of the players out of contract this year, here's some names that stand out:

• hugh greenwood (crows) - sort of their equivalent of harmes, i guess
• riley knight (crows) - he most plays outside mid, has some pace
• daniel mcstay (bears) - very good tall defender, not sure we need another
• brayden sier (pies) - tough inside ballwinner, has some defensive liabilities
• tom phillips (pies) - jet wingman, would love him; no way they're losing him
• darcy parish (peptides) - a slightly better version of stretch...pass
• ed langdon (freo) - pace to burn, we've gone after him a couple of times
• nakia cockatoo (cats) - has skills but his body has let him down
• peter wright (gc17) - another key forward who doesn't seem to read the play that well
• adam tomlinson (gw$) - free agent, not sure what role he's play with us given kk and fritsh play def wingmen
• jacob hopper (gw$) - another inside mid, might be able to get him if he's squeezed out cos...
• josh kelly (gw$) - ...stays at the franchise, and so too does...
• steve coniglio (gw$) - ...this bloke
• brandon ellis (tiggas) - turnover merchant, but has pace
• jack billings (aints) - so we have someone else other than petracca to complain about
• harry cunningham (swans) - another rfa, a bit limited as a wingman, occasional rotating inside mid
• zak jones (swans) - all the brothers!
• josh dunkley (dogs) - another inside-outside mid-forward combo player, big bodied

of that lot my preference in order would be a top five of coniglio, kelly, dunkley, billings, jones and then of the more likely lads langdon, tomlinson, hopper

 

3 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

GWS trade out high and draft in high..

the end of 2018 saw the world catch up but they gave themselves a real go at the flag.

You might ask how can a team trade out Sheils, Smith Scully and Lobb and still be a top 8 contender. They are ruthless.

We trade in but have not drafted well (best we could get but no superstars).

Make no mistake we are going for it which is what made last week so disappointing

When a club keeps getting flop results from the draft,  it is either the club is making mistakes with personalities..  and/or the culture & development at the club is woeful,  or both.

We had both in the 2000's, all 3 actually.

Now we have mastered most things, and we are at the pointy end... at this time so far. but we are still missing out on those prepared to back themselves and take risks. I think it is because we look for those who won't make trouble or rock any boats, or windows.

 

Lets throw out the mental profiling at the draft table, because we continually fail at this step...  and we walk past the players who make it big.

Lets judge the players on their physical weapons and skill-sets...  and footy abilities alone,  and I reckon we would be doing much better with our results, after 5 or so years of development.

 

And Re Hogan it did not work recruiting a 17yr old kid, on big money and fanfare... who can't even play for further 12 months. 

We need skilled kids,  brought in with little fanfare,  so they can develo0p in the shadows, without any hoo-hagh about them or their development, for at least the first 2 years.  If they want to be made a fuss of,  they will have to earn it first, for themselves.

59 minutes ago, whatwhatsaywhat said:

of the players out of contract this year, here's some names that stand out:

• hugh greenwood (crows) - sort of their equivalent of harmes, i guess
• riley knight (crows) - he most plays outside mid, has some pace
• daniel mcstay (bears) - very good tall defender, not sure we need another
• brayden sier (pies) - tough inside ballwinner, has some defensive liabilities
• tom phillips (pies) - jet wingman, would love him; no way they're losing him
• darcy parish (peptides) - a slightly better version of stretch...pass
• ed langdon (freo) - pace to burn, we've gone after him a couple of times
• nakia cockatoo (cats) - has skills but his body has let him down
• peter wright (gc17) - another key forward who doesn't seem to read the play that well
• adam tomlinson (gw$) - free agent, not sure what role he's play with us given kk and fritsh play def wingmen
• jacob hopper (gw$) - another inside mid, might be able to get him if he's squeezed out cos...
• josh kelly (gw$) - ...stays at the franchise, and so too does...
• steve coniglio (gw$) - ...this bloke
• brandon ellis (tiggas) - turnover merchant, but has pace
• jack billings (aints) - so we have someone else other than petracca to complain about
• harry cunningham (swans) - another rfa, a bit limited as a wingman, occasional rotating inside mid
• zak jones (swans) - all the brothers!
• josh dunkley (dogs) - another inside-outside mid-forward combo player, big bodied

of that lot my preference in order would be a top five of coniglio, kelly, dunkley, billings, jones and then of the more likely lads langdon, tomlinson, hopper

 

I''d be having another nibble at Touk Miller.   Keep in contact whispering sweet somethings into his listening ear.   Maybe put something onto his headphones flash drive.

Also just in case I'd be looking for another hard at it inside mid,  just in case...  Re jViney.?

11 hours ago, TRIGON said:

It’s behind a paywall that I’ve no interest in breaching, but I’d love to get Tim Taranto.

Double click on the photo.

 

A waffle piece if I ever saw one... 

They miss a key point - we must use a first round 2019 draft pick as we have traded out the last 3 years for Lever/May. 

Not sure if we can trade our 2020 pick.  I doubt we would as it means 1 pick of top end talent over a 5 year period.  Sure we are recruiting well with our picks around the #30+/- mark, getting in some good B players and some 'journeymen' but at some stage we need picks at the top end otherwise we won't have the next gen top talent coming thru.  

All that aside its a bit early for trade/draft talk.  Lets just win some games.

Edited March 29, 20196 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Agree TRIGON, Taranto would be a great get.

As always with this talk you have to figure what would others pay for players we might find are hard to squeeze into our top 22.

Its no use saying "we would never trade ..." when you are targeting other sides players.

For example we might think Oscar and Frosty are extraneous but a St Kilda or Carlton might think they are worth a round 2 pick each.

