2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Blood Fever]

Feel like there is a bit of sydney afl parochialism in that call bloodspirit. Reality is that last years draft haul wont really be proven as greatest ever for quite a while yet. While Gulden has definitely shown his colours , McDonald and Campbell just showed promise (albeit some very nice glimpses of class ) and Sheather hasnt even performed at the highest level yet and its not like hes smashing it like say hannaberry did in ressies in his first year.

Hanneberry played little or no ressies IIRC

[AB Swannie]

Roberts is a wonderfully composed mid in traffic which is a special talent and he certainly has a lovely kick which looked very obvious when playing HFF.

He is more active and involved than I expected when I watched him play for SA vs WA.

He reminds me of a Robert Harvey or Dawson style of player where everything looks in slow motion and they have alot of time.

But he appears to not have the exit speed from contests of the modern day mid. Yet nor did Chad Warner in the footage I watched prior to drafting. Then in 2021 Chad looked like he doubled his exit speed from contests

Look forward to watching his development.

I’ve watched a couple of the full games between SA and WA. Admittedly, I was conscious of watching for the Swans draftees but I thought both Sheldrick and Roberts were excellent. Despite this, for some reason only the expert phantom drafters know, Roberts dropped quickly down their rankings. Contrastingly, as much as I hate to say it, Corey Warner was only average in these games. It’s a small sample size but I would rate Roberts much higher than the 6 draft picks between him and Warner.

[The Runner]

Hanneberry played little or no ressies IIRC

He was still at school when he debuted

[Ludwig]

So, if that's true, we would have preferred Wilmot to Sheldrick. [Not sure any other scenario makes sense - unless we were also interested in Alleer.] Wilmot was possibly a greater need but hopefully Sheldrick will be the better player.

It seems like a lot of clubs rated Wilmot highly and was much in demand in the last quarter of the first round, pretty much where he was ranked by Twomey. I suppose we were one of those clubs, plus we like going for late December birthday boys.

We ended up with Rankin for that spot instead of Wilmot or Brown. It could turn out for the best in the end, especially if Sheldrick plays like a Lachie Neale.

In any case, I don't feel we have such a great need for a speedy HBF. We have plenty of options already on our list. Blakey has looked great in the role, plus he has the height to intercept mark. I also prefer McInerney in the midfield. He's more offensively minded than a defender, but I'm sure he could be moulded into the role if need be.

Ollie Florent spends a lot of time down back and has become a key part of our rebound. He does well back there. He just falls apart a times when he has to make a play into the forward line.

We will be a bit overloaded with midfielders, so one of the speedy ones will be available to play in a HBF role, like Campbell or Stephens.

I noticed that this draft had so many quick outside players who were purported to be good kicks as well. They're in vogue now and there should be plenty available in future drafts and during the trade periods.

We have a very well balanced list right now.

[Aaron]

AFL confirms rookie rules for SSP, Mid-Season Draft

The AFL has confirmed the eligibility rules for the SSP and Mid-Season Rookie Draft

Supplemental Selection Period (SSP) will take place from Monday January 10 to Wednesday March 9, 2022 while the Mid-Season Rookie Draft is currently scheduled for Wednesday June 1, 2022.

[stevoswan]

Doerre wound up having Roberts outside his final top 20 draft rankings injury or no. He felt Roberts didn’t have enough impact in the games against SA and wasn't damaging enough with his ball use. That said I think that Roberts' selection was a clear case of us taking the best player available.

I'm feeling a bit for Roberts at the moment. He must have had very mixed feelings on draft night given he slid as far as he did after going on record to say he wanted to be picked as high as possible. He's been drafted interstate to a city he's visited once in his life and to a club where he doesn't know anyone. So far the coaches haven't really spoken to him about what they want from him. I look forward to the club wrapping their arms around him and him settling in.

Seems pretty happy here.....don't think we've got too much to be worried about.

Roberts: Over the moon - YouTube

[MattW]

It seems like a lot of clubs rated Wilmot highly and was much in demand in the last quarter of the first round, pretty much where he was ranked by Twomey. I suppose we were one of those clubs, plus we like going for late December birthday boys.

We ended up with Rankin for that spot instead of Wilmot or Brown. It could turn out for the best in the end, especially if Sheldrick plays like a Lachie Neale.

In any case, I don't feel we have such a great need for a speedy HBF. We have plenty of options already on our list. Blakey has looked great in the role, plus he has the height to intercept mark. I also prefer McInerney in the midfield. He's more offensively minded than a defender, but I'm sure he could be moulded into the role if need be.

