Time to target a free agent for 2020

[inxs88]

I guess I can never be accused of not having long term vision but feel that the by-product of being in the Premiership window is the appeal clubs have in attracting elite talent whom are entering either their restricted free agency period or unrestricted free agency period. Scanning the list of players that fall under these categories come season end 2019 are:


1. Nick Haynes

2. Stephen Coniglio

3. Adam Tomlinson

4. Nick Naitanui

5. Brad Shepherd

6. Shannon Hurn

7. Brad Sheppard

8. Stephen Hill

9. Liam Shiels

10. Shane Edwards

11. Jack Newnes

12. Brandon Ellis

13. David Astbury

14. Matthew Kreuzer

The rest not worth mentioning. To me I'd only be interested in the GWS players, Shane Edwards and Jack Newnes at this stage. Maybe a fit and back in form Stephen Hill too. Thoughts??

[Presti35]

Nick Haynes ✓193 cm Defender. 26 y.o. Fills a need and a decent player.

Stephen Coniglio ✓ We dont have a huge need for him, and probably wont be able to afford him, but you wouldn't say no. With Wells coming off the books, we might have a little bit of cash.

Adam Tomlinson ✓ See Hayes.

Nic Naitanui X Dont need a 29 year old ruckman thats had 2 knee recos?

Brad Shepherd X Wont leave Perth.

Shannon Hurn X Too old. Just captained a flag against us. No chance.

Stephen Hill X Just not that good anymore.

Liam Shiels X Does not fill a need. Will be 28, I almost put a maybe on him.

Shane Edwards X Too old. Had a great 2018, but will retire a Richmond player.

Jack Newnes Maybe Will be 26. Dont think he's a superstar or anything.

Brandon Ellis X Another almost maybe. Was he just lucky to be in the right team at the right time? We have a lot of back flankers. Look elsewhere.

David Astbury X Fills a need, but the GWS defenders are more appealing.

Matthew Kreuzer X We had the chance to get him a couple seasons ago. We passed. Cant imagine why we'd go for him again, at age 30.

Its not the best year for Free Agents. GWS will have some problems, and with Josh Kelly coming out of contract too, it could be a chance to nab one of them. Dont think anyone else will be sweating.

[Presti35]

Theres a lot of older ruckmen coming out of contract in 2019. Do we need someone to back up Grundy? An experienced old ruck? Someone to play "The Ben Hudson Role"?

Going back to this thread: http://magpies.net/nick/bb/viewtopic.php?t=85111

I dont know how much cash to splash around for free agents, and I dont know if we'll have a tempting trade chips either?

But yeah, would love a 190+ defender and of course you'd always love another quality mid, even though we have plenty.

[simon tonna]

Josh Kelly would be the final nail in the giants coffin of list departure.
Class player and a work horse but I'm not sure why he isn't on the list. I'm sure I'll know why soon enough.

[Pies2016]

You can never have too much pace or skill in a team.
Haynes as a mobile defender is probably the pick of the litter. He’s a serious player.
Newnes is a tantalising prospect. Has both skill and reasonable pace. Very inconsistent but i would be surprised if we couldn’t get more out of him than the Saints.
As for Stephen Hill, it depends which one turns up. Bit too flakey in recent years, maybe not.

Not sure if any of the rest would improve our list on what we already have or what is coming through.

[Skids]

I tell ya what, If we could get hold of Coniglio, that would be the win of the deacade! He's worth 3 Dayne Beams!
Watch the 2010 WAFL GF, Krakoeur (rightly so) wins the Simpson Medal, but if it wasn't for a teenage Coniglio, he never would have.

The kid will win a brownlow & a norm smith.

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

We’re gonna have 18 mids soon at this rate...

[Tannin]

And why not? One ruckman, one second ruck who can play forward, one tall defender, one tall utility who can play at either end .... and all the rest mids.

Yep. It's a good plan.

[think positive]

I agree, except one needs to be an enforcer too! Always need a Leigh brown!

[Presti35]

Going by team needs;

#1 Priority - Key Defender.
1st Target: Nick Haynes (192cm, 26yo)
2nd Target: Adam Tomlinson (193cm, 25yo)
3rd Target: David Astbury (195cm, 27yo)

As we can see, all 3 are free agents. Landing one of them is a real possibility. Haynes should be the clubs #1 target overall.


#2 Priority - Key Forward.
1st Target: Sam Weideman (196cm, 21 yo) (wont happen)
2nd Target: Hugh Greenwood (190cm, 26 yo)
3rd Target: There isnt one...

This will be a difficult task. But until Weid has signed, we have to ask the question. Greenwood not a natural FF.


#3 Priority - Best Available.
1st Target: Stephen Coniglio

Gap

2nd Target: Ed Langdon
3rd Target: Jack Newnes

AKA, midfielders. With Wells and others on the way out, we might just be able to snag someone. Will also need to look to the future with Pendles over 30 now. Coniglio and Newnes are free agents, Langon would be an easier trade target. Josh Kelly would be too difficult a trade, otherwise he'd be #1.


#4 Priority, if at all - Back Up Ruck.
Stefan Martin (32), Matthew Kreuzer (29), Todd Goldstein (30), Paddy Ryder (30), Callum Sinclair (29) are all approaching that age. If one were to be let go by his club, we could offer a ruck/coaching role whilst in the window. Not willing to pay big money here.


Dont really fit:
Aaron Francis/Jade Gresham/Lachie Hunter

All good players, but either too short (we have plenty) or too difficult to trade for. And dont fill any urgent needs. Mind you, Newnes and Langdon could fit in this group.


Overall:
Haynes should be the clubs first priority. Followed by Tomlinson. After that a quality tall forward, as unlikely as that will be. Then the "best available" in Coniglio. If we fail to land any of those then we might need to go back to the drawing board, but shouldn't write off the remaining players.

I think a backup ruck could be a good idea, but it'd have to be someone willing to play a lot of VFL and almost take on a coaching role. Finding that ruck shouldn't be a huge priority, nor shall it be too difficult a task.

We are in the window, so attracting players shouldn't be the worry. Finding the salary space may be the issue. We also lack the draft selections to go after any superstar quality players via trade (Kelly), but may be able to snare a Langdon type.

[themonk]

I'd prefer Tomilson, strong body, goos skills and seems to be a leader.

The fact that he's a Pies fan helps too.

[PyreneesPie]

My first priority would be keeping the developing extraordinary talent that we already have. Would hate to lose a JDG or a Grundy to FA.

[PyreneesPie]

[Presti35]

[stui magpie]