Rumour 2024 Rumours and Speculation (Rumours total 25, last 28th August)

[WeeBlake]

This sounds kinda familiar:

“Wilkie said the crime gang sent a picture of the unnamed player to his parents and demanded they pay his drug debts immediately, or they would “destroy their son’s reputation”. The man is no longer an AFL player but was on a club’s list at the time.

“The parents were told that criminals would destroy their son’s reputation if they didn’t hand over cash, and we have seen proof that cash payments have been made,” Wilkie told the Herald Sun.”

Also:

The family reportedly told Wilkie that just days after their son was drafted at age 18 he witnessed senior teammates smoke ice pipes.

“The kind of drug use being described by the families isn’t occasional, recreational drug use,” he said.

 

[Crow till I die]

It’s been said before but apparently Jack Graham is on his way back to SA next year. Who did the Power burn him for and should we have any interest?


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Jason Horne Francis

 

[FR0GGY]

This sounds kinda familiar:

“Wilkie said the crime gang sent a picture of the unnamed player to his parents and demanded they pay his drug debts immediately, or they would “destroy their son’s reputation”. The man is no longer an AFL player but was on a club’s list at the time.

“The parents were told that criminals would destroy their son’s reputation if they didn’t hand over cash, and we have seen proof that cash payments have been made,” Wilkie told the Herald Sun.”

Also:

The family reportedly told Wilkie that just days after their son was drafted at age 18 he witnessed senior teammates smoke ice pipes.

“The kind of drug use being described by the families isn’t occasional, recreational drug use,” he said.

Wasn’t that gambling?

 

[Mostyn]

Graham is an UFA, so we wouldn't need to pay anything in terms of draft capital for him. But I agree, it's a waste of time. If he weren't South Australian no one would even be contemplating it.

I'm fine with it, better depth than some of what we have.

 

[WeeBlake]

Wasn’t that gambling?

Ahhh maybe you’re right

 

[madstar]

JHF

For some reason I thought it was Finlayson but JHF, such a better option


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[George Kramer]

Graham is an UFA, so we wouldn't need to pay anything in terms of draft capital for him. But I agree, it's a waste of time. If he weren't South Australian no one would even be contemplating it.

If he’s replacing Murphy fine, if not, no

 

[Crow till I die]

If he’s replacing Murphy fine, if not, no

I'd take Jay Boyle from the SANFL side to replace Murphy up forward or even Tahana for a list spot over Murphy as these 'top ups' actually look ok

 

[BucketsNj]

He got moved to half back as I recall he did some very shitty turnovers and then got moved back into midfield when M.Crouch got injured, most of us were expecting Rachele to continue from this midfield development at the start of last year and take his midfield minute for the rest of the year.

Also started forward at least once

 

[Crows I Am]

Not sure that’s totally fair mate. Firstly we have haven’t had may top 5 picks.

The ones we have are:

TT (2) - all high end players were talls. First midfielder taken was Philips from Kangas who is second rate. Swans Academy player Campbell would have been matched and has also underwhelmed.

Rankine (traded for pick 5) - surely nobody is complaining about this as one of our best 2 players.

Around the mark - Rachele (6) regressed this year but long term a decent chance to prove his worth at this pick

Curtin (top 10) - clearly too early to call but was widely seen as a top 5 (if not too 3) player last year

Mc Asey (6) - dud. Thankfully we traded down from 4 and also got Pedlar as part of the deal otherwise D Stephens was the likely players here (after AFL screwed us with Anderson)

Jones, a few years earlier, went top 10 and looks a tad underwhelming vs Butters who was there.

