Who do you think is on stkilda's watch list for this year?

[St Ick]

Saints watch list should be Brown x2, Adams, Parker, Frawley, Currie, Bruce, L Thompson.

Of that list, two gun mids, two good defenders please. Brown Brothers would be a good get, oh to be the marketing manager looking for a sponsorship deal if that happened!!

[Stephen Theodore]

I have heard that many recruiters are eyeing off 2014 & 2015 as big free agency years, this year not so much...hopefully we don't give west coast our farm for brown, he looks like a good ordinary type to me.

I think he is out of contract, in which case if he declares that he wants to come to us, we can just pick him up in the draft.... for nothing....

gws can offer a high pick for him......either 19 or 37......anyway...watched him closely last two weeks...not much chop afaics.......

That's what I've noticed about Brown..................nothing, looks slow, doesn't seem to read the play at all well. Maybe he's foxing until he gets to us

[lloyd21]

Sorry to rain on parade but the only reason the Cats got Caddy was the Ablett pick which the Gold Coast could use when it suited and was a lower pick that was flexible .
On player watch Nick Rodda is one good kick can play CHB or CHF 194 cm doing well in WAFL.

[Zed]

Maybe follow the Port model .. A new world class fitness coach , a president that can raise our profile and bring some new sponsors- and some real football brains in the coaching box that come from a recent premiership club.

[gringo]

Sorry to rain on parade but the only reason the Cats got Caddy was the Ablett pick which the Gold Coast could use when it suited and was a lower pick that was flexible .
On player watch Nick Rodda is one good kick can play CHB or CHF 194 cm doing well in WAFL.

I wanted Rodda last year- he is a massive unit and still would only be 19. Jaksche from GWS might want home and hasn't played yet and not sure they sign one or two year deals when drafted.

Tate Pears is getting his body right but will be behind carlisle and a few others. Essendon is having to weigh up who to keep and they have Crameri and Bellchambers in the sights of other teams and no salary cap room. All would be good gets.

Sydney might let go of Andreas Everitt for cheap as he will struggle to get games at the Swans. Port Adelaide has some really good kids that would be worth sounding out. Trent Mc Kenzie is a gun and would offer heaps to those types, Wingard, O'meara, Toby Green, Prestia any one good. Don't look to long in the rubbish- it's easier to get the guns in when you are down than up because if they nominate you can nab them and the cap space with a front ended contract can sway them to you.

Brown shouldn't be written off he would be very handy right now.

[70s sainter]

Agree with all of the above.
It just goes to show how difficult its going to be for a club thats on the way down.
A club moving up attracts other players who get on board , which in turn makes the club head upwards even faster.
These type of players are probably free agents or trades.
Seeing as we have noone to trade its probably only free agents that we can get -- and unfortunately free agents are over the age of 26-27 which is too old for us at the moment.

.......So what can we do?
Just draft good players of good character. Have a great coaching panel. Have great facilities (could be a problem) and then wait for our list to improve enough to attract other decent players. Maybe offer some more game time to a gws player as they have to cull off numbers this year (they would have to nominate stkilda as the olny club they want to be at)
Have a brilliant development program.
I honestly cant think of another way which is a bit depressing really.

[gringo]

Maybe follow the Port model .. A new world class fitness coach , a president that can raise our profile and bring some new sponsors- and some real football brains in the coaching box that come from a recent premiership club.

And 4 or 5 years of high draft picks to bolster their list- that's the only down side.

[70s sainter]

Free agency will not help us get A graders as the only thing we can offer is cash.
We do not have elite facilities and staff, we do not play the block buster games, we will not be playing finals for a number of years.
So all we can offer an A grade player is cash, not GWS , Sydney or Gold Coast cash obviously but reasonable cash.
However, we can only offer cash if we are willing to go back on our new pay structure where noone will be over paid so we couldn't keep Goddard.
You can only get A graders by offering huge money, see Clarke or the chance to win stuff, see Burgoyne and Lake or both, Tippett.
We are one of the least desirable locations for a player to go, probably in the bottom four with the Doggies, Melbourne and North.
Even North are probably more desirable than us as they are pushing for finals footy.

