Recruiting AFL Trade & Free Agency XII - 💰💰💰

[Lore]

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Spoiler: 2024 Draft Order

 

[Old Campaigner]

The alternative is manufacture the picks

Archie and cox would be worth picks somewhere in the first. Cats 1st for Archie, pick mid-late teens for cox.
McGrath is an RFA

Good players are worth first round picks, those ones have not demonstrated anything near first round pick quality imo

 

[JayJ20]

I would 100% play Cox and Ridley. Intercept is king. Look at yesterday. Saints had more interceptors than genuine one on one defenders. Collingwood play a bunch of intercept defenders. So have Geelong. What McKay will give us if he plays to his best is a good one on one defender who can intercept so that is a bonus but having Reid / Cox / Ridley who can also do it would be great. Opposition does not kick goals if we are marking it via multiple players.

As far as JUH goes he would certainly make a difference . The question would be cost v reward. Are we at the stage where we go all in again and forget the draft or do we need to keep doing what we did this year and find some value B grade players and stay in the top end of the draft for another year ? Personally I am thinking the latter but as you say it will depend on who develops as we go along this year.

I'm a little concerned about the side not having enough genuine A-grade talent. It's the A-graders like Buddy, Martin, Cameron/Hawkins/Dangerfield etc that win premierships.
JUH is that player and he is young enough for it to be worth it.

Wright, Caddy, Langford and JUH is a very good forwardline with star power.

Also a little concerned about no real standout match winners in the midfield but we need to see how Caldwell, Hobbs, Durham, Tsatas and Perkins go to this year. We'll have a better idea about the state of the list at the end of the season to see if drafting or trading is the right option.

At this stage I'll say trade for JUH, but if the named mids aren't coming on the way we expect, then go to the draft.

 

[Milanista28]

If JUH kicks 50 plus and keeps his marking game going or even improves it he'll get 12m over 10 year type offers.

 

[citizen-erased]

Good players are worth first round picks, those ones have not demonstrated anything near first round pick quality imo

Archie and Cox still have the potential aura about them.
So i'd expect a mid teens pick for them.

Who is into McGrath?

Don't imagine anyone and suspect we'd be trying to extend him

No team is paying McGrath Band 1 money

and agree. ambitious thinking on my part

 

[TheFrenchCut]

I have been glass half full on McGrath in the past but the mere suggestion he could net band 1 FA compo is a level of delusion that's too potent even for the pealers thread

 

[doug85]

I have been glass half full on McGrath in the past but the mere suggestion he could net band 1 FA compo is a level of delusion that's too potent even for the pealers thread

Many would have said the same about McKay.

 

[TheFrenchCut]

Many would have said the same about McKay.

Perhaps but the league is also (somewhat understandably) obsessed with talls, and key defenders in particular are highly sought-after players. Esava Ratugolea just got a five(?) year deal based off one borderline ok season playing as an intercept defender at AFL level.

Meanwhile, McGrath is one of the few rebounding small defenders in the comp who is pretty average by foot, generally wants to draw opponents to him so he can handball instead, and while he had a great change of direction, he isn't actually quick over the first five or ten metres - the most important part in terms of speed for ball-carriers.

He has some good traits (he's a leader, he can actually defend -- even if this was up and down last year) but it's amazing to think that he's in his free agency year and there's still this many areas of concern with him.

 

[Andronicus]

McKay shouldn't have been band 1. Let's not mix up worth with the AFL narrative.

 

[FlyingV]

McKay shouldn't have been band 1. Let's not mix up worth with the AFL narrative.

I think we need to accept we overpaid McKay for the privilege of not having to part with draft picks.
That’s how FA works, clubs are happier to pay more in order to keep their picks

 

[ghostdog]

I'm a little concerned about the side not having enough genuine A-grade talent. It's the A-graders like Buddy, Martin, Cameron/Hawkins/Dangerfield etc that win premierships.
JUH is that player and he is young enough for it to be worth it.

Wright, Caddy, Langford and JUH is a very good forwardline with star power.

Also a little concerned about no real standout match winners in the midfield but we need to see how Caldwell, Hobbs, Durham, Tsatas and Perkins go to this year. We'll have a better idea about the state of the list at the end of the season to see if drafting or trading is the right option.

At this stage I'll say trade for JUH, but if the named mids aren't coming on the way we expect, then go to the draft.

