Analysis by Adam
At a glance
Top 5 Scorers
| Player | Games | Average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden Young | 23 | 92.9 | 51 |
| Will Ashcroft | 9 | 84.7 | 80 |
| Jase Burgoyne | 20 | 76.6 | 140 |
| Kieran Strachan | 2 | 70 | 193 |
| Billy Dowling | 9 | 68.1 | 210 |
Season Summary
How do we grade a season, exactly?
After round 6, the Soldiers decided to be bad. That was clearly the goal, and they executed it. They shipped out every player they could get a bid on, and hoovered up draft picks. They fell down the ladder, and secured the second pick in the draft.
That was clearly the plan, and they met it. By that measure, was the season a success? Perhaps it was. Perhaps they deserve an A.
On the other hand, this team started the year with 4 successive wins. Then lost two games in a row. And, clearly, being unfamiliar with this feeling for some time, lost their minds as a result.
They were 4 and 0. They finished 6 and 15.That’s bad.
Season Grade – F
All-Australians
Nil.
DangerGawn Votes
| Rank | Player | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 34 | Hayden Young | 14 |
| 117 | Caleb Windsor | 12 |
| 120 | Jase Burgoyne | 11 |
Pre-Season Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | GP | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Zane Duursma | 10 | 35.7 |
| 2 | 11 | Nat Fyfe | 18 | 63.94 |
| 2 | 20 | Connor Budarick | 2 | 56.5 |
| 4 | 40 | Zac Williams | 13 | 62.69 |
| 5 | 41 | Ethan Read | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | 50 | Ivan Soldo | 5 | 70.4 |
| 7 | 64 | Charlie Lazzaro | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 70 | Chayce Jones | 8 | 70.75 |
| 8 | 80 | Josh Sinn | 3 | 47 |
| 9 | 84 | Rory Sloane | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 90 | Alex Sexton | 11 | 81 |
| 11 | 110 | Henry Hustwaite | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 120 | Mitch McGovern | 14 | 69 |
| 13 | 130 | Nate Caddy | 5 | 53 |
| 14 | 140 | Steven May | 16 | 79.19 |
| 15 | 141 | Bailey J. Williams | 1 | 61 |
| 15 | 150 | Beau McCreery | 4 | 46 |
| 16 | 160 | Max Michalanney | 15 | 64.73 |
| 17 | 170 | Zach Tuohy | 14 | 63.71 |
| 18 | 180 | David Swallow | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | 190 | Jayden Laverde | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | 200 | Jake Stringer | 8 | 65.63 |
Most Inspired Selection
Pick 160 – Max Michalanney
What interesting reading this draft makes for in hindsight. This is almost the draft of a rebuilding team – selections like Fyfe at 11 and Williams at 40 betray that this was a team trying to have its cake and eat it too. Flush with stars, the Soldiers could afford to throw some darts at the board – Budarick, Reed, Lazzaro, Sinn, Hustwaite, Caddy – all darts.
Unfortunately for the Soldiers, none of these darts have paid immediate dividends. Duursma is a slow burn, so we won’t worry yet – and their decision to… change the list composition, makes it very simple now to justify keeping him. I think that would’ve been harder had this team still been in flag mode.
Just about the only thumbs up here is Michalanney in Round 16. Towards the end of the season the young defender got the occasional run in the Adelaide midfield. While it remains to be seen whether this is a “thing” or not, Michalanney has shown enough as a defender to be kept for the next season or two.
