Its probably horseszhit - BUT. One of these days we will probably try and land a big name player from somewhere. Hypothetically, lets look at the last couple of big deals for a clue on how we might do something (I assume at the end of the 2024 season at the earliest).masoncox wrote:How could we afford him???piffdog wrote:On other quarters I am hearing whispers of Jamarra Ugle Ugle for next year. Also nameless and facelsss of course and so likely utter garbage.
Both he and King out of contract at end of 2024. We also know the biggest deals don’t happen in 6 weeks they often play out over 18-24 months. Could that be a potential impediment of letting go of next years first rounder (ie that we’ll want to use it in a bigger trade?)
Are we talking about going after him in next year's draft.
Or are we talking about snaring him in this year's intake.
Got no picks, and probably no money or trade bait.
Jezz Cameron: GWS received: Picks #13, #15, #20 and 1x 2021 first-round pick, Geelong received: Jeremy Cameron, 2x 2021 second-round picks
(forget its the cats - there is an interesting article here on all the dealing that lead up to the Cats being able to actually land Cameron... https://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/145 ... 0of%202020. )
Tom Lynch: Restricted Free Agent - Suns got pick 3 as compo
Luke Jackson: Demons got A first rounder, a future first and second rounder, but gave freo back #44 and #67.
Tim Kelly: Geelong got #14, #24, #37 and a future first rounder, but got back #57 and a future third rounder
So what does all this tell us? Superstars cost a bomb. They have to want to come to your club (I thin we're doing a good job on that front), you have to have the cap space (a gun forward will cost $1m a season and you will need to sign them for 6, 7, 8+ years and then you need some kind of trading capital if they are not a free agent.
So by the end of next year we will probably have 2025 first rounder, we may no longer have the 2024 first rounder if we use it for Shultz. We might have some players we could trade (?) but the reality is (as others have pointed out here) you need to start preparing these things probably 3-4 years in advance to have the draft hand/capital to satisfy the other club. We dont have that, and are unlikely to have that in the next coupld years unless we are going to offload/re-home one or more players who are 23-27 and absolute guns. Thats the one age bracket we are thin in IMO. Probablyour best chance might have been had we lost Jordy last year in a trade or received compo (although winning a flag would have diluted that too). Thankfully he stayed and we snatched a flag in some part due to him.
So we probably stick to the fringes - get a bit here and there for old guys, work on father/son and academy, try and find affordable players who want to come to us, develop younger guys we have and then see what happens. Maybe we're there for Ben King in 2026 when he's a free agent?