Yes. The only thing I'd say is it's not eady to find a star key forward. If there's one available and we need one, we should be trying to manufacture that deal.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Archie and Cox still have the potential aura about them.
So i'd expect a mid teens pick for them.

No they don't and no we won't lol

 

[ant555]

I think 2-3 years of sharp picks in the hope we land a gun marking fwd and a game changer mid

JUH is at least a proven entity I guess. Personally I'd bank some of our assets to address needs.

Archie for cats 1st
Andy for band 1
The two should get JUH over the line considering the McGrath pick will be top 4-6.

And we keep our pick alive.

If Archie is good enough to get us a first round pick then why are we bothering to trade him ? If he is playing well enough to get that sort of pick my opinion is it would not be overly smart even if it is to get someone who will fill a need.

 

[ant555]

I know he is too old now but Levi Casbolt would have been ideal for us. Someone who does take some big marks. We may not need a super star even though it would be good. We jut need someone who can take 3 or 4 big marks when he is on.

 

[Old Campaigner]

If Archie is good enough to get us a first round pick then why are we bothering to trade him ? If he is playing well enough to get that sort of pick my opinion is it would not be overly smart even if it is to get someone who will fill a need.

That's kinda the issue, we don't really have a surplus of talent so anyone we get a decent pick for is probably fairly important to the list.

2020 really hurt, to lose two good players and not really get (so far) serious quality in return set the list back badly.

 

[citizen-erased]

If Archie is good enough to get us a first round pick then why are we bothering to trade him ? If he is playing well enough to get that sort of pick my opinion is it would not be overly smart even if it is to get someone who will fill a need.

An example of getting picks to trade for JUH without writing a couple of drafts off.

Archie is one i think we can cover with caddy, jones, langford.

 

[citizen-erased]

That's kinda the issue, we don't really have a surplus of talent so anyone we get a decent pick for is probably fairly important to the list.

2020 really hurt, to lose two good players and not really get (so far) serious quality in return set the list back badly.

Had the chance
An elite, premiership inside mid who can mark, hold his own in the contest and collect possessions with the best of them nominated us at our lowest ebb.

 

[citizen-erased]

No they don't and no we won't lol

Given the chance the cats would offload a first for archie.
They did for henry and archie is a better player

 

[Old Campaigner]

Given the chance the cats would offload a first for archie.
They did for henry and archie is a better player

I mean the pick they traded for Henry was pushed out to the mid 20s by the time they traded it, a first round pick in theory but they're only giving up access to second round quality.

 

[bombreys]

Given the chance the cats would offload a first for archie.
They did for henry and archie is a better player

Extremely debatable. Henry's just kicked 40

 

[citizen-erased]

Extremely debatable. Henry's just kicked 40

has he.
im surprised he's kicked that many. i retract said statement

 

[faible]

Had the chance
An elite, premiership inside mid who can mark, hold his own in the contest and collect possessions with the best of them nominated us at our lowest ebb.

Bulldogs didn't want to trade him, and had a multi-year contract still in place.

People keep thinking Dunkley was realistic - he wasn't. He wanted out, Bulldogs didn't want to let him go. Similar story with Bobby Hill. Similar story with Daniher when Essendon didn't want to let him go, or GCS when Ablett wanted out and they didn't want to let him go.

 

[bombreys]

Bulldogs didn't want to trade him, and had a multi-year contract still in place.

People keep thinking Dunkley was realistic - he wasn't. He wanted out, Bulldogs didn't want to let him go. Similar story with Bobby Hill. Similar story with Daniher when Essendon didn't want to let him go, or GCS when Ablett wanted out and they didn't want to let him go.

Aren't they all instances where the team didn't want to pay up for the trade cost though? (Maybe apart from Ablett, can't remember that one).

 

[nesko_25]

Aren't they all instances where the team didn't want to pay up for the trade cost though? (Maybe apart from Ablett, can't remember that one).

The Dogs wanted two firsts for Dunkley, if we have had said 'yup, no worries' they would have turn around and asked for 3. Clubs but an unrealistic bounty on their players heads as they don't want to trade them unless they get stupid overs.

 

[ant555]

Aren't they all instances where the team didn't want to pay up for the trade cost though? (Maybe apart from Ablett, can't remember that one).

No. The Dogs where 100% not letting Dunkley go.

 

[andleanback]

No. The Dogs where 100% not letting Dunkley go.

I think they would’ve let him go if we gave them 2 top 10s. Would’ve been huge overs and they’d likely develop those 2 picks into gun players and we’d end up looking silly anyway.