Cats big winners of trade month

It seems the Cats have been the big winners of trade month, with the news today the club has secured former North ruckman Hamish McIntosh on a three-year deal and former Melbourne defender Jared Rivers on a  two-year deal. This is on top of securing Suns midfielder Josh Caddy.

Goddard to Essendon. Is that all? One player.

Tippett to the Swans. He had one decent game this year – one.

Yep, it’s the Cats for mine.

 

About Stephen Cooke

Cumbersome ruckman of the garden variety

Comments

  1. Cookie – you are a very learned man but I must disagree.

    The media buffoons will carry on about Jared Rivers and Hamish McIntosh but they are both plodders. Neither would have been in Geelong’s first 30 in past years. If they get regular games we are in bother.

  2. Nothing inflates a player’s value quite like Trade Week… er, Month.

    I’d suggest Carlton are the big winners – who apart from punching Cloke’s price up in order to stretch Collingwood’s total player payments (by the way, a shout out to 2013 Restricted Free Agent Dale Thomas) – have stayed well out of it.

  3. Dips, I’m surprised Scott didn’t call me to have a crack at the ruck this year. Stephenson has a huge heart and West is a good second ruckman but first ruck was a major problem for us this year. Even a plodder would be chosen ahead of them – and I think a fit and in-form McIntosh is better than that.

    We had Scarlett in past years – we don’t now. I think Rivers will fit in well.

    (I still hope Scott will call me.)

  4. p.s. I’m glad we didn’t pay $500K a year for four years for Dawes. I worry about Neeld’s tenure, he’s throwing the dice like Danny Frawley after the Tigers made the 2001 prelim, or Vossy when he chased Fev and bought in Buchanan, Clarke, Raines etc

  5. Dave Nadel says

    Caddy is a victory for Geelong. McIntosh will be if he is fit enough to play, which he hasn’t been for most of the last two seasons. I am fairly happy with Collingwood’s trading, Wellers is a good player with off field question marks. Dawes is a solid citizen off the field but hasn’t played up to his 2010 form for a season and a half. Collingwood has three first round picks in the first non-compromised draft for three years. Lynch may help us cover the gap until Witts, Ceglar and Gault develop appropriate size and experience.

    Actually I suspect that West Coast may end up winners from this trade period. Wellingham is likely to be more reliable off the field if he is living with his family rather than sharing with Buddy and they can cover Lynch with Kennedy, Darling and Nic Nat. I suspect that they will also end up with one of the other homesick Sandgropers, probably Cripps, while hanging to the homesick Victorian, Mitch Brown.

    Oh and Litza, Carlton and Mick did not add one cent to Cloke’s salary. The argument was about the length of his contract not the amount that he was to be paid.

  6. Cookie – don’t rate Simpson? He’s HUGE and very young. I can understand the McIntosh thinking, but not the Rivers thinking.

    Go and wash your mouth out after having Rivers and Scarlett in the same sentence.

  7. Skip of Skipton says

    Rivers has played alot of good football when he hasn’t been injured. Was a Rising Star winner. McIntosh was close to AA in 2010. In Wells we trust. Looking good for another odd-year flag.

    The Cats still need to trade out or delist three before draft day. They also have some issues with their rookie list.

  8. Cookie, Dawes will not be on $500K at the Dees. That figure is a media beatup which the Club has strongly denied and even scoffed at.

    And Neeld’s not throwing the dice like Vossy who had illusions of grandeur. He’s just trying to fix a place that has been a mess for years. None of the new recruits are expected to be superstars or to dominate for years to come. Its just about filling some massive gaps in the current system/structures and the lack of any leadership.

    As a Dees supporter, I wholeheartedly agree with what Neeld is doing. We need to be more competitive now and high draft picks that might take 3-5 years to develop won’t help with that. The Club will be gone by then if we have another year like 2012.

    But back to your original point, yes, I reckon Geelong have done well this trade period. Perhaps a jump back up into the Top 4 is on the cards.

  9. Dave Nadel is a fine and persipicacious student of the game.
    Regards,
    Impartial of Perth

  10. Peter Flynn says

    Wait and see for mine Cookie.

    I actually think Collingwood’s done well out of it re high draft picks. They generally draft well.

    Dawes rising “currency” is hilarious. C Little is bang on. Who is Dawes’s old man going to support now?

