- Jul 22, 2012
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As we approach the half way mark of the 2024 season, the time is coming for the decision makers at the club to be making definitive decisions on which out of contract players we will re-sign, which we will delist, and which we will put up for trade.
We’re also getting a much clearer picture of the potential ins from other clubs in terms of trade and FA targets, as there have been a string of re-signings, and players “putting talks on hold” to shape this landscape.
Many of these decisions will go a long way to determining how our 2025 Rd 1 team looks, so post your predictions and/or preferred teams here, with any justifications.
My PREFERRED 2025 Rd 1 team:
B: Michalanney - Murray - Worrell
HB: Cumming - Keane - Curtin
C: Nankervis - Crouch - Hinge
HF: Rachele - Walker - Hayward
F: Fogarty - Thilthorpe - Rankine
R: O’Brien - Dawson - Soligo
Int: Dowling - Laird - Top 10 pure mid draft pick - Keays
Sub: Jones
Emg (from): Ryan, Berry, Edwards, Cook, Taylor, Schoenberg, Butts, ruckman acquired via trade or draft, Burgess, Gallagher
Key changes from current team between now and then…
Into 23:
Cumming (FA)
Hayward (FA)
Thilthorpe (from injury)
Murray (from injury)
Dowling (deserves a shot)
Top 10 midfielder draft pick
Out of 23:
Smith (retired)
McHenry (delisted / traded)
Butts (omitted)
Cook (omitted)
Sholl (omitted / traded / delisted)
Himmelberg (traded / delisted)
(Plus Jones is downgraded from starting 22 to a sub candidate)
Inj / needs SANFL time: Milera, Pedlar, Welsh, couple of other draftees (must draft a goalkicking small forward once we’ve addressed the classy midfielder need, and if we don’t TRADE for a ruckman or pick one up in the midseason draft this year, we must draft one at the end of this year)
Rotting as pure backup players to be delisted at end of 2025: Murphy, Strachan
Relevant moves:
*All of Walker (1 year), Cook (1-2 years), Berry (1-2 years) to be re-signed
*All of Bond, Parnell, Borlase, Hamill, McHenry, Gollant, Smith, Himmelberg, Sholl to be delisted / retired / traded. Open to keeping Borlase on the rookie list for 1 more year as KPD cover, and open to keeping Hamill for 1 more year as a rookie considering the Milera injury and Smith retirement - Hamill definitely to be retained if we fail to bring in Cumming. I’m sure the club actually retains one or both of McHenry and Sholl, but yeah, we shouldn’t.
*Both of Cumming and Hayward to be acquired as Free Agents. If we don’t get Cumming, Oscar Ryan takes this spot in the side. If we don’t get Hayward, Jones and Edwards battle it out for this spot (yes I think Jones can be tried as a half forward - he’s certainly not a wingman who will ever even average 18 touches or be involved in an acceptable number of scores, and nobody can convince me that the other things we’ve tried at half forward are better options than Jones).
*The mid we draft in the Top 10 needs to be AFL-ready, skilful, clean and we need to throw him in straight away. Do not draft a forward or defender and cross your fingers that they might be able to be a mid one day. One of Christian Moraes or Sid Draper may well fall into our laps where we’ll be drafting from. Draft them and play them in their natural position.
* If we don’t trade in a ruckman, we must draft one. Personally I’d be trading for one who is already developed and stuck behind a star ruckman. Ned Moyle comes to mind.
* Even if we do bring Hayward in as a FA, we must draft a genuine goalkicking small forward with pace and tackling hunger. We need to stop pretending that Pedlar is a forward, and also stop pretending that McHenry or Murphy are AFL players. We also need to free up Rankine and potentially Rachele for more midfield time.
*Laird starts off the season in the team but you’d hope that one of the younger guys can replace him for good by the bye. Edwards or Taylor would be the preference, but both need to show more and develop their games between now and then to smash the door down.
Note: our club has been mentioned as a potential destination for Harry Perryman, Harry Petty and LDU, among others. I just don’t see the list fit with Perryman, and the others seem like questionable list management decisions considering the huge trade collateral cost involved 1 year out from free agency.
Cumming and Hayward are the clear two FA targets for mine, and considering the fact that Cumming would essentially be replacing the corpse of Brodie Smith (and Milera may never get back), and Hayward would be replacing the trash that is McHenry / Murphy at half forward (while also potentially freeing up more midfield minutes for Rankine), not to mention the Tex / Broken Hill connection with Cumming, and the SA / family hates Port / Swans just blew all their cap on re-signing Rowbottom / Gulden / Florent and are about to blow the rest on Logan McDonald connection with Hayward, I think it all lines up.
