Preview Round 16, 2023: West Coast v St.Kilda - Optus Stadium, Sunday 2nd July, 4:40PM AEST *WILKIE 100TH*

[BrutThough]

My feeling is his value is zero so might as well try to get him in and see what he can do. He either steps up under Lyon or he flops and gets delisted. At the moment he's probably not getting anything a trade.

And if Gresh is gone, it probably serves the list best to keep him so we still have some talent/experience in the half forward role than let them both go for peanuts.

 

[gringo2011]

That’s the most important thing if move Gresh and say Billing’s

How we use it , the picks and the money

If we move on those 2 and bring in Flanders and another similar type player

List needs a shake up imo

We just have to take our 1st round pick to the draft

I reckon we are exposed for depth so have to make the call to either go backwards and try to stay down and draft up or go for finals and hope that getting into finals attracts free agents and trades in. I'm more inclined to go for it. We can't afford another 5 years hoping that the fourth failed rebuild in a row will finally pay off. I was talking to two Saints supporters on Sunday. The less passionate ones are almost ready to give up on footy.

Flanders probably costs our FRDP. He was pick 11 in a really good draft and only 21 and looks like he's showing promise. I think they'll be getting a bit of interest in him.

Gresham looks like he gone so perhaps if we could turn his compo into Flanders that's a break even. Billings is contracted, unless we are giving up a pick for others take him he's going to be sticking around.

I reckon Billings is hated for being a high pick, if he'd been a late pick he would be seen a lot different. To me he just has to be best 22, not a star. If he could do a James Aish I think most would be happy.

 

[Yawkey way]

That’s the most important thing if move Gresh and say Billing’s

How we use it , the picks and the money

If we move on those 2 and bring in Flanders and another similar type player

List needs a shake up imo

We just have to take our 1st round pick to the draft

I’d go to the draft and bring in some cut price experienced needs based guys like a Jarryd Lyons along with an unloved youngster. Flanders played well on the weekend so maybe we’ve missed that window but there are others. An experienced mid at a throw away pick stops us going backward, provides depth, won’t stop the young guys developing and leaves our higher picks free to load up in the draft again.

It‘s always messy with essendon but how we would land parish as a free agent with gresham leaving is a puzzle. Tdk no thanks, Bergman for our first no thanks. I’m sure we’re looking at other players we haven’t heard about but I’m not keen so far.

 

[Mowman]

I reckon we are exposed for depth so have to make the call to either go backwards and try to stay down and draft up or go for finals and hope that getting into finals attracts free agents and trades in. I'm more inclined to go for it. We can't afford another 5 years hoping that the fourth failed rebuild in a row will finally pay off. I was talking to two Saints supporters on Sunday. The less passionate ones are almost ready to give up on footy.

Flanders probably costs our FRDP. He was pick 11 in a really good draft and only 21 and looks like he's showing promise. I think they'll be getting a bit of interest in him.

Gresham looks like he gone so perhaps if we could turn his compo into Flanders that's a break even. Billings is contracted, unless we are giving up a pick for others take him he's going to be sticking around.

I reckon Billings is hated for being a high pick, if he'd been a late pick he would be seen a lot different. To me he just has to be best 22, not a star. If he could do a James Aish I think most would be happy.

I don’t hate Billing’s but 8 games in nearly two years we have to do something different after doing the same crap for 10 years and going nowhere. Port bit the bullet to get into the draft and has paid of well for them

We can’t let the past dictate what we do moving forward, be brave and try to make something happen as the last 10 odd years has taken us nowhere and made us irrelevant

Be happy if we did something like the Whitfield rumour take his wage and get their 1st pick if that means moving Gresh and Billing’s on its a win imo.

 

[gringo2011]

I’d go to the draft and bring in some cut price experienced needs based guys like a Jarryd Lyons along with an unloved youngster. Flanders played well on the weekend so maybe we’ve missed that window but there are others. An experienced mid at a throw away pick stops us going backward, provides depth, won’t stop the young guys developing and leaves our higher picks free to load up in the draft again.

It‘s always messy with essendon but how we would land parish as a free agent with gresham leaving is a puzzle. Tdk no thanks, Bergman for our first no thanks. I’m sure we’re looking at other players we haven’t heard about but I’m not keen so far.

I reckon a player like Lyons or M Crouch makes sense. They are old so won't hold out a kid coming through but saves us from being smashed when we get an injury or form drop off.

