2020 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Syd76]

In the main agree with your summary.

Though we are crying out for a couple of big bodied mids. Unfortunately father time has caught up with Joey (even though he still plays at a high level) or will catch up with him (depending upon your view of his performances). Warner looks likely - he appears to love the contest, though I am not ssold on his skills just yet. Rowbottom will be a very good player (has similar traits to Jude Bolton), Florent is a wingman and Parker is the main man at the moment. It is still too early to make a call on D Stephens, though I hope he obtains confidence from now regularly playing in the firsts.

The reticence to play Mills and Heeney in the guts says to me that 1. they are plugging holes at the moment, but more importantly 2. they are not considered midfielders who could really do a better job than the others. So we really need to bolster the mid field. That is where the game is won and lost.

But an even bigger factor is the ruck. Parker and Heeney have never had silver service in the midfield, rather they have made a great living feeding off the scraps and using their nous. Imagine how much of a leg up the midfield would have by receiving good service from a bona fide ruckman. Either we draft one or bring back the Ruck whisperer

Seriously, we are also down one good backman..... ideas anyone?

[Ludwig]

Here is the relevant rule (assuming it hasn’t been changed since this March 2017 AFL.com article):

‘For a team that finishes in the top four, the club will only be able to select one academy player. For a team finish in from fifth to eighth, there will be a limit of two players inside the opening 20 picks, while there will be no limit placed on sides outside the top eight.’

Giants lose access to top talent in academy overhaul

I think we are pretty safe to select two academy players this year.....

Meg, I read the article and was wondering if you could clarify something? One paragraph states:

The Albury/Murray region will be retained by the Giants but only as a Next Generation Academy zone, meaning they will only get priority access to multicultural and indigenous players from that region.

Does this mean that there is no discount for NGA matched bids?

If it does, then Ugle-Hagan, rated pick 1 in this draft, is tied to the Western Bulldogs. He seems certain to be bid on by the 2nd pick at the latest. Matching the bid by the Bulldogs would wipe out all their points in the current draft and put them into deficit for next year. I still think they will match the bid, but there has to be some question about it.

It's not out of the question that if the ladder stays where it is, Adelaide will take their local kid Thilthorpe without bidding of Ugle-Hagan, but I'm sure we would bid on him. Then it would be with the Bulldogs whether they would be willing to go into deficit for next year. Or course, they may trade away a player to get the points they need to match the bid with this year's points.

I suppose I'm just saying that Ugle-Hagan is not out of the question for us.

[Mr Magoo]

Meg, I read the article and was wondering if you could clarify something? One paragraph states:
Does this mean that there is no discount for NGA matched bids?

If it does, then Ugle-Hagan, rated pick 1 in this draft, is tied to the Western Bulldogs. He seems certain to be bid on by the 2nd pick at the latest. Matching the bid by the Bulldogs would wipe out all their points in the current draft and put them into deficit for next year. I still think they will match the bid, but there has to be some question about it.

It's not out of the question that if the ladder stays where it is, Adelaide will take their local kid Thilthorpe without bidding of Ugle-Hagan, but I'm sure we would bid on him. Then it would be with the Bulldogs whether they would be willing to go into deficit for next year. Or course, they may trade away a player to get the points they need to match the bid with this year's points.

I suppose I'm just saying that Ugle-Hagan is not out of the question for us.

No this paragraph only was meant to highlight that they still have rights to players in that region that would qualify in the NGA system but not any other players in that region.

NGA players still have same bidding rules as academies and father sons.

I think you can pretty much guarantee that bulldogs will go with Ugle- Hagan , he is potentially the next buddy. I think whoever is at pick one will go for him , no matter who it is. Bulldogs will match and then the games will begin.

NGA academies are the biggest rort in football . They have done little to give opportunities to players who wouldnt have otherwise have participated in AFL and are a trade off for the Northern academies suddenly producing the one (or two at most) drafted players each year.

If they truly wanted to promote football into the northern rugby stronghold areas , they should make each club draft at least one player from one of the 4 northern academies even if it is just to rookie list one like the overseas rookies are . That would truly give impetus to Northern state involvement if there was possibly 18 chances each year to play at AFL level amongst the 4 Northern academies. Wont happen as the current administration is too beholden to the Melbourne Establishment.

[Ludwig]

If we’re looking at the future, I think you have to take Joey and Parks out of this equation. They are likely to be bit part players or retired once we are contending for a flag again in around 3-4 seasons time.

Agree about Joey, but Parks is only 27, so he's still only 31 in 2024. Travis Boak is 32 and in the running for the Brownlow this year, albeit way behind Neale.

I think when evaluating our midfield stocks, some are being too harsh on our group, mainly because they are young and we don't have much of a record to base long-term projections.

I'm going to list here a few top 5 midfield picks from draft years 2014-2017: Jarrod Pickett, Darcy Parish, Will Setterfield, Patrick Dow, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Adam Cerra.

For the most part, these players are pretty good, but I wouldn't say that any of them are likely to be the centrepiece of their club's next midfield. But not out of the question.

Adding another midfield prospect just puts another name on a rather long list of good young prospects that need time and opportunity to show their worth. It doesn't guarantee a great midfield 5 years down the road.

