2016 Trade and Draft key to a Premiership?

[damienc]

I know I've asked the question but for me I already know the answer.

A resounding yes. Clearly a lot of things need to happen for us to make a realistic tilt at a top 8 finish and ultimately a Premiership.

We've had a pretty good year. Double the amount of wins on 2015. Knocked on the door of the eight etc etc.

But...if we are going to be real about this we need to improve even more. The guys that showed such great promise: Newnes, Ross, Acres, Gresham, Steven, McCartin ( needs to stop getting concussed) Membrey, Bruce, at times Sinclair, Billings and DMac, Wright, Minchington all need to get better, step up to another playing level.

But we also need to recruit some guns. We are aggressive and well placed to do it. We have the money, we have the culture and enough success to make a prospect want to play for the Saints.

Now we have to land them. I strongly believe we are going to be using picks and players to improve our draft position to try and get who we are chasing. It won't be easy.

I read we are chasing Laverde pretty hard. That is very unfortunate because it means we have to deal with the Bombers who at the best of times are utterly unreasonable. Remember the Carlisle trade?

But if we are determined, and I think the club is, then we are going to land some big fish. Personally I hope we get Laverde, Steele and Marchbank. They are well suited to the type of game plan we have. They cover some areas of known weakness. I reckon we have gone cold on Jaeger. Unfortunately for him his medical didn't go well according to those in the know.

So this draft in my view is vital to our chances of making that next step to seriously challenge for a premiership. Maybe the most important draft in more than a decade.

[supersaints]

Your being a bit hard on Steven. Don't think he needs to get much better, most you have listed have only a few games under thier belt, it's common on the forum for a lot to put a ceiling on players very prematurely
Who says Laverde Steele or Marchbank are going to be any better than any of the players mentioned?

Stevens already there , Paddy and Billings were picks one and three for a reason. Gresch could turn out the best of last years draft, I've already stated that I think Membery will end up as good or better than Stringer.


What you say makes no sense to me, but I respect your opinion I just see it so differently. We've probably unearthed the most potential talent I've seen at the club in one single year and you appear to have put a ceiling on them all?

[borderbarry]

I hope we get Ahern and Steele. It looks like Carlton are getting Marchbank,

[Bluthy]

I don't like all this sense of desperation of needing to trade to get talent in. It's got a really panicy, top-up feel to me. Of course if we had stayed the course and been more experimental this year we could well have a pick 5 or 6 and get a blue blood midfielder we need. But no, Pelchen goes out, Cox comes in with no footy experience and suddenly Richo has all the power and is playing all of Demps, Fish, Gilbo, Geary, Joey in the back half. Really experimental there. We have changed course and I don't know if its the right direction


WE've lost one of our big strengths - access to high picks. We were brave in trading out to go down and get high picks but we needed to stay down there longer IMO. Now we are trying to rely on landing a big trade. It shouldn't be something you rely on - it should be a cold calculated decision if someone suitable becomes available as icing on the cake. But our cake is feeling a bit half baked - hence all this talk of "needing to recruit some guns.". We had access to the guns through the draft - why didn't we keep maximising that advantage?

I feel our quick rise could throw us out of sync a bit. To me our bookends McCartin and Goddard won't be truly ready until another 3 years. Real good kicking talent like White and Rice need more time to come on. That would have let us keep loading up on talented kids to fit around them. Instead we went out and got Carlisle because he was ready made and would push us instantly into finals which Richo wants.

This crap about needing to become a destination club by winning a lot is bs. Players will come to a club that a) gives them a lot of money and b) is setting up for a premiership tilt. If we kept getting high picks no one would care if we were hovering around 5th bottom - players can see the long term plan. They would see the talent on the list and want to be part of it.

Richo's done a good job developing players but by jove he needs to make sure they keep going forward now because its on like donkey kong now. We cannot finish 9th or 10th next year - that is a mini-disaster. If we trade out a lot of our picks this year I am going to be worried as that has mirrored what a lot of failed clubs like Port and Richmond did thinking they were more advanced than they were.

[chook23]

I hope we get Ahern and Steele. It looks like Carlton are getting Marchbank,

I think Ahern just did his ACL again....poor bugger

at training the other day.

[evo]

O'Meara, Vickery and Mitchell seem to think that Hawthorn is a Destination Club!! They will probably get Fyffe, Hogan and Dusty next year as well. as draft picks mean nothing to them. Just leaves the likes of us to settle for the also-rans that have been discussed in this thread. So much for equalisation.

[Con Gorozidis]

I hope we get Ahern and Steele. It looks like Carlton are getting Marchbank,

I think Ahern just did his ACL again....poor bugger

at training the other day.

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/greater-weste ... rbj52.html

SEPTEMBER 8 2016

The Giants have suffered a second serious injury blow this week after youngster Paul Ahern ruptured his right anterior cruciate ligament at training on Wednesday for the second time this year.

[Joe Bloggs]

I don't like all this sense of desperation of needing to trade to get talent in. It's got a really panicy, top-up feel to me. Of course if we had stayed the course and been more experimental this year we could well have a pick 5 or 6 and get a blue blood midfielder we need. But no, Pelchen goes out, Cox comes in with no footy experience and suddenly Richo has all the power and is playing all of Demps, Fish, Gilbo, Geary, Joey in the back half. Really experimental there. We have changed course and I don't know if its the right direction


WE've lost one of our big strengths - access to high picks. We were brave in trading out to go down and get high picks but we needed to stay down there longer IMO. Now we are trying to rely on landing a big trade. It shouldn't be something you rely on - it should be a cold calculated decision if someone suitable becomes available as icing on the cake. But our cake is feeling a bit half baked - hence all this talk of "needing to recruit some guns.". We had access to the guns through the draft - why didn't we keep maximising that advantage?

