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

[Lana]

All clubs would have a similar or better group coming through.
Lets hope our system improves their potential.

That is to be expected, with our list build strategy since we brought in Danger. At some point it was going to end. I don't think we're starting at zero. Nor have we done a Richmond and Hawthorn and brought in expensive players that didn't provide real value which sets them back. I think the club is still in two minds, our list is for now, but our investments are for the future.

We also have the upside in is that we don't need our younger players to perform (plus the guys we are drafting this year) from R1 next year, they'll have protection and another year of physical development. North, WCE etc don't get that, their kids get battered each week.

 

[dangerwood]

I don't think anyone said it is.

I'm pretty confident on the big 4 (Clark, Holmes, Knevitt, Bruhn) all making it in some way, shape or form, but we're at minimum 1 more away, probably 2.

I like Clohesy & Willis, but they're a bit more in bonus territory for me. Would love if they did make it, but not something I'm prepared to bank on.

Very confident on Dempsey, but he's a burst forward/mid, rather than a meat & potatoes contested beast.

Another high pick midfielder this year, and Bailey Smith next year would be one way of going about finishing it off, and then we can turn our attention to other areas.

However, I think the point that foxdog50 is getting at, is there's a lot of investment there already, and we can hold off finishing it this year if that's the route the club chooses to take.

Drafting someone like Caddy for the post Hawk/Jez era for instance, or getting the backline sorted long term with O'Sullivan, Curtin, Murphy or ZZ.

Well they were asking the question "how many midfielders should we take?" After listing the potential of the ones we already have. I agree there is some potential, but my response is that I can't be confident in what we have based on the evidence so would still take best available player midfield or not.

 

[Lana]

I still think Clay Hall is criminally underrated. Quick, big tank, lovely left foot, finds lots of the ball. If we split our first (I think we will) I wouldnt mind ignoring the phantom drafts and taking him in the first round.

When I look at some of the names thrown around, I can't help but feel that deficiencies in some areas of the draft (blue chip KPP) have tarred it as a whole. I think there are a ton of good midfield prospects this year. We just don't have the picks to grab a group of them.

 

[year of the cat]

I still think Clay Hall is criminally underrated. Quick, big tank, lovely left foot, finds lots of the ball. If we split our first (I think we will) I wouldnt mind ignoring the phantom drafts and taking him in the first round.

He’d be one we could trade back into the third round to take I reckon. I like him too.

 

[Gee Class Loco]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

I think we might like Georgie Boy for his character as well as his footy ability.

Can't have enough good people at your footy club. Ripping fella with leadership, it's about as much as you can ask for with a later pick.

 

[petrolium]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

Probably suggests we’re not going to take Caddy then.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

That is to be expected, with our list build strategy since we brought in Danger. At some point it was going to end. I don't think we're starting at zero. Nor have we done a Richmond and Hawthorn and brought in expensive players that didn't provide real value which sets them back. I think the club is still in two minds, our list is for now, but our investments are for the future.

We also have the upside in is that we don't need our younger players to perform (plus the guys we are drafting this year) from R1 next year, they'll have protection and another year of physical development. North, WCE etc don't get that, their kids get battered each week.

Agree with this, and I think we'll be settling on one of them in 12 months time.

However, if you look across the league, it's a pretty common conundrum for mine.

You can mount an argument that everybody outside of the absolute top end, and absolute cellar dwellers, that every club is picking 6 one way and half a dozen the other.

Collingwood? They're looking at the here and now, with outside of Daicos (Who is admittedly a superstar) a lack of preparation for the future.

Brisbane are a similar story. Port probably epitomize the two minds theory more than anybody, with some great talent coming through, but a clear list strategy of topping up for the now and sacrificing of draft capital.

Even a club like Essendon, who looked like they knew their direction of an upwards trajectory driven by youth over the coming years, seem to have changed things up over the off-season.

I can only assume they expected a little more from the likes of Reid, Cox & Perkins by now, but it does seem like they don't quite know where they're going.

Just off the top of my head, this is what we're looking at:

Here and now
Collingwood
Brisbane
Melbourne
Carlton?
Port

6 one way, half a dozen the other
Geelong
Western Bulldogs
Richmond
Essendon
St Kilda
GWS

Upwards trajectory you'd think
Adelaide
Sydney
Freo?
Gold Coast?

Rebuilding
West Coast
North
Hawthorn

****************

 

[CatRiot]

The potential is there...maybe...

I struggle to find evidence to be confident about our current young midfield being able to carry this team forward.

Willis - I think has some talent but hasn't been able to get on the park and when he has he's shown a bit but not enough yet, couldn't say he will make it with any confidence.

Clohesy - At this stage he's just a tryer, could improve but he's a poor man's Atkins at this stage.

Clark - I loved the qtr we saw him vs the blues but that's been it, showed more in that qtr than he did in the VFL. I'm bullish on him but evidence is limited.

Bruhn - Im a Luke warm Bruhn fan but he is limited, will be a solid contributor but we will need more to compete with strong midfields in the future.

Holmes - Hates body contact, wing is his best bet.

