Rumour GFC 2025 Player Trading, Drafting FA, Rumours and Wish lists Pt 1

[D BRIDGE]

I don't think the concessions will be GWS and Gold Coast-esque.

Probably will lean more towards them getting established players over a million draft picks.

 

[Lana]

If getting Rowell is being taken to the cleaners then soap me up

... I don't know where that idiom came from so I'm just assuming someone is showering me...?

You could probably find someone to help you through the NDIS, can't be guarenteed but semi decent odds they'd be a red heifer.

 

[Lana]

Probably will lean more towards them getting established players over a million draft picks.

Gonna be hard to set the right incentive structure on that.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Gonna be hard to set the right incentive structure on that.

I don't expect them to get it right.

 

[ShadowCat]

Jhye needs a big year or the prospect of packing his bags might be inevitable. Not only on his end but maybe also ours. I'm sure Scotty will still believe in him but how much is Jhye willing to be pushed back or left out if he can't put it together.

Don't want to see him go but if he can't crack a squad that still features old ass Duncan and broken down Cam Guthrie (who both should be easily replaced in best 23 for 2025 season) then that's a Clarky problem and not a Geelong one.

He's now competing with about 7/8 guys for midfield spots. And he's not as versatile as others like Smith or Holmes who can go play on a flank or rotate onto the wing. Bowes and Atkins already cover the tagger/defensive mid role. Blics is a unicorn who you can't really replicate. It would be rare if anybody could find a Dangerfield replacement in the entire League let alone Geelong...I haven't even mentioned players who can roll through as part time mids like Dempsey, Mannagh, Mullin, Stewart. Knevitt if he comes on as well will be pushing for a spot.

And that's with Mitch Duncan who should basically be relegated to a sub role or depth and Cuthrie who still needs to get back to his fitness and form of yesteryear.

He's got a lot of work to do.

If a rookie pick auskicker size Zuth got until he was 24 to get it together, then a highest pick since Joel Selwood Pick 8 in Jhye, will get a similar amount of time.

We're not booting a 20 year old, who basically lost a full season, and has only had 1 season to show his wares. Besides, he's already contracted until 2026, so he's got two years before we even start considering those discussions.

People really need to be patient sometimes. He's got intangibles that can't be taught. He's clearly building endurance and will take longer than some of the other guys, given his lighter frame. Knevitt was drafted a year earlier, and he's only finally hitting the point where he has an AFL size body. Give the kid time.

At this point in time, only mature age guys will be leaving, as there's very few guys on the list now who are worth delisting (2 off the top of my head are candidates), who are in that 23 and under bracket. All have significant upside, and all aren't just list cloggers. The rest are from the most recent draft.

All of:

Knevitt
Mullin
Clohesy
Jhye
Conway
M. Edwards
L. Humphries
C. O'Sullivan

All of the above are safe, IMO - unless one asks for more opportunity/trade elsewhere etc. Only Stevens and Wiltshire seem iffy, and even Wiltshire has showed some signs end of last year/this pre-season. Don't think we need to be considering any of the aforementioned, as needing to pack their bags, anytime soon - especially with the compromised drafts coming up.

I mean, just to further emphasize the point, I imagine that the MC are looking at our list going 'gee we're assembling a talented bunch of guys here...let's let them develop together and complete the rebuild on the run.' You only have to look at a potential 26 and under side, to see how much talent we could put together, if they all come on (plus Matt Rowell for fun):

B: Z. Guthrie, SDK, J. Henry
HB: L. Humphries, C. O'Sullivan, Mullin
C: Dempsey, M. Rowell, Miers
FO: Conway, Holmes, B. Smith
HF: O. Henry, M. Edwards, Clohesy
F: Close, S. Neale, Stengle
INT: Knevitt, Bruhn, J. Clark, Wiltshire

 

[CatToTheFuture]

It won't just be the 2027 draft.
I have no doubt that the AFL learned their lesson after the Suns.

So it will be 2 years of concessions just like what GWS received.

I thought gws traded their way to get that second year?

