Clubs asking about Ben Long.

[Trev from the Bush]

Has somethig that a good club could get the best out of.

Parker at the Tiges obvioulsy putting in a good word for him.

Meanwhile, we have Kent!

Hey Rip Van Winkle! Did you sleep through our last 2 games? Slag off at Kent all you like but he has shown more upside than Long at this stage. I'll emphasise "at this stage". As for Matty Parker, only Richmond's long injury list gave him back to back senior games. He is well short of AFL standard and well behind Long. I'll stick with Long. And Kent, but only until Long is consistently better than Kent.

[CQ SAINT]

How do you know our academy picks are as good as Long

And if they don’t attract a bid inside 20 we get first look at them anyway

I don't rate Long all that highly and don't think he is going to get much better. If you have a bloke in the best 25-30 range you can afford to trade him and invest in the future.
Marcus Windhager looks particularly good. If another club selects him in the 20 - 30 range we can't get him with our current draft selections. We need extra draft selections hence I would trade Long to get them.

If Windhager and Owens go before 25 and 40, we are in trouble. We need a minimum of 700 points to cover our arses.
Long might get us that.

[Gershwin]

How do you know our academy picks are as good as Long

And if they don’t attract a bid inside 20 we get first look at them anyway

I don't rate Long all that highly and don't think he is going to get much better. If you have a bloke in the best 25-30 range you can afford to trade him and invest in the future.
Marcus Windhager looks particularly good. If another club selects him in the 20 - 30 range we can't get him with our current draft selections. We need extra draft selections hence I would trade Long to get them.

If Windhager and Owens go before 25 and 40, we are in trouble. We need a minimum of 700 points to cover our arses.
Long might get us that.

Exactly.

[The_Dud]

Would like to keep Long, I think if used correctly he will be a very valuable asset.

This must be a kick in the guts for Seb, shopped himself around and there were no takers, yet clubs are coming to use to try get Long! I rather keep Ben as he offers something no other player on our list does.

[Devilhead]

If we are going to win a Premiership then I cant see Long in the side - he adds a bit of hardness sure but he is ok back-up at best

If a 2nd rounder is available I would take it and run

[ace]

How do you know our academy picks are as good as Long

And if they don’t attract a bid inside 20 we get first look at them anyway

I don't rate Long all that highly and don't think he is going to get much better. If you have a bloke in the best 25-30 range you can afford to trade him and invest in the future.
Marcus Windhager looks particularly good. If another club selects him in the 20 - 30 range we can't get him with our current draft selections. We need extra draft selections hence I would trade Long to get them.

You can always get draft points but they may have to come from next year.
Watch Collingwood use points from next year to secure Daicos if North call his name.

[bangaulegend]

IMO Bens a keeper as a lot of posters have said offer something we don't have a lot of aggression , speed & versatility & that's why other clubs are interested

[B.M]

How do you know Seb has shopped himself around

He loves the club, probably wants to re-sign

Ben along
Dropped 3 times, sub 4 times not near the top ten in the B&F

Seb
Only missed a game for family reasons 7th in the B&F

[CQ SAINT]

Seb has a 2 year with a trigger for a 3rd deal in front of him and hasn't signed it yet. I doubt he is holding out for more from St.Kilda. Maybe he is busy with the wife and kids and hasn't gotten around to signing it yet.

There no doubt he has tested the waters and no one wants to pay him for form he hasn't had in 2 years. I won't be surprised if he leaves.

There'd be good money for him on the Gold Coast but that's probably too far for him to travel, with the Mrs and kids needing support while he is away.

Longy has a famous name at the Bombers, Seb should take his mums maiden name although cuzzie Jobie might have warned him off.
North are splashing cash around and its the kind of list Seb would do well in.
Carlton cant afford to match our offer and they also have that ex champ Sainter from.Sebs era of dominance Newnes to look after.

[mad saint guy]

If we can get something of value for Long I'd be happy to trade him, but wouldn't give him away for a token late pick. I see him at depth at this point but prefer him to Kent or Lonie.

Ultimately I think Long's lack of ability to read the play will keep him from ever being an established regular in a good side.

[1965 Saint]

If we are going to win a Premiership then I cant see Long in the side - he adds a bit of hardness sure but he is ok back-up at best

If a 2nd rounder is available I would take it and run

I think I disagree. In a grand final Long is exactly want you want putting the fear of God into the opposition

[CQ SAINT]

Ask Richmond if they want Long for pick 35?

Send them Long, 9 and 64
Ask for 15, 28 and 44.

Allowing us to take 15, 28, 44 and 46 to the draft and the further possibility of other players worthy of a decent pick still testing the market.

[mad saint guy]

If we are going to win a Premiership then I cant see Long in the side - he adds a bit of hardness sure but he is ok back-up at best

If a 2nd rounder is available I would take it and run

I think I disagree. In a grand final Long is exactly want you want putting the fear of God into the opposition

I'd rather a player who can get the ball.

