I have been thinking about our recent struggles and downhill trajectory since the end of the 2022 season.

We all know that at the end of 2022 we lost Luke Jackson, who was supposed to be the heir to Max Gawn and be a gun forward too.

Did we actually lose even more than we first thought on that trade?

We got two first round picks, one of which became Caleb Windsor (great selection).

However, is that enough?

It's clear now that LJ could potentially be a top 5 player in the AFL for years to come. One of those rare talents (some may say "unicorn") that come to the league once in a generation.

Looking back at how things developed from 2020 going to 2021, would it be fair to say that, in hindsight, it was a bit of a red flag that he only extended one year?

I can't remember if we offered the extension in 2020 or 2021, in any case it now looks strange that we wouldn't put a 3 or 4 year contract in front of LJ. Does it mean that he wasn't willing to take more than one year extension?

Perhaps in an alternate universe if the club perceived that LJ was leaving, it would have been best to force a trade with WC? Say at the end of 2021?

The club had more leverage at the end of 2021 and we were always choosing WC as the trade partner, not Freo. 

Yes it's hindsight and it is crazy to think that we would trade him at the end of 2021, but if him moving to Perth was inevitable... Maybe it wasn't the worst thing to do?

I rest my case that it is strange we wouldn't offer him a longer extension, surely the club wanted that. This can only mean probably he declined a longer offer and we happily accepted that.

Losing Jackson may have been the catalyst to our current hardships.

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by ElDiablo14

Jackson is overrated by dees fans given his grandfinal changing performance (I get it)

We got a massive return for him 

Losing LJ was a massive loss, but there was nothing we could do about it…

7 minutes ago, adonski said:

Jackson is overrated by dees fans given his grandfinal changing performance (I get it)

We got a massive return for him 

So you think he's not worth the 1 million dollar a year contract? Nor he'll ever become that type of player.

1 minute ago, ElDiablo14 said:

So you think he's not worth the 1 million dollar a year contract? Nor he'll ever become that type of player.

I don't think so, no

Just now, adonski said:

I don't think so, no

Well evenso, others overrated him.

Yes we got some good return, but I think it could have been better if we had forced the WC trade instead of Freo.

Both are located in Perth, but for that to happen he would need to be under contract so...2021.

Had no intention of staying and some might argue he'd already checked out during his final year with us. Hasn't pulled on the red & blue jumper for almost two years now. Won a flag which will hopefully be his last. Time to let it go. 

1 minute ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Had no intention of staying and some might argue he'd already checked out during his final year with us. Hasn't pulled on the red & blue jumper for almost two years now. Won a flag which will hopefully be his last. Time to let it go. 

Nah

he's dead to me. just another oppo player

6 minutes ago, BDA said:

he's dead to me. just another oppo player

Me too, my intention is to assess if we were screwed even more than what we thought 2 years ago.

Obviously no one wanted the trade to be with Freo but with WC. Who knows what could've happened if we got WC first in 2022 and 2023.

11 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Had no intention of staying and some might argue he'd already checked out during his final year with us. Hasn't pulled on the red & blue jumper for almost two years now. Won a flag which will hopefully be his last. Time to let it go. 

He battled through a pretty bad knee injury late in 2022 and didn’t have his athleticism to really impact forward. No issues with his application 

If Luke Jackson was anything like a top 5 player in the AFL, Freo would be on a four-game winning streak and closing on the minor premiership, instead of having just lost to Essendon and Geelong.

Very good layer in a valuable role. Annoyingly, in the whole AFL we would probably be the club which would most benefit from his type, but that's how the cookie burns.

It would not be quite accurate, but still reasonable, to say that we ended up with Windsor and Tholstrup as the trade exchange after an enormous series of pickswap shenanigans. Both look like proper players.

My summary of the impact of Jackson leaving would be that it 'flattened the curve', denying us a super-dominant peak but getting us back into the pointy end of the draft and with a fair wad of salary cap to work with, too. It may have cost us the 2023 premiership but may also earn us the 2026 premiership thanks to both draft and trade opportunities created.

Jackson was worth a goal a game, either off his own boot or other work around the ground. We could have definitely won the flag last year if we was still with us.

Unfortunately it seems his mind was made up to move home and there was nothing we could do about it. Not really worth revisiting.

4 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

If Luke Jackson was anything like a top 5 player in the AFL, Freo would be on a four-game winning streak and closing on the minor premiership, instead of having just lost to Essendon and Geelong.

