2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[707]

Tom Morris with the Swans sky is falling story - which club does have money in the cap to be chasing players given the TPP went down and not it's usual up?

Only bottom of the table sides like
Adelaide, who are a danger to us with Dawson, Gould and Stephens although those three are country boys with parental homes 4 hours away from Adelaide

Hawks not an attractive club at present but have cap you'd think and a superstar coach starting next year!

Norf may have $ given they had a big clean out last year and have shown a penchant for throwing big contract offers in front of other clubs very good players

Then it's clubs who probably won't be chasing other clubs better players

Gold Coast have a bursting cap but the AFL will help them because they are projecting back into basket case territory

Pies hahahahahahaha

Carlton and Saints should be groaning under the weight of imported players

Essendon got cap space? and looking attractive on field now

GWS haven't got space unless Kelly doesn't take up his 8 x $1mill contract extension

Then we get to Richmond who always seem to find cap space, princes and paupers model I call it

Once you get to finalists, none should have cap space unless they have a clean out of older players. Geelong don't have a TPP!

So, we will no doubt be tight on TPP, but we are a very attractive place to play footy at present so like a lot of successful clubs, players aren't jumping ship to a rebuilding side for a few dollars more.

We'll use our usual TPP management tool of having minimum players on the main list and making up the numbers in rookies which has worked nicely in the past. Suspect the early resignings of Sheather, Amartey etc was to lock in needed cheaper players first. Paddy McCartin wouldn't be expensive

Buddy drops half a mill next season which is handy BUT that may have already been factored into longer contracts signed some time ago.

On individual players mentioned by Tom Morris,

Parker I couldn't see leaving unless it was to GC under generous AFL sponsorship and he's just the type of leader/player they desperately need

Dawson has added more money to his contract in recent months, will get a big offer from Adelaide but they look like long term rebuilders, we'll need to stump up more than we thought

Hewett would be a loss but may have a current contract size that doesn't fit our new world

Stephens could be a target for Adelaide but let's be honest, he hasn't shown that much in his senior appearances, Serong has :-( Gould may also be an Adelaide target. These are two players we could lose for not much

Suspect we'll have to clean out anyone who is now not best 27/28 and not showing a certain senior trajectory. Brand, Clarke, Gray, Ronke are gone, even Sinkers and COR if we were desperate for the $. Taylor saved only by the last year of a three year contract. After that we'd be cutting players we wouldn't want to lose.

We just have to trust the club to retain who we want and do their usual clever list management and hope that Tom Morris isn't right!

[Roadrunner]

I would keep Dawson over Parker. I love Luke like everyone does, but Jordan has four more years of footy in him compared to Parks. Also
players like Jordan are very rare. He did another of those outrageous cross country 50M lasers on Sunday. Those kicks are undefendable and
hardly anyone can do them. They are the extra goal you need in a tight game on a log jammed ladder. He's as good now as Zac Williams
was at GWS and Williams apparently got a $4.8M/6 year deal. Williams has the run, and Jordan has the kicking and marking skills.
Hopefully he will stay for a bit less, but he is a very valuable and unique player.

I don’t get how other top clubs can pay significantly more for any of our players than we can? Surely their salary cap situation would be similar. Sure, we have Buddy’s massive contract for 1 more year, but that has to be manageable now and stars at other clubs would not be that much behind. Only the lower clubs may have the salary space and why would our guys want to go there, when we have chances for flags coming up? I’d be very disappointed if we lose any of the players being mentioned- we lost too many in the past.

