List Mgmt. 2023 GWS Giants List Management - Academy, Free Agent, Trade, Draft

[Giant Strides]

Trade Period, October 6–18

• Restricted & Unrestricted Free Agency Period: Friday, October 6, 9am – Friday October 13, 5pm (bid matching ends Monday October 16, 5pm)
• Trade Period (1), picks & players: Monday, October 9, 9am – Wednesday October 18, 7.30pm

Quiet Period, October 19–November 20

• Trade Period (2), picks only: Monday, October 23, 9am – Friday November 10, 5pm
• List Lodgement 1*: Tuesday, October 31, 2pm
• Delisted Free Agency Period (1): Wednesday, November 1, 9am – Wednesday November 8, 5pm
• Delisted Free Agency Period (2): Friday, November 10, 9am–5pm
• List Lodgement 2*: Tuesday, November 14, 2pm

Here's the list of GWS players who are out of contract in 2023 (I'll progressively cross them out as they re-sign):

• Lachie ASH
• Callan WARD (Free Agent)
• Brayden PREUSS
• Tom GREEN
• Finn CALLAGHAN
• Lachlan KEEFFE (Free Agent)
• Jake RICCARDI
• Harry HIMMELBERG (Free Agent)
• Cam FLEETON - delisted (25/9/23)
• Matt FLYNN (Free Agent) - signed by West Coast as an Unrestricted Free Agent
• Xavier O'HALLORAN
• Jack BUCKLEY
• Callum BROWN

Rookie lists:

• Phil DAVIS (Free Agent) - retiring at end of 2023 season
• Jacob WEHR (Free agent)
• Dan LLOYD (Free Agent) - retiring at end of 2023 season
• Cooper HAMILTON
• Wade DERKSEN
• Nick MADDEN (Cat B) - assumed re-signed due to 2 sources of info
• Jason GILBEE (Cat B) - delisted (25/9/23)

Current list sizes (for when we get to list/draft/trade speculation):

• main list = 36 minus 3 (Fleeton, Flynn + Kennedy delisted with a view to be re-selected in the rookie draft)
• rookie A = 6 minus 2 (Davis, Lloyd)
• rookie B = 2 minus 1 (Gilbee)
• total = 44 minus 5

This is the future pick spreadsheet that comes into play only at trade time, as future picks are used in end of season (2023) trading:


Here's the 2023 AFL Academy Squad, so these (roughly) represent the best players for next year as they stand now:

2023 NAB AFL ACADEMY​

NAME	SURNAME	STATE	STATE LEAGUE CLUB	COMMUNITY CLUB
Lachlan	Cabor	NSW/ACT	Sydney Swans Academy	Shellharbour
Nate	Caddy	VIC M	Northern Knights	Yarrambat
Jack	Callinan	TAS	Tasmania Devils	Clarence
Caiden	Cleary	NSW/ACT	Sydney Swans Academy	Sydney University
Daniel	Curtin	WA	Claremont	West Coast
Jack	Delean	SA	South Adelaide	Reynella
Zane	Duursma	VIC C	Gippsland Power	Foster
Mitchell	Edwards	WA	Peel Thunder	South Mandurah
William	Green	VIC M	Northern Knights	Northcote
Riley	Hardeman	WA	Swan Districts	Caversham
William	Lorenz	VIC M	Oakleigh Chargers	Boroondara Hawks
Kane	McAuliffe	SA	North Adelaide	Central Augusta
Colby	McKercher	TAS	Tasmania Devils	Launceston
Ashton	Moir	SA	Glenelg	Plympton
Connor	O'Sullivan	NSW/ACT	Murray Bushrangers	Albury
William	Patton	SA	West Adelaide	Mitcham
Nathan	Philactides	VIC M	Oakleigh Chargers	Blackburn
Ethan	Read	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Palm Beach Currumbin
Archer	Reid	VIC C	Gippsland Power	Inverloch-Kongwak
Harley	Reid	VIC C	Bendigo Pioneers	Tongala
Archie	Roberts	VIC M	Sandringham Dragons	Hampton Rovers
Jake	Rogers	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Broadbeach
Ryley	Sanders	TAS	Sandringham Dragons	North Launceston
Cooper	Simpson	VIC C	Dandenong Stingrays	Mount Martha
George	Stevens	VIC C	GWV Rebels	South Warrnambool
Koltyn	Tholstrup	WA	Subiaco	Newtown-Condingup
Orlando	Turner	NT	West Adelaide	South Alice Springs
Jed	Walter	QLD	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Palm Beach Currumbin
Nick	Watson	VIC M	Eastern Ranges	East Ringwood
Darcy	Wilson	VIC C	Murray Bushrangers	Wangaratta Rovers

Happy speculating for 2023!

