News TOP SECRET - The Bradshaw File *Merged*

[AlecDuncan]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

There's nothing from stopping him saying I will only continue if i get picked up by Carlton otherwise i am retiring ala Gerig with the Saints.

Gehrig's advantage was that no-one else wanted him (and they were right).

Threats of retirement are certainly an option for Bradshaw, except everyone knows it would be bullshit. He's already put his hand up for a three year contract and Sydney knows it. It wouldn't be the first time a club has called a player's bluff and taken them anyway. In any case, he's made no such threat.

He obviously wants to play, and as such he's subject to the PSD rules. Others have tried to prejudice it (was it Scott Russell? Tony Francis?) and been read the riot act. Who knows, he may be perfectly happy to play for Sydney if they're prepared to pay him more.

I don't want the club to get sucked into an expensive bidding war for a 31yo when there are valuable uses for next year's cap space. Ask yourself, who is coming out of contract next year? What damage could we do in 2010's trade week with $1M worth of salary cap space?

If we can get Bradshaw cheap, good. If it takes a three year $1M contract, then that's definitely not cheap. Let Sydney have that poison pill.

 

[CrippsonBlue]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

I don't see the point of holding onto the cash for next year - In fact when you consider that clubs are desperately signing up anyone of worth, and the GC could better any offers we make anyway, I couldn't think of a worse year to be after anyone/'cashed up'.

If we get Bradshaw, and he breaks down in the last year or so, then the club loses a few dollars. Why are we concerning ourselves with this? It will be heavily front loaded, so it won't really affect our cap down the track.

The benefits are obvious - we're not rebuilding, we need finals experience. We're offering more than his worth, but we need to offer over the odds to price out other teams, and to match Sydney - I'm more than happy to do this when he comes for free. (BB said it best - pay for 3 to get 2)

I'm surprised to see supporters are more concerned with financial aspects then on-field performance.

 

[Jimthegreat]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

Not coming out of my pocket so offer him good money, matching the Swans. Then he'll take a choice of where he'll live. That'll decide it.

I just want the 4 premiership points as often as possible. As a supporter that's all that matters to me. The $$$$$ are the club's problem as long as it doesn't upset team harmony. We have room in the Cap so front-load heaps while his form is good it so we can still rewards our young guns further down the track. We have limits on what to pay but let's not suffocate ourselves in it for the sake of $$$$$.

We'd spew if he played great footy for the Swans while we struggled that little hard to kick goals costing us on the ladder, all for the sake of 200k or so over the 3 years. If we won the 2011 flag with Bradshaw playing terrific footy then the cost will be priceless.

It may fail but after losing Fev he's the best option available so we may have to take a risk and pay the money. Hindsight will tell us how it goes but if we front-load it while he's in career best form then if he struggles in his 3rd year at least he's on bugger all by then. If we still had Fev then we wouldn't worry about it. but we don't so we need someone with presence in the goalsquare while the young guys like Henderson and "pick 12" develop. To me, 4 premiership points is all I care about.

 

[parrot]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

I don't see the point of holding onto the cash for next year - In fact when you consider that clubs are desperately signing up anyone of worth, and the GC could better any offers we make anyway, I couldn't think of a worse year to be after anyone/'cashed up'.

If we get Bradshaw, and he breaks down in the last year or so, then the club loses a few dollars. Why are we concerning ourselves with this? It will be heavily front loaded, so it won't really affect our cap down the track.

The benefits are obvious - we're not rebuilding, we need finals experience. We're offering more than his worth, but we need to offer over the odds to price out other teams, and to match Sydney - I'm more than happy to do this when he comes for free. (BB said it best - pay for 3 to get 2)

I'm surprised to see supporters are more concerned with financial aspects then on-field performance.

Agree totally. There's space in our cap, why not use it.

Also even though it's a "3 year contract" the way it'll be structured (i.e. heavily frontloaded) it's effectively a 2 year contract. If injuries end his career in the 3rd year, we can easily pay him out, plus we have plenty of room for our emerging stars.

