Recruiting AFL Trade & Free Agency XII - 💰💰💰

[Lore]

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Spoiler: 2024 Draft Order

 

[Vindicater]

Scott loves Kelly, he isn’t going anywhere

Let a man dream okay.

 

[Snake Charmer]

Melbourne and Oliver collectively could want out and Adelaide apparently doesn’t have the space to take him on and we do.

He’s on over a million dollars for five more years and is a huge off field risk over the span.

My thought is our list doesn’t have elite talent. We have depth, but that doesn’t do much for wins when no fans can actually agree on who’s actually best 22.

Apparently it would cost a second rounder to get Oliver at his contract.

I’m doing it but I’m also putting shiel setterfeild and parish on the trade table.

This creates space for Hobbs and tsatas to make the team and 2 elite mids in Oliver and Merrett

Essendon… culture.. Oliver… no thanks

 

[P Money]

Essendon… culture.. Oliver… no thanks

I'd take Oliver in a heartbeat. Essendon has massive cultural issues but they're about on-field and performance psychology. They don't have issues with keeping players on the straight-and-narrow off field. Can't even remember the last headline about an Essendon player's off-field indiscretions - probably Hurley punching a cab driver 15 years ago.

Get him in.

 

[Schnitzengruben]

I'd take Oliver in a heartbeat. Essendon has massive cultural issues but they're about on-field and performance psychology. They don't have issues with keeping players on the straight-and-narrow off field. Can't even remember the last headline about an Essendon player's off-field indiscretions - probably Hurley punching a cab driver 15 years ago.

Get him in.

I can see Oliver under Brad either going horribly wrong, or it might just be what he needs to be helped.

Given it's us....I'm assuming the former.

 

[Snake Charmer]

I'd take Oliver in a heartbeat. Essendon has massive cultural issues but they're about on-field and performance psychology. They don't have issues with keeping players on the straight-and-narrow off field. Can't even remember the last headline about an Essendon player's off-field indiscretions - probably Hurley punching a cab driver 15 years ago.

Get him in.

Plenty of knocks on his professionalism in the past few seasons and haven’t been that fit this season. But yeah let’s give him a fat retirement contract.

 

[jdstorm]

Melbourne and Oliver collectively could want out and Adelaide apparently doesn’t have the space to take him on and we do.

He’s on over a million dollars for five more years and is a huge off field risk over the span.

My thought is our list doesn’t have elite talent. We have depth, but that doesn’t do much for wins when no fans can actually agree on who’s actually best 22.

Apparently it would cost a second rounder to get Oliver at his contract.

I’m doing it but I’m also putting shiel setterfeild and parish on the trade table.

This creates space for Hobbs and tsatas to make the team and 2 elite mids in Oliver and Merrett

If Adelaide wants to give us a useful player to help free up space for them to get Oliver I would prefer that.

 

[Shanghaistu]

If Adelaide wants to give us a useful player to help free up space for them to get Oliver I would prefer that.

Let’s take Izak Rankine. Get it done Doodoo!!

 

[FootyGuru]

Miles Bergman is gettable and potentially wanting to come home. Still contracted so would probably take a mid first is guess. The perfect player we need. Long boot, great athleticism, good overhead and an ability to play a multiple positions. If we could potentially down grade our first, keep a pick get Bergman and kako would be a solid off season.

 

[FootyGuru]

Could we con Melbourne into coughing up a first rounder for 2mp? Maybe we send something back their way

 

[faible]

Miles Bergman is gettable and potentially wanting to come home. Still contracted so would probably take a mid first is guess. The perfect player we need. Long boot, great athleticism, good overhead and an ability to play a multiple positions. If we could potentially down grade our first, keep a pick get Bergman and kako would be a solid off season.

Maybe they could accidentally confuse him and JHF and send the wrong one our way?

 

[jdstorm]

Could we con Melbourne into coughing up a first rounder for 2mp? Maybe we send something back their way

Maybe if we give up our first as a trade up option.

Get back their first and a 3rd for points matching Kako

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Long post alert

Wasn't sure whether to start a new thread on this... It's really about list management, but looking at our draft profile it's becoming increasingly obvious that we may have a BIG problem on our hands in coming years... Unless we get some rapid improvement out of our recent high draft picks, it's going to leave a mammoth hole in our list.

