List Mgmt. Contract, Trade and Draft Discussions - 2024 Edition

[Keys]

Quick links:
Player contract status
Draft prospect video highlights (thanks to noobermensch)
AFL retirements and delistings

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Latest news and rumours:

• Tom Barrass officially requests trade to Hawthorn
  • Duffield: Eagles want two first round picks - "It may have to be in this year’s draft rather than a future pick."
  • Morris: Josh Battle is set to join Barrass at Hawthorn in 2025 - Ralph: Unclear if Hawks will pay enough for Band 1

• Kysaiah Pickett interested in a trade
  • "Club and management are confident they can work through his concerns"
  • Daniels: Pickett’s preference is Fremantle. Fremantle are keen, but Bolton the priority. Getting both “not impossible”. West Coast “an option if things get complicated.”

• Jai Culley, Coen Livingstone, Loch Rawlinson in line for one-year deals (The West)
  
  
• Liam Baker and Shai Bolton
  29

  Shai Bolton

  Age

  25

  Ht

  176cm

  Wt

  77kg

  Pos.

  M/F

  Career

  Season

  Last 5

  D

  12.3

  3star

  K

  6.9

  3star

  HB

  5.4

  4star

  M

  2.8

  3star

  T

  2.9

  4star

  CL

  1.4

  4star

  D

  12.7

  3star

  K

  9.2

  4star

  HB

  3.5

  2star

  M

  3.0

  3star

  T

  2.7

  4star

  CL

  1.8

  4star

  D

  9.2

  3star

  K

  4.6

  2star

  HB

  4.6

  4star

  M

  2.0

  3star

  T

  2.6

  4star

  CL

  0.0

  1star

  officially request trades to WA
  • Daniels: Bolton is Fremantle’s priority

 

[Sammy J]

Take Josh Weddle and whatever.
Gun.

No, we won't take Brockman and a first, you already tried that last year.
Won't be kind if their offers for (essentially) Reid last year were anything to go by.

Weddle’s line breaking ability would be very handy tbh

 

[stylish]

How is this disappointing?

• Have won the last 2 games without him
• won’t be around for our next premiership tilt
• the team who seems to be leading the chase for his services has decent trade capital

You don’t get many opportunities to speed up your rebuild. This is delightful news

I think he means it's disappointing a local long term player and a very good one at that, appears to be heading somewhere else.
WC supporters aren't used to this.

Don't forget it wasn't that many weeks ago we were lauding his performances on the ground

 

[bzparkes]

Weird some people getting worked up with Barrass leaving.

If the cute cashier at the local chicken shop moved to the hamburger joint, you'd probably rage at that also.

 

[Elite Pete]

The definitiveness with which this is being spoken about in the media is interesting.

I wonder if the West Coast have said “it would take x and y to get done” and Hawthorn have said yes, and now TB has agreed to contract terms and the deal is more or less done.

The reporting doesn’t leave much wriggle room and the timing is odd.

We still have two games to go in the season.

Doubt it, big difference in picks if they finish 9th or win the flag. Frame work is pretty simple you’d think though.

You’d wait until they knocked out of finals but a quick clean deal is what you want. Move on the the next trade.

 

[bzparkes]

I think he means it's disappointing a local long term player and a very good one at that, appears to be heading somewhere else.
WC supporters aren't used to this.

Don't forget it wasn't that many weeks ago we were lauding his performances on the ground

They should get used to it, that's the landscape of player movement now.

 

[DorothyG]

I feel we are at the point where anyone who isn't going to be part of the next Premiership tilt, let's say 4-5 years from now, then if we can get some youth value for them, then do it.

Barrass is 29 in October, so he will be right on the age limit in 5 years time, and we have all seen how fast it drops off for some, especially those players from WA, so I would be very wary of his form in 5 years time.

Thanks for the service and memories Tommy, but let's get a good deal done.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Take Josh Weddle and whatever.
Gun.

No, we won't take Brockman and a first, you already tried that last year.
Won't be kind if their offers for (essentially) Reid last year were anything to go by.

We aren’t getting Weddle.

 

[bzparkes]

If we wanted Weddle, we'd be the ones giving up Barrass and something else.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

I feel we are at the point where anyone who isn't going to be part of the next Premiership tilt, let's say 4-5 years from now, then if we can get some youth value for them, then do it.

Barrass is 29 in October, so he will be right on the age limit in 5 years time, and we have all seen how fast it drops off for some, especially those players from WA, so I would be very wary of his form in 5 years time.

Thanks for the service and memories Tommy, but let's get a good deal done.

Yep. Field offers for Darling & Ryan while we are at it.

We should have done this two years ago.

 

[Keys]

Barrass is/was happy to stay based partly on a reported handshake deal to increase his pay that either didn’t eventuate or fell short of his expectations.

That has opened the door for rival clubs to believe he was gettable with a longer term offer on better money

WCE have the option to renegotiate his deal to keep him or take a longer term list management view and cash in by trading one of the few players we have with genuine value. Particularly when said player is contracted so we have control of the trade

It’ll be disappointing to see Barrass leave and his absence will hurt in the short term

But this trade looms as a win for all parties.

• Hawthorn gets an established KPD of known quality to help their push for a flag. Their list build is also at a point where they can afford a couple of good draft picks to help now rather than later
• Barrass secures a lucrative long term contract that sets him up financially and gets a chance at another flag he probably doesn’t get by staying at WCE
• WCE need to bring in more high end talent to further strengthen their young core as they rebuild their list

This trade is precisely what critics of our list build to date have suggested we should have done more of in recent years

Culturally, I don’t think it hurts because we’re not pushing him out against his will.

