DeeSpencer

This is the deal to hold our ground on. Collingwood don’t want him. There’s no way Grundy wants back in. The contracts are surely sorted. And we’re 2 picks in the 20’s apart. Sliding 3 spots higher up to climb 2 spots late is illogical. Collingwood are only going to send the pick on to Hawthorn anyway. They can cope

So in the future do you want Lamb to ask for less and get less? Because that seems unwise. We got more than the Lever trade which was always going to be the benchmark for Jackson.

The reporting was very quickly 1 top 10 pick and a future first and our options closed as soon as the JHF deal came about. Bedford has been traded for 44 but we’ve used that to get a future 2nd outright. We weren’t ever getting a better pick straight up for Toby. Nor do we care for any junk later picks thrown in.

You can if you get one in. Freo got North’s for Logue

Bedford’s value was only ever to increase a second rounder up the order or a 3rd rounder. We got 2 firsts for Luke. We got half a 2nd for Luke, half for Toby. We gave up nothing else. Would’ve liked the full bonus 2nd rounder for Luke but Freo weren’t going to budge without something back.

I mean 13 for taking on Bowes. Gold Coast thought Bowes was so bad and expensive he required pick 7. Geelong are spreading his contract over 4 years and talking him up big time. Pick 13 should probably get Bowes off, except GC have no concept of negotiation.

If Gold Coast didn’t have the brains of gold fish they’d trade us 7 for 13 and Freo’s 2nd and stiff Geelong with 13 for Bowes. But it’s Gold Coast, so what can you expect?

If they get the coaching right and he develops his midfield craft as quickly as I think he can Jackson should take a lot of Mundy’s midfield minutes. Mundy was still getting the ball but he was a defensive liability, Jackson can be a defensive force and an even bigger body. That will allow Brayshaw and Serong to play more attacking roles. They will need one of their young mids to step up though to give cover for when Jackson rucks or is on the bench. I expect Freo to be excellent defensively again and no worse in attack. There’s a chance it goes either way but they seem rock solid 4-10th on the ladder.

Chargers, Niners, Eagles

Essendon have been behind the 8 ball this entire trade period (and insert other jokes here). They seem to have gone down a laundry list of midfield options from Bowes to Harmes to Setterfield later in the week. When they eventually settled on the cheapest midfield option they probably decided they could have a go at a tall. If Weid goes for a useful draft pick then that's clear incentive to move him on when there wasn't any incentive last week.

Keeping Weid as a 3rd ruck doesn't quite cut it to me. The obvious thing is the kid deserves a fresh start. But apart from that: Ok, he could come in and play as the 2nd ruck. But in that scenario Grundy/Gawn is rucking 80% of game time, which means Weid is playing 60% forward and we haven't seen that work since 2018. We also have JVR and Tom McDonald who can pinch hit in the ruck. If he's the first choice ruck then he's going to get beaten up by good AFL rucks just based on size alone, and whilst I like his follow up on the deck and against certain opponent he'll compete ok in the air he's not winning that match up against most first choice rucks. We saw him as the number 1 ruck v Adelaide this year and ROB had a field day. And that's ROB, who probably doesn't rate in the top 10 rucks. So if we're getting smashed in the ruck with Weid we may as well get smashed in the ruck with an actual ruckman who has the developmental scope to become a good player in the future. There will be someone out there who fits the bill. I'm not a huge Jack Bell fan but he came on a heap at Casey late in the season before making way for finals, wouldn't shock me entirely if they picked him up. Plenty of other state league big guys out there too.

Think you'll find he's too expensive - in draft picks and contract.

Is he still our pro-scout? And if so, why hasn't he found us a good state league player in nearly a decade? Rosman was a risk/reward shot that flamed out. But so far Carroll looks fairly underwhelming. If Carlton had any belief he could hold down a wing they probably wouldn't be bringing in Blake Acres. We need to keep taking chances with later picks on guys with some serious upside and also be prepared to move on quickly if it's not working.

