No one thinks Dustin Martin would be a good get?
No one thinks Dustin Martin would be a good get?
Yeah, leaving aside any off-field issues, he is same category as Fyfe (not that he is quite in the same league as Fyfe) in that we can't afford him, especially since he plays a position where we have reasonable depth. I think we'll only be breaking the bank for a KPP and even that not at the moment while we have both Buddy and Tip on hefty salaries. For Dusty's kind of money I'd far rather try and lure a GWS star across, even if we'd have to trade for them.
I find the club in a different position now than a few years back when we had an older list and several stars, or at least very good players, approaching the end of their careers.
We now have a young list without any apparent holes. We've added some real talent since the 2013 draft when we got Jones, Hewett and Aliir, followed by emerging stars in Heeney and Mills. I feel we have picked a strong group of new players in the last draft. Add to this lower profile players like Rose, Newman, Foote, Dawson and O'Riordan, and we have a bevy of relatively untested talent to push through a system which will have fierce competition for the few spots available in the senior side.
Giving players on our list senior opportunities and keeping the list together should be the priority, rather than chasing high priced talent on the open market. Every senior ready player acquired in the FA and trade period will only result in some quality talent leaving in the other direction.
+1 for the coming season, at least (but subject to review if we have a bad season)
Just saw on channel 7 news that North Melbourne offered Heeney over $1 million a year during trade period!! Swans were not happy.
Stay away North!
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"You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."
Whoever wants to lure Heeney better start stockpiling first round picks. A lot of first rounders. Enough rolling over.
But Heeney seems to have more integrity than, say, a Tom Mitchell
Norf strikes again: Josh Kelly North Melbourne contract, trade, offer, Lance Franklin, GWS Giants | Fox Sports.
Actually it seems the contracting landscape, especially for elite players, is changing and longer contracts are the norm. We, once again, seem ahead of the curve with this, having recently signed Hanners, Parker, Joey, Mills and Heeney up on long term deals on top of the deals we had already done for Reid, Tippett and, of course, the granddaddy deal, for Buddy. This makes sense to me as a way of combating increasing player movement and freedom. The only way you can really tie down a player is with a contract, as Bryce Gibbs discovered. Even then it's not perfect (see Cam McCarthy and now what may be happening with Gazza) but it's certainly more security than just loyalty or the threat of letting a player 'walk' to the draft, which seems increasingly toothless (although it carried some weight when the Hawks were chasing JOM - but even there it probably compelled the Hawks more than JOM). However, the risk with longer deals is if a player is injured or dramatically loses form then you're stuck with them and the hole their chewing in your salary cap. However they are calculated risks and reflect the, probably appropriate, recalibration in the power dynamic a little more towards the players. (I think that recalibration has now gone about far enough, btw.)
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