DeeSpencer

More importantly? Leadership and some experience is nice, if he can deliver it and others can follow. But winning the press conferences don't matter if you can't deliver on field.

Would I include pick 3 as part of a deal for Papley - sure. Would I pay Papley some crazy amount like 900k and therefore limit any future salary cap flexibility we have left with this core of players - nope.

I think what would've happened is we waited to do the Tomlinson signing before we knew we were out on Elliott so we could front load Tomlinson. Probably front load Langdon as well. That way we end up not only saving what we would've paid Elliott but having more flexibility to make a move on bigger names as well as signing all our out of contract guys like Fritsch and Petracca up. Somewhat disappointed to lose him but if we were going to bounce back to a good side next year we were going to do it with or without Elliott. Long term we need goal kicking options but I'd still be looking for forwards who provide more up the ground and midfield threats and great defensive pressure. Elliott would've been nice, but De Goey and Stephenson are far better players and we need a guy like that and/or a guy like Will Hoskin-Elliott who can get up the ground too.

Disposals: 356 v 351 Marks: 82 v 84 Tackles 77 v 83 Inside 50's: 55 v 45 Scoring shots: 17 v 20 Clearances: 37 v 38 We didn't play a tall forward at all to bring the ball to ground and left Melksham and Fritsch outmanned and up the other end Sam Reid got hold of Frost. Ugly lapses in defensive systems led to easy Swans goals at times but otherwise it wasn't a case of giving up. The St Kilda game annoyed me most from the run home because they were dreadful and did all they could to throw it away for 3/4's but we were worse and limped out of there in the last quarter. That and throwing away the North game for no good reason out of sheer laziness.

I'm not sure it was all that nasty, just more likely something that could become a story or could be used against him by other players. Suddenly I'm regretting bringing this up.

16. And I don't believe this is in anyway an issue for all those asking. Tomlinson good mates with Dom Tyson and would be well known to a lot of the other demons. Just banter from Tracc. Put Tomlinson in number 6 and have him buy coffees for Tracc, he'd be a good leader and team mate for him I think.

Give us an over and under 50 games! I wonder if the Dogs get Bruce if they give up on Schache. Or if the Pies look to shift Mihocek now knowing they can't pay him next year. That's my 2 guesses.

He runs hard and to the right spots but he doesn't have speed and agility. The comparison is getting a player with good leadership and who gets to the right spots but might not have the speed and upside to keep delivering as the contract goes on. Most players don't make it to 30+ to decline, the game moves passed a lot of guys before that. Hopefully Tomlinson can be more than just a guy who gets a game each week without doing much. There's always guys available for cheap picks and on far lesser deals who can do that.

https://www.triplem.com.au/story/christian-petracca-deletes-tweets-following-bizarre-conversation-with-giants-player-2506

Can't help but feel like we've recruited another Jordan Lewis rather than finding a proper solution but if the cost is minimal then it's probably worth a shot. Certainly costs something though - game time for a limited player and a decent whack of salary I'm sure.

Could be awkward

Before the ink dries on the contract we can rip it up and save ourselves a whole lot of cash! If there are I'd like to know who they are! I can't help thinking how good Ricky Henderson would've been for us these last couple of years, if there's someone like him available for nothing then I want them. Really it was 28 disposals/16 kicks at 84% that jumped out at me, I don't care if it's in the EFL Div 4 that's using the ball well.

Former Swan/Crow. 28 years old, 194cm, 93kg. Moved to the wing the last couple of years in the SANFL. Averaged: 28.2 disposals at an impressive 84% efficiency 18 kicks 6.9 marks 3.6 clearances SANFL watchers am I crazy or if we want a big body on the wing who can get the ball out in space and use it well should we look at Johnston? I remember in his AFL career he seemed to have the talent but was just missing something as a key forward, maybe he just needed a go on the wing?

He finds the ball for fun at VFL/SANFL level and average 20 touches his first 2 years, then it was Neeld ball - defensive as possible. I was disappointed he wasn't stronger at the clearances given his draft pedigree but I think he could've found plenty of it if it wasn't for his lack of speed. He didn't have a ruck like Gawn or team mate like Oliver either. Anyway, I'm hoping Brayshaw isn't another Trengove but I think it's telling there's no interest in him. Freo have lost Neale and Hill and are wasting Fyfe's prime by not having good experienced mids alongside him. If they aren't even interested in making a token offer for Gus then I doubt anyone is.

