Rumour GFC 2024 Player Trading, Drafting FA, Rumours and Wish lists Pt 1

[CatToTheFuture]

Fair enough. I wouldn’t even consider flipping off the camera as a attitude or character issue for a second though

Yeah but it's an snapshot without context. If you were hounded relentlessly you might get your back up at some point.

There are worse crimes and the man can football. I don't see the issue

 

[D BRIDGE]

Really, though? Mitch Clarke and Jack Steven fit that archetype? Reality is we'll take quality players when we can get them. If we took chances on risky prospects like Mitch and Jack, we wouldn't hesitate with Smith.

The difference is that Smith will cost a truckload to acquire compared to the steak knives the above-mentioned players cost to get on our list.

Smith will demand a very big contract and he will also cost a good amount at the trade table.

I'm sure we will put our due diligence in and make an informed decision either way.

I was just saying earlier that I wasn't a fan of people giving the bird and I'd be embarrassed if a Geelong player did that.

Certainly still very happy to look into getting Smith if the price is right.

Just not sure about going all in on him to be honest (all-in to me means 2x first-rounders).

 

[FootyLad0]

I couldn't imagine Brisbane not matching Clug.

Brisbane have already been working on a new contract with him since start of 2023

They’ll match pretty much anything for him.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

The difference is that Smith will cost a truckload to acquire compared to the steak knives the above-mentioned players cost to get on our list.

Smith will demand a very big contract and he will also cost a good amount at the trade table.

I'm sure we will put our due diligence in and make an informed decision either way.

I was just saying earlier that I wasn't a fan of people giving the bird and I'd be embarrassed if a Geelong player did that.

Certainly still very happy to look into getting Smith if the price is right.

Just not sure about going all in on him to be honest (all-in to me means 2x first-rounders).

I don't think we need to worry too much.

If the cost of Smith is 2x first round picks, then he's clearly had an awesome year and every club would be falling over themselves to sign the deal.

If he's on the cheap, he's had a poor year and the off-field issues may have got the best of him...but similar to Steven, Clark and so on, it's a hit in hope that doesn't cost much, and if it fails you just cut your losses and move on.

 

[CatRiot]

Next years priority should be speed and run and carry

I was hoping we'd get someone with real speed that could play on the outside... Strange we didn't tbh, but maybe they think Mannagh can do the job, and perhaps they will send Miers to the Wing, and vice-versa with Mannagh.

Culture is not uniformity. They all have different characteristics & strengths, but row in the same direction for the right reason (the Team).

If we end up with a Bailey Smith or Tarryn Thomas, it in not because the Cats changed. It is because the Cats are confident the player will change.

The Big Hawk is such a case to point. Not once during his contract-signing-delay did anyone doubt that all parties would do the right thing by the Team.

ADDED:
Jezza celebrating others’ goals. Danger’s joy dishing out goal-assists at the 2022 Grand Final. Being ultra-competitive and team-first is an amazing elixir. Culture is what gets rewarded and what gets punished ("how we do things around here")

Forget Tarryn Thomas, you can't build the midfield around him as the premium type... Needs to be Smith or a Gun First Rounder in the Top 10.

 

[CatRiot]

I don't think we need to worry too much.

If the cost of Smith is 2x first round picks, then he's clearly had an awesome year and every club would be falling over themselves to sign the deal.

If he's on the cheap, he's had a poor year and the off-field issues may have got the best of him...but similar to Steven, Clark and so on, it's a hit in hope that doesn't cost much, and if it fails you just cut your losses and move on.

Smith after a bad year, and OOC, and you could be looking at a Late First Round pick. Could very well be a firesale scenario. If we have an Early First round pick inside Top 6 (after a bad year), then we could even ask for something back like a late 2nd round pick. Hello Kitty style. Or is it Hello Puppy style. Take your pick

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Smith after a bad year, and OOC, and you could be looking at a Late First Round pick. Could very well be a firesale scenario. If we have an Early First round pick inside Top 6 (after a bad year), then we could even ask for something back like a late 2nd round pick. Hello Kitty style. Or is it Hello Puppy style. Take your pick

I think if he has a poor year, it could be even cheaper than a late first, and in all honesty, I'd reconsider looking at him at all if that's the case.