    I’m a bit in Dips camp re Geelong’s trading but happy for both of us to be wrong.

  11. ‘Length of his contract not the amount he was to be paid’ Dave?

    What number is biggest? Four times a squillion or five times a squillion. Even the Clokes are smart enough to work that one out.

  12. What about the Hawks picking up Brian Lake. The bloke was a All Australian a few years back, the Hawks have lacked a big defender. Do i’d say the Hawks might be the Big winners in this period.

    Glen!

  13. Noted Glen.

  14. But each squillion is paid in a different year, Phanto, and salary caps are assessed annually. I repeat, while the negotiations may have added to Cloke’s total lifetime football earnings, Collingwood and the Clokes were agreed on the ANNUAL salary to paid to Travis quite early in the negotiations and Collingwood was not forced into a difficult salary cap position – hence the ability to recruit Clinton Young which certainly makes us winners in this trade period.

  15. Best thing Collingwood did was get those early draft picks. Neeld clearly thought he was still on the Collingwood payroll when offering #20 for Dawes. Either that or they got played like a $5 tin piano.

    Still say your paying overs for Cloke and have sacrificed a cockload of cap flexibility for the next five years. Can’t imagine this will play out well when a couple of your midfield stars (who are rumoured to be lest than pleased with Nathan Buckley’s cartoonish jaw-jut) come into free agency next year.

  16. Skip of Skipton says

    Daisy Thomas was a Cats supporter growing up.

    Despite the ridiculous amount of depth the Cats have (there will be blokes playing forward-flank in their VFL premiership next year who would get a regular midfield gig in any other AFL side), I’m sure they could find a spot for him.

  17. young Young to Collingwood is a win for the Pies. I rate young Young.

  18. I mourned the loss of Laidler and could see no future in Gillies but am wrapped to get Rivers. He buys us 2 or 3 years to find a replacement.

    Geelong’s whole game plan is built on springboarding off it’s back six which has required 2 or 3 of the backs to be brilliant. This year, the Cats tried to get their 3 most brilliant defenders – Scarlo, Mackie and Enright – free as often as possible.

    Next year, they’ll try to get Mackie, Enright and ??? free. It won’t be Rivers. It will be Harry probably. Rivers may not be good enough to fill the role Scarlo played, but he is good enough to fill a role that allows someone else to play Scarlo’s role and that is just as important.

    I reckon Cats fans are going to be very happy with what he brings to the table. And we got him for nothing!!

    The Big H on the other hand is pure risk. I reckon David Rodan has had 5 knee ops now, all LARS. They do not last (thank goodness Menzel did not go down that path).

    If he stays fit, he will strengthen the side but it’s a big if.

  19. Pull my other leg Dave, it plays “Goodbye Dolly Gray”

  20. Pete,

    the non believers are forgetting that Scarlett was one of the greatest defenders of all time. That would be a hard act to follow. You are right. The Rivers boy will be ok.

  21. We can win this

  22. N eil Anderson says

    About five years ago seeing Hamish McIntosh running (maybe plodding) around I thought wow, he would be just what the Bulldogs need. Recently he’s diisappeared off the radar mainly due to injury but also the Roos didn’t seem to be pumping him up ready to come back for the number one ruck spot. Why? Was Goldstein that good or did they know more about his long-term injuries and kept him on ice for trade-week? So five years down the track I’m probably not so sorry the Bulldogs didn’t chase him. I could be proved very wrong.
    As teams such as Melbourne get excited about now having two big key forwards, the Bulldogs spine from fullback to fullforward is currently non-existant. And please, no more telling me to be patient because we have all these early picks. I think I’m allowed to be a tad anxious as I look in vain for the first key-position player picked up that they can build a team around.
    In the meantime, they must have heard me complaining at Whitten Oval about the need for a revolution. They’ve appointed Peter Gordon as Pres. and I’m sure he’ll shake things up.

  23. Skip of Skipton says

    Neil, here’s one for you. Have a look on the AFL website at the highlight package of Western Jets player Spencer White (‘The next Buddy’) and tell me how he isn’t worth Footscray’s pick 5. He’s a ‘late developer’ who is tipped to be taken at pick 20 or beyond. Lucky he wasn’t an early developer or he’d already be sequestered at Breakfast Point.

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