The only question that needs to be answered is: Will his inclusion in our team over the next 2 years help our performance AND development of our younger forwards? I think it will.

 

[Jimthegreat]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

FFS, how many times does it have to be spelt out?

That's not how the pre-season draft works.

He can't decide which club he goes to - each club takes turns to decide whether they want to meet his terms and if they do, he goes there. In practice, Sydney has first option.

The order is: Melbourne, Richmond, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Sydney, West Coast, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton.

So if he tells the Swans he's living in Victoria irrespective of who drafts him you think Sydney will take him? They won't play a bloke bigs bucks to commute every weekend. Besides, as our Swans poster said, the Swans don't do business like that. They'll abide by his wishes. That's the type of club they are. So, if he chooses to live in Victoria, Carlton will get him. Once we get him to put a price on his head, if he decides to come to us, we'll out-price every other Victorian club given the room in our Cap.

Be a bit harder if it was a Victorian club competing against us that had room in their Cap.

 

[Canyouhearthedrums]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

FFS, how many times does it have to be spelt out?

That's not how the pre-season draft works.

He can't decide which club he goes to - each club takes turns to decide whether they want to meet his terms and if they do, he goes there. In practice, Sydney has first option.

The order is: Melbourne, Richmond, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Sydney, West Coast, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton.

Dude please, stop quoting draft rules like they are gospel. We all know how it's supposed to work.

But the rreality is that if a player of Bradshaws age, calibre etc etc says he wants to go to X, I'm fairly confident he will get to X. Why would Sydney waste all that money on a 31 year old who doesn't have anything left to prove and doesn't want to be there? Also, as I've said in a number of threads, the clubs fear free agency and don't want to rock the boat when situations like this crop up.

We're not talking about an AA gun in his prime here - it's an ageing FF with maybe 2 years left. It wouldn't be worth the angst for Sydney to take him against his wishes.

 

[Canyouhearthedrums]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

Alec, I agree with the others on this one.

We're talking about an aging ff. Not an AA gun in his prime. It's not worth the angst for Sydney to pick him against his wishes. Also, as i've said in many threads, the clubs fear free agency and won't rock the boat in circumstnaces like this.

 

[Malifice]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

Am i the only one that doesnt really want him?

The moment we showed Fev the door was the moment our tenantive premiership chances over the next two years pretty much evaporated.

We'll be a far stronger side in 2-3 years, dont get me wrong.

Its just I cant see why we would bother picking up an injury prone thirty year old on a massive contract (regardless of past talent) when its not going to assist with a real tilt at the flag.

Plonk Heno/ Krueze/ Yarran in the forward line to develop, save the money, and look at aquiring someone next year (or the year after) with the extra room in the cap to attract a quality player come trade week.

In a few years time when we are really having a crack at #17, Bradshaw wont be part of it, and we could have used the money to recruit someone younger (during the contract) and we have pumped more games into our younger guns.

 

[Bluedude]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

I hated Bradshaw this year. He kicked our arse.

We have nobody in the lineup apart from Waite
and (at a long shot) Cloke who could act as the
tall forward. If we got two good productive years
out of him, I'm all for it.. I think he will be gone before
pick 12 though...

It would be worth drafting him for the round 2 game alone !!!

 

[macbeth7]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

Dude please, stop quoting draft rules like they are gospel. We all know how it's supposed to work.

But the rreality is that if a player of Bradshaws age, calibre etc etc says he wants to go to X, I'm fairly confident he will get to X. Why would Sydney waste all that money on a 31 year old who doesn't have anything left to prove and doesn't want to be there? Also, as I've said in a number of threads, the clubs fear free agency and don't want to rock the boat when situations like this crop up.

We're not talking about an AA gun in his prime here - it's an ageing FF with maybe 2 years left. It wouldn't be worth the angst for Sydney to take him against his wishes.

agreed agreed agreed.
no more to say on this.

