I'd take Draper in a heartbeat - but he's one of their very few untouchables. Ridley and Heppell would be the other two they'd keep.
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I gotta admit I'm the same. I look at stories from the NBA like the one today saying that Dallas will trade anyone but two guys if it gets them closer to a title, and think that from an asset management point of view this makes complete sense. Say we got something like Draper and ~7, then worked out a way that we could flip ~7 for an even more desirable future first or player. We've filled positional needs and have a stronger draft hand long term.
But on the other hand, we aren't the NBA, and retaining the soul of a club is *the* most valuable tool for player retention that AFL clubs have available to them. Looking at Collingwood, there is no way that this Treloar decision doesn't have some long term affect on their ability to recruit or retain players.
Plus, Dunks is good as hell and even though trading him (depending on return) might make us more even, we will probably immediately be worse off for it.
I don't know. Just after the dust settles remember I was conflicted and therefore cannot possibly have been wrong about this.
Given that we do have the whip hand here we really can position this to suit our requirements. Assuming that it is Treloar that sits at the top of the tree for us, I wonder if it is permissable for a contractual arrangement whereby BOTH Essendon and Collingwood cover the difference in Dunks current salary (with us) to Treloar's, so that we aren't taking any financial hit with Treloar?
Whilst I hope that we can be in a position to match the loss of Dunks in-terms of his on-field output. I am far more disappointed by the prospect of losing a young and inspiring leader of our Club. In this regard he could be our Luke Hodge where the loss would be far more profound. With that said, I am now questioning my own take on Dunks. Would a Luke Hodge have been such an opportunist to jump to such a rabble of a Club for what I can only assume is for the cash.
When you say soul of the club you mean the premiership player Dunkley who rather than stay for good coin wants to leave the club for more coin?
He's effectively become a mercenary and we need to shop him around like one during trade week. We need to make the Bombers blink early so we can sort out what we're going to do with the compensation that's coming back. I don't know who we want but we could just about get anyone IF Dodo pays overs for Dunkley. This is our chance to get an excellent player in a position of need.
I'm keen to squeeze and squeeze until Dodo's eyes pop.
This from Fox Sports. You can't even make this stuff up.
In summary:
-We need to get on our skates to keep a contracted player, but we're also in no rush
-The club that went after Dunkley also had him fall in their laps
-Dunkley hasn't requested a trade yet has told the bulldogs he wants out.
Top shelf journalism right here.
DONS BELIEVE DUNKLEY’S HOME FOR 2021 IS TULLAMARINE
The Western Bulldogs need to get on their skates to keep gun onballer Josh Dunkley at the club for 2021.
Despite being contracted, Dunkley is leaning towards requesting a trade to Essendon.
According to SEN’s Sam Edmund, the Bulldogs are aware of his thoughts and now have two weeks to keep him at the club, despite CEO Ameet Bains’ stance that he will not be leaving in trade period.
“The Western Bulldogs, I reckon have got two weeks to convince Josh Dunkley that his future lies at Whitten Oval,” he said on SEN's Whateley.
“Dunkley wants to play for Essendon next year and the Bombers actually believe he’s told his teammates and other Dogs people that he wants to leave.
“While Dunkley hasn’t formally submitted a trade request yet, the Dogs are aware he wants out with two years to run on his contract.
“It’s one for Essendon that has almost fallen into their lap... they’re sitting back to see what happens with Dunkley.
“The Dogs are in no rush, there’s six days until the trade period start. They will put the shutters up now and say there’s nothing to see here.”
The Bombers have a big war-chest with plenty of cash to burn, with midfielder Jye Caldwell requesting a trade to Tullamarine.
Yep Dunkley has just "fallen into their lap", I mean aside from offering big coin along with a career life line for his brother.
Yeah lame. Essendon this, Essendon that. We'll see.
I have to agree with you. If he wants out for money reasons then he's not the kind of bloke we want at our club. It doesn't even sound like it's a significant upgrade. Plenty of players from other clubs would get higher offers to leave but they knock them back. If he's that sensitive to money (and to a club that lacks integrity at that) then we shall treat him inkind.
The bolded piece is just completely non-sensical.
Is Sam Edmund that dumb that he doesn't know that a contract means that Dunkley cannot move from us until the end of October 2022 unless WE agree to move him? Is this Edmund doing the bidding for his mate Pickering, who he shares a TV gig with on Nine, or his he somehow connected to Essendon's marketing Dept.?
Mate (or FoxSports) get the headline changed to read "Essendon need to get on their skates if they really wish to to purge gun onballer Josh Dunkley from the Bulldogs if there is any chance of prying him out of his contract for 2021".
Lets start calling these imbeciles out for what they are. It's the perfect platform to do so.
I have a heavy heart at the idea of any of the reasons he would wish to leave.
If a guy like him can be an out-and-out mercenary. then much of the rationale for us sticking fat in tough times, loyally supporting our team no matter what, is empty.
If it's also because we are unable to sell him a vision of a successful club that is close to premiership contention, this is deeply troubling, especially given the recent history of the club he may be choosing.
If disillusionment with Bevo's coaching strategies and the peculiar ruck setup is part of it, I find it unlikely that this would be something that isn't a regular topic of disaffection, dissent and grumbling among that group with which Dunkley is tight ie the solid core of 'good blokes', Wally, Crozier and his best mate Bont. That sort of chatter can so easily become poisonous within a group.
None of these reasons inspire a sense of optimism about this whole wretched scenario.