Evaluating the trade period: how did we go?

[matrix10]

[daicos35]

[Pies4shaw]

I was a little surprised to see the AFL site's trade period review assess our trade/free agent dealings as a D+ overall. That to me reflects a limited understanding of what's being done in a trade period. Collingwood moved on players that, with the possible exception of Brown, the Club did not have pencilled in as members of its best 22 and moved in players that are pencilled in. Criticism that we "moved out 4 KPPs" might be valid if the 4 were Cloke, Dawes, Reid and Brown circa 2010 when they were all "best 22" but Frost, Cloke and Witts weren't playing regularly and, barring mishaps, only Brown might have next season.

We might disagree here or there with the Club's appraisal of the value of a particular player but if we accept that the Club has made that appraisal, then the moves were, taken together, a very substantial net improvement in line with the Club's intentions for 2017.

[Culprit]

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

[mike2010]

[Pa Marmo]

[stoliboy]

Live chat with recruiter Gary Buckenara after end of 2016 trade and free agency period
October 21, 2016 2:11pm
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/live-chat-with-recruiter-gary-buckenara-after-end-of-2016-trade-and-free-agency-period/news-story/2cd609f3aff57dc30d36a4bacec9fa9a

Buckenara also said Collingwood has “gone backwards” following the departures of key talls Travis Cloke, Nathan Brown and Jack Frost during the trade period according to list guru Gary Buckenara.

The Pies were one of the most active players in the trade and free agency period, with four players coming in — Daniel Wells, Chris Mayne, Lynden Dunn and Will Hoskin-Elliott — and five out — Cloke, Brown, Frost, Jarrod Witts and Marley Williams.

But the additions have done little to address Nathan Buckley’s team’s biggest need — key position players.

“With this one I think you can refer to my list analysis on Collingwood, the priority was for them to get more key position players and outside speed and it seems Daniel Wells is the speed, Lynden Dunn is hardly a true key position player and at the end of his career, Chris Mayne is not quick, plays high half forward and needs to improve below his knees as he is a marking player only. Will Hoskin-Elliott is a good player,” Buckenara said.

“(But) given what’s left Collingwood, I’m not sure the list has improved. If anything gone backwards as key position depth is going to be a real problem.”

Defender Jonathon Marsh’s future is also up in the air, with the contracted Magpie requesting to return home to Western Australia for personal reasons but no trade eventuated.

[mooretreloar]

[mattys123]

Buckennara is both right, and wrong.

Yes, we failed to address our lack of KPP quality and depth, so in that area we didn't come through. But realistically it was going to be very hard to get any KPP's given the currency we had to trade.

Where he's wrong is the other ins.

Mayne, Wells and Dunn walk in as best 22 players. Sorry but they do. So we've actually traded out several players who weren't best 22 (at the end of the 2016 season) for three players who will be in our selected squad for round 1 if fit.

Hoskin-Elliott is the wild card here, he could turn this whole trade period from "meh" to "wowser".

If he stays fit, and that's a massive if, he has the ability to be a match winning forward flanker.

Realistically though it's always hard assessing a trade period the day or two after it's finished because no one really knows how good a trade period has actually been until a few years later.

We did ok with the currency we had to trade, nothing more, nothing less.

I reckon a B- or C+ grade would be fair, a "meh" grade.

It definitely wasn't a club changing trade period, I'd expect next year's to be more like that.

[Pies4shaw]

Asking Buckenara is, I think, just an example of the confusion that can arise in evaluating someone else's trading. I don't doubt Buckenara's expertise but he's, in essence, expressing the view that he would have had different priorities if he was in charge of the Foitball Department at Collingwood. That's fair enough - and nothing he's said is rocket science: we all know that Collingwood has moved out more big men than have come in. Some of us are dubious about that but, if one evaluates what the Club has achieved against that which it set out to achieve, it appears that everything we wanted (in and out), we got (save, possibly, for losing Brown). If one starts from the proposition that we needed to trade in Josh Kennedy or Jeremy Cameron, we obviously failed - but if one looks at this year's targets and last year's, we seem to have got everyone we wanted.

I'm not being overly-positive in looking at it this way, I don't think. If it had been left to me, I'd have kept Brown, traded out White, got an actual KPF to replace him, kept Witts and left Mayne in WA. But that's just my opinion and the question whether we made all the correct decisions on particular players is best assessed by reference to how they perform on the park next season.

[Piesnchess]

[mooretreloar]

[Pies4shaw]

PnC, they didn't "retire bar Cloke". Frost, Brown, Williams, Cloke and Witts all got new jobs. It's difficult enough to discuss these issues without denying the obvious.

[Pies4shaw]