Trade Targets ~ Free Agency & MSD player discussion

[Piesnchess]

RE: Smith/Cotton On, I thought this sort of thing was now banned after the Judd/Visy fiasco.

Im sure it was yes. This sounds like a rort to me, total rort, those cat pricks think they can get anyone, we got into big trouble few yrs ago, Grundy , Stevo. Treloar stuff, why cant those bastards be subject to investigation ??

[Presti35]

Let's at least consider the possibility of offering Brayden Preuss 29 year old ruckman- 206cm and 114kg beast delisted by GWS- so can be picked up as a Delisted Free Agent next week- not draft capital required...

I've looked at Pruess. When I first saw this, I thought no way. I thought why bring in a guy that isnt going to play in the seniors. I did suggest Goldstein last year and even a few weeks ago before he re-signed with Essendon, but I thought at least Goldy can still perform at the top level if required, even at his age.

So can Pruess still perform at this level? If we look at that Fort has just done with the Lions, and that is just to compete in the ruck... well that went pretty well for him. So backup ruckman should not be shrugged off too quickly. But they need to be able to compete at the high level.

At best I'd rookie list him to play VFL mainly, protect Smit and Steene against the big bastard rucks in the VFL while they develop and be a break glass in case of emergency for the AFL side, provided he can actually get fit.

Is he going to stand in the way of their development though? Like is it any good to play him in the ruck while those two sit back and watch? I mean I suppose if we needed to bring in a ruckman because of injury, then we'd be better off bringing in someone that's ready to go, rather than a Smit or Steene that still need time. So it's a bit of a weird one. I've been to VFL games when there's been 4 ruckman playing, its odd. But he would be in front of those guys if a call-up was needed.

He's 29 and absolutely massive and still in shape. He used to be fast for a big guy, is that still the case? Is a backup ruckman something we need to address? If it is then this could be a good answer. Is there anyone else that could fill the role?

[swooper]

If the trade mail is correct most of the players requesting a trade want to go to Geelong. Why? Now Oliver wants to go there. Can someone explain to me how they fit all these players under their salary cap?

Bailey Smiths Geelong contract will be offset by Cotton On. They are a major sponsor of Geelong and Smith is one of the faces of Cotton On. Geelong will simply establish an arrangement with Cotton On to increase Smiths C O “ exposure “ and C O will be the ones who pay a portion of his overall contract with Geelong. It’s not salary cap abuse, it’s just creative, so there’s nothing to see here with Smith.
As for Oliver, I don’t see how he gets to Geelong without them releasing a decent player from their list. They’ve also committed to Jack Martin, so there’s another new contract.
From Dees perspective, given all their recent bad press, they really can’t afford to let Oliver go unless it was a really good trade outcome in return and that’s another area the Cats fall short on. The Cats do it well but at some point, you can’t continue to squeeze blood out of a stone.

Hawkins, Tuohy and Rohan retiring will free up some $
Also, I believe Geelong do not over pay their players
It still sucks if you ask me...