I can’t see how any analysis of our midfield can ignore trades - both Dawson and Rankine are our best 2 players and are mids who were traded in over the last 3 years. Many successful clubs - Pies and Cats in Reine t years and Horks when Silvers was there - consistently traded in quality players each year. If we could land an established quality mid for our pick 4/5 this year surely that’s a win? It doesn’t need to be drafted

I understand all of that and accept there has been things out of our control that have happened which has limited our opportunities to bring in the the top line mid with an early pick. But at the end of the day we have been out of finals in the bottom part of the ladder for 5 years now and still haven't drafted a midfielder with a top 5 pick. We needed to get more creative to make it happen. Be it by trading up or using future picks. We should have used a future first round pick to get Rankine, then we could have drafted Phillipou. Obviously much has been spoken about the Jones/Mchenry draft and how we should have pushed harder to trade up to get Roezee. I am happy with the TT pick and agree that he was the best option. Rachele I love but was there another option there we should have taken?

If you look at how other clubs have built their premiership winning sides recently, most have a midfield with high end draft picks.

Bulldogs - Bont, Macrae, Stringer
Tigers - Dusty and Cotchin
Dees - Petracca and Oliver
Collingwood - Daicos, Pendles

Is just frustrating that we have still not managed to draft that elite mid at the pointy end of the draft, hopefully this is finally the year we get it done.

 

[Vader]

I understand all of that and accept there has been things out of our control that have happened which has limited our opportunities to bring in the the top line mid with an early pick. But at the end of the day we have been out of finals in the bottom part of the ladder for 5 years now and still haven't drafted a midfielder with a top 5 pick. We needed to get more creative to make it happen. Be it by trading up or using future picks. We should have used a future first round pick to get Rankine, then we could have drafted Phillipou. Obviously much has been spoken about the Jones/Mchenry draft and how we should have pushed harder to trade up to get Roezee. I am happy with the TT pick and agree that he was the best option. Rachele I love but was there another option there we should have taken?

If you look at how other clubs have built their premiership winning sides recently, most have a midfield with high end draft picks.

Bulldogs - Bont, Macrae, Stringer
Tigers - Dusty and Cotchin
Dees - Petracca and Oliver
Collingwood - Daicos, Pendles

Is just frustrating that we have still not managed to draft that elite mid at the pointy end of the draft, hopefully this is finally the year we get it done.

In order to get a top-5 pick you have to finish in the bottom 4-5 positions on the ladder (depending on FA compo and AFL handout picks).

The only times we've done that were 2020 (18th) and 2021 (15th) and 2022 (14th).

Note that we traded for Rankine in 2022, and I defy anyone to argue that this wasn't a good move. With 2x F/S selections in the top-5, our 15th placed finish in 2021 still wasn't enough to net us a top-5 pick (we got Rachele at #6).

While we've been "in the bottom part of the ladder", we haven't been bad enough to end up with many top-5 picks. You can't take players in the top-5 if you don't have a top-5 pick in the first place.

 

[GreyCrow]

While we've been "in the bottom part of the ladder", we haven't been clever enough to end up with many top-5 picks.

FTFY

 

[jackster83]

In order to get a top-5 pick you have to finish in the bottom 4-5 positions on the ladder (depending on FA compo and AFL handout picks).

The only times we've done that were 2020 (18th) and 2021 (15th) and 2022 (14th).

Note that we traded for Rankine in 2022, and I defy anyone to argue that this wasn't a good move. With 2x F/S selections in the top-5, our 15th placed finish in 2021 still wasn't enough to net us a top-5 pick (we got Rachele at #6).

While we've been "in the bottom part of the ladder", we haven't been bad enough to end up with many top-5 picks. You can't take players in the top-5 if you don't have a top-5 pick in the first place.

Well we have been bad enough. It's just the handouts to other clubs have pushed our picks down. The Bulldogs making a GF and getting pick 2 for free and shit like that.

