horse you mean?

Could be - although it could equally refer to any equus asinus that disagreed with the the 2 points.

[Ralph Dawg]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that to be successful, you need to be able to win quick clean ball at the contest. Any delay, and the opposition just gets organised so quickly in defence that it's almost impossible for the forwards, no matter how good, to score.

We need to be proactive in the same way the Lions were in getting Lachie Neale. The reality is that our ball winners are in decline and there is no player from within the club currently to fill the void. We need to bring ready to play midfield bulls into our team. Who they are, can be debated but if we throw the kitchen sink at a Daniher type, I fear we're wasting our time.