Yes…I’m saying if he wants to go then we should force a trade.
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Depends where he wants to go and where we finish. If we finish top 8 then I agree, but if we finish bottom 8 then we’d be better off taking the comp most likely
the parish merrett duo has premiership midfield written all over it, dunno why people genuinely have hypotheticals of breaking them up
It’s more “2022 Trade Talk” but you can see why Dodoro had a crack at getting this guy. Look, it may work out for the better for us long term as it’s forcing us to expose guys and give them a go but if we were about immediate improvement, the evidence was he would certainly have helped. Fair impact for a 32 year old.
"IT’S INCREDIBLE”: HOW RECRUIT HAS REVOLUTIONISED BULLDOGS IN 2023
BY LACHLAN GELEIT 14 HOURS AGO
Is Liam Jones one of the most impactful recruits in recent AFL memory?
Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne thinks he could be in the conversation in terms of immediate impact at a new club alongside the likes of Gary Ablett Jr, Lance Franklin and Patrick Dangerfield.
Jones joined the Western Bulldogs in the off-season as an unrestricted free agent after quitting Carlton before the 2022 season due to his stance on COVID-19 vaccination.
Hoyne believes Jones’ immediate impact upon re-joining the Dogs, the club he started his career with, is as good as just about any in terms of first-season influence.
“I was having this thought over the weekend watching the Dogs play Adelaide,” Hoyne told SEN Sportsday.
“For me, the three biggest trades over the last 15 years since 2010 have been (Gary) Ablett Jr to Gold Coast clearly, (Lance) Franklin to Sydney clearly and (Patrick) Dangerfield to Geelong.
“Those are three absolute walk-up Hall of Famers, possibly legends.
“I got me thinking, ‘Who’s the fourth player to have the most immediate impact in the first season (after a trade)?’, not the second or third season but the first season.
“To me, I reckon Liam Jones is almost in that conversation for the impact that he has had on his team in his first season.”
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Hoyne revealed the statistics that have him singing Jones’ praises so loudly with the 32-year-old completely revolutionising the club’s defensive profile.
“The Dogs have been offensively strong for four or five years, but the question has been, can they hold up behind the ball with what they’ve got down back? That’s from a key defender point of view,” Hoyne said.
“Last year, there was no easier team to beat in a one-on-one contest than the Dogs, but this year there’s no team that’s harder to beat in a one-on-one contest than the Dogs.
“Liam Jones has been involved in 34 one-on-one contests and he’s been out marked twice, it’s incredible.
“They’ve gone from being a team that’s been so easy to move the ball against to now they’ve improved that facet of the game so much this year.
“Their defensive profile is extraordinary, they’re now the fourth hardest team to score against once inside 50 but last year they were fourth easiest.”
With the Bulldogs now sitting in 6th with a 7-3 record, Hoyne says Jones could be that player that unlocks the side in a way that great defenders have for their respective sides in the last 10 years.
“All of the best teams over the last 10 to 15 years, they’ve had that roadblock behind the ball,” Hoyne said.
“Whether that be Tom Stewart last year, Jake Lever in 2021, Jeremy McGovern (in 2018), Alex Rance (in 2017) and Josh Gibson (in Hawthorn’s three-peat) … the best have had that roadblock behind the ball.
“The Dogs have never had it, but they’ve got it now and this guy covers for so many with his ability to be able to impact from an intercept point of view and a defensive point of view is off the charts at the moment.
“It’s why the Dogs are a totally different prospect this year compared to last.”
Jones and the Bulldogs will hope to keep up their strong form when they face the Suns at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.
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PREMIERSHIP DEMON ATTRACTING INTEREST
NARRM premiership player James Jordon has become a target for clubs as a number show interest in the versatile wingman.
Jordon’s unrestricted free agency status – he qualifies for free agency because he was previously delisted at the end of 2020 – makes him an appealing option for clubs.
