Player Watch #7: Liam Baker - Traded to West Coast for pick 14

[TigerImposter]

I’ve heard this a few times now, he’s replaceable.
Can you expand on that?
Who would replace him if he left?

Future picks and develop Kaleb Smith, Clarke and Trezise could even do his role.
He’s not the the major ingredient to winning a premiership.
We need a quality midfield and KPF if you haven’t noticed of late. Even if Lynch comes back we will not be challenging by then and so he’ll retire with Fawcett and Le Fau really the only KPF on our list. Kosi is useless and Ryan is an unknown quantity and I don’t think will be anything great , but maybe serviceable.
Midfield group has Prestia gone, JGTI gone and awesome, Hopper injury prone and slow , TT very good , but slow. KMac2 looks promising and Sonsie looks good also. Dow is slow and too small , so can you see where our major issues lie ?
We have been monstered in the midfield and forward line for pretty well most of the season, but the last two games it’s exposed the issues. So if we can grab a first rounder for a BP / HBF take it and run bc his absence will not be that much of a difference to us, but a gun mid or forward will be a massive benefit to us. Games ain’t won from the BP. Please don’t try and tell me he’s a forward or mid bc he ain’t as was seen against Freo on Sunday he was ragdolled.

 

[TigerImposter]

West Cucks are still too busy circle jerking over Reid.

He’s probably getting a million dollars under the table already. lol

 

[Truetiger]

I’ve heard this a few times now, he’s replaceable.
Can you expand on that?
Who would replace him if he left?

Baker is a required player and we need him. Cant lose all our experience.

 

[Philth]

Future picks and develop Kaleb Smith, Clarke and Trezise could even do his role.
He’s not the the major ingredient to winning a premiership.
We need a quality midfield and KPF if you haven’t noticed of late. Even if Lynch comes back we will not be challenging by then and so he’ll retire with Fawcett and Le Fau really the only KPF on our list. Kosi is useless and Ryan is an unknown quantity and I don’t think will be anything great , but maybe serviceable.
Midfield group has Prestia gone, JGTI gone and awesome, Hopper injury prone and slow , TT very good , but slow. KMac2 looks promising and Sonsie looks good also. Dow is slow and too small , so can you see where our major issues lie ?
We have been monstered in the midfield and forward line for pretty well most of the season, but the last two games it’s exposed the issues. So if we can grab a first rounder for a BP / HBF take it and run bc his absence will not be that much of a difference to us, but a gun mid or forward will be a massive benefit to us. Games ain’t won from the BP. Please don’t try and tell me he’s a forward or mid bc he ain’t as was seen against Freo on Sunday he was ragdolled.

Good post and I respect your opinion.
But I will say, draft picks are an unknown quantity.
Baker is not. Sure he’s not a mid or KPF but he’s a quality player.
Which we need.

 

[Philth]

West Cucks are still too busy circle jerking over Reid.

Yeo out injured this week.
They gonna crash back to earth big time.

 

[TigerImposter]

Good post and I respect your opinion.
But I will say, draft picks are an unknown quantity.
Baker is not. Sure he’s not a mid or KPF but he’s a quality player.
Which we need.

That’s fair enough mate.

 

[Tackle Bag]

I really hope he stays but on the flip side I don’t want to see the club pay way too much for 5’8 utility.

 

[Profop]

I mean we’re probably not in the market for a big cost free agent for the next couple of years. If we spend a couple extra hundred grand to keep Baker I wouldn’t be upset

 

[Barnzy]

I guess WCE shouldn't bother going after Baker then.

They are even further away than us from contending.

How do you figure? They just got a generational Dusty type midfielder and are higher on the ladder then us. Playing better footy with a younger list

 

[Morro]

How do you figure? They just got a generational Dusty type midfielder and are higher on the ladder then us. Playing better footy with a younger list

There best players are all about to retire.

 

[Barnzy]

I really hope he stays but on the flip side I don’t want to see the club pay way too much for 5’8 utility.

Correct. He's had the chance to step up in the midfield with all the injuries and while he's played okay I expected more. Opposition mids are killing us in there

Baker is a high level role player. He is not a star. If we get a first round pick for that then we will be looking back at it as a great move that help push the rebuild further.

The same people who say we desperately need to keep him probably said the same about Deledio. You have to know the right time to capitalise on an opportunity and trade a player

 

[Rayzorwire]

Correct. He's had the chance to step up in the midfield with all the injuries and while he's played okay I expected more.

Same, I pushed for him to go there earlier and we've seen why he didn't.

As you and others have said, can't pay massive contracts to blokes who aren't key role players. If he'd shown he can fit into that top 4-5 mids bracket, he'd be worth what we'd have to outlay.

Love to keep him, great player and team man, but not the way things are playing out for us and what we'd have to offer.

May all be academic if his mind is already made up.

You have to know the right time to capitalise on an opportunity and trade a player

Yep, he's at max value, this is as good a situation as it gets for us to lose him.

We may well have got several of his best 4-5 career seasons already, at a fraction of the price another club will pay. That's gotta go down as smart list management when you include what we drafted him for.

 

[TigerImposter]

Correct. He's had the chance to step up in the midfield with all the injuries and while he's played okay I expected more. Opposition mids are killing us in there

Baker is a high level role player. He is not a star. If we get a first round pick for that then we will be looking back at it as a great move that help push the rebuild further.

