Jack Macrae

[Uninformed]

Libba looks like he's slowing down. He's contracted for next year but I'm betting he gets "rested" a fair bit, espcially towards the back half of the year.

Would you see Sanders as a suitable stand-in for Libba?

[mjp]

I think with Dunkley, Lipinsky and to a lesser extent Smith, it is more a matter of timing. They were all ready to go, but we weren't ready with a spot in the middle. We bring some talent in now, we still have a couple of years with Treloar and maybe one or two with Libba. Plenty of time for the next gen. midfield to assert themselves.

Great post mate.

[mjp]

Where is the talent going to come from?

Midfield talent?

Bont and Richards are a good start.
The club is negligent if they don't expand on the experimentation done with Weightman during the last pre-season. He is Isaac Heeney waiting to happen.
Sanders is a top 10 pick who needs to play inside the game.

I don't think any of us have the faintest idea what Freijah could become...inside, outside, running defender...who knows.

We will draft again.

[Go_Dogs]

Midfield talent?

Bont and Richards are a good start.
The club is negligent if they don't expand on the experimentation done with Weightman during the last pre-season. He is Isaac Heeney waiting to happen.
Sanders is a top 10 pick who needs to play inside the game.

I don't think any of us have the faintest idea what Freijah could become...inside, outside, running defender...who knows.

We will draft again.

Freijah can become our next Bont. Not as good, but a similar type of powerful midfielder who also has wheels
I’m so bloody excited about JF.

[Hot_Doggies]

I would go -Williams and Freijah on the wings. Midfield combo of Bont, Treloar, Libba, Sanders, Richards, Weightman.
Gallagher to the back pocket.

[SonofScray]

Sanders obviously, perhaps Freijah to a wing, maybe Gallagher with another year, or Garcia. But I like the draft more than trading to bring in elite talent. With what we get for Smith, maybe a fluke late pick or rookie this year and next. Should be plenty of options. You want them young and then put a year or two into them to be up to speed.

Agree.

We just haven?t had access to the draft and top end talent for an extended run in a while so while we keep middling like we are, the opportunity to ?just? bring in midfield talent isn?t exactly a strong current.

[WBFC4FFC]

Midfield talent?

Bont and Richards are a good start.
The club is negligent if they don't expand on the experimentation done with Weightman during the last pre-season. He is Isaac Heeney waiting to happen.
Sanders is a top 10 pick who needs to play inside the game.

I don't think any of us have the faintest idea what Freijah could become...inside, outside, running defender...who knows.

We will draft again.

As well as pending Father Son picks in a couple of years time for midfielders.

[kruder]

I wouldn't be moving Freijah off half back flank yet, we were paralysed there in the final its an area we need some growth in and he can certainly provide that.

[ledge]

Agree.

We just haven?t had access to the draft and top end talent for an extended run in a while so while we keep middling like we are, the opportunity to ?just? bring in midfield talent isn?t exactly a strong current.

Beg to differ we have had huge access to top end talent the last few years , JUH , Darcy , Croft , might be father/sons or NGA but you can?t get much better high end talent than them, considering our ladder position over the last few years it?s been huge. Also a number 6 last year in Sanders.
What we get for Smith and Macrae would give us two first rounders also.

[bornadog]

Beg to differ we have had huge access to top end talent the last few years , JUH , Darcy , Croft , might be father/sons or NGA but you can?t get much better high end talent than them, considering our ladder position over the last few years it?s been huge. Also a number 6 last year in Sanders.
What we get for Smith and Macrae would give us two first rounders also.

Spot on Ledge, except Macrae will only yield a second/third rounder.

[GVGjr]

Agree.

We just haven?t had access to the draft and top end talent for an extended run in a while so while we keep middling like we are, the opportunity to ?just? bring in midfield talent isn?t exactly a strong current.

I'm not sure if I'm reading this correctly SoS? Over many years we've tended to keep our first round selections and in fact we've got 14 first round picks on the list although a couple of them are in via trades and a couple of them have indicated they want to depart.

I agree that midfielders need to be the priority, we will have to wait and see if its via the draft or trades.

