The bright side of Callan Ward Leaving

[Ghost Dog]

This.

Besides even aside from speculation as to Bryza's trade value, noting we'd be committing the masterstroke of shopping him when at his (value-wise) lowest ebb, I'm less than satisfied we wouldn't simply piss away any acquired draft picks anyway.

Rebuild or not, discarding Lake now would be an egregious mistake.

Such a punitive attitude around the club at the moment.

We already overreacted and got rid of one of the best coaches in the league, which may turn out alright at the end of the day, but we are on shaky ground a la Richmond IMO.

That desperation and impatience can turn out to be costly.

[LostDoggy]

We have to very careful about the idea we should rebuild with lots of youngsters. We are going to lose big bodies in Hall and Hudson. Bodies that can protect the younger brigade. To throw out Lake as well would seem to be inviting a season where we may wilt under the pressure of sustained battle. Experience and strong bodies do count for something.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

One bad year of INJURY not form, give Brian some support please.

I agree with this. We are talking about an AA custodian with a team that this year had a decimated defence. Higgins is a different proposition and certainly tradeable. Has rarely risen to the heights that his reputation demands. A handy back flanker at best and given the fact that he is injury prone, I suspect we have seen the best of him.

[LostDoggy]

I think what the posters are trying to say here is not about hating on Lake but rebuilding a club. Lake probably has 2 years at best being a great player (all things being equal and if he has some luck). Unfortunately the Western Bulldogs will not be a premiership contender in those 2 years. So there is an option now to trade him off as he has the AA value and get possibly two future Brian Lakes for him. If he stays on cool, he plays well, we all love him, finish around 9-12 place the next two years then his contract is up and he has zero value on the market. We get nothing for him and miss having "the next guy" coming through when our other youngsters (Libba, Wally, Dolly etc) are ripe.