Everything posted by fr_ap
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Phantom Drafts Thread 2022
I might be alone but I have doubts on Phillippou. I don't trust rangy draft picks and have seen plenty fail to make the step up. Similiar to key forwards who are drafted in the top 10, it's hard to tell whether their height/reach physical development is their advantage over their peers (Weideman, Schache, many others), or whether it's actually football ability. Bontempelli the most obvious outlier that I can remember - it wasn't until he was in the system that he turned into an absolute unit and competitive beast. I think we're a young dynamic mid short from a list perspective and would be looking at Hollands / Brayden George etc instead Seems common knowledge that Pickett is basically gone for 2024 already, which is incredibly depressing
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Welcome to Demonland Josh Schache
To be fair, Weid has had days like that in the VFL probably on >5 occasions. Often against better opposition - including his memorable day out at Box Hill against the Hawks. These highlights were against Coburg Lions. They went 4-14 for the season and havent finished outside the bottom 4 since 2014 after losing their AFL affiliated team. A couple of nice marks at the end but the majority were relatively uncontested - his off the ground one in the square bizarrely rewarded his famous lack of intensity. This guy has already changed clubs and the fresh voice didn't do anything. Weid gets the benefit of the doubt there. Doesn't excite me - but I'll get behind him if he joins
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Farewell Sam Weideman
It literally says it is in the article
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Farewell Sam Weideman
Hardly.... So we can't get what we want (2x F1 1x F2) from Freo in exchange for losing Jackson. Keeping in mind our original ask was two early 1st rounders, so we've already begun to bend over and soften our stance despite claiming we wouldn't. Now, we find out they will add an F2 if we can find an F3. To get said F3, we need to offload a 25yo KPF/Ruck who whilst limited, can be relied upon to fill a role when our ageing rucks and forwards get injured - which in case you haven't noticed, happens a fair bit. Seasoned Ruck and KPF depth that costs sub $450k pa is not easy to find. So not only have we already softened on our original ask - we've are now softening again - not on unproven draft picks, but on senior depth players who was a guarantee of playing 5-15 games next year. We're losing more than we wanted to gain less than we wanted. Overall it makes us weaker. Our recruiting team were the boldest in the land when they took Jackson at no.3. Very few recruiting teams would have taken that ruck with the AA ruckman already playing that role. The guy went on to play in a flag, win a rising star, and now we're having to bed over backwards and jettison senior players to get our 3rd order preference of 'what we want'. Not many ways to sugarcoat it.
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Farewell Sam Weideman
Yes - it doesn't make a lot of sense. We can't get what we want, so instead we lose an important depth player? Surely then we're still short on 'what we want?' If Freo have set out to make a rival weaker, they will have succeeded if this is how it goes down.
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Farewell Sam Weideman
Can I just get in front of something...there is every chance Weideman makes a good fist out of a stint at a second club. This does not mean we could have gotten the best out of him - it means he needed the wake up call
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Farewell Luke Jackson
Why would Jackson care what his trade collateral is? He knows how Freo value him in the most tangible way possible - the $$ they have promised He could be traded for a new Laptop and a bag of redskins & I'm betting he'd still be happy with the $$ he's taking away to play footy from home This idea that he's going to shutter his future earnings just to repay us morally for having drafted & developed him is just nonsense.
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Trade and Free Agency rumours
It's not odd and it's not unique to AFL Loss making businesses are often valued far more highly than those consistently profitable - all on the basis of earnings potential not having yet been proven Same story in the AFL - what's unknown is often far more valuable than what's known Everyone wants to strike Gold...
- Trade and Free Agency rumours
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Farewell Luke Jackson
Jacko would have said very little to us directly. The agents are the mouthpieces so as to deliberately obfuscate true intentions Honestly it's not as simple as looking the bloke in the eye - it's all very guarded
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Trade and Free Agency rumours
Weird hill to die on mate. Selwood the only 'current' player who was there for 2007. Selwood and Hawkins the only players who were there for 2009. In fact - whilst I said 2 flags, only 3 players were there for 2012 - Selwood, Hawkins, Duncan. So you could argue they've only won 1 with this current list. Prem windows last c.6-10 years usually off the back of a core cohort hitting 23/24 until they reach 30-34. They only grabbed one right at the end, aided by a couple of multi-flag heroes that have had long and storied careers, who they will not replace with ease. I'm not sure how else I can make my point?
