Recruiting Trade & Free Agency VIII

[Lore]

ATTENTION OPPOSITION POSTERS: You are on the Essendon board - not the draft board, or the main board or your club board. You are welcome to post here but you will mind your manners or you will be carded. Don't waltz in here telling the locals what's happening/not happening, what's dumb etc. By the same token sealioning will also not be tolerated so be warned. You do not have equal standing here no matter how right you think you are.

Spoiler: AFL TRADE, DRAFT AND FREE AGENCY KEY DATES 2020

Draft Combine
Tuesday October 1 - Friday October 4

AFL Grand Final
Saturday October 24

Free Agency Window
Friday October 30 – Friday November 6

AFL Trade Period (Players and picks)
Wednesday November 4 – 7.30pm Thursday November 12

List Lodgement 1
Wednesday November 25

Delisted Free Agency Window 1
Thursday November 26 - Sunday November 29

List Lodgement 2 (Final date for primary list delistings)
Monday November 30

Delisted Free Agency Window 2
Monday November 30 - Tuesday December 1

AFL Trade Period (Picks only)
Concludes Thursday December 3

National Draft
7pm Wednesday December 9

Preseason and Rookie Drafts
12pm Thursday December 10

Final List Lodgement
Mid-December (tbc)

Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period (SSP)
Wednesday January 6, 2021 – will conclude prior to the start of the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season

Spoiler: DRAFT ORDER

Any issues with it post in this thread:

Draft discussion goes here: Draft Watch

Father/Son & NGA discussion goes here: James Hird Academy (Father/Son and Next Generation)

Poll results: Who should stay? | Which key forward do you want? | What would you give up to get Josh Dunkley

5

Josh Dunkley

Age

28

Ht

191cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.8

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

11.3

5star

M

4.3

4star

T

5.8

5star

CL

3.2

5star

D

20.7

5star

K

7.0

3star

HB

13.7

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

5.3

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

14.2

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

7.0

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

4.0

5star

CL

1.4

4star

?

 

[Kakkle]

...because they may decide that the immediacy of their premiership window outweighs the future of their forwardline with a seemingly inconsistent/maxed-out Hipwood as a component.

So they bring in a player with huge questions marks on him, who has kicked less goals in the last 3 years than a 'inconsistent/maxed out' Hipwood did this year alone? Yeah, zero sense. They'd be recruiting him to play along siide Hipwood, that's the appeal. Hipwood doesn't have to be the number 1 guy. The threat of a Hipwood & Daniher forward line is a lot greater than just Daniher.

 

[ghostdog]

He is a tad vanilla, definitely. To put it bluntly, I don't see that much upside in his game and I don't think he's improved *that* dramatically since we drafted him (and he's played about 100 games by now). Have we stifled his development thus far by playing him as a mid/fwd hybrid? Of course we have, we're Essington.

But I have legitimate concerns that his ceiling may just be in-fact B grade. Definitely serviceable, but nowhere near that Jobe-esque midfielder we've been crying out for. In isolation he is fine. But his stature just adds to the abundance of 180cm players we already have. A midfield trio of McGrath, Parish and Shiel is such a bad combination. Too much of the same and not enough variance.

My main issue with him though is that he's just such a nice player. Great young kid, would love him marrying your daughter type of operator. I don't believe that should be a personality trait of the teams #1 inside midfielder. That position should be filled by a big bustling roughhouser. I could imagine myself lining up next to Cripps, Wines, Boak, Yeo, Adams etc and I'd be legitimately worried they might hurt me. Parish? I'd be too busy thinking what time this will be over and what I'm having for tea.

Not trying to be a dick or nitpick too much, but I feel that element is really lacking from his game. The same can be said for others like Langford but that type of aggression isn't nearly as important as an outside player as it in an inside one.

Honestly, I would be trading him out and using that pick + something else to go for an elite, hard-nut inside mid.

By this rationale you'd keep Towner though. Before the compressed season, Parish was tracking to average upwards of 20 disposals per game, and that was without regular CBAs. I get what you're saying but I don't necessarily think he's the puzzle piece we get rid of.

We've got two taller types already we can get rid of, jn Towner and Cutler (Cutler being more 'vanilla' than Parish, if that's the criteria. Preserve Heppell, our so-called big body, by putting him on Cutler's wing, and there's the space for our big body. Langford could play more forward with Towner gone, or we find a better forward and leave Langers on a wing.

Parish and McGrath's point of difference to each other is their increasing versatility. McGrath can roll back and still offer quality disposal and run that breaks defensive lines. Parish can roll forward and kicks goals more now. If their CBAs are managed well and the mid brigade is balanced with the addition of another big body, we don't necessarily have to lose Parish.

We won't anyway coz Big Daddy Brasher says wot.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Can anyone tell me what happened to our second round pick this year? What was the deal?

Dodoro was punished for signing Townsend and Cutler

 

[ghostdog]

So they bring in a player with huge questions marks on him, who has kicked less goals in the last 3 years than a 'inconsistent/maxed out' Hipwood did this year alone? Yeah, zero sense. They'd be recruiting him to play along siide Hipwood, that's the appeal. Hipwood doesn't have to be the number 1 guy. The threat of a Hipwood & Daniher forward line is a lot greater than just Daniher.

