What does Gallagher interview really tell us

[older saint]

Listened to the interview in the media and went away thinking the following:

- identified DeGoey as the only getable and interested free agent, had a crack and missed out. - no harm here and probably only considered leaving as Collingwood wanted to make him accountable for being a dick;

- Looking to add Tall forward and back to top up as younger players not yet ready. - This is likely to come from a fringe player at another club which ultimately will be there as injury insurance (not that they would ever say this);

- Want to keep Clark and Hill - meaning floated idea with North but the return wasn't what we were hoping for and therefore we are committed to keeping them and hope that Hunter isn't pissed we floated his name in trade and wants to stay;

- Going to look to hit the draft again - this is where i think we are stuck. Experts say 2023 crop better than 2022. Do you try and trade to get a second earlier pick in this years draft risking what could be in 2023? We have 9,28,46 (push all back at least 1 and 2nd and 3rd round perhaps 2 for FS), while 9 should be a good player and even 28 if we select well everything beyond that is a lottery. this means we are at best adding 1 or 2 good youngsters to the crop we have. This strategy is therefore banking on internal development - something we have been really poor at, hopefully the guy from Collingwood makes a big difference to this, and that otherwise the list is close to good enough which it isn't. As Nobel reported we need more A grade players ( something fans have been saying for years, but we had to pay someone to tell us as we overrate players).

So what does that leave us?

I see we are stuck in a holding pattern in this draft unless :
- we somehow get the Bowes deal and get pick 7
- we get creative in regard to trading picks with clubs, such as Brisbane, who need points badly and therefore set ourselves up for a better hand either this year or next
- we become the "wingman" to get a deal done, e.g. 2 clubs want a trade but need something added in to satisfy the deal, the club in the weaker position comes to us and gives up more than normal rate to allow then to get the original deal done

if none of the above happens i see 2023 as a slow burn and again at best 7-11 positioning.

thoughts?

[Banger9798]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

[cwrcyn]

We surely have to use the draft. The available players from other clubs are not worth coughing up first and second round selections for.

We have 9 and 28, and we should at least manage to get 35 from Gold Coast. That's a reasonable hand


There seems to be this now or never attitude on here, meaning that we there is this obsession secure top end talent from other clubs right now, otherwise we'll be a disaster. It's not true. It's not just about next year, either. List management has to be about where we're at in 5 to 7 years time, as well. That was the failure of the Ross Lyon era and we paid the price.


Doe we have improvement from within. I think so.

King, Wanganeen-Milera, Owens, Windhager, Sharman, Clark, & Coffield should all improve. All can play and make a really important contribution.

Coffield missed the whole season, Clark had another significant injury, and Sharman was starved of opportunity.

With luck, Jones will be fit and ready for round one, and Gresham is due for some luck with injury. Hayes will be back, but it's unknown whether he will be a regular in the team

Realistically though, we are a middling team. There is no uber-quick fix. One player from another club won't make a massive difference. Pick talent in the draft in 2022 & 2023, work one the improvement of our youngsters, and that includes Max Heath.

Next year we could go as high as 6th or as low as 13th depending on injury and form. Top 4 ? Forget it at this point, but good decisions now would mean it could be possible in 2024/2025

[CURLY]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

Do you seriously believe that DeGoey was the only player we chased then sat on our hands?

[Beno88]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

Several first 22 players from Round 1 last year?

Paul Hunter, Jack Lonie and Shaun McKernan. That's all.

Yet if you consider the trades made last year to achieve the draft points required for academy players, we added Windhager and Owens.

[older saint]

We surely have to use the draft. The available players from other clubs are not worth coughing up first and second round selections for.

We have 9 and 28, and we should at least manage to get 35 from Gold Coast. That's a reasonable hand


There seems to be this now or never attitude on here, meaning that we there is this obsession secure top end talent from other clubs right now, otherwise we'll be a disaster. It's not true. It's not just about next year, either. List management has to be about where we're at in 5 to 7 years time, as well. That was the failure of the Ross Lyon era and we paid the price.


Doe we have improvement from within. I think so.