I would like to see our current list of young midfielders given a chance to prove their worth. And we really have a lot of them. It's way too early to say that we have a poor midfield going forward. And to think it's so poor that even 2 highly rated midfielders from this year's draft is not sufficient to fix the problem, and only a 3rd midfielder from this draft will make it all good.

[Ludwig]

NGA academies are the biggest rort in football . They have done little to give opportunities to players who wouldnt have otherwise have participated in AFL and are a trade off for the Northern academies suddenly producing the one (or two at most) drafted players each year.

If they truly wanted to promote football into the northern rugby stronghold areas , they should make each club draft at least one player from one of the 4 northern academies even if it is just to rookie list one like the overseas rookies are . That would truly give impetus to Northern state involvement if there was possibly 18 chances each year to play at AFL level amongst the 4 Northern academies. Wont happen as the current administration is too beholden to the Melbourne Establishment.

I agree, the NGA is a big rort.

I like your idea in the last paragraph.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Agree about Joey, but Parks is only 27, so he's still only 31 in 2024. Travis Boak is 32 and in the running for the Brownlow this year, albeit way behind Neale.

I think when evaluating our midfield stocks, some are being too harsh on our group, mainly because they are young and we don't have much of a record to base long-term projections.

I'm going to list here a few top 5 midfield picks from draft years 2014-2017: Jarrod Pickett, Darcy Parish, Will Setterfield, Patrick Dow, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Adam Cerra.

For the most part, these players are pretty good, but I wouldn't say that any of them are likely to be the centrepiece of their club's next midfield. But not out of the question.

Adding another midfield prospect just puts another name on a rather long list of good young prospects that need time and opportunity to show their worth. It doesn't guarantee a great midfield 5 years down the road.

I would like to see our current list of young midfielders given a chance to prove their worth. And we really have a lot of them. It's way too early to say that we have a poor midfield going forward. And to think it's so poor that even 2 highly rated midfielders from this year's draft is not sufficient to fix the problem, and only a 3rd midfielder from this draft will make it all good.

I’m certainly not saying any of those I listed won’t make it, but there is certainly question marks over a lot of them at this early stage in their careers. Only time will tell.

What I am saying is I think it’s optimistic to believe our next premiership midfield is already on our list once the two academy boys are added.

It is likely that the more mids we draft that we will shed some from the list along the way. I just don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing if it improves the quality level over all. It is ultimately where the game is won or lost and the best teams have serious depth there. We definitely do not, and I don’t think anyone can say at this stage if the depth required in the future is already on our list ( or will be once Campbell and Gulden are added).

And considering we have rarely gotten a crack at top 2-3 draft picks over recent time’s, I wouldn’t be dismissing the idea of using that pick on a midfielder if they are the best player available at our pick.


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[TheBloods]

I’m certainly not saying any of those I listed won’t make it, but there is certainly question marks over a lot of them at this early stage in their careers. Only time will tell.

What I am saying is I think it’s optimistic to believe our next premiership midfield is already on our list once the two academy boys are added.

It is likely that the more mids we draft that we will shed some from the list along the way. I just don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing if it improves the quality level over all. It is ultimately where the game is won or lost and the best teams have serious depth there. We definitely do not, and I don’t think anyone can say at this stage if the depth required in the future is already on our list ( or will be once Campbell and Gulden are added).

And considering we have rarely gotten a crack at top 2-3 draft picks over recent time’s, I wouldn’t be dismissing the idea of using that pick on a midfielder if they are the best player available at our pick.


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I agree. Our youth is talked about as if they're certainties to take us to glory and all we have to do is wait for them to finish developing.

In reality I think it's a very strong possibility that a lot of them won't make it. Florent, Warner, Bell, Clarke could end up players, but I also could see them being traded/delisted as they don't become the players we need them to be.

[Syd76]

I agree. Our youth is talked about as if they're certainties to take us to glory and all we have to do is wait for them to finish developing.

In reality I think it's a very strong possibility that a lot of them won't make it. Florent, Warner, Bell, Clarke could end up players, but I also could see them being traded/delisted as they don't become the players we need them to be.

I don't think that Bell will make it. Clarke certainly will not - he has been in the system too long and whilst he has his moments he won't cut it. Florent I think will make it as will hopefully Warner

[TheBloods]

I don't think that Bell will make it. Clarke certainly will not - he has been in the system too long and whilst he has his moments he won't cut it. Florent I think will make it as will hopefully Warner

Bell, Clarke, Florent and Warner I worry will have an awful lot of weaknesses in their game they have to sort out if any are to be the caliber of players we need them to be.

[Blood Fever]

Bell, Clarke, Florent and Warner I worry will have an awful lot of weaknesses in their game they have to sort out if any are to be the caliber of players we need them to be.

We have tended over the years not to have multiple players who are really good kicks, probably because for a long time, we haven't had high draft picks. The players above illustrate this I reckon.

[TheBloods]

We have tended over the years not to have multiple players who are really good kicks, probably because for a long time, we haven't had high draft picks. The players above illustrate this I reckon.

Most definitely. And I think it's going to cost at least half of them their places on our list as it becomes clearer the level of skill required to be in contention.

[707]

Most definitely. And I think it's going to cost at least half of them their places on our list as it becomes clearer the level of skill required to be in contention.

Campbell a long accurate left footer :-)