Very good layer in a valuable role. Annoyingly, in the whole AFL we would probably be the club which would most benefit from his type, but that's how the cookie burns.

It would not be quite accurate, but still reasonable, to say that we ended up with Windsor and Tholstrup as the trade exchange after an enormous series of pickswap shenanigans. Both look like proper players.

My summary of the impact of Jackson leaving would be that it 'flattened the curve', denying us a super-dominant peak but getting us back into the pointy end of the draft and with a fair wad of salary cap to work with, too. It may have cost us the 2023 premiership but may also earn us the 2026 premiership thanks to both draft and trade opportunities created.

I thought we got Jeffo and Windsor form those Freo picks. So it was Kolt?

In the scenario where we get WC 2022 and 2023 picks, what was the best we could've done with those?

Reid + ??

Doubt the eagles had the cap nor desire to pay up post 2021.

Doubt Jacko was keen to leave right away.

I reckon the grand final in Perth and extra time at home due to covid did us in. Freo probably started on a mega deal offer over summer.

Sadly without  more future picks being available the most Freo could really offer was 2 firsts and a second. Unfortunately even tho we were lucky to get pick 6 or whatever Windsor was we just fell out of the top range of the draft.

1 minute ago, DeeSpencer said:

Doubt the eagles had the cap nor desire to pay up post 2021.

Doubt Jacko was keen to leave right away.

I reckon the grand final in Perth and extra time at home due to covid did us in. Freo probably started on a mega deal offer over summer.

Sadly without  more future picks being available the most Freo could really offer was 2 firsts and a second. Unfortunately even tho we were lucky to get pick 6 or whatever Windsor was we just fell out of the top range of the draft.

Well WC didn't have a choice, they were starting their rebuild.

LJ was a great prospect to kickstart that rebuild.

16 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

He battled through a pretty bad knee injury late in 2022 and didn’t have his athleticism to really impact forward. No issues with his application 

Yep Dogga was so committed that he even turned up to a club meeting after he signed with Freo

Whenever he plays us:

He plays like the second coming of Polly  Farmer when he rucks and the second coming of Wayne Carey when he plays forward.

21 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

I thought we got Jeffo and Windsor form those Freo picks. So it was Kolt?

In the scenario where we get WC 2022 and 2023 picks, what was the best we could've done with those?

Reid + ??

Had it been 2021:

2021 12 - Josh Sinn
2022 3- Cadman/Sheezel/Wardlaw/Humphrey 

If the eagles got involved 2022:

3-  Cadman, Sheezel, Wardlaw, Humphrey 
OR (post eagles trading down)
9 -  Ginbey, 14 - Hewett
+/- Reid 

But I don’t think the eagles ever would’ve got involved directly. They might’ve got involved with their 2022 pick split.

I think our plans got screwed by the Horne-Francis trade that utilised that pick split and sent it to North/GWS.
 

I believe were working on combining all the Jacko picks and getting that Eagles pick 3. Jeffo and Windsor vs just Cadman/Humphrey…time will tell 

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by DeeSpencer

Luke Jackson trade has got us Jefferson and Windsor. At least one of those players will be better than Jackson. 

We traded LJ for two pick 13's. Luck saw Freo drop and the subsequent year's pick was 7.

He was pick 3 and was at the time of trading clearly the best of his draft year. Freo offered a record contract.

Yep we didn't do well in that trade if measured at the time of trading

Looking at it three years later it looks better but would (could) he have made a difference in 2023?

Edited August 11, 2024Aug 11 by Diamond_Jim

We drafted him and he played a huge role in our drought breaking flag, and then he moved on respectfully and we got a solid return in the trade, we drafted him knowing the risks and i can't bring myself to regret any of this process.

1 minute ago, Diamond_Jim said:

We traded LJ for two pick 13's. Luck saw Freo drop and the subsequent year's pick was 7.

He was pick 3 and was at the time of trading clearly the best of his draft year. Freo offered a record contract.

Yep we didn't do well in that trade if measured at the time of trading

And some want to trade Oliver for a pack of chips that we're paying for.

28 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

And some want to trade Oliver for a pack of chips that we're paying for.

It’s about time Oliver held up his end of the signed Contract. We played a man down last night….

Just now, Sir Why You Little said:

It’s about time Oliver held up his end of the signed Contract. We played a man down last night….

Agreed but he's untradeable atm. I'd say the club are going to back him in to ignore the media, have a great preseason and return in 2025 in full Oliver Mode.