Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 7 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

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Sad times for the club.

Rebuild officially begun?

Hopefully the media stop harping on about our list now.

How is our list any worse for getting rid of Macrae and Daniel ffs

We just finished 6th and have some of the best young talent in the league. We’re no where near rebuild stage.

Ridiculous comment
 
Just catching up on the evenings events.

Mildly happy with results overall. Draft hand ends up a heap better and cap space.

What strikes me is how simple all of the trades are. Normally, deals involve a raft of future swaps etc but these all seem very clean.
 

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Their club is literally the definition of failure, I’m happy they have something to cheer about.
I was 14 when they won their premiership. Bloody 14! I'm 72 now. Now, if that ain't the definition of failure, nothing is.

On SM-A135F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
You might think you know all about this trading period but I can tell you, you don't.

Here are a set of fun facts for you, and you can draw whatever conclusions you wish from them.

Fun fact #1

In the last couple of years I have moved to a suburb pretty close to the home ground of the Giants.

Fun fact #2

I have got to know mine and surrounding suburbs well by now.

Fun fact #3

In the suburbs of Strathfield and Burwood very close to the Giants home ground is one of the highest concentrations of high schools for girls in Sydney. At the right time of day, there are school girls everywhere.

Fun fact #4

Jake Stringer specifically asked to be traded to the Giants.
 
However you wanna look at it, losing the quality of players we have in the last couple years is alarming - Smith, Macrae, Daniel, Dunkley. And not the best return on most of them either
But then supporters com0lain that we get runs of 6 goals kicked on us out of the middle….Jack and Caleb were a big part of that.

Plenty of supporters need to grow up and realise that it’s now a business and we’ve squeezed every last drop out of those guys for this team and as much as we love them being sentimental ain’t getting us top 4. We have to be ruthless.

Find another couple with the composure of Freijah and a couple of speedy mids and watch out
 
Good deals for Darcy and Richards now please.

We will continue to be competitive, no over need to over dramatise a rebuild.

We have 3 first round draft picks (Sanders, Buss, Croft) that have barely scratched the surface. Confident we can find some really handy players (like Freijah) with those 2 early picks.
 
For all the ups and downs we have had today, facts are we finished 6th, traded out one guy that did not contribute to that finish at all, and two guys that partly contributed, one of them we seem to have found a replacement for and the other had weaknesses in their game that did not suit our side.

Not to mention we have how many young top draft picks developing in the seconds? I think it’s time to see what they can do.
 
Good deals for Darcy and Richards now please.

We will continue to be competitive, no over need to over dramatise a rebuild.

We have 3 first round draft picks (Sanders, Buss, Croft) that have barely scratched the surface. Confident we can find some really handy players (like Freijah) with those 2 early picks.
Really hope Milesi has a good draft. Should be some good players available with our first 2 picks.
 
It is kind of incredible that Geelong have managed to get

Tanner Bruhn (former pick 12) for pick 18
Bailey Smith (former pick 7 off an ACL) for effectivley pick 16.

Throw in the fact that both players are ready made and you're not getting the uncertainty of the fact that they have to improve as 18/19 year olds to even reach AFL level (like Sydney have found with Konstansy that's not always the case).

This is how the rich stay rich - you effectively get mid-first round talent for the end of the first round picks, as a team that's getting the influx of talent of a mid-table team.

It really is a bit sickening isn't it.

I don't really think our club could have done much else in the circumstances other than wait it out to the final minutes and more broadly seek to upgrade some of the issues that plague the fact that the draft in theory is necessary for out of contract pre-free agents and that some form of free agent rights needs to be more expansive than just eight years (with better compensation or whatever)
Wait until you find out about the Jack Bowes trade...
 
How is our list any worse for getting rid of Macrae and Daniel ffs

We just finished 6th and have some of the best young talent in the league. We’re no where near rebuild stage.

Ridiculous comment

They played 35 games between them and honestly should have had more if we weren't favouring the youth/speed throughout a lot of the year.

That's 35 games we need to replace with guys who weren't up to it this year. It's 100% a worse list.
 

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Given what we ended up getting for Smith what are people's updated thoughts on whether we should have brought him back to play the last month of the season? Did we really "preserve" any value but not risking a further injury?
 
Like most dogs supporters, wish Caleb and Jack all the very best, dogs for life and can understand why they left. 2 absolute champions.

I wish smith and his shit stain club nothing but a shit career. What a selfish prick he is, no gratitude and all about himself. I can tell u from a board member the club is ecstatic to no longer have to deal with his ongoing issues, which are all about me me me.

And the media are somehow reporting that we are trade period losers. WTF? We got rid of Smith and got something in return.
 
They played 35 games between them and honestly should have had more if we weren't favouring the youth/speed throughout a lot of the year.

