DeeSpencer

The problem with that idea is best 22 AFL rucks and key forwards that fit within our system are incredibly rare. Jacko is one. I’ve said repeatedly that I think McStay would be one. Jack Gunston would be too. Lobb would, but we don’t seem interested. Everyone else after that is a prospect. Meek’s a nice one, but he might not fit with Gawn, similar to big Preussy (if less eccentric). He might be Max’s back up not Max’s partner. Treacy’s a nice depth option. Once Luke announces he wants to go I think Freo will negotiate hard but eventually put something like the Lever or Hogan deal on the table. 2 firsts. Or a good first and a second. We’ll then have to accept it and do the best we can. It might take 12-24 months to actually target and land the Jackson replacement, yet alone the Brown/Macca key forward we need.

1. Darcy loves an injury 2. Darcy is a good set shot and a good clunk marker. I think he’s well ahead of Gawn for forward craft at the same age. Key forwards are getting harder to find. If you can have 2 rucks you don’t need 2 gun key forwards. 3. Jacko is seriously special around the ground. We haven’t seen it all that often because our game plan is stodgy at times but Freo like to open it up and then Luke can run rucks off their feet and open up the corridor as an extra mid. He can do the stuff Blicavs does for Geelong. 4. LJ’s excellent start to his career has hidden his rate of development and potential for growth. There’s a risk he gets a bit Grundy like and stalls or regresses. But look at Tim English, after years of getting man handled the lights have gone on this year and he’s killing them. Age wise, Jacko shouldn’t even have debuted!

That’s fair. But we also know that multiple other teams were interested in him. I’m happy to be proven wrong if he’s signed on at significantly below market rate, but it would be pretty crazy to lock himself in on 6 years at such a low rate that he could’ve taken 3 from someone else. I wish all salaries above the league average were disclosed so we could get a better handle on what teams are doing.

Why is reposting the entire press release proof I'm wrong? Before free agency guys of Brayshaw's standing would do well to get a 3 or 4 year deal. Since free agency that has exploded out to deals of 5-6 years being far more common. None of that has anything to do with Gus' leadership, play style, character or anything else.

He’s consistently got better at VFL level but I don’t see improvement in the things that would make a coach pick him at AFL level. And I don’t understand the move to half back because if it didn’t work immediately he’s unlikely to get picked there because he’s shaky at the contest. We’ve got too many half forwards as is but I’d have tried him there at Casey. He really does make things happen with his burst speed and ability to get to space.

Balta is 22. The tigers aren’t going to trade a 22 year old for picks unless it’s a crazy offer. He’s also not an upgrade on LJ in the forward/ruck role. He’s played a big chunk of the year as a forward and hasn’t kicked multiple goals since round 3. Obviously Jacko’s not lighting it up forward either but he makes far more of an impact in the ruck and has his moments as a tall target. He’s a key defender getting a run as a forward because Grimes, Tarrant, Broad and often Gibcus are down back.

No defensive run and no impact with his disposals. The crows already have 2 low impact rack them up types in Keays and Laird. And they run. They’re playing the kids to get defensive impact (Berry) and other young guys who can provide skills. Given they can’t seem to ‘fix’ Crouch’s game style they’ve pretty much put a line through him. Crouch could only get a 2 year deal in free agency last year. He makes sense for a team like Geelong to replace Selwood and Dangerfield. We don’t need a second Dunstan.

Haven’t said anything negative about another poster til now. Have simply stated my beliefs about a player. Happy to debate people in good faith. There’s plenty of people who agree with me, some are probably afraid to go against the demonland group think and the overly excited fans.

Length of contract has absolutely exploded since free agency. That’s undeniable. Go yell in the mirror

If the contract only got to 2nd round pick, maybe. If the contract triggered an end of first I don’t think we’d have matched that. That’s big money for a player who wants to be elsewhere. Clubs have also got away with short term big money deals to bump compo brackets and restrict the ability to match too. But that’s hypothetical anyway, the informal offers that shape the market for a player don’t require any thing more than a realistic threat of getting them for free. Teams would’ve floated a lot of cash, we can’t match that per year, so we go with extra years. Whether it’s Coniglio, Grundy, Brayshaw, Zach Merrett it’s pretty widely done now. And the tighter the cap the more teams will go for years over cash.

Free agency. The clubs offering deals to Gus don’t have to trade anything for him. They would be getting a top 25 pick for free. So instead of offering a player the 450k for 3-4 years that they’re worth they’ll offer him 600k for 4 or even 5. 150k per year is nothing when they don’t have enough good players to fill the cap anyway. We can’t afford 600 x 5. So to make up the difference we offer 500 x 6. Post tax the extra year of work pretty much pays for itself. There’s actually a fairly limited pool of players who are eligible and can back themselves in with short deals and make it 25/26 whilst having good value. Every player who then gets to free agency (or even pre agency 16 or so months out) then gets a big money deal, whether they’re Clayton Oliver or Adam Tomlinson. It’s either years, dollars or both.