 

[CatToTheFuture]

We got Pods in the 2009 Rookie Draft, which was the year prior to the Suns' first draft. Bews was a father son, Blitz a cat B rookie and GHS, McCarthy, Murdoch, Kersten, Hamling were all busts imho.

I think we got a bunch of plates who played so be decent games and weren't superstars. If that's your definition of bust then pretty much every pick in every draft is a bust

 

[dazbroncos]

Gold Coast fan base more worried about the Rowell meeting that I expected. Said 'he never full settled down' and has 'likely met with other clubs.' Probably a 5% chance it happens, but the pitch of 'come be the next Selwood to complement Holmes and Smith', is pretty fantastic.

What I find most interesting though, is that this is the one that leaked. Obviously his manager, but reckon it could be along the lines of 'you pay my client this, and you show improvement, or my client will take the offer from Geelong.'

I just love that we never go for the small fish. All these other clubs with their little moves, and we're like 'nah'...Boak, Danger, Jez, Bailey, Curnow, Oliver, Butters, Rowell, that's the big fish we want. We don't always get who we want, but we always try - and we always put the fear of god into the sides that we try and take these players from.

Just a delight supporting a club that always wants to contend.

Agree on why it leaked now is the interesting part.
You have to think the obvious leaker is the manager.
Puts pressure on GCS to get Rowell re-signed and for a bigger slice of their pie as the mouths up north are increasing in their wants and $$ needs - so getting this out now forces GCS to meet the demands if they want to keep him.

And I’m sure it’s not just Geelong that met with him - but it’s interesting that the Cats is the club chosen to be the “meeting “ club

Still think it’s highly unlikely to pan out for us but it’s gonna be a long 2025 discussion now.

Go Catters

 

[Turbocat]

I don't think the concessions will be GWS and Gold Coast-esque.

Probably depends on what you describe as "GWS and Gold Coast-esque.” I guess we find out soon as the afl have to give clubs plenty of time to plan.

If I were to guess the advantages given will probably taken into account all that has happened in past expansion and they will be conscious of what happens if clubs flounder around for years waiting for talent to develop.

They have a history now of seeing what happens if you allow clubs to try to setup with tainted gifts from other clubs , with extreme access to draft in one year , with access to sub draft talent , with picks that must be traded and access to uncontracted players as free agents….

My guess is draft concessions over multiple years , access of some sort to play now talent at clubs with a restriction of how many from each club , a bigger list and an expanded sal cap

 

[00VicWard001]

That was the obvious answer, so if I were Scott I'd be telling Rowell that 'if you want to come to the GFC you tell your agent to keep his mouth shut.If he doesn't do that we'll take your answer to be no.'

It's also useful to us if other clubs are aware. If some other club outbids us or he stays for a higher salary at GC, then it closes the door for that club to chase other players. Mackie would have 3-4 good midfielders in his sights.

 

[Tony Barber]

I thought gws traded their way to get that second year?

No. The GWS concessions were spread across 2 drafts. It was way smarter.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Would be very hard to get Reid at the end of next year if we snagged Rowell at the end of this year?

That's unless GC hooked us up with another golden deal.

 

[Tony Barber]

Would be very hard to get Reid at the end of next year if we snagged Rowell at the end of this year?

That's unless GC hooked us up with another golden deal.

Mate, we aren't getting Reid.

 

[Footy Smarts]

The counter argument to that is we are the perfect side to balance out his weaknesses though as we have holmes/Dempsey and Smith on the wings and a fleet of A grade quick small forwards. We lack a first possession clearance animal to replace dangerfield so he would be a good fit for us. If you have Rowell and bruhn as your key clearance guys surrounded by the outside types it's a good mix.

I think this mistakes how players change over their careers. Most players become more inside over the course of their careers.

To me Holmes, Dempsey and Smith look like genuine midfielders in the making. Their playing styles are not much different from guys like Selwood, Ablett and Guthrie who started as outside players and second rotation mids but progressed to be gun inside players. We want these guys to be Rolls Royce midfielders when they're 24-30.

If these guys develop as we hope they'll be way too good to be wasted out on the wings just so we can pay through the nose for a good clearance player with other major weaknesses in his game.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Mate, we aren't getting Reid.

