Welcome to the club Liam Henry

[Zed]

Welcome Liam. I hope he kicks on and becomes a jet.

I think the value was fair - but time will tell who was the winner
If we had swapped Coff at the end of 2020 for a future 2nd we would have all been shaking our fists in anger. In hindsight that would have been a good deal given how little footy he has played.

[magnifisaint]

I'm sure Henry is going to have much better disposal than Gresham.

[The Fireman]

ii seems as if RTB is waving a magic wand.

and you know how to spot a good wand-waver a mile away huh

Well, look who I dug up

[MC Gusto]

Very happy with this trade

[The Fireman]

I'm sure Henry is going to have much better disposal than Gresham.

The chances of that are certainly high

[CQ SAINT]

Henry will be more of an upgrade on Byrnes than Gresham, IMHO. A more complete footballer for the role Byrnes plays.

They come from the same draft, are the same age and had similar years this year, with Henry playing less, but improving more and looking much more like a playmaker.

Hopefully Byrnes can continue to improve his composure with ball in hand.

Power runners are handy.

[chook23]

Good job.
Second guessing this deal is nuts.
More important, what number does Liam get and who presents the jersey.

Could be some great Saints numbers available

1

2 (If out of retirement)

4

23

For starters

[Stian]

Good job.
Second guessing this deal is nuts.
More important, what number does Liam get and who presents the jersey.

Well, I see that he had 23 at Freo and that number now is available at StK - so, that bit is a no-brainer. I guess the other bit is that it should be presented by Stewie Loewe.

It makes sense - you know it does.

[Scollop]

Just on a side note

I was just thinking how Brad Hill will hopefully be a great mentor for Liam...and then I realised that he's probably already been one for Nasiah Wanganeen-Millera.

I'm not implying that Liam will exclusively have Hill as a senior player to look up to and learn from, but it'll be good to have Brad as a mentor.

Brad has been a high achiever and he's done it consistently.

Brad was also a mentor to the young indigenous boys like Long and Gresh and other non indigenous boys (as was Paddy Ryder).

The Brad Hill trade is an interesting one because it has been beneficial on many fronts. We may not have secured Paddy Ryder if we didn't also get his cousin Brad Hill.

Ryder was awesome for the club and for our players.

And then there's the coach...It would have been one of the small components of Ross Lyon's decision making when he was weighing up whether to coach again. He knew he already had a good relationship with Hilly.

And as far as the Liam Henry decision to come to St Kilda is concerned... I think Liam Henry felt comfortable knowing that he already knew two people at our footy club (Ross Lyon and Brad Hill).

I think it's significant for young players changing clubs to know that they at least have a good relationship with 2 of the most senior people in the club

[ace]

Who is using 4th round picks anyway?

St Kilda's 4th round pick this year is in the hands of Gold Coast
It is presently pick 74, the first pick to be valued at ZERO points.
It can't even be used to queue jump for Northern Academy or Father-Son selections.

Exchanging 4th round picks is like the recruiters having a side bet that their club can finish the season higher than the other.

[skeptic]

Anyone know much about him?

Is he a def starter in the top 22?
Strengths, weaknesses, areas of improvement etc

[Waltzing St Kilda]

So the 4th round exchange means Freo are confident they're gonna finish above the Saints next year?

Amd effectively means we got Henry for a second-rounder. Meanwhile the Gresh trade lands up with pick 21.

Is Henry an upgrade on Gresh? Or simply better-suited to our needs? If so, we've done very well

[Zed]

Future 2nd round pick.

So are we saying we rate this years draft pool stronger than next years ?. I assume so otherwise we could have given them this years 2nd.

[ace]

So the 4th round exchange means Freo are confident they're gonna finish above the Saints next year?

Amd effectively means we got Henry for a second-rounder. Meanwhile the Gresh trade lands up with pick 21.

Is Henry an upgrade on Gresh? Or simply better-suited to our needs? If so, we've done very well

Sadly it is expected that Gold Coast will make 3, yes 3 northern academy selections before St Kilda's pick 21.
Northern academies have the special priviledge that picks by other clubs can be matched no matter the draft pick number.
Then the Dogs are expected to queue jump for Jordan Croft and the Hawks for will McCabe.
Both father-son.
Tee Dogs still retains pick 5 but they are confident they will get to use that before Croft is called.
Hawthorn still retains pick 4 but they are confident they will get to use that before McCabe is called.
Hawthorn next pick is 33
The Dogs nest pick is presently 40 and
Gold Coast first pick 24.
This means there could be 5 cases of queue jumping ahead of St Kilda's second pick 21.
That pick will probably become pick 26 on the night of the draft.
Even St Kilda's pick 13 can be expected to slip a few places.

Despite pick 21 slipping 5 places
Gold Coast will use up picks 24, 27, 28, 32 and Hawthorn pick 33 queue jumping so St Kilda's pick 35 will remain around pick 35.
And St Kilda's pick 56 could come in 4 or 5 pick earlier around pick 51 or pick 52.

[skeptic]

So the 4th round exchange means Freo are confident they're gonna finish above the Saints next year?

Amd effectively means we got Henry for a second-rounder. Meanwhile the Gresh trade lands up with pick 21.

