Saints into Hickey

[Saintersss]

I'm guessing you haven't seen him play that much? And when did North go out and grab another ruck? Goldstein, McIntosh and Hale

No, I haven't seen him much, considering he's only played 12 afl matches I'm guessing you haven't either… Why don't you tell us what pick it would take to get Hickey?

Not sure why you are mentioning that North drafted ruckmen instead of trading for them? The point is they kept looking for better ones, even though they had some good ones…

Our coaches have been talking all year of how desperate we are for more ruck depth, I'm not just making this up. We have ONE specialist ruck on our entire list.

Maybe we will try to get a ruckmen and a key defender over the trade period, or are we only allowed to trade in one player this year?

I've probably seen half his games in the AFL and I can tell you that Gold Coast aren't just going to give him away for nothing just because they need list spots and they are definitely not delisting him! He would at least cost a 2nd rounder, most likely more and in fact, Gold Coast don't want picks that late in the draft, because they will only use 2-3 picks in the draft, so they most likely will ask for pick upgrades.

I'm not sure why you are specifically ignoring certain key points of my post? Goldstein was drafted 6 years ago, back then North did not have ruck depth and two rucks where still the norm due to the 4 man bench and Hale was hardly showing anything back then. And again I never said we don't need ruck depth, obviously we do, but we don't need to spend highish picks on them, late picks or rookie picks is were you pick up depth players, not in the first 2 rounds of the draft.

Your argument was that we shouldn't worry that Hickey will overtake McEvoy, because we can just trade out McEvoy like North did with Hale. So I then ask why don't we just trade in Greg Broughton from Freo or another half-back flanker? If he's better than Gwilt, good, then we can just trade out Gwilt. But, we aren't going to because we already have the half-back position covered and would rather spend picks on positions that are more appropriate.

I'm not going to bother to argue or debate with you if you are not going to properly read my responses.

[dragit]

I'm not going to bother to argue or debate with you if you are not going to properly read my responses.

I'm reading them, but they're not making much sense. You keep talking about back flankers in relation to our ruck stocks... We have maybe 10 dedicated back flankers on the list and at least another 10 who could play there, but we have ONE ruckmen.

Why do you think Hawthorn added Pattinson & McCauley to their list this year even though they already have 4-5 ruckmen? Ruckmen get injured more than most players, Carlton & Essendon have barely even had their best 3 ruckmen fit at the same time. We have had Gilbert rucking this year FFS.

[Saintersss]

I'm not going to bother to argue or debate with you if you are not going to properly read my responses.

I'm reading them, but they're not making much sense. You keep talking about back flankers in relation to our ruck stocks... We have maybe 10 dedicated back flankers on the list and at least another 10 who could play there, but we have ONE ruckmen.

Why do you think Hawthorn added Pattinson & McCauley to their list this year even though they already have 4-5 ruckmen? Ruckmen get injured more than most players, Carlton & Essendon have barely even had their best 3 ruckmen fit at the same time. We have had Gilbert rucking this year FFS.

Again, I have repeated 3 times, I THINK WE NEED A BACK-UP RUCK, however we should only pick up one with a late pick or rookie pick most likely from the state league. Hawthorn did that, they brought in Pattinson and McCauley through a very late pick and a rookie pick. Your example only shows exactly what I have been saying the whole time. Hickey will cost a lot more than a rookie pick, OK?

I bring up half-back flankers because if the team is injury free we don't need a ruck and we don't need a half back flanker. You said earlier we may as well bring in Hickey cause he could be better than McEvoy and replace him, so you can say the exact same thing about bringing in a half-back flanker. We can bring in someone who overtakes Gwilt and replace Gwilt, but that is not where our desperate needs lie. Injury free we don't need a ruckman and we don't need a half-back flanker, so let's hit the draft or trade in someone who fills a need (e.g. A key back). Let's not spend a high pick on someone who isn't filling a need. However as stated last paragraph pick up a ruck in the rookie draft as a back-up in case we have an injury.

[St Ick]

I really liked the look and size of Luke Thompson in tonights game, 21 years old, 196 cms and struggles to get a game with Talia and Shaw there. With Adelaide likely to trade with GC for Tippett, could we work Hickey and Thompson somehow into a deal (for the compo pick)? Not forgetting including Caddy or Toy of course As has been said Otten played well, yes injury prone but talent is there, not big enough to be that big defender though.

[magnifisaint]

I reckon Otten is one we should look at.

[St Ick]

I reckon Otten is one we should look at.

I like him, but he doesnt play tall they way our required defender would need to.

[dragit]

Again, I have repeated 3 times, I THINK WE NEED A BACK-UP RUCK, however we should only pick up one with a late pick or rookie pick most likely from the state league. Hawthorn did that, they brought in Pattinson and McCauley through a very late pick and a rookie pick. Your example only shows exactly what I have been saying the whole time. Hickey will cost a lot more than a rookie pick, OK?

I bring up half-back flankers because if the team is injury free we don't need a ruck and we don't need a half back flanker. You said earlier we may as well bring in Hickey cause he could be better than McEvoy and replace him, so you can say the exact same thing about bringing in a half-back flanker. We can bring in someone who overtakes Gwilt and replace Gwilt, but that is not where our desperate needs lie. Injury free we don't need a ruckman and we don't need a half-back flanker, so let's hit the draft or trade in someone who fills a need (e.g. A key back). Let's not spend a high pick on someone who isn't filling a need. However as stated last paragraph pick up a ruck in the rookie draft as a back-up in case we have an injury.

Okay, we can agree to agree then
I think people are hoping we can get Hickey wrapped up with another player… you might be right though, GCS may just want too much for him.
I do think we need at least one more "good ruckmen", I think it's pretty naive saying "if the team is injury free"
we all know that is never the case. There would barely be a ruckmen in the comp that can get through a whole season injury free. Hawthorn added 2 plonkers, but they already have 3-4 serious ruckmen before they have to use McCauley or Pattinson.

I personally think that another 'decent' ruckmen is just as important as a big key defender, but we do need both obviously.

B.T.W. I'm not saying we should try to replace Ben, I have noticed that many on here seem to be reluctant to add anymore ruck stocks to our list in case Ben is ousted as the #1 ruck and then wants to leave. All I am saying is that if we happen to come across a ruckmen that turns out to be better than Ben, I think that is a good thing. I would like nothing better than for Ben to become one of the best ruckmen in the comp.