MadAsHell

He's signed on for 2 years and has already done 3 years on the rookie list. Even with the new rules, he can only do a maximum of 4 on the Rookie list. So I've taken the news as a n upgrade onto the senior list.

And Hibberd. Though media reports suggest he's about to get a new deal.

And Hibberd. Though media reports suggest he's about to sign a new deal.

I wonder what's holding up the Hibberd signing? This news makes things look not too great for Hore & Declase IMO.

No it's not. But great news for Chandler. Promotion to senior list. Well deserved!

Confirmed in the last 15min, yep. Leaves Hibberd, Hore & Declase.

To clarify, say we wanted to go with the 38 & 4 option, then yes we wouldn't need to create anymore room on the senior list, but we'd have to delist one of Daw, Mitch Brown, Deakyn Smith, Turner or Declase which seems unlikely. I expect us to do as we did this season and what most clubs did and go with the 36 & 6 option. Meaning two more delistings to come from the senior list.

Not really, we had 6 rookie listed players. The rules were 36 senior and 6 Category A rookies or 38 Senior and 4 Category A rookies. We went with the 36 & 6 option. So we didn't have any vacancies on either of those lists is the point. https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/837502/afl-confirms-2021-list-sizes#:~:text=It will see clubs permitted,have two Category B rookies.

I'm happy with this as well, though it means there was be some list decisions to come. At the end of this season we has a list of 45 (36 senior, 8 Cat A rookies and 1 Cat B rookie) that needed to be reduced to 42 (36 senior and 6 Cat A rookies). We've delisted 4 senior players, 1 Cat A rookie and the Cat B rookie. Opens up 4 senior list spots, but we were still 1 over the Cat A rookie allowance. With Jordon's promotion earlier in the year, plus this likely one for Chandler (if it's 2 years we have to promote him), then Dunstan's signing, it leaves us with 1 senior spot available and 1 Cat A rookie spot. So with the three picks we recently received in the trade, my guess is we'll be clearing at least two more spots. Hore, Bedford, Baker, Hibberd. Only two of these guys can survive the way I see things.

I get the reasons as to how it helps them, that's apparent. The problem is it comprises the draft for no onfield improvement for them which is the point in handing them the assistance in the first place. Well played Fremantle, but the trade is a joke for all intensive purposes.

Agreed. I'd argue that the AFL should have blocked this trade. There is no way one can argue this is a fair or reasonable trade. IMO, this should signal the end of any form of priority picks if they're going to be dealt with like this.

Have heard murmurs that all of Hibberd, Baker, Bedford and Daw have been offered one year deals, though there's nothing official there. So watch this space with those four and will be interesting to see what happens with Hore, Turner & Declase.

I just saw that article. Would hate to lose him and he seems a really popular member of the group, but would understand if he wanted more opportunities. We still have Bedford who we'll hopefully keep and another year will be put into Bailey Laurie, so we won't be lacking for that role if Chandler does leave. But in an ideal world I'd love for him to stay.

It has to be one of the most moronic things I've ever heard of, the call by a few touched individuals to change the name of AFL to AFLM. AFL is the name of the league that they play in. Not the name of the sport. The fact one is called AFL and the other is called AFLW is what differentiates them. If the league was called Aussie Rules Football and the women's comp was called Aussie Rules Football Women's Competition, then fair enough changing the Mens Comp to Aussie Rules Football Men's Competition. AFLW Could just as easily call themselves WFL or WKAGFLE (Women's Kick [censored] Greatest Football League Ever) for all it matters. End of the day the AFL should stay the AFL.

Maybe as a rookie selection? As others have said, he's got his limitations but he certainly offers a lot of grunt and is a handy break glass in case of emergency type. From all reports he's of really high character and has top leadership attributes. As long as he's happy to come aware that he's a depth midfielder, then we could certainly do worse.

Pass for me. Hunt and Deakyn Smith are still on the list, we might have Moniz-Wakefield coming onto the list who might go to half back and let's also not forget Kade Chandler spent a lot of time in defense in the scratch matches in Queensland last year with good feed back from the coaches. Long doesn't interest me.

If we do draft him, the good thing is that the kid will have plenty of time to develop. No rush for him to play seniors straight away given the age profile of our list.

Incorrect. We actually only have 3 list spots to fill at the moment. Don't forget Declase and Turner came onto the list as extras to replace long term injuries and Bradtke was a Category B rookie which is also an extra. So with his departure and 5 others, it only leaves us with 3 spots for now. For what it's worth though I expect at least 1 or 2 more spots to open up. IMO, now that we missed out on Cerra we'll just look to improve our draft hand and go from there. I expect us to recruit Moniz-Wakefield and Woewodin and maybe another midfielder or forward/ruck depending on how many spots open up between now and the draft. Whatever money we had for Cerra we can keep up our sleeves either for next off season or the Oliver and Jackson contracts. Only other recruiting for me would be someone like Reece Conca as a part time assistant who can play at Casey to help the young midfield there in the absence of Jones, Vandenberg and Jetta.

I get out to Casey quite a bit a nd got to a few games this year. Sadly I can't give you much information @ignition.. His name is familiar and I know I've seen him play, but nothing about him has ever jumped out at me. Where as some of the other names over the years like Fritsch, Lockhart, Tim Smith, Corey Wagner, Keilty, Hutchins, Mohr, Silvagni, McInnerny, Ferreira, Gent have all stood out for one reason or another. Ellison just hasn't done that for me. @KC from Casey might be a bit more across him then myself however.

Not interested in bringing any of those players in. The one that would appeal the most would be Conca in as a VFL player at Casey and assistant coach. Similar to what it sounds like North are going to do with Tom Lynch. Don't bring them in as a player, but as a coach who can play in your VFL team and help develop the kids.

The new Pedersen!

The poster formerly know as Premiers in my lifetime? On the subject, maybe I should change mine to Happy in Heaven???

I'm not expecting us to bring in any experienced players this off season and will instead just focus on drafting and developing new kids. I reckon we'll only target specific mature players (Cerra for example) and if we miss out, we simply move on. Save the money for managing contractsgoing forward. We may well try and trade up on the draft to get Mac Andrew and trade out Melksham to improve our draft hand, but that's about all I expect. I know some others have mentioned recruiting more depth for Casey given the departures of Jones, Jetta, Vandenberg etc. However don't forget, we have the likes of Brayshaw, Harmes, Nibbler etc in our best 22 who could play more midfielde minutes should we get key injuries. Their roles could then be filled by the likes of Hunt, Laurie, Chandler, Bedford etc.

We can, but they get a guarantee 60K or something like that which comes out of the cap.

Bingo. So factoring in two players on our list were replacing long term injuries and we also had a Category B rookie, we can actually only take in 3 players less than the amount we let go. So we've currently said goodbye to 6 players, but only opened up 3 spots.