Ollie Florent spends a lot of time down back and has become a key part of our rebound. He does well back there. He just falls apart a times when he has to make a play into the forward line.

We will be a bit overloaded with midfielders, so one of the speedy ones will be available to play in a HBF role, like Campbell or Stephens.

I noticed that this draft had so many quick outside players who were purported to be good kicks as well. They're in vogue now and there should be plenty available in future drafts and during the trade periods.

We have a very well balanced list right now.

I agree with all of that. In particular, that Florent stands out most when playing down back in a rebounding role. The main thing he needs to fix is his propensity to be caught holding the ball.

On very well balanced list point, the main vulnerabilities are the lack of a genuinely tall and dominant backman and the age gap between Buddy and McDonald. Ideally, we would have got a few more games into Logan last year, and training in Perth until January isn't a great start. Hopefully, Chad's looking after him.

On the backman, it's a fair ask for Paddy McCartin to play meaningful senior football there, but without him moving into the side or Tom taking a big step forward, we're going to be under pressure there against good teams.

[Ludwig]

On very well balanced list point, the main vulnerabilities are the lack of a genuinely tall and dominant backman and the age gap between Buddy and McDonald. Ideally, we would have got a few more games into Logan last year, and training in Perth until January isn't a great start. Hopefully, Chad's looking after him.

On the backman, it's a fair ask for Paddy McCartin to play meaningful senior football there, but without him moving into the side or Tom taking a big step forward, we're going to be under pressure there against good teams.

It's pretty hard to get those 2 top quality KPFs and KPDs, like many championship teams have. We often find that big money recruits (May and Lever at Melbourne) have filled the gaps left open by the draft.

Since there aren't many players involved, injuries can play a major role, as has been the case with the Swans. May and Lever have had their fair share of injuries as well, and Melbourne weren't playing at top level without them.

I have to be positive about Logan. Otherwise, our forward line will be in trouble once Buddy is finished. We probably have enough to be positive about with 4 young tall forwards in Logan, Ladhams (for the time being), McLean and Amartey.

I'm hoping that the shear numbers of bodies that we have to fill one spot in defence will be adequate to do the job, recognising that Paddy, Reid and Melican all have fitness concerns, while BOC and Gould have yet to play a game of AFL football. I'm banking on the number being there and enough going right to feel positive about our key defence. Luck, as always, will have a lot to say about it.

[KSAS]

It's pretty hard to get those 2 top quality KPFs and KPDs, like many championship teams have. We often find that big money recruits (May and Lever at Melbourne) have filled the gaps left open by the draft.

Since there aren't many players involved, injuries can play a major role, as has been the case with the Swans. May and Lever have had their fair share of injuries as well, and Melbourne weren't playing at top level without them.

I have to be positive about Logan. Otherwise, our forward line will be in trouble once Buddy is finished. We probably have enough to be positive about with 4 young tall forwards in Logan, Ladhams (for the time being), McLean and Amartey.

I'm hoping that the shear numbers of bodies that we have to fill one spot in defence will be adequate to do the job, recognising that Paddy, Reid and Melican all have fitness concerns, while BOC and Gould have yet to play a game of AFL football. I'm banking on the number being there and enough going right to feel positive about our key defence. Luck, as always, will have a lot to say about it.

+1 Well articulated.

[Auntie.Gerald]

For me, the squad looks very balanced.

We have minimum 10 players outside the top22 that have experience in Snr footy.

I like this list due to each of the roles in the series team have pretty good cover. For me this is so important for your team to function and get thru the tough weeks when injuries strike.

But i suspect we can even count on some good trades next season due to the depth of the squad.

McLean and Amartey etc will be players that if lacking opportunity at the Swans could be the right addition for a few other AFL teams.

If they keep progressing but are surplus to McDonald or say Paddy coming back and doing well.......then we may have a couple late pick 30 type trades which could be very helpful next season to draft what we need

[KSAS]

Balance & depth will be even more critical next season given the AFL's covid policy that all fixtures matches will continue regardless of the number of positive tested players missing in a given round. Long as club have the numbers to field a team, the show must go on. We saw elements of this last season with Mills & Cunningham missing games. Already during this pre-season some clubs have had staff/players testing positive. Could become a real factor in this fluid covid environment.

[longmile]

So ... um ... is clarke on the list?