Is Henry an upgrade on Gresh? Or simply better-suited to our needs? If so, we've done very well

I don’t think it’s a like for like per’se

I don’t know Henry well enough for what I’m about to say to be valid but am pretty sure it’s correct.

One of the issues with our list is the challenge of class… poor finishing, poor ability to lower the eyes and set up plays in key moments as opposed to bomb away.

Whilst many of the successful clubs (most notably the Hawks) cottoned on to the need to retain the ball and make the key play… from 2012 onwards, we’ve been very very slow on the uptake.

2023 list
Gresh
Higgins
Byrnes
Ross
Crouch
Jones
Dmac
Howard
Paton

All known to be erratic with decisions/disposal.

Obviously not everyone needs to be a dead eye dick so to speak, and a lot of those players can turn it on and do some classy things too…
I suspect however, that the overall lack of class is something that RTB will attempt to course correct.

Gresh as an example is a player whose decision making has been challenged on this site (and presumably the club) for a long time. Terrible at setting up plays, unreliable kick at goal, capable of turning a game in an instant and having a big day.

The unwritten rule is always that if he has a bad day… we forgive him if he makes it matter in the moments that count… and over the years, he done it in a fair few.

Was really shown up in the second half of 2023 though.

I suspect that with Butler and Higgins in the key FP posts, Henry comes in as the classy, fast winger and the make up of the list shifts a little classier

[damienc]

Anyone know much about him?

Is he a def starter in the top 22?
Strengths, weaknesses, areas of improvement etc

Super quick. Very good footy smarts. Good disposal. We recruited him for a specific reason. Someone who isn't going to just bomb it and hope for the best. Henry's modelled his game on Brad Hill. Enough said.

Huge improvement in his game in 2023.

[CQ SAINT]

Future 2nd round pick.

So are we saying we rate this years draft pool stronger than next years ?. I assume so otherwise we could have given them this years 2nd.

It's quite possible that Freo made that call and preferred next year.

[SaintWiki]

On SEN WA this morning Freo Representative* said that Liam Henry always wanted to move to Melbourne from the start.

*Manager of Football??? I didn't pick up when they named who it was, just alerted when Liam's name was mentioned.

EDIT: Loudmouth Tim Gossage was the presenter who said that he couldn't understand why Freo would allow Henry to go ...

[Sanctorum]

Good deal but I fear that future second might be a decent pick.

That very much depends on where St Kilda finish in 2024. Assuming Fremantle continue to slip down the ladder future 4th could well favour the Saints.

Considering Henry's potential this was definitely a very good deal by the club.

Gain Henry plus pick 21 for the loss of Gresham is pretty good....

No - that's not strictly correct. It's actually gain Henry plus pick 21 for the loss of Gresham and a pick in the late 20's / early 30's next year ...

Oops...correct but I still think this is a good outcome as Freo's round 4 pick next year should be worth a lot more than St Kilda's. And for all we know they might do other trades next year that land a 2nd RDP....

[Sanctorum]

If Liam Henry can perform much like Melbourne's Kysaiah Pickett or Collingwood's Bobby Hill both of who are not as tall as Henry (180cm), which seems to me is quite likely, than he will be a decisive improvement on Gresham.

On another note I was interested to read today that commentators are raving about how good Collingwood was to snag goal sneak Lachlan Schultz on a 4+1 year deal from Fremantle.

But if you look at Schultz's record this year, he kicked 33.19 from 23 games, about par with Daniel Butler on 33.13 from 24 games, but less than Jack Higgins, who most observers believed didn't have a particularly good year, scoring 36.25 from 22 games.

So much for their perspectives, they should have done more homework!!

[Vortex]

If Liam Henry can perform much like Melbourne's Kysaiah Pickett or Collingwood's Bobby Hill both of who are not as tall as Henry (180cm), which seems to me is quite likely, than he will be a decisive improvement on Gresham.

On another note I was interested to read today that commentators are raving about how good Collingwood was to snag goal sneak Lachlan Schultz on a 4+1 year deal from Fremantle.

But if you look at Schultz's record this year, he kicked 33.19 from 23 games, about par with Daniel Butler on 33.13 from 24 games, but less than Jack Higgins, who most observers believed didn't have a particularly good year, scoring 36.25 from 22 games.

So much for their perspectives, they should have done more homework!!

I think Henry reminds me of the Bont, could be a Brownlow medal winner next year

[Sanctorum]

Yet more balderdash from the resident SS provocateur

[Vortex]

Yet more balderdash from the resident SS provocateur

Oh come on get a sense of humour

[The Fireman]

Yet more balderdash from the resident SS provocateur

Oh come on get a sense of humour

you first, you are simply not as funny as you think you are.

[SaintWiki]

On SEN WA this morning Freo Representative* said that Liam Henry always wanted to move to Melbourne from the start.

*Manager of Football??? I didn't pick up when they named who it was, just alerted when Liam's name was mentioned.

EDIT: Loudmouth Tim Gossage was the presenter who said that he couldn't understand why Freo would allow Henry to go ...

A LOT MORE AFL https://www.afl.com.au/news/1054793/ros ... -to-saints