[SonofScray]

I'm not sure if I'm reading this correctly SoS? Over many years we've tended to keep our first round selections and in fact we've got 14 first round picks on the list although a couple of them are in via trades and a couple of them have indicated they want to depart.

I agree that midfielders need to be the priority, we will have to wait and see if its via the draft or trades.

Original comment was with the midfield in mind.

The way I see it, and I accept it’s a few seasons on now, we’ve used up a lot of capital on F/S and the like of JUH, not an inherently bad thing but as our midfield depth is starting to thin right out with departures of Macrae, Smith, potentially Garcia the opportunity cost grows. Feels to me that it’s been a fair length of time since we have had a chance to nail some elite midfield prospects, it is stretching out and there’s going to be shortfall soon.

There hasn’t been an appetite, or perhaps opportunity to lean into what we’ve got either, until this year when we saw Gallagher, Sanders and Garcia at a centre bounce together a few times and a clear shift towards giving them a crack at it. I just don’t see where the improvement is coming from beyond what we’ve already seen emerge this year and it’s not coming in via trades when we go for guys like Harmes (FFS).

[bornadog]

Original comment was with the midfield in mind.

The way I see it, and I accept it’s a few seasons on now, we’ve used up a lot of capital on F/S and the like of JUH, not an inherently bad thing but as our midfield depth is starting to thin right out with departures of Macrae, Smith, potentially Garcia the opportunity cost grows. Feels to me that it’s been a fair length of time since we have had a chance to nail some elite midfield prospects, it is stretching out and there’s going to be shortfall soon.

There hasn’t been an appetite, or perhaps opportunity to lean into what we’ve got either, until this year when we saw Gallagher, Sanders and Garcia at a centre bounce together a few times and a clear shift towards giving them a crack at it. I just don’t see where the improvement is coming from beyond what we’ve already seen emerge this year and it’s not coming in via trades when we go for guys like Harmes (FFS).

We made a big move to secure pick 6 last year with midfield in mind. I am sure it is on Sam Powers to do list to get more elite mids. Just have to try and work out the best way with picks coming for Smith.

[jeemak]

Broken record and all, we're rebuilding on the fly. But, what makes me uncomfortable about this iteration is we're asking a lot of whoever's left to stay on the park and deliver. We can't afford much more to come out of the fold when Sanders (who I think will be better than OK pretty quickly) is what's left.

We robbed Peter to pay Paul a bit by moving Richards. A lot of forward drive was left to Dale afterwards and as good as JF was he's not the same quality. If we need Weightman to play more in the midfield to beef it up then we're doing the same again, and we'll be exposed by having lesser forwards take his place.

I'd be holding Jack to his contract for one more year. One or two big injuries and he's all of a sudden in the thick of it as a key inside mid.

[Rocket Science]

Yeah, it's exceptionally ballsy to embark on next season with Bont, Libba & Treloar as your first choice mids while expecting none of them to break down or need 'management' at certain junctures.

Still, with a heavy heart I'm inclined to grant Macrae his wish, feel he's earned it so fine, here's our blessing to go and win a B&F for yet another 12th placed Saints outfit. But more to the point, the prospect of subsisting with him next season out of pure necessity doesn't exactly scream 'progress' when we know our engine room needs significant work, imminently.

Thank f**k Richards was up to the task at a moment's notice, it's been a total get out of jail card but remain sceptical any arsing around with Weightman, Williams or the like will yield similar dividends. We need another dedicated full timer in there who can help take us forward, ideally two.

To wit, you'd reckon we'll be asking a bit of Sanders next year and as much has been made clear to him. But if we want to keep Garcia we may need a better pitch than 'sit tight until somebody ahead of you gets injured', though the club might've quietly seen enough to deduce he may not be an essential ingredient in what we're building. He's entitled to disagree of course but gauging the market should yield an answer.

Personally felt we were wasting our time with Garcia but he made me a believer this year despite the rough edges. He's nippy and ferocious and annoying to play against, all big ticks in the context of our current mix. Hope he sticks around for another two and bites off as much as he's able.