Giant Raid

[The Doctor]

"I want enquiries made" Don Corleone in The Godfather


I was looking at the GWS playing list recently to see who we might target as a potential recruit this year, or next. They have a lot of work to do to sign up the players they want and there are quite a few big names who will be on the market this year. Many clubs will be sniffing about driving up the price of their most valuable players. Among all this is the handling of exisiting contracts due to Covid 19 situation & managing the salary cap. It will be quite a complex exercise for Jason McCartney & co. There is bound to be fall out (again).


2020 Restricted Free Agents

Jeremy Cameron - Much will depend on what happens here. I'm not keen on him as the $ cost will be too great but plenty of others will make enquiries. The size of his contract assuming he stays will have ramifications for the GWS list.

Zac Williams - I would love to see him join us. He will also be hot property even though he has been down a bit on form and has probably had the same training program as Josh Bruce these past few months. He is a gun when in form. His pace & excellent kicking would be an awesome addition to our midfield. The bonus he won't cost us anything in draft picks GWS can't match any offer we make.


2021 Pre Agents

Josh Kelly - He can activate a long term extension to his contract in 2021. Has plenty of admirers. We all know what he can do and he would be great. Again I think the cost in $$ will be too great.


In addition to the big money contracts these guys will acquire they have also recently secured Toby Greene, Lachie Whitfield, Nick Haynes, Harrison Himmelberg, Stephen Coniglio on big long term contracts. They will also have to budget for other big names including; Callan Ward, Phil Davis, Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto, Tom Greene in the next 1-2 years.


Further they have numerous other Out of Contract (OOC) players in 2020. These are; Aiden Corr, Daniel Lloyd, Harry Perryman, Heath Shaw (likely to retire), Isaac Cumming, Jackson Hately, Jeremy Finlayson, Matt De Boer. The guys who caught my interest are;


Jye Caldwell OOC 2020 - A gun midfielder of the future. Had we missed out on Bailey Smith this youngster might now be a Bulldog. We were keen on him. He is an excellent user of the ball and can kick a goal. Has a logjam of midfielders in the queue ahead of him so opportunity elsewhere could be a motivation for him. He might be gettable but I'm certain a 1st round pick would be a minimum requirement.

Keiran Briggs OOC 2020 - A big bustling ruckman who is physical and strong and can play forward. I suspect GWS would have him high on their list of priorities.

Xavier O'Halloran OOC 2020 - A midfielder/forward with a nice kick on him. Grandson of Bulldog 1954 premiership hero Ron McCarthy. Think we were keen on him in the Bailey Smith draft as well. Wouldn't cost as much as Caldwell or Briggs I suspect.

Zac Langdon OOC 2020 - a small forward who had a good 2018 season but has been seen much since mainly due to injury. Will be 25 next season and could be looking for an opportunity elsewhere. Probably a cheaper option

Lachlan Ash OOC 2021 - Bevo would love this guy. Has serious jets running off half back or a wing. GWS wouldn't want to lose him especially if Zac Williams goes. Would cost a lot. Probably out of reach this year, but next year??

Ian Hill OOC 2022 - A long shot but he'd be an awesome recruit for us, smart move by GWS to secure him. Could only envisage a trade if they needed to clear some space to fit in all the above. Even then I'm sure they would prioritise him above quite a few of them.


Our position is strong. We have signed up all our key players with only Easton Wood remaining of the priority players unsigned beyond 2020. Williams and Caldwell are the two I like most that could be most gettable who could genuinely play round 1 in 2021. How we acquire the trading assets will be the challenge for us. But we have clever operators in our footy dept. I think there is a golden opportunity for the DogFather Bevo and his Consigliere Sam Power to strike a blow

[Doc26]

Re: Giant Raid

Thanks for taking the time to pull this together.

I don’t think our list is in too bad a shape other than for a damaging small forward, and some coverage for key position injuries. This is where Trengove offers some insurance.

As unpopular a proposition it would be, and not that it will happen, but Toby Greene would be the most valuable from theirs to ours.

Other than Greene, Sam Taylor for sure, or even Aiden Corr, who has returned in good form after being set back with ankle / calf issues.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Giant Raid

Well done doc
Both Greene and green would be ideal
Sam Taylor and Corr also
O’hallaran was highly touted , so I wonder what’s happened?

[Bornadog]

Re: Giant Raid

I would love Josh Kelly to compliment our midfield but he would be too expensive and most likely ungettable. Therefore we need to look at some of the other mids like Jye Caldwell or O'Halloran who may be more likely to come over at a reasonable price.

[dog town]

Re: Giant Raid

Williams, Hill and Ash would be my targets and in that order.

[ledge]

Re: Giant Raid

I wouldn’t target any I think with Ugle Hagen coming in and the normal pick up in a draft our list is good enough, we don’t need to make our salary cap any tighter than it is.

[azabob]

Re: Giant Raid

Williams, Hill and Ash would be my targets and in that order.

I think Hill is the one we should look at. Being in contract though means he will cost a bit. I'd go Ash also, I'm not sold on Williams. He seems very similar to JJ for mine.

[Happy Days]

Re: Giant Raid

I reckon Caldwell is gettable. They’ve put no priority on his development at all and its very strange to see such a high pick with no extension this far into his second year.

[Bulldog Joe]

Re: Giant Raid

I am not sure I would trade with GWS for anyone.

