We gotta hit the draft, hard

[axcellence]

Agree on getting rid of some players and clearing the cap.

Kent is probably gone
Hanneberry gone
Billings... Set him free to free up cap.
Get another forward and keep Membrey in the backline. He will be AA there.
Trade out Battle - he has value now


Free up cap for Taranto

[Vortex]

Gresham
Billings
Buttler
Higgins
Byrnes
Jones

All should be offered up to see if we can snag one or two genuine mids.

The midfield needs a complete rebuild

Finally a sensible post …you can do it!
I’d suggest everyone on the list is up for grabs except King, Wilkie, Sinclair , Steele
Anything else I’d look at
Also would dangle Membrey - he’s not in our next premiership team in 2031
As others have said you have to give to get

Yeah not sure about King, he comes across as a Mummies boy who still goes to sleep with the lights on. Very sooky and gives up when he doesn't get his way. Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane.

[skeptic]

Gresham
Billings
Buttler
Higgins
Byrnes
Jones

All should be offered up to see if we can snag one or two genuine mids.

The midfield needs a complete rebuild

Finally a sensible post …you can do it!
I’d suggest everyone on the list is up for grabs except King, Wilkie, Sinclair , Steele
Anything else I’d look at
Also would dangle Membrey - he’s not in our next premiership team in 2031
As others have said you have to give to get

Yeah not sure about King, he comes across as a Mummies boy who still goes to sleep with the lights on. Very sooky and gives up when he doesn't get his way. Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane.

That mummies boy is equal fourth for the Coleman and one goal off third with arguably the worst midfield in front of him

[Vortex]

Gresham
Billings
Buttler
Higgins
Byrnes
Jones

All should be offered up to see if we can snag one or two genuine mids.

The midfield needs a complete rebuild

Finally a sensible post …you can do it!
I’d suggest everyone on the list is up for grabs except King, Wilkie, Sinclair , Steele
Anything else I’d look at
Also would dangle Membrey - he’s not in our next premiership team in 2031
As others have said you have to give to get

Yeah not sure about King, he comes across as a Mummies boy who still goes to sleep with the lights on. Very sooky and gives up when he doesn't get his way. Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane.

That mummies boy is equal fourth for the Coleman and one goal off third with arguably the worst midfield in front of him

And yet our forward line is the worst I've seen for a very long time, probably since the 80s.

[Crossy66]

Agree on getting rid of some players and clearing the cap.

Kent is probably gone
Hanneberry gone
Billings... Set him free to free up cap.
Get another forward and keep Membrey in the backline. He will be AA there.
Trade out Battle - he has value now


Free up cap for Taranto

Trading Battle would be a dumb idea.

[asiu]

yep ... capital d stuff


finally gave him a position to play
'n the responsibility that comes with it
... isn't that development

do the same with ben long

just like Kosi should have been the main target
(not waste his skillset)
whilst the Franchise player ran amok doing what he did

[asiu]

Get another forward and keep Membrey in the backline. He will be AA there.

furiously agreeing with this as well

[SaintDippa]

I'm a touch dyslexic so have only now sobered up following this advice. Cheers.

[Scollop]

The name Billings has two ‘l’s

So does the word marshmallow

[Scollop]

Get another forward and keep Membrey in the backline. He will be AA there.

furiously agreeing with this as well

Membrey is not the issue. Our mids got smashed and we simply don’t get first use and when we do, our mids and forwards are like strangers.

Skunk will outmark most of the guys up against him when the opposition have King and Ryder or King and Marshall to match up onto as well as the Skunk. The problem is that we have a midfield that targets King for nearly 50 % of inside 50 entries, so we are very predictable.

Membrey is also not a good decision maker in general play in my opinion and generally not a good field kick. I love the guy and he is one of our better players, but he needs to play as the third tall.

[asiu]

i wasn't thinking Skunk was a problem
but putting the pressure on Sharman to move the pill forward
from down back wasn't helpful

let him be the 3rd forward banana

[asiu]

(i'm only moving pieces around coz we're desperate)
otherwise i'd leave this bit to boys with more footy smarts than me

[Scollop]

(i'm only moving pieces around coz we're desperate)
otherwise i'd leave this bit to boys with more footy smarts than me

I agree with having some players that you can use in multiple positions, but our midfield is currently our biggest weakness and we just need specialists mids. Steele is going to take a few more weeks to get back to his pre injury form, so it’s up to others to lift.

It’s a good strategy for the long term, and I don’t mind young players getting that opportunity. It’ll benefit Cooper in his development if he plays a few games in the backline (even Nick Riewoldt played there early in his career) but you have to play them to their strengths

I think Wood, McKenzie, Sinclair, Battle, Marshall, Steele also have that ability with several stints in the VFL and State league comps in different positions

Once again, it’s probably a larger debate about where we see ourselves in the picking order and what the plan is for the next 2 years. Do we think we can challenge the top 4 when they are at their best and can we consider ourselves to be a contender in 2022 and 2023

[Teflon]

You don’t get rid of talent to become good

You add to that talent

Gresham and Billings with another A Grader or 2 would benefit

Get rid of guys that can’t play

IF you identify something you like that’s good for your list and you must trade you don’t get a gun for Kent

[bigred]

Trading out these blokes sounds great.
Billings would gather a third rounder at best.
Gresh would get a first, but he will go and be a star small forward somewhere else. Give up on the mid idea.
Have to give to get. But we are as shallow as a puddle. We have sweet FA to give and if we give it, the puddle gets shallower.

