2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

[GVGjr]

A Saints supporting mate contacted me today and asked if I thought the Dogs would consider trading Jackson Macrae.

His view was that Macrae was played out of position for the majority of the season and he thought he still had some good football in him.

So lets explore a trade Hypothetical.

Sam Power gets a call from Macrae's manager early on Wednesday morning. "Sam I've been talking to Jack and we are a bit concerned that he's going to be played out of position for the balance of his career" "Silvagni asked me about Jack and he's pretty keen to get him and from what I can gather they'll consider offering pick 35 and Coffield for Macrae and pick 40 but you'll have to chip in 100K a season for the balance of Jacks contract"

Assuming Power takes this to the list management committee what do you think the answer would be?
Would you/they counter, reject or accept?

On paper it's not a great deal but in reality it could solve some other challenges we will face in the short term.

Interested to hear your thoughts?

[FrediKanoute]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

Macrae at his best is not someone I would trade for a packet of chips. However, Macrae in 2023 wasn't at his best. Do we persist in holding onto Macrae, play him out of position and see him waste away (like we did with JJ) until we decide to delist or he requests a trade or do we cash in? I like Macrae and think he offers a great deal, but he needs to be part of that midfield and if we are not going to give him the minutes and instead ask him to do a job he doesn't have the skills to do, we are better off trading him.

I would probably do the deal.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

That’s a straight salary dump, so let’s just call it that. My thinking is where do Harmes & Smith play next year. If we got Watson and Clarke step up is there a forward spot for him? What’s the CBA game plan next year - more rotations or the same as this year?

Is Smith, Marra & English going to stay if offered enough? Do we want to focus so much cap on so few? If so, do we want to dump salary somewhere on the list?

If so, Macrae is the obvious candidate. I think he’s worth say a F2 unless they take on the whole salary. Even then in that hypothetical I’d want the Aints 56 too for points for Pick 75 (which we won’t use).

Macrae could bounce back to his best. If he keeps falling off the cliff, no one will touch him. So on balance I’d very strongly look at it.

[jazzadogs]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

What's the benefit to us in that deal? Salary cap space?

Imagine the vibe here if Macrae asks for a trade.... At least jeemak will be happy.

[azabob]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

Mid season I floated putting up Dale for a mid teen pick, English for a first rounder and Macrae for a late second round pick.

Macrae is only worth a second round pick at best due to his contract length and value - more likely a 30's pick onwards.

Where does Macrae play in 2024? If we plan to play him in the same role we should seriously consider it.

If the coach is planning to rotate more through CBA we should keep him.

I keep coming back to are Power and Beveridge having frank and open discussions around players.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

What's the benefit to us in that deal? Salary cap space?

Imagine the vibe here if Macrae asks for a trade.... At least jeemak will be happy.

A few components in the hypothetical
Macrae more likely to play in his preferred position at the Saints
It frees up some cap room for some of the other deals coming up.
We pick up a few points to help bring in Croft in and maybe help with Lual.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't do that deal unless Jack was frantic to get out.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

Mid season I floated putting up Dale for a mid teen pick, English for a first rounder and Macrae for a late second round pick.

Macrae is only worth a second round pick at best due to his contract length and value - more likely a 30's pick onwards.

Where does Macrae play in 2024? If we plan to play him in the same role we should seriously consider it.

If the coach is planning to rotate more through CBA we should keep him.

I keep coming back to are Power and Beveridge having frank and open discussions around players.

When my I talked to my Saints mate and he asked about Macrae potentially being a trade option I recalled your suggestion and it's one of the reasons I started the Hypothetical.

[Scraggers]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

When we lost Dunkley it exposed our very shallow pool of midfielders. This was never more evident than when Libba was concussed. We just didn't have the quality of ball winners in the guts and it cost us big time. The fact that we are not selling the farm to replenish the stock or using Smith and Macrae in their natural positions is mind-blowing. Based on this fact alone, Macrae stays.

Unlessssssssss ... you're offering me a future first for him. He is a proven accumulator. First hands on the ball is always a good thing.