 

[Yawkey way]

I reckon we are exposed for depth so have to make the call to either go backwards and try to stay down and draft up or go for finals and hope that getting into finals attracts free agents and trades in. I'm more inclined to go for it. We can't afford another 5 years hoping that the fourth failed rebuild in a row will finally pay off. I was talking to two Saints supporters on Sunday. The less passionate ones are almost ready to give up on footy.

Flanders probably costs our FRDP. He was pick 11 in a really good draft and only 21 and looks like he's showing promise. I think they'll be getting a bit of interest in him.

Gresham looks like he gone so perhaps if we could turn his compo into Flanders that's a break even. Billings is contracted, unless we are giving up a pick for others take him he's going to be sticking around.

I reckon Billings is hated for being a high pick, if he'd been a late pick he would be seen a lot different. To me he just has to be best 22, not a star. If he could do a James Aish I think most would be happy.

We can do both it’s not an all or nothing situation. I think north had it right it part with del etc they just took it too far. We shouldn’t be ruling out older guys who can help us hold our ground while hitting the draft. We also shouldn’t rule out giving up high picks for the right players, anyone with 200 games left and the right quality and fit is fine. I would sound a word of caution on the flanders types, he’s starting to come on but that’s some midfield GC have so he’s not under a lot of pressure. In the draft with a pick that high you’re hoping for A grade and we’ve hit with nas and the poo by the looks of it so I wouldn’t hand over our first for a guy who’s played a couple of good games, a second ok roll the dice if you think he’s your guy.

 

[gringo2011]

I don’t hate Billing’s but 8 games in nearly two years we have to do something different after doing the same crap for 10 years and going nowhere. Port bit the bullet to get into the draft and has paid of well for them

We can’t let the past dictate what we do moving forward, be brave and try to make something happen as the last 10 odd years has taken us nowhere and made us irrelevant

Be happy if we did something like the Whitfield rumour take his wage and get their 1st pick if that means moving Gresh and Billing’s on its a win imo.

Port are elite at turning guys of DMac quality where they have heap of similar players into high picks. They don't stuff many draft picks up which allows them to have too many of the same types too. There is a fine balance between rebuilding and bringing through kids. They get it exactly right. Sides like GC are always chasing mature guys trying to tip the balance the other way.

Billings, Clark, Coffield types are injury prone and probably aren't going to make it but their value is so minimal that we might as well persist. Get one right and you get a high end talent in. They are not really stopping any other moves at the moment. We have a heap of players to move on.

 

[gringo2011]

We can do both it’s not an all or nothing situation. I think north had it right it part with del etc they just took it too far. We shouldn’t be ruling out older guys who can help us hold our ground while hitting the draft. We also shouldn’t rule out giving up high picks for the right players, anyone with 200 games left and the right quality and fit is fine. I would sound a word of caution on the flanders types, he’s starting to come on but that’s some midfield GC have so he’s not under a lot of pressure. In the draft with a pick that high you’re hoping for A grade and we’ve hit with nas and the poo by the looks of it so I wouldn’t hand over our first for a guy who’s played a couple of good games, a second ok roll the dice if you think he’s your guy.

That's true but keeping the balance right is the job of the list managers. SOS and Gubby had better be on their game.

 

[Yawkey way]

I don’t hate Billing’s but 8 games in nearly two years we have to do something different after doing the same crap for 10 years and going nowhere. Port bit the bullet to get into the draft and has paid of well for them

We can’t let the past dictate what we do moving forward, be brave and try to make something happen as the last 10 odd years has taken us nowhere and made us irrelevant

Be happy if we did something like the Whitfield rumour take his wage and get their 1st pick if that means moving Gresh and Billing’s on its a win imo.

If we pull off something like that it’s gold, we get an A grader who replaces anything billings would deliver and a pick. I’m all for anything that actually makes sense and makes our list stronger. I’m dead set against doing things through frustration that see us treading water at best or going backwards.

Final thoughts on billings, he’s proven he can deliver 2 goals plus to the team as a half forward. He’s proven he can turn a match which few on our list will ever do. He’s proven he can win 25 plus touches a game over a season. Yes he’s done very little lately through injury, yes he was on production being overpaid but he has 1 year to go on a decent contract little trade value and we know his best is more than good enough to be best 22. So without the type of deal you’ve outlined I’m hanging onto him.

 

[Yawkey way]

That's true but keeping the balance right is the job of the list managers. SOS and Gubby had better be on their game.

My magic 8 ball predicts a disaster, I’m as worried as I’ve been about this off season.