King, Wanganeen-Milera, Owens, Windhager, Sharman, Clark, & Coffield should all improve. All can play and make a really important contribution.

Coffield missed the whole season, Clark had another significant injury, and Sharman was starved of opportunity.

With luck, Jones will be fit and ready for round one, and Gresham is due for some luck with injury. Hayes will be back, but it's unknown whether he will be a regular in the team

Realistically though, we are a middling team. There is no uber-quick fix. One player from another club won't make a massive difference. Pick talent in the draft in 2022 & 2023, work one the improvement of our youngsters, and that includes Max Heath.

Next year we could go as high as 6th or as low as 13th depending on injury and form. Top 4 ? Forget it at this point, but good decisions now would mean it could be possible in 2024/2025

Tend to agree with much above, and glad we haven't gone down the scatter gun approach of the past. Draft it is but would like to see us move up towards the top end - which we clearly lack- or a second first rounder / early second pick.
Clark and Coffield and Gresham I feel all have elite talent but perhaps need to learn elite habits
2nd year players will continue to improve i hope and don't go down the path of some (Coffield did this) and eased up in pre season year 2 thinking they had made it.
Hayes showed a bit coming off a ACL is always hard.
Sharman to me is in the same boat as Bytel, Brynes, Connolly time to grab chance and not let all this rubbish about not given a chance, hard done by woe is me crap ( or perhaps just the supporters saying this?) make yourself a best 22 selection like Wood and McKenzie did - make it impossible to be left out.

[Viscount Jeremiah]

There are no quick fixes.

Our road to recovery is in the draft and we need to do it well.

[cwrcyn]

The thing that hampered us most in the 10 year period from 2007 to 2016 was doing poorly with our draft picks. Then in 2019, to try to remedy that we gave away a swathe of draft picks to try to stabilise things and make us immediately competitive. I would say it achieved that, but it meant another lost opportunity to get exciting young talent into the cub, which it appears we are trying to do now. Mistakes made a decade ago still haunt us, and since 2017 the club has been trying to play catch up. That has been compounded by most free agents wanting to go to clubs at the top of the ladder. Given the drafting and trading performance of the club from 2007 to 2016, it's no surprise we are a middling team. Had we continued in the same vain we would be where North Melbourne is now. The ship has been steadied, but now is the time to target the best young talent.

Last year Wanganeen-Milera, Owens, and Windhager showed us what is possible when you hold on to your draft picks. With a similar draft hand this year there's an opportunity to do the same again. That would be a great outcome.

[Sanctorum]

Listened to the interview in the media and went away thinking the following:

- Want to keep Clark and Hill - meaning floated idea with North but the return wasn't what we were hoping for and therefore we are committed to keeping them and hope that Hunter isn't pissed we floated his name in trade and wants to stay;

thoughts?

Is that excerpt in your post correct older saint, do you believe it was the club that floated this idea?? I know that in this day and age anything is possible but I'm more inclined to think that this furphy was made up by the media because I can't think of any good reason why anyone at the club would want to get rid of such a classy and potentially elite talent when there are precious few on the St Kilda list!

[Banger9798]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

Several first 22 players from Round 1 last year?

Paul Hunter, Jack Lonie and Shaun McKernan. That's all.

Yet if you consider the trades made last year to achieve the draft points required for academy players, we added Windhager and Owens.

Long, Ryder and Hannaberry would all have been considered best 22 coming into Rnd 1

[spert]

Listened to the interview in the media and went away thinking the following:

- Want to keep Clark and Hill - meaning floated idea with North but the return wasn't what we were hoping for and therefore we are committed to keeping them and hope that Hunter isn't pissed we floated his name in trade and wants to stay;

thoughts?

Is that excerpt in your post correct older saint, do you believe it was the club that floated this idea?? I know that in this day and age anything is possible but I'm more inclined to think that this furphy was made up by the media because I can't think of any good reason why anyone at the club would want to get rid of such a classy and potentially elite talent when there are precious few on the St Kilda list!