The classic example is Hawthorn, when Clarko decided he could completely abandon the draft and drove their list into a massive hole. It necessitated a cleanout of O'Meara, Mitchell and others as they went scorched earth... Though they have recovered quickly, seemingly thanks in large part to Mitchell's coaching https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/can-hawthorn-succeed-while-ignoring-the-elite-end-of-the-draft.1207618/

The old first and second rounds (before all the extra compo picks blew it out) is the only place you can get elite talent cheap. Trades cost a lot. I look at the Top 40 picks. Here's us:

2017: Nothing
2018: Mosquito (delisted)
2019: Jones, Bryan
2020: Cox, Perkins, Reid, Eyre (delisted)
2021: Hobbs
2022: Tsatas, Hayes

We didn't totally abandon the draft, but at the top level we had a six-year run of possibly horrific draft decisions at the pointy end.

There's no getting around the fact that from those six national drafts, we have ONE player (Jones) who is currently a locked-in member of our best 22.

Can they improve? Yeah, but bloody hell... To not have any of these players locked into the best 22 by now is a huge problem. Hobbs and Tsatas are behind Merrett, Parish and Durham and can't get a game in their position. Reid is luck, but that happens. Perkins is playing reserves. Cox has significant issues. We have to face facts that at least a good number of these guys is just not going to make it. They're not showing it.

Yes you can plug holes and we have, with later selections (Martin, Durham) or trades (Caldwell, Duursma)... But without your own guns from the draft, it's borderline impossible to build a deep, elite list to challenge for flags.

Our core of Stringer, Merrett, Wright (til this year), Langford, Parish, Redman, McKay, McGrath, Draper and Ridley are now in their prime at 26 - 30 years old. I don't think they're good enough to win a flag. We then have this enormous gap thanks to terrible drafting.

I'd like to hear from others who are better informed because it looks like a huge concern that will have us in a heap of trouble in 3-5 years. And the solution may have to be to get aggressive at the trade table now (Stringer? Wright? Parish? Redman? gulp... Ridley?), clear the way for Tsatas and Hobbs in the middle, secure some picks and look to build a good group over the next couple of years around Caddy. And we'd retain senior players like Merrett, Langford, McKay, Draper, Martin, Durham, Caldwell to go with them. Cos we might have lost a generation between them.

 

[faible]

Long post alert

Wasn't sure whether to start a new thread on this... It's really about list management, but looking at our draft profile it's becoming increasingly obvious that we may have a BIG problem on our hands in coming years... Unless we get some rapid improvement out of our recent high draft picks, it's going to leave a mammoth hole in our list.

The classic example is Hawthorn, when Clarko decided he could completely abandon the draft and drove their list into a massive hole. It necessitated a cleanout of O'Meara, Mitchell and others as they went scorched earth... Though they have recovered quickly, seemingly thanks in large part to Mitchell's coaching https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/can-hawthorn-succeed-while-ignoring-the-elite-end-of-the-draft.1207618/

The old first and second rounds (before all the extra compo picks blew it out) is the only place you can get elite talent cheap. Trades cost a lot. I look at the Top 40 picks. Here's us:

2017: Nothing
2018: Mosquito (delisted)
2019: Jones, Bryan
2020: Cox, Perkins, Reid, Eyre (delisted)
2021: Hobbs
2022: Tsatas, Hayes

We didn't totally abandon the draft, but at the top level we had a six-year run of possibly horrific draft decisions at the pointy end.

There's no getting around the fact that from those six national drafts, we have ONE player (Jones) who is currently a locked-in member of our best 22.

Can they improve? Yeah, but bloody hell... To not have any of these players locked into the best 22 by now is a huge problem. Hobbs and Tsatas are behind Merrett, Parish and Durham and can't get a game in their position. Reid is luck, but that happens. Perkins is playing reserves. Cox has significant issues. We have to face facts that at least a good number of these guys is just not going to make it. They're not showing it.

Yes you can plug holes and we have, with later selections (Martin, Durham) or trades (Caldwell, Duursma)... But without your own guns from the draft, it's borderline impossible to build a deep, elite list to challenge for flags.

Our core of Stringer, Merrett, Wright (til this year), Langford, Parish, Redman, McKay, McGrath, Draper and Ridley are now in their prime at 26 - 30 years old. I don't think they're good enough to win a flag. We then have this enormous gap thanks to terrible drafting.

I'd like to hear from others who are better informed because it looks like a huge concern that will have us in a heap of trouble in 3-5 years. And the solution may have to be to get aggressive at the trade table now (Stringer? Wright? Parish? Redman? gulp... Ridley?), clear the way for Tsatas and Hobbs in the middle, secure some picks and look to build a good group over the next couple of years around Caddy. And we'd retain senior players like Merrett, Langford, McKay, Draper, Martin, Durham, Caldwell to go with them. Cos we might have lost a generation between them.

Essendon Bombers Football Club Player List

Essendon Bombers full AFL playing list and stats.

www.footywire.com

I think the seasons where we topped up e.g. Saad, Smith, Stringer, Shiel and the ASADA sanctions have meant we've got a 'gap' in our age demographic that we've had to backfill.