 

[Quazza]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

You're all forgetting that Bradshaw no longer has a choice. He's in the PSD. He can only set the terms of his contract, and clubs take turns to accept/reject them. Our turn comes after Sydney's.

If we shovel a ton of cash at him to price him out of Sydney's reach, we'll snooker ourselves out of a possible big fish next year. Also, we can well use the enormous room in 2010's salary cap to front-load several contracts and take future pressure off our cap for when The Schoolies and The Jihad enter the competition.

I dont see how we evn could price him out of Sydneys reach- They have a higher cap than us, and are no longer paying Hall, Mickey O, Barry, etc . They'd have a fair bit of spare coin

 

[The Toad]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

During trade week I'm fairly sure I read that Paul Roos stated that if someone is not interested in palying for the Swans then they wont even think about drafting them.

 

[Weiterbot23]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

Am i the only one that doesnt really want him?

The moment we showed Fev the door was the moment our tenantive premiership chances over the next two years pretty much evaporated.

We'll be a far stronger side in 2-3 years, dont get me wrong.

Its just I cant see why we would bother picking up an injury prone thirty year old on a massive contract (regardless of past talent) when its not going to assist with a real tilt at the flag.

Plonk Heno/ Krueze/ Yarran in the forward line to develop, save the money, and look at aquiring someone next year (or the year after) with the extra room in the cap to attract a quality player come trade week.

In a few years time when we are really having a crack at #17, Bradshaw wont be part of it, and we could have used the money to recruit someone younger (during the contract) and we have pumped more games into our younger guns.

Agree with this 100%

 

[BlueGibbs2011]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

I think the thing Malifice and yourself might be missing is that young developing KPFs need to build their confidence up while developing. There is a chance that Hendo will face the full fury of the best defender each week.

Not only face the best defender but 3 of them triple teaming him. Having Bradshaw means there would at least be two focal points and allows Henderson to develop on the second best defender and not be triple teamed!

Sign Bradshaw already!!!

 

[Blue Bloods]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

I think the thing Malifice and yourself might be missing is that young developing KPFs need to build their confidence up while developing. There is a chance that Hendo will face the full fury of the best defender each week.

Not only face the best defender but 3 of them triple teaming him. Having Bradshaw means there would at least be two focal points and allows Henderson to develop on the second best defender and not be triple teamed!

Sign Bradshaw already!!!

I Agree, they can also front end his contract, pay say $600000 next year or what ever room they got in the cap and say $200000 each for the next two so still room for a good player in the future and it wont hurt so much if he breaks down in his last year

 

[uptheblues]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

Give him a job at visy!

 

[Kades_Dad]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

FFS, how many times does it have to be spelt out?

That's not how the pre-season draft works.

He can't decide which club he goes to - each club takes turns to decide whether they want to meet his terms and if they do, he goes there. In practice, Sydney has first option.

The order is: Melbourne, Richmond, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Sydney, West Coast, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton.

Yes, that's all very good in theory. But everyone knows that's not true.

As the article says "The Swans has the chance to have an earlier pick in the NAB Pre-Season Draft than the Blues. But the club is unlikely to draft Bradshaw if he made it clear he wanted to return to Victoria."

 

[Bluebear]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

Yes, that's all very good in theory. But everyone knows that's not true.

As the article says "The Swans has the chance to have an earlier pick in the NAB Pre-Season Draft than the Blues. But the club is unlikely to draft Bradshaw if he made it clear he wanted to return to Victoria."

If it's a Vic vs NSW thing then yes, they'd be stupid to get him if the reason he is leaving is to be closer to family in Wodonga.

However, this wouldn't then stretch to other Vic based clubs......otherwise Nick Stevens would be a magpie.

We took him when he clearly wanted to play for the Pies........Ball will be the same.

So if he wants to come back here then Roos will probably honour that, but the Tiges, Roos and Hawks may have a ping (if they can afford him).