The same people who say we desperately need to keep him probably said the same about Deledio. You have to know the right time to capitalise on an opportunity and trade a player

Well said Barnzy and add Vickery to that.

 

[Madtiger2006]

Been offered a contract and close to signing is the word around town bitches

 

[Philth]

How do you figure? They just got a generational Dusty type midfielder and are higher on the ladder then us. Playing better footy with a younger list

Playing better footy for the last two weeks due to our injury list, and having players like Yeo in form.

Your point was, we should trade Baker as we are not contending.
Neither are West Coast. They are miles off.

 

[Barnzy]

Playing better footy for the last two weeks due to our injury list, and having players like Yeo in form.

Your point was, we should trade Baker as we are not contending.
Neither are West Coast. They are miles off.

What other clubs do is irrelevant. We should focus on what's best for Richmond. If West Coast sign up a role player to near a million over 5 years that's on them

 

[tora tora tora]

CCJ, Chol and Ellis were expendable.

Baker is not. He is very much required and I'm confident the club will try it's hardest to keep him.

Baker is probably my favorite player. Great skills & courage. RFC rate him but he will have to play for unders to stay. We can cover a short ass player like Baker.

There is likely to be a bit of a clean out of aged flag faves. Freo are up and about, might be a good club to be at

Since the flag 13th; 8th; 13th currently 17th. TBH may as well bolster our draft hand.

 

[Ctl]

CODE Sports

CODE Sports

www.codesports.com.au

anyone got a subscription? Apparently it touches on Baker

 

[Truetiger]

Been offered a contract and close to signing is the word around town bitches

Yeh because you have mates in high places lol.

 

[Rayzorwire]

Yeh because you have mates in high places lol.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Out injured.

Noah C comes into the squad.

 

[SplintWhisky]

Correct. He's had the chance to step up in the midfield with all the injuries and while he's played okay I expected more. Opposition mids are killing us in there

Baker is a high level role player. He is not a star. If we get a first round pick for that then we will be looking back at it as a great move that help push the rebuild further.

The same people who say we desperately need to keep him probably said the same about Deledio. You have to know the right time to capitalise on an opportunity and trade a player

Lids was a 29 or 30 year old who couldn't fathom the idea of leadership.

Baker is a lot younger and sets good standards around how to go about things and what comittment to the contest looks like. With a very young list about to be forced on us we need players like that. Everyone wants to cut deep because they want something new but look at North. With any leadership their many first round kids are struggling. Look at Gold Coast, has been over 11 years since they joined the comp and they still haven't made finals and it is not for lack of talent.

We need leaders not just experience. All the players Gold Coast took had a heap of experience but none were leaders. GWS took leaders who were 1 foot in the grave and low and behold they were screwed by the AFL out of an Grand Final appearance in their 5th season.

 

[Rayzorwire]

Out injured.

Noah C comes into the squad.

Yeah mate, corkie I read?

Deck chairs on the Titanic stuff this year.

 

[dirtybizza]

CODE Sports

CODE Sports

www.codesports.com.au

anyone got a subscription? Apparently it touches on Baker

It means that the Dockers can turn their focus to wooing Richmond vice-captain Liam Baker back home to Western Australia.

Fremantle has reportedly tabled a five-year deal to secure the premiership player’s services. But Walls said it was a matter of whether the 26-year-old wanted to return home.

“Obviously he’s a very good, experienced player,” he said. “If he decided that he wanted to come home, we’d want to be right there and put our hat in the ring.

“We don’t know what’s happening. We’ll track him but we don’t know at this stage.”

Five months out from this year’s trade period and in possession of a trio of prized first round selections, Walls said that the Dockers would keep an open mind on how to make best use of their capital. But he hinted that the trade doors that the picks opened may be too good to refuse.

Baker’s name continues to appear in trade speculation. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“We’re not going to commit to anything,” he said. “We’ll explore everything.

“It could be that we trade all three. It could be that we use all three in the draft or it could be a combination of both. We’re looking at everything and we’ll do our best to get the club the best result from the three.

“It’s a nice position to be in. There are players out there and we’ve got the capital and collateral to do it. There may not be another year when you have three first round picks to be able to get a fair bit done at the trade table.

“We’ve got a lot of guys developing on the list but we’ve got to make sure that with the three picks, what we add is what we need.”

Dockers fans can expect the superstar to be around for a long time. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Fremantle also expects to kick off contract negotiations with vice-captain Andrew Brayshaw in the near future. The 24-year-old is out of contract and due to become a free agent at the end of next year but Walls says Brayshaw isn’t going anywhere.

 

[dirtybizza]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-trade-wrap-the-latest-news-from-around-the-competition/news-story/6b15b4362e96485b448d60a263afb019

Interesting point from Ralphy - "Vice-captain Liam Baker

7

Liam Baker

Age

26

Ht

173cm

Wt

72kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.7

4star

K

7.8

3star

HB

7.9

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

2.6

4star

MG

222.2

3star

D

14.6

4star

K

6.8

3star

HB

7.9

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.8

3star

MG

191.9

3star

D

14.4

4star

K

6.2

3star

HB

8.2

5star

M

1.6

2star

T

1.8

4star

MG

224.2

4star

’s strong preference is believed to be a trade to West Coast, instead of Fremantle."