Recruiting AFL Trade & Free Agency XII - 💰💰💰

[Lore]

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Spoiler: 2024 Draft Order

 

[Snake Charmer]

Have they? This is a nothing phrase that gets thrown out by Essendon fans when complaining that a rival is ahead of us. We both started our rebuilds at the same time, end of 2020. Let's look at the players still on each list from that year in itself:

Essendon: McGrath, Draper, Parish, Langford, Merrett, Shiel (probably getting traded), Ridley, Laverde, Heppell (retired), Jones, Bryan, Stringer (OOC, possible trade), Redman, Guelfi. 14 players. At least 3 of which are possibly gone. The only ones I'm sure will still be around next year are McGrath, Merrett, Ridley, Jones and Redman.
Hawthorne: Morrison, Mitchell, Impey, Worpel, Sicily, Reeves, Jiath, Nash, Moore, Hardwick, Gunston, Wingard, Breust. 13 players, 9 of which have contracts heading into next year.

We've drafted 6 FRP in that time, all bar one top 10. Likely two more this year. They've done 5. They've drafted better than us, that's definitely true, but we've had about the same aggression in terms of turning over the list. Do I wish the opposite was true? Yes. But in

They were pretty happy to trade the likes of JoM and Mitchell for not that much. Which is why I called there list management aggressive. that has helped there younger guys with opportunities imo. In terms of turning the list over slower you have proved that to be in correct on my part but I do believe they have moved on from players in important positions to fast forward the development of there younger players. Where as we haven’t really gone down the youth path as much in the 22. Although the past 2-3 weeks have been abit of a sign that we are. It’s a big off season for us as we have the opportunity to do similar with Shiel. Hep will be gone. Kelly and Laverde both probably stay on but you’d Hope Saad and Reid can take there spots.

 

[faible]

They were pretty happy to trade the likes of JoM and Mitchell for not that much. Which is why I called there list management aggressive. that has helped there younger guys with opportunities imo. In terms of turning the list over slower you have proved that to be in correct on my part but I do believe they have moved on from players in important positions to fast forward the development of there younger players. Where as we haven’t really gone down the youth path as much in the 22. Although the past 2-3 weeks have been abit of a sign that we are. It’s a big off season for us as we have the opportunity to do similar with Shiel. Hep will be gone. Kelly and Laverde both probably stay on but you’d Hope Saad and Reid can take there spots.

Reid would have played a lot more had he not been injured, Jayden was a free swing but coming from a long way back. ADJ has shown signs of life but is clearly not physically ready to be a consistent AFL player just yet.

Hobbs and Tsatas as inside players will take a little longer, I'd expect / hope Hobbs starts to reach the physical point to play the role at AFL level in 2025, Tsatas probably 12 months behind that. Bryan looks like he's almost there physically, hasn't quite come on this season as much as we might have hoped but is close.

I'd say 2019 is about where we'd draw a line in a change of approach to the list, prior to that we had stepped out of the 2017 & 2018 drafts, we had limited currency in 2019 due to the Shiel trade but they went for long-term KPP prospects in Jones and Bryan.

Since then we've added draftees in Durham, Martin, Cox, Perkins, Caddy, Jones and traded to back-fill our lost age demographic with Caldwell, Duursma, McKay, Gresham, Wright*, Kelly*, Hind* who have all played semi-regular senior football. That's half the best-22 right there.

Then you've got a guy like Roberts who's just broken through and looks like he'll be staying there, ADJ who with another pre-season should be a pretty regular player, Hobbs who's hopefully one more preseason from being a genuine AFL player (though he's still played 45 games and missed mostly due to injury), Bryan and Hayes in a similar situation to Hobbs, Menzie is on the fringes and still only 21, and Reid plays pretty much whenever his body has allowed him (which isn't often). So we're around 3/4 of the best-22 added in the last 5 years.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Mini reset.

