WXV: London Royals

[Ringo]

TRADES
This thread will keep fans up to date on player movements over the drafting periods.  Trades will be unconfirmed until approved by coaches. Please feel free to come back and check updates that will be mofified here as they happen.

Trade 1 (confirmed)
We have traded Bob Murphy to Moscow in exchange for Johnathan Brown. Will give us more forward power and give guidance to our younger forwards, We are well served for backs and with both players at similar stages of their careers was a reasonable trade,

Trade 2  (confirmed)
We have traded Michael Hurley to Dublin in exchange for picks 20 & 22. Whilst we are sorry to see Michael go it is important that we position ourselves for the future and the best way to do this is by obtaining early draft picks. This will now give us 4 picks in the first 2 rounds.

Trade 3 confirmed
We have traded Like Breust to Cairo for Josh Hill and Pick 8.  We welcome the chance of receiving another early draft pick.

Trade 4 confirmed
We have traded Shannon Byrnes and Pick 28 to Seoul for Harry O'Brien. Will replace Bob Murphy

Trade 5 confirmed
We have traded Sam Docherty and Pick 46 to the Pacific Islanders for Quinten Lynch. Another forward who will play most gmes

Trade 6 confirmed
We have traded Brad Sheppard and Stephen Hil to Sao Paulo for Daniel Hannebery, Zach Tuohy and pick 89. Tuohy will play most games in defence and Hannebery is a star in the making at only 21 years of age and may develop into future leader at the club.

Trade 7 confirmed
We have traded pick 22 to Moscow in exchange for Steven Morris.  Morris will no doubt play all games this year and will add youth and depth to our back line.

Trade 8 confirmed
We have traded pick 64 to Berlin in exchange for Mark Seaby. Seaby is a quaity ruckmen who will add depth in this area and a handy back up to Bellchambers.

Trade 9 (confirmed)
We have traded Jeff Garlett to the Cobras in exchange for Sam Iles and pick 36. Sorry to see Garlett go but Iles will add to our midfield depth. Pick 36 is also welcome.

Trade 10 (confirmed)
We have traded Fraser McInness to Moscow Spetnaz in exchange for Tom Young, Nathan Wilson and Pick 77. McInness has been struggling to get games and both Young and Wilson have played for their respective clubs. Both are very young players and will develop as the club gains strength. Pick 77 is another late welcome Pick.

Trade 11 Unfortunately this trade was rejected so we continue negotiations.
Big trade here we have traded Rory Laird, Daniel Gorringe and Andrew Mackie too the Bejing Bears in exchange for Steele Sidebottom.  If confirmed we have gained a premium 22 year old who may be a future captain of the club.
Sorry to see youngsters Laird and Gorringe depart but we needed to obtain this player when he came on the market.

Trade 12 confirmed
We have on traded pick 36 to Seoul Magpies in exchange for Matthew Warnock and Tom Lonergan.  With the retirement of Josh Drummond and the Delisting of Paul Bower these two players will give us some depth.

Trade 13 confirmed
We have traded Richard Douglas and Steven Morris to Toronto in exchange for Ben Hudson and Sam Wright.  Sam Wright will bolster our forwards and Ben Hudson may give us some ruck backup.

Trade 14 Confirmed
We have traded Cale Morton to Berlin for Pick 45 in the National Draft. Rationale Morton was going to be a fringe player and with the depth in this years draft felt we needed a 3rd round pick. Very happy now with pick 45.

Our Picks (updated after trade confirmations) in the National Draft  8,9, 20, 45, 77 and 82 .  Should enable us to obtain reasonable players with those early picks. Will not be giving away picks 8 or 9 unless a super prem trade player is involved.

[Ringo]

To go with our new home ground the Club has redesigned our playing kits with special thanks to C4.  We welcome our new sponsors Coca Cola and MacDonald's and look forward to a profitable association with the club.

Home Strip



Away Strip

[AFEV]

McDonalds has betrayed us! :o

[Ringo]

They were very receptive to sponsor a Team based in the British Isles.  They are a secondary sponsor of us and we welcome the opportunity to promote in London.