[Faunac8]

I think this list is fairly up to date in regards to player contracts for this year.
It contains some names that I suspect we won’t see in a Swans jumper again after this season. The one interesting decision to me is all of Naismith Amartey Reid and Sinclair are out of contract and given our ruck stocks need replenishing do we keep one two or three of them. I think Reid offers the most currently but Amartey has some definite upside.
Sorry But I don’t see a future for Naismith and Sinkers , Callum deserves to be remembered as a value for money toiler who filled a gap for us but at his age maybe doesn’t have a future role in this team.
My priorities from those on the list are Dawson , Parker , McCartin and Fox and then one or both of Reid and Amartey
No one else jumps out as someone who we should keep apart from potentially O’Riordan
Or am I stretching the budget to thin?
Sydney Swans News | AFL 2021 | Zero Hanger

[i'm-uninformed2]

I think this list is fairly up to date in regards to player contracts for this year.
It contains some names that I suspect we won’t see in a Swans jumper again after this season. The one interesting decision to me is all of Naismith Amartey Reid and Sinclair are out of contract and given our ruck stocks need replenishing do we keep one two or three of them. I think Reid offers the most currently but Amartey has some definite upside.
Sorry But I don’t see a future for Naismith and Sinkers , Callum deserves to be remembered as a value for money toiler who filled a gap for us but at his age maybe doesn’t have a future role in this team.
My priorities from those on the list are Dawson , Parker , McCartin and Fox and then one or both of Reid and Amartey
No one else jumps out as someone who we should keep apart from potentially O’Riordan
Or am I stretching the budget to thin?
Sydney Swans News | AFL 2021 | Zero Hanger

McCartin and Amartey recently extended for two years each

[Kafka's Ghost]

I don’t get how other top clubs can pay significantly more for any of our players than we can? Surely their salary cap situation would be similar. Sure, we have Buddy’s massive contract for 1 more year, but that has to be manageable now and stars at other clubs would not be that much behind. Only the lower clubs may have the salary space and why would our guys want to go there, when we have chances for flags coming up? I’d be very disappointed if we lose any of the players being mentioned- we lost too many in the past.

Buddy’s contract next year is less than many other clubs’ stars. It’s about 40% less than this year.
Given the possibility of playing finals and a premiership with Sydney in the immediate future, I’d be very surprised if any of these players left to go to a bottom team.

[Blood Fever]

Geez mate, would you easy up?

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Ok. Understand your reaction, but it is too early to write Stephens off and call the that draft a bust. Similarities to Mcveigh with his light build and will improve as he gets stronger IMO. By the way, there are many more posters on here that need to to be told to ease up, especially the two clowns who have hijacked the site.

[Faunac8]

McCartin and Amartey recently extended for two years each

Thanks now you mention that it does ring a bell obviously the list isn’t as up to date as I thought????

[TheBloods]

This is why the ones you re-sign can be bigger mistakes than the ones you let go

[bloodspirit]

We can't lose Parker. It's just not an option - provided he's being reasonable, which I'm sure he is. Nor do I think we will lose Parker - he's going to be just as keen to stay as we are to keep him. It's about figuring out the $$. I figure we need to take him a bit unders to help us keep our list together but we can't lowball him too much and leave him feeling under-appreciated and undervalued.

Dawson is tricky. We absolutely want and need him but his value is just growing and growing and he's going to cost us more than we have budgeted for. Clearly we'll have to improve our offer but there's still a risk that we can't even nearly match a monster offer from another club. In that case, if he chooses to leave, we have to make sure we get maximum back in return. Fortunately, we have other players coming through who are also excellent kicks, albeit none of them offer the same combination of abilities that he has.

Hewett is probably surplus to our requirements and costing us more than we can afford in cap space. While he is currently a better player than Rowbottom, he is also taking a spot that Rowy can fill. Others are also looking like they can step into the midfield. We have already shown a willingness to trade Hewett last season. I think Gold Coast should pounce on him if they can tempt him up there. But, wherever he goes, I would think we would get a 2nd round compo pick. That's probably less than he's worth (given our likely finishing position) but we'd settle for that. The problem would be if, for some reason, he doesn't have suitors. However, since he's out of contract, his own position is weaker than a year ago and he might have to accept a lower salary, which would make him more attractive to potential suitors.