Trades
| Date | Teams | Received |
|---|---|---|
| August 2, 2024 |  | Love Sparkles Round 19 pick |
 | Dustin Martin Solomon’s Soldiers Round 20 pick | |
| July 24, 2024 |  | James Sicily Callum Wilkie |
| Elijah Tsatas Billy Dowling | |
| 25 June 2024 | | Jase Burgoyne Solomon’s Soldiers Round 17 pick (returned) MaherShalalHashBaz Round 19 pick |
 | Toby Nankervis Threat Level Midnight Round 7 pick Solomon’s Soldiers Round 12 pick | |
| May 23, 2024 | | Hugo Garcia Love Sparkles Round 2 pick Love Sparkles Round 6 pick |
| Toby Greene Ollie Wines Soldiers Round 14 pick Soldiers Round 15 pick Soldiers Round 18 pick | |
| May 23, 2024 | | Roughnecks Round 2 pick Roughnecks Round 5 pick Will Graham Harvey Thomas |
| Brad Crouch Jack Viney Solomon’s Soldiers Round 10 pick Solomon’s Soldiers Round 16 pick | |
| 20 May 2024 | | MaherShalalHashBaz Round 5 pick |
| Alex Sexton Solomon’s Soldiers Round 11 Pick | |
| May 2, 2024 | | Lethal Vipers Round 1 pick Lethal Vipers Round 3 pick |
 | Lachie Neale Will Setterfield Nat Fyfe MaherShalalHashBaz Round 7 pick | |
| April 30, 2024 | | Taxmanian Devils Round 2 pick |
 | James Worpel | |
| 29 April 2024 | | MaherShalalHashBaz Round 1 pick MaherShalalHashBaz Round 7 pick Will Ashcroft |
| Josh Dunkley Dan Houston Dayne Zorko Jeremy Cameron Solomon’s Soldiers Round 5 pick Solomon’s Soldiers Round 17 pick | |
| April 29, 2024 | | Threat Level Midnight Round 1 pick Threat Level Midnight Round 2 pick Solomon’s Soldiers Round 2 pick Threat Level Midnight Round 3 pick Threat Level Midnight Round 4 pick Caleb Windsor Jaspa Fletcher |
 | Marcus Bontempelli Christian Petracca Solomon’s Soldiers Round 6 Pick Solomon’s Soldiers Round 8 pick | |
| April 29, 2024 | | Love Sparkles Round 1 pick Love Sparkles Round 3 pick Mac Andrew |
| Hugh McCluggage | |
| March 20, 2024 | | Ollie Wines Callum Wilkie Threat Level Midnight Round 7 pick |
| Ivan Soldo Kiddy Coleman Solomon’s Soldiers Round 2 pick | |
| 6 February 2024 | | Dan Rioli Solomon’s Soldiers Round 10 pick (pick 100) |
| Solomon’s Soldiers Round 5 pick (pick 50) * returned MaherShalalHashBaz Round 9 pick (Pick 84) | |
| 30 September 2023 | | MaherShalalHashBaz Round 1 pick (pick 4) MaherShalalHashBaz Round 7 pick (pick 64) |
| Callum Mills Jade Gresham Solomon’s Soldiers Round 5 pick (pick 50) Threat Level Midnight Round 10 pick (pick 93) |
Well, this is going to take a while.
So first of all I need to make something clear (if it wasn’t already clear) – I think the Soldiers hit the reset button way, way too early. One suspects they were simply bored and wanted a new challenge, which, fair play I guess. This is meant to be fun, and if that’s fun, well, hard to mark too harshly.
But setting that aside, this team still had plenty of juice and would’ve been a competitor, if not outright favourite, for a few more years at least I suspect. All gone now.
They’ve cut right to the bone. They are a mortal lock for the spoon (assuming the Pukekos fancy having a crack for the first time in a while). It’s Young, Ashcroft, and not much else.
On with the trades.
On 29 April they made 3 major trades. One I like for the Soldiers, or don’t mind at least. The other 2 I don’t love.
To me the good one is McCluggage to the Sparkles. A 1st and a 3rd, and Mac Andrew to boot, is a solid return (though to be clear, I’d rather McCluggage). I think comparing this trade with the others showcases the benefits of selling stars individually…
The other two trades, in my view, are poor value for the Soldiers. Sending Bontempelli and Petracca for a 1st, 2 seconds, and two wing prospects, is not enough for both in my view. Could they have gotten more if they dangled Bontempelli and Petracca seperately? Compare what they managed to snare for McCluggage. I think the lesson is don’t package your superstars if you can get that sort of return for them individually.
The trade with MSHB is maybe slightly better because something quite tangible in Ashcroft is coming in return. But I suspect Jordie viewed trading Ashcroft and a 1st to immediately vault into the premiership equation a small price to pay.
The trade the following day is pretty good – snaring a 2nd, even if it’s a late second, for James Worpel is nice work. Worpel had a down year compared to 2023, but it was also in keeping with his output since his second year breakout. Coach Bernardi won’t feel too bad about this one – a second is a small price to pay when you’re in the window.
The trade with the Vipers is even better. A top four pick for Lachie Neale is stellar work. Neale was exceptional for the Vipers, and if their disastrous start had been slightly less disastrous, his addition could’ve propelled them into the finals. But Neale is also 31 years old. If you’ve hit the reset button, this is the exact sort of value you want from this type of player.
The first trade with the Roughnecks is also neat work. Crouch went from All-Australian to non-entity for the Soldiers, and the non-entity-ness continued at the Roughnecks. He’s gone now. So this trade is essentially a round 2 pick and two prospects for Jack Viney. Can’t complain about that.
