Idiots were saying weโd have to give up Francis inter al last year. We gave up picks.
Given the latest rumour, shouldnโt the title be โJayden Lav - till 2020?โ
Either one of these scenarios is true:
- Itโs a completely fabricated rumour thatโs gained legs.
- The club has had enquires regarding Lav.
- The club has used him as trade bait in some deals for some of our reported targets (Shiel, Setterfield, Martin)
- A club or clubs have spoken to his management and offered him greater opportunity/more lucrative financial terms since he re-signed with us.
Iโd say that 2 and 4 might be the most likely. You look at Collingwood and see the array of mid-sized, mobile marking forwards at their disposal (De Goey, Mihocek, Hoskin-Elliott, Stephenson, etc), clubs night see Lav as that type of player who can play similar roles. If a career VFL player like Mihocek can be an effective role player as that mid-sized forward Lav can certainly do that with the right opportunity.
Personally I would only deal him if it helped us get Dylan Shiel. But if say a Hawthorn, Carlton or St.Kilda (they seem to be in the market for anyone with a heartbeat) have been in his ear offering him better money/opportunity, then come to us and offer nothing more than a 3rd round pick given his lack of games in the past 2 years, Id tell them to โ โ โ โ off. Heโs contracted until 2020. Unless the deal really benefits us, we should hold firm like we did Francis this time last yearโฆ
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The idea that Lav could be traded and want to be traded seems like a reasonable possibility to me.
The issue is we see him as a worthwhile development player as a forward mid, and maybe eventually as the ultimate player we seek - a large body mid forward beast in partnership with Langford and Stringer, and he would have wanted the job security of a contract given he hasnโt had much time, due to injury, to establish himself as an AFL level footballer.
The other side of the coin is that he may get much better opportunities in other teams to develop as a third tall in the Caddy mould, where he could play best 22 in other sides from round one 2019.
If he gets this type of offer and Essendon gets back something they want, all parties could conceivably be happy with this, given he is behind Stringer, Langford, Smack, Myers, and probably Begley, Stewart as well as all the small forwards who might be replaced with a mid sized forward if one of Raz, Walla, Baguley go down and we havenโt recruited further depth here.
Obviously any more beast mids who can play forward or even small defensive forwards push him further back in the queue, so in the context of the trade period, if we secure players which push him back in the queue, his name coming up as a player going in the other direction could make a lot of sense for all parties.
as Brasha says:
and I note that @smooth has made some similar points since I started writing this post.
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If he wanted to seek greater opportunities why would he re-sign under 30 days ago?
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Trade Lav if we need to but not to Fark Carlton or Hawthorn, give those โ โ โ โ โ โ nothing.
To put in more succinctly, because the Trade Period could change his level of opportunity, negatively at Essendon and positively at other clubs.
Yep, โฆ journalist with no story, time &/or space to fill, & wage to justify thinks โthingโ.
BTW. Iโve heard nought, but would be extremely surprised.
Bomber kid, โฆ just signed for unders,โฆ had significantly better offers, โฆ knows where weโre headed, & dreams to be part of a potential Don Flag side.
If there were any veracity to said โwhisperโ though โฆ you might easily imagine the question being asked of us in any ongoing negotiations , โฆ with a club like, say, Melbourne.
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I like Lav and I do think thereโs a pretty decent player there who is a full pre-season and an injury-free run away from producing consistently at AFL level. We all know how everyone copies the premier or the most successful teams in the competition. All the top 4 teams have those 6โ2โ-6โ3โ mobile forward types:
West Coast - Cripps, LeCras
Collingwood - De Goey, Mihocek, Stephenson, Hoskin-Elliott
Richmond - Caddy
Melbourne - Melksham
That type of player could be the in-vogue type for football nowadays. Very few teams really play your traditional 2 big key forwards. Itโs generally one and then a mix of mid and small types around them who can all apply tackling pressure, cover the ground between the arcs and are good overhead. Lav is probably someone clubs identify as exactly that type, and also someone who has struggled for senior games (more through injury than anything). Translation - they think he could be a cheap get. He could end up like another Melksham who really could blossom in a different environment. It would be hugely annoying if we parted ways for a nothing draft pick after 4 years of development to see another club reap the benefits. The only way that would be palatable is if we got Shiel using him as a piece to get that deal over the line, either by dealing direct to GWS or to a 3rd club. Thatโs a definite upgrade to our midfield and youโd take it every day of the week.
The fact he signed on last month strengthens our hand. Had he remained unsigned then we would have no leverage at all and weโd have to accept a throwaway pick or a similar fringe player type from another club. Will be an interesting watchโฆ
Because another club has come forward and said we can offer you more.
Not sure thatโs reasonable.
More opportunity- maybe.
Or whatever club we trying to trade a player from has said hang on we donโt just want picks, we want a player(s).
And then also able to offer $$/opportunity to try and entice him across.
In a perverse sort of way, a player with injury clouds over him, like Lav, might be more appealing to other teams if the side who knows him best has the faith to give him a 2 year contract.
But like Robert Shaw, I like the idea that we back in our own players to develop and fill the roles we drafted them for, if they havenโt proven they canโt.
It would be a very happy hilarity that if all the players who Jackets has said could develop into midfielders, like Francis, Langford, Ridley, Lav, Redman, etc. do develop as gun midfielders, and we end up with one of the deepest most versatile midfields in the comp.
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If he wanted more opportunities stop getting farking injured!
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Thatโs already been and gone twice.
I know
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I have zero problem with trading this guy
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I might be a bit one-eyed but I wouldnโt trade Lav for anything less than an early 2nd rounder. It might be over-valuing him given heโs been injured for most of his 4 year career, but I seriously rate him. If he can get a consistent run at it he will be a top 10 player for us. I am however not super confident he will get over his injuries.
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There is no way I would trade him for a 2nd rounder, based on the Port game alone.