Stephens - I really hope we can keep him. He has a point of difference (immense running power) and I still believe he has the potential to be a great player. I'm less confident than I was about keeping him but I'm still optimistic. If he is lured away by a big offer then that will entitle us to demand decent compensation at the trade table. While it certainly won't be pick 5, I would be expecting a later first round pick or equivalent. The comparison to Jye Caldwell doesn't hold because the Giants had a worse cap squeeze than we do which weakened their trade position.

Talk of getting rid of players ranked outside our best 27-28 to improve out TPP position is bosh. Those players are on minimum wages and will have to be replaced by other players who will also have to paid so it wouldn't help us at all. Which isn't to say we shouldn't be cutting some of those players and looking to find other better players to replace them - just not because it is going to help us with our salary cap.

Overall, we're in a good position. Even if we can't keep everyone, we get to decide which players we keep and we will get some compensation back for those that we lose. This is the situation of being a strong club.

[Goal Sneak]

Buddy drops half a mill next season which is handy BUT that may have already been factored into longer contracts signed some time ago.

If they've been back-loading other contracts to coincide with the easing of Bud's contract then that is going to play a huge part in where we go from here. With the explosion of talent that has emerged much quicker than anticipated, there's potential for some real headaches.

[Aprilbr]

I think that we should be barracking for Adelaide to finish the season strongly so they have several teams below them on the ladder. This way they would have to trade for any of our South Australian players. It would be a disaster for us if they finished last as any of those guys could go to them for free in the pre-season draft. This is what happened to Membrey when he crossed to St Kilda from us for nothing.

Its looking increasingly likely that we are going to lose one of Parker or Dawson given our Cap issues. This is a bitter pill for us to swallow after watching Aliir leave last season because of our Cap and then star for Port. GWS are used to these scenarios but we are not!

[Swisha]

I believe we must retain Dawson at all costs. Trade Parker out to Gold Coast with our first round pick for Rankine and a 2nd rounder back our way. Try to keep Hewitt but if we can’t get the best possible back. Same with Stephen’s..

[Bangalore Swans]

How does Geelong manage their cap so well?

They have high grade footballers on every line and were able to get three All Australian level footballers in the offseason (Cameron, Higgins, Smith).

Is it the long term executive brilliance of Brian Cook or the low cost of living in Geelong? I don’t know the Geelong area. Is it a great place to live?

I’ve heard stories of Geelong players being given free drink cards at local pubs. Does the Geelong community pitch in and make the club that much more compelling for players?

[i'm-uninformed2]

OK. Now, let me be clear - I want all four of Parker, Dawson, Stephens and Hewett to stay. They're all terrific players and they are ours, and I'd love nothing more than all four to be in the R&W in 2022. Nor am I yet in panic mode, because I think resolution of the TPP will need to happen first before decisions get made by us - or any potential suitors.

But, for the sake of the exercise, if there is a cap squeeze, and one has to go/gets squeezed out, which deal do you do (and I've totally manufactured these to have something to think about):

* Luke Parker to Essendon for pick 9, 2022 2nd round + young ruck Nick Bryan
* Jordan Dawson plus pick 14 to Adelaide for 3 and KPD Fisher McAsey
* Dylan Stephens to Adelaide for pick 22
* George Hewett to Carlton as free agent for end of second round compo.

[stevoswan]

I understand all the talk and concern about losing talent due to salary cap restraints but I ask, who would want to leave this club as it sits on the edge of a potential dynasty? Who would want to risk all that to go to a potential loser club like the Suns for a bit of extra coin? Sure one could afford a better house and car but that has to be pitched against the ongoing enjoyment of what is essentially your career. Winning IS enjoyment.....losing sucks and it isn't offset by improved living standards or 'setting up one's future'. How many rich now retired footballers exist who regret never playing in finals or winning a flag? A lot I am betting....and regret lasts longer than money.

- - - Updated - - -

I'll add to my above post that some of the suggestions being made here re: trading some of our champions (Parker and Dawson, a future champion) are just bizarre.