Player Contract Status

[comrade]

Agree with what you say.

But how many medium defenders do we need?

Our list is so far out of balance it is crazy.

Bevo won't rest until all 22 spots are filled with players that can fill a role across half back when needed.

[Bulldog4life]

Roarke Smith had his best season. I hope he gets a new contract. He has a good footy brain and his little tap ons etc can go unnoticed. Had 12 possies till half time then faded.

[bornadog]

Roarke Smith had his best season. I hope he gets a new contract. He has a good footy brain and his little tap ons etc can go unnoticed. Had 12 possies till half time then faded.

He kept Hill quiet.

[jazzadogs]

After Dickson's retirement we have 39 on the primary & 5 on the rookie list.

If we follow this article for a moment and say Duryea, Gardner & Young are likely to remain, that leaves the remaining uncontracted players, of which 9 are on the primary & 3 are rookies, anxiously waiting for their futures to be decided. I think its shambolic of the AFL they haven't sorted out the TPP & List sizes by now. It's most unfair on this group of players, same for the other clubs.

However if we were to delist all of them we would have 30 + 2 going into the trade/draft/FA period. I doubt the club would do that. It's too many holes to fill, especially this year when we have limited draft access and haven't had the chance to view many players at the lower levels to assess their worth properly.

I think Roarke Smith, Sweet & Jong should probably remain on 1 year deals and maybe one of Cavarra or Greene. However it wouldn't surprise me if any of these weren't offered a new deal

So if it goes to 42 player lists (as per this link) and there is still a requirement to draft at least three players, we need to cut at least five from that list (including at least one rookie).

Rookies
Keep - Gardner, Sweet
Consider - Lachie Young, Khamis, Roarke
Cut -

I don't see any way that Gardner gets cut, and wouldn't be surprised to see him upgraded to the main list. He played 10 games this year, including the last 7 or 8.
Sweet is important for our ruck depth, and seems to be improving. Given his age, size and our list profile, he stays.
I really liked Lachie Young when he played, but he seemed lost this year. Roarke showed more than I have ever seen from him in the last few weeks of the season. I have no idea where Khamis is at.

Main list (out of contract players)
Keep: Duryea, Cavarra/Greene, Jong
Consider: Cavarra/Greene, Hayes
Cut: Gowers, Lynch, Porter, Trengove, Suckling

I think Duryea is a lock. Jong will be one of our oldest players next year and offers a POD in our setup - if he is fit, he stays.

One of Cavarra and Greene must stay, and I would happy for it to be both of them. They have both shown glimpses at AFL level but been starved of opportunities. I would cut Lloyd's contract before I delisted either of them. Will Hayes has also shown glimpses, but might be on the outer after he was benched for most of his last game.

Gowers, Lynch and Porter appear to be fairly straight forward cuts - Lynch is the only question mark, and I wouldn't be surprised if we could actually orchestrate a trade for a late pick for him.
Trengove appears to be done - not getting games, and moved like a truck with three flat tyres when he did get a game. It's disappointing because we need a player like him, but I don't think it is him.
Suckling's continued soft tissue injuries and minimal on-field impact stamp his papers in my eyes. He does not seem like a leader who will drive standards, which is the only reason I would look at keeping someone of his age (Wood).

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Can we cut players and then re-draft them to count as a "draftee"?

[jazzadogs]

Can we cut players and then re-draft them to count as a "draftee"?

Yes, but it does open them up to being signed as delisted free agents by other clubs.

[Mofra]

Agree with what you say.

But how many medium defenders do we need?

Our list is so far out of balance it is crazy.

I see Lachie Young as a Wood understudy.
If we're considering any medium defenders surplus then Khamis would be in trouble. Young has shown a lot more.

[bornadog]

I see Lachie Young as a Wood understudy.
If we're considering any medium defenders surplus then Khamis would be in trouble. Young has shown a lot more.

Kharmis can stay as a Rookie B can't he?

[soupman]

One of Cavarra and Greene must stay, and I would happy for it to be both of them. They have both shown glimpses at AFL level but been starved of opportunities. I would cut Lloyd's contract before I delisted either of them. Will Hayes has also shown glimpses, but might be on the outer after he was benched for most of his last game.

I like most of your post but the mentality that we should keep giving chances to these sort of players is killing me and seems to be a mentality very much shared within the club.