We’re also getting a much clearer picture of the potential ins from other clubs in terms of trade and FA targets, as there have been a string of re-signings, and players “putting talks on hold” to shape this landscape.
Many of these decisions will go a long way to determining how our 2025 Rd 1 team looks, so post your predictions and/or preferred teams here, with any justifications.
My PREFERRED 2025 Rd 1 team:
B: Michalanney - Murray - Worrell
HB: Cumming - Keane - Curtin
C: Nankervis - Crouch - Hinge
HF: Rachele - Walker - Hayward
F: Fogarty - Thilthorpe - Rankine
R: O’Brien - Dawson - Soligo
Int: Dowling - Laird - Top 10 pure mid draft pick - Keays
Sub: Jones
Emg (from): Ryan, Berry, Edwards, Cook, Taylor, Schoenberg, Butts, ruckman acquired via trade or draft, Burgess, Gallagher
Key changes from current team between now and then…
Into 23:
Cumming (FA)
Hayward (FA)
Thilthorpe (from injury)
Murray (from injury)
Dowling (deserves a shot)
Top 10 midfielder draft pick
Out of 23:
Smith (retired)
McHenry (delisted / traded)
Butts (omitted)
Cook (omitted)
Sholl (omitted / traded / delisted)
Himmelberg (traded / delisted)
(Plus Jones is downgraded from starting 22 to a sub candidate)
Inj / needs SANFL time: Milera, Pedlar, Welsh, couple of other draftees (must draft a goalkicking small forward once we’ve addressed the classy midfielder need, and if we don’t TRADE for a ruckman or pick one up in the midseason draft this year, we must draft one at the end of this year)
Rotting as pure backup players to be delisted at end of 2025: Murphy, Strachan
Relevant moves:
*All of Walker (1 year), Cook (1-2 years), Berry (1-2 years) to be re-signed
*All of Bond, Parnell, Borlase, Hamill, McHenry, Gollant, Smith, Himmelberg, Sholl to be delisted / retired / traded. Open to keeping Borlase on the rookie list for 1 more year as KPD cover, and open to keeping Hamill for 1 more year as a rookie considering the Milera injury and Smith retirement - Hamill definitely to be retained if we fail to bring in Cumming. I’m sure the club actually retains one or both of McHenry and Sholl, but yeah, we shouldn’t.
*Both of Cumming and Hayward to be acquired as Free Agents. If we don’t get Cumming, Oscar Ryan takes this spot in the side. If we don’t get Hayward, Jones and Edwards battle it out for this spot (yes I think Jones can be tried as a half forward - he’s certainly not a wingman who will ever even average 18 touches or be involved in an acceptable number of scores, and nobody can convince me that the other things we’ve tried at half forward are better options than Jones).
*The mid we draft in the Top 10 needs to be AFL-ready, skilful, clean and we need to throw him in straight away. Do not draft a forward or defender and cross your fingers that they might be able to be a mid one day. One of Christian Moraes or Sid Draper may well fall into our laps where we’ll be drafting from. Draft them and play them in their natural position.
* If we don’t trade in a ruckman, we must draft one. Personally I’d be trading for one who is already developed and stuck behind a star ruckman. Ned Moyle comes to mind.
* Even if we do bring Hayward in as a FA, we must draft a genuine goalkicking small forward with pace and tackling hunger. We need to stop pretending that Pedlar is a forward, and also stop pretending that McHenry or Murphy are AFL players. We also need to free up Rankine and potentially Rachele for more midfield time.
*Laird starts off the season in the team but you’d hope that one of the younger guys can replace him for good by the bye. Edwards or Taylor would be the preference, but both need to show more and develop their games between now and then to smash the door down.
Note: our club has been mentioned as a potential destination for Harry Perryman, Harry Petty and LDU, among others. I just don’t see the list fit with Perryman, and the others seem like questionable list management decisions considering the huge trade collateral cost involved 1 year out from free agency.
Cumming and Hayward are the clear two FA targets for mine, and considering the fact that Cumming would essentially be replacing the corpse of Brodie Smith (and Milera may never get back), and Hayward would be replacing the trash that is McHenry / Murphy at half forward (while also potentially freeing up more midfield minutes for Rankine), not to mention the Tex / Broken Hill connection with Cumming, and the SA / family hates Port / Swans just blew all their cap on re-signing Rowbottom / Gulden / Florent and are about to blow the rest on Logan McDonald connection with Hayward, I think it all lines up.
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