[Yorkeys]

24yo,60 games, below average performer, not particularly big. Certainly not improving as one might expect if he is going to get to 100 games. Glitters at times, makes just as many clangers. Not a regular starter, not a possession accumulator, got a number of games because of injuries to others rather than form. Not a strong kick, often undisciplined. Courageous as all get out, and seems popular with team mates. Doesn't seem to have bothered to familiarise himself with the rules of the game.

What is it other clubs are asking?

Last contract unless Ben finds a dramatic form change, a position and how to meld with either the backs or forwards.

What is it other clubs are asking, or is it a story dropped by Ben's manager? Not a kid any more.

[Banger9798]

IMO Bens a keeper as a lot of posters have said offer something we don't have a lot of aggression , speed & versatility & that's why other clubs are interested

That's the thing though, he has to have something that other clubs want in order to attract a decent pick.

We have done very well at retaining players in the last few years. Apart from Hind and maybe Hickey, I can't think of any glaring errors in the last 4 years.

Trouble with Longy is he two grabs everything, just not smooth off the deck when under pressure.

Could still be a good player, and unfortunately, could slot into Essendon very nicely....so they need to pay up.

[Impatient Sainter]

I agree Banger he has become very fumbly and rushed in recent years, I dont know if that was alwats an issue? Can you believe we took him over Jai Bolton, just another to add to our poor drafting record.

[damienc]

We need draft picks to cash in to get our two very promising NGA’s so I would definitely look to trade Long.

I reckon you are spot in. It's a shame. Ben Long has shown quite a bit at times but lack of consistency and some ill discipline stopped him being a regular.

I was hoping he would bring the kind of value that Kysiah Pickett delivers for Melbourne.

The Saints have been unable to get the best out of Long.

If he can help get the NGA's across the line then so be it.

[Gershwin]

We need draft picks to cash in to get our two very promising NGA’s so I would definitely look to trade Long.

I reckon you are spot in. It's a shame. Ben Long has shown quite a bit at times but lack of consistency and some ill discipline stopped him being a regular.

I was hoping he would bring the kind of value that Kysiah Pickett delivers for Melbourne.

The Saints have been unable to get the best out of Long.

If he can help get the NGA's across the line then so be it.

We traded pick 26 for Higgins last year. I wonder what we would get for Long? 35 - 40 ?

[The Fireman]

I keep repeating myself but I like him and the X factor he has.
Keeper

[Sanctorum]

In 5 seasons Ben Long has managed to play just 59 games - this tells me that he is only an ordinary player, and yet another recruit that has failed to reach his potential.

Quite obviously, at 24 Long is just a fringe player and certainly not "best 22".

Absolutely love his aggression and attack on the ball but on far too many occasions he has gone missing for long stretches during the game, and then gives away some shocking free kicks to the opposition.

On this basis, if another club is interested in doing a trade for Long that involves St Kilda getting a late 2nd round pick I'm in favour.

[saintsRrising]

The question is not just on whether to keep Long or not.

It is also is there a player or two that we wish to trade/draft in, and/or do we need to have more picks with points in case we have to bid on two NGA pick-ups?

If so do we sacrifice picks from our next draft?

Or do we trade some players that other clubs want enough to earn a reasonable draft pick? If it is , then who can we trade that we can afford to lose that another club will want that will generate a reasonable pick? This is probably a very small list. Maybe even on 2 in Long and Battle.

If we are lucky Dunstan will be picked up as a FA with a good enough deal to generate a compensation pick that is worth some points. He could be picked up and not generate those points for us though.

[Banger9798]

Who can do the maths on which pick we would need to receive from Essendon to ensure we got our NGAs

[Saints58]

If Essendon wont long fine they have picks 11,48,54 tell them we wont 11 when they refuse tell them we wont a pick in late teens early 20s and make them work to get that pick or they give us a pick in the 30s and a player but we should make them sweat.
Sorry but I really do not like them at all.

[Gershwin]

Who can do the maths on which pick we would need to receive from Essendon to ensure we got our NGAs

Lets assume we use pick 9 (which will become pick 11) on a young gun.

Lets assume another club picks Windhager at 26. We will need 532 points to counteroffer. Our pick 46 is worth 331 points and our pick 64 is worth 101 points = 432 . We are 100 points short.
Lets assume another club picks Owens at 40. We need 232 points and we have nothing.
100 + 232 = 332.
332 is about pick 34.

So we need pick 34 from Essendon on these assumptions. Or we pull forward our next year draft selections.

I think this is correct.

[happy feet]

If Essendon wont long fine they have picks 11,48,54 tell them we wont 11 when they refuse tell them we wont a pick in late teens early 20s and make them work to get that pick or they give us a pick in the 30s and a player but we should make them sweat.
Sorry but I really do not like them at all.

After past trade debacles with Essendon I would refuse to trade with them. They can sod off as far as I am concerned. Biggest cheats in sporting Australia.