Rumour 2024 Hypothetical trade and FA Thread

[Strapping Young Lad]

2024 Picks



2025 Picks

 

[Mrzohs]

A mutual friend of mine and RoughandLove told me last night Mitch was unhappy at the club.

I didn't put much weight in it but maybe there's something in it

interesting have heard he has had some mental issues to sort out a while ago

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Wow this thread has been active today!

The thing with Lewis:
1. A fit Lewis that plays 20+ games is exactly what our team needs
2. A lewis that plays 10-15 games that we build our game plan around is very disruptive.

If we think (2) is more likely than (1) then we should trade him. If we think (1) is more likely than (2) we should do everything we can to keep him. I love seeing this guy at his best.

The thing with Brisbane - they need Lewis MORE than we need him. That will be the perception. We can extract a high trade value.

The thing with Lewis' trade value is that his exposed form is so low/infrequent we can't command a high trade value. Even a late first rounder would surprise me.

As for players we would get from Brisbane - I love Zac Bailey

33

Zac Bailey

Age

25

Ht

182cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.7

3star

K

6.9

3star

HB

5.9

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.2

4star

CL

0.9

3star

D

12.9

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

5.6

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.4

3star

CL

0.7

3star

D

13.4

4star

K

6.6

3star

HB

6.8

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

2.8

5star

CL

0.6

3star

as a player but I really don't know where he fits.

As far as our forwardline - Chol and Dear were awesome across the year - but this was a forward line where we got away with having less talent that we really need. We had Gunston chipping in for bags of 4 and 5 at times and that should really never be the difference between winning and losing for us. An onfield coach should be icing, not cake. We definitely need an upgrade up there - either Chol hitting a whole new level or Dear maturing rapidly or a higher quality player added.

And that's what I think about that.

 

[Dewnior]

I’d let Mitch go for 2x firsts

I’d love to see him get fit and win a premiership with us however maybe a fresh start is exactly what he needs

We are in the drivers seat for this though. Brisbane in the premiership window and need someone like Mitch so we aren’t taking unders.

The first round pick this year would open up an option like one of the Whitlock twins.

Spend the cash we’re saving on Mitch’s contract on a 2025 free agent

I'd prefer to try and wrench Rayner out as a pre-agent.

We don't really need Bailey we have Croc.

 

[Millsie69]

Jai Culley without a contract from West Coast for 2025. Include him in the Barrass deal if we’re giving up the mooted two firsts?

 

[tl92]

I’d let Mitch go for 2x firsts

I’d love to see him get fit and win a premiership with us however maybe a fresh start is exactly what he needs

We are in the drivers seat for this though. Brisbane in the premiership window and need someone like Mitch so we aren’t taking unders.

The first round pick this year would open up an option like one of the Whitlock twins.

Spend the cash we’re saving on Mitch’s contract on a 2025 free agent

Package those 2 firsts plus our F1 for Cadman

 

[Leather Poisoning]

I'd prefer to try and wrench Rayner out as a pre-agent.

We don't really need Bailey we have Croc.

Rayner is such a queensland type of guy - but I'd love him at Hawthorn.

 

[hawkmang]

Jai Culley without a contract from West Coast for 2025. Include him in the Barrass deal if we’re giving up the mooted two firsts?

unfortunately doesn’t look as damaging since his injuries

 

[killerspud]

Zach Bailey.

You didnt watch last years finals then. kiddie Coleman was sublime, an architect off half back.

 

[eaglevision]

Jai Culley without a contract from West Coast for 2025. Include him in the Barrass deal if we’re giving up the mooted two firsts?

unfortunately doesn’t look as damaging since his injuries

He wouldn’t shift the needle much in terms of trade capital with Barrass. Although if there’s any legs to the Mitch Lewis to Lions chat at 194cm he wouldn’t be a bad option to have on your list as a tall forward.

Probably a bit too slow for your midfield game plan but strong and aggressive. Only did a limited preseason after his 2023 ACL so he’s still got time to get back to where he was heading pre injury and still a decent chance to be retained by WCE.

 

[seysearles]

My observations are that our game plan has changed a bit since Lewis has had a decent stretch in the team. Most of our scoring in 2024 hasn't been through the big tall fwd taking lead up marks out at the 50. I get the feeling that Mitchell has made the moneyball assessment that the most efficient method of scoring is to get the ball to ground deep in the forward line which means that the tall forwards main job is to halve contests and make space for the mosquitos. One of Chol's big assets is his ability to halve the contest and then take possession of the ball and be nimble enough to do something productive with it that leads to a score. Dear is much the same. Even if he doesn't take the mark he is very adept and dangerous at ground level. Lewis is going to have to adapt his skill set to that system if he's going to really be an asset to the team because in the games where he did play all the ball movement seemed to be happening around him rather than through him.

 

[Hawk88]

One of Chol's big assets is his ability to halve the contest a

Did you watch any of the finals? Chol shat the bed bad and got out muscles even by BZT

He is not the answer

 

[seysearles]

Did you watch any of the finals? Chol shat the bed bad and got out muscles even by BZT

He is not the answer

As other posters have pointed out Chol actually did what what was asked of him for the home and away season. In the finals he allowed his opponent to take a lot of marks on him but I would argue that his positioning and taps also created a lot of opportunities for the smaller players around him (particularly in the EF). I'm not arguing that he's an A grade forward but I think he did exactly what Mitchell wanted him to do for the home and away season and that contributed to a lot of goals and wins. The alternative seems to be Lewis presenting up on leads 50m out from goal which is a much easier part of the ground to defend for the opposition. As I said if we can make Lewis that mountain anchored in the goal square that is able to hold off the defenders and distribute then that's first prize but the fact is that we lost all 4 games Lewis played in this season for a total of 5 goals and an average of 8.75 team goals a game so that is a strategy that's really yet to bear any fruit.

