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The Blair "Which?" Project
- Thread starter Tony Braxton-Hicks
- Start date
Not interested in rewriting history, there is no point.
The Blair project this year has to be to protect our draft hand or better it through trading, get the best value we can for anyone who wants to leave and then draft the best kids we can get.
To me the only bringing in of players we should do (if we do) would be money ball types or free agents.
Who are the money ball types we should target?
The Blair project this year has to be to protect our draft hand or better it through trading, get the best value we can for anyone who wants to leave and then draft the best kids we can get.
To me the only bringing in of players we should do (if we do) would be money ball types or free agents.
Who are the money ball types we should target?
As I
But finally the value depends on a series of variables, which is really what your three tier classification appears to concede.
Not so sure about us refusing to let Soldo go at the end of 22. I think it was to GWS and the other way around.. We were trying to get him there as part of our dealing over Hopper and Taranto, to which offer GWS ultimately said no. Which led to a turnaround by us, which perhaps better explains why we felt compelled to let him go this time.
You can use statistics to argue almost any point of view. You can break up ruckman into categories as you have, again to support any particular point of view.
But finally the value depends on a series of variables, which is really what your three tier classification appears to concede.
Not so sure about us refusing to let Soldo go at the end of 22. I think it was to GWS and the other way around.. We were trying to get him there as part of our dealing over Hopper and Taranto, to which offer GWS ultimately said no. Which led to a turnaround by us, which perhaps better explains why we felt compelled to let him go this time.
Interesting list.
Not a lot of cream.
The only top elite players at the time of trading - Prestia, Lynch, Taranto and Hopper.
Yarran possibly.
Chaplin and Tarrant as quality experienced big backs were understandable decisions, esp regarding the club list.
Maric and Nank were reserve grade rucks, short sized but ultra competitive and needing opportunity.
How many of the rest would have a top 5 in their old club's BnF?
Those aren't statistics, they are trade facts. They happened.
They demonstrate clearly that we got around what you'd expect for a backup ruckman of Soldo's experience/skill.
Variables? Yeah, a little. Like what picks a club might actually have will vary, so sometimes you'll do a bit better or a.bit worse.
I really don't see that you could fit Ivan into the top bracket of traded rucks so yeah, he's absolutely second tier.and we got the right value back.
The only unknown is will Naismith be equivalent as a backup? VFL form is strong, but time will tell.
A moneyball approach necessarily means you will not get top 5 B&F players unless through free agency or trading firsr rounders or something of equal value.
That list though looks about as successful as actual draft pick results more generally - most fail.
Some moneyball gems there though... Jacob Townsend anyone?
Yeah, there's a few who were drafted, traded for or rookied.
Brad Miller (above, not Ben) was a rookie pick.
Morris was a "trade" target, due to jiggery pokery deal we had with GWS. He was from West Adelaide though. They had priority access. Agreed to draft and on trade in exchange for a swap of picks.
The list is basically to capture anyone, that has required Blair to be involved or who were already AFL players, so not Frank/Clarke targets.
Agree and I don't think protect is enough. Our strategy has to be to improve it (unless the AFL in their wisdom change the draft rules this year, which they shouldn't, teams have planned for this based on known rules at the time).
Also agree on moneyball. I like Will Phillips. I'd assume he'd be a bit disappointed to not be getting a game at North but clearly the position they have the most quality in is in midfield, less so for talls at either end of the ground. I reckon he's a moneyball option. Using similar pricing to the Dylan Stephens and Liam Henry deals then a mid 2nd is probably the value.
Stephens was a pick 5 - played around 50% of available games - was borderline best 22 - traded for Pick 44 plus an upgraded pick from 25 to 19
Henry was a pick 7 - played around 50% of available games and was best 22 - traded for a 2nd and a swap of 4ths (not really much value with that being as both are mid table teams)
Philips was a pick 3 - played around 50% of available games and is borderline best 22 - ie. next cab off the rank - a pick in the 25-30 range would probably get him you'd think - I'll watch their game today and keep an eye on him for skills / deficiencies
Thing I can’t work out is the lack of interest in the cat B rookies.
