Tweet
I doubt that the Swans would be interested in Ladhams unless they could see him developing into a first ruckman for us down the track. He is a massive unit. He reminds me of a young Mumford in size although I do not know if he has Mummy's aggression and guile. He is a bit taller than Mummy and a little lighter. If he is available at a fair price then he may be worth a punt.
-
-
My best guess is that we have an opportunity to bring in a player now that will help us from 2023 onwards. We may not have the same opportunity to get him at the end of next year. Buy while you can. Plus it gives the added bonus of a better replacement for Hickey if he happened to break.Comment
-
Comment
-
Neither do I Liz.
Also why would we give Sinclair an extra year if interested in Ladhams. Could have waited until after the trade period to do so. Signing Ladhams wouldn't help the development of McLean, Armatey or McAndrew either. Just limit their opportunities whether seniors or reserves.Comment
-
Liz, Port think more highly of Sam Hayes , young @@@@ who played most of season in SANFL and B&F for their reserves. Ladhams is a good body ruck and mark but some think he has reached his potential already and won't displace Lycett anytime soon. I question why we are targeting Ladhams when we have Hickey other than wanting a backup if Hickey is injured. Amartey showed plenty when given the chance and a run of games, something Darcy Cameron didn't get. I don't think Sam Naismith will be back at all and will retire due to ongoing injury and long recovery, sad but practical for his own health future. So unless we have high hopes for Ladhams succeeding Hickey as our ruck future, I am not a believer. Perhaps some of our Adelaide based RWOs who actually saw Ladhams play, we are relying on watching him on TV, which isn't a good measure.Comment
-
I agree. He is a really good prospect and still only 23 and has already played some good AFL football the last 2 years as a ruckman.
Nobody on here thought that Hickey would be anything other than serviceable last year when we traded him in so I have total faith that if we bring in young Ladhams that he will also flourish when given the opportunity to become the lead ruckman in our side.
Remember, it was only 12 months ago when again, most on here demanded that he be included in any Aliir trade as he was the best young ruck prospect available at the time.
Sent from my SM-G998B using TapatalkComment
-
I could make *a* case for it:
- Getting a long-term ruck in whilst you can
- Hickey got through the year largely unscathed, but we know he pushed it with his knee, and what else is under him
- They see McLean as a forward and not a ruck, they think Reid is done, Sinks a cheap bit of depth for one year and Amarty still developing and is a fwd first, ruck second anyway
- We want to play three talls next year, particularly with Heeney pegged for more midfield time, but know Bud probably won't play every game, and Logan is still only a 15-18 game prospect in his second year, so we need a rotation of options
- Ladhams fits the mould for Swans' rucks, where a premium is placed on making a contest, crash-bash, work hard around the ground, rather than flash/athletic like a NicNat or a Grundy
- Ladhams is backing himself to become the no1 for the next seven or so years, or at least after 2022.
Where I struggle, is the price - both the pick Port want and the salary he's on (understanding that can be smoothed out over a deal).'Delicious' is a fun word to sayComment
-
I looked up the Port Player's Profiles. For what it's worth Ladham's stats showed him as 'above average' in round ground game and 'below average' for both rucking stats which would show him to primarily be a forward ruck, at least at this stage. So probably just a bigger, stronger version of Amarty and McLean rather than a Hockey replacement.
Comment
-
I'll expand my thoughts:
- Hayes is pretty much untried. Other than him, Port - in a premiership window - have no back-up for Ladhams were Lycett to get injured. (Finlayson isn't a ruckman - he's a mediocre forward.) So if Port are have told the contracted Ladhams to look around, that suggests to me they don't think he's much chop.
- From Ladhams's perspective, if he comes to the Swans he won't walk into the number one ruck spot. He'll have to prove he's better than Hickey. Given what Hickey showed he can do in 2021, that's a significant challenge.
- Sure, Hickey is 31 but he's only 18 months older than Lycett. And they've played a similar amount of games, so if wear and tear is the biggest deal for a ruckman, rather than age, per se, it isn't apparent that Ladhams's route to the number one ruck spot will be opened up any sooner at Sydney than at Port. As points of reference, Mumford is 35 and thinks he can still go around again. Dean Cox was still playing good footy when he retired at 33. Paul Salmon played into his mid 30s. (He actually had one season aged 37, but it was just the one season.)
- From the Swans' perspective, as others have wondered out loud, what function does Sinclair have if we get another ready-to-go ruck like Ladhams? And what about McLean and Armatey? Are they going to be blocked from opportunities to play as a tall forward and relief ruckman? Both have goal-per-game career records just as good as Ladhams, albeit on a very small sample in Amartey's case. Amartey, I believe, is more than capable of playing as an effective relief ruckman so long as he can stave away injuries. McLean's ruck credentials are less evident but he showed improvement as the year went on.
- I realise the "no dickhead" policy is a bit of a furphy, but I take a pretty dim view of the intelligence and/or selflessness and/or discipline of those players who disregarded COVID restrictions over the past 18 months. Those restrictions were put in place to give the competition the best chance of continuing in challenging circumstances so, regardless of one's (or my) personal thoughts on society's response to COVID, disregarding those restrictions was a slap in the face to team mates, staff and everyone involved in the sport. There are dickheads and then there are dickheads.
I don't see the need to go for Ladhams this year just because he's available. Heaps of rucks change club every year. There will be another half-dozen or more available next trade period.Comment
-
This is what Foxsports is reporting.
AFL trade news, rumours, whispers 2021: Peter Ladhams to Sydney, suitors, landing spots
Power list boss Jason Cripps told 3AW’s Sportsday "In discussions with Pete at the end of the year, he was certainly looking for more opportunities to play ruck ... He’s probably more a ruck who can go forward as opposed to a key forward who’s a second ruck."
I wonder if we could attract him on the basis it would be more of a 60/40 split and we'd play Hickey forward a bit more. Would probably benefit Hickey a bit too?Comment
-
I agree Liz.
The biggest issue for mine is your first point, that is he is not much chop, followed by the indications that Port want a high draft pick in return for someone they are virtually driving to the airport. And then there is the contract he is on which is rumoured to be pretty good.
There are better bets out there, for less draft capital, for less money.Comment
Comment