Unfortunately, that means the only way we get A graders is drafting and trading.
And the only way to get an A grader trading is by offering something that might get the other side an A grader in exchange.

The future is looking pretty bleak for the poorer clubs, us included.

Agree with all of the above.
It just goes to show how difficult its going to be for a club thats on the way down.
A club moving up attracts other players who get on board , which in turn makes the club head upwards even faster.
These type of players are probably free agents or trades.
Seeing as we have noone to trade its probably only free agents that we can get -- and unfortunately free agents are over the age of 26-27 which is too old for us at the moment.

.......So what can we do?
Just draft good players of good character. Have a great coaching panel. Have great facilities (could be a problem) and then wait for our list to improve enough to attract other decent players. Maybe offer some more game time to a gws player as they have to cull off numbers this year (they would have to nominate stkilda as the olny club they want to be at)
Have a brilliant development program.
I honestly cant think of another way which is a bit depressing really.

[PurpleHayes]

Make no mistake the Pelican will have some idea in store for this year's draft and free agency period..

I would argue we have been the most creative drafting club of the past 2 years. This article sets it out well:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/s ... 6623717340

Main reason we didnt go hard in free agency last year is we didnt want to dilute the compensation we received for losing Goddard.

Don't be surprised if we make an offer for a 25-26 year old unrestricted free agent who is just outside the cusp of top echelon of players at another club. Think Kennedy and McGlynn from Hawks to Swans etc.. (but obviously a few years older)

[gringo]

Free agency will not help us get A graders as the only thing we can offer is cash.
We do not have elite facilities and staff, we do not play the block buster games, we will not be playing finals for a number of years.
So all we can offer an A grade player is cash, not GWS , Sydney or Gold Coast cash obviously but reasonable cash.
However, we can only offer cash if we are willing to go back on our new pay structure where noone will be over paid so we couldn't keep Goddard.
You can only get A graders by offering huge money, see Clarke or the chance to win stuff, see Burgoyne and Lake or both, Tippett.
We are one of the least desirable locations for a player to go, probably in the bottom four with the Doggies, Melbourne and North.
Even North are probably more desirable than us as they are pushing for finals footy.

Unfortunately, that means the only way we get A graders is drafting and trading.
And the only way to get an A grader trading is by offering something that might get the other side an A grader in exchange.

The future is looking pretty bleak for the poorer clubs, us included.

Agree with all of the above.
It just goes to show how difficult its going to be for a club thats on the way down.
A club moving up attracts other players who get on board , which in turn makes the club head upwards even faster.
These type of players are probably free agents or trades.
Seeing as we have noone to trade its probably only free agents that we can get -- and unfortunately free agents are over the age of 26-27 which is too old for us at the moment.

.......So what can we do?
Just draft good players of good character. Have a great coaching panel. Have great facilities (could be a problem) and then wait for our list to improve enough to attract other decent players. Maybe offer some more game time to a gws player as they have to cull off numbers this year (they would have to nominate stkilda as the olny club they want to be at)
Have a brilliant development program.
I honestly cant think of another way which is a bit depressing really.

I actually think you will find guys like Tom Lynch left a successful at the time club because opportunity was scarce. Most players know they will have to break into a premiership bound club and like Cameron Bruce the dream doesn't always come true. Armo's bro suggested he might have left if Ross had stayed because you assume he wasn't getting played. The Dogs got Koby Steven when they aren't the most attractive proposition for that reason too. It's not all doom and gloom.

[dragit]

A big rival will be Hawthorn… when Buddy goes to GWS they will have a million spare in their cap… and they will be after quality young mids too…

I hope to hell we will have plenty of room in our cap after this year… surely?

[gringo]

A big rival will be Hawthorn… when Buddy goes to GWS they will have a million spare in their cap… and they will be after quality young mids too…

I hope to hell we will have plenty of room in our cap after this year… surely?

Kosi, Gram, Clarke, Blake and Goddard should make a big hole in the cap and having no middle order means there won't be too many jumping up into the next bracket except Armo and Steven.

[bigred]

IF M. Brown expresses his desire to join the Saints, AND we can then recruit him as a free agent, then we would be foolish to spurn such an opportunity (IMHO) I'm a wee bit unsure of this Free Agency rule, would we have to "compensate" West Coast as Essendon have done for Goddard?

