2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[bloodspirit]

This article is not especially illuminating, especially for us: AFL 2021: Salary cap - the AFL clubs that do and don’t have room for player trade manoeuvres, contracts (theage.com.au). The only thing that's interesting is that we are one of two clubs listed as having an "unclear" amount of cap space to work with.

It is summed up thus:

Salary cap space after 2021

HAVES (with room): Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Adelaide.
HAVE-NOTS: Richmond, West Coast, Collingwood, Melbourne, Fremantle, Geelong, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney.
SOME WRIGGLE ROOM: Carlton, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane Lions.
UNCLEAR: St Kilda, Sydney

[Nico]

The trouble with Hayward is he has a long contracted reputed to be $600k a year. Swans would probably need to subsidize

Someone over rates him at the club. Very expensive per possession.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Not sure where this belongs but quite an interesting article in the Weekend Australian outlining the process undertaken to rebuild the list over the last few years . Certainly highlights that it was a well thought out and measured process and how Buddy’s absence last year definitely had a silver lining.
NoCookies | The Australian

Without quoting gobbits, could you offer a precis of the article?

[707]

Welcome to Richmond, Jack Ross

I noticed that Jack Ross was Richmonds no23 player again this week.........in the few games I have watched him play I felt he could be a good value player to bring to the Swans and has been in a great system last couple of years playing with the best. Ross has a lot of upside.

If Hayward and or Hewett are targeted by the Crows and we would like another dominant emerging mid he could be a smart acquisition for the future..........it maybe hard for the Tigers to match the $ with their squad?

We will have a fair few older players like Clarke, Squizzy, Gray etc that may be considered surplus in 2022 that would free up some space for a value emerging player.

Squizzy has a contract for 2022

[longmile]

Squizzy has a contract for 2022

Hope he gets a game

[Aprilbr]

Squizzy has a contract for 2022

Boy did they over-rate him! A 3-year contract for a guy who is only likely to get a senior game if we have several small forwards injured at once!

[caj23]

His 3rd year may have a trigger clause perhaps?

I still think he can play a role if he can get his fitness and pressure to an appropriate level

[aardvark]

Hope he gets a game

I hear Sydney Uni are looking for players....

[Aprilbr]

His 3rd year may have a trigger clause perhaps?

I still think he can play a role if he can get his fitness and pressure to an appropriate level

Fitness and pressure- I'm afraid he has not delivered on either. A depth player at best but I would love for him to prove me wrong!

[stevoswan]

Boy did they over-rate him! A 3-year contract for a guy who is only likely to get a senior game if we have several small forwards injured at once!

Officially a list clogger! Sad really....his career started so positively.

[mcs]

Officially a list clogger! Sad really....his career started so positively.

So dissapointing that he hasn't been able to back up such a great start to his career.

Shows how sadly the pathway can go both ways in footy - some start like a house on fire then disappear, others take an age to get going but then hit enormous heights.

I had really hoped he would have managed to use his last chance saloon at Sydney to revive his career, but seems very unlikely from here. Frustrating we gave him 3 years however, as it seems list clogger is the only descriptor for him now.

[bloodspirit]

I wouldn't quite call Lewis Taylor a list-clogger. He's a useful depth player. He can come in a play a role at AFL level if we need him to. He has valuable experience and skills that he can pass on to younger players in the reserves. And I imagine he comes at a rock bottom salary and doesn't take much cap space.

As Ludwig has pointed out before, you need players like Squizzy on your list. You need players who may never be best 22* but who can do a job when called upon - rather than having the balance of your squad be all developing youth projects with unknown ceilings. Gray, Brand, Clarke and even Fox all have a similar role. The thing is you don't want to many of these players at one time - but I don't think we have that problem. We have heaps of talented youth on our list both inside and outside of our best 22.

Some of these depth players are culled at the end of each season and they are replaced either with similar types, or with unproven younger players with more potential. No doubt the same will happen this year. I can't see Gray getting another contract for instance. I'd be nervous if I were any of the others too.

* Of course we may have hoped that he would reach a higher level than depth player when we recruited him, especially for last season, but fortunately we don't need him and it doesn't matter if that's all he is.

[O'Reilly Boy]

I thought he showed a bit in a couple of matches late last season. Involved in several scoring sequences. I'd call him a depth player rather than a list-clogger (see Gray, S.).

[longmile]

As Ludwig has pointed out before, you need players like Squizzy on your list. You need players who may never be best 22* but who can do a job when called upon - rather than having the balance of your squad be all developing youth projects with unknown ceilings. Gray, Brand, Clarke and even Fox all have a similar role. The thing is you don't want to many of these players at one time - but I don't think we have that problem. We have heaps of talented youth on our list both inside and outside of our best 22.

I'd argue that Fox is best 22 after his performance in defence last year and our lack of quality defenders.

Taylor, Brand and Clarke are quality depth and Gray is a genuine list clogger

[Bangalore Swans]

I despise the term “list clogger”.

How dare anyone refer to someone on an AFL list like that. Kids and amateur football players around the country would give anything to have the experience of being a professional player on an AFL list for a period of time.

Have more respect for the athletes playing our game.