I feel our quick rise could throw us out of sync a bit. To me our bookends McCartin and Goddard won't be truly ready until another 3 years. Real good kicking talent like White and Rice need more time to come on. That would have let us keep
loading up on talented kids to fit around them. Instead we went out and got Carlisle because he was ready made and would push us instantly into finals which Richo wants.

This crap about needing to become a destination club by winning a lot is bs. Players will come to a club that a) gives them a lot of money and b) is setting up for a premiership tilt. If we kept getting high picks no one would care if we were hovering around 5th bottom - players can see the long term plan. They would see the talent on the list and want to be part of it.

Richo's done a good job developing players but by jove he needs to make sure they keep going forward now because its on like donkey kong now. We cannot finish 9th or 10th next year - that is a mini-disaster. If we trade out a lot of our picks this year I am going to be worried as that has mirrored what a lot of failed clubs like Port and Richmond did thinking they were more advanced than they were.

jC your a drama queen . Pessimist . Down trodden , hard done by ..you worry too much luv. What will be will be you have no say in it. Sure you can have an opinion but you bleet on over and over ...so depressing ..cheer up. Richo is a good coach ..love you team or F*** off.

[evo]

I don't like all this sense of desperation of needing to trade to get talent in. It's got a really panicy, top-up feel to me. Of course if we had stayed the course and been more experimental this year we could well have a pick 5 or 6 and get a blue blood midfielder we need. But no, Pelchen goes out, Cox comes in with no footy experience and suddenly Richo has all the power and is playing all of Demps, Fish, Gilbo, Geary, Joey in the back half. Really experimental there. We have changed course and I don't know if its the right direction


WE've lost one of our big strengths - access to high picks. We were brave in trading out to go down and get high picks but we needed to stay down there longer IMO. Now we are trying to rely on landing a big trade. It shouldn't be something you rely on - it should be a cold calculated decision if someone suitable becomes available as icing on the cake. But our cake is feeling a bit half baked - hence all this talk of "needing to recruit some guns.". We had access to the guns through the draft - why didn't we keep maximising that advantage?

I feel our quick rise could throw us out of sync a bit. To me our bookends McCartin and Goddard won't be truly ready until another 3 years. Real good kicking talent like White and Rice need more time to come on. That would have let us keep
loading up on talented kids to fit around them. Instead we went out and got Carlisle because he was ready made and would push us instantly into finals which Richo wants.

This crap about needing to become a destination club by winning a lot is bs. Players will come to a club that a) gives them a lot of money and b) is setting up for a premiership tilt. If we kept getting high picks no one would care if we were hovering around 5th bottom - players can see the long term plan. They would see the talent on the list and want to be part of it.

Richo's done a good job developing players but by jove he needs to make sure they keep going forward now because its on like donkey kong now. We cannot finish 9th or 10th next year - that is a mini-disaster. If we trade out a lot of our picks this year I am going to be worried as that has mirrored what a lot of failed clubs like Port and Richmond did thinking they were more advanced than they were.

jC your a drama queen . Pessimist . Down trodden , hard done by ..you worry too much luv. What will be will be you have no say in it. Sure you can have an opinion but you bleet on over and over ...so depressing ..cheer up. Richo is a good coach ..love you team or F*** off.

I think his big day of the year is the afl draft. Its probably going to be a long wait for our first pick this year with pick 10 already all but spent.

[Junior]

I don't like all this sense of desperation of needing to trade to get talent in. It's got a really panicy, top-up feel to me. Of course if we had stayed the course and been more experimental this year we could well have a pick 5 or 6 and get a blue blood midfielder we need. But no, Pelchen goes out, Cox comes in with no footy experience and suddenly Richo has all the power and is playing all of Demps, Fish, Gilbo, Geary, Joey in the back half. Really experimental there. We have changed course and I don't know if its the right direction


WE've lost one of our big strengths - access to high picks. We were brave in trading out to go down and get high picks but we needed to stay down there longer IMO. Now we are trying to rely on landing a big trade. It shouldn't be something you rely on - it should be a cold calculated decision if someone suitable becomes available as icing on the cake. But our cake is feeling a bit half baked - hence all this talk of "needing to recruit some guns.". We had access to the guns through the draft - why didn't we keep maximising that advantage?

I feel our quick rise could throw us out of sync a bit. To me our bookends McCartin and Goddard won't be truly ready until another 3 years. Real good kicking talent like White and Rice need more time to come on. That would have let us keep loading up on talented kids to fit around them. Instead we went out and got Carlisle because he was ready made and would push us instantly into finals which Richo wants.

This crap about needing to become a destination club by winning a lot is bs. Players will come to a club that a) gives them a lot of money and b) is setting up for a premiership tilt. If we kept getting high picks no one would care if we were hovering around 5th bottom - players can see the long term plan. They would see the talent on the list and want to be part of it.

Richo's done a good job developing players but by jove he needs to make sure they keep going forward now because its on like donkey kong now. We cannot finish 9th or 10th next year - that is a mini-disaster. If we trade out a lot of our picks this year I am going to be worried as that has mirrored what a lot of failed clubs like Port and Richmond did thinking they were more advanced than they were.

Seriously any chance you can wait and see what happens before carrying on with your negative crap.