[BB67th]

We have the two biggest sponsors you could ask for now in McDonalds and Coca Cola. We are sure making a lot of money at the Royals.

[Ringo]

The Royals wish to confirm that Youngster Tom Swift will be leaving the league to concentrate on his studies in medicine.  We wish him well in his studies and all the best for the future.

He now joins James MacDonald in retirement from the Royals.

[Noz]

Swift was progressing well at the Royals and was deemed as a future leader at the club though it is sad to seem him go we would like to wish him all the best in the future.

In other news we would also like to welcome our new additions whom we have acquired in this years trade period to date;
Johnathan Brown
Harry O'Brien
Quinten Lynch
Daniel Hannebery
Zach Tuohy
Sam Iles
Tom Young
Nathan Wilson

[Ringo]

Head coach Ringo said he was extremely happy with drafting in the International Draft by adding to our forwrad stocks.

With our picks we recruited as follows:

Pick 8 Troy Menzell

Exceptionally talented half-forward who can play through the midfield and turn games with acts of brilliance. Has exceptional goal sense both on the run and with set shots. Kicked nine goals against Tasmania and six goals against NT in sensational fashion in the first two games of the under-18 championships before a groin injury interrupted his season.

Pick 9 Joe Daniher

Mobile ruck-forward who marks at the highest point and kicks bags of goals. Outstanding mobility below his knees. Good luck stopping him in years to come.

Pick 20 Dean Towers

Mature-age jet who boasts speed, power and athleticism. The 22-year-old took out this year's VFL rising star award - previous winners include Michael Barlow, Michael Hibberd and Ahmed Saad.

Pick 45 Adam Selwood   

With this pick we are giving a de-listed a chance with a new club.  Has sound form with previous club.

"The respected senior Eagle made way for younger brother Scott to become the club’s No. 1 run-with player, but remained a consistent shutdown option, both in the midfield and in defence. Leadership and willingness to put his body on the line remain great assets.  "

Join me in welcoming the new recruits to the club.

[ossie85]

Some good pick ups there Ringo :) Well done!

[Ringo]

Thanks oss - really needed to boost my forward stocks which is I really guarded picks 8 & 9 and to a lesser extent pick 20>

Luke Breust trade equals Josh Hill and Troy Menzell
Michael Hurley trade equals Steven Morriss (since traded for Ben Hudson) and Adam Selwood ( Still probably a little behind here)

Overall reasonably happy as I added where needed,

[CrowsFan]

I feel you have certainly won the trade between us ringo now that Sheppard has been named a mid only. The whole point I brought him in was because of him being a defender! He's useless to me as a mid! ::)

[Ringo]

Thanks CF You win some you lose some. Some of the changes to positions have hurt structures. I have a similar situation with Brent Reilly as a defender only now not D/F. Have 19 defenders on my list so will be looking to off load some at next trade period and only one Staker with a DPP.

[My Chumps]

Picking up Menzel and Daniher in the draft, excellent stuff Royals and Ringo!

[AFEV]

Yeah you guys drafted brilliantly, picked up the 2 best forwards in the draft (IMO) and Towers as a mature age recruit will surely get opportunities.

[Ringo]

To complete our rookie list for this year we have drafted Dane Rampe, Sean Gregory and Kaiden Brand in the rookie draft.

Dane Rampe
Strong-bodied midfielder won the Sydney AFL Phelan Medal for best player in the Sydney comp and the Howarth Trophy for representative player of the year. Now 22, he only started playing seriously at age 17 and trained with the Bulldogs as a 19-year-old.

Sean Gregory
Tall defender who can play play on talls or smalls. James Hird regarded Sean Gregory as a "Dustin Fletcher prototype".

Kaiden Brand
Tall forward who was a surprise choice. Boasts great athleticism and can switch to defence but will take time. Kaiden is very quick and agile, and kicks the ball really well. He can play both ends, is very versatile and has good hands.

Head coach Ringo said he was pleased with the rookies recruited and whilst they will take time to develop  will add to the depth in all positions. When asked if happy with overall recruiting Ringo said we have made significant gains with Daniher, Menzell and Towers who will slot nicely into the team and rookies will develop over the next couple of years.