EDIT: 11/12/22 - Added Free Agent status to OOC player list
EDIT: 24/2/23 - Crossed out Tom Green

12

Tom Green

Age

23

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

5star

from OOC player list! (Woo Hoo!!) & Added 2023 Coates Talent League Fixture Link
EDIT: 27/2/23 - Crossed out Finn Callaghan from OOC player list! (Woo Hoo Hoo!!!)
EDIT: 27/4/23 - Crossed out Jacob Wehr from OOC player list
EDIT: 10/5/23 - Crossed out Jack Buckley from OOC player list
EDIT: 9/7/23 - Crossed out Callum Brown from OOC player list
EDIT: 18/7/23 - Crossed out Lachie Ash from OOC player list
EDIT: 20/7/23 - Crossed out Xavier O'Halloran from OOC player list
EDIT: 3/8/23 - Crossed out Harry Himmelberg from OOC player list
EDIT: 9/8/23 - Crossed out Wade Derksen from OOC player list
EDIT: 17/8/23 - Noted Dan Lloyd retiring at end of season
EDIT: 19/8/23 - Crossed out Jake Riccardi from OOC player list
EDIT: 28/8/23 - Noted Phil Davis

1

Phil Davis

Age

34

Ht

197cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.2

5star

T

1.7

4star

MG

55.5

1star

D

8.5

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.3

2star

MG

55.5

1star

D

14.0

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.4

4star

retiring at end of season
EDIT: 25/9/23 - Noted Cam Fleeton & Jason Gilbee delisted
EDIT: 4/10/23 - Noted Flynn, Preuss & Keeffe situations
EDIT: 9/10/23 - Updated Flynn to WCE, removed Preuss from OOC player list
EDIT: 12/10/23 - Updated Madden with 2 sources of information
EDIT: 19/10/23 - Updated Keeffe & Hamilton re-signed
EDIT: 31/10/23 - adjusted main list numbers with Adam Kennedy

40

Adam Kennedy

Age

32

Ht

183cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.9

4star

K

8.4

3star

HB

6.5

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

245.6

4star

D

1.0

1star

K

1.0

1star

HB

0.0

1star

M

0.0

1star

T

0.0

1star

MG

10.0

1star

D

18.6

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

8.8

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.4

4star

delisting (with a view to be re-selected in rookie draft)

 

[captainMyCaptain]

It's going to be very close to our current pick 15 being pushed past pick 20 if that's the case surely we would then look at trading back into the top 20 so we can lock in a 3 year contract.

 

[BarryAglett]

Jason (milkman) Gillbee and Cam Fleeton delisted.

GIANTS Farewell Duo

The GIANTS will bid farewell to Cameron Fleeton and Jason Gillbee.

www.gwsgiants.com.au

 

[Andre the Giant]

Jason (milkman) Gillbee and Cam Fleeton delisted.

GIANTS Farewell Duo

The GIANTS will bid farewell to Cameron Fleeton and Jason Gillbee.

www.gwsgiants.com.au

Not the Milkman

 

[GWS Goose]

Jason (milkman) Gillbee and Cam Fleeton delisted.

GIANTS Farewell Duo

The GIANTS will bid farewell to Cameron Fleeton and Jason Gillbee.

www.gwsgiants.com.au

a little surprised.
Good luck to them both. I suspect Fleeton will end up somewhere.

 

[Orange crush]

Soneone will pick Fleeton up you think?

 

[Mors]

Soneone will pick Fleeton up you think?

I would expect so. Wasn't he in the VFL team if the season?

 

[MelbourneGWS]

I thought they would give the milkman another go, especially given the media publicity he got about drinking only milk. Whilst Fleeton was not a “must sign” for us, he could have been re-signed, but obviously the club thinks there’s better value in opening up a draft/ trade spot to replace him.

 

[sydney_gws]

I thought they would give the milkman another go, especially given the media publicity he got about drinking only milk. Whilst Fleeton was not a “must sign” for us, he could have been re-signed, but obviously the club thinks there’s better value in opening up a draft/ trade spot to replace him.

The players must have had exit interviews already, today I guess. Maybe we will trade pick 15 down for a couple of selections, maybe with Swans or Adelaide.
I guess we take Sanders if available, seems like a good character from his interview on Gettable afl radio show earlier this year.

 

[Giant Pete]

I thought they would give the milkman another go, especially given the media publicity he got about drinking only milk. Whilst Fleeton was not a “must sign” for us, he could have been re-signed, but obviously the club thinks there’s better value in opening up a draft/ trade spot to replace him.

Hard luck to both boys… tough part of the industry. Wish them well going forward.