Of course having both would be their preference. No brainer.
'Immediacy' is the key to what I'm saying.

Right now, as stand alone players, Daniher is the one more likely to rip a game apart. If we asked the question, they would have to consider that. Replace Hipwood with Daniher for this finals series and they're more likely Premiers than with Hipwood. So it actually does make some sense not to deal in extremes. But as you've said, he has three years on his contract so it's probably a moot point.

 

[Seagrave_Holmes]

Wouldn't want to let go of Langford. He's developed into a very nice player and still has more upside. Parish however is one I would certainly entertain a trade for.

Also, Brandon Matera was delisted by Fremantle. Kinda shocked tbh. Have heard he has a bit of a poor attitude/work ethic, but he can absolutely find the goals. Would love to pick him.

Matera is 28 and has only kicked over 30 goals once in his career. Why make concessions for poor work ethic/attitude for such a dud player?

 

[eth-dog]

Parish is a guy who is a good player but is more valuable on the trade table than he is for us imo.

That being said, with the expected clean out it probably isn't the year to trade him

 

[Kakkle]

Of course having both would be their preference. No brainer.
'Immediacy' is the key to what I'm saying.

Right now, as stand alone players, Daniher is the one more likely to rip a game apart. If we asked the question, they would have to consider that. Replace Hipwood with Daniher for this finals series and they're more likely Premiers than with Hipwood. So it actually does make some sense not to deal in extremes. But as you've said, he has three years on his contract so it's probably a moot point.

I'm not talking about a nonsensical fantasy situation where trade week is happening right now, and a player is playing for two clubs in one season. We're talking about a trade for 2021. This finals campaign is completely irrelevant.

 

[ghostdog]

I'm not talking about a nonsensical fantasy situation where trade week is happening right now, and a player is playing for two clubs in one season. We're talking about a trade for 2021. This finals campaign is completely irrelevant.

I was making a comparative example between what is now and what could be for them in 2021, and which position they would rather be in right now.

 

[citizen-erased]

Not surprising given that O'Halloran was born in Essendon. Dodoro must have that on record somewhere lol.

O'Driscoll at 6 may be reaching, but I honestly don't mind.

If Daniher leaves, then we should have another first rounder (perhaps Brisbane's first along with Smith if we aren't getting band 1 compensation) and O'Driscoll may be available at Brisbane's pick. There'll probably be other movements, but I'll focus on the main trade.

Phillips is very much a big body in contests despite his stature so he'd still be a good option. Dream scenario obviously is for Hollands to somehow fall to pick 6 (which ain't happening) and O'Driscoll to fall to Brisbane's pick.

Pick 6: Phillips
Brisbane's pick: O'Driscoll
Brand and Eyre (KPPs)

Obtain Ely Smith in the Daniher trade
Obtain O'Halloran in the 3-way trade for Fantasia

If Parish or Merrett do want to go to Geelong as rumoured, then Constable replaces them.

That's how we can make the most of a bad situation without needlessly topping up.

Other than losing merrett and parish (which i dont see happening tbh), i like this.

Esp if we keep saad too.

 

[citizen-erased]

Essendon are clearly looking for players with an elite kick/ disposal capable of breaking lines off the halfback and going inside 50

Hence the Tom Cutler experiment on the wing and the Orazio Fantasia / Devon Smith experiment off the back line.

Jayden Short meets all that criteria. Maybe package Langford and lure him to Essendon

Langford is one of the few elite kicks we have. Not sure we'd be looking at trading him just as he's really hitting his straps

 

[JayJ20]

would you trade Taranto for langford? Fixes issues at both teams

I mean yeah if GWS strangely demanded it, but I would trade almost anyone for Taranto.

Langford is in the top 5 least of our problems along with Ridley, McGrath, Saad and Draper.

 

[citizen-erased]

Parish is a guy who is a good player but is more valuable on the trade table than he is for us imo.

That being said, with the expected clean out it probably isn't the year to trade him

Yep. We've got trade commodities with daniher, fantasia and possibly saad.

Parish and langford are the only two goal kicking mids we have. Trading either would be foolish.

The bookends are starting to become an issue. We need to build midfield depth so we can focus on KP depth moving forward

Keep merrett, parish, mcgrath, langford and shiel
Add 3 mids.
I really like the idea of daniher for smith and brissy's 1st. Allowing us to grab phillips at 6.

 

[citizen-erased]

Dodoro was punished for signing Townsend and Cutler

Sad part is, Cutler cost us more than butler cost the saints.

 

[FootyGuru]

Parish has a great nose for the footy, can find it in close and dish it out with quick handballs, also that stoppage craft can lead to him being effective as a stoppage forward kicking goals.
His weaknesses are he is tiny, not a
Overly aggressive although not soft, fairly slow, and his kicking is pretty average.

