Perhaps the most simplistic statement is “there are a lot of guys in the AFL.” It’s true – each of the 18 clubs have at least 44 players on the books in each season – around 800 employed footballers at AFL level. That’s a lot of people! Every year, clubs have to draft three new ones, which means there is always list churn.
Let’s remember and value some of them – specifically some of the guys who are probably on the trade table this year.
Matthew Lobbe
Lobbe didn’t manage a game in 2017, stuck behind All Australian ruckman Patrick Ryder at Port, with not enough versatility to nail down a hybrid ruck/forward role. Of all the ruckmen in the league, he is one of them, and probably projects as an back-up/emergency option going forward.
There are rumours he is being paid too much and Port Adelaide want to stop paying him. This means he may be traded for nearly nothing, which is what he should be trade for. He is definitely a guy.
Brendon Ah Chee
Ah Chee couldn’t crack a run in the dominant Port midfield which is already bursting at the seams with inside talent. He has been on the Port list for six years now, and only cracked his first game in his fourth year. His biggest asset is perhaps his long and sweeping handball skills. He is also a guy.
Josh Schache
Schache has had a year of surprises, mostly off field. First, it was rumoured that he would leave Brisbane to go home to Victoria, then he ended up signing a new contract with Brisbane. Now, at the end of the year, either Brisbane have suggested, or he has again requested, a move to Victoria. His value declined in the eyes of most with a subpar season at both AFL and NEAFL levels. At times Schache was seemingly relegated to fourth tall target in the Lions NEAFL team (admittedly they at times have had like six tall options), which is not a good sign. Despite this, he is still a guy.
Taro Tsujimoto
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Taro Tsujimoto was a fake player made up and drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1974, as a joke about how the NHL draft was too long and slow. He is not a guy.
Brandon Matera
Brandon Matera was a pre-listed 17 year old for the Suns, available from their foundation draft pool but a year early to play in the VFL. This method also netted the Suns players like Trent McKenzie, Tom Nicholls, Matt Shaw and Maverick Weller, which is a markedly inferior haul to the Giants getting Cameron, Treloar, Shiel, Hombsch, Bugg and Wilson from the same concession the following year. They may all be guys who play football, but the GWS guys were better.
Matera wants to go to Fremantle, which seems wrong for a Matera. He’ll probably be pretty handy for them. BREAKING: he is a guy.
Harley Balic
Balic is rumoured to be on the move to Melbourne after struggling for opportunities at Freo, reminding somewhat of the Viv Mitchie move a few years back. That trade didn’t really work out so well for the Dees. Remember Viv Mitchie? He was a guy. As is Balic.
Hayden Crozier
According to Ancestry.com, the last name “Crozier” is an occupational last name, deriving from the person who carried the cross or bishop’s crook in ecclesiastical processions. It has a French and English origin; oddly enough the club with the most English mascot (the Bulldogs) is the one chasing him. Crozier should provide some depth for the Dogs, but a guy like him shouldn’t be best 22 for a premiership contender like the Dogs aspire to be.
Darcy Lang
According to ESPN, Darcy Lang was informed by Cats management that he would not be offered a new contract before he was selected to play in the Elimination Final this year. Lang has been mooted by some to be the guy who will move north in exchange (or part of the package at least) for Ablett.
Kurt Heatherley
Heatherley has been mooted as a potential way for Hawthorn to rebuild their draft assets, but he is hardly a blue chip prospect at this point of his career. Whilst having played some good footy for Box Hill down back, he is largely unproven at AFL level – even struggling for opportunities last year as Hawthorn scrambled for warm bodies down back last year (partially due to his own injury status). He is the most Kiwi of all of these guys.
Michie