If you project say 5 years ahead, I'd say anyone older than 27 (excepting Merrett) won't be in our Best-22 any longer. Those who are (Merrett & Parish) won't be prime-movers.

So you're looking at a midfield in 5 years (with current players) of;

Caldwell @ 29
Martin @ 29
Durham @ 28
Hobbs @ 25
Tsatas @ 24

Draper @ 30
Bryan @ 27

Parish @ 32
Merrett @ 33

Duursma @ 29
Roberts @ 23

It's easier to get flankers and outside players in to the AFL side when they're younger than the genuine midfielders who have to try to win clearances, so I'd not be too worried about finding guys who can run through the wing or half-back. It's whether a midfield based around Hobbs and Tsatas has scope to be good enough, and whether we add a FA that sits between that Caldwell / Martin / Durham age bracket and the Hobbs / Tsatas one.

Yes, I'd look to move on guys like Stringer & Wright now to a team that needs them to try to get more picks inside the first couple of rounds the next 2 drafts.

 

[Goat Hird]

Just our luck, we had 3 top 10's (8,9,10) during a covid year. Everyone was picking blind that year. Just yesterday we're playing a side, who in 2019 picked up both Young (7) and Serong (8).

 

[Milanista28]

Just our luck, we had 3 top 10's (8,9,10) during a covid year. Everyone was picking blind that year. Just yesterday we're playing a side, who in 2019 picked up both Young (7) and Serong (8).

You make your own luck, we easily could've traded 1 or 2 picks out into future drafts, we had great offers for the Hobbs and Tsatas picks. The club/Dodo is addicted to top 10 picks, even if the players available don't suit our build. (Whatever our build actually is)

 

[jdstorm]

Long post alert

Wasn't sure whether to start a new thread on this... It's really about list management, but looking at our draft profile it's becoming increasingly obvious that we may have a BIG problem on our hands in coming years... Unless we get some rapid improvement out of our recent high draft picks, it's going to leave a mammoth hole in our list.

The classic example is Hawthorn, when Clarko decided he could completely abandon the draft and drove their list into a massive hole. It necessitated a cleanout of O'Meara, Mitchell and others as they went scorched earth... Though they have recovered quickly, seemingly thanks in large part to Mitchell's coaching https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/can-hawthorn-succeed-while-ignoring-the-elite-end-of-the-draft.1207618/

The old first and second rounds (before all the extra compo picks blew it out) is the only place you can get elite talent cheap. Trades cost a lot. I look at the Top 40 picks. Here's us:

2017: Nothing
2018: Mosquito (delisted)
2019: Jones, Bryan
2020: Cox, Perkins, Reid, Eyre (delisted)
2021: Hobbs
2022: Tsatas, Hayes

We didn't totally abandon the draft, but at the top level we had a six-year run of possibly horrific draft decisions at the pointy end.

There's no getting around the fact that from those six national drafts, we have ONE player (Jones) who is currently a locked-in member of our best 22.

Can they improve? Yeah, but bloody hell... To not have any of these players locked into the best 22 by now is a huge problem. Hobbs and Tsatas are behind Merrett, Parish and Durham and can't get a game in their position. Reid is luck, but that happens. Perkins is playing reserves. Cox has significant issues. We have to face facts that at least a good number of these guys is just not going to make it. They're not showing it.

Yes you can plug holes and we have, with later selections (Martin, Durham) or trades (Caldwell, Duursma)... But without your own guns from the draft, it's borderline impossible to build a deep, elite list to challenge for flags.

Our core of Stringer, Merrett, Wright (til this year), Langford, Parish, Redman, McKay, McGrath, Draper and Ridley are now in their prime at 26 - 30 years old. I don't think they're good enough to win a flag. We then have this enormous gap thanks to terrible drafting.

I'd like to hear from others who are better informed because it looks like a huge concern that will have us in a heap of trouble in 3-5 years. And the solution may have to be to get aggressive at the trade table now (Stringer? Wright? Parish? Redman? gulp... Ridley?), clear the way for Tsatas and Hobbs in the middle, secure some picks and look to build a good group over the next couple of years around Caddy. And we'd retain senior players like Merrett, Langford, McKay, Draper, Martin, Durham, Caldwell to go with them. Cos we might have lost a generation between them.

I don’t think weve done as badly as you are suggesting

Jones is coming on as a useful best 22 player who should play another 10 years.

Bryan is one of the best available young ruck prospects.

Perkins before this form slump has been a good HF. Hayes has had a good run in the VFL. So from 2019 onwards I think it’s fair to say we’ve found 4 10 year players but more likely 6 with Tsatas and Hobbs looking very good at VFL level.

Thats before counting Martin and Durham.