Now it’s up to Hawthorn. They’ve chased him hard and have put a 5 year deal in front of him so it’s time to pay the piper at the trade table

 

[UseR2006]

What if... Hawks chase Trac and offload their value for him and then come to us crying poor after Barrass has declared his intention to move?

Assume we pull a Geelong at that point and just retain him?

 

[Mudguts12]

Maybe they could throw in their 22 year old developing KPD Grainger-Barras as steak knives?

 

[Rowan18]

Barrass is/was happy to stay based partly on a reported handshake deal to increase his pay that either didn’t eventuate or fell short of his expectations.

That has opened the door for rival clubs to believe he was gettable with a longer term offer on better money

WCE have the option to renegotiate his deal to keep him or take a longer term list management view and cash in by trading one of the few players we have with genuine value. Particularly when said player is contracted so we have control of the trade

It’ll be disappointing to see Barrass leave and his absence will hurt in the short term

But this trade looms as a win for all parties.

• Hawthorn gets an established KPD of known quality to help their push for a flag. Their list build is also at a point where they can afford a couple of good draft picks to help now rather than later
• Barrass secures a lucrative long term contract that sets him up financially and gets a chance at another flag he probably doesn’t get by staying at WCE
• WCE need to bring in more high end talent to further strengthen their young core as they rebuild their list

This trade is precisely what critics of our list build to date have suggested we should have done more of in recent years

Culturally, I don’t think it hurts because we’re not pushing him out against his will.

Now it’s up to Hawthorn. They’ve chased him hard and have put a 5 year deal in front of him so it’s time to pay the piper at the trade table

I'm happy to see TB go but am scratching my head trying to figure out how we're going to hit the 95% salary cap minimum.

We're going to lose TB's contract and Gaff's (at leas $900k but it may have been back-ended and be up to $1.1M). That's probably around $1.5M at least freed up. Then we have the salary cap increase to factor in as well.

 

[Keys]

What if... Hawks chase Trac and offload their value for him and then come to us crying poor after Barrass has declared his intention to move?

Assume we pull a Geelong at that point and just retain him?

The picks they have won’t get Petracca. Melbourne aren’t accepting their first round picks this year and next (both low to mid teens) and the R2 pick of Collingwood’s they have.

He’s contracted to 2029 and Melbourne won’t want to lose him

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Yep. Field offers for Darling & Ryan while we are at it.

We should have done this two years ago.

Conversely, Clarko had the nuts to cut loose Hodge, Lewis and Sam Mitchell and then Sam Mitchell then traded away O'Meara and Tom Mitchell. Hell, even Gunstan was moved on before he was brought back. Whereas we held on to the credits in the bank crew well past its expiry date and are now paying for it.

 

[Wedgetailed Westerner]

Just get it done nice and quick.

That's how all my kids turned up

 

[rebel23]

If Petracca wants to move... Eagles should get in on it... Apparently he has heaps of family in Perth.... Trade a high pick and a Jack Williams or something

 

[navi_]

Barrass is a bit of a two-face isn’t he?…

I mean if he wants to go and we can get a good trade then so be it…but don’t carry on like you weren’t shopping yourself last year with 4 years on your deal, only to get cold feet when you realised there wasn’t enough on the table to make it happen…..and then get rolling again on your exit the next season, taking on a vice captain role that could have been used to develop someone actually keen to hang around…while spouting about being part of our rebuild as ‘the greatest opportunity of my career’…

You just hope it doesn’t come back to bite us I guess - on the field obviously and from an overall player loyalty POV - something that’s been a strength for so long.

I'm fully committed to the rebuild gaiz - except when reneging on a contract I signed

 

[TerryFilk]

If Petracca wants to move... Eagles should get in on it... Apparently he has heaps of family in Perth.... Trade a high pick and a Jack Williams or something

Why on earth would we trade top end picks and one of our best young talents for a soon to be 29 year old?

Petracca is a gun but it makes zero sense for us. Do some of you not realise the predicament we’re in lol?

 

[Wce17]

I'm happy to see TB go but am scratching my head trying to figure out how we're going to hit the 95% salary cap minimum.

We're going to lose TB's contract and Gaff's (at leas $900k but it may have been back-ended and be up to $1.1M). That's probably around $1.5M at least freed up. Then we have the salary cap increase to factor in as well.

Hopefully we pay some of TB’s salary to get an even sweeter deal.

 

[BrotherDodge]

If Petracca wants to move... Eagles should get in on it... Apparently he has heaps of family in Perth.... Trade a high pick and a Jack Williams or something

Hell yeah, I reckon he'd learn a lot and really develop his game by playing alongside Harley Reid.

 

[Keys]

If Petracca wants to move... Eagles should get in on it... Apparently he has heaps of family in Perth.... Trade a high pick and a Jack Williams or something

Great player but he turns 29 in January

Trading out Barrass only to trade in Petracca wouldn’t make any sense at this stage of our list build

 

[rebel23]

Why on earth would we trade top end picks and one of our best young talents for a soon to be 29 year old?

Petracca is a gun but it makes zero sense for us. Do some of you not realise the predicament we’re in lol?

29 is slightly old... However it would give our midfield a bit of bite and relevance.... And in a couple of years he can become a permanent forward... It'll also go someway to convince Harley that we are serious in setting him and the club up for success

 

[THE A5]

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Hawthorn paying 5 years for a bloke thats gonna be 30 having played entirely in the west with a dodgy back is crazy. I can’t see TB playing till 35.

 

[THE A5]

29 is slightly old... However it would give our midfield a bit of bite and relevance.... And in a couple of years he can become a permanent forward... It'll also go someway to convince Harley that we are serious in setting him and the club up for success

Tracs not gonna be part of our next premiership push. He’d cost us our first round pick which should be used to further develop that midfield so Harley has quality youth around him. This would be a different case id trac was 25-26