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Trade and Free Agency rumours
Agreed on selection policies & standards - my culture thread makes my views on that very clear! Re. their 3 recruits being well prepared - it is true they're more advanced than JVR Taj Laurie AMW etc. What you're missing though is that short of injuries or back luck, we aren't yet reliant on those guys coming into the team. Most could all have another 3-4 years before they're absolutely required to step in, because our core cohort is in the right age bracket. Geelong can insert Bruhn, Henry and Bowes to replace Selwood, Hawkins and Tuohy across 23 and 24 - that's fine, each of the 3 recruits look like good players. But there's nothing to suggest they are close to the calibre of those they are replacing - which is what Geelong need to stay on top. This is my point. They've got some good players in the right age brackets, but in all respects, they are role players (perhaps other than De Koning). It remains to be seen whether they can transition from role players to game winners without the current Senior crop dragging them over the line. That's not true for us - our young and mid-20s players are winning us games and have done now for 2 seasons (Gawn and May the exception as I noted). They've had a sustained successful period with this list, but only 2 flags a long time apart. I wouldn't call that a dynasty given the players they've had at their disposal. The Tigers achieved more with less. Agreed not going to debar them from winning again in 23 - but as I said I know who I'd rather support.
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Trade and Free Agency rumours
Wouldn't stress about it DD. Think of it this way - when Oppo teams are coming up against the Dees - the fans are filled with dread at the thought of Petracca, Oliver, Pickett, Fritsch, Langdon Gawn and May. Gawn & May are at/nearing 30 & we will need to find good replacements (Grundy a good start for a few years), but Trac, Oliver, Pickett, Fritsch & Langdon have years ahead of them, hopefully at the Dees. We are filled with dread when we play Geelong too - but its in reference to Hawkins (34), Selwood (Retired), Dangerfield (32), Smith (33), Cameron (29). Stengle is good, but benefited from the fresh voice, new energy & sympathetic coaching of Eddie. Like us with Mark Williams, this will fade & I have doubts on him going on to become a multi-time AA. Pickett has already proven his consistency and quality on and off-field (presuming we can keep him!). If he was picking up the crumbs of Hawkins and Cameron, he too would be AA and then some. Cameron is 29 and is the weapon we don't have. He'll keep them competitive for years, but will be less effective once Hawkins moves on. De Koning is very good - but unproven over the medium/long term - and the guys they're bringing in are all talented but also unproven. They'll have ups & downs before they get to 25-27 not to mention significantly change the mindset/chemistry of the current team presuming they all make the 22. Probably more than any other team in the competition, we have a proven cohort of 24-27 year olds that are top-line and should keep us in the hunt for the next 3-6 years. They've been through their ups and downs already. We're the envy of the comp in this regard. Even on the next tier down - Geelong have very good players yes - Guthrie (30), Stewart (29) - arguably equivalent to Brayshaw (27), Salem (27) when on form. Jack Henry is very good and young (24) - but Petty is arguably his equal (22). Tuohy & Hibberd are analogous too. Swings and roundabouts across the rest of the field - they've got good role players in some spots, we have good role players in others. Most of this Geelong group played their entire careers together and have only saluted at the end after a dream season where everything went right. They had to change their coaching, gameplan and get quite a few fresh voices to get across the last 15% they lacked in previous years. They're always a strong team, and the home ground advantage ensures that, but they're hardly on the cusp of a dynasty. I'm not saying this year was their dead cat bounce, but I think of it a little along those lines. In many respects it was their last chance. Let them enjoy it as its unlikely to last. Our guys went through the [censored] together and came out the other side whilst they're still in their prime. That counts for so much more. Ditto for our supporters - Geelong fans think they've enjoyed this flag. Truthfully they've got no idea what it feels like to see the entire journey start to finish. I've been vocal on our shortcomings this year and I may be wrong - there are no guarantees in either direction - but I know which team I'd rather support from this point on.