He isn’t quick enough to apply pressure needed as a small forward and he also isn’t in a best few mids selected each game. Unless he starts becoming a much better user and decision maker like Sam Mitchell, I can see him drop off an afl list in the coming seasons

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Sad part is, Cutler cost us more than butler cost the saints.

It was simply a miscommunication with the agent.

Dodoro: “We want Butler”
Agent: “No worries we’ll draw up the paperwork and let Tom know”

 

[eth-dog]

Sad part is, Cutler cost us more than butler cost the saints.

That's a very liberal view. Cutler cost us a pick we were only using for points alongside a pick upgrade. In fact, strictly speaking, we gave up less in terms of points value.

 

[Dons4days]

Any idea why Ely Smith hasn’t been given a game yet & is he somebody Brisbane are willing to give up? I was a fan in his draft year but haven’t heard anything about him since. He seemed to be pretty ready made.

 

[jd_the_viking]

We should try upgrade our current first round pick to get Sydney’s first in an attempt to draft Logan McDonald. If he’s gone... maybe Holland’s.

Daniher and our first for Sydney first and second?

Not sure if swans have a second rounder or not. But something to move up to try and get the second best KPF from this draft could be important.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[eth-dog]

We should try upgrade our current first round pick to get Sydney’s first in an attempt to draft Logan McDonald. If he’s gone... maybe Holland’s.

Daniher and our first for Sydney first and second?

Not sure if swans have a second rounder or not. But something to move up to try and get the second best KPF from this draft could be important.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sydney will want a draft pick before any bid for Campbell comes in

 

[JayJ20]

We should try upgrade our current first round pick to get Sydney’s first in an attempt to draft Logan McDonald. If he’s gone... maybe Holland’s.

Daniher and our first for Sydney first and second?

Not sure if swans have a second rounder or not. But something to move up to try and get the second best KPF from this draft could be important.


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Even if we move up to Sydney's pick, North Melbourne will take McDonald.

 

[MarkJohnson#1]

We should try upgrade our current first round pick to get Sydney’s first in an attempt to draft Logan McDonald. If he’s gone... maybe Holland’s.

Daniher and our first for Sydney first and second?

Not sure if swans have a second rounder or not. But something to move up to try and get the second best KPF from this draft could be important.


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Can’t we just give them Joe for Pick 3?

 

[BrunoV]

Trade Parish or Langford? Holy sh*t, you blokes have lost the plot. They’re finally coming on. They will be huge for us the next 5 years.

Someone has to go. How are you fitting in the 3 good midfielders we need?

 

[Fridge16]

Someone has to go. How are you fitting in the 3 good midfielders we need?

We only need one more mid, preferably an A grader.

A-grader
Merrett
Shiel
McGrath
Parish
Langford
Smith
Heppell
AMT
Stringer

First five do the bulk of the work, bottom 5 as support. As Draper improves he will absolutely make each of our midfielders better.

We were putrid this year but I still think we have talent, it doesn't take much to turn it around.

Lose Joe and Fantasia who really hadn't contributed anyway. Get a solid mid and a key forward either through FA or trade (Joe pick + scraps), get the game plan right and we could make huge moves upwards.

I honestly believe teams win on coaching and mindset. If a coach gets the absolute best out of our list we can beat anyone.

Whether Rutten can do that or not i don't know, but i don't think we need to trade out 23 year old B grade midfielders that have just started to come on to then go to the draft for 18 year old's that could be the same in five years.

 

[BrunoV]

We only need one more mid, preferably an A grader.

A-grader
Merrett
Shiel
McGrath
Parish
Langford
Smith
Heppell
AMT
Stringer

First five do the bulk of the work, bottom 5 as support. As Draper improves he will absolutely make each of our midfielders better.

We were putrid this year but I still think we have talent, it doesn't take much to turn it around.

Lose Joe and Fantasia who really hadn't contributed anyway. Get a solid mid and a key forward either through FA or trade (Joe pick + scraps), get the game plan right and we could make huge moves upwards.

I honestly believe teams win on coaching and mindset. If a coach gets the absolute best out of our list we can beat anyone.

Whether Rutten can do that or not i don't know, but i don't think we need to trade out 23 year old B grade midfielders that have just started to come on to then go to the draft for 18 year old's that could be the same in five years.

1 more mid? How do you square that against the pounding our best midfield copped this year?

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

We only need one more mid, preferably an A grader.

A-grader
Merrett
Shiel
McGrath
Parish
Langford
Smith
Heppell
AMT
Stringer

First five do the bulk of the work, bottom 5 as support. As Draper improves he will absolutely make each of our midfielders better.

We were putrid this year but I still think we have talent, it doesn't take much to turn it around.

Lose Joe and Fantasia who really hadn't contributed anyway. Get a solid mid and a key forward either through FA or trade (Joe pick + scraps), get the game plan right and we could make huge moves upwards.

I honestly believe teams win on coaching and mindset. If a coach gets the absolute best out of our list we can beat anyone.

Whether Rutten can do that or not i don't know, but i don't think we need to trade out 23 year old B grade midfielders that have just started to come on to then go to the draft for 18 year old's that could be the same in five years.

Parish is definitely not an A-Grader (yet).