Hill is already proven elite talent, but just hasn't brought it to STK

[Impatient Sainter]

Keep going to the draft and grabbing the right kids has always been the basis to a strong list. Then supplement holes with external players after the kids are up and going. Now we have our draft and list management team right (it has only taken 20 years) we will see some growth.

St Kilda has historically been lured into the thought that they could turn other teams average players into super stars, when it never happens. The only era of reasonable sucess we have had in the past 30 years was via the draft. Following which we brought two clowns in (Trout & Pelchen) who swiftly derailed the past draft sucesses.

[skeptic]

Listened to the interview in the media and went away thinking the following:

- Want to keep Clark and Hill - meaning floated idea with North but the return wasn't what we were hoping for and therefore we are committed to keeping them and hope that Hunter isn't pissed we floated his name in trade and wants to stay;

thoughts?

Is that excerpt in your post correct older saint, do you believe it was the club that floated this idea?? I know that in this day and age anything is possible but I'm more inclined to think that this furphy was made up by the media because I can't think of any good reason why anyone at the club would want to get rid of such a classy and potentially elite talent when there are precious few on the St Kilda list!

I read this exact thing on an article posted on FB wrapping up day one of talks.

It was a rather annoying because it came across as the club talking out of both sides of their mouth so to speak.

North have expressed interest in Hill and Clark but they’re valued players under contract and after reviewing the range of their offer a deal is unlikely to be reached so we’re excited to have them stay… paraphrased obviously but it came across to me as a very backhanded comment

[Banger9798]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

Several first 22 players from Round 1 last year?

Paul Hunter, Jack Lonie and Shaun McKernan. That's all.

Yet if you consider the trades made last year to achieve the draft points required for academy players, we added Windhager and Owens.

Apologies Beno, I meant at the start of this year

[Beno88]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

Several first 22 players from Round 1 last year?

Paul Hunter, Jack Lonie and Shaun McKernan. That's all.

Yet if you consider the trades made last year to achieve the draft points required for academy players, we added Windhager and Owens.

Apologies Beno, I meant at the start of this year

Ah right. That makes more sense, although there's plenty of time left in the trade period, and the draft remaining.

Ironically, none of Ryder, Long or Hannebery played in Round 1. However Dean Kent did. Windhager in Kent's place is a significant upgrade already.

[Banger9798]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

Several first 22 players from Round 1 last year?

Paul Hunter, Jack Lonie and Shaun McKernan. That's all.

Yet if you consider the trades made last year to achieve the draft points required for academy players, we added Windhager and Owens.

Apologies Beno, I meant at the start of this year

Ah right. That makes more sense, although there's plenty of time left in the trade period, and the draft remaining.

Ironically, none of Ryder, Long or Hannebery played in Round 1. However Dean Kent did. Windhager in Kent's place is a significant upgrade already.

Agreed, and while the trade period is only beginning, it feels like we may as well have the invisible man negotiating for us.

When Geelng and Richmond are wheeling and dealing and improving their list we seem to be just standing at the crossroads watching the traffic go by.

[BadRossco]

Your correct Banger Gags and his moterly crew will do nothing and attempt to justify that.

[SaintPav]

It tells me we have been derelict in behind the scenes activity.
Put all our eggs in the DeGoey basket while missing the other opportunities to improve our list.
We will have lost several first 22 players from Round 1 last year, and not included a single best 22 in the trade period. Net loss.

Several first 22 players from Round 1 last year?

Paul Hunter, Jack Lonie and Shaun McKernan. That's all.

Yet if you consider the trades made last year to achieve the draft points required for academy players, we added Windhager and Owens.

Paul Hunter and Shaun McKernan in the same side?!

Yikes!!!

[Gershwin]

Nice post.

I think that this should be a trading/draft period where we take it easy. Best available at all early draft picks. Couple of more mature key position players at later picks.

We need to hope Clark and Coffield can have a good run at it next year and see what they can do.
We should expect improvement from W-M, Windhager and Owens.
We should increase expectations on Gresham and King.
Last chance for Jones, Billings, Butler and Higgins.

And last chance for Ratten.