2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[MattW]

Zero Hanger have suggested 5 players for us as 'trade targets' (part of a series they are doing for all clubs). The 5 players they suggest we might target are:

1. Todd Marshall
2. Jack Gunston
3. Brennan Cox
4. Lachie Schultz
5. Elliott Himmelberg

I'm prepared to rule out Jack Gunston and Lachie Schultz off the bat. Jack Gunston is too old and I don't think we need him for his mentoring value. He's not going to last much more than Buddy, and Heeney, Papley and Hayward aren't rookies any more. Nor do we need Schultz, another small forward: apart from Papley and Wicks, we have Ronke, and Taylor in the wings plus players like Gulden who can be used forward too (although I think Gulden is wasted played too close to goal - he is a playmaker with great vision best used further from goal to set up scoring opportunities and use the ball well).

Todd Marshall and Brennan Cox are tall and deserving of consideration. I haven't followed Marshall's career but he originates in NSW and was highly rated in his draft year. I don't think he's set the world on fire and he's falling down the pecking order at Port and likely to be passed by Georgiades. Despite this he is a talented tall forward and we could use someone to partner McDonald in attack after Buddy departs. I know little about Cox. Apparently he is injured but was rating very well in various important defensive stats and could be the tall defender we need given that Melican and Brand are not showing enough and Gould is not there yet and Rampe may be coming towards the end. His strengths include intercepting/spoiling and kicking. I like the sound of that.

Himmelberg I just don't know enough about. He's originally from NSW and about 200 cm. He plays forward and can ruck a bit. I don't think he's made much of an impression at AFL level but maybe he could break out. Pyke could give us some good intel about him, being his former coach. What would he offer that Amartey and McLean don't already?

Cox absolutely towelled McLean in Fremantle's defeat of us earlier this year. Intercept marked us to death.

[707]

Always have a laugh at these types of articles, all of those other than Cox (who is from Adelaide?) add nothing that we don't already have or have developing.

At our current position and with our trajectory, we should only be adding clearly best 22 players. It costs extra $ and draft picks to extract players from other teams, something we are not flush with.

Priority will be to re-sign required players then look at needs in best 22.

Read this morning that Carlton are eyeing off Hewett. The Blues have become a foreign legion of traded in players and they're still at it! Blues and Saints would have the highest % of trade ins, reckon we may be one of the lowest.

[bloodspirit]

Our 2nd rounder can net a decent player if we want to trade it. Also, if we trade out Hewett, he should net a decent pick too (probably only a second rounder given he comes with a significant salary).

I think we have a cupboard pretty well stocked with youth but some weak spots in our best 22. We need a good second ruck (otherwise we'll have to stick with Sinclair) and at least one more quality KPP. We can afford to sacrifice some draft capital to strengthen our best 22, assuming we have the cap space. Trading out Hewett could give us both cap space and additional draft capital. I'm not expecting us to go after any big name A graders but someone like Cox is worth considering.

[bloodspirit]

Tom Morris (who? a reporter who works for Fox) reported that Dan Howe (come again?) is interested in seeking a trade out of the Hawks to either Sydney or Richmond. Howe hails from the Riverina. Howe has never really registered on my radar and has struggled to secure a best 22 spot at Hawthorn. However he is a tall (190+ cm) defensive midfielder/3rd tall defender and could be a cheap replacement for Hewett. Apparently he has a good work ethic, is coachable, and is a good kick but not a great decision maker. Wouldn't expect him to be best 22 but could replace someone like Gray or Brand as a journeyman depth player. Does anyone know anything about Howe and have an opinion of his worth?

***

Incidentally, how do people think Barry O'Connor is going? The reports from the Reserves are occasionally promising. By the end of this season he will have been on our list a couple of years and we should be starting to have a clearer idea of whether he has an AFL future. Can he be the KPD we need and develop from within? Would be great if he could make the step up by the beginning of next season.

[KSAS]

I can't see any of the out of contract players in our best 25 wanting to leave with our current trajectory. Particulaly to clubs like Carlton & Adelaide. In fact, I'd like to think we're entering being the destination club and attract far better players has been so far suggested.

[Markwebbos]

I think Clarko at Carlton could be an enticing prospect for some players

[Bangalore Swans]

Always have a laugh at these types of articles, all of those other than Cox (who is from Adelaide?) add nothing that we don't already have or have developing.

At our current position and with our trajectory, we should only be adding clearly best 22 players. It costs extra $ and draft picks to extract players from other teams, something we are not flush with.

Priority will be to re-sign required players then look at needs in best 22.

Read this morning that Carlton are eyeing off Hewett. The Blues have become a foreign legion of traded in players and they're still at it! Blues and Saints would have the highest % of trade ins, reckon we may be one of the lowest.

