Player Watch #7: Liam Baker

[YeOldTiger]

So if Baker wants to go, he is unrestricted isn't he? Meaning we don't get anything at all in terms of trade?

But Bolton, if he wants to go, he is still binded by his contract meaning he can get us high draft picks if clubs want him?

Baker is not a free agent. He's just out of contract. If anyone wants him they will have to trade.

Graham is a free agent..if he goes we get compo.

Bolton is in Y1 or a five year deal. Whomever wants him will have to pay way overs.

 

[poppa pump]

Just the facts
Bont 23.86 dis. .97 gls

Danger 23.60 dis. 1.01 gls

Dusty 24.32 dis 1 13 gls

Take note who's got career better stats

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

If that was his audition for the Perth sides then we might not be getting much back for him.

 

[voorhees]

If that was his audition for the Perth sides then we might not be getting much back for him.

yet, plenty will tell you he is a leader and so valuable to the team..
He is the no#1 player we need to cash in with this year

 

[Tigerbob]

In a game made for short people, he was nowhere to be seen.

If we can get a similar deal to Lachie Schulz deal for him, I’ll pack his bags.

 

[Willo_23]

Tanked it

 

[Cam Payner]

Lost interest, let him go ...A-grader at his best but not even close to indispensable...

 

[tiger_tough]

Can we move him back to his actual position of half back?

 

[voorhees]

Can we move him back to his actual position of half back?

as long as he's in a West Coast guernsey, yeah go ahead!

 

[tiger_tough]

**** me this is how low this board has sunk. 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

is now a whipping boy

 

[THE_GUN]

**** me this is how low this board has sunk. Liam Baker is now a whipping boy

Yep thats the way these D;**'s roll

shit on players that give their all when things dont go their way

 

[TigerImposter]

He’s not a midfielder so leave him in the BL please. He’s overrated and if we get a first rounder for him we will be blessed.
He was basically unsighted and unsightly yesterday.

 

[db26]

He deserves criticism like the rest of the other senior players. Yesterday he went missing or checked out

 

[SunshineBoy]

Just the facts
Bont 23.86 dis. .97 gls

Danger 23.60 dis. 1.01 gls

Dusty 24.32 dis 1 13 gls

Take note who's got career better stats

But but but Danger

 

[voorhees]

I seriously can't stomach why others want to hold Baker so tightly going foward
we have gotten the best out of him and he's not suddenly going to rocket into superstar status.
we would be blessed to get a end of first round pick for him. Any pick below #20 should be snatched quick smart.

 

[Morro]

Move him back and short to HF, cant hurt.

 

[Rayzorwire]

Can we move him back to his actual position of half back?

Either forward or back suits his strengths.

Questionable whether playing him in midfield lowers his trade currency - it's not like he hasn't had over a dozen really anonymous games in the guts already over the past few seasons and his suitors would be well aware of that.

It's a dead-set mystery to me...he's explosive off the mark, seemingly has a great sense of the fall of the ball when playing in other roles, wins contests like shelling peas, fearless - they don't come much more in the classic rover mould than Baker does. I thought he'd revel in the middle and used to harp on that we should play him there, but the reality is, he hasn't got close to the base point of expectations often enough.

It's become easy to see in hindsight why he was included in the midfield training group for years under Hardwick, but rarely actually played there - over half a dozen regular rotation mids were no doubt outdoing him at training and keeping him out of those rotations.

 

[Tomnat Tigers]

Among mid forwards and medium forwards he ranks.

#1 for Disposals @20.6.
#4 for Player Rating @11.29.
#5 for Metres Gained @326.9
#2 for Contested Possessions @8.5.
#4 for Ground Ball Gets @5.5.
#2 for Clearances @3.5.
#8 for Score Involvements @5.5.
#1 for Score launches @1.8
#7 for Tackles @3.7.
#3 for Pressure Acts @21.7.

One or two quieter games doesn't change the fact that he is one of the best half forward flankers in the competition and is every bit worth a top 10 pick or thereabouts. If we can't get what he is worth in a trade then we should look to extend him for one year and allow West Coast to come in with an offer next season that will deliver us band one compo.

 

[Tigerbob]

Among mid forwards and medium forwards he ranks.

#1 for Disposals @20.6.
#4 for Player Rating @11.29.
#5 for Metres Gained @326.9
#2 for Contested Possessions @8.5.
#4 for Ground Ball Gets @5.5.
#2 for Clearances @3.5.
#8 for Score Involvements @5.5.
#1 for Score launches @1.8
#7 for Tackles @3.7.
#3 for Pressure Acts @21.7.

One or two quieter games doesn't change the fact that he is one of the best half forward flankers in the competition and is every bit worth a top 10 pick or thereabouts. If we can't get what he is worth in a trade then we should look to extend him for one year and allow West Coast to come in with an offer next season that will deliver us band one compo.