This news has broken me

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Would be very hard to get Reid at the end of next year if we snagged Rowell at the end of this year?

That's unless GC hooked us up with another golden deal.

I assume this is an either/or situation

 

[CatToTheFuture]

This news has broken me

Thoughts and prayers D

 

[cats_09]

Surely the only way we are even a chance of getting Reid is if we totally gut the squad to the point where we're playing worse than North & finishing a distant last on the ladder, plus Reid has done a couple of season ending injuries where other clubs are questioning his long term prospects

Otherwise we're best off hoping for a change to the FA requirements, such as dropping the 'restricted FA' thing to start with - Reid then selects us and there's no competition from elsewhere

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Surely the only way we are even a chance of getting Reid is if we totally gut the squad to the point where we're playing worse than North & finishing a distant last on the ladder, plus Reid has done a couple of season ending injuries where other clubs are questioning his long term prospects

Otherwise we're best off hoping for a change to the FA requirements, such as dropping the 'restricted FA' thing to start with - Reid then selects us and there's no competition from elsewhere

Everyone says this but it's predicated on the assumption that trading players is fair, when in reality it can't be

 

[D BRIDGE]

Surely the only way we are even a chance of getting Reid is if we totally gut the squad to the point where we're playing worse than North & finishing a distant last on the ladder, plus Reid has done a couple of season ending injuries where other clubs are questioning his long term prospects

Otherwise we're best off hoping for a change to the FA requirements, such as dropping the 'restricted FA' thing to start with - Reid then selects us and there's no competition from elsewhere

If a player is OOC they tend to get to their chosen destination club.

My concern would be that we have just given up a R1 for Smith… we’d need to give up at least an R1 for Rowell (if he selected us) and then we’d be hard up under AFL rules to trade all our future R1s for Reid.

It’s all pie in the sky stuff anyway but if we thought Ried was a chance to want to come to us at the end of next year, I think we’d make it happen or at least posture for it.

Going for Rowell makes me thinks it’s very unlikely.

 

[dudusmaximus]

Everyone says this but it's predicated on the assumption that trading players is fair, when in reality it can't be

It is but for this reason that the "Company" has <cough>a Farm Portfolio, made-up positions in local industry, schools of fish and massive surf-generators out at sea

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Mate, we aren't getting Reid.

Rowell or LDU would be fantastic additions as clearance specialists.
We have plenty of outside run so an elite inside distributor would really lift overall performance.

Reid is a watch for me - he is a talent no doubt , but he has come back heavy from the break.
Will be interesting how he shapes up in season two.

 

[Tony Barber]

If a player is OOC they tend to get to their chosen destination club.

My concern would be that we have just given up a R1 for Smith… we’d need to give up at least an R1 for Rowell (if he selected us) and then we’d be hard up under AFL rules to trade all our future R1s for Reid.

It’s all pie in the sky stuff anyway but if we thought Ried was a chance to want to come to us at the end of next year, I think we’d make it happen or at least posture for it.

Going for Rowell makes me thinks it’s very unlikely.

You've got to think of it like this.

1/ If you were Reid, what would you want? $15-20 million over 10 years.
2/ If Reid was ours. What would we want.

He would take 3 first rounders and someone like Holmes. If he decides to come back to Vic, someone will have to sell the farm.
It would be the biggest trade in history. He's better off staying where he is.

 

[Tony Barber]

Rowell or LDU would be fantastic additions as clearance specialists.
We have plenty of outside run so an elite inside distributor would really lift overall performance.

Reid is a watch for me - he is a talent no doubt , but he has come back heavy from the break.
Will be interesting how he shapes up in season two.

he didn't come back heavy. There was one poor photo.

 

[Hinkley29]

We got Pods in the 2009 Rookie Draft, which was the year prior to the Suns' first draft. Bews was a father son, Blitz a cat B rookie and GHS, McCarthy, Murdoch, Kersten, Hamling were all busts imho.

Murdoch played 108 games for Geelong (122 in total) after being drafted at pick 48.

Linc has played over 150 games after being drafted at pick 66.

They are massive draft successes.