2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Captain]

It's cute to see people from Adelaide using this as their time to shine and making the most of their 5 minutes...

I'm sure Jordan is smart enough to know that the whole country (maybe aside from WA) will be open at the end of the year so that hardly is a factor!

[Agent 86]

2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

It's cute to see people from Adelaide using this as their time to shine and making the most of their 5 minutes...

I'm sure Jordan is smart enough to know that the whole country (maybe aside from WA) will be open at the end of the year so that hardly is a factor!

I actually found Adelaide a nice place to visit. Our 2nd child was conceived there. Must’ve been the wine.

It was very hot, though… so I wouldn’t want to live there.

[Captain]

I actually found Adelaide a nice place to visit.

I agree it is. Never said it wasn't.

[AB Swannie]

If Dawson was a commodity (which some people seem to treat him like), he would be an amazingly successful investment. Purchased for pick 56 in a draft and sold for much, much more (I hope).


*Note: I would've preferred to keep him but am just throwing out a different perspective.

[Roadrunner]

I am sorry to see Dawson go but do not begrudge him making the decision that he has made.

1. I assume he already has had at least one offer and probably two from the Adelaide teams that would at least match the offer that the Swans have put up. Neither team would be under the same salary cap pressure that I would expect the Swans have so it is fairly safe to assume this.

2. The cost of housing in Adelaide is substantially lower than Sydney so regardless of whether they rent or buy they can expect a much better home in a great location than what they can get in Sydney.

3. At their age I assume they will be considering starting a family soon. I have no knowledge of what they are thinking in this regard and frankly it is none of our business to know. Having both of their families in a reasonable proximity would be expected to be important.

4. People in Adelaide are living a relatively normal life at present versus the 5k or LGA restrictions in Sydney that Dawson has returned to. Remember Dawson and his partner have been living the past few weeks in an AFL bubble not knowing where they will be sleeping even that night. Dawson and the rest of the Sydney team had to escape Brisbane and move to Melbourne while the partners were in Quarantine in Brisbane. Not great for Millie who must have felt she was chasing Jordan around Australia not knowing if they would even catch up. It may have weighed heavily on her that with her were Kim Reid and Chloe Hickey both about to give birth and not even knowing what state that would take place in.

5. Moving to new team also would engender a sense of adventure and excitement over and above all this.

Much I regret the possibility of losing Dawson I can really empathise with his situation. Finally as an ex Adelaide person myself I can advise that Adelaide is actually quite a nice place to live. Biggest negative for me is that the climate is not quite as nice as Sydney and they do not have the harbour or the bush in the suburbs that Sydney has but otherwise a great place to live.

I wish Jordan all the best for his future AFL career and warn him that it will only last a few short years. There is a long time to live after your AFL time is over which can happen very suddenly.

You are a bit naive, my friend, to empathise with his situation. It’s patently obvious that this is all about money. Now don’t get me wrong, players are fully entitled to obtain the best deal they possible can. Their football life is relatively short so this is understandable. But please don’t tell the fans that all is ok and then come out with the “family” as your reason. When you get drafted to a club you are prepared to play wherever the club plays- no one twists your arm. You know you will be away from family. But you get paid handsomely for playing a game you love! A lot of us would play for free if we could! So your feelings for Dawson are misplaced- feel sorry for us supporters instead.

[Markwebbos]

I don’t understand why people expect a player to stay with the club that drafted then when they can “go home” after their initial contract.

why is there a belief on here that if a player exercises their right they are gaming the system / a sook / a traitor?

I’d add to that I’m from England and haven’t been able to visit my family for nearly two years. I’ve got friends list parents and not been able to go home.

It’s definitely changed my perspective on living in Australia that I can’t go home.

We don’t know why he’s asked for a trade but the club have said it’s to be closer to his family. I think if that’s true, itsmore likely to be a factor now than it’s ever been.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

What might be a useful use of negative energies is to write to your local state member and roast them over their appalling management of the COVID virus.

State member? Quarantine and vaccination are federal responsibilities.

[Blood Relative]

State member? Quarantine and vaccination are federal responsibilities.

Far call R&R.

I was aiming at the N.S.W. gov't. They have dropped-the-ball in this instance.