 

[Hendo_21]

I don't think you can sit still as a top team, look at the the top teams this year all strengthened over the off season. You always have to be improving your list for the now when battling for top 4.

Think most of the improvement will come from the fact that they'll be good to go from the jump hopefully and won't take half a season to get going. Heaps of young guys that are in a position to get better, none of the key older guys are approaching a cliff where we could see them drop off just yet, think they'll make an addition around the fringes of the 22 but probably not a centre piece. Guys who might be better next year:
Ash
Finn
Cadman
Gruz
Derksen
Green (not sure how much better there is to get)
Bedford
Rowston
Briggs
Riccardi
Fahey
Idun
Brown
XO

Not all of these guys are going to get better but that's certainly a big enough net of promising young guys that could see a leap next year.

 

[Mors]

Think most of the improvement will come from the fact that they'll be good to go from the jump hopefully and won't take half a season to get going. Heaps of young guys that are in a position to get better, none of the key older guys are approaching a cliff where we could see them drop off just yet, think they'll make an addition around the fringes of the 22 but probably not a centre piece.

I hope we at least look at someone cheap to pickup to fit a role, something similar to what we did with Bedford and Hogan. I expect it'd be E Himmel if it is anyone.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

This means there’s still no news about 5 people whose contracts expire at the end of the year

• Flynn = I think he’s leaving us. Him not being named as an emergency reserve for Briggs in all 3 finals indicates this?
• Preuss = probably re-signed as we need him if Flynn is going.
• Keefe = not sure. Kingsley has been playing him thorough the finals, so probably he will get re-signed
• Hamilton = re-signed especially as we have used him a lot on media promos during the finals
• Madden = Cat B but you would think he will be re-signed as otherwise they would have announced his departure at the same time as the Milkman’s today?

 

[Giant Pete]

Let’s be realistic. Now we know how to play the turnover gamestyle… spend another offseason on it… it’s pretty reasonable to say we are going to be bloody strong next year and should be aiming to land right at the pointy end of the ladder.

 

[Hendo_21]

Let’s be realistic. Now we know how to play the turnover gamestyle… spend another offseason on it… it’s pretty reasonable to say we are going to be bloody strong next year and should be aiming to land right at the pointy end of the ladder.

Should be shooting for top 4 or at least right around the mark, that's the level we were playing at if not higher in the back end of they year. Not going to be as healthy next year (for a first) but with a normal level of injuries that's what we should be going for.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

Surprised/not surprised

always liked Fleeton and he just made the VFL team of the year but 2 games in 3 years… shows how string our defensive stocks are. He should get a gig somewhere and good luck to him if he does. I know he was out of contract, but a future 3rd rounder might have been useful for points or steak knives or something. Not a fan of straight up delisting a player.

gilbee - 1 year, when they’re pushing (& getting) 3 for first rounders, 1 seems a little short of the mark. Who knows what could have happened in his second.

 

[Hendo_21]

Surprised/not surprised

always liked Fleeton and he just made the VFL team of the year but 2 games in 3 years… shows how string our defensive stocks are. He should get a gig somewhere and good luck to him if he does. I know he was out of contract, but a future 3rd rounder might have been useful for points or steak knives or something. Not a fan of straight up delisting a player.

gilbee - 1 year, when they’re pushing (& getting) 3 for first rounders, 1 seems a little short of the mark. Who knows what could have happened in his second.

Yeah thought Gilbee probably deserved another go around, only 1 year in and had some productive games in the VFL in his first year. Not a big deal in the end though.

 

[Giant Strides]

Surprised and not surprised. Fleeton was a very late draft pick, hasn't done a lot in his time at GWS, and is probably just that awkward height for a defender. Gilbee unlucky, really - one year isn't much time to settle into AFL. I can only think that we have quite a few outside types (Wehr, Fahey, Cumming, Angwin as well as Gilbee) so we are rebalancing the list.

So, looking at list numbers:

Main List: 36 - 1 (Fleeton DL) = 35
Rookie A List: 6 - 2 (Davis & Lloyd retired = 4
Rookie B List: 2 - 1 (Gilbee DL) = 1

I am expecting Flynn to depart as a FA, Preuss to stay, and would not be surprised if either (or both) of Adam Kennedy

40

Adam Kennedy

Age

32

Ht

183cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.9

4star

K

8.4

3star

HB

6.5

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

245.6

4star

D

1.0

1star

K

1.0

1star

HB

0.0

1star

M

0.0

1star

T

0.0

1star

MG

10.0

1star

D

18.6

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

8.8

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.4

4star

and Lachie Keeffe were delisted with a view to reselecting as Cat A rookies.

