2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[TheBloods]

So, if we got someone cheap in, TB, would we recruit them to play first team (i.e. best 22)? It's easier to justify denying one of our youngsters a spot for a real star like Macrae than someone who would come more cheaply. Also, are you thinking someone who is currently getting a game (like Lipinski) or someone who is waiting for their chance (like Constable)? Also, any suggestions about who might be a viable cheap trade target?

Thanks for the responses about Sheather all.

Both Lipinski and Constable types , cheap younger ones who go ok and between them and Campbell Stephens Sheather etc will have a good group of young mids who will push each other . Competition for spots , best ones will get games . Better to have that spread of talent than rely on one superstar on big bucks like Macrae

[707]

Warner is the one we need to add to the centre square to make us better, looks like a young Dangerfield to me!

Campbell is a mid who will do a HBF/BP apprenticeship but hopefully not all long as Mills. Think we've got a nice pipeline of midfielders and could add another with ND pick 20 this year. The decimation of the second tier comp last year and this year hasn't helped the development of a number of our key youngsters. Pity BOC who comes from Ireland and needs to learn the game to be faced with almost no game experience for two years.

Intriguing trade/draft for us given our explosion up the ladder. Ruck and KPD still the most pressing needs.

On Macrae from the Dogs, they don't need players, they desperately need points to pay for Darcy likely selected at pick 2/3/4

[bloodspirit]

If we're looking at veterans, what about Cam Guthrie? He's 29 this month and out of contract at the end of the season. It doesn't look like the Cats are going to be able to pay him because they have maxxed out their cap, although he may take unders to stay part of that group (his brother is at Geelong too). Still, he wouldn't exactly be cheap. But I reckon he's still got a few seasons in him.

I'm not sure we would want to get him while we still have JPK on the list. Maybe after JPK is gone we could look at bringing in another veteran.

There's still the problem of robbing our youth of games (unless we trade some of them out).

I invite you all to put forward specific names - both for trading in and out - that could make us better and really help put the finishing touches on a premiership contending team.

[TheBloods]

Bloodspirit why do you think we need to put finishing touches on the midfield ? There is no starting trio in the comp i would trust more than Jpk parker and Mills . They are tough as nails , you know what you will get from them every week and they are 3 of the best mids going around , with 2 absolute future superstars who will be around them in Chad and Jmac . Theres your midfield , they can push for the flag already

Its what happens after Jpk retires or if Parker gets injured where its more uncertain as we have to turn to more speculative kids like Campbell and Gulden . Great talents but unproven on the inside

[Bangalore Swans]

I'm curious what people think about the possibility of making a play for Jackson Macrae? While we have become such a polished and skilful team, one area of the game where we seem to be letting ourselves down is winning the ball on the inside, especially at centre bounce. Macrae could help with that. I would suggest we pay for it by trading out one or more best 22 players (e.g. Hewett, Florent).

The pros

* Clearly he's a good player.
* He's in his prime but hopefully still has many years of good footy left in front of him (turns 27 years old tomorrow). Two years younger than Parker and three years older than Mills.
* He's an RFA, out of contract next year.
* The Bulldogs might consider it given their massive depth in midfielders and presumably bulging salary cap.
* We don't need to keep hitting the draft given we have done so for the past several years and we have a glut of young talent.


Cons

* We already have plenty of midfielders and have re-signed JPK. Who's spot would he take? And do we want to deprive our young talent of opportunities?
* Don't know if he would have any interest. He's a Vic Metro boy with an established partner (Louisa Macleod, presumably also from Melbourne).
* Would cost a lot both in $$ and picks. Do we have the cap space? Is this how we would want to spend the draft capital it would cost?
* Might distract us from other more strategically important targets e.g. KPP and ruck.

Overall, I think I've talked myself out of the idea.


****

Do people think we need to do something to address our midfield "weakness"? If so, what can/should we do (other than wait for the people on our list to develop)?


***


Incidentally, it was exciting to see McInerney thrown in the guts yesterday! He's a top 5 favourite player of mine. I know we all love him. Such an inspired pick! Not only did we only pay pick 44, he was on any of the draft pundits radar at all. He was barely previewed pre-draft by anyone. If we didn't pick him, it's possible he would have gone undrafted (it's unclear whether any other clubs had some good mail on him like we clearly did).

I think we have outstanding options for winning the ball on the inside already on our list.

Here are some of the guys I seeing being very good on the inside in the next 12 months:

- Dawson
- Chad
- Heeney
- J Mac
- Florent

You already have Mills and Parker there. Kennedy will depend on his fitness next year and Hewitt depending on whether he stays.

The Swans also have Campbell and Stephens in the wings who can play on a wing if you move Dawson or J-Mac to more inside roles.

What we need in an ideal world is:

- 1 experienced ruckman to help Hickey
- 1 good small forward to help Papley
- 1 good bigger bodied key defender to help McCartin and Rampe.

[Ludwig]

Last year names like Charlie Constable kept coming up as possible recruits. This year we have Macraae and Guthrie annd a few from Hawthorn. I said at that time that we were already overloaded with midfielders, and that goes double for this year. Last year, we didn't know just how good Warner, Jmac and Gulden would be. I can't see us recruiting midfielders for some time to come.

We need more pace from our on-ballers, but we already have those types in the team. Putting Jmac at ccretre bounces was an indication that the coaches know that.

