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List management is as much an art as it is a science and getting the balance right is the key to ensuring on field success.
While teams down in the lower part of the ladder are typically building towards the future and acquiring young players, the makeup of the list still needs to be considered to maximise potential success.
With picks 4, 8, 22, 23 and 28 and with Jaeger O’Meara and Dion Prestia requesting trades, the Gold Coast Suns shape as one of the biggest players in this year’s trade period.
The club have stated that they want ready-made players as part of any trades. Some experts have suggested they could load up on a high number of draft picks and re-set their list by bringing in multiple first round draft picks and build the depth on their list.
A quick look at the profile of their list, and more importantly down the spine, shows they need to be very aggressive at attracting ready-made talent to maximise their premiership window.
Tom Lynch, Sam Day, Rory Thompson and Steven May have now all been at the club since 2011 and have played 80-100 games. They are entering the prime of their careers and the Suns need to ensure they have a list to maximise the next five to six years while they have these players to build a team around.
Going to the draft to load up on a host of kids will likely mean they would not be nearing their peak as a team for at least three years and could potentially miss out on finals football during this time.
The Suns have a spine that is ready to peak and one which matches up against any other in the competition. They need to get aggressive this trade period and bring in ready-made talent or exciting youngsters to fast track their list.
So who do they need and how can they get them? Assuming that they keep pick 4 and will likely need at least two second-round picks to gather enough points for academy prospect Jack Bowes, they start with picks 8 and 23 to trade, plus whatever they acquire from Richmond and Hawthorn.
Potentially they could have pick 6 from the Tigers and pick 14 and a second rounder from the Hawks. They need to go hard to acquire top end talent and players who know how to win the ball.
Pick 6 should be used to throw out to clubs seeking to re-establish their lists with high end draft picks. If a deal with the Hawks and Tom Mitchell can’t get done why not offer pick 6 to Sydney?
Port Adelaide have been shopping players around to free up cap space – Gold Coast could look to tempt a player like Ollie Wines to the coast. Add one of these players to trading pick 8 for Tom Rockliff and suddenly the midfield talent takes a steep rise.
If one of these is unavailable would a team like St Kilda be interested in pick 14 for David Armitage? The Suns need to get aggressive and bold to bolster their midfield and should go into trade period throwing around draft picks to catch two quality mids.
Adding depth to the midfield should be easily achieved, assuming players wish to go to the Gold Coast. Jarryd Lyons, Koby Stevens and Jack Grimes are all either de-listed or out of contract and would add greater depth than current players such as Alex Sexton, Mitch Hallahan and Jesse Lonergan.
Michael Barlow has already been raised as an option and should be able to be acquired with a second pick (especially if Fremantle need one for the Cam McCarthy trade).
All of a sudden a Gold Coast midfield boasting Rockliff, Ablett, Touk Miller, Wines or Mitchell and with support from Aaron Hall, Jack Grimes, Michael Barlow, David Swallow, Brayden Fiorini and Bowes, looks strong enough to ensure their forwards see enough of the ball to be on the right side of the win loss ledger.
All of this could potentially be achieved while retaining draft picks 4, 14 and at least two second round picks.
The Suns have three quality talls in Lynch, Day and Peter Wright but lack quality small forwards and a decent mid-sized forward for variety.
Ben Lennon could be an option with the player keen on a move out of Richmond. He could be packaged in with the Prestia deal with perhaps a swapping of draft picks (6 + Lennon) for Prestia and pick 28?
A quality small forward who knows how to kick goals is also a priority. Their tall forwards provide a contest and would be unlikely to be beaten too often in the air. At present Brandon Matera is taking up space on the list and Jarrod Garlett, Aaron Hall and Callum Ah Che are not regular goal kickers.
Having increased midfield depth would allow Hall and Ablett more time up forward but they need to add a small forward to kick goals. Josh Green is out of contract and could be an easy option as he doesn’t need to relocate.
Hayden Ballantyne is a proven goal kicker and could also provide them with a harder edge. The other team with a number of small forwards is St Kilda. Jack Lonie is a smart crumbing forward and could be a great fit given his keen eye for goal and age profile.
Add to this a backup tall defender – someone like Angus Litherland and suddenly the Gold Coast list looks a lot healthier. It’s time for the Suns to take a stand and get on the front foot rather than watch as all their talent walks out to other teams and are replaced by a bunch of kids.
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