DeeSpencer

It costs a premium to move a pick forward a year. If the Eagles value Curtin as high as their future pick and want to advance a year they need to pay a lot for it. Doesn’t take much to improve from last to 5th last if things fall a certain way. Odds are bottom 4, but it’s not a lock. The years where we moved picks forward or up very high (Oliver, Pickett) we added a second rounder to go up.

Read the next line about the Eagles future pick? Would be a risk, but that would be our pathway to a special pick

6 for eagles future first and 22? Trade our future first and significant change for pick 11. Go the draft with 11, 14, 22. Hope we can get a truly special player in the top 5 with the Eagles pick next year? Don’t love the idea, but there are some really high quality mids in next years draft.

Cal’s been with McKercher and Duursma to North for a while. And the Hawks linked to Duursma or Watson chasing forward half talent. Which then leaves Sanders to the Dogs. The ‘could’ means he’s probably not as sold on our intentions yet, but I reckon Cal is starting to piece together the top 5 barring trades.

Not delisted yet but anyone for Ned Long? Still uncontracted at the Hawks. Not pacy but a huge body for a young mid and decent VFL form. Good endurance, good agility. Reckon we could do worse for cheap midfield depth to cover Harmes, JJ and Dunstan.

Jackson was out of contract after 3 years. JHF was gone after 1 because North mismanaged everything about him then gave him away whilst contracted. Clarko didn’t even bother trying to help him stay. We got priority picks under the old system and turned them in to a pile of nothing. Shout out to Trenners and Strauss, hope they are well. They weren’t of any use by 2014. Under the new rules priority picks have been very hard to come by. We got none. Brisbane got one token one. St Kilda - the unlucky and awful mess in the early 10’s got none. Carlton got nothing more than a couple of state leaguers. Gold Coast got a stupid amount, I was fine with them getting some to make up for their shocking list build, but the AFL gave them a truckload due to the AFL’s own and Suns ongoing incompetence. North at best deserved one last year as Brisbane did at the height of their issues. Somehow 1 morphed in to 4 despite North being far better placed now than 12 months ago.

Not at all the purpose of my post. If you could comprehend I was saying that North’s crazy assistance package has harmed our ability to trade up. (As did their incompetence in having to trade JHF last year). We have the picks and the desire to go up. Teams are willing to move back. Yet by all reports North will offer their freebies.

You come in with question marks on your competitiveness and put up a 0 touch game you’re now a dud pick until proven otherwise. I hope he can turn it around but the very early call is not good. If you keep taking picks in the teens to build your list you run the risk of a string of misses. That’s how North ended up with such a gap in their list to begin with. The Durdin and Garners of the world.

Almost every club has had financial assistance. Ours was far less than some. North don’t need 3 x first round picks for financial survival. They don’t need them to sell memberships. That’s what picks 2 and 3 as well as Larkey, Sheezel and Wardlaw will do. There’s no need for them. The only reason they’re getting them is because Clarko had a meltdown.

They’ve made horrific list management decisions and coaching hires the last few years and now are in a position to get themselves out with a quality young list. They could take pick 2, pick 3 and trade their natural future picks for more picks and have an incredible draft hand. They could also trade some picks for some mature players - which by all reports they are with Fisher and Stephens. Why then are they are getting 3 extra first round picks? That is the reason everyone is upset. The only difference between Melb 2014 and North 2023 is they have far more talent than we did at that stage. We had Hogan, Viney, Salem, Tyson and not much else. They have Larkey, Thomas, LDU, Simpkin, Sheezel, Wardlaw and more. Yet we were told to dig out on our own and we did. North have been given not one, not two but 3 extra end of first round picks. The AFL did nothing for them when they needed it when they started to struggle post Scott. Yet now they’re actually ready to improve quickly they get all these bonus picks? It’s disgusting. And it’s hurting our ability to move up in the draft and bring in top end talent. Which as a small club without a recruiting advantage opens us up to fall flat on our face too. It only takes a few more Bailey Laurie, Jefferson style flops and we are right back rebuilding ourselves.

Choco cant work miracles. And making an AFL player out of this bloke would take a miracle.

With GC having: 18: Luko, King (Rankine) 19: Rowell, Anderson, Flanders 20: (Hollands?), *Davies, Jeffrey* 21: Andrew 22: Humphrey 23: Walter, Read, Rogers 24: Likely at least 3 more Its going to be fun watching North and GC grand finals in 5 years time.