 

[sauce_head]

The thing I hated most about Friday nights game was our forward line.
The thing about Pagan's Paddock was that it was built around King Carey holding ground. We vacated the forward half entirely on Friday night. Sat in aisle 30, during thr 3rd quarter we had every player the defensive side of the centre circle for large slabs of time. How do you kick a score with that?

I hope we come with a better offensive mind set against the Weagles from the coaches down and work on getting some flair again. Let the boys get back to having some fun as it's looking like a total grind for them at the moment which is no fun to watch as a supporter either.

Yeah you get the feeling that the assistants are no longer in control of the game plan…

 

[Diehard Saint]

How's what worked for us? Letting those two go would net us over a mill in cap space. If we get a couple of picks from it then great. Enough money to bring over a quality mid at another club and continue building through the draft

So who is the quality pick we’re getting?
would like to have that signed, sealed and delivered first.

That's so cute, I love how you think we can find and attract talent. We'd just over-pay a new bunch of kids who get lazy being the okay players in a s**t side and the same s**t will be on repeat....but some old half arsed HBF that needs a retirement package now that their knees are shot will come in to use all the salary cap but provide leadership and we had to use the money anyway....

We need to keep sprinkling glitter on this turd and hope that enough of a crust builds up that the smell gets contained. At the moment our only plan out is Tom DeKoning who would be like buying a jar of pickled fish to drown out the smell.

Sad, but true.

 

[beside the seaside]

I don’t hate Billing’s but 8 games in nearly two years we have to do something different after doing the same crap for 10 years and going nowhere. Port bit the bullet to get into the draft and has paid of well for them

We can’t let the past dictate what we do moving forward, be brave and try to make something happen as the last 10 odd years has taken us nowhere and made us irrelevant

Be happy if we did something like the Whitfield rumour take his wage and get their 1st pick if that means moving Gresh and Billing’s on its a win imo.

We would be perfectly placed to take a salary dump, with a lot of cap room becoming available. A move where we pick up a salary and grab a good draft pick would be absolutely ideal for us. Whitfield would be a dream but seems to good to be true.

 

[bird_man]

How's what worked for us? Letting those two go would net us over a mill in cap space. If we get a couple of picks from it then great. Enough money to bring over a quality mid at another club and continue building through the draft

Getting quality mids from other clubs is easier said than done. We’ve been trying that for 10 years now.

 

[Cairnsman]

I didn't realise that Howe was in our squad. Lyon has been saying he wants players to do a mini preseason before coming back in after long lay-offs. If it makes you feel better to say he's gone, go for it. You said the same thing about Sharman though.

I think most astute footy pundits know Sharman won’t be on the list next year, so Caminiti doesn’t need to do a mini pre season but Jack does?

 

[Saintbloke]

I think most astute footy pundits know Sharman won’t be on the list next year, so Caminiti doesn’t need to do a mini pre season but Jack does?

Isn't Sharman contracted for next season?

 

[borderbarry]

tHIS WILL be an ideal game to blood a new player. but who, Peris or Heath. Not both though.

 

[True Believer]

Isn't Sharman contracted for next season?

Yes, but that doesn't suit Vortex's narrative...........please keep up...

 

[Dr Spaceman]

Isn't Sharman contracted for next season?

Yes, but that doesn't suit Vortex's narrative...........please keep up...

(Says Cairnsman) "Well I'm sure the Titanic was booked for more ocean crossings also"

 

[kernelT]

I think most astute footy pundits know Sharman won’t be on the list next year, so Caminiti doesn’t need to do a mini pre season but Jack does?

Are you on the gear again M8?

 

[Cairnsman]

He did full pre season, just not with us.

Fitness wasn't an issue

Yeah still think it’s a relevant comparison, a player of Billing’s draft rating and years of experience should dictate he comes back only after 2 or three matches at Sandy…tops, especially especially in the context of us supposedly being a finals chance.

 

[Cairnsman]

Isn't Sharman contracted for next season?

Yeah just like Ratts still has a contract

 

[Cairnsman]

Are you on the gear again M8?

Never off it

 

[bird_man]

Yeah still think it’s a relevant comparison, a player of Billing’s draft rating and years of experience should dictate he comes back only after 2 or three matches at Sandy…tops, especially especially in the context of us supposedly being a finals chance.

Not really. One was coming back from injury the other was fully fit.

 

[beside the seaside]

tHIS WILL be an ideal game to blood a new player. but who, Peris or Heath. Not both though.

I think it's time to give Peris a run.