 

[mj300985]

Swans set to learn of Bradshaw's decision

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/swans-set-to-learn-of-bradshaws-decision/2009/10/20/1255891816740.html

Sydney are expecting to hear within the next 24 hours whether former Brisbane Lions forward Daniel Bradshaw will sign with the Swans, or will instead go to Melbourne and link with Carlton.

Sounds like we will hear where he wants to go soon.

 

[The Toad]

Re: Swans set to learn of Bradshaw's decision

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rf...dshaws-decision/2009/10/20/1255891816740.html



Sounds like we will hear where he wants to go soon.

 

[Malifice]

Re: Blues can 'afford' to get Bradshaw

I think the thing Malifice and yourself might be missing is that young developing KPFs need to build their confidence up while developing. There is a chance that Hendo will face the full fury of the best defender each week.

Not only face the best defender but 3 of them triple teaming him. Having Bradshaw means there would at least be two focal points and allows Henderson to develop on the second best defender and not be triple teamed!

Sign Bradshaw already!!!

I disagree. Hendersons going to have to work pretty hard to attract three key defenders! It used to happen to Fev as every (and i mean every) forward thrust we made was aimed at Fevola.

The days of kick it to Fev regardless of who he has on him are now over.

Well, I hope they are anyways or else Brisbane is going to smash us.

And remember we are playing Kruezer as a primary forward next year, and will have the continued development of Yarran, Gartlett and Betts plus Waite likely playing the key forward role. Add Henderson to that mix and we have a young talented and developing forward line.

Let them develop I say.

Also surely we can rely on the coaches to provide confidence and work on development. We have half a dozen of them down there.

I Agree, they can also front end his contract, pay say $600000 next year or what ever room they got in the cap and say $200000 each for the next two so still room for a good player in the future and it wont hurt so much if he breaks down in his last year

What if he breaks down in the first year?

Not exactly unlikely, his history with soft tissue injuries and joints/ back has been poor.

 

[Murph_The_Smurf]

Re: Swans set to learn of Bradshaw's decision

Regardless of whoever he picks sydney or us , whats there to say no clubs will take him b4 our pick... or sydneys for that matter

 

[blueblooded]

Re: Swans set to learn of Bradshaw's decision

Regardless of whoever he picks sydney or us , whats there to say no clubs will take him b4 our pick... or sydneys for that matter

Free Trade, clubs wont want to open a can of worms for a 31 year old near cripple, he'll get to wherever he wants to go..

 

[40yearBLUE]

Re: Swans set to learn of Bradshaw's decision

Regardless of whoever he picks sydney or us , whats there to say no clubs will take him b4 our pick... or sydneys for that matter

As the article says, there are no guarantees. Conventional wisdom has it that if a player indicates in discussions that he does not wish to move to that city then they probably wont draft him even if he is available at their pick.

If he tells clubs he wants to live in Melbourne, its a bit harder to predict which team will select him, you can only go on where they are in their development when it comes to older players, clubs on the rebuild are not likely to take them but there are many other aspects to recruiting not least of which is the influence an older player may have with younger players in the team or of course what deficiencies they may have in their list, a club with an abundance of forward talent would be unlikely to draft another forward, but Bradshaw complicates matters by being a good defender.

All of this of course will take place in private, I think if he does not wish to live in Sydney that may leak out, but other than that, any discussions he may have with Melbourne clubs would have to remain private or else it could be construed as draft tampering, but there is nothing to stop clubs announcing they are not interested in him.

I think we have a few weeks wait yet to find out what will happen.

 

[Crippa#9]

Re: Swans set to learn of Bradshaw's decision

It will certainly be an interesting decision.

I think its a case of whether he genuinely wants a crack at another premiership or wants a good deal to keep him financially secure for life after football....can't blame him either way, I just hope the deal that Carlton has on the table is similiar to Sydney's and the premiership carrot might be enough sway him to Visy Park.