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

[Mutineer]

If Keane is indeed staying, I'd look to draft a 200+cm defender to maybe one day play on the Darcy/Mac Andrew types. Any more than a 12 month deal for Borlase is creating another Strachan situation.

They don't necessarily need to be 200cm+ IMO, but they must have extra good athleticism. 195cm or taller is probably OK but looking at what's coming down the pipeline that looks to be the minimum.

 

[BunjiMac]

No worries Steve.

This might sound harsh and cruel, but I don't really care how delisted players are told they aren't part of the future.

I want all our effort to be focused on those who are part of the team or those we want to bring in.

Id much rather we have a reputation of prioritising a winning (current) team than being nice to those in exit.

 

[BunjiMac]

They don't necessarily need to be 200cm+ IMO, but they must have extra good athleticism. 195cm or taller is probably OK but looking at what's coming down the pipeline that looks to be the minimum.

And I think they have to be a smart reader of play. That will offset the height difference.

 

[jackster83]

This might sound harsh and cruel, but I don't really care how delisted players are told they aren't part of the future.

I want all our effort to be focused on those who are part of the team or those we want to bring in.

Id much rather we have a reputation of prioritising a winning (current) team than being nice to those in exit.

The issue I had was we kept playing him despite not having him in our future plans. Was a waste of everyone's time.

 

[DangerSloane]

Quick summary of last 73 pages please

People still going on about the Keays goal that wasnt called 12 months ago
Neal Bullen is a fringe player and wont improve our team
Luko will play SANFL on $1m a year because he 'doesnt fit' in our team
Keane is going/staying/going/staying/going...now hes staying.
Burgess (fitness) is leaving but not actually - pulls a Leo DiCaprio and says "im not f***n leaving"
Redhorse thinks Oliver is coming to the crows which means he 100% isnt.
Murphy still a spud

 

[skittlebrew]

And I think they have to be a smart reader of play. That will offset the height difference.

Wingspan a factor too. NBA realised it's not just your height, plenty of blokes have disproportionately long arms. Speed absolutely a factor. Vertical leap and strength also playing a role.

 

[GreyCrow]

Wingspan a factor too. NBA realised it's not just your height, plenty of blokes have disproportionately long arms. Speed absolutely a factor. Vertical leap and strength also playing a role.

So why arent they trying out for the NBL or NBA

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Wingspan a factor too. NBA realised it's not just your height, plenty of blokes have disproportionately long arms. Speed absolutely a factor. Vertical leap and strength also playing a role.

I remember people saying Hately had limited potential because of his short T-Rex arms. Thought it was weird at the time but they were probably right.

 

[Bazz_27]

People still going on about the Keays goal that wasnt called 12 months ago
Neal Bullen is a fringe player and wont improve our team
Luko will play SANFL on $1m a year because he 'doesnt fit' in our team
Keane is going/staying/going/staying/going...now hes staying.
Burgess (fitness) is leaving but not actually - pulls a Leo DiCaprio and says "im not f***n leaving"
Redhorse thinks Oliver is coming to the crows which means he 100% isnt.
Murphy still a spud

This saved me about 3 hours

 

[Scorpus]

I remember people saying Hately had limited potential because of his short T-Rex arms. Thought it was weird at the time but they were probably right.

I'm big on neck height.

Some 200cm players are not really 200cm because they have huge necks

Surely what matters is height to the shoulders, and then wingspan, which would create total vertical reach. How long your head and neck are is irrelevant

 

[GreyCrow]

What if you have 6 fingers?

 

[Scorpus]

What if you have 6 fingers?

Dexterity and ball drop issues

 

[Crows I Am]

Tex will be lucky to play 12 games.

But where would Luko play for those 12 games? Not ideal to shuffle him around the ground just to make room for Tex.

 

[GreyCrow]

The NFL measures the hands of players by taking a tape measure from the tip of the thumb to the little finger with the hand outstretched. Reports claim that the average hand size for men is 8.5 inches. Quarterbacks at the combine generally seem to have hands that measure over nine inches. Feb 24, 2024

 

[Mr_Moogle]

I'm big on neck height.

Some 200cm players are not really 200cm because they have huge necks

Surely what matters is height to the shoulders, and then wingspan, which would create total vertical reach. How long your head and neck are is irrelevant

Sorry but you knew I was going to do this.

 

[Crow till I die]

The problem is the areas he needs to improve are his lack of pace, lack of height and turning circle of the Titanic to go with the tall athletic forwards or the true 200cm+ gorillas, how does he get better there? Have you spotted Sam Darcy this year?