That's 35 games we need to replace with guys who weren't up to it this year. It's 100% a worse list.
I’m going to be really conservative here to prove a point.

Sanders plays 5 more games than last year.
Garcia plays 5 more than last year.
Kennedy probably offers us at minimum 15 games.
Harmes a couple more.
2 top 25-30 selections another 10.

Hardly panic stations.
 
Given what we ended up getting for Smith what are people's updated thoughts on whether we should have brought him back to play the last month of the season? Did we really "preserve" any value but not risking a further injury?

I get the feeling no one wanted him around let alone playing
 
At what point does the club just cut any and all remaining ties to Connors and his group?

Surely you would just want to avoid dealing with the slimy p**** at costs?

Avoid drafting his players for a start or get them to change managers.
Was pretty gross watching his manager talk about how he wanted to get out of the spotlight of Melb and just play football.

Not like Bailey has wanted attention or anything..
 
But then supporters com0lain that we get runs of 6 goals kicked on us out of the middle….Jack and Caleb were a big part of that.

Plenty of supporters need to grow up and realise that it’s now a business and we’ve squeezed every last drop out of those guys for this team and as much as we love them being sentimental ain’t getting us top 4. We have to be ruthless.

Find another couple with the composure of Freijah and a couple of speedy mids and watch out

Stop talking sense.
 
We really didn’t have any leverage whatsoever in the Bailey Smith situation, and the minor pick upgrade to get Kennedy over the line really is about as much as you could hope for.

You can be the best wheeler dealer in the world but without leverage you’re f**ked in any negotiation. Anyone who thinks they could have done better is delusional.
Look all said and done, Smith was pushed out by the club, a two year offer -really, does that sound like a player we wanted to keep?
He was a distraction, he was high maintenance, he had too many off field distractions.
Maybe the quiet life in sleepy hollow will calm him down, or maybe the influences of other players will acerbate his problems. I don’t t wish him well, but I don’t wish him any harm, he is just cashing in on a fleeting profitable period in his life.
Give me a Caleb Daniels any day.
 
Wait until you find out about the Jack Bowes trade...
One would assume that by taking on that contract, they got pick 7, but it squeezed their salary cap to the extent that they then couldn't be offering million dollar contracts to the likes of Smith.

One would assume, one would assume....
 
I don’t think thats the worst result considering.

Caleb Daniel did us a massive favour by asking out without requesting a trade. Pick 25 is much more than I expected. Hope he dominates at North, presumably returning to the half back distributor role. Just don’t think he could play that role while we also have Dale there.

Jack Macrae for 47 is fine. I’m happy we let him go, he has given 12 years of magnificent service and he definitely deserves a chance to finish his career elsewhere rather than rotating between half forward/sub/VFL for us. Think he still has a few great midfield years left but can understand he’s behind our main four (still don’t think we used him well this year when a couple of those guys were out though).

Kennedy for 38 I’m fine with as well. I’m not sure he is a great fit but he is AFL quality and with his size and marking ability he can be serviceable at half forward. Inside midfield is definitely his best position and it’s not the worst thing to have a mature backup in case one of the main guys has a longish injury rather than relying solely on Sanders and Gallagher. Probably have Harmes already for that but think Kennedy is probably a slightly better player.

Smith for 17 and the smallest of upgrades is a bit annoying and definitely unders but not sure there is much else we could do. Geelong were well within their rights to do what they did but think it’s a pretty average way of doing business. Sort of annoying that the media were demanding West Coast do what they did with Baker and avoid the draft process but then also demanded us to just take whatever we get offered otherwise happy for Geelong to get him through the draft. Going to be annoying listening to them talk about what a bargain this deal was all throughout preseason after talking down his value the entire time.
 
The Smith saga tells us that without the AFLPA having to go through protracted negotiations with the AFL, players have now got unlimited free agency. De facto.

No need to complete 8 years of service or go through the charade of "restricted" free agency. Just name your club when your contract expires and leave it all to your manager. It might even work when you are still contracted.
 
They played 35 games between them and honestly should have had more if we weren't favouring the youth/speed throughout a lot of the year.

That's 35 games we need to replace with guys who weren't up to it this year. It's 100% a worse list.
Kennedy was up to it. If he stays fit he plays 20+ games on his own.
 
I don’t get the negativity towards next year. Even though I think Daniel and in particular Macrae still have good footy left in them, due to the way they were managed this season they didn’t really offer much for 2024. Losing them and Smith while hopefully having some natural improvement + Lobb a full season down back means I think we’ll still be around the mark.

When Liber and Treloar retire the loss of Dunkley and Smith will hit. Basically Richards and Sanders are the only young players I’m confident in for the midfield.
 

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Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 7 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

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