At that offer we clearly are not interested in holding him and want the pick and therefore retain Bryan and Vigo as the long term solution.
ruptured Achilles is a very nasty injury. especially for a ruckman . he may not be as capable athletically which was his best and main attribute
2 Likes
Looks like we are doing it again. A strong hand and potentially 3 first round picks if Sammy is off, in what is considered to be the weakest draft in recent history. I just hope we can make a better fist of it than we did in 2020. Either bundle 2 picks to get right up at the pointy end of this draft, or trade into 2026/27.
1 Like
Harley Reid.
The quality of this draft is the top end so if anything itās the right thing to do get picks nearer to the top rather than multiple late
Honestly if itās only 100k more Iād give it to him. If it was extra years and extra $ Iād think twice but weāve got the cap room so keep him.
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At $800k we aināt getting band 1 compo so we either up our offer to force Brisbane up or we let him go for a pick in the 20ās
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Brisbane do have form on fixing our injury woes. 
I know we rattle on about leadership, but Draper brings an energy to our game that others cannot match. I donāt see the need to rush him back, given our current stocks. Hopefully we can get him right and he stays.
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Thatās a bit contradictory isnāt it?
If it takes 900k to get band 1 compo, weāre probably going to have to offer him 900k, or else we risk another club getting him for, say, $850k, with no band 1 compo.
And if we offer $900k, he probably stays.
1 Like
Yeah Iām hopeful that rival clubs know that weāll up our offer (and heāll stay) unless they table a contract that will secure Band 1 compo.
If Edmond and Twomey are right (our current offer is $700k and Brisbane is offering $800k), then the next step must be that we up the offer to match Brisbane. āNot getting into a bidding warā is counterproductive to getting the best result.
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I just say we need to be careful and have plenty of medical exit clauses
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Depends on what the club considers the ābest resultā.
Do we want an injury prone ruck with flashes of brilliance on a large wage and longish contract, or do we want to rebuild the side with the younger rucks on lower contracts?
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I like Draper but you donāt spend big on Rucks. Let him walk if it gets us band 1 compo. If itās a second round pick then obviously keep him.
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I have faith that Rosa wonāt screw up the chance to get band 1 compo.
Dodoro would be offering 1.2 at 7 years right about now.
11 Likes
I might be in my own but Iād also take end of first round for him it would help us package up a few picks and get up higher in the draft where the Gold Coast are giving away their first for points
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Donāt we need those 2nd rounders for our academy kids though?
Get Band 1 compo and that lands us the earlier pick & still have what we need for the NGA lads.
I think the other thing thatās being missed is that Brisbane must be offering 5 years (maybe even a trigger for 6). If your preference is to stay, you donāt walk for the difference between 700 and 800 for the same length contract.
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I love Sammy, but Iām coming around to the idea of encouraging him to leave. Go into 2026 with Bryan (4 yrs younger than Draper) and Vigo as the front line rucks, plus bring in a cheap ready made break glass backup (Goldy style) or have Blakiston fill that role. Gerreyn can take his time developing in the VFL. Seems like a good mix.
I think with with 2MP rediscovering his mojo, the natural progression of Caddy, the addition of May and potentially McMahon, we arenāt as reliant on Draper as a fwd target.
Use the Draper pick to fill a need (i.e. small fwd or classy HB).
It would be tough seeing Sammy light it up for another team though 
7 Likes