In this hypothetical, that would be 2 and a half years of poor football. It would be October 2024, so a farcry from September 2021 where he would have last reached the form we're looking for.

He'd be falling into the flash in the pan category, rather than the elite young mid we need to finish off this midfield rebuild.

If all of that happens (admittedly, a long way to go) I'd really consider looking at another target, or finishing off the rebuild through the draft

I think we tend to overlook other players flaws when we're not seeing them every week, where as we write off our own after 1 or 2 poor weeks.

If one of our players hadn't played well in almost 3 years, I wouldn't even want to imagine how we'd react here. We couldn't wait to get rid of them quick enough, but we seem to change that for opposition targets.

 

[FootyLad0]

I was hoping we'd get someone with real speed that could play on the outside... Strange we didn't tbh, but maybe they think Mannagh can do the job, and perhaps they will send Miers to the Wing, and vice-versa with Mannagh.

I suggested this on an earlier post last week. Miers doesn't need to be a goalkicking threat if we have Jezza, Tomahawk, O Henry, Stengle, Close, Rohan and now Mannagh down there.

He can focus on his two way running and driving the ball from deep defensively up the ground. Then getting onto delivery into the forward 50. That's what modern day wingers do. Mannagh can swap with him as a half forward to wing change.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Smith and N Daicos are becoming very chummy

Collingwood dont have the picks to get it done so daicos and smith being business partners is irrelevant. Hawthorn are the real threat re smith.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

A.McGrath for a speedy back pocket.

Brodie Smith, Florent or Cumming for the back flank.

Marshall for up front.

We'd have to look into McLuggage too for outside midfielder class.

One of these and Bailey Smith would do nicely. A few will sign new contracts though, no doubt.

I like mcgrath. I wouldnt pay picks for him as i doubt he will ever be a full time mid. But as a decent small defender if they would not match and we get him for cash only (depends how low on the ladder they finish next year).
I have similar thoughts on florent, i doubt getting cumming out of gws will be easy.
Duggan might be a realistic target as a defender.

Mcluggage would be perfect i imagine brisbanes cap is pretty close to maxed, id offer him around 1 mil a year and frontload it heavily in 2025 to test them.

Not against marshall if we cant get lord.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Brisbane have already been working on a new contract with him since start of 2023

They’ll match pretty much anything for him.

Yeah but if they do that it will push someone else out because they have a lot of other young guys that will be needing massive pay rises over rhe next few years. So they keep him but it pushes someone else onto the table for us.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Not against marshall if we cant get lord.

I'd take Marshall over Lord every day of the week. Marshall is quality. Lord battles hard but one final with the ball falling his way doesn't convince me he isn't a Josh Walker type. The rest of his season was uninspiring at best.

 

[FootyLad0]

Collingwood dont have the picks to get it done so daicos and smith being business partners is irrelevant. Hawthorn are the real threat re smith.

At the end of the day it matters where Bailey wants to be.

If he says he wants to go to Hawks then it doesn't matter what we have in capital, vice versa if he says make me a Cat then its on us to get it done (I would trust Wells and Mackie would get it done) and hawks are out of the picture.

For what though is the question?

 

[Kobe Gryant]

I like mcgrath. I wouldnt pay picks for him as i doubt he will ever be a full time mid. But as a decent small defender if they would not match and we get him for cash only (depends how low on the ladder they finish next year).
I have similar thoughts on florent, i doubt getting cumming out of gws will be easy.
Duggan might be a realistic target as a defender.

Mcluggage would be perfect i imagine brisbanes cap is pretty close to maxed, id offer him around 1 mil a year and frontload it heavily in 2025 to test them.

Not against marshall if we cant get lord.

I'd say both Marshall & Lord would be 3rd and 4th options behind the likes of Cadman & JUH.

Both country kids originally, and when we have the cap space to do it we like to go the big fish.

Marshall & Lord aren't really what we need either. We've already got Neale & Henry, and even Edwards can pinch hit there as well.

We've already got the supporting cast types sorted, all that we lack down there for the future is a genuine number 1 key forward to replace Hawkins, like a Cadman, JUH or McDonald.

Unless they have breakout years, Marshall & Lord are very similar to what we've already got IMO.

 

[FootyLad0]

Yeah but if they do that it will push someone else out because they have a lot of other young guys that will be needing massive pay rises over rhe next few years. So they keep him but it pushes someone else onto the table for us.

