Trade Targets ~ Free Agency & MSD player movements

[Presti35]

So according to Seven News and Timmy Watson, Rowan Marshall is being chased down by the Bombers in a bid to stock their forward line and ruck stocks.

From what they say, he's expected to sign with the Saints and Essendon are just pushing up his price in some kind of revenge act for when StK did the same to Draper a couple seasons back. How sad.

Anyway, it got me thinking about players we could/should, probably wont look at when the season comes to a close.

Of course if Rowan Marshall was to leave St Kilda and go to Essendon, I would puke my guts up. Considering he is a 201cm Ruck/Fwd and EXACTLY what we need.

Griffin Logue is yet to re-sign with Freo. Why you'd want to leave them right now tho, who knows, but until that paper is signed, you'd have to go after him. 24yo, 193cm Defender and the perfect upgrade for a 29yo Madgen. Another player from Freo is free-agent Rory Lobb who is almost perfect, except for his age (29). But still, could be a handy addition for a couple of seasons if he were paired with the right guys around him.

Over at Port Adelaide, they've started to turn their season around. That could be bad news for teams looking to poach a player from their ranks. Karl Amon is a free agent and has gathered some interest in Victoria. I'm not too sure he fills an urgent need for us, so the club might not be looking his way right now. Todd Marshall is one that interests me. 23yo, 198cm, but signed on until 2024. Darcy Byrne-Jones was talked about last year as someone that may look to return to Victoria. Is that still the case? His contract ends in 2023. He is only 181cm, but would still fill a small need we have in defence. He was an All-Australian and Best and Fairest winner in 2020 after all. We do know that Port and Collingwood don't get along and are not great trade partners, so all of this is probably a waste of time thinking about. But if we do have SA players on out list that want to go home...

Well I guess we can talk to Adelaide.

Reilly O'Brien to me is still the big option there. We obviously have our ruckman in Brodie Grundy who is also the better player. But O'Brien is no slouch either and doesn't come with a mega contract. Of course we'd love to get our hands on Josh Rachele, but that's just not going to happen.

I dont really want to talk about Dan McStay who already has his own thread. Free agent. Not a real #1 FF option, but would be a good addition as a 2nd or 3rd tall, if only we had our #1 guy. Feel like the media are pumping him up this year. I think the coin he'd ask for will be the reason to say no.

Bailey Dale is also a free agent. Again a shorter player as a 187cm defender, but still an All-Australian last year, he is 25, which is young for a free agent.

Is Aaron Francis out of contract this year? There's been lots of talk about him wanting to return to SA. But I also believe Essendon dont use him well. I see him as a replacement for Howe or possibly a Goldsack type of player. Francis has a great leap on him too. He could easily be talked out of leaving Essendon as I believe he is unhappy there. But is he someone that could take over from Howe?

One that would really get up Essendons arse is if Zach Reid left. I cant see that one happening, but how amazing would that be? He's a player to look out for in the future. 202cm defender, would be perfect to replace Roughy.

Ash McGrath has been linked to Hawthorn, we'll see if anything happens there.

Could you imagine a forward line with a fit De Goey and a fit Jake Stringer? That would be insane. Is Stringer unhappy at Essendon? Is his body able to go another 3 or 4 more years? Would you entertain the idea of bringing him to Collingwood? Probably not, but it's an interesting thought.

I'll be interested in what Essendon do with captain Heppell and out of favour Shiel later on too. Not on our radar, but interesting to see what kind of money they get offered. Bombers have lots of cap space, so they could be in the running for plenty of players too, which could include De Goey.

Who else is around that we could talk to? Andy Gaff? Cash-Cow Patty Dow?Hmm I dunno? Do we want to look at and GS Suns: Ainsworth? Lukosius? Rankine? Is anyone at that club gettable?

Just think about the threads last year talking about George Hewitt as a free agent and Will Brodie as a replacement/upgrade to Sier. Look at those guys now.

[LaurieHolden]

While we're doing hypotheticals, I'll wander down the fantasy draft wormhole -
Our multi-year finals push is still 3 years away. We are looking to develop our youth over the coming years, but yet to secure a top 10 Full Forward and Full back via the draft.
We need top 10 draft talent to secure these bookends, but lack the picks.

Adelaide establish Grundy still wants to return home. We agree to open trade negotiations.
We request 201cm, 102kg Forward Riley Tilthorpe, and their future 1st.
While contracted until 2025, Adelaide offer Tilthorpe and a future 2nd and 3rd.
Port decide to enter the fray, and offers up Sam Hayes and a future 1st.
The competitive tender results in Adelaide meeting our request.

Darcy Cameron moves into the ruck, allowing Begg to develop.

Pros
Huge salary cap dump.
Obtain equivalent of two first rounders.
Secure a ready to play, top 10 key position Full Forward.
Have two first round picks to secure a key back and midfielder.

Cons
All Australian ruckman can't be replaced.
Tilthorpe doesn't develop.
Nicks goes into meltdown.

[shawthing]

Indigenous players AND one big key forward.

[piedys]

Hine wouldn't know if his arse was on fire; bet the farm we won't be getting any of either, in the ND or trade time.

[The Black and White Lion]

[magpieazza]

Peter Wright turning it on again for the Bummers I see.

[The Black and White Lion]

Anyone for Joel Amartey? Another ruck forward who can’t get a regular game for the swans

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

JDG and adams trade bait

[Dave The Man]

[inxs88]

There are three mechanisms that we can recruit from to increase the the talent pool:

* MAIN DRAFT/ROOKIE DRAFT
* FREE AGENCY/DELISTED FREE AGENCY
* TRADE PERIOD

One needs to be cognisant of all these levers to gain ground on the opposition. As stated several times last year, players such as Hewett, Brodie, Naish, Peter Wright and Finlayson were mentioned as handy low cost options and are now thriving at new clubs. In this off-season, it would be great to add some depth via all the levers available:

Free Agents:

* James Sicily: gun defender with grunt and play making abilities
* Karl Amon: is coming home, elite left boot and a suitable replacement on wing to Steele

[roar]

[Alex]

Adelaide is a horrible fit for Grundy.
1. They are rebuilding, doesnt make sense to trade for a 28 year old ruckman.
2. They already have O'Brien, who is a top 5-7 ruck in the comp and on much less salary, and is 2 years younger.
3. Grundy's value is not this high. He is no longer a top 50 player in the AFL, and has 6 years left on a huge deal. It would make no sense for a rebuilding team to give up Pick 2 and Pick 3-8 on this type of player.

[Alex]

[Mr Miyagi]

We need to go hard for a Steven May-type backman. First priority.

Power forward is obvious, but we have a few kids coming through.

[Alex]

This is a position of need, but I would at least like to see Charlie Dean play first before he target a player like this. Also, I would argue Maynard is this player, but not a KPP and isn't as consistent.