2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Markwebbos]

How about we complete the Takia quínella? Crows open to trading Daniel.

He’s going to be 31 next year though.

[liz]

How about we complete the Takia quínella? Crows open to trading Daniel.

He’s going to be 31 next year though.

He's 31 and hasn't been able to get on to the park all year. It's not surprising that the Crows are open to trading him.

[Bangalore Swans]

How about we complete the Takia quínella? Crows open to trading Daniel.

He’s going to be 31 next year though.

What about Noah Balta? We’d have to spend some good money and draft capital. I understand that he really enjoyed his time in Coogee when the Richmond team was based in Sydney.

I future defence of McCartin, Blakey and Balta looks quite powerful.

[bloodspirit]

Not that I can envisage a scenario where we would draft him (quite apart from his rating compared to our picks, he's not what we need) but I think you'll enjoy this bit of Jason Horne footage: Callum Twomey on Twitter: "When Darcy Fogarty met Jason Horne this weekend... Unbelievable strength and aggression on this kid. Ready to play. https://t.co/mYIi3o8TNd" / Twitter.

[bloodspirit]

What about Noah Balta?

Great idea! I think we should get Aaron Naughton and Tom Green while we're at it. Maybe Sean Darcy too. That will really set us up for the seasons to come and maximise our chances of becoming a flag dynasty team. Sure, it'll cost a bit but totally worth it.

[bloodspirit]

How about we complete the Takia quínella? Crows open to trading Daniel.

He’s going to be 31 next year though.

A similar option is David Astbury - also turning 31 next year. However, like Talia, he has been out of form and also dealing with injuries.

As usual, I am conscious that we don't have anyone near the necessary info to make these judgments and I back our recruiters in. Some would say: "they recruited Clarke, Thurlow, Taylor & Gray - we can't trust them". But think all of those players were recruited for bargain basement prices (in terms of salary and picks) and I don't think we ever expected more of them than they have given (although we possibly hoped for more).

I, like you, enjoy throwing up names of targets to consider. But, ultimately I realise all the opinions we express are worth very little. We can speak with a bit more confidence when we speak more generally and say: we need more KPPs who can be best 22. A lot is riding on Gould coming good in our back half and that is an unknown prospect (I'm still optimistic). However, if we do recruit a KPD, what does that do for Gould's prospects? I think if he feels we don't have confidence in him to become a best 22 player, at that point there would be a danger that he would start to look for opportunities elsewhere.

[bloodspirit]

Potentially the ideal KPP recruit for us is Paddy McCartin. Clearly we need him to tick some boxes before we will commit to him. But if he comes good he's exactly what we need - right age and experience, right size, talented, can play both ends.

[bloodspirit]

And here's an article about the draft and trade from FoxSports: AFL trade news, rumours, whispers: Brisbane Lions salary cap, Ollie Hanrahan Geelong, Callum Coleman-Jones Essendon, Mason Cox contract (foxsports.com.au).

Looks like CCJ will come pricy and perhaps there are other clubs that need him more than we do, so he may be out of reach.

Very interesting are the comments that suggest this year is a WEAK draft! Fox's David Zita reports:

List managers believe this year’s draft intake is one of the weakest in years.
Aside from the top few selections, draft experts don’t see many key position prospects and say there are hardly any ruckmen beyond the top 10.
Of course, the national championships later this year will flush out some more talent, but one list manager told foxfooty.com.au: “It’s not the year to stockpile lots of draft picks as it falls off a cliff.”

This is really eyebrow raising to me:

(1) because we have been told for the past couple of years that the 2021 draft was a bumper crop; and

(2) because of the reduced number of players considered and selected in last year's draft, meaning the ones who were overlooked are competing with this years and adding depth to the pool.

The article also suggests that other clubs are looking at Paddy McCartin.

[Markwebbos]

I think the mid-season draft cleaned out most of the tall players. And Covid has really stunted the development of the VIC kids.

I still reckon it might suit our club who seem to specialise in finding diamonds in the rough.

[Molly dooker]

Hi All,

Sorry if this is a silly question, I cannot remember if it was cleared up earlier.

Have the VFL, oops, AFL announced the TPP's for 2022?

I remember a bit of speculation regarding contract discussions being based on how much $$$'s we could offer players we want to keep, e.g. Parker and Dawson.

Thanks.

[Kafka's Ghost]

Dawson unlikely to be entertaining a move to the Cows who still seem as far off being a finalist as they were last year when they won the Wooden Spoon. Why would you leave us when our trajectory is so damned exciting!

That said, Dawson on recent form will be getting a much fatter contract from us, may need to jettison some fringe players to free up the necessary TPP

Pretty much agree with this. Dawson would be unlikely to leave to play in a bottom side for the next few years, especially when the future at Sydney is full of promise. He’s also on the record as saying Swans’ fans needn’t be anxious.
It’s more likely that Brand, Gray and Clark will be delisted to make some space. The club will also probably back-end his contract, as after this year a lot more space opens up in it. Not sure if Reid will get another contract either, or if he does, it’ll be at a significantly reduced amount.

[bloodspirit]

Zero Hanger have suggested 5 players for us as 'trade targets' (part of a series they are doing for all clubs). The 5 players they suggest we might target are:

1. Todd Marshall
2. Jack Gunston
3. Brennan Cox
4. Lachie Schultz
5. Elliott Himmelberg

I'm prepared to rule out Jack Gunston and Lachie Schultz off the bat. Jack Gunston is too old and I don't think we need him for his mentoring value. He's not going to last much more than Buddy, and Heeney, Papley and Hayward aren't rookies any more. Nor do we need Schultz, another small forward: apart from Papley and Wicks, we have Ronke, and Taylor in the wings plus players like Gulden who can be used forward too (although I think Gulden is wasted played too close to goal - he is a playmaker with great vision best used further from goal to set up scoring opportunities and use the ball well).

Todd Marshall and Brennan Cox are tall and deserving of consideration. I haven't followed Marshall's career but he originates in NSW and was highly rated in his draft year. I don't think he's set the world on fire and he's falling down the pecking order at Port and likely to be passed by Georgiades. Despite this he is a talented tall forward and we could use someone to partner McDonald in attack after Buddy departs. I know little about Cox. Apparently he is injured but was rating very well in various important defensive stats and could be the tall defender we need given that Melican and Brand are not showing enough and Gould is not there yet and Rampe may be coming towards the end. His strengths include intercepting/spoiling and kicking. I like the sound of that.

Himmelberg I just don't know enough about. He's originally from NSW and about 200 cm. He plays forward and can ruck a bit. I don't think he's made much of an impression at AFL level but maybe he could break out. Pyke could give us some good intel about him, being his former coach. What would he offer that Amartey and McLean don't already?