Joey's one of the great people to come into this club in my 25-30 years of watching them.
Players like Plugger, Goodes, Micky O, Buddy, Kel etc will always get the deserved attention - but he can neatly stand alongside any of them when it comes to pure output on the field.
He was the best clearance/contested player in the entire AFL for 2010-20. Everything else aside, that is one hell of a claim.
We've been lucky to have him.
'Delicious' is a fun word to say
Sam Reid 2022
I was having a debate today about whether the Swans should offer a contract to Sam Reid in 22.
My friend believed that the club should offer a one year contract at low money. He believed that you could be get 6-8 good games out of Reid in a potential Grand Final run in 2022.
I had the more ruthless opinion that the club should move on from Reid at the end of 2021. I like Sam Reid as a player and think he can contribute, however his chances of putting together 15 AFL games in 2022 are remote. His injury history suggests that a small strain in his calf or hamstring leads to possibly a season ending injury. Longmire has no time frame for his 2021 return and sustained only a minor calf strain 5 weeks ago.
The Swans also have young key forwards in McLean (22) and Amartey (21) who look like they can make solid contributions at AFL level. The club also have McDonald who good judges believe can grow into a very good AFL key forward. And you also have Franklin who is playing well and looking to play on in Buddy 2023. That is good depth at the key forward position. Is this depth (if healthy) enough to cover for Reid?
What do people think?
Regarding Sam Reid:
It's worth noting that Reid's injury history, although not great, is better than some might think. In the 9 years between 2011 and 2019 Sam played at least 20 games in 6 seasons. 2016 and 2018 were the wipeout seasons, which I think involved problems with his plantaris tendon. I'm not sure if the tendon was removed, which is done in some cases. He's now had soft tissue problems the past 3 seasons. The injury report has him back running again, perhaps on track for a return to footy in around 4 or 5 weeks. Let's wait and see if he can recover and play out the season.
San will only be 30 next year, so injuries aside, he should have a few more good seasons left. He's a solid #2 forward and an excellent backup when needed in defence. I wouldn't underestimate his value during this period of transitioning the forward line. At least 1 more solid year from Sam and Lance would go a long way in making us competitive for a high table placement next year.
I think we go into 2022 with close to the same squad that we have now. It's the 2022 post season where we might make some bigger moves in the trade market.
There's still a lot of player assessment to be had this year. Amartey and McLean look promising, but we still need to see a lot more to feel confident that they have long term futures at AFL level. We are in a similar boat with our KPDs. It might all be fine, but things could fall away if Melican continues with his soft tissue injuries and if neither Gould nor O'Connor develop to AFL level.
In the post season this year, I would think that Mabior Chol and Paddy McCartin should be in the picture and what we do in this regard will be influence by the progress of the KPPs mentioned above.
So, I'm for keeping Reid at least another year if he recovers from his latest calf injury and stays fit the remainder of the season. 2022 has always been my target year for the big team assessment when significant changes could be made if required. No coincidence this correlates with the end of Franklin's contract and should give us a bit of breathing room to be a bigger player in the trade period.
Bangalore, he gets a contract every day of the week, still a key part of our team if we want to progress in September.
Interested to hear your thoughts on Sam Naismith's contract extention until the end of 2022?
Spot on. We need Sam- simple. He may not be able to play as much as we would like, but he is too valuable to lose at this stage. I think he could be managed better, similar to how Horse intended to play Buddy and our kids. I don’t see why he can’t be rested fo a few games during the year to lessen his work load. Yes, he is a bit injury prone but he has a very difficult role playing forward, in the ruck and then helping out in defence. He is one of the hardest working players in the team and always tries his heart out. We expect too much from him and his body is a bit fragile but he still has heaps to give. Sam, you’re staying as long as you want- you’re a true Blood!
The SMH are speculating on Reid’s position. The football writer knows much more than I know about AFL. If that writer is speculating, then I can speculate.
With young players and list management discussions I always like to defer to TheBloods knowledge. Hoping TheBloods can assess Reid’s prospects.
I think Naismith was fortunate to get 2022. Shows how the coaching staff rate Naismith.
Naismith needs another knee reconstruction as the graft didn’t take. Article on AFL.com
Yes, very sad news for Naismith. Shades of Alex Johnson with his career. At least Alex got to play in a premiership team before the injuries took hold.
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