I wouldnt be surprised if St kilda would give up their round one for Petracca. You put a round one and two together and now your talking.

I read the article differently. Not much substance on who we target but the key message is we have money in the bank to protect and re-sign our guns in Oliver etc who we know other clubs will come after with million dollar offers. An earlier post was spot on Shiel, Scully and Lobb going eased about 2 mill. of the GWS salary cap.

With only Jones nearing the end age wise I doubt his retirement will free up a lot in our cap.

 

1 minute ago, Older demon said:

I read the article differently. Not much substance on who we target but the key message is we have money in the bank to protect and re-sign our guns in Oliver etc who we know other clubs will come after with million dollar offers. An earlier post was spot on Shiel, Scully and Lobb going eased about 2 mill. of the GWS salary cap.

With only Jones nearing the end age wise I doubt his retirement will free up a lot in our cap.

lewis will either finish up this year or be on a severely reduced contract in 2020, and he was on very good coin for three years with us

we also won't be paying $70k a year for watts to not be on our list any more

Edited March 30, 20196 yr by whatwhatsaywhat

1 minute ago, whatwhatsaywhat said:

lewis will either finish up this year or be on a severely reduced contract in 2020, and he was on very good coin for three years with us

we also won't be paying $70k a year for watts to not be on our list any more

Good point I forgot about Watts wage coming off our cap.

12 hours ago, MT64 said:

Double click on the photo.

 

HaHaHaHa... love it. ?

What about some younger and cheaper options

Hunter Clark saints 

Mathew ling swans 

Not really getting a run atm but both quick good users and would look good next to our tough midfielders 

Save the cap space for our own young guns but flick a little extra across to turn the head of these guys.

Maybe frost and and a second for Clark I'm not sure for ling maybe anb? (I'm not a fan of his)

I would also like Shia Bolton from the tigers as we need food speed in the forward line and x factor 

We have to use our first round pick at draft, so no trading this year. It's free agency or trading low picks and average players. 

The club should throw the world at Coniglio. Land him as a free agent. Coniglio's a perfectly rounded midfielder. Has pace, agility, tackles like mad, can win ball inside, can do damage on the outside, and can kick multiple goals attacking through the flanks. He's still underrated and IMO is in the top 5-10 midfielders in the game at present. I'd trade anyone on our list for him bar Oliver. Unfortunately he'll likely stay at GWS or head home to WA.

If we did acquire extra currency to trade, then Ed Langdon fits the bill for midfield pace. We've been into him for year, so perhaps this is the year we land him. McStay from the Lions would be good. Can play key forward or back, and would add to our tall forward depth.

Edited March 30, 20196 yr by Lord Travis

1 hour ago, Older demon said:

I read the article differently. Not much substance on who we target but the key message is we have money in the bank to protect and re-sign our guns in Oliver etc who we know other clubs will come after with million dollar offers. An earlier post was spot on Shiel, Scully and Lobb going eased about 2 mill. of the GWS salary cap.

With only Jones nearing the end age wise I doubt his retirement will free up a lot in our cap.

 

IF GWS disappoint again in 2019,  watch the Hume H/Way gates open up.

MUST USE THE 1st ROUND PICK IN 2019

 

Who to target?? CAPTAIN MARVEL. 

we need a superhero 

35 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

MUST USE THE 1st ROUND PICK IN 2019

 

Who to target?? CAPTAIN MARVEL. 

we need a superhero 

Or someone with a bit of backbone.

The entire organisation has been drinking their own bathwater.

We need a decent key forward after trading the best young kpf in the league for way unders. 

Who is the likely pick one this year that we can stuff up?

38 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

Or someone with a bit of backbone.

The entire organisation has been drinking their own bathwater.

Agree. No hunger this year. Just expected it to happen.

Bathwater to the power 10

A few weeks ago we were a destination club - not sure about that now 

Forwards forwards and more forwards.

11 hours ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Forwards forwards and more forwards.

 

19 hours ago, DV8 said:

IF GWS disappoint again in 2019,  watch the Hume H/Way gates open up.

.I like the look of Harry Himmelberg. Could be a gun. 1.94cm 23 year old out of contract, behind Cameron and Patton in the pecking order. Gets plenty of the ball, kicked 29 in 3rd year last year, first full season though. Good footy brain and takes a strong mark, a little like young McGovern. Shouldn't be too expensive to trade for.

Edited March 31, 20196 yr by John Demonic

1 hour ago, John Demonic said:

 

.I like the look of Harry Himmelberg. Could be a gun. 1.94cm 23 year old out of contract, behind Cameron and Patton in the pecking order. Gets plenty of the ball, kicked 29 in 3rd year last year, first full season though. Good footy brain and takes a strong mark, a little like young McGovern. Shouldn't be too expensive to trade for.

He sounds interesting,  'JD',

 

But have they got any young speedy skilled running Mids,  below the Kelly's and Whitfield's ? 

Maybe we could trade a future 1st Rnd Pick & a half-forward to them, for a Whitfield type and young tall forward.?   There will be someone who wants a change of venue from them and there will be something the GWS would like ?

16 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Agree. No hunger this year. Just expected it to happen.

Bathwater to the power 10

The mental preparation so far is terrible...  the players thinking must have been,  its 'just a matter of course'.  This is the trouble with over-confidence in pre-season, and the over optimistic support,  from all of US,  going into this season.

 

Combine that with so many surgeries, so a latish Prep, compared to past season,  and combined with a big change in AFL game structures (666)  around defensive structures,  has caught us out.

We'll need to change the balance of our side, to adjust.

We need that extra speed and running Power, that I've been calling for for the past 4 Yrs or so.   Both forward, and in the Mids...   Sloths beware.  get elite running fitness, or get out.