#24 Craig Bird - Delisted

Is Jobe?
Is Myers?
Is howlett?

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Still can’t believe he has only been picked to play one game this season.

I don’t think he is a saviour or anything like that, but he definately adds something to our team that we have missed all season

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He’ll be 29 next year and the coaches clearly don’t rate him with a full list. He deserved more of a chance this year but what’s the point keeping him around when next year we should be using back up/last man on the bench spot for players like Begley,Langford and Mutch.

In terms of inside mid depth we’d be better looking at a young opposition fringe player or state league player we think has up side (and might actually get a game).

It’s obvious that the coaches don’t want pure inside contested players that don’t offer outside run. Of course Unless your name is Jobe Watson.

I believe Bird is easily in our best 22. He’s a premiership player. Contested and clearance winning machine. Plus offers a lot defensively.

There is a strong focus on outside pace and very little emphasis on winning contested football. That has been clear this whole season.

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I doubt we offered him a changed contract. Sydney traded him to us as part of a salary dump, we wouldn’t have extended that contract, and Bird wouldn’t have accepted a lower one.

I’m staggered that Bird hasn’t had more chances this year.

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this

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It definitely did as the Sydney one expired end of last year.

Do you have any evidence of this? I did a quick google search and can’t find any reference to a new contract.

Edit: but I did find footywire was saying he’s contracted to 2019. So maybe you’re correct. Although I struggle to believe we signed him up under Worsfold for 2018 AND 2019, yet refuse to play him. So I’m not sure if footywire is correct. Dunlop’s thread has his contract expiring this year.

Edit 2 I also found he was re-contracted by Sydney in 2014. So if he was on a 2 year deal, it would have expired last year.

Does that mean he’s a free [as a Bird] agent?

His Sydney contract finished last year and Dunlop is saying he signed with us for 2 years. The question is if the Essendon contract is on top of the year that remained from the Sydney contract or including it.

Bird should be going full Dangerfield or full Dustin Martin in the VFL if he wants a game. We don’t play 28 year old’s. That’s just a fact.

Ummm … is it?

T Bell

Howlett

Myers

Hooker

Brown

All 28 or near enough.

Hmm I think I need to work on my sarcasm

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Hate it when that happens …:anguished:

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It doesn’t work like that - existing contract + announced term = more than the announced term. It is messy language to say Michael Hibberd had 1 year remaining on his Essendon contract and Melbourne signed him for 3 years - better to just say you’ve signed Hibberd on a 4 year deal.

After every trade you need to sign a new contract with the new club, so any existing contract will get amalgamated into the new one - though there can be a fair bit of horse trading around the sides of that like:

  • Is the new club in a position to just take over the existing contract?
  • Is the original club willing to pay a portion of the existing contract to get the deal done?
  • Is the player amenable to having the existing $$$ smoothed over the duration of the new contract? (500k existing & 300k new 2nd year vs. 400k x2)
  • Is there any options/bonus clauses in the existing contract?

Bird signed for 2 years, which included the year remaining on the Sydney contract.

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Really appreciate the in depth explanation. Thanks heaps!

Bird has to be the most overrated player on our list.

Old, slow, ordinary kick

He played ok last year as number 2-3 mid due to our team not having mids. He wouldn’t play that role this or next year.

If he’s better than Howlett it’s splitting hairs, neither will take us forward.

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Yes I too have found it odd that an 18 possession, including some blind hacks forward when he had time to look and hit up a leading player, as been lorded so highly. If I hadn’t watched the game myself and just read on hear how hardly done by he has been, I would have expected a Dangerfield type performance. But no it was just something similar to what Myers, Howlett, Langford & Lav have produced. I would pick all of Lang, Lav, BBB, Mutch and Redman before Bird.

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