Hitting the draft is absolutely no guarantee that we will hit a few.
Heaven knows we have cocked that up repeatedly over the past twelve years or more.

But yes. We have to hit the draft.

[SunnyErnie]

I have to admit, I’m quite pleased with the kids we got from last year’s draft. Nasiah and Marcus have shown all the signs that they’ll develop into very skilful footballers (perhaps A-graders) when they come of age. And we’re still yet to get a good look at the likes of Mitchito and the other lads.

Now, maybe we should trade for another high pick? But who do we trade?

It kills me to say this, but perhaps Gresham could be placed on the trading block. Gresh is one of my favourite players, but we aren’t utilising him properly. Imo, he’s not a midfielder. We would have been better off keeping him as predominantly playing small forward. Butler needs to be traded, but I’m not sure he would even get us a second round pick.

As the saying goes: you gotta break some eggs to make an omelette.

Explain what hit the draft hard means?

[B.M]

The best opportunity is a free agency

And there is one available

Take the punt to be better than mediocre

[B.M]

But I agree

We need a another second round pick

And we need to probably move a player out to get a different type of player

[Sainternist]

I have to admit, I’m quite pleased with the kids we got from last year’s draft. Nasiah and Marcus have shown all the signs that they’ll develop into very skilful footballers (perhaps A-graders) when they come of age. And we’re still yet to get a good look at the likes of Mitchito and the other lads.

Now, maybe we should trade for another high pick? But who do we trade?

It kills me to say this, but perhaps Gresham could be placed on the trading block. Gresh is one of my favourite players, but we aren’t utilising him properly. Imo, he’s not a midfielder. We would have been better off keeping him as predominantly playing small forward. Butler needs to be traded, but I’m not sure he would even get us a second round pick.

As the saying goes: you gotta break some eggs to make an omelette.

Explain what hit the draft hard means?

Not trade away our high picks and try and trade for another high pick. I believe the club needs a better farm system going. We traded a lot of the farm away for the likes of Hill, Hannebery, Jones, etc and now we need to get that area back on track. Our recruiting in last year’s draft was pretty good and I think we could use a few more exciting prospects.

[B.M]

We gave up very little for Jones and especially Hannebery

Paid market value for Howard

Got Ryder for free

Paid nothing for Butler and Kent

Did a smart deal for Higgins

Paid WAY overs for Hill

[D.B.Cooper]

We gave up very little for Jones and especially Hannebery

Paid market value for Howard

Got Ryder for free

Paid nothing for Butler and Kent

Did a smart deal for Higgins

Paid WAY overs for Hill

We gave up Bruce and spare change for Jones
Hickey for Hannebery (assuming the 2nd rounders evened each other out)

I’m tipping Sydney love trading with the Saints.
Salary dump & #39 for a former elite player who was at the time of the trade and remains a broken down has been.

Still, we have won a couple of trades with them at least.

Players swapped (Hickey via WCE)

Morwood, Foschini, Windbanks, Schneider, Dempster, Membrey, Jones, Hannebery springs to mind.

Lockett, Hall, McCartin, Hickey, O’Brien,

[B.M]

We slid 9 draft spots for Hannebery and picked up Battle (who slid) with the resultant pick
So no loss in draft capital there imo

We got Jones for a Second Rounder - which was market value

We let go Bruce for the same which was unders and a mistake!

[mr six o'clock]

I say take the best kids available.
Then keep fingers crossed they become good players.
Whilst we've had bugger all luck with this method in the last 15 years we've probably done worse drafting in high priced talent from other clubs .
Our only successes have been rookies and young players recruited from clubs were they weren't getting an opportunity a lá Steele from gws

[Life Long Saint]

Someone suggested trading Billings to free up cap space.
He's contracted to 2025. We'd have to get that team to take on his entire contract for that to work.
Gresham is contracted until the end of next year. But he's a very clever player that can run and carry and is handy forward of centre.

The headline of the thread says to hit the draft hard.
How many players from the draft have an immediate impact to the team? How many have in history?
Young players can typically need between 75-100 games to become the difference makers you're seeking.

Max King has played 50 and is important to us.
NWM is improving every game but is nowhere near a gun. He can be but it'll take a few seasons. Same with Windhager.

What we need is a blend of better ready made players and young players that can develop underneath them.

If you want to see the perfect model of list development, have a look at who is on top of the ladder.

[B.M]

Geelong have barely used the draft in 20 years

They pick up good players

Develop astute picks

And stay relevant

Have not rebuilt since 2001 - 3 flags in that time

Sydney the same - 2 flags