Delisting Gilbee suggests to me that we'll take one of Charlie McCormack or Harvey Thomas as a Cat B rookie, providing one isn't selected in the national draft.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Surprised and not surprised. Fleeton was a very late draft pick, hasn't done a lot in his time at GWS, and is probably just that awkward height for a defender. Gilbee unlucky, really - one year isn't much time to settle into AFL. I can only think that we have quite a few outside types (Wehr, Fahey, Cumming, Angwin as well as Gilbee) so we are rebalancing the list.

So, looking at list numbers:

Main List: 36 - 1 (Fleeton DL) = 35
Rookie A List: 6 - 2 (Davis & Lloyd retired = 4
Rookie B List: 2 - 1 (Gilbee DL) = 1

I am expecting Flynn to depart as a FA, Preuss to stay, and would not be surprised if either (or both) of Adam Kennedy and Lachie Keeffe were delisted with a view to reselecting as Cat A rookies.

Delisting Gilbee suggests to me that we'll take one of Charlie McCormack or Harvey Thomas as a Cat B rookie, providing one isn't selected in the national draft.

Gilbee hard done to be delisted after just one year. Btw, can we rookie Kennedy as he already has a contract in the main list till 2024?

 

[Giant Strides]

Gilbee hard done to be delisted after just one year. Btw, can we rookie Kennedy as he already has a contract in the main list till 2024?

Yep & yep.

 

[Danny88]

I don't think you can sit still as a top team, look at the the top teams this year all strengthened over the off season. You always have to be improving your list for the now when battling for top 4.

My thoughts exactly. Historically, very few players want to move to sydney so we are used to looking to the youth to improve from year to year.

But your point is solid. We can't sit and wait for players to improve naturally when there are potentially players who immediately make us better in 2024. Convincing them to come to sydney seems to be the issue

 

[Giant Pete]

My thoughts exactly. Historically, very few players want to move to sydney so we are used to looking to the youth to improve from year to year.

But your point is solid. We can't sit and wait for players to improve naturally when there are potentially players who immediately make us better in 2024. Convincing them to come to sydney seems to be the issue

A good example of when we were able to get it right was Joel Patful. He was a super addition for two years or so.
The problem is now that we are a more mature list with few gaps… so harder for a clear spot to be available. That makes it difficult to lure them here and there’s no clear starting 22 spot… good sign for us though.
I think it’s largely about ensuring we good depth in each spot on the field.
E.g. I think we need another smaller, quicker front half type as backup. We have Darcy Jones, who I am looking forward to seeing. But he might take a while… and if Bedsy and/or Daniels get injured, who is the cover… it’s such an important role for our gamestyle… we can’t just plonk inside mids down there like Leon used to.

 

[PaythePerryman]

A good example of when we were able to get it right was Joel Patful. He was a super addition for two years or so.
The problem is now that we are a more mature list with few gaps… so harder for a clear spot to be available. That makes it difficult to lure them here and there’s no clear starting 22 spot… good sign for us though.
I think it’s largely about ensuring we good depth in each spot on the field.
E.g. I think we need another smaller, quicker front half type as backup. We have Darcy Jones, who I am looking forward to seeing. But he might take a while… and if Bedsy and/or Daniels get injured, who is the cover… it’s such an important role for our gamestyle… we can’t just plonk inside mids down there like Leon used to.

I don't think Darcy is far off it to be honest, nor is McMullin.
Cooper could be remodelled into that as well with his intensity and pace.
The role that we are probably going to need to fill is Daniel Lloyd, forward/wing that can be damaging with a few touches. I still think Connor Stone just needs some luck and he will slot right in but he's missed a lot of football in his development.

 

[gee whiz giant]

I would look for a mobile second ruckman/ swingman, to be a Lachie Keefe upgrade. If Cadman comes on, and Riccardi could back-up ruck, then that might work. Maybe it could be Elliot Himmelberg.

 

[Giant Pete]

I don't think Darcy is far off it to be honest, nor is McMullin.
Cooper could be remodelled into that as well with his intensity and pace.
The role that we are probably going to need to fill is Daniel Lloyd, forward/wing that can be damaging with a few touches. I still think Connor Stone just needs some luck and he will slot right in but he's missed a lot of football in his development.

Personally I don’t think Stone has enough to make it… I know others disagree and I hope I’m wrong.
It’s be good to know how Jones’s rehab/recovery is tracking.

 

[Hendo_21]

I would look for a mobile second ruckman/ swingman, to be a Lachie Keefe upgrade. If Cadman comes on, and Riccardi could back-up ruck, then that might work. Maybe it could be Elliot Himmelberg.

Could be Derksen! Has a lot more ruck experience than those guys and has shown the ability to kick plenty of goals in the 2s. Going into season 2.5 for him now, I think there's a real chance that could be his spot for stretches next year but also should be another option to go to if he's not quite ready yet.