 

[Harper_Hawk]

Wow this thread has been active today!

The thing with Lewis:
1. A fit Lewis that plays 20+ games is exactly what our team needs
2. A lewis that plays 10-15 games that we build our game plan around is very disruptive.

If we think (2) is more likely than (1) then we should trade him. If we think (1) is more likely than (2) we should do everything we can to keep him. I love seeing this guy at his best.

The thing with Brisbane - they need Lewis MORE than we need him. That will be the perception. We can extract a high trade value.

The thing with Lewis' trade value is that his exposed form is so low/infrequent we can't command a high trade value. Even a late first rounder would surprise me.

As for players we would get from Brisbane - I love Zac Bailey

33

Zac Bailey

Age

25

Ht

182cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.7

3star

K

6.9

3star

HB

5.9

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.2

4star

CL

0.9

3star

D

12.9

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

5.6

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.4

3star

CL

0.7

3star

D

13.4

4star

K

6.6

3star

HB

6.8

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

2.8

5star

CL

0.6

3star

as a player but I really don't know where he fits.

As far as our forwardline - Chol and Dear were awesome across the year - but this was a forward line where we got away with having less talent that we really need. We had Gunston chipping in for bags of 4 and 5 at times and that should really never be the difference between winning and losing for us. An onfield coach should be icing, not cake. We definitely need an upgrade up there - either Chol hitting a whole new level or Dear maturing rapidly or a higher quality player added.

And that's what I think about that.

Totally agree with no2. That is not the way moving forward and I think it will be the case if Lewis stays and that’s not what Sam Mitchell would want is building a forward line around just one guy.
Chol is not the sole answer but he is a role player. Dear will come on again and then again as the years roll on. But neither he is the key answer and also a role player. Maybe just maybe a modern forward line is comprised of multiple role players rather than one traditional key forward. I suspect we’ll bring in another forward to play a role with Dear and Chol. Gunston may come in and out of the team next year as he did this year. His time is coming to a close. You never know with Scaife but I wouldn’t hang my whole hat on that hook either. We may have multiple players rotating through the forward line next year alongside Chol and Dear.
Ideally I would like to see a team or group of utilities. Players able to play through multiple positions. It’s the only way to mess with the opposition trying to counter you. But that’s just fanciful thinking.


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[Sauce Merrett]

I wouldn't give up 1 first round for lewis let alone 2 or any of our premiership players. You fellas are dreaming.

 

[HawksILove]

Any takers on Jai Culley?

 

[kenneje]

I wouldn't give up 1 first round for lewis let alone 2 or any of our premiership players. You fellas are dreaming.

I assume that's why a deal won't get done. Worth more to us than you'd be willing to pay.

 

[theiaofseed]

I wouldn't give up 1 first round for lewis let alone 2 or any of our premiership players. You fellas are dreaming.

Says more about your knowledge than Lewis.

 

[wahawk]

Did you watch any of the finals? Chol shat the bed bad and got out muscles even by BZT

He is not the answer

Did you watch any of the season ?

He played 2 bad games at the end of the season. So did Moore, so did Ginni, so did others.

He (Chol) had a hecken good season & better than anyone expected

To say he shat the bed is disrespectful

 

[Hawkspot]

Any takers on Jai Culley?

No thanks, he’s played 1 good game in his career so far. He’s slow, and hasn’t really showed anything to suggest he’s going to be a good AFL player.

Couldn’t get a game at the eagles, not a great sign.

Though in saying that, if Sam says he wants him I’d expect him to be AA squad next year.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I wouldn't give up 1 first round for lewis let alone 2 or any of our premiership players. You fellas are dreaming.

You wouldn’t trade Connor McKenna for Mitch Lewis? Good thing you’re not a list manager.

 

[MasterSamurai]

I wouldn't give up 1 first round for lewis let alone 2 or any of our premiership players. You fellas are dreaming.

Jog on, knob.

 

[DrkNyt]

I wouldn't give up 1 first round for lewis let alone 2 or any of our premiership players. You fellas are dreaming.

 

[CaptainWorpedo]

Dear will pass Lewis so fast he will get wind burn, by the time Lewis returns if his with us Dear will be the number one forward, and if we play Chol, Lewis, Dear and we are to tall it would be Dear getting Dropped.

Nah we can play all three! Chol will play ruck forward

Mitch was interviewed in the rooms after the finals win against the bulldogs.

There was obviously a lot of jubilation but Mitch was sitting down by himself and keeping distance.

When asked by BT why he was not joining in, Mitch said ‘let the boys enjoy themselves’.

Mitch had this look of a person not connected with the group, which seemed strange and made an impression on me at the time.

I am probably reading into things, but thought I would share this given the latest developments.

Yeah I noticed that as well! However Lewis has had a bad run with his knee injuries, meaning his out of the team. That could easily lead to players be disconnected and disheartened.

 

[Luke_Hodgey_15]

Weird names being thrown up as to which Brisbane player we would want, I'd have thought McCluggage was the obvious choice if we were just plucking players that would suit us

 

[BIGHAWK23]

I wouldn't give up 1 first round for lewis let alone 2 or any of our premiership players. You fellas are dreaming.

You choose to play Eric Hipwood

Jog on