2022 List management, trading, drafting

[Maltopia]

I tend to think our team will try and trade in a marquee forward if Franklin leaves (Capper->Locket->Hall->Mickey O->Franklin).

I know some say Heeney is going to be our marquee name going forward and more recently it might be Warner, but it just doesn't feel like Sydney without a big high profile forward that is going to kick 500 plus over his career.

Logan might be that player, but is a few years off being the big dog.

[Markwebbos]

I tend to think our team will try and trade in a marquee forward if Franklin leaves (Capper->Locket->Hall->Mickey O->Franklin).

I know some say Heeney is going to be our marquee name going forward and more recently it might be Warner, but it just doesn't feel like Sydney without a big high profile forward that is going to kick 500 plus over his career.

Logan might be that player, but is a few years off being the big dog.

We need to replace Buddys 50 goals next year

[Ludwig]

I tend to think we can lose Bud and Reid after this or next season and still have enough good players around to ensure McDonald, Amartey & McLean remain competitive until they're fully fledged forwards (assuming Amartey & McLean stay).

I also wonder if we will offer Naismith another year? It seems like a waste to hold onto him for so long and then let him go. It's a huge risk I know but if we could get a season out of him it would help our ruck depth issues, or at least buy us a little more time.

Amartey and McLean are contracted next year, so I can't see them leaving. After that they will most likely be our 3 tall forwards, so they both can see a future in our side if they are good enough.

Every list spot counts and every list spot has a cost. I can't see hanging on to Naismith, who is a huge injury risk, when we already have 2 AFL level ruckmen and some decent backups. It just doesn't seem to have any value to keep him.

We need to replace Buddys 50 goals next year

It's not like the goals will disappear. Someone else will kick them. McDonald and Amartey, for example. Buddy is the most targeted forward in the comp, so 50 goals is not all that great. I think we play just as well without Buddy anyway.

[Auntie.Gerald]

If there was no Bud and May was on Reid or McDonald it is an interesting scenario to plan for

Bud kept May busy
May destroyed Bud
Yet it appeared very straight forward that Bud was not our strike power last night. He was in a major part a decoy.
Nor was Heeney our lead.
Nor was Hayward.

For me Reid's resurgence will help McDonald tremendously but 3 talls are super handy come finals series as they make it so tricky for teams to defend.

[Maltopia]

It's not like the goals will disappear. Someone else will kick them. McDonald and Amartey, for example. Buddy is the most targeted forward in the comp, so 50 goals is not all that great. I think we play just as well without Buddy anyway.

50 Goals makes Buddy the equal 9th for most goals kicked in the regular season (8th for key forwards with Fritsch ahead and Charlie Cameron equal with him). This is remarkable considering his age and he has the best defender on him each week. Heeney kicked 47 and Hayward 33 which are career highs for both, so not a lot of room for improvement there. Papley was down this year due to injury in the first half of the season.

Certainly if Buddy goes and we don't replace him, we will adapt, but McDonald and Almartey won't kick 50 between them next year with Sam Taylor, Steven May, Darcy Moore, Griffin Logue etc playing on them week in week out.

It's one thing for us to win games this year when Buddy hasn't played, but it is a totally different scenario to play a whole season and compete for top four without a big key forward to tale advantage of Papley, Warner and Gulden's inside 50s.

That being said, unless there is a secret deal going on (we had no idea we were getting Franklin in 2013), I don't know who we would be trying to get. Maybe we could pry Peter Wright out of Essendon with one of our late first rounders plus McLean or Almartey.

[Maltopia]

If there was no Bud and May was on Reid or McDonald it is an interesting scenario to plan for

Nor was Heeney our lead.

Heeney got elbowed in the nose by May in a contest and needed repeat treatment during the game. Could have been close to a concussion and he had a poor game mostly after that.

