Regardless of whether the Lobb rumours are true I think like the Brad Hill situation, we have play smart given we are 16th on the ladder this year. The reality is, we are not pushing for a premiership next year so we shouldn't be in the mode of urgently fixing holes no matter the cost. Paying a premium for contracted players wanting to return home to a 2 club state seems ludicrous to me. If they truly want to come home then why do we need to rush?
The club down the road has almost the exact opposite needs to us and if they are serious about challenging for a premiership their precise focus needs to be on grabbing an elite midfielder or two. As much as they'd no doubt like McCarthy and Lobb, they'd have to spend a lot of their currency that they need to bolster their shallow midfield - especially given Priddis is close to the end of his career. They probably aren't going to do a Jetta MkII with Hill either, and Brad's motivation is to play with his brother, not just coming home. So we are in the box seat for all three of these players (and probably others as well) but will it really matter if we leave it another year until they are all out of contract? They'll cost us less and we are likely to have even more currency to spend, whilst also being able to bring in talented youth to develop through the draft. I think we need to get the McCarthy deal done because his value is already low and nobody wants to see him sit out another year but the other two I don't see the need to rush.
Our back line and forward line will still be in their infancy next year, as will quite a few of our young midfielders. But another two pre-seasons and a full year of development (with an opportunity to play AFL) in to Alex Pearce, Apeness, Tabs, Sheridan, Blakely, Weller, Tucker, Balic, Crozier, Hughes, Collins, Uebergang and Nyhuis (plus new draftees) should mean our 2018 B22 is solid enough to lose some older stalwarts (Sandi, Johnson, Mundy, Dawson) without falling in a heap and we'll be in a good position to trade out some of our developed youngsters to bring in some home grown talent (Lobb, BHill, Martin etc).
We need to be patient imo and risk losing an "opportunity" over paying premiums. So I'm suggesting we keep our pick #3 and use it in the draft. We don't touch the free agents so we get compensation for Mayne. I'd probably still keep Clarke personally (over Hannath). We also trade out as much as possible (including surplus to need) contracted players to buy additional picks in the draft. We use one to grab McCarthy. We use the rest in the draft but try and upgrade them as much as possible. If we grab someone in the PSD great. We turn over a few rookies. And hopefully we have a Cat B from up North in mind as well. Next year we then try and grab Lobb, BHill, Martin and whichever other WA players out there that fit our needs. It will also be good timing because there is predicted to be plenty of Eastern-states based talent in next year's draft and not so much from WA.
The club down the road has almost the exact opposite needs to us and if they are serious about challenging for a premiership their precise focus needs to be on grabbing an elite midfielder or two. As much as they'd no doubt like McCarthy and Lobb, they'd have to spend a lot of their currency that they need to bolster their shallow midfield - especially given Priddis is close to the end of his career. They probably aren't going to do a Jetta MkII with Hill either, and Brad's motivation is to play with his brother, not just coming home. So we are in the box seat for all three of these players (and probably others as well) but will it really matter if we leave it another year until they are all out of contract? They'll cost us less and we are likely to have even more currency to spend, whilst also being able to bring in talented youth to develop through the draft. I think we need to get the McCarthy deal done because his value is already low and nobody wants to see him sit out another year but the other two I don't see the need to rush.
Our back line and forward line will still be in their infancy next year, as will quite a few of our young midfielders. But another two pre-seasons and a full year of development (with an opportunity to play AFL) in to Alex Pearce, Apeness, Tabs, Sheridan, Blakely, Weller, Tucker, Balic, Crozier, Hughes, Collins, Uebergang and Nyhuis (plus new draftees) should mean our 2018 B22 is solid enough to lose some older stalwarts (Sandi, Johnson, Mundy, Dawson) without falling in a heap and we'll be in a good position to trade out some of our developed youngsters to bring in some home grown talent (Lobb, BHill, Martin etc).
We need to be patient imo and risk losing an "opportunity" over paying premiums. So I'm suggesting we keep our pick #3 and use it in the draft. We don't touch the free agents so we get compensation for Mayne. I'd probably still keep Clarke personally (over Hannath). We also trade out as much as possible (including surplus to need) contracted players to buy additional picks in the draft. We use one to grab McCarthy. We use the rest in the draft but try and upgrade them as much as possible. If we grab someone in the PSD great. We turn over a few rookies. And hopefully we have a Cat B from up North in mind as well. Next year we then try and grab Lobb, BHill, Martin and whichever other WA players out there that fit our needs. It will also be good timing because there is predicted to be plenty of Eastern-states based talent in next year's draft and not so much from WA.