The second trade with the Sparkles, that saw them get Garcia and a second for Greene and Wines is solid work. How high you are on Jase Burgoyne will determine where you sit on the Nankervis trade (MSHB getting the superior pick to boot makes this a clear lean MSHB trade, in my view). Getting a 5th for Sexton is great though.
List at end of 2024 season
| Player | GP | Avg | Rank | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden Young | 23 | 92.9 | 51 | 23.04 |
| Will Ashcroft | 9 | 84.7 | 80 | 20.03 |
| Jase Burgoyne | 20 | 76.6 | 140 | 21.01 |
| Kieran Strachan | 2 | 70 | 193 | 28.1 |
| Billy Dowling | 9 | 68.1 | 210 | 20.01 |
| Sam Draper | 16 | 67 | 215 | 25.11 |
| Max Michalanney | 23 | 65.2 | 234 | 20.06 |
| Mac Andrew | 20 | 64.3 | 249 | 20.08 |
| Bodhi Uwland | 21 | 61.5 | 285 | 21.01 |
| Jaspa Fletcher | 23 | 60.4 | 304 | 20.06 |
| Chayce Jones | 16 | 59.8 | 310 | 24.07 |
| Rhylee West | 21 | 59.6 | 314 | 24.01 |
| Will Phillips | 11 | 59.4 | 316 | 22.03 |
| Caleb Windsor | 19 | 59 | 322 | 19.02 |
| Logan McDonald | 23 | 58.8 | 326 | 22.04 |
| Will Graham | 17 | 58.6 | 332 | 19.01 |
| Oscar Allen | 11 | 56.5 | 351 | 25.05 |
| Harvey Gallagher | 19 | 54.8 | 372 | 20.11 |
| Darcy Jones | 12 | 54.8 | 373 | 20.04 |
| Josh Sinn | 4 | 53.8 | 386 | 21.07 |
| Nate Caddy | 10 | 53.1 | 394 | 19.01 |
| Caleb Daniel | 15 | 50.1 | 432 | 28.01 |
| Robbie Fox | 16 | 49.7 | 438 | 31.04 |
| Jaxon Binns | 3 | 48.7 | 453 | 19.1 |
| Joel Amartey | 22 | 48.6 | 454 | 24.11 |
| Sam Docherty | 1 | 48 | 462 | 30.1 |
| Bruce Reville | 12 | 47.8 | 468 | 23.06 |
| Lloyd Johnston | 7 | 46.9 | 480 | 19.11 |
| Harvey Thomas | 22 | 46.3 | 485 | 19 |
| Lachie Jones | 18 | 44.8 | 498 | 22.04 |
| Hugo Garcia | 8 | 43.6 | 513 | 19.03 |
| Charlie Lazzaro | 9 | 41.8 | 530 | 22.05 |
| Elijah Tsatas | 7 | 36.7 | 577 | 19.1 |
| Zane Duursma | 13 | 36.4 | 579 | 19 |
| Hugh Bond | 7 | 36.4 | 580 | 19.11 |
| Henry Hustwaite | 4 | 22.8 | 639 | 20.01 |
| Ethan Read | 4 | 20.5 | 643 | 19.01 |
| Max Gruzewski | 4 | 17 | 648 | 20.01 |
| Kynan Brown | 2 | 8.5 | 655 | 19.07 |
| Geordie Payne | 0 | 0 | 803 | 18.09 |
Ages as of 31 August 2024
Averages are AFL H&A season averages (not DangerGawn games played)
Player to watch in 2025
Will Ashcroft
Slim pickings here, so I’ll take the obvious. What sort of fantasy player will Ashcroft turn out to be? The Soldiers are obviously hoping he’s a long term top 5 midfielder. A safe-as-houses 105 avg for the foreseeable future.
Is he that? I’m not entirely sure. Don’t get me wrong, even in a middling scenario, he’s a surefire long term keeper. It’s hard not to see him being a 90+ guy for a very long time. But there is a value gap between the guys who average between 90 and 99, and those who average 100 year after year.
So I’ll be looking to see what level we get from Ashcroft. He had an incredible finals campaign for the Lions, but he scored in the 70s for two of them. Is he a fantasy star, or just a real life star?
In truth the honest answer here is “the 12 to 14 speculative lottery guys the Soldiers are going to keep this off-season”. How many of them will be keepers this time next year? If more than 7 of them are, then the rebuild will be in a good spot indeed. If it’s only a couple, well, it’s a good thing the Soldiers have so many draft picks up their sleeve.