They seem to have a strategy of putting players on contract to trade out and they have either managed to get good draft picks to maintain talent or dump salary to allow them to pay who they want while keep other clubs under pressure.

As a club I see them as too Sheedified to come to us.

[GVGjr]

Re: Giant Raid

Thanks for the thread Doc

Caldwell and O'Halloran are the two that interest me the most. They might be gettable because both are squeezed out to some extent by the midfield depth at GWS

I suspect trading for them would be problematic but when Sam Power isn't focused on the clubs compliance challenges at the moment I hope he is right on top of looking at bringing in players that have done an apprenticeship elsewhere but still have their best football in front of them. Both of those boys fit that criteria

Briggs would be a nice addition as well.

All in all, I doubt we will be significant players during the trade period and we might get two needs based players

[EasternWest]

Re: Giant Raid

I am not sure I would trade with GWS for anyone.

Haynes in a heartbeat. Then we could send him to the coin toss with them and he could say "Marcus Bontempelli sends his regards".

[mjp]

Re: Giant Raid

Operation ‘Get Bobby’...that’s what we should call it.

[The Pie Man]

Re: Giant Raid

Operation ‘Get Bobby’...that’s what we should call it.

If he was prepared to come to Melbourne, he’d be perfect.

[1eyedog]

Re: Giant Raid

Would love Bobby if he was available

[The Doctor]

Re: Giant Raid

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/salary-cap-squeeze-could-force-star-greater-western-sydney-giants-out-20200723-p55ex1.html

The Greater Western Sydney salary cap squeeze is on again, with the club in danger of losing at least one of its best six players.

With star forward Jeremy Cameron all but re-committing to the expansion club, industry sources fear free agent Zac Williams will leave at the end of 2020, while rival clubs believe gun midfielder Josh Kelly is once again gettable due to the Giants’ financial predicament

Williams was first offered a contract at the end of last year and his management met with the club last week to continue talks.But the 25-year-old Williams, who has proven himself as a pivotal player both in defence and in the midfield, will be offered big money to leave.
With the Giants already well over the salary cap for 2021, it’s money they don’t have.

The AFL this week lifted the freeze on player contracts, a call that was a key to the AFL Players Association accepting the dramatically compressed fixture.

Kelly, who has long wrestled with the idea to return home to Victoria, is one year into a two-year contract at GWS.

He does, however, have the option to trigger a clause to extend his contract by a further eight years.

It is a 10-year commitment from the Giants worth close to $1 million per season.

Any cashed up club in need of an extra midfielder – like Carlton – would need to at least match that contract to pry Kelly out.

Kelly is also a free agent at the end of next year, meaning GWS would have to listen to offers this year, given they would receive far more in a trade than in compensation.

An All-Australian in 2017, Kelly is the two-footed, smooth moving star who has been forced on to a wing, partly because of the plethora of midfielders the Giants have at their disposal.

He has battled groin issues in the last two seasons and has struggled to recapture his best form since.

The Giants face Richmond on Friday night in what looms as a crucial contest for both sides and their top four aspirations.

While both have had similar trajectories in terms of success in recent years, they also share very similar models in how they pay their players.

Both loosely follow an NBA model, which sees them pay big money to their very best players and spread the remaining TPP money around to the rest.

That’s a different approach in comparison to the likes of Hawthorn and Geelong, who in recent times have avoided paying more than $900,000 to one player and spread the salary cap more evenly.

The Giants, if and when Cameron re-signs, will essentially have five players earning the best part of a million dollars per season.

“I love the place, it’s gong really well for me and I can definitely see where this team is going,” Cameron said last week on SEN.

“When (the contract freeze) does get lifted … things will happen pretty quickly from there.”

Kelly signed a two-year deal with the option to extend long term, captain Stephen Coniglio signed for seven years, Lachie Whitfield signed for seven years last year and Toby Greene will be at the club until at least the end of 2024.

The club’s ability to hold onto their most prized possessions is largely because of the work of former list manager turned footy boss Jason McCartney and his predecessor Wayne Campbell. A carefully constructed plan saw them allow the likes of Dylan Shiel, Rory Lobb, Caleb Marchbank, Will Setterfield, Tom Scully and Jonathon Patton leave for other clubs.

But with Williams out of contract and already attracting significant interest from several rival clubs, it seems highly unlikely the Giants will be able to keep him.

Williams would have to accept significantly less money – around $200-300000 per year – to stay loyal.

Even then, the Giants would have six players taking up more than a third of the total player payments.

Richmond, through the likes of internally praised list manager Blair Hartley and former footy boss Dan Richardson, have employed a similar model.

Dustin Martin is earning well north of $1 million per season, with former free agent Tom Lynch not far behind.

Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt and the recently-retired Alex Rance have all been paid top dollar and have paid the club back in spades.

One of the major differences, however, is the draft selections that each club has had in recent times.

Because of the amount of quality players leaving, the Giants have often found themselves trading back into the draft.

Since 2015, the Giants have taken 11 players inside the top 16 selections of the draft.

In contrast, Richmond have taken one - Daniel Rioli at pick 15 in 2016. Jack Higgins, another first team regular, was taken at pick 17 the following year.

It means the likes of Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper, Harry Himmelberg, Harry Perryman, Jye Caldwell, Jackson Hately, Tom Green and Lachie Ash – just to name a few – will all be hoping for significant pay rises in the not too distant future.