Jaded No More

Because we landed the best player who happens to be 21 and has 10+ AA years in him. Please lets not lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day we have significantly improved our list by adding Lever. Does anyone here really think we can't win a flag without Watts?

Lets not start this again. We don't trade him, he spends the year in and out of the side, he is worth pick 50 next year.

We have not been robbed, Lever was a good trade. He is literally the only quality player who has been traded thus far and we landed him! I agree that pick 31 for Watts who we invested 9 years into, is a poor outcome. But I trust the club has other plans, and to be honest I don't see the point of fighting the trade when it is clearly us who wanted him gone. Would be a super dick move to say 'go look for a new home, but oh wait we don't want to trade you where you want to go because they won't give us a good pick for you, when really you aren't that great which is why we want you gone in the first place'. I know this is a very divisive trade that will upset a lot of people, but at the end of the day Watts has brought this on himself. We all wanted and needed him to change, and he hasn't. His talent is not lacking, but his attitude clearly is not what the club is expecting from a senior player. It is time to move on. We got Lever, a 21 year old gun who fills a real gap on our list and pushes us closer to success, so at the end of the day we win the trade period.

Can we stop this Hogan nonsense now?!

First world problems much?

We are trying to remove Watts for behavioural reasons, and you want to bring in Stringer? Errrr no.

And we also let go a whole raft of loved and senior players at the same time. It is a completely different scenario! It's like comparing us letting Jones go before his time is up in the game. It's got nothing to do with the Watts scenario. We got over Woewodin and Farmer leaving, and they were much better players. We will get over this too.

What will people say if our 1st pick next year is pick 18? Did we pay over? We could finish top 4, and with compensation picks etc it might well end up pushing towards the end of the 1st round anyway. Besides, we have commodities on our list that we can trade for a 1st rounder next year if we felt very strongly after getting someone specific in the so called 'super draft' (e.g.- Salem, Brayshaw, who knows maybe even Weids if he has a good season). I'm not saying we should trade any of our better players, but if we desperately wanted to get back into next year's 1st round, we could make it happen. Everybody is so quick to think their club has gotten screwed in a deal, but sometimes it's a win win and believe me there isn't 1 Crows fan or administrator who wouldn't give us those picks back to still have Lever. He is an exceptional player with massive scope for further development, and he immediately makes us a better side. Considering we were 0.05% off finals last year, adding someone of Lever's calibre to the team is a huge boost!

We get deals done every single year because we are good to deal with! There is a lot to be said for being a fair and transparent club to deal with, it makes life a lot easier for us and encourages players to nominate us, as they know we can get a deal done. We didn't pay over and we didn't pay under, we paid market value for a gun 21 year old. Would you want less if Hogan was to leave? Trac? Oliver? No, we would want more. Lever is in the same class.

Agreed. It's more plausible that his negative reaction to the hard truths combined with his poor pre-season preparation and the Bondi Trip while injured, all combined into "he can get stuffed with that sort of attitude we are sick of him". If Watts doesn't want to take the advice on board after 9 mediocre seasons where he has completely under performed, than he never ever will change. Personally I don't care if he stays or goes (as long as we get a good return for him if he goes), but if he stays he better seriously change his attitude because if he spends 2018 in the VFL he will be worth nothing at the trade table next year!

It was a gamble we took that landed us Oliver was it not? If history has taught us anything is that drafting key position players is such a big big risk. We've drafted a few with early picks and only Hogan has proven to be worth the price. Lever is a proven gun defender and he is only 21. We essentially drafted a top 10 player but he is ready to go and is AFL proven who has 10+ years left in the game! That is a very very difficult thing to achieve, and the chances of doing this in the draft are I would say less than 20%. How many draftees go on to be A grade players who play 10+ seasons? We obviously think our window is about to open, and are trading for the now. Anyone who watched us last season knows that we desperately needed help in defence, especially if TMac ends up forward (which I suspect he will). We never really recovered down back with the loss of Frawley, and Lever more than fills that gap for us now. Midfielders, especially outside runners, can be found later in the draft, and are a cheaper commodity on the trade table. Besides, who knows what pick 35 has in store for us, or what we will get for Watts.

It's a good deal and there's nothing to say we can't trade back into the first round next year. Glad we got it done.

Insert tumbleweeds here.... Another trade week where nothing happens until the last 17 minutes when 18 clubs try to lodge 59 papers.

This thread is next level cray. There is so much wrong going on in here, I hope to god this isn't a reflection of the way the club is dealing with this internally. I'm out.

Agreed. I found his speech really boring. He was reading it from a script, it felt passionless. I hope/assume he is a bit better in front of the players on game day. Of all the speeches, apart from Trenners which was just so beautiful and heartfelt, I found myself really listening when Viney spoke. He is such a leader, and he commands respect. Could listen to him all day. Jones spoke well too, but he spoke like a hurt supporter, which I loved, but it wasn't exactly motivational. Viney was really wonderful though, no wonder he is captain at such a young age!

For all the angst re: Dom Tyson, the coaches obviously rate him.

If Weideman is getting placed 21st in the B&F in his 9th year I hope we trade him too.

You mean the one who had to deal with the death of his father and cancer? Or the one who has been on the list 2 years?

Rocket surgeon he ain't. A complete waste.

Behind some guy we picked up from an amateur league ?

Again, look at the top 5, listen to the speeches made, and tell me the club isn't sending a subliminal message to us all. If you adhere by our level of standards you will be recognized and rewarded. Pretty simple.

Stellar effort from Hannan! Good thing Oliver is a superstar because gees he's not much of a public speaker ?

He was sensational considering he could barely walk for most of the year. This award is about more than just stats. Viney played his role as did Lewis which is why he won the votes.

How's Viney?! What a leader!

Obviously the coaches didn't think Hibbo filled his role as well as they wished. It's hard for us to judge. But look at the top 5- all guys who set standards and lead by example. Coincidence? I think not!