Essendon and Gold Coast are among the clubs with interest in Jordon, who has played eight games this season including four as the starting substitute and has held off jumping into contract talks.
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Could be a good option to release Martin to the midfield.
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Like Dools has said, Shuey and Hurn will finish up this year and will be joined by Darling sometime over the next 2 (maybe this year) and lost Kennedy last year. Kelly would be on good money as is Gaff and Natinui but all teams have a few players on good money. I would say their cap is just fine. They are likely to clear decks this year too.
I don’t mind your idea though going after a salary dump from somewhere in order to upgrade a pick eg. our 2nd for another teams ageing list-clogger plus their late-1st. We have the space, let’s fill it for a year before going hard at a 2024 Free-Agent.
Top 10 mids
Oliver
Bontempelli
Petracca
Cripps
Touk Miller
Neale
Zach Merrett
Dangerfield
Dustin Martin
Parish/ Walsh/ Brayshaw (freo) and probably others would be close for the tenth spot.
we could say it’s Parish but safer to say 2x top 15 mids
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In addition, guys like Butters, De Goey, N Anderson, J Dawson, Rozee, Dunkley, Tom Green, Chad Warner are all probably in that conversation.
On many statistics alone Parish will be better than or equal to just about all of these sort of guys. How you split them all for the impact they make is very difficult and a matter of opinion and what you value in a player.
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So Merrett is going to the Cats aswell, sheesh 
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Why would we want to do that? His strengths are far more suited to wing imo
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GWS established a rough value for pick 1 last year with 3/12 and future second for 1/53/57.
So it’s two first and a sweetener. If we don’t have a top 5 pick then you’re going to have to find a bit more.
For WCE who need more volume on talent I can see them going for it. Particularly with Vozzos relationships. We also have a good view of Reid’s capacity long term from him training with us and if it’s worth having a crack at.
Currently, but are you saying that adding a pendelbury type player to our midfield would be a problem? I think he is a couple years of full time centre square stuff. And need to build Davey up to play Wing full time.
I’m not sure I’d be taking that as too much of a precedent. Not all pick 1s are created equal, and last year was kind of a lower-end one with the standout talents already locked up f/s. Having Reid in the pool changes the whole dynamic. It’s a bit like the difference between the McGrath draft and the Sam Walsh draft.
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Martin is one of our best runners and ball users. He is excellent in traffic and makes fantastic decisions…our midfield really lacks another player like this. He is also a good height at 192, another type of player our midfield lacks.
He’d be a good player in any position, but midfield is his future. Has all the attributes.
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Not saying it would be a problem. But we have a bunch of guys who are arguably more suited to playing midfield and less suited to playing other roles. Eg Parish, Hobbs, Caldwell.
Plus guys like Tsatas and Perkins who we don’t know much about yet as midfielders at senior level but will probably be tried there in future.
I see Martin more as pinch hitting in midfield long term and mainly staying on the wing, rather than being a full time mid.
But with so many young guys yet to show their best, who knows where we land in a year or three with our best team
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Tsatas would probably start on the Wing IMO at AFL level.
Would love Perkins there too, but your right that they also want midfield time.
Pinch Hitter you might be right - I mean Bontempelli doesn’t play full time mid either and Pendelbury also spends time on the wings these days too to help with longevity.
Like Langford - Martin would add another dimension to his game to play forward, wing and onballer. And another asset t Scotts disposal to throw around.
Must say Durham has showed a bit at half forward, I always thought he could be a half back flanker too. He is a decent mark and plays above his height. And great with ground balls really body lines it like Redman.
If we lose Bryan I’d definitely look at Sam Hayes. Port will let him go on the cheap IMO and I think he has the tools to be a pretty decent player
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I liked him a lot as a u18 prospect, but i haven’t paid attention to him since he went to Port. What’s his forward vs ruck breakdown like these days?
Good list, but Brayshaw from Freo should be ahead of Martin on form this year.
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