Next year we will get Kako (NGA) and most likely another FRP (our pick or trade up) to start to round out the roster.

Then in 2 years time we get the likely no1 pick via Father Son.

Added to that is we are significantly under the cap and can use that money to try and add a star via free agency. That’s how we’re backfilling the list.


It always makes sense to try and trade high on players you can replace with younger guys on the list so I’m not opposed to clearing out a Wright or Stringer or whoever in a good deal but Essendon doesn’t need to do that if it’s a bad deal it’s better to have depth

 

[HirdyLannister]

Tsatas and Hobbs will be quality, look at Durham and Caldwell it took them till age 23 to start performing at a high quality.

 

[Vindicater]

I wonder if we could package a Wright or Stringer with our first for Melbourne's first to get in front of the Kako bid.

 

[faible]

I wonder if we could package a Wright or Stringer with our first for Melbourne's first to get in front of the Kako bid.

I think we'll be ahead of it anyway unless he climbs late, seems to be a mid-late first prospect atm

Cal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' July ranking

AFL.com.au's draft guru Cal Twomey delivers his first Phantom Form Guide ahead of the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Perkins before this form slump has been a good HF. Hayes has had a good run in the VFL. So from 2019 onwards I think it’s fair to say we’ve found 4 10 year players but more likely 6 with Tsatas and Hobbs looking very good at VFL level.

I’m open to opinions, but I would suggest that it’s pretty optimistic to say four players who can’t currently get a game in a very average side will be ten year players.

Perhaps odds are that 1 or 2 will work out, but all of them?

I mean, plenty of Essendon players hang around for ten years doing absolutely nothing, so I guess there is that.

 

[jdstorm]

I’m open to opinions, but I would suggest that it’s pretty optimistic to say four players who can’t currently get a game in a very average side will be ten year players.

Perhaps odds are that 1 or 2 will work out, but all of them?

I mean, plenty of Essendon players hang around for ten years doing absolutely nothing, so I guess there is that.

plenty of teams have decent players who get to 200 games.

Archie is 1/4 of the way there and was arguably the teams best player rd1 vs the hawks. Just in a form slump right now.

Harry has established himself as an afl standard wing this season and can’t even really play the position yet.

Hobbs is being held out of the best 23 by being too similar to Parish (who’s a former AA mid)

With Tsatas, Bryan and Hayes the questions were more about physical strength rather than anything else.

I don’t think having a long career = was a star. Just that you were a good best 22 player and there was no need to drop ya which allowed the team to invest pics in other areas

 

[ghostdog]

Miles Bergman is gettable and potentially wanting to come home. Still contracted so would probably take a mid first is guess. The perfect player we need. Long boot, great athleticism, good overhead and an ability to play a multiple positions. If we could potentially down grade our first, keep a pick get Bergman and kako would be a solid off season.

Out Lav, in Bergman?
Isn't he a very similar player to Ridley?
...surely not CHB?

 

[Snake Charmer]

Could we con Melbourne into coughing up a first rounder for 2mp? Maybe we send something back their way

0 chance of that happening

You make your own luck, we easily could've trade 1 or 2 picks out into future drafts, we had great offers for the Hobbs and Tsatas picks. The club/Dodo is addicted to top 10 picks, even if the players available don't suit our build. (Whatever our build actually is)

The club backed it’s self in to nail that draft. Should of traded one of those picks.

 

[Snake Charmer]

Out Lav, in Bergman?
Isn't he a very similar player to Ridley?
...surely not CHB?

Nothing like Ridley imo. Closer to a Redman type. I think he will become a really good wing/ utility once his tank is at its prime. Hard runner, big kick. I like him a lot

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

plenty of teams have decent players who get to 200 games.

Archie is 1/4 of the way there and was arguably the teams best player rd1 vs the hawks. Just in a form slump right now.

Harry has established himself as an afl standard wing this season and can’t even really play the position yet.

Hobbs is being held out of the best 23 by being too similar to Parish (who’s a former AA mid)

With Tsatas, Bryan and Hayes the questions were more about physical strength rather than anything else.

I don’t think having a long career = was a star. Just that you were a good best 22 player and there was no need to drop ya which allowed the team to invest pics in other areas

When you're going to the pointy end of the draft you should be hoping to get more than just a decent player who might get to 200 games. I think it's reasonable to say that our performance overall in the first round of the draft since 2020 hasn't met expectations when we've had 5 picks either inside or just out of the top 10 across three years and none of them look like the sort of player that makes the difference between a winning or a losing season. We would have really been hoping at least one of the five would be that guy that changes the trajectory of a club almost by themselves.

Still time for someone in that cohort to take a big step forward but right now it's looking like we've missed the opportunity.