[Roadrunner]

Ludwig, you make some very good points. With the exception of Buddy and Tippett, the Swans have always obtained players from other clubs that weren’t given opportunities: Joey and McGilynn, Craig Bolton, Teddy Richards just some examples, and the latest is big Tom Hickey.

Buddy wanted to come to us and we offered a deal that may have been over the top but who could blame the club, getting such a player? I don’t know the situation with Tippet but he was available and we took advantage( or so we thought)
We really haven’t gone about poaching players like nearly all other clubs.
I’m sure we will rectify any salary cap issues we may have and it may cost us players like Dawson and Hewett, but nowhere near the mismanagement that Collingwood underwent. We will recover and build our team - quite happy not to look for any Marquee players in the future unless another Buddy comes along!

[Agent 86]

You are a bit naive, my friend, to empathise with his situation. It’s patently obvious that this is all about money. Now don’t get me wrong, players are fully entitled to obtain the best deal they possible can. Their football life is relatively short so this is understandable. But please don’t tell the fans that all is ok and then come out with the “family” as your reason. When you get drafted to a club you are prepared to play wherever the club plays- no one twists your arm. You know you will be away from family. But you get paid handsomely for playing a game you love! A lot of us would play for free if we could! So your feelings for Dawson are misplaced- feel sorry for us supporters instead.

I liked rb4x’s post. Putting aside my cynicism about kids being lured by the money, I can see a number of reasons why moving back to Hicksville might be desirable.

Maybe the girlfriend has a say in the decision too. Instagram kids might be enticed by moving somewhere where they’re instantly recognised when they walk into a cafe (even with a mask on).

Perhaps moving away from a city so far up its own ar$e that a shoebox apartment can cost you $2m - to a place where you can get a mansion in a nice area for less could seem like a good idea.

It’s even possible that living through COVID hell has made him homesick.

His reasons are far patently obvious to me. He seems like a good guy, I wish him well (just not too well).

[COB]

Loyalty? Gimme a break. Franklin had given the Hawks 8 seasons, most at his peak......we develop a slow learner into a better player and he gives us a season and a half of good footy. Laughable comparison.

Ok steveoswan. If you find the Franklin comparison laughable how about these ones.

Dawson 6 years on Swans list before departing
Hall 6 years at St.Kilda and Tippett 6 years at Adelaide before joining us.
Jolly 4 years at Melbourne.
Not to mention Plugger, Healy, Williams, Neagle etc

I will let you be the one to tell Barry he was a sook or mercenary and disloyal

If guys like Hannaberry and presumably Hewett can be moved on then presumably ok for Dawson to return to his home state.

[Ludwig]

Ludwig, you make some very good points. With the exception of Buddy and Tippett, the Swans have always obtained players from other clubs that weren’t given opportunities: Joey and McGilynn, Craig Bolton, Teddy Richards just some examples, and the latest is big Tom Hickey.

Buddy wanted to come to us and we offered a deal that may have been over the top but who could blame the club, getting such a player? I don’t know the situation with Tippet but he was available and we took advantage( or so we thought)
We really haven’t gone about poaching players like nearly all other clubs.
I’m sure we will rectify any salary cap issues we may have and it may cost us players like Dawson and Hewett, but nowhere near the mismanagement that Collingwood underwent. We will recover and build our team - quite happy not to look for any Marquee players in the future unless another Buddy comes along!

The Tippett and Franklin recruiting was too good to pass up. In my previous post I wanted to make the point that the ramifications are still being felt today. The loss of COLA was predictable, but the Covid cuts were not and came at a terrible time.

I've had confidence in Tom Harley and I suppose that should extend to his selection of Gardiner as Head of Football. I'm not so much criticizing as questioning some of the decisions which have been made since Gardiner arrived. In any case, Harley would have the final say on every contract.

They've been trying to hold a leaky boat together for quite a while. We've made some very good drafting decisions overall, but that comes at the price of good players wanting to get paid well. And the pressure just builds.