I would take a mid 2nd round pick for Hewitt. If I read it properly, Hewitt is in the top 25% paid players at the club.

He is a good regular AFL footballer but in my opinion, not worth being in the top 25% of paid players at the Swans.

If he leaves then more midfield minutes for Chad and Rowbottom.

[Aliir]

All these weeks in lockdown have got me thinking about our potential off season actions and would to ask some questions and give you my thoughts and see other peoples thoughts as well. So here they are.

It seems as if parker and Dawson should resign, but I haven't really heard much about Dylan Stephens and George Hewett, does anyone know how they're going with their contracts?

I also see that Sam Reid is out of contract, do we think it is worth keeping him? We have Amartey, McLean and McDonald coming through so it might make sense to offload his salary as I assume at the time he signed his contract he was worth a decent amount.

As for the rest, I think we should keep Bell, Carruthers, Fox, Sinclair, Amartey, McLean, Gould, Wicks.

Not sure about keeping Ronke, Brand, O'riodern, Ling, Brand, and O'Connor.

And we should 100% delist Gray and Clarke

For Kaiden brand we should keep him for depth if we can't pick up a key back but delist him if we can.

For Ling and O'Connor I don't really know how they are progressing, but it seems Ling could be in trouble.

And for Ronke I think he should be given one more season without injury to see if can recapture previous form.

As for players we should bring in we should look to prioritise a key defender if Lewis Melican Fails to find form in return, a back-up/future ruck through mature age draftee/ssp selection as well as pick up some extra midfield depth through trade if Hewett and/or Stephens leave or draft if they stay.

There aren't many key defenders on the market, but I think Brennan Cox or Harrison Petty are good options as they have a year left on their contracts.

Thoughts?

[bloodspirit]

Welcome Aliir. A bit sad and ironic that you have signed up the season after your namesake departed. Appreciate your first post and broadly agree with your sentiments. I'm keen on recruiting someone like Petty or Cox.

I'm completely confident Parker and Dawson will re-sign. Also Stephens. Hewett however I'm not so sure. I think there is a risk that the club may decide to trade him, hopefully while he has currency.

I think it is worth keeping Sam Reid but the question is how much should we be prepared to pay him. Potentially if we don't want to pay him enough he might leave but I can't see him being in high demand elsewhere. Possibly the Suns might be an alternative destination.

[Aliir]

Just love Aliir too much.

- - - Updated - - -

Welcome Aliir. A bit sad and ironic that you have signed up the season after your namesake departed. Appreciate your first post and broadly agree with your sentiments. I'm keen on recruiting someone like Petty or Cox.

I'm completely confident Parker and Dawson will re-sign. Also Stephens. Hewett however I'm not so sure. I think there is a risk that the club may decide to trade him, hopefully while he has currency.

I think it is worth keeping Sam Reid but the question is how much should we be prepared to pay him. Potentially if we don't want to pay him enough he might leave but I can't see him being in high demand elsewhere. Possibly the Suns might be an alternative destination.

Just love Aliir too much.

My guess Reids on 400k-550k so I wouldn't want to pay more than 250k probably

[bloodspirit]

Just love Aliir too much.

My guess Reids on 400k-550k so I wouldn't want to pay more than 250k probably

Tell how you fell in love with Aliir. He's popular around here and we were sorry to see him leave. The sadness is tempered a bit by the fact that Tom Hickey has turned out to be so good.

Reid's salary could have a modest base salary with a substantial component for match payments meaning the amount he is paid could vary significantly depending on how much he plays. It's quite possible that his salary is already structured a bit this way given his long history of injuries.

[Ludwig]

I would take a mid 2nd round pick for Hewitt. If I read it properly, Hewitt is in the top 25% paid players at the club.
.

Hewett is a RFA. We won't match any offers, and just take the AFL compo, which is likely to be a 2nd round pick.

[bloodspirit]

Hewett is a RFA. We won't match any offers, and just take the AFL compo, which is likely to be a 2nd round pick.

Good point. I was overlooking that. Maybe you did too? You've been making the case for "trading" him out.

[Mountain Man]

I accept we are speculating on football expertise/experience and financial value for money, but as I recall, Sam Reid has married a Sydney girl and appears well settled here.

I'm not sure he would be tempted to relocate for more money or longer contract, given both are likely to be small improvements on any deal offered by Sydney. I hope he gets another year, to provide at least some cover for both Hickey and Franklin in 2022 at modest cost.

[Aprilbr]

I would be very happy if we manage to re-sign Parker, Dawson and Stephens but lose Hewitt. The first three are a key part of our future.