If he can't keep up then I'm not sure he is. Trengove could at least kick, although wasn't just slow but super slow. My most concerning players of the season: Brayshaw (speed), T Mc (agility/confidence in marking), Hibberd (fitness/speed), Jetta (age/injury). A lot of the rest are down on form or just not as good in a poor side, but they are what they are and will either be boosted by talent around them or replaced. By far and away the one player who I'm coming out of this season most worried about is Brayshaw. Everything about him this year - decision making with and without the ball, kicking, tackling/defensive pressure, even looping over the shoulder handballs to no one - was a mess.

Nope both teams should wait and be more creative. There's no way we will pay more than pick 22, that's the final offer, there's plenty of other things to look at first.

They have Liam Henry this year, there's no point in them having pick 22 because that will get swallowed up by points when a bid comes for Henry in the 10's. Freo should want picks in the top 10 and then not another pick to 40+. A future 2nd rounder and something else (swap of 3rd's and 4ths) to give them points this year to use on Henry is as valuable to them and allows us to keep the pick.

Freo might be silly but they aren't silly enough to to pay up for Gus with a bad back, concussions, awful kicking and lack of leg speed that makes him pretty much without a position. His contract is untradeable and we have to do the best we can to salvage his career. Burgess is going to have to work some magic to strip weight from him and get burst speed, agility and elite tackling in to his game in a hurry. He is firmly in the Trengove zone. Prove me wrong.

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The Champion Data nonsense frustrates me as much as anyone but my point of quoting from HPN was merely to show the different values from an independent source who's crunched some numbers. Analytics is slowly but importantly coming in to footy and a lesson from other sports is that the draft and player exchange period is where that often starts. Coaches don't want geeks telling them how to run a gameplan but they'll listen when there's stats that show that drafting or recruiting a certain player is far more valuable than some other player. Even more so when it's pick for pick trades that aren't even attached to a certain player. I don't think Langdon's worth anything like pick 6. A 2nd rounder makes sense. But I was surprised to see him rate so highly.

Interesting the HPN Trade calculator values Ed Langdon at about pick 6 Tomlinson - pick 21 Sam Frost - pick 37 Jamie Elliott - pick 62 https://www.hpnfooty.com/?page_id=22878 These guys value quantity over quality - they are looking at future value in terms of games a player will give a team, which is probably why Elliott is far lower than Langdon and Tomlinson. So whilst I don't like a few things about Langdon it's interesting that his age and durability see him very highly rated in some metrics.

Barry Hall and in the not too distant future Joe Daniher, they've mastered offering a new lifestyle to big name key forwards since Plugger. By modern times I meant since the current draft and trades and professional era and not including the days of Kelvin Templeton or anything like that where player movement was quite different. Honestly there were more than I could remember that moved clubs but I don't think many have been successful. Fraser Gehrig's actually a big success story that we both forgot, converting a guy who wasn't even a full time forward in to a Coleman winner.

Obviously some out on the fulls or failed to score but he's 15.11, 12.10 and 34.18 the last 3 years, I think he's a pretty solid shot for goal now, but he's also 29 and never cemented a permanent spot. Did play ok down back this year as well. We could do worse than him for the last tall depth spot, but I think he wants a 2 year deal and a chance to play.

At 4 games a season it would only take him another 24 years to get there! Sydney would've loved him to wait until free agency I bet, Essendon couldn't extend him and are trapped between a rock and hard place and will probably end up getting below his top price.

Sorry I meant to have successful in there - and probably should've said modern time as well. McGovern isn't a big name and so far hasn't been good, neither has Hogan. Dixon isn't a top liner and hasn't worked. Add Mitch Clark to that list. Patton certainly not a big name now. Waite was never an A grader, moved at the tail end of his career and did far better than predicted - Carlton weren't even compensated for his loss, that's how much he wasn't rated at that age. Boyd and Tom Lynch are almost one off situations - expansion clubs in unusual situations, although Ben King is similar to both and worth watching. Boyd mostly didn't work, luckily he played 3 good games mostly in the ruck at the right time. I still feel like the odds of bringing in a Tom Lynch are exceptionally rare. Collingwood were a great side for most of the 2000's and couldn't get anyone. Unless you're Sydney and can offer the chance of success and a fresh start outside the media bubble or possibly a WA team with go home factor you're looking at a long time between drinks. Ben King is obviously some chance and Jez Cameron isn't completely ruled out but you can't just go out and get a guy like that and if you do they might be available for a reason and not what you really need.