That Hipwood contract looking like a major albatross LOL

 

[year of the cat]

I'd take Marshall over Lord every day of the week. Marshall is quality. Lord battles hard but one final with the ball falling his way doesn't convince me he isn't a Josh Walker type. The rest of his season was uninspiring at best.

Read the first line without knowing the context and thought you were comparing Dennis Marshall and Alistair Lord.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Yeah but if they do that it will push someone else out because they have a lot of other young guys that will be needing massive pay rises over rhe next few years. So they keep him but it pushes someone else onto the table for us.

I've got no idea how Brisbane are staying within the cap. It feels like most of their team are guns on huge deals or trade ins poached for massive overs.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Brisbane have another ashcroft coming that will be an early r1. Even if they get band 1... its probably 15 to 20 ...and gets eaten up by a bid. Cant see them not matching and trying to arrange a trade involving futures and later picks for points..if not players.



Bottom teams need some sort of protection . North should have recieved something for McKay. Maybe end of R1..which this year would be close to P30 ... is there any doubt that they then match?

If we want FA ...then lets have it. McKay has played 8 years a only been onvolved ina hand full of wins. Is it any wonder why he wants to look elsewhere.IMO... The whole concept of RFA is a fraud. Its like being half pregnant and compensation for Free Agency should be looked at after this year. At the most end of r1 for bottom sides...but teams in finals...would have little problems using the cap space to attract a replacement sooner or later.


McL .. should be a unrestricted FA. He has played 8 years for the club. ..and being a finals team..Brisbane get no compensation bar more room in their cap if he wants to move. ... but we are long way from that atm.

Yes zorko might retire but im not sure that frees up as much cash as people think. Guys like coleman bailey rayner ashcroft fletcher plus a few others including mckenna will need pay rises and they already have dunkley and neale on close to 1mil per year plus a few others on big $. If we offer 1.2 a year to hugh im sure they can technically match (and we could walk away) but then they will probably have to trade others to stay under the cap which is a good result for us.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

At the end of the day it matters where Bailey wants to be.

If he says he wants to go to Hawks then it doesn't matter what we have in capital, vice versa if he says make me a Cat then its on us to get it done (I would trust Wells and Mackie would get it done) and hawks are out of the picture.

For what though is the question?

It does but my point is he cant get to collingwood (because they have no r1 and dont have the viable players in the right age to trade out to get one) so he wont nominate them to begin with. I think the hawks might appeal to him because they can outbid anyone else cash wise plus may have an exciting list.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I've got no idea how Brisbane are staying within the cap. It feels like most of their team are guns on huge deals or trade ins poached for massive overs.

I assume a lot of the big deals they announced this year (guys like hipwood and cameron etc and paynes 5 year deal) are probably heavily backended and they are banking on the cap rising a lot in order to make the numbers work. But still if we offered hugh say like 1.2 a year for 6 years i think it would put a huge amount of pressure on their cap.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

At the end of the day it matters where Bailey wants to be.

If he says he wants to go to Hawks then it doesn't matter what we have in capital, vice versa if he says make me a Cat then its on us to get it done (I would trust Wells and Mackie would get it done) and hawks are out of the picture.

For what though is the question?

We have a lot of mids to have a look at in 2024.
With a bit of luck a few will come on and we won’t be looking at Bailey S at all…..

 

[Kobe Gryant]

We have a lot of mids to have a look at in 2024.
With a bit of luck a few will come on and we won’t be looking at Bailey S at all…..

Very true, but regardless the midfield is one of those positions that's constantly being churned over.

Universally, It feels like it's one of those things that's never really finished, and if there's a great mid at your draft pick, or wanting to come to your club, you just tend to make it happen regardless of who you already have.

We'll have a lot of cap space, and a guy like Smith is probably needed to help bridge the gap between Danger, Guthrie, & Blicavs to Clark, Bruhn, & Holmes.

We'd be going from really old to really young very quickly, so a midfielder in their prime would help ease that transition from old to young.

 

[Mr Meow]

We have a lot of mids to have a look at in 2024.
With a bit of luck a few will come on and we won’t be looking at Bailey S at all…..