Knevitt - Ive gone back and forth on him, loved his game vs the dogs, shouldn't have been dropped after that but after he was dropped it didn't show as much. I was convinced after the dogs game but now I'm a bit confused. Couldn't confidently say he is a lock.

So from above I'm most confident on Clark but it's based on 1 qtr of footy (not enough) Luke warm on Bruhn and uncertain on knevitt.

I don't feel there's the evidence to be confident our midfields sorted. Id still happily draft some midfielders.

That group of mids probably just needs a top line draft pick in there that's ready made, like a R Sanders. It just raises the competitiveness of the next gen when you have a bull mid. Think B Smith could do the trick as well. And dare I say, so could George the Animal Steele/Stevens, the ManBeast.

Even if we split to take Leake and then, failing the availability of Wilson and Windsor, look at Edwards I’d be happy with that outcome.

Leake and Edwards overlap, both are defender/mids, but both can go goal side... whereas Wilson is mainly goal side. You might do better going Wilson and then one of Leake or Edwards. But think Wilson and Leake will both be gone by our next pick whether its 20 (from Crows in a trade) or 25 (ours).

 

[CatRiot]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

Rudd. Scotty Lucas Clone.

 

[Two Planks]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

Can never have to many St Mary's boys in your team

 

[year of the cat]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

Hopefully both with late picks.

 

[Two Planks]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

That does fit with what Mackie said publicly that we want to strengthen with mids and key forwards.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Watching that clip ... so much upfield elusive type play.., the dance around , the side step and the low centre of gravity.... he seem to have power thru traffic . and he was creative.. a bit different from the player I expected who kicked 70 odd goals as a small forward. No overhead marks was a stat I saw about NDacois ... and watching Watson ..he reminded me of a ND or even a GA29. Yes the height thing is a consideration but Im not sure that we coudl totally rule out that he plays other roles ..not just a FP. Ball in hand ..is there a better talent this year?

A club might select him and be made a fool... a club might pass him up and look a bigger fool. I cant see how he gets to us... and if he did ..would we not select him based on Close and Stengle? I sort of doubt it ..and anywayStengle is OOC at the end of 24 and a Free Agent.. are we certain he is at Geelong long term?

I agree on whats watson is he clearly is the 3rd most talented player after reid and walter. But his height is going to limit him playing MF. If he was say a kpf id just say take him anyway and trade one of the other ones we have (as talls hold their trade value). But small fwds dont tend to hold the same trade value (rankine was more the exception not the rule). Miers isnt going anywhere and i dont think we could play 4 smalls in the front half long term unless we change the gameplan (think richmond 2017). My concwrn would be then that we take watson and it pushes say stengle out we might get say band 3/4 compo at best (or nothing if we take another FA()) or say a pick in the 40s at best.

If we had the obsence amount of top 10 picks gc/gws had id say just risk it anyway as watson will be A grade. But when you have limited top 10s like us you need to get the best possible ROI from those picks imo. And im not sure spending 8 on watson (when that pick could otherwise be used to get a top end kpd or mid that we need more) to then trade close for a r3 is the best ROI. If you could get watson in and trade the other small out for a r1 then thats different but i doubt that happens.

I can see why people want him though hes a class player i just dont think its the right fit for us.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

That does fit with what Mackie said publicly that we want to strengthen with mids and key forwards.

Id take rudd on leadership alone (great there) but only as a late pick because undersized 3rd talls have a strong bust history at afl level.

Stevens is interesting..hes a great list fit for us but are we prepared to use 25 on him and will he make it to 50ish if we dont?

 

[year of the cat]

Id take rudd on leadership alone (great there) but only as a late pick because undersized 3rd talls have a strong bust history at afl level.

Stevens is interesting..hes a great list fit for us but are we prepared to use 25 on him and will he make it to 50ish if we dont?

We could get Rudd with one of our late picks or as a rookie. Stevens, if we are keen, trading back into the third round. Think there’s better players that will be available at 25.

 

[dangerwood]

Things you hear when u are out and about.
Take it as u will.
We have a falcon in our sights.
Michael Rudd.
We love the big Warrnambool lad.
George Stevens.

I've heard we're not sold on Stevens...don't dislike but are uncertain about taking him at 25.

 

[dangerwood]

That's just not the case, and a bit of a lazy take IMO.

We're not Port (Who funnily enough, are about to have three years without a first round pick), but we're creaking into the upper echelon.

It's not 2017 anymore, these aren't Hayball & House types that we're pinning our hopes on.

There's room for improvement for sure, and it's by no means finished....but this is a pretty good group we've got coming through at the moment

Not every club has a kid kicking 40 goals in a season in Ollie Henry, arguably the best young key back in the game in SDK, and three first round mids coming through in Bruhn, Holmes & Clark with another 2 (or 3) top 30 picks in a few days time.

They don't all have a VFL TOTY kid coming through in Dempsey, and highly rated young players with big rapts in Neale, Conway & Knevitt.

They don't all have an All Australian small forward in Stengle, a fringe AA in Jack Henry (when healthy), and some quality best 22 players in Bowes, Miers, Close & Zuthrie all still 25 and under.

