What if we "Welease Bwian!"

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

What if it meant we couldn't keep Cooney next year?

Make no mistake, we will be going through this all again next year.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

What if it meant we couldn't keep Cooney next year?

Make no mistake, we will be going through this all again next year.

I was trying to allude to this. The problem of getting a lot of low draft picks emerges when those guys all develop into gun players, as we are seeing now. Geelong has been really good at managing this, but then their strength has been a team ethic with excellent on ball and medium sized players. Hence they don't have one single player which is not replaceable.....not even Harley or Scarlett. Add to that they won a GF which has a tendency to unite a team (and can have adverse consequences of its own).

Our problem is that we have one key defender, who is a critical part of the way our backline plays. Not just because he beats Gorilla forwards, but because of the rebound, stability and run he provides from the backline. It would be difficult but not impossible to replace.

What the match committee need to do now is assess, whether Brian is replaceable and if so whom. If not, but we don't want to keep him then they need to work out how we can change our style of play. If they decide to keep Brian, then its a question of who gets sacrificed. Do we trade a Cooney or a Griffen to get another 2 or 3 seasons out of Brian? Do we sacrifice a Gilbee, Gia or Murphy from the aging players to make room for Brian?

None of the alternatives are palatable from a club perspective, but you can hardly expect Brian not to try to maximise his position. After all if the money doesn't go to Brian, its going to some other player on the list.

[comrade]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

We didn't rely on him so much when we kicked 20 goals every week. It appears the latest balancing act is to have a strong backline (aka Lake) with no 'power' forward. So change the balance. Most people could name Hawthorns key goal kickers but could they name Hawthorns fullback?

They don't have one, hence why they're chasing Lake so hard.

[Desipura]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

Even if salary cap space wasn't a huge issue for us I'd struggle to justify a lot of money for a defender.

Do not know that I agree with that entirely. I guess it depends what you classify as alot of money. I believe anywhere between 400-450k is justifiable.
History has shown us, teams with strong defences win grand finals. As we know, Lake is not only a negating backman, he is a great contested mark and provides alot of rebound.

[GVGjr]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

Do not know that I agree with that entirely. I guess it depends what you classify as alot of money. I believe anywhere between 400-450k is justifiable.
History has shown us, teams with strong defences win grand finals. As we know, Lake is not only a negating backman, he is a great contested mark and provides alot of rebound.

$400,000 to $450,000 a season for a 4 year deal is great money for a quality defender and in my opinion that's about Brian's mark. If his requirements are $500,000 plus then not many finals contending teams can afford that and it might be out of our reach.

[Rocco Jones]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

$400,000 to $450,000 a season for a 4 year deal is great money for a quality defender and in my opinion that's about Brian's mark. If his requirements are $500,000 plus then not many finals contending teams can afford that and it might be out of our reach.

$500K a season for a 4 year deal is roughly my limit. I remember hearing a quote from some American Football coach (tried googling it without success). In a competition with a salary cap (well a team that actually follows it) and the draft, it's more about list evaluation and management than simply doing all you can to keep a player of value. He was much more articulate than that and made my point much better than I just did.

[DOG GOD]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

We all know that Brian has a few "issues" with eade during games, in that he is used as a bit of a scapecoat when it comes to being given a blast from rocket with his brain fades. Will this come into consideration for brian when he thinks about his contract. IF he has a problem with eade and deep down doesnt like the fact eade rips him more so than any other player, could brian see this as his "way out"?

[bulldogtragic]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

We all know that Brian has a few "issues" with eade during games, in that he is used as a bit of a scapecoat when it comes to being given a blast from rocket with his brain fades. Will this come into consideration for brian when he thinks about his contract. IF he has a problem with eade and deep down doesnt like the fact eade rips him more so than any other player, could brian see this as his "way out"?

No. It seems quite clear it's all about the cash.

[boydogs]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

We all know that Brian has a few "issues" with eade during games, in that he is used as a bit of a scapecoat when it comes to being given a blast from rocket with his brain fades. Will this come into consideration for brian when he thinks about his contract. IF he has a problem with eade and deep down doesnt like the fact eade rips him more so than any other player, could brian see this as his "way out"?

Maybe in his darker moments but if he is honest with himself he does make some bad mistakes at times and moving clubs is not likely to change that. The 50m penalty last night when the ball sailed through for a behind really shifted the momentum and kickstarted the Cats comeback in the 3rd quarter. He would have been relieved that we fought back in the last and won

[LostDoggy]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

They don't have one, hence why they're chasing Lake so hard.

Well, they had Zac Dawson...

[Missing Dog]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

I don't think that he will leave but i also believe we should offer him a four year deal worth around 425 a year I think the sticking point is more about the length of term and less about the money.

[LostDoggy]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

So does Scarlett but for big money, I want 80 plus goals from a player or 30 quality touches of the footy.
.

I would tend to agree, but then that just may be a bias towards the 'glamorous' side of footy (forwards and premium mids). From a purely footballing perspective, a defending corollary of 80+ goals would be the question: does Lake stop the Dogs conceding 80+ goals less than if it was another player in his position?

This is harder to quantify than a straightforward 'goals kicked' column, but if we see the number of marks he takes directly from an opposition kick deep in the 50, we would have to count that as a goal saved, wouldn't we, and of course, he also contributes to stopping goals in other ways than taking marks, so it would be interesting to work out if he really is worth a net gain of 80+ goals to the team.

Some of those direct marks he took yesterday may have normally fallen to the ground and been a 50/50 contest, about half of them resulting in goals (thus 50/50). Just making the point that, from a purely black-and-white perspective, a contested marking defender could/should almost be worth as much as a contested marking forward.

[LostDoggy]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

I would have preferred Lake saying he wants to stay, not Fantasia. In fact it would be good PR for Brian to his fans and club members to give a one line statement out there "I love the club and want to stay, we just need to agree to some detail". Gives most people a warm and fuzzy feeling that he is likely to stay, whilst not committing. (Although i'd prefer ink, but that ain't happening)

Totally agree BT, it would be good to hear Brian saying he wants to stay and just has to iron out some details. I think he is obviously worth more money than his current contract, and his salary should be commensurate with the improvement he has shown in recent years. But, there has to be a limit, and I perhaps have an unrealistic view that a player would want to stay at a club, not just because of the $'s, but because of loyalty, mateship, and wanting to play for one club?? Am I just a romantic - or are there more out there like the great man, Chris Grant??

[Missing-Dog]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

We all know that Brian has a few "issues" with eade during games, in that he is used as a bit of a scapecoat when it comes to being given a blast from rocket with his brain fades. Will this come into consideration for brian when he thinks about his contract. IF he has a problem with eade and deep down doesnt like the fact eade rips him more so than any other player, could brian see this as his "way out"?

Not sure about that as he's on record saying that he deserves it mostly and he believes it actually helps him during games.

[The Coon Dog]

Re: What if we "Welease Bwian!"

Not sure about that as he's on record saying that he deserves it mostly and he believes it actually helps him during games.

Refer Life With Brian