2021 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[stevoswan]

Why would i be happy for him ? Is he a swans player ?? I said good luck to him what is the point in dwelling on someone no longer on our list !

I would think most normal humans would care for everyone in society. Why invent enemies or be negative to anyone that hasn't personally hurt you or done something horrible?

We do have a 'past players' thread so some of us do care.....of course, you don't have to. I trust we won't see you tainting that thread then?

[Ralph Dawg]

Interesting selection possibilities for which ex-Swans would be selected to either

1. turn us into a genuine flag winner in 2021/2 OR
2. add the polish to the current list to do likewise in 2022/2025.

Mumford I discount on age and and ability to play every week, but Nankervis and Hickey would be an awesome ruck and around the ground combination. I doubt Cameron would be selected in front of Sinclair or McClean if we wanted a team with another tall forward.

Membery and Rohan would not replace Heeney but either might improve the short term lead up forward role; but maybe not for the longer term. Also, McDonald would not be gaining experience for that longer term.

Mitchell and Jones are both playing well. Kennedy and Parker are hanging in there so the casualties would be Warner, Rowbottom or Florent. I'm not sure their inclusions would convert us to a short term flag contender, and our Cygnets would be disadvantaged. But those 2 make a significant contribution once Kennedy and Parker need to be replaced.

Allir is an interesting one (assuming he plays at his Port Adelaide standard.He is not the Key Defender we may be short of, nor would he be the relieving Ruck. He might push out Dawson, but is that a big plus?

We are on track to be around the top 8 this year, and the inclusion of some of the ex-Swans might confirm that, but I doubt we would be flag favourites this year or next as a result.

All speculation of course and ignores salary cap, who we got as recruits, game plan etc etc.

But interesting to confirm that I put more trust in the Cygnets for 2023 onwards.

Top post and agree.

I think when people wax lyrical about the guys succeeding at other clubs, they imagine we would have Jones, Nank, Mitchell, Rohan etc along with all our current stars. There is the small issue of the salary cap to take into account as well as the important issue of developing our young talent.

The one guy I wish we had kept was Nank. Hickey is essentially is showing us what we missed out on when we traded him and kept Naismith instead. But you win some, lose some. Don't really miss any of the others (although Aliir was always a favourite of mine but we got Hick out of the deal).

Overall, I'm happy with how we have managed our list.

[TheBloods]

I would think most normal humans would care for everyone in society. Why invent enemies or be negative to anyone that hasn't personally hurt you or done something horrible?

We do have a 'past players' thread so some of us do care.....of course, you don't have to. I trust we won't see you tainting that thread then?

I didnt say i didnt care for him as a person ! I just dont give a damn what hes doing at port adelaide or how he's playing and why would i ? If your not wearing red and white then i dont wish you any success on the field . Simple

[stevoswan]

Jones - still the turnover king. In two close games this year I have seen him butcher the ball in the dying seconds to lose the game.
Aliir - playing ok but can he keep it up and keep his nose clean off field. (Allowed us to get Hickey who is more important to us)
Membrey - probably still not quite real AFL standard but got a game for saints when they were abysmal and has held his spot.

Jones....can butcher it but is improving every week and regularly getting 30+ possessions now.

Aliir.....what's that all about? He kept 'his nose clean off field' with us. Oh, I remember now....he was late to training once.

Membrey.....he has held his spot because he now is AFL standard.

- - - Updated - - -

I didnt say i didnt care for him as a person ! I just dont give a damn what hes doing at port adelaide or how he's playing and why would i ? If your not wearing red and white then i dont wish you any success on the field . Simple

Fair enough I suppose....

[Ludwig]

I would think most normal humans would care for everyone in society.

What planet do you live on?

I'll let you in on a little secret. It's just you and me ................ and I'm not so sure about myself.

[stevoswan]

What planet do you live on?

I'll let you in on a little secret. It's just you and me ................ and I'm not so sure about myself.

[The Big Cat]

Jones....can butcher it but is improving every week and regularly getting 30+ possessions now.

Aliir.....what's that all about? He kept 'his nose clean off field' with us. Oh, I remember now....he was late to training once.

Membrey.....he has held his spot because he now etc..

Aliir met with leadership group a number of times. It wasn’t just late for training.

Membrey is a role player at best and wouldn’t have played for the swans in the two years after he left.

Jones. More possessions for a butcher is equivalent to more chance of butchery. Remember Jason Daniels? Eade said it helped the team more if he didn’t get the ball.

[Blood Fever]

Aliir met with leadership group a number of times. It wasn’t just late for training.

Membrey is a role player at best and wouldn’t have played for the swans in the two years after he left.

Jones. More possessions for a butcher is equivalent to more chance of butchery. Remember Jason Daniels? Eade said it helped the team more if he didn’t get the ball.

It is true that Membrey wouldn't have played in those two years. That doesn't detract from the fact that he has been a fine player at St Kilda for some time.

[MattW]

Does that mean West Coast mismanaged Hickey?

Not saying we didn't mismanage Aliir, but it's hard to be sure. Last year, in Aliir's own words he was down on form. As for Rohan, I think he is definitely benefiting from having Hawkins and Cameron there too. Plus he benefits from 150 games and many years experience. Not sure how different the role he plays for the Cats is to what he did with us. At both clubs he's kind of the third tall who applies a lot of pressure in the front half.

My theory on Hickey is that he's not been the number 1 ruck for any team he's played in. He's always been the second ruck, apart from occasional injury fill-in games.

Amid the chorus of groans when he was recruited ('what a spud!'), I recall doing a post or two interpreting his stats (not having paid attention to his play), and it seemed that in the few games he was number 1 ruck for West Coast (when Naitanui was out), in particular, he performed really well. I think I might have posted an article with team-mates praising his contribution in that time.

My other theory on Hickey, is that chorus ('what a spud!') was at least on partly based on his spud-sounding name. Because it clearly wasn't based on his play - he's not just suddenly learned how to play. Pretty salient reminder to be wary of dismissive hot-takes.

[Bangalore Swans]

Shia Bolton

Out of contact this year and could be the brilliant run and carry dynamic that will make our midfield the best in the game.

He has just come through a night club episode. May be reflecting on living in Melbourne in the intense AFL public eye.

He could walk around Sydney in anonymity.

Would cost a bit more that a 1st round pick.

Should the Swans call his manager and ask if Shai is interested in playing for a youthful emerging team, where he could live a peaceful private existence.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Shia Bolton

Out of contact this year and could be the brilliant run and carry dynamic that will make our midfield the best in the game.

He has just come through a night club episode. May be reflecting on living in Melbourne in the intense AFL public eye.

He could walk around Sydney in anonymity.

Would cost a bit more that a 1st round pick.

Should the Swans call his manager and ask if Shai is interested in playing for a youthful emerging team, where he could live a peaceful private existence.

Bolton's a superb player, so don't take this the wrong way.

But if we're going to spend two first round picks and $800,000 for each of five years (because that is what it would take), I'd rather use it to extract a Harry McKay or quality young KDP that fills a clear need on our list as we come into the premiership window in 2023-onwards.

[Aprilbr]

Shai would potentially be a great pick up for us as he fills a gap in our list. However, the cost of acquiring him would be very high, both in terms of trade value and salary. Our focus should be re-signing our young talent first before looking at acquisitions. I'm still patiently waiting for some more announcements in this regard.