We managed to score some great goals with Stephens and Lloyd on the 50 meter arc on the right, but they are not going to be regular events. Plus we had an unusually accurate night (for this season) in front of goal last night with 14.7.

[Ludwig]

I'm happy if Buddy stays, but okay if he goes as well. He will be 36. We have to move on without him at some point. If he goes, it just speeds up the development of others. The goals will come.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I’m still high on needing a 200cm key defender. We’re coming to an era of the Kings, Darcy, Thilthorpe, McKay etc. I know they’re hard to get but …

[Goal Sneak]

Every list spot counts and every list spot has a cost. I can't see hanging on to Naismith, who is a huge injury risk, when we already have 2 AFL level ruckmen and some decent backups. It just doesn't seem to have any value to keep him.

I agree with the risk factor with Naismith. I was speculating based on a few posts suggesting we may need to find another specialist ruck as we will only have Hickey, Ladhams and a very green McAndrews. I think Sam Reid has alleviated the immediate need to a degree. It would be great if Naismith could give us a full season however, not very likely.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Buddy has taken the best defender. When he goes that’s going to fall to someone else … potentially McDonald next year.

On the other hand if Buddy goes, so will our tendency to direct 70% of all forward thrusts towards him. So Logan (or whoever) else will an awful lot more opportunities coming his way.
And don't worry about the loss of scoring power, I did the analysis in 2019 and even then the team was only 8 points better off with Buddy in the side. Most star forwards do this to some extent, they don't increase the number of goals kicked by the team as much as they increase the number of goals kicked by a star forward.

[Markwebbos]

Heeney got elbowed in the nose by May in a contest and needed repeat treatment during the game. Could have been close to a concussion and he had a poor game mostly after that.

We managed to score some great goals with Stephens and Lloyd on the 50 meter arc on the right, but they are not going to be regular events. Plus we had an unusually accurate night (for this season) in front of goal last night with 14.7.

Last night our marking forwards were largely beaten, so maybe it was a vision of a Budless future.

But the Sam Reid cameo was decisive. For a player who was on the scrap heap he could be one of our most important next year assuming Bud goes.

[Maltopia]

Article saying we are seeking Leon Cameron to run our Academy

Jumping ship? Swans’ plot to poach rivals’ old coach revealed

[dejavoodoo44]

I'm happy if Buddy stays, but okay if he goes as well. He will be 36. We have to move on without him at some point. If he goes, it just speeds up the development of others. The goals will come.

I'd be quite happy if Buddy retired later in the year, as a Swans premiership player. While he's still obviously capable of moments of magic, there's been a few games, where pretty well all our side either won or halved their positions, except for Buddy. So, I think age is having an effect. If he signs on for another season, he could end up as one the more highly paid players running around in the VFL?

- - - Updated - - -

Article saying we are seeking Leon Cameron to run our Academy

Jumping ship? Swans’ plot to poach rivals’ old coach revealed

That's probably a good option for both parties.

[Ludwig]

I'd be quite happy if Buddy retired later in the year, as a Swans premiership player. While he's still obviously capable of moments of magic, there's been a few games, where pretty well all our side either won or halved their positions, except for Buddy. So, I think age is having an effect. If he signs on for another season, he could end up as one the more highly paid players running around in the VFL?

I've suggested that Buddy could make a great designated medisub, but I don't think Buddy would take that too well. It could be packaged in a contract that made Buddy a player coach, so he can sit on the bench and help out Horse unless called upon to replace an injured player. It would be great drama seeing Buddy come on in the 4th qtr in a close game. The SCG would go nuts, especially if he kicked the winning goal.

[chalbilto]

I'm happy if Buddy stays, but okay if he goes as well. He will be 36. We have to move on without him at some point. If he goes, it just speeds up the development of others. The goals will come.

I would like to see Buddy play on until he becomes number 4 on the all time goal kicking list, then if he wants to he can retire and work around our forward line without him. He is and will always be a legend and I am great full that he has and is playing for our team.