Ok, here is a comparison on stats this year between Borlase and a guy thats played every game in a key defensive post, not 3rd man up for the side that sits top 2 in the league. That defender is slightly taller by 3 cms but slighter of build strengthwise

James Borlase and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher AFL Stats Comparison

James Borlase and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher AFL Stats Comparison.

www.footywire.com

 

[1970crow]

If they are taken at the same time they are absolutely useful. If you freeze it at the point that it looks like touching and the other angle gets stopped at the same point and there's daylight or its passed the post, then its logical that it hasn't hit.

That would be true if we could rely on seeing 2 separate images at exactly the same instant in time. When I've watched the goal review do their thing, it seems that the ball moves about half a metre each frame. I doubt very much that when we look at 2 separate images we can be satisfied that they're the exact same moment in time. The video is all that matters, stills are worthless.

 

[1970crow]

Ive been trying to work out what came first - chicken or egg

Did Tex get a contract because we felt Luko got cold feet or did Luko get cold feet and we went with Tex for 1 more

Not signing Tex until after the trade and draft periods would have resolved that uncertainty.

 

[1970crow]

We do probably need four KPDs on the list

That said, signing Borlase for more than one year is baffling if Keane's staying

Our list management group genuinely believe that we have a near finished list. Keep the turnover to the absolute minimum and focus on experienced player upgrades.

 

[Vader]

IMO unless he is prepared to play wing there is no spot for him. I would like to see him on the wing with a license to attack. burgess builds his tank and then he doesnt need to compete so much in the air in F50

If there's no position for him in our best 22, then there's absolutely no point in trading for him - unless it's a Bowes deal, where GC give us a 1st round pick to take his salary off their books.

 

[Vader]

Can't believe people are still wondering where Lukosius would play at AFC. "Not sure he fits". I mean, our squad is so stacked.

Our team has some very identifiable weaknesses - but Luko doesn't fill any of them. We're desperately short of quality midfielders, and we're also in dire need of a ruck successor to ROB. Luko plays one of the few positions where we do have strength already.

If we're going to spend valuable draft resources, and a large proportion of our salary cap, on a player - then that player better damn well improve our best 22. I am yet to see any evidence suggesting that this will be the case for Luko.

 

[1970crow]

That is an insane position to take...as if we are expected to be 10 goals up in every game like other sides don't also play good footy against us. Sydney played great footy 1st half and we did 2nd half and were completely robbed by something that should have been reviewed and then overturned there and then when the field umpires who had ultimate discretion to recall play once they realised our entire side were up in arms about the non goal call.

Why would a field umpire overule a goal umpire's call based on player reaction? The Swans players around the area acted like it had hit the post, why wouldn't the field umpires take that into account instead? All that went wrong was certain enough that the ball hit the post and didn't call for a review. He was absolutely wrong in calling that it had hit the post but everything that happened after that was perfectly correct.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Our team has some very identifiable weaknesses - but Luko doesn't fill any of them. We're desperately short of quality midfielders, and we're also in dire need of a ruck successor to ROB. Luko plays one of the few positions where we do have strength already.

If we're going to spend valuable draft resources, and a large proportion of our salary cap, on a player - then that player better damn well improve our best 22. I am yet to see any evidence suggesting that this will be the case for Luko.

Paying somebody a million a year so the club can have a symbolic victory seems like a very Adelaide thing to do.

 

[Mutineer]

Ok, here is a comparison on stats this year between Borlase and a guy thats played every game in a key defensive post, not 3rd man up for the side that sits top 2 in the league. That defender is slightly taller by 3 cms but slighter of build strengthwise

James Borlase and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher AFL Stats Comparison

James Borlase and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher AFL Stats Comparison.

www.footywire.com

Don't waste your time trying to convince me, I've seen enough to be clear that Borlase isn't a best 22 KPD at AFL level for the reasons I've stated above...He's AFL depth and I just feel we can do better, same with Strachan as an AFL ruck. It's fine to have depth but hanging onto depth players for the time period we do has got us where?

 

[Crow till I die]

Why would a field umpire overule a goal umpire's call based on player reaction? The Swans players around the area acted like it had hit the post, why wouldn't the field umpires take that into account instead? All that went wrong was certain enough that the ball hit the post and didn't call for a review. He was absolutely wrong in calling that it had hit the post but everything that happened after that was perfectly correct.

So you are saying there was genuine confusion then if a swag of players were screaming it was a goal while the others quickly play on based on the wrong call of the goal umpire. Textbook why the field umpire should have brought it back to check, technology was there. Remember this is different to an onfield decision being questioned where the technology is not in place to review.