I thought Ben Brown would deliver exactly what he has this year. Cooked knee, battling to play. Credit to Burgo, Ben and the team for getting a very good half a season out of him. Clearly now it’s a gamble that was worth taking. Still not entirely sure why he got 4 years but the draft compensation (swap of Preuss) became far less than initial fears. I thought Tom was battling too many leg injuries and would struggle to recapture form. He doesn’t play through injuries well. They got him going close to his best last year, we’ll see if he’s got more in him. I didn’t think ANB would ever find the level of composure and attack on the ball to be useful under pressure. Great defensively but was a liability the other way until he found belief last year. I loved Spargo in ‘18, he did test the patience in 19-20. I’m sure there’s posts after bad games where I was down on many of our players but I’d say the rest of the premiership 22 I had a good opinion of. The drop back wing role was an effective use of Gus. So has been using him as an intercept defender, particularly when Lever was missing. But the clubs been drafting wingers the last two years, and gun halfbacks need speed and/or skills. I don’t agree with 6 years for a guy who’s plugged gaps but isn’t an ideal fit in any one position.

Probably more like 4 until he gets shipped off to the Tassie team

He’s not in the 20 best back flankers according to the afl player ratings. He can’t kick. He can’t man up. He’s in AA contention via the media, many of whom happen to be close family friends. He looked great against rubbish sides who kicked it to him. Not sure he’s had more than one coaches vote over the last two months.

Stupid contract. We’ll be paying him to podcast or play for someone else way before it’s done. One paced, can’t kick, can’t man up. What are we thinking? A panic move by the club because they’re sad LJ is leaving.

No he hasn’t. Started the year down back. Then moved back to the wing for at least the last month. Played on the wing for the first half v the dogs, with Howes down back. Then they swapped it for the second half when Rosman was injured - I assume because they wanted pace and match fitness down back being 1 rotation down.

Baker did some very good Baker stuff. Tuck the ball under his arm and get it moving. Otherwise he was ordinary in contests and didn’t share it by handballs. He didn’t go with Baker when Langdon was out, doubt he does if JJ is missing

Finally got around to watching Casey and honestly I thought JVR played a great ‘AFL style’ of game second only to Bowey. Clunked a few marks, chased his back side off, attacked the ball hard and spoiled smartly when he was out of position. Chandler’s 4 goals were classy but he flashed in and out of the game and wasn’t clinical at other moments. Lever for Tomlinson. Gus to the wing. JJ rested. Bowey in. JVR for Melksham or Weid, don’t know the answer there Chandler sub

Is there any evidence anyone has? All our extensions have been long deals, often taking guys well in to their 30’s. It’s not really a sacrifice when you’re giving up some short term money for incredible long term security that may well see a player overpaid at the back end of their deal. I think it’s a myth league wide too. Geelong lost Ablett, Richmond Rance and Hawthorn Buddy, that’s the 3 most expensive guys gone from those sides. Those sides also moved out players at times too, the Tigers moved on Ellis and multiple small forwards. Hawks moved on Mark Williams who was incredibly popular with fans. I’m willing to believe players will take 10-20% less, possibly a bit more if there’s bonus years, I doubt anyones leaving bulk cash on the table out of good will.

Gun on ballers get 700k+. They are the driving force behind teams winning. Only talls get paid the same and that’s often due to scarcity and potential as much as talent. Zac Williams left GWS to get a midfielders pay packet at Carlton. Turns out he hasn’t been fit enough to play on ball but that’s really a different story. Half back flankers or wingers only approach the same pay packet if they are two way weapons. Salem at his best qualifies for that. Someone like Saad fits the bill. Or Brad Hill (in theory). Gus does not. If Gus wants a bigger pay packet and bigger role that’s entirely reasonable. I wouldn’t begrudge him one bit. That’s entirely in line with my thoughts that he’s our 5th most important defender and can only be paid as such.

If we offered Gus 9 years 900k per year he’d probably sign it tomorrow The question is are we even offering him what we’ve done for Salem and Viney. I’d imagine that’s about the most we can do and it might not even be that much.

Roughly equal. Gus would be of more value to a team without intercepting defenders (and at least theoretically more valuable as a midfielder if given free reign of a midfield with no defensive duties). McStay doesn’t get much of the ball or do much with it but his ability to halve contests and pressure for a tall are both incredibly valuable to modern footy. Even more so to a side that plays like us. Even more so when the player who did that role for us (T Mc) is nearing the end and battling numerous injuries (although that’s a risk for McStay too).

Champion Data is the myth, not Gus' kicking. His left hasn't been much use since his first two seasons. You aren't really dual sided if you don't hit targets with it. His efficiency is mostly because CD grade any long kick that goes to a 50/50 as efficient and because Gus will kick it long or short and wide. He rarely uses the corridor or makes aggressive switches and he flat out can't kick on the run, his technique falls apart. He also doesn't provide line breaking or corridor run. Watch him receive the ball by dropping back or sweeping wide, that's useful at times, but doesn't result in quick counter attacking. Our game plan is to go wide and safe out of the back half, but there's still a way that Salem when at his best will demand or win the ball and move it on quickly enabling counter attack.

Franklin, Rance, Brandon Ellis, Gary Ablett Jnr. All of those left great sides that won premierships after they left.

If we do it all in one year or as a direct trade, then yes, I should've said that. If we use the pick this year and the cap space next year it can be a 2 for 1. I'd be very happy with McStay for Brayshaw straight up.