- Trade and Free Agency rumours
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Farewell Toby Bedford
I have a high degree of faith that Bedford will be a better player than Bobby Hill. He kicked 9 goals this year despite really only playing 6 games. ANB & Spargo kicked the same number despite playing 22. He's of very high output in what is arguably the most difficult position on the ground. He's of very high character & work ethic and that's evident in his development so far, as he was extremely raw on arrival as a NGA prospect. It would also be very clear to GWS having interviewed him. Very coachable, dedicated to improvement, and if I think back as far as the "hell & back' videos, he was in there doing extras to try and set an example for a very raw Kozzie despite probably knowing Kozzie was going to take his spot in the AFL side. Billy Stretch also had all of these attributes, but had limited points of difference on the field. Nonetheless he had an OK career and on another day could have continued playing AFL in a good team. Bedford has points of difference with his pure speed and goalsense. Bobby Hill by contrast was highly touted, has shown flashes and undoubtedly has more natural talent, but I'm not convinced he is of particularly high character or work ethic. He has pushed through some personal difficulties which is admirable. Assuming a player has some points of difference, hard work beats talent every time. I think this is where the FD is coming from and why they're upset to lose him. Lamb's body language noticeably fell in the Monday press conference when Bedford was brought up. Having said all that it's unlikely we get something in the 30s for him. It's an ordinary outcome as we're selling at the exact wrong time - on the precipice of breaking into the team and really upping his worth. I suspect if this was an end of 23 conversation, he'd be up for a 2nd/3rd rounder at least.
- Trade and Free Agency rumours
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Port chasing Kozzy Pickett
As the other poster pointed out, Goody, Lamb, Gawn and many others made all the same comments about Jackson. Everyone does, until the truth comes out. We've all been through this enough times before (Jessie, Jacko) to know that whilst it may be a misconstrued, embellished version of the truth, it will not be 100% fabricated. It never is.
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Elijah Tsatas
Fair enough - and yes last sentence was a joke / self deprecating hypocrisy given comments about Knightmare forming judgements from afar...
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Trade and Free Agency rumours
Out of curiosity, who are the depth/youth at Casey gunning for his spot? Ive been vocal about how we didn't rotate the squad and blood new players, but young midfield depth is not really something we have. You could make an argument for Laurie, but he's not nearly as versatile or strong as Harmes on the ground or in the air...Bedford was one but is now gone. Who's the one to take his spot? Jordon could but not very dynamic and that creates a need for another winger - Howes hasn't shown much...
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Farewell Luke Jackson
Agree 100% couldn't have put it any better. I know which one I'd be chasing if I had that cash and draft picks and it wouldn't be Jackson. Taranto and Hopper are seriously good and make the Tigers a real weapon again. They lacked grunt inside but have smarts in spades across the ground....deadly combo once you add the grunt
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Elijah Tsatas
I know you think you're being clever here but you're hurting your own point. Knightmare has a very ordinary record for someone who dedicates the time he does. Silly duffer is a very good description (I'm aware you're being sarcastic). I've covered this before but he heavily qualifies most of what he says and is generally overly verbose (to cover himself - throw enough darts you might hit a target)...His 'strengths summary' of a player is a big box paragraph of adjectives he's ether pulled from a Thesauraus or sentences positioned as words... "Kicking, handballing, body control in the air when pushed from the side, protecting drop zone when he is stationed on the ground". He's very dedicated but for an aspiring recruiter genuinely seems to have very little feel for the game or what game-day behaviours form the best senior players. He also has zero insight into the mental / personality aspects of drafting which are just as (if not more) important than player A's skills at the 2:05 minute mark of Video X. Having said all that, Tsatas looks poor. Pass.
- Trade and Free Agency rumours
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Port chasing Kozzy Pickett
Excellent! (Well not for him) Crisis averted back to Monday
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Port chasing Kozzy Pickett
Kossie hanging on insta with Trent Burgoyne 😑
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Harry Sheezel
This kid is the one I want us to draft