[AB Swannie]

A few names of defenders I like who would be best 22 but not break the bank. In order:

1. Brayden Maynard - pre-agent. Probably worth a 2nd round draft pick.
2. Jayden Laverde - out of contract. Again 2nd rounder. Maybe 3rd.

These two are a bit more speculative but have potential:

3. Jake Riccardi - out of contract. He's played AFL mainly as a forward but has been playing defence in VFL. I think he's super talented and could transition similar to Tom McC.
4. Jarrod Brander - out of contract. Similar to Riccardi. Young and hasn't been able to get a real crack at it.

I also would like to see Paddy McC added as well.

[dejavoodoo44]

I think Rowbottom with become a centerpiece of our future inside mid brigade. He has the most complete game of the young mids. He plays both sides of the ball well, has decent breakaway pace, tackles well and can hit the scoreboard.

I'm surprised he wasn't mentioned by many.

Of course Mills will be there for a long time. We have lots of other candidates, with Warner almost equal to Rowbottom. Mills, Warner and Rowbottom would be a solid key trio, with plenty of others in the rotation. But lets not forget that Parker still has plenty left in the tank.

Don't forget that Errol played a lot of his junior football, as an in and under midfielder. I'm not sure if they'll put him into too many centre bounces this season, but potentially, I think he might be the best of the lot. Lightning quick decision maker, almost invariably chooses a good option, has the speed to escape with ball in hand, and can tackle bigger and stronger players into the ground.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

But this year George is a free agent, so a club can get him without losing a player. I think we would take the AFL compo pick if it's at least a 2nd rounder.

Thanks Ludwig, that makes a difference. Not that I wish George gone, but I can now see that it's a possibility.

[Ludwig]

Don't forget that Errol played a lot of his junior football, as an in and under midfielder. I'm not sure if they'll put him into too many centre bounces this season, but potentially, I think he might be the best of the lot. Lightning quick decision maker, almost invariably chooses a good option, has the speed to escape with ball in hand, and can tackle bigger and stronger players into the ground.

I didn't mention him specifically this time, but said he would be a great midfielder at the time he was drafted. He's shown everything to make me believe that is still the case. We have so many that it's hard to know which players will end up playing more on ball and which ones will be playing more on the outside, or how much rotating we can do without getting lost in our own game plan. We don't want to have the coach doing a pressie and talking about going back to basics.

[bloodspirit]

That's more what I was looking for: votes of confidence in who we have already!

I guess the reason I am raising the question is that of late, including this past weekend, we have been suffering from losing centre clearances, despite now having a good ruckman, and we have been having to compensate for that with our other assets (which happily we have been doing). I agree that JPK, Parker & Mills are all terrific but wondering if we needed to recruit someone to complement them or whether we can rely on the players already on our list improving and doing that e.g. Warner, Gulden, Campbell, Stephens, potentially McInerney?

I agree with Bangalore about the experienced ruck and big bodied KPD - not so much about the small forward. Apart from those in the 22 we have the likes of Ronke and Squizzy. Together with Papley, Wicks & Bell, I don't see that as an area of need. Gulden also seems to cameo in this role - but he seems to be bobbing up all over the place.

I'm on record suggesting that someone like Brander would be a great get for us. Others I have suggested include Aaron Francis and Harrison Petty (when I first suggested Petty he wasn't getting a game and was stuck behind Tomlinson). I can't claim to know any of them that well but I lean towards Brander because he's from the Riverina (NSW or close to), and also he was a high draft pick.

[Nico]

I don't see any need to recruit midfielders from other clubs. We have a plethora of players that rotate through there. We just have to break even on the centre clearances.

Interesting stat for what it is worth: Up until Round 12 we had won the centre clearance count 7 times. That was Chad Warner's last game. Since then we have won the count twice, PA and GWS.

We got an absolute towelling by the Dogs and Injectors, yet still won. It is one area we can increase time % in our forward half and give our forwards more scoring opportunities. I suspect yesterday's count included 2 kicks by Mills that went straight up in the air. We have to improve our clean clearances a lot.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I also think some of our drop away in the middle coincides with Hickey's clearance play.

Early in the year, he was highly effective at grabbing the ball from the ruck and blasting it forward. Whether oppositions have worked out that play or his knee inhibits him a bit, he's not doing as much of that.

I'm not knocking the guy - he's still giving us overs. Just one little piece of his play that isn't as evident, and gave us a real advantage at times.

[707]

Aaron Francis mentioned in a previous post is a NO - 1. he's not that good, 2. he has some mental health/missing home issues 3. Is at Dodo Land

I'm not sure other than ruck and KPD that we need to recruit a player that would cost us valuable TPP and draft capital. Don't want to be like Carlton and Saints who seemingly grab whoever is available and end up with a heap of highly paid HBF

[Bangalore Swans]

I said earlier that I think we need another quality small forward.

If David Teague doesn’t coach on at Carlton, would we go for an Eddie Betts for one season to hopefully ad that bit of class in a potential serious premiership bid.

He’s a free agent.

Eddie would need to have his body in its best possible condition and he is a great bloke.

The SCG crowd would love him and you can see some party tricks between Eddie, Franklin, Heeney and Papley.

Would be entertaining and he would be better even at his age than Sam Wicks.