 

[119others]

I understand all of that and accept there has been things out of our control that have happened which has limited our opportunities to bring in the the top line mid with an early pick. But at the end of the day we have been out of finals in the bottom part of the ladder for 5 years now and still haven't drafted a midfielder with a top 5 pick. We needed to get more creative to make it happen. Be it by trading up or using future picks. We should have used a future first round pick to get Rankine, then we could have drafted Phillipou. Obviously much has been spoken about the Jones/Mchenry draft and how we should have pushed harder to trade up to get Roezee. I am happy with the TT pick and agree that he was the best option. Rachele I love but was there another option there we should have taken?

If you look at how other clubs have built their premiership winning sides recently, most have a midfield with high end draft picks.

Bulldogs - Bont, Macrae, Stringer
Tigers - Dusty and Cotchin
Dees - Petracca and Oliver
Collingwood - Daicos, Pendles

Is just frustrating that we have still not managed to draft that elite mid at the pointy end of the draft, hopefully this is finally the year we get it done.

Agree with lots of this - especially if we could have got Rankine for a F1 BUT that also means no Curtin in 2023 who could end up our best player - and a mid.

Assuming we take Draper or similar we will have Rankine (3), Draper (4) and probably (possibly/hopefully) Curtin and Pedlar (both around picks 10) in the midfield and Rachele at 6. Surely that’s ticking your high end draft picks for elite mids?

 

[George Kramer]

Not sure that’s totally fair mate. Firstly we have haven’t had may top 5 picks.

The ones we have are:

TT (2) - all high end players were talls. First midfielder taken was Philips from Kangas who is second rate. Swans Academy player Campbell would have been matched and has also underwhelmed.

Rankine (traded for pick 5) - surely nobody is complaining about this as one of our best 2 players.

Around the mark - Rachele (6) regressed this year but long term a decent chance to prove his worth at this pick

Curtin (top 10) - clearly too early to call but was widely seen as a top 5 (if not too 3) player last year

Mc Asey (6) - dud. Thankfully we traded down from 4 and also got Pedlar as part of the deal otherwise D Stephens was the likely players here (after AFL screwed us with Anderson)

Jones, a few years earlier, went top 10 and looks a tad underwhelming vs Butters who was there.

I can’t see how any analysis of our midfield can ignore trades - both Dawson and Rankine are our best 2 players and are mids who were traded in over the last 3 years. Many successful clubs - Pies and Cats in Reine t years and Horks when Silvers was there - consistently traded in quality players each year. If we could land an established quality mid for our pick 4/5 this year surely that’s a win? It doesn’t need to be drafted

Rachelle is not looking like a top 6 pick at the moment.
If we drafted Stephens instead of Serong, Young or Flanders then that pick would have been as bad as McAsey so you can’t justify it by saying we would have picked Stephens.
Curtin didn’t go top 3 or top 5, it doesn’t matter what he was seen, perhaps closer to the draft the evaluation of him dropped which saw him slide. Even then we could have swapped our pick for West Coasts this year as they were one club desperate to get him. Where he fits is a concern for us.
Jones a tad underwhelming compared to Butters? That’s an understatement and a half. Besides we could have done what Port did and traded up and grabbed Rozee.

Rankine and Dawson have been great gets. If they didn’t want to come home we’d be ****ed given our inability and want to draft midfielders.

 

[119others]

FTFY

Seriously is there much difference between pick 5 and pick 6 (Rachele, Mc Asey). And yes I do understand pick 6 is historically cursed in AFL drafts so perhaps compare pick 5 and 7 even

 

[Mutineer]

I'd take Jay Boyle from the SANFL side to replace Murphy up forward or even Tahana for a list spot over Murphy as these 'top ups' actually look ok

Tahana is a godawful kick, absolute turnover merchant if you watch much SANFL..

 

[Vader]

Well we have been bad enough. It's just the handouts to other clubs have pushed our picks down. The Bulldogs making a GF and getting pick 2 for free and shit like that.

I did note F/A compo & other AFL handouts.

 

[Crow till I die]

Tahana is a godawful kick, absolute turnover merchant if you watch much SANFL..