You're a quality poster mate, and I'm probably a bit more of a 'list nerd' than many, but to act like every club just has that lying around is pretty lazy.

Our investment in that group over the last few years is only matched (or exceeded) by the genuine basket cases in Norf, GC, & Hawthorn.

Go over every club's list, or just check out some club boards. You'll find that they're not as happy with the state of their lists as many would think.

I think you need to be conscious of considering other people's opinions lazy just because they are different to yours. You're clearly confident about some of the youth we have and others are yet to be convinced (I for one am not saying it's bad I just think the evidence is limited on some of the players others are convinced will be good) I don't think that's a lazy take.

 

[BORIS332]

I've heard we're not sold on Stevens...don't dislike but are uncertain about taking him at 25.

I wouldn’t draft him at all based on what I’ve seen. Way, way too slow.

 

[year of the cat]

I wouldn’t draft him at all based on what I’ve seen. Way, way too slow.

Have similar reservations. Happy to use a pick from the third round on but there’s others I’d prioritise even then.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I think you need to be conscious of considering other people's opinions lazy just because they are different to yours. You're clearly confident about some of the youth we have and others are yet to be convinced (I for one am not saying it's bad I just think the evidence is limited on some of the players others are convinced will be good) I don't think that's a lazy take.

That's fair.

But it's also hard to look at SDK, Holmes, Bruhn and O Henry and argue we aren't in the best position in terms of talented young players we've been in for a long time.

I struggle to think of a time in the last 10 years we've had 1 key player with that inexperience. Mainly we've given games to guys as role players on flanks. Some have made it some haven't.

But SDK is our number 1 key defender, Holmes and Bruhn key mids and Henry showed heaps as the main forward when Hawkins or Cameron were out.

And clearly not every team has those kids playing key roles. To take the extreme example the youngest player for Richmond who wasn't dropped to the VFL for multiple games last year was Noah Balta whose just turned 24. Even if you don't rate all of those 4 for us we're clearly in a miles better place than Richmond.

 

[moond0g]

I agree on whats watson is he clearly is the 3rd most talented player after reid and walter. But his height is going to limit him playing MF. If he was say a kpf id just say take him anyway and trade one of the other ones we have (as talls hold their trade value). But small fwds dont tend to hold the same trade value (rankine was more the exception not the rule). Miers isnt going anywhere and i dont think we could play 4 smalls in the front half long term unless we change the gameplan (think richmond 2017). My concwrn would be then that we take watson and it pushes say stengle out we might get say band 3/4 compo at best (or nothing if we take another FA()) or say a pick in the 40s at best.

If we had the obsence amount of top 10 picks gc/gws had id say just risk it anyway as watson will be A grade. But when you have limited top 10s like us you need to get the best possible ROI from those picks imo. And im not sure spending 8 on watson (when that pick could otherwise be used to get a top end kpd or mid that we need more) to then trade close for a r3 is the best ROI. If you could get watson in and trade the other small out for a r1 then thats different but i doubt that happens.

I can see why people want him though hes a class player i just dont think its the right fit for us.

I agree he’s probably not the best fit given we have close, stengle & miers. And sounds like he’ll be gone by our pick anyway so it’s moot.

But not sure I agree on some of the other stuff. You say small forwards don’t hold value, but I’m not so sure. There just aren’t many taken very high in the draft, but those that are seem to hold value ok. E.g, I’d say all of rankine (obviously), Pickett, weightman would be worth more than what they were drafted at. Any club would give up and arm and a leg for Charlie Cameron.

I think with a high pick you just take the absolute best player. You’re better off adapting a game plan to the talent you have, not the other way around.

 

[Gee Class Loco]

I've heard we're not sold on Stevens...don't dislike but are uncertain about taking him at 25.

Neither do I on Stevens TBH.
Just what i heard with those involved with M.Rudd last night.

 

[dangerwood]

That's fair.

But it's also hard to look at SDK, Holmes, Bruhn and O Henry and argue we aren't in the best position in terms of talented young players we've been in for a long time.

I struggle to think of a time in the last 10 years we've had 1 key player with that inexperience. Mainly we've given games to guys as role players on flanks. Some have made it some haven't.

But SDK is our number 1 key defender, Holmes and Bruhn key mids and Henry showed heaps as the main forward when Hawkins or Cameron were out.

And clearly not every team has those kids playing key roles. To take the extreme example the youngest player for Richmond who wasn't dropped to the VFL for multiple games last year was Noah Balta whose just turned 24. Even if you don't rate all of those 4 for us we're clearly in a miles better place than Richmond.

Yeah I think we've got more young talent than we've had for a long time, we have a bunch of AFL standard players, I query how far some of those players will take us.

I admittedly am still coming to terms with what constitutes a good team these days. I do think the expanded league has thinned out the talent pool so can often be overly critical of some players when comparative to other teams they are probably around the mark.

I probably lean to the side of scepticism (must be in my Geelong DNA) good example being Miers, I never thought he would make it.

 

[dangerwood]

Neither do I on Stevens TBH.
Just what i heard with those involved with M.Rudd last night.

I would take him, I think he's worth the risk at 25. There's some question marks but he was nearly our best player in his VFL game for us.