Walter is a rebuild piece. Young and aggressive. Something to build the team around. A genuine KPF.
Great question! I have no idea how we get any of these players tbhâŚ
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Just to play fantasy football for a moment, I agree that Walter alongside Caddy would look very nice indeed! Iâm not sure giving the farm away is for him is ideal! But I canât see GC letting him go for anything less than 1-2 1st round picks. If we gave them our pick 1 or 2 from this year (letâs face it weâre bottom 2 with Richmond) would you be okay with this?
Yep. He was a pick 2.
Not many KPFâs of his profile become available. Most draft top ends are just midfielders.
what do all 5 of these players have in common?
If any player voluntarily decides to go to Essendon, yiu have to question their decision making.
Itâs career suicide.
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You canât say the trade was 7 and 8 for Trac. The trade (ignoring where picks landed on draft night) was: 7, 8, 2026 1st and 2026 3rd for Trac, 24, 28 and 2026 2nd.
Comparing it to the Hawks offer - you can say both Hawks and Suns 2026 first had a similar value last year. So itâs really how you compare the Hawks offer of 10 and 22 for nothing in return or GCâs offer of 7, 8 and 2026 3rd for 24, 28 and F2 in return.
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To be fair, this isnât what I said. I said that it âpretty muchâ came down to that becauseâŚ
..if you exclude 7, 8 and Trac, the remaining pick swaps between the two clubs tend to even out.
Weâre obviously going to have a very early pick this year (and probably pretty early again next year, even with Tassie having so many early picks).
Itâs a great opportunity to add some really top end talent to what weâve assembled over the last three drafts.
Early season I know, but Van Hattum is the one Iâd want this year. The chance for a giant, generational ruck that is also very good aerially and forward of centre is too good to pass up. It would put a really nice stamp on our potential future midfield:
Duursma - Farrow - Martin
Sharp - Van Hattum - Robey
Rotations: Durham - Caldwell - Bewick - Plus others pending drafting/development
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Van Hattum doesnât look like a bean pole
He is certainly not a beanpole. Heâs quite the physical beast - but hasnât sacrificed his leap in being that big.
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Thatâs what I noticed too looks physical already
Van Hattum and Caddy forward line. if we drafted him we could offload 2MP
Iâd say three seconds is overs for a likely very late first.
Depends what the seconds are and when they are.
Youâre also not taking into account that Melbourne also received 37 and a 2027 third along with GCâs future first.
Agreed. Hell, @Aceman and I were saying at the start of the trade period that #9, F1 and a second rounder was enough. #10, #22 and F1 was definitely sufficient.
The people arguing hardest it was unders are saying so on the pretext that any âacceptableâ deal had to be overs due to his contract, captaincy, and the actions of Merrett and/or Hawthorn in the media in the lead-up. Well, if you redefine what is sufficient high enough, then of course any deal becomes âundersâ.
Would I have liked more? Hell yes. But that doesnât mean that taking the deal wouldnât have led to a better position right now.
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We might have taken Sweid. And he might have given us more defensive ability in the F50. Or we might not have. No idea how the club would have acted. It certainly would have given us choices though!
Yep, Iâve been pointing out that with the new rules and Cochrane/Walker rated #1 and #2, its as possible that Hawks first rounder will move up the order as that it will move back.
Even if its #7 and #8, that isnât too far off #10, F1 and #22. Especially given the F1 is likely to not move around too much, whereas the 2025 picks (as we know) moved out 5+ spots.
The Hawks 2026 F1 isnât too likely to move due to:
- With the expansion of the salary cap and lots of big deals, the odds of getting a Band 1 compo for anyone this year other than Zac Bailey is low (Port to match Butters). And Brissie is likely to have a pick after Hawks, so their compo wonât affect their pick.
- The new F/S rules and the expectation Walker & Cochrane will go top 2 means 3-4 picks before Hawksâ first are likely to be used, moving the pick up 1-2 spots. That may be pushed back by any academy bids after that, but its likely to remain around its original spot.
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Ya know somethingâŚI think youâre right.
A couple of days ago I said that the Merrett deal was slightly unders (still would have taken it)
Then @Aceman pointed out that Petracca had longer to go on his contract. Plus, Tracâs injury concerns were restricted to just one season. And Zach is a year older.
Mind changed. Deal was fair.
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People forget the GC wanted to trade out early because of their swag of academy picks. As long as they got back 2nd and 3rd rounders they achieved their aims.