Looked alright on the weekend

 

[GreyCrow]

Assuming we take Draper or similar we will have Rankine (3), Draper (4) and probably (possibly/hopefully) Curtin and Pedlar (both around picks 10) in the midfield and Rachele at 6. Surely that’s ticking your high end draft picks for elite mids?

I mean some of those are a hell of a stretch

Pedlar is trending at best as average ( and I am a fan)
Curtin is yet to play any minutes in the midfield ( hopefully starts this weekend)
Rachele may yet play midfield but looks to be a hybrid forward midfielder

Rankine is the only one we can safely say is an elite mid. The rest are projections and have been cookie cut into the midfield

Love to see the all there but I think 2-3 make it

 

[119others]

Rachelle is not looking like a top 6 pick at the moment.
If we drafted Stephens instead of Serong, Young or Flanders then that pick would have been as bad as McAsey so you can’t justify it by saying we would have picked Stephens.
Curtin didn’t go top 3 or top 5, it doesn’t matter what he was seen, perhaps closer to the draft the evaluation of him dropped which saw him slide. Even then we could have swapped our pick for West Coasts this year as they were one club desperate to get him. Where he fits is a concern for us.
Jones a tad underwhelming compared to Butters? That’s an understatement and a half. Besides we could have done what Port did and traded up and grabbed Rozee.

Rankine and Dawson have been great gets. If they didn’t want to come home we’d be ****ed given our inability and want to draft midfielders.

Thought you might nibble at that one. And of course I agree with you re this.

Was Rachele looking like a top 6 pick in the first 8 games last year? Players don’t lose ability but can have form/injury issues. I am backing him in long term.

Curtin - let’s evaluate in 3 years time, yes where he plays is the big question but clearly we all see the positives and I still believe he becomes the games talllest mid as a number of club officials have mentioned about his long term position.

Re the player selected between 5 and 7 in the year between 2018 and 2020, I have promised to not ever comment on this further so happy for you to have the last say old mate.

Glad you recognise the quality of Rankine and Dawson. Overall in the last 3 years (despite nothing of value last year) we have been arguably the best team for inbound trades (Pies also done well on the cheap)

 

[Mutineer]

Looked alright on the weekend

Our best top up this year has cleary been Hugh Haysman but he's 26.

Jay O'Leary probably next best.

About the only one with any X factor is Jarman Sigal who has excellent hops and looks to have very decent athleticism, if I was going to take a rookie chance on any of the top ups he'd be the one.

 

[Crow till I die]

Thought you might nibble at that one. And of course I agree with you re this.

Was Rachele looking like a top 6 pick in the first 8 games last year? Players don’t lose ability but can have form/injury issues. I am backing him in long term.

Curtin - let’s evaluate in 3 years time, yes where he plays is the big question but clearly we all see the positives and I still believe he becomes the games talllest mid as a number of club officials have mentioned about his long term position.

Re the player selected between 5 and 7 in the year between 2018 and 2020, I have promised to not ever comment on this further so happy for you to have the last say old mate.

Glad you recognise the quality of Rankine and Dawson. Overall in the last 3 years (despite nothing of value last year) we have been arguably the best team for inbound trades (Pies also done well on the cheap)

I agree and if in the coming season he really assumes that role and is in our main side playing through the middle say off a wing and is doing well, his price will be through the roof if anyone comes sniffing

 

[Crow till I die]

Our best top up this year has cleary been Hugh Haysman but he's 26.

Jay O'Leary probably next best.

About the only one with any X factor is Jarman Sigal who has excellent hops and looks to have very decent athleticism, if I was going to take a rookie chance on any of the top ups he'd be the one.

Haysman looked composed when I saw him play and yep, is 26 but again, he would do no worse than Murphy imo - who has been the very definition of below average

 

[GameofSloanes]

Would we still take oliver this year if he was gettable? Form been awful, is that because he's checked out? Or cbf any more?