In the next year or two, midfield wise we have

Out: Dangerfield, Duncan, C.Guthrie, Blicavs

Even if all 3 of Clark, Knevitt, Stevens come on really well as soon as 2024 I'd say we'd take a look at Smith. A 24 year old midfielder prime midfielder in Smith, with Atkins the more senior head and the kids entering the 21/22 year old bracket.

 

[FootyLad0]

We'd be going from really old to really young very quickly, so a midfielder in their prime would help ease that transition from old to young.

Saw a post today that we have he 4th MOST players on our list from ages 18-21 in the entire League, i believe only behind Eagles, Tigers and someone else? Teams like Pies/Lions etc have very little amount of players in that age group and it makes sense.
When you're competing for Premierships its rare you'll have a super young side. Most guys will be in that middle age to older age range where they are physically ready for the tolls of Finals footy.

Ages 25-30 is probably where most contenders will have the biggest glut of a player age group which is where we were with a bit more lean into the 30 and over group in 2022 (oldest AFL/VFL side ever)

However, we also still have the most guys over 30 so our big gap is in the middle age group around 24-28.
Bringing in guys like Mannagh help bridge that gap. B Smith when he's OOC would also be the same IF he says he wants to be a Cat. Getting guys in that age range is never a bad thing, it'll only be a few years and a majority of the young guys weve drafted/recruited will be around that 24/25 year old age range.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Saw a post today that we have he 4th MOST players on our list from ages 18-21 in the entire League, i believe only behind Eagles, Tigers and someone else? Teams like Pies/Lions etc have very little amount of players in that age group and it makes sense.
When you're competing for Premierships its rare you'll have a super young side. Most guys will be in that middle age to older age range where they are physically ready for the tolls of Finals footy.

Ages 25-30 is probably where most contenders will have the biggest glut of a player age group which is where we were with a bit more lean into the 30 and over group in 2022 (oldest AFL/VFL side ever)

However, we also still have the most guys over 30 so our big gap is in the middle age group around 24-28.
Bringing in guys like Mannagh help bridge that gap. B Smith when he's OOC would also be the same IF he says he wants to be a Cat. Getting guys in that age range is never a bad thing, it'll only be a few years and a majority of the young guys weve drafted/recruited will be around that 24/25 year old age range.

Great post.

We're in a strange spot where we're really old and really young simultaneously.

The majority of our guns are either too young, or past their prime as you mention. The hole is the 25-30 range.

Because of that, we're a tough side to gauge and I genuinely believe anything is possible next year. Neither a premiership or bottom 4 would be a surprise IMO.

We'll have a huge amount of cap space in the coming years, so I reckon we'll either commit to finishing off the rebuild through the draft, or go big in the trade period and try to finish it with Cadman, JUH & Smith types (similar to 2015)

If I was to guess, I'd say the clubs goal will be aiming to start a sustainable premiership window in about 3 or 4 years time.

Our kids will be approaching their prime years by then, and because that group has been built from the ground up it'll have a 5-6 year window of winning a premiership, rather than the 'flag or bust' narrative we had for most of the 2010s.

For instance, a group like this in 2026 or 2027 with a long premiership window ahead of them is the goal I think the club is aiming for.

Incremental development and improvement year on year, with additions through FA/Draft with the end goal of winning premierships.

It won't look exactly like this, but off the top of my head and guessing 2-4 years into the future, I'd say we'd be looking at something like this.

Prime movers

Toby Conway - Ruck
Mitch Edwards - Ruck/Forward
Jhye Clark - Mid
Max Holmes - Mid/Wing
Bailey Smith* - Mid/Wing
Mitch Knevitt - Mid
Tanner Bruhn - Mid
Ollie Dempsey - Mid/Forward
Oisin Mullin - General Defender
Connor O'Sullivan - Key Defender
Sam De Koning - Key Defender
Ollie Henry - General Forward
Shannon Neale - Key Forward
Aaron Cadman* - Key Forward


Veteran experience

Jack Henry - General Defender
Zach Guthrie - General Defender
Gryan Miers - Small Forward
Brad Close - Small Forward
Tyson Stengle - Small Forward
Jack Bowes - Mid/Defender
Shaun Mannagh - Mid/Forward
Hugh McCluggage* - Mid/Wing


**Possible inclusions over the coming years. Might not be these exact names, but similar types.