WXV: Beijing Thunder

[Toga]

So that's the end of our drafting for the offseason, pretty happy with our haul as I think we've picked up some ready made players in Petracca, Miller and Lambert, with a few that might be more long-term prospects.

Above is how our list will be broken down for 2015, might change a bit as positions are released!

[Toga]

2015 Beijing Guernseys Released

Home Strip	Away Strip	Clash Strip

[Purple 77]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-02-16/prized-demon-draftee-christian-petracca-suffers-knee-injury

I'm more devastated than you guys I think  :'(

[Toga]

Season is looking great, Kreuzer with a fractured foot that will keep him out of opening rounds and #1 draft pick done for the year already

[Hellopplz]

Horrible luck for you guys :(. What are you doing to them over there in Beijing? :o

[Nige]

Krooz is a spud anyway.  :P

Tracca doe.  :(

[Toga]

ACL Blow for Thunder

Beijing has been dealt a significant injury blow with important defender Matthew Jaensch ruled out for a year with a torn ACL, joining young gun Christian Petracca as the club's second ACL victim this year. Jaensch was one of Beijing's high-profile recruits in the 2015 preseason, recruited from the PNL Reindeers in a deal involving the Thunder's second draft pick (#5 overall) and a swap of depth players. Jaensch had a breakout season in 2014 averaging 89SC points per game, and had backed that up with a solid start to the 2015 season where he was averaging 85 points per game up until his injury with a season-best 114 last week against the London Royals. We wish Matt all the best with his recovery and can't wait to see him back on the field in 365 days time.

Jaensch is likely to be replaced in the backline by emerging youngster Jackson Thurlow who has enjoyed an outstanding past three weeks while playing in the midfield to cover for injured captain Oliver Wines. He was recognised for his efforts last week with a nomination for the WXV Rising Star Award.

In better news for the Thunder, skipper Oliver Wines and former captain Matthew Kreuzer expected to return in the next fortnight.

[Toga]

2014 Trade Recap

Trade 9:
Beijing give: Pick #41 ID
Pacific give: Cameron Wood

Wood has averaged an un-subbed 74 points per game so far in 2015, but despite being traded in purely as insurance for Matty Kreuzer he has played a number of games for us early in the season. Pick #41 ended up being Sam Durdin, who is a long way off being a reasonable scorer.

Verdict: WIN

Trade 32:
Beijing give: Rory Lobb + Pick #77 ID
Cairo give: Chris Dawes + Phil Davis

Lobb complemented Cairo's GWS ruck stocks, Dawes and Davis were added to improve what used to be poor depth. Dawes has been very poor this year and has played for us only as a last resort, while Davis has appeared a few times averaging a healthy 74 without the vest. Davis has picked up an injury now that will keep him out for a couple of months though, so this trade hasn't really been a clear win for either team.

Verdict: Meh.

Trade 41:
Beijing give: Pick #5 ID + Sam Naismith + John Butcher
PNL give: Matthew Jaensch + Clay Smith + Cameron Shenton

Probably our biggest move for the offseason. Jaensch only managed 7 games this season before blowing his ACL, but was averaging 85 (slightly down on his 2014 output). Pick 5 got Cape Town Peter Wright, who has played a few games but might be a way off of decent scoring being a big man, which wouldn't help us as we needed immediate help depth wise. Naismith seems to be well down the pecking order at the Swans, Butcher has showed as much as he has in the past - nothing :P - while Smith was on-traded for a decent pick and Shenton has given us a bit more depth.

Verdict: Too hard to tell this year - Jaensch injured and Wright a while off. We'll put this one on hold.

Trade 61:
Pacific give: Luke Brown
Beijing give: NAT Draft Pick #59

Depth trade to help us get above the cap.

Verdict: Not much to say about this one.

Trade 70:
New York give: Aaron Black and Pick 41
Beijing give: Matt Rosa

Rosa has been injured and dropped, Black hasn't gotten games behind Jarrad Waite, Drew Petrie and Ben Brown. Not what either team was hoping for here, but our fwds are definitely a bit weak and would have been better for Black's services had he actually got a game. Let's hope he gets traded at the end of the year.

Verdict: Hard to tell.