Throw the emotion in the bin, get real with where we are at and be decisive*

Our core - retain. Leaders, established senior players
Merrett
Langford
McGrath
Draper
Caldwell
Durham
Jones
McKay
Martin

Get games into. Some will work out, some won’t. We need to find out
Tsatas
Hobbs
Perkins
Hayes
Bryan
Caddy
Reid (little trade value - hope his body comes good)
Cox (little trade value - find him a position and see what we can do)
Davey
Roberts
El-Hawli

Look to trade for picks - all have trade value - you have to give to get
Parish - we have a midfield glut blocking younger players, he has good trade value
Shiel - some trade value for a contender. We are not near a flag and he's not playing in a flag for us.
Ridley - plenty of trade value, yet increasingly injury-prone. McKay is a lot more like him than we anticipated - intercepting is his strength. We don't need both.
Stringer - some value for a contender. We are not near a flag and he's not playing in a flag for us.
Redman - we have a stupid amount invested in him as a running defender, which isn't exactly a difficult position to fill. Scott already seems to prefer others in this role anyway. If we're not using him there, his value is greater to us as trade currency.

Only trade target (player)
Luke Parker - play AFL, VFL, set standards with the coaches and leadership group. Will come cheap.

* We are Essendon and will never do this. We don't trade players out unless they demand it - we're petrified they might play decent footy for somebody else, and Dodoro collects players as individual assets rather than managing an overall list - all about Ridley, Redman etc as individuals rather than where our overall list is, what we actually need and what value we have to give up for it.

Parker is a flog. No thanks.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

That core is a steaming pile of shit.

Which is why we’re nowhere near a flag and need to trade aggressively to bring in talent.

We’re hugely lacking in elite talent and the only place to stock up on it is the draft.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Parker is a flog. No thanks.

I’ll put up with his floggery. He’s spent his entire career at the one of the most continually elite performing clubs in the league. He’s played nearly 300 games, won a flag, 3x B&F, was captain for five years. And he’s 31yo, thats the resume of a 36yo.

He’s not going to be a gun player for us, but he‘s have forgotten more about elite standards, leadership, culture and winning than our entire playing group would know.

He ticks every single box for what we need and a few more. We simply don’t have a high performance mindset and experience. It needs to be imported.

We look a bit like Brisbane used to. The first thing Fagan did when he arrived was whatever he needed to do to bring in Hodge. He did that for a reason.

 

[Milanista28]

McGrath, Draper, Parish, Shiel and Stringer are on my trade table, and if I'm being honest there's plenty of room left on my table, so the rest of you should watch out.

 

[Milanista28]

Thoughts on Angus Sheldrick? Playing well in the VFL, short but very aggressive, similar to Rowell, if we trade out a couple of mids maybe we have a look. Seems Cleary has gone past him for the swans when they need another mid to come up.

 

[Hird05]

Is that Peatling?

Yep

 

[Hird05]

The club doesn’t think Setterfield is the answer unfortunately so I think we definitely need to go out and get a really good defensive inside midfielder to help with the balance.

I don’t think there is another better, realistic option out there. Peatling is probably a better option but not realistic , the other one is maybe Dev Robertson given the Lions are about to get seeded by another couple of quality academy mids.

Why is Peatling not realistic? Stkilda, Melbourne and WC are into him, why not us. Gws have only offered 2 years. He's 23 so fits our profile. Probably not an urgent need but..

 

[Hird05]

McGrath, Draper, Parish, Shiel and Stringer are on my trade table, and if I'm being honest there's plenty of room left on my table, so the rest of you should watch out.

Draper and Parish are the only ones with any real currency. I'd be ok to let Draper go for say Dan Houston

 

[boncer34]

Draper and Parish are the only ones with any real currency. I'd be ok to let Draper go for say Dan Houston

We don't need a 28 year old flanker

 

[eth-dog]

Draper and Parish are the only ones with any real currency. I'd be ok to let Draper go for say Dan Houston

Port aren't into him. Adelaide are. I'd be looking to upgrade our first plus a future pick for him.

 

[Milanista28]

Draper and Parish are the only ones with any real currency. I'd be ok to let Draper go for say Dan Houston

I think any picks inside 35 are good currency, there will be 70 picks in that range over the next 2 years, aim for 8-12 selections in this range. we get 4 automatically, trade for more.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

McGrath, Draper, Parish, Shiel and Stringer are on my trade table, and if I'm being honest there's plenty of room left on my table, so the rest of you should watch out.