Which they’re converting to a 4 x 600, a decent salary but maybe 250-300 per year extra. The dodgy part of the deal to me is Geelong having inside knowledge of every teams cap as their CEO was at the league office a year ago. And of course the Suns continued incompetence. They could’ve split their pick 7 with us or another side and sent Bowes to market with pick 15 or so. Plenty of clubs would’ve still taken him. Yet they don’t seem to have any idea how to negotiate

Bruhn saw out his contract, played 30 games and gave it a crack. He’s also a pick 12 who fetched the giants a pick 18, not a huge amount of damage done. JHF quick about face is not good for anyone. Though I hardly blame him

Dunstan, Baker, Mitch Brown, Munro, White…Casey was loaded with experienced footballers who contribute to winning. There’s a big difference between that and playing AFL level footy. Tomlinson’s positioning, work rate, skills were all really good in helping Casey win. When it came to other aspects of his game he was a mile off and at no stage did it really look anything like it was improving. I don’t know what he’ll be like next year, hopefully much better, but he was the key defensive version of Oskar Baker this year. Did a lot right but didn’t look like an afl player

3-4 months wasn’t it

If you think Tomlinson was good in the VFL this year then you’re outing yourself as not watching Casey. Did he do good things - yes, plenty. Did he look as stuffed when forced to change direction as he did at afl - yes.

We’re unlikely to ever be a huge destination club and even if you are you need luck to get a gun forward when you need them. The draft is generally the answer and we had a crack last year with JVR and it sounds like we tried this year and will try again next (both draft and trade). The short term answer last year was Levi Casboult at 100-1. No way I would’ve had that. The only realistic answers I’ve seen this year were McStay, Lobb or a change in game plan with Gunston. We’ve gone for Grundy over McStay/Lobb. Defensible. After that you get in to big outsiders like Bruce, Elliott Himmelberg, Burgess or Corbett, Esava, Fish McAsey, Oscar McDonald, throwing a boat load of cash and way too high a pick at Amartey or McLean, unretiring Josh Kennedy or hoping you can find a cheap quality key defender like Aaron Francis to allow Petty to be a swing man. I guess we should take one or these swings if they’re cheap and available. But I’m not expecting much. Just got to be patient until we can strike with a big name or draft pick. Unless Bruce really impresses the club I’d focus on cheap key defensive depth which is generally easier to find. If you have good competition between Turner and another solid prospect you’ll find cover for Petty forward.

I’ve seen a lot of we lost Mitch Brown but he played 4 games in the last 2 years, all one off cameos. And JVR is now ready as the 3rd key forward behind Ben and Tom. Weid is 3rd ruck as well as 4th key forward so in theory could be stuck trying to be 2 places at once but the hope would be one of Gawn/Grundy are available for most of the year. Melk’s also staying on as emergency 5th key forward. That’s all without Petty forward or something more out of the box like Howes as a hit up tall. My point is I don’t think we actually need more depth for depths sake unless we think McDonald and Brown are in serious strife and/or we think Bruce is quick fix fitness wise and an upgrade. Maybe he is?!

We also had a bunch of injuries early in the year and there’s only so many players on the list. It’s entirely possible that Howes was an emergency and close to the best 22 but is still a long way from playing consistent footy. I expect him to push his case next year and earn a debut if things go well. But no matter how talented he is and how he develops I don’t think he’ll be physically ready for a lot of games.

I reckon Woey pushes for games too. He’s limited but made of the right stuff and can cover off a wing or defensive half forward. Judd McVee showed signs of life late in the season too. Not tall, not fast, not strong at the contest, doesn’t rack up the ball, there’s a lot against him. But he does have a touch of class and could play some strong VFL footy next year. Outside chance of being a player in ‘24.

JVR - 10-15 or so games, up and down, more a role player than good stats. Doubt he’s ready for finals but let’s hope so. Turner - 8-18 games, Depends if Petty goes forward. Will be rather plain. Doesn’t intercept all that frequently, can read the play and out mark smalls but doesn’t climb over talls. Doesn’t provide much offensively. Obviously won’t be ready to take the games best forwards. But competes and is a natural footballer. Needs Lever, May and a dropping ruck to provide support Howes 5-7 games, has some tricks and a tank but has to get much stronger with tackling and ground balls to be any chance on the wing at afl footy. Probably more of a half forward than a wing anyway but Goody’s rarely been interested in attacking tall half forwards (probably rightly so). Chandler 5-10 games, needs to adapt his very good VFL form to afl footy. Defensive attention goes missing which it can’t because he just isn’t quick enough. Same in attack, tries to fend and do too much and lacks the strength and speed for that style of play. Needs to make simple quick decisions Laurie 0-5 games, has exception skills but just too slow and doesn’t win enough of the ball. Position-less. AMW - 0-4 games. groins didn’t make it through year 1, needs time to learn how to get consistency with his defensive game and playing 4 quarters. 2024 prospect.

Can’t hit the side of a barn by foot, a little shaky at the contest and is more of a kick chaser than a reliable position player from what I’ve seen. His move from Collingwood was partly a salary dump, but he’d come down from this best form before that already.

Hawthorn got a new coach who realised players like Phillips were going to take them absolutely nowhere.