I reckon we will get him cheaply if that is the case.

I do know that Frawley is MOST DEFINITELY on the radar.
Word I have is that.......It is not all that far fetched.

[plugger66]

IF M. Brown expresses his desire to join the Saints, AND we can then recruit him as a free agent, then we would be foolish to spurn such an opportunity (IMHO) I'm a wee bit unsure of this Free Agency rule, would we have to "compensate" West Coast as Essendon have done for Goddard?

I reckon we will get him cheaply if that is the case.

I do know that Frawley is MOST DEFINITELY on the radar.
Word I have is that.......It is not all that far fetched.

The rumour was he wanted to leave because the demons were going no where. their no where could be level or ahead of our no where by the end of the year so why come to us? It cant be money because the demons could match it. It cant be success because as hard as it seems the Demons are ahead of us by a fair bit in rebuilding. The other problem is he is actaully contracted. The rumour was we nearly gave 2 very good picks for an ordinary FB last season. What would we have to give to foe an ex AA FB?

[Zed]

Maybe follow the Port model .. A new world class fitness coach , a president that can raise our profile and bring some new sponsors- and some real football brains in the coaching box that come from a recent premiership club.

And 4 or 5 years of high draft picks to bolster their list- that's the only down side.

Hasn't helped Melbourne or the Bulldogs and Richmond are only now getting their act together onfield. Ports list isn't that much different to last year when they were pathetic. If we are super organised off field then results will follow.

[SinCitySainter]

Free agency will not help us get A graders as the only thing we can offer is cash.
We do not have elite facilities and staff, we do not play the block buster games, we will not be playing finals for a number of years.
So all we can offer an A grade player is cash, not GWS , Sydney or Gold Coast cash obviously but reasonable cash.
However, we can only offer cash if we are willing to go back on our new pay structure where noone will be over paid so we couldn't keep Goddard.
You can only get A graders by offering huge money, see Clarke or the chance to win stuff, see Burgoyne and Lake or both, Tippett.
We are one of the least desirable locations for a player to go, probably in the bottom four with the Doggies, Melbourne and North.
Even North are probably more desirable than us as they are pushing for finals footy.

Unfortunately, that means the only way we get A graders is drafting and trading.
And the only way to get an A grader trading is by offering something that might get the other side an A grader in exchange.

The future is looking pretty bleak for the poorer clubs, us included.

Agree with all of the above.
It just goes to show how difficult its going to be for a club thats on the way down.
A club moving up attracts other players who get on board , which in turn makes the club head upwards even faster.
These type of players are probably free agents or trades.
Seeing as we have noone to trade its probably only free agents that we can get -- and unfortunately free agents are over the age of 26-27 which is too old for us at the moment.

.......So what can we do?
Just draft good players of good character. Have a great coaching panel. Have great facilities (could be a problem) and then wait for our list to improve enough to attract other decent players. Maybe offer some more game time to a gws player as they have to cull off numbers this year (they would have to nominate stkilda as the olny club they want to be at)
Have a brilliant development program.
I honestly cant think of another way which is a bit depressing really.

I actually think you will find guys like Tom Lynch left a successful at the time club because opportunity was scarce. Most players know they will have to break into a premiership bound club and like Cameron Bruce the dream doesn't always come true. Armo's bro suggested he might have left if Ross had stayed because you assume he wasn't getting played. The Dogs got Koby Steven when they aren't the most attractive proposition for that reason too. It's not all doom and gloom.

I agree whole heartedly with what you say and yes we can probably get players like Tom Lynch and Kobe Stevens or even Mitch Brown.
It is the A-graders we will not be able to get via free agency.
Every year there are players looking for an opportunity and players looking for a pay day.
If they are looking for an opportunity it means they are not good enough to command a place with their current side. They does mean they will not command a place with us but they will not be a game changer which is what we need as that is what we lost in Goddard.
If they are just looking for a pay day then if they can be that game changer, watch Collingwood, Hawthorn or Sydney come in for them and yet again we will be left empty handed.

[Beno88]

Good article on who might be available...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-07-04/p ... ll-targets