[Mantis]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

When we lost Dunkley it exposed our very shallow pool of midfielders. This was never more evident than when Libba was concussed. We just didn't have the quality of ball winners in the guts and it cost us big time. The fact that we are not selling the farm to replenish the stock or using Smith and Macrae in their natural positions is mind-blowing. Based on this fact alone, Macrae stays.

Unlessssssssss ... you're offering me a future first for him. He is a proven accumulator. First hands on the ball is always a good thing.

He is or was?

In the games late in the season when we needed to Jack to perform to a high level he couldn't keep up with the younger/ quicker midfielders of the opposition.

He needs to drop 5kg and learn to run again... if that isn't going to happen then he will once again find himself filling a hole.

If he wanted out then I wouldn't be standing in his way, but feel he's very comfortable in his surroundings.

[The bulldog tragician]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

I saw a spoof tweet from a bogus Tom Browne account saying Jack had requested a trade to Geelong over the weekend and my heart nearly stopped.

I don’t know why we would contemplate a trade for Jack. This season wasn’t his best, but he would probably be a multiple Sutton medal winner if not for Bont. To me, trading him after we’ve brought in an inferior midfielder of a similar age in Harmes would be another example of aimless decisions that don’t seem to have a coherent direction for our club.

And I’m not even sure why there has been a change of role. What came first, his drop in form, or being consigned to a HFF graveyard? Tom Boyd has pointed out that in 15-16 we rotated through the midfield much more than now. What is the rationale for moving away from that approach? It doesn’t seem to be working out too well.

Jack is an ultimate professional. I’m sure he’d be keen to work on the issues of this year. I mean even Libba had a year that he was dropped to the reserves and his future seemed shaky. Why wouldn’t we back in one of our champions to turn it around? When Bevo came to our club he was the master of reinventing guys careers and designing a game style around our strengths. We have a guy who’s been a gun for 10 years for us. Why can’t he come back to his best? - the last I saw, Pendlebury and Sidebottom weren’t doing too badly in contributing to their team.

I won’t even begin on the emotional side of things and what he did for us in 2016 but letting go of a guy like Jackson so cheaply shouldn’t be on the cards and would be deeply disillusioning for me.

[Scraggers]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

He is or was?

In the games late in the season when we needed to Jack to perform to a high level he couldn't keep up with the younger/ quicker midfielders of the opposition.

He needs to drop 5kg and learn to run again... if that isn't going to happen then he will once again find himself filling a hole.

If he wanted out then I wouldn't be standing in his way, but feel he's very comfortable in his surroundings.

When he was moved from his beloved midfielder role, his head dropped. You could physically see it in his body language. Macrae's footy smarts are elite as is his endurance ... not arguing he needs to find his speed again.

[jazzadogs]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

Think thread title should be changed to Trade Macrae.

[Mantis]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

When he was moved from his beloved midfielder role, his head dropped. You could physically see it in his body language. Macrae's footy smarts are elite as is his endurance ... not arguing he needs to find his speed again.

1/ What an awful for the VC to act. I thought it was strange that he was given a leadership role and anointed as VC at the back of his career given, he was never part of the group during his prime.. probably shows the lack of leaders we have.

2/ He was moved out of necessity as his form was poor and we have other players more suited to playing in the midfield.

[Grantysghost]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

1/ What an awful for the VC to act. I thought it was strange that he was given a leadership role and anointed as VC at the back of his career given, he was never part of the group during his prime.. probably shows the lack of leaders we have.

2/ He was moved out of necessity as his form was poor and we have other players more suited to playing in the midfield.

I think it shows that middle aged gap we have.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: 2023 Trade Period Hypothetical

He is or was?

In the games late in the season when we needed to Jack to perform to a high level he couldn't keep up with the younger/ quicker midfielders of the opposition.

He needs to drop 5kg and learn to run again... if that isn't going to happen then he will once again find himself filling a hole.

If he wanted out then I wouldn't be standing in his way, but feel he's very comfortable in his surroundings.

Fine post - this is exactly where I think he's at.

He's been a consistent proud, high level performer but had a really poor year. He needs to come back super hungry/motivated to get back to his best, and to do that he needs to get in career best shape - lighter, stronger him, and more committed than ever to bring the defensive side of his game to the table.