There is some under 18’s star available right now that chose cricket is switching back but we’re not interested despite no one to pick from the in VFL? A literal free hit player outside the salary cap?
We’re one of the richest clubs in the AFL, these extra chances are supposed to be what our kind of luxury affords.
Look at what Carlton is doing in Ireland. They’re setting up a hub 2 months earlier in Dublin than other AFL clubs to ensure they get an edge on the Irish talent.
Yeah we tried Colina and that recent basketball convert (not even sure he plays?) but these are both 4 year plan prospects when there are better short term punts we should be taking.
There is some under 18’s star available right now that chose cricket is switching back but we’re not interested despite no one to pick from the in VFL? A literal free hit player outside the salary cap?
We’re one of the richest clubs in the AFL, these extra chances are supposed to be what our kind of luxury affords.
Look at what Carlton is doing in Ireland. They’re setting up a hub 2 months earlier in Dublin than other AFL clubs to ensure they get an edge on the Irish talent.
Yeah we tried Colina and that recent basketball convert (not even sure he plays?) but these are both 4 year plan prospects when there are better short term punts we should be taking.
Agreed. Its a matter of expectations.
We cant get stars in every hit.
Imo we dont want role types like Townsend as good as he was.
The target should be very good players in the top 10. We want to see how many Houlis Marics Nanks we can convert
its a low percentage play and we've clearly foumd our angle. 2 on the cat b list is decent. We have restrictions on the resources
I feel like you're using both contracts, and toilet paper, wrong.
Variables like who is worth what to the receiving club and its fortunes, age, medical history, etc etc all more than a little important in every such case.
But to me the more troubling issue in this area has to do with contracts.
Putting to one side whether it was Ivan or the club who was pushing for a move to GWS in 2022 as discussed above, it seems that increasingly existing contracts are being ignored by players who want to move, or Clubs who want to move them.
Don’t like it at all.
That was pretty much the point of recapping 2011-now.
We took lots of risks on players who were either routinely not able to make a season, or who couldn't play. Very few were success stories.
But if you won't take risks on players with histories of injury, we don't take Knights or Prestia or Lynch. If we don't take risks with guys not getting games like Thompson, you don't get Houli or Grigg.
Blair's going to strike out more than he'll find nuggets.
I don’t like praising Carlton but if you look at their side yesterday they had Hewitt, Newman, Acres and Kennedy who all played well and none of them cost an arm and a leg. They also had the younger Hollands playing who was running around in the suns vfl side most of last year.
These are the types we should aim at if we do try for a player from another club.
Of course - this determines if a club wants to sell or wants to buy. Then it's a negotiation.
But ultimately Ivvy was not a class A ruckman so you are not going to get the return you get on a Grundy or whoever.
Disagree. Screwing a player who wants to leave by not letting them leave is counterproductive and can have other effects on a playing group. So if you can, you make a deal. And that might mean you find a Naismith, or are very confident you can get Naismith before you agree to trade.
Clubs have always made decisions in their own interests, that has not changed. In recent years Richmond has been pretty good about persuading players to come to us - and if you have a rep for treating players well, that's a bones.
In my industry we have a saying "collaboration over contract negotiation". You fall back on a contract when things go South, otherwise you try to do a deal that suits both parties. If you have to hold someone to a contract against their will, you've already failed.
No-one likes it much, but it's a simple fact that in all industries there's changes to n termination of contracts happening on a regular basis.
Clubs have been doing it to players for years n years and now in the more professional era players have found that " the jumper n club loyalty " are way more flexible n transient than they always thought. So now they're more willing to request a change if it suits they're life or career purposes.
It's only us poor rusty old revenue streams that still glorify the one club player for life scenario n it's actually quite archaic. Simply support the club n every player who happens to be wearing a Tiger jumper at the time, if the jumper comes off move onto the next jumper filler.