Trade 84:
Beijing give: NAT 41 + Jason Ashby
Seoul give: Maverick Weller + NAT 82

Another trade more so for depth than anything else. While Weller hasn't set the world on fire he has prevented us from needing to play an OOP mid a couple of times this year which is a plus. But not really much to this trade.

Verdict: Not much to see here.

Trade 100:
Dublin trade: Pick 39
Beijing trade: Tanner Smith.

Good trade as I think Smith was delisted and re-rookied not long after. Doesn't seem like much of a scorer either and the pick was packaged with a certain someone in the next trade so will call this a win, purely cos of how we used this pick.

Verdict: WIN

Trade 130:
NDT give: Tom Bell
Beijing give: N39 + Tim O'Brien

8). Definitely our best trade! Tommy Bell has gone on to average 95 as a fwd for us which has been huge! Improving 32 points per game since last season - I thought he was going to be good but he has been a real surprise packet. Pick 39 was used on Damien Cavka and Tim O'Brien has struggled for opportunity although the potential is there. Still, can't classify this as anything but a fantastic trade for the Thunder!

Verdict: A big WIN

Trade 131:
Christchurch give: N27
Beijing give: Clay Smith

Potential has always been there for Clay, just needs to stop getting injured. Another ACL early in the season is the only thing that gives us a real win for this trade. The pick was used on Hawks youngster Daniel Howe who has broken in for one game this year but seems to be more of a long-term prospect.

Verdict: Probably a bit early to tell, and may depend on whether Clay Smith returns to play again. Maybe a slight win for the moment.

Trade 136:
Toronto give: T.Jonas
Beijing give: K.Mitchell + H.Schade + A.Toovey + N82

I was deadset keen on Jonas but he's been a bit of a disappointment so far this year. Hopefully he'll come good but Kane Mitchell would've been handy at some points in our fwd line this year.

Verdict: More of a depth trade than anything here but will call it a loss for the time being.

Trade 137:
Beijing give: Elliot Yeo + Robbie Tarrant + Max Duffy
Rio de Janeiro give: Jared Polec

Tough trade to call. Polec has had a navicular injury which has been a real pain, seeing him miss a chunk of the season (averaging 81 points across four games) while Yeo has had something of a breakout, averaging 89 points per game. On face value it has to be a loss for us given Polec's injury, although it will be interesting to see who comes out on top in the long term.

Verdict: LOSS

So, how do you think we went?

[Purple 77]

I was quite keen on Jaensch at the time, so a bit jealous you have him, despite his injury :P

Bell huh? Damn. Wish I took the gamble on him  :-\

But yeah, just that last one was the one real clear loss in my eyes, in an otherwise pretty good trade season for da thunda!

[Toga]

I remember it was a bit of a bidding war between us for Jaensch! Hopefully he's back Round 1 next year, would give us a back four of Taylor, Hooker, Jaensch and Thurlow which looks pretty good in my eyes 8)

But yeah Bell has been a ripper for us this year, so glad we took a punt on him! I'm hoping that last trade will be pretty even in the long term though given both players will likely be midfielders. Time will tell :P

[Memphistopheles]

Pretty good work aside from that last trade.

I definitely think that will be a long-term loss. Polec = Yeo long term I reckon. Then Tarrant finding a new spot as a def means Rio is a real winner and I also rate Duffy when/if he can get a chance.

[Toga]

Our list had too many players so those last two trades were just trying to get our list size down. If Yeo = Polec long term then I'll be happy enough with the trade, Tarrant has been better than I expected but I don't think a player averaging 51 in his last 6 games and someone that hasn't played a game this year makes Rio a clear winner. But as I said only time will tell I guess :P

[Toga]

We might be playing for pride more than anything this weekend with the chance to finish the season on a positive note against NDT, but we'll be doing it without captain Wines :'(

[Hellopplz]

I'm sure he'd love to join his Port brotheren at PNL ;).

Shame he's injured but at the end of the season so guess it wasn't detrimental, but still huge out :(.

[Toga]

Haha just as his good mate Chad wants to cross borders to Beijing ;) One of us will have to budge, can't have them too far apart from one another :P

Yep timing isn't too bad given where we sit but still no good to have him miss another game!