The main questions I have about what we're done in respect to the salary cap are:

1. Signing an injured player who had not played a game in 2 years to a 3 year deal in 2019. At the end of next year, Naismith will have played 2 games with an injured ACL in 5 years. I don't know what it cost, but even if it was on 100k, pa, it might have been enough to retain either Aliir or Dawson. It was so unnecessary.
2. Recruiting Gray, Brand and Taylor in 2019. It didn't look all that bad at the time, but in retrospect, knowing our salary cap situation, we really didn't need 3 list cloggers to take up cap space. We were also going into 2019 with a strong draft hand and knew that we had Campbell and Gulden coming in the draft the following year. We should have taken the opportunity to lighten the TPP load. It wasn't like we were going to win the 2020 premiership.
3. It's not a big deal, but I was stunned to hear that Bell had a contract trigger clause for 2022. Why do we need to offer incentives to a player who is lucky to be an AFL list? It's not like he was going anywhere. I'm okay with Bell being on our list next year. I wasn't thinking of delisting him anyway. It's just getting into the minds of those doing our contracts.

I think we have a strong enough list to continue to build toward a premiership even without Dawson, but we can't afford to make any mistakes. We really need to be very sharp in all aspects of our list management. That includes making a correct assessment of where we are at in fighting for a premiership and how to retain the players on our list.

I recall that around this time last year when lots of RWOers were concerned about our supposed lack of depth, I said many times that our main problem was going to be player retention. We really need to wake up and realise that the salary cap makes list management a zero sum game. Every move counts. We have to be both lucky and sharp of mind. I hope we're up to the task.

[Aprilbr]

Ludwig made the following comment which really resonates with me:

"If I had to pick a Swan player who looked the least happy in life, it would be Dawson. It’s just his personality. He seems low key and introverted. There’s nothing wrong about that and it doesn’t seem to have affected his game. It may be worth noting that Dawson is one of 3 metal health ambassadors at the club working with the Mental Health Institute, the other 2 being Fox and Naismith. There may be a connection with Dawson’s psychological state or just coincidence, but it’s something to consider. It is something could add to the sensitivity of handling such a personality and the unpredictability of outcomes from difficult negotiations."

I often used to observe that after a good win by us Dawson seemed to be the least animated and happy of the players as they left the ground. I was in the crowd after that brilliant win over WCE in Geelong earlier this season. All of the players came off the ground very near to us and many were in raptures especially Papley and McInerny. Dawson just wandered off the ground hardly smiling. I remember wondering to myself at the time whether he was really invested in our program? I think we know the answer now.

Whatever the case, we need to move on and do the best deal for the Club that we can do and come out of the whole Cap squeeze as best we can. Turn adversity into opportunity.

[Captain]

Spot on Ludwig, absolutely spot on.

Our list management team is the one who we need to direct our anger at.

It's disappointing and hypocritical that the anger of some is purely at Dawson for chasing cash and not at the Swans, who can do no wrong. Do these same posters thinks Buddy plays for us for love? If he wanted to come to Sydney so bad, why didn't he take $5m over 10 years? No one hates Buddy who moved for family reasons and chased cash, quite a lot of it too.

[TheBloods]

Ludwig made the following comment which really resonates with me:

"If I had to pick a Swan player who looked the least happy in life, it would be Dawson. It’s just his personality. He seems low key and introverted. There’s nothing wrong about that and it doesn’t seem to have affected his game. It may be worth noting that Dawson is one of 3 metal health ambassadors at the club working with the Mental Health Institute, the other 2 being Fox and Naismith. There may be a connection with Dawson’s psychological state or just coincidence, but it’s something to consider. It is something could add to the sensitivity of handling such a personality and the unpredictability of outcomes from difficult negotiations."

I often used to observe that after a good win by us Dawson seemed to be the least animated and happy of the players as they left the ground. I was in the crowd after that brilliant win over WCE in Geelong earlier this season. All of the players came off the ground very near to us and many were in raptures especially Papley and McInerny. Dawson just wandered off the ground hardly smiling. I remember wondering to myself at the time whether he was really invested in our program? I think we know the answer now.

Whatever the case, we need to move on and do the best deal for the Club that we can do and come out of the whole Cap squeeze as best we can. Turn adversity into opportunity.

Be careful , you will have your eyes scratched out for making observations about body language