McGrath is not good trade bait. He’s a small defender, so not in huge demand and wouldn’t command a big return.

He also clearly - whether people like it or not - has value around the place as a leader who has a crack at setting standards. He’s in a very small leadership group for a reason. Merrett rates him in that space. He has some value for us in that sense given how lacking we are in player leadership.

He’s simply worth more to us than what we’d get for him. That’s the only real test regarding trades.

He’s not a superstar and never will be, people need to get over that and the #1 pick tag and just take him for the reasonably reliable, solid player that he is.

 

[Vindicater]

Port aren't into him. Adelaide are. I'd be looking to upgrade our first plus a future pick for him.

Yep.

Draper and #9 for #5 and a future second.

Would try for a future first but reckon it would fall to a future second.

 

[Bjchan13]

Im not keen to trade Draper unless it gets us a best 22 physical ruck in the same age bracket. I think we are only just about to see the best of the Bryan/Draper combo thats always been on the cards. They really could be a dominant duo that compliment each other for the next 5+ years

 

[Snake Charmer]

Are Adelaide actually into Draper?

 

[Milanista28]

He’s not a superstar and never will be, people need to get over that and the #1 pick tag and just take him for the reasonably reliable, solid player that he is.

Problem is, reasonable solid players don't get 6 year deals, we view him as this half back gun we can build around.

Anyway, doesn't matter really, he's ours and will stay our for a long time.

 

[eth-dog]

Yep.

Draper and #9 for #5 and a future second.

Would try for a future first but reckon it would fall to a future second.

I think we have grounds to ask for their F1. Happy to tack something else on but in principal Draper, 7-10 for 4 and F1.

Are Adelaide actually into Draper?

Yes. Whether or not anything comes out of it is a different matter.

 

[EnolaGay]

I’ll put up with his floggery. He’s spent his entire career at the one of the most continually elite performing clubs in the league. He’s played nearly 300 games, won a flag, 3x B&F, was captain for five years. And he’s 31yo, thats the resume of a 36yo.

He’s not going to be a gun player for us, but he‘s have forgotten more about elite standards, leadership, culture and winning than our entire playing group would know.

He ticks every single box for what we need and a few more. We simply don’t have a high performance mindset and experience. It needs to be imported.

We look a bit like Brisbane used to. The first thing Fagan did when he arrived was whatever he needed to do to bring in Hodge. He did that for a reason.

Agreed. We haven't had a good pretzel tosser since Goddard.

 

[Lads2023]

McGrath, Draper, Parish, Shiel and Stringer are on my trade table, and if I'm being honest there's plenty of room left on my table, so the rest of you should watch out.

Trade them all and bring in Franchesco Camarda from Milan Futuro lol

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

I’ll put up with his floggery. He’s spent his entire career at the one of the most continually elite performing clubs in the league. He’s played nearly 300 games, won a flag, 3x B&F, was captain for five years. And he’s 31yo, thats the resume of a 36yo.

He’s not going to be a gun player for us, but he‘s have forgotten more about elite standards, leadership, culture and winning than our entire playing group would know.

He ticks every single box for what we need and a few more. We simply don’t have a high performance mindset and experience. It needs to be imported.

We look a bit like Brisbane used to. The first thing Fagan did when he arrived was whatever he needed to do to bring in Hodge. He did that for a reason.

Hodge is also a flog, but from Colac.

 

[Snake Charmer]

I think we have grounds to ask for their F1. Happy to tack something else on but in principal Draper, 7-10 for 4 and F1.

Yes. Whether or not anything comes out of it is a different matter.

No way they add a future first for Draper. He’s also a pre agent I’m pretty sure.

 

[Snake Charmer]

I even find it hard to believe that the crows would move back from 4 to get Draper.

 

[Squeaky]

wouldn’t mind us being a little more aggressive with a few older established guys who have good value

Yep - this!
It's what we haven't done.
What we have done is crap, so should change!
It's not like we are emotionally tied to any of these guys, so cut a few free... see what happens.

Me thinks this will be too bold for the same olds.