Why "must" we keep either of Cavarra and Greene? In a side crying out for a pacy crumbing forward Cavarra managed just two games and we clearly weren't impressed by either one, and Greene didn't even make the injury list and in 4 years on the list has been in senior consideration about 5 times. Yes we need forwards, but as per the other thread there are so many small forward options potentially available for nothing that have more runs on the board than these guys and have attributes these guys don't share. Even if Greene takes a step forward next year he reaches Bailey Dale's level, a player none of us (including the MC) see in our best 22 either.

Also yes Hayes has shown glimpses, but after pumping games into him last year this year he barely got a look in and half of one of his games was spent on the bench with Beveridge talking to him like he is there for work experience. If we aren't going to use a hard running winger when Lachie Hunter is out for half the season then what is the point of having him on the list?

Lynch is the only question mark, and I wouldn't be surprised if we could actually orchestrate a trade for a late pick for him.

We as a club are terrible at under valuing our list spots. For any player that isn't a star the list spot they occupy is worth much more than the salary cap space they take. Very few AFL players barely even show a glimpse for multiple seasons then emerge as AFL standard players.

Greene and Lynch have barely made the VFL bests (nor our stingy match reports this year) for 2 seasons now, their development has basically flatlined for that time period and our MC hasn't appeared to ever consider them. If we complain about smaller list sizes and yet keep these two guys on our list (and also a bunch of guys we have no intention of using ie. Trengove, Hayes, Sweet etc.) then we are crazy. Lynch and Greene in particular have minimal upside, minimal use and stuff all output.

We as a club need to be much more ruthless with list spots and if a player doesn't command one we move them on. We should be using Footscray as the place where we put these guys, not our actual list. Cut them but tell them they are welcome to stay at Footscray, and if they improve then we will pick them back up. With three opportunities a season to pick up players we should be able to get them back if needed, and in the meantime we have someone who might actually contribute (and might be the next JJ, Dahlhaus, Morris etc.) on our real list.

Can we cut players and then re-draft them to count as a "draftee"?

Yes we could but that would imply we are effectively cutting less than 5 players which is way to few considering the deadwood we have on our list.

This could however work in another way, say we cut players we actually like and want to keep that would have no interest from elsewhere (Lachie Young, Jordon Sweet if we actually rate him, Roarke Smith). It means we have additional draft picks (not really for Young and Sweet as they are rookies but bear with me) meaning we can grab a few more mid to late range picks that are worth points and use them to spend on JUH so we don't go into a deficit. Then you redraft the guys you just cut with your picks which are now at the back of the draft and you are good to go.

[soupman]

Kharmis can stay as a Rookie B can't he?

Didn't we immediately upgrade him for no reason as soon as we drafted him? I don't think you can turn cat A rookies back into cat B rookies even if they were originally eligible.

[bornadog]

Didn't we immediately upgrade him for no reason as soon as we drafted him? I don't think you can turn cat A rookies back into cat B rookies even if they were originally eligible.

I am still confused with that one.

[jazzadogs]

Why "must" we keep either of Cavarra and Greene? In a side crying out for a pacy crumbing forward Cavarra managed just two games and we clearly weren't impressed by either one, and Greene didn't even make the injury list and in 4 years on the list has been in senior consideration about 5 times. Yes we need forwards, but as per the other thread there are so many small forward options potentially available for nothing that have more runs on the board than these guys and have attributes these guys don't share. Even if Greene takes a step forward next year he reaches Bailey Dale's level, a player none of us (including the MC) see in our best 22 either.

Also yes Hayes has shown glimpses, but after pumping games into him last year this year he barely got a look in and half of one of his games was spent on the bench with Beveridge talking to him like he is there for work experience. If we aren't going to use a hard running winger when Lachie Hunter is out for half the season then what is the point of having him on the list?

We as a club are terrible at under valuing our list spots. For any player that isn't a star the list spot they occupy is worth much more than the salary cap space they take. Very few AFL players barely even show a glimpse for multiple seasons then emerge as AFL standard players.

Greene and Lynch have barely made the VFL bests (nor our stingy match reports this year) for 2 seasons now, their development has basically flatlined for that time period and our MC hasn't appeared to ever consider them. If we complain about smaller list sizes and yet keep these two guys on our list (and also a bunch of guys we have no intention of using ie. Trengove, Hayes, Sweet etc.) then we are crazy. Lynch and Greene in particular have minimal upside, minimal use and stuff all output.

We as a club need to be much more ruthless with list spots and if a player doesn't command one we move them on. We should be using Footscray as the place where we put these guys, not our actual list. Cut them but tell them they are welcome to stay at Footscray, and if they improve then we will pick them back up. With three opportunities a season to pick up players we should be able to get them back if needed, and in the meantime we have someone who might actually contribute (and might be the next JJ, Dahlhaus, Morris etc.) on our real list.