I believe Frawley’s wage was borderline or even below tier 1, the afl helped us out. But he took 10-20% less to join the Hawks super team. Had he taken other offers he’d have cleared it easily. McKay is joining a perennially bad team and not making what anyone could call a premium wage these days. Plus North have been helped x 4 first rounders. It’s either incompetence or deliberate. With the afl it’s hard to know which

There’s a thousand ways to change it but the first step is just removing top 10 picks and the compo being after a clubs pick and make it mid round and end of round. If we got pick 11 for Frawley we would’ve taken Lever and been fine. Review the entire system to change it drastically but announce right now it’s never going to be top 10 again. And fire the idiots who can’t work out how to index wages to the new CBA.

Apparently confirmed afl working on old CBA numbers https://x.com/capitalcitycody/status/1711526544873812456?s=46

Look at the excuses they gave for turning us down in 13 and 14. In fact in 14 we were right in line with North, and the afl said, you’re getting free agent compo, you’ve got young talent (we had stuff all), you’ve traded for veterans (which actually hurt our future) and you’ve got Roos and Goodwin coming. Would be so easy for the afl to say ‘you’ve got Clarko, deal with it’. The response is - ‘you’ve got Clarko…let’s help him so he doesn’t quit mid season again’

Second year in a row North have screwed us (with afl help this time). Last year we were eyeing off Port’s pick 9 in a Jackson trade that would’ve had us in line to get up further to get Humphrey. North messed that up when JHF became available. This year we want pick 11 but it’s hard to see how we beat North for it, they just have so much more to offer. And we’re surely no chance of getting all the way to pick 1.

Doubt it’s his decision, clubs are probably weighing up other options first. Ie. Essendon pull interest if they land Duursma. Richmond pull interest unless Port pay up for Soldo etc.

More free agents too. McAdam should be a free agent, Fullarton too. If you’ve done 4-6 years, aren’t high paid, aren’t a young player then why even be traded? Restricted free agency for young players, franchise tags or contracts can be used to protect really important players until they reach their own free agency. The salary cap should take care of the rest. And then trades can happen when it’s mutually beneficial without this ridiculous haggling and public bartering.

Trading players without their consent is terrible, they don’t make enough money for that disruption. It’s a terrible system. There’s lots of better changes possible. But clubs do hold players to contracts. There’s plenty who want to leave and don’t make it to trade week. Freo can hold him or open up bids to everyone else if the Pies don’t come to the party. The nature of the family issues and the Pies keenness to pay up will probably determine if Freo budge.

Schulz a free agent next year, due to delisted free agency. What a mess that covid inspired exception is. If I’m Freo I’m still holding him and expecting someone to pay end of first round money based on Doedee.

It’s not done yet, if I’m Freo I’m asking for 2 first round picks. North would surely offer one of their end of first rounders if they could get him. No reason for Freo to give him away a year early for anything but massive overs.

What do you reckon? Future first (14-18 hopefully), 25 and 39 for 10 and maybe some future late picks. Doesn’t immediately help the Suns with points but they’ll be able on trade the future 1 for more. Don’t love that deal for us because with 5 and 13 we’ll be having a lot of picks in the same range of the draft. And a range I don’t love. I’d only want 10 if we can package two of 5/10/13 in to someone in the premium range of this draft.

Harmes played the 2 finals last year on the wing but didn’t have a sustained run there since about 2017, I’m not convinced it would work, but I wonder if a team will try that with him next year. Agree on the others but we never gave Harmes a string of games as his form and fitness never demanded it.

Harmesy admitted he wasn’t in his best shape in 2022 but I think he gave it everything this year. Injuries played a role I’m sure. But the motivation to back up when you’re stuck in coffin corner playing defensive half forward is hard to find. Adams is VC and best 22 at the Pies and he’s had enough of it. He knows he plays another year, gets injured again and he’s on basement 1 year deals. So he’s off for 3 in Sydney. Should we have made Harmesy a wing? Maybe, I always liked his potential in that role? Should we have prioritised him over Gus or Sparrow as on baller 4 or 5 as he was in the flag - possibly. But every chance we did the right thing and it was time for him to have a fresh start.