Add in his other leadership qualities and the fact he has had success, we should start at asking for two first round picks.

We won’t get it, but if we should tart there. We can’t get a worse deal than Lachie Schulz for Liam Baker.

 

[richoplzbreed]

I seriously can't stomach why others want to hold Baker so tightly going foward
we have gotten the best out of him and he's not suddenly going to rocket into superstar status.
we would be blessed to get a end of first round pick for him. Any pick below #20 should be snatched quick smart.

I think the most courageous award catches peoples attention and several media commentators pump his tyres up plenty too. It was like when Jake King played I always thought he was useless and shouldn't get a game but the way Brayshaw and those nuffies carried on it gave him an overinflated profile. Bakers got this reputation as a utility but in reality he's ordinary forward who rarely kicks goals. He's not a winger. He's a below average mid. He's really a small defender and we've got them coming out our ears.

Any time you can get 130 games out of a pick 18 rookie, then can offload him as a 27yo for a top 10 pick it would be madness not to do it. The alternative is to OVERpay him and miss out on a golden opportunity to milk the cash cow before sending it on. He's an average player. If WA teams want to pay him superstar wages it would be moronic to OVERpay to keep him. With Freo being so high up the ladder our draft hand is actually nothing special. Jettisoning Baker and Dan Rioli fasttracks our rebuild 2 years.

 

[THE_GUN]

Among mid forwards and medium forwards he ranks.

#1 for Disposals @20.6.
#4 for Player Rating @11.29.
#5 for Metres Gained @326.9
#2 for Contested Possessions @8.5.
#4 for Ground Ball Gets @5.5.
#2 for Clearances @3.5.
#8 for Score Involvements @5.5.
#1 for Score launches @1.8
#7 for Tackles @3.7.
#3 for Pressure Acts @21.7.

One or two quieter games doesn't change the fact that he is one of the best half forward flankers in the competition and is every bit worth a top 10 pick or thereabouts. If we can't get what he is worth in a trade then we should look to extend him for one year and allow West Coast to come in with an offer next season that will deliver us band one compo.

Good stats
Post it on the Baker thread on the drafts board

 

[captain cotch 9]

Among mid forwards and medium forwards he ranks.

#1 for Disposals @20.6.
#4 for Player Rating @11.29.
#5 for Metres Gained @326.9
#2 for Contested Possessions @8.5.
#4 for Ground Ball Gets @5.5.
#2 for Clearances @3.5.
#8 for Score Involvements @5.5.
#1 for Score launches @1.8
#7 for Tackles @3.7.
#3 for Pressure Acts @21.7.

One or two quieter games doesn't change the fact that he is one of the best half forward flankers in the competition and is every bit worth a top 10 pick or thereabouts. If we can't get what he is worth in a trade then we should look to extend him for one year and allow West Coast to come in with an offer next season that will deliver us band one compo.

Stats are stats but what impact is he having?

 

[lumpinee]

I think the most courageous award catches peoples attention and several media commentators pump his tyres up plenty too. It was like when Jake King played I always thought he was useless and shouldn't get a game but the way Brayshaw and those nuffies carried on it gave him an overinflated profile. Bakers got this reputation as a utility but in reality he's ordinary forward who rarely kicks goals. He's not a winger. He's a below average mid. He's really a small defender and we've got them coming out our ears.

Any time you can get 130 games out of a pick 18 rookie, then can offload him as a 27yo for a top 10 pick it would be madness not to do it. The alternative is to OVERpay him and miss out on a golden opportunity to milk the cash cow before sending it on. He's an average player. If WA teams want to pay him superstar wages it would be moronic to OVERpay to keep him. With Freo being so high up the ladder our draft hand is actually nothing special. Jettisoning Baker and Dan Rioli fasttracks our rebuild 2 years.

like the post but disagree with him being worth a top 10 pick,he definitely aint that,if ya can get sumthin round #18-20 take it in a heartbeat

 

[Morro]

Stats are stats but what impact is he having?

a massive one when you look at the season as a whole, dont just look at the last few weeks. Poor fella has done some serious heavy lifting this year that he wouldn't have to do in a good team not decimated by injuries.

 

[richoplzbreed]

like the post but disagree with him being worth a top 10 pick,he definitely aint that,if ya can get sumthin round #18-20 take it in a heartbeat

Plenty of players aren't worth the pick they're traded for. WA teams have trouble landing players. Freo have nobody in their team with proven finals success. WCE are desperate for experiences leaders. We're on the bottom of the ladder, neither can threaten to walk him to the preseason Draft. Collingwood gave up pick 34 and their 1st round pick (currently 10 probably ends up 8/9) Bakers better than Schultz. He's not a FA, he's in demand and a club can hardly offer a player a salary of say $800 -$900k then say he's worth pick 20? If a club values a player enough to pay a high salary then the price is a top 10 pick minimum. Probably more.