You're not wrong about valuing our list spots, and it is very hard from an outsiders perspective without a view of training, scratch matches etc. to know the reasons behind slowed development.

On this specific example, I would think that with Dickson already gone and Lloyd/Gowers hopefully on the way out, we have space to hold a couple of young forwards who have been given limited opportunities at AFL level. Both have had injuries which have affected their continuity, and I think still have scope for improvement. Greene averaged a goal per game across his five games in 2018, and has been kept out by our leading goalkicker Lloyd last year, Dale who kicked 20 goals in six games, and constant injuries. Cavarra has had injury troubles but I was happy with his showing in the two games he played, before injuries again ruled him out. I don't believe that any of the cheap small/medium forward options on the market are significantly better than them.

There is definitely an argument that if Bevo isn't playing them, what's the point of having them on the list - but that is also a broader discussion around whether Bevo is utilising players correctly and providing opportunities to those who deserve it.

[soupman]

On this specific example, I would think that with Dickson already gone and Lloyd/Gowers hopefully on the way out, we have space to hold a couple of young forwards who have been given limited opportunities at AFL level. Both have had injuries which have affected their continuity, and I think still have scope for improvement. Greene averaged a goal per game across his five games in 2018, and has been kept out by our leading goalkicker Lloyd last year, Dale who kicked 20 goals in six games, and constant injuries. Cavarra has had injury troubles but I was happy with his showing in the two games he played, before injuries again ruled him out. I don't believe that any of the cheap small/medium forward options on the market are significantly better than them.

I get where you are coming from but the fact none of these guys have been played despite our forwardline being woeful means I am going to write them off. Dale is sufficient depth as far as I am concerned, and unfortunately these guys are generally all the same type: medium pace medium forwards who are cleverish but rely on marking the ball for most of their goals, are no better than most resting mids at crumbing balls, suck at helping link up the play to bring the ball into the forwardline meaningfully, have a propensity to do nothing at all on their bad days, lack intensity/are soft and aren't the types to perform against good sides/in finals, haven't done anywhere near enough off field to convince the coaches they deserve the chance. On top of that i think you can play at most 2 of them in your side, so having 2-3 of them in reserve is not the best use of resources.

I know a lot of the players on the market aren't amazing but they generally bring something these guys don't, whether it be tackling, pace or crumbing ability. My biggest fear is that we give Greene and Lynch another year, they show enough glimpses at to get an extension despite not really contributing, and then we are sitting on a bunch of guys that aren't really helping us in the hope that one of them comes good. We signed Bailey Dale up for multiple years, so that's the one i am happy to keep. The rest have failed to impress, so I'd rather give that shitty 2 year contract to someone else.

[bornadog]

Wood to be a Bulldog for life

Premiership Bulldog Easton Wood has put pen to paper on a two-year contract extension.

The 31-year-old’s recommitment to the Club will make him a Bulldog for life, as he prepares to enter his 14th AFL season.

“This place is my home, and I’ve never wanted to be anywhere else,” Wood said.

“It’s just wonderful to have that locked away and be here for another two years. I’ll be able to finish my life as a Bulldog, which has always been the goal.”

Wood missed a handful of games this season with some minor injury complaints, in a year he admits was like no other.

“This year has been a challenging year for a number of different reasons, but what I’ve been really proud of and really excited by is the group’s ability to play in the presence of that pressure. That will hold us in good stead for future finals campaigns,” he said.

“I would have liked to not miss as many as I did this year, but I do feel like physically I’m in a great place.

“I’m obviously getting a little older now, so I need to make sure I’m looking after my body and I’m really happy with what shape I’m in. Hopefully I’m able to keep that durability going.”

Wood arrived at the Kennel with selection 43 in the 2007 National Draft, making his debut in Round 19, 2009 against West Coast.

He has since played 173 games for the Club, including captaining the team to its drought-breaking Premiership in 2016.

He continued as skipper for the following three seasons, before deciding to step down ahead of the 2020 season and handing over the reins to Marcus Bontempelli.

“To have someone of Easton’s calibre remain with the Club for another two years will be invaluable for the development and growth of our playing group,” said Bulldogs’ General Manager of List and Recruiting, Sam Power.

“Easton’s on-field impact is immense, he’s an important part of our defensive structure, and he’s well-respected by everyone within the Club.

“His leadership and guidance both on and off the field is something we value greatly, and we’re thrilled that he’ll be in the red, white and blue for at least another two years.”

[DOG GOD]

Hmmm I’m not sure about this at all. 2 years?