Weddle Is Losing $4,641 Every Week and the Role Fix Is Not Coming

He's been moved forward. His kicking is being exposed. Nine straight avoid verdicts have been right. The $320k price is not cheap — it's a floor with a hole in it.

The hold case on Joshua Weddle is simple: he's a Hawthorn DEF who's fallen from $432k to $320k. Seems like the bottom. Seems like the role gets restored. That thesis has been wrong since Round 1, and Round 9 confirmed it again.

How the market got here

Weddle started the season at $432,200 — a $432k DEF with a 71 average and a 63 BE. The value case was marginal from day one: borderline priced for what he delivers. The R3 omission from Hawthorn's 22 was the first red flag.

He came back in R5, scored 71, and still lost cash at -$2,221 per week. Then R6 in a 3-point win over Port: 67. R7 in a 49-point blowout over Gold Coast: 62. Neither result is above-average output — both below where the scoreline should have helped him.

R8 was the exclamation point. 35 in Hawthorn's draw with Collingwood at the MCG. Nine disposals, 22% efficiency, missed a set shot from 15 metres directly in front in the second half of a game that ended level. That is not a coaching problem or a bad matchup. That is a player struggling with what he has been asked to do.

The role has broken

The verdict from R8 and R9 is explicit: Weddle has been deployed in the forward line, where his disposal efficiency and set-shot conversion are exposed. He is a wing or defensive half player being asked to contribute forward, and the mismatch is showing in the scoreboard.

Zach Butler is applying genuine selection pressure. Cash gen at R9 is -$4,641 per week. Price is at $320,800. His current BE is 47 — below his 70 average — which means he is technically above his BE if he scores 58. But 58 per week at -$4,641 per week cash bleed with no role fix in sight is not an upside case.

The hold scenario requires all three of these to happen:

1. Hawthorn deciding to restore him to his wing or half-back role
2. His kicking form improving in that restored position
3. Butler missing selection despite pushing hard

Zero of those are likely before your BE compounds further.

Nine straight verdicts. Same answer.

Watch → Avoid → Avoid → Avoid → Watch → Avoid → Avoid → Avoid → Avoid. That is the R0 through R9 verdict sequence for Weddle. Nine rounds, one message.

The price falling from $432k to $320k — a drop of $111,400 — is not opportunity. It is the market doing what it was told to do from Round 1.

Season scores: 62 (R0), 80 (R1), 89 (R2), omitted (R3), 71 (R5), 67 (R6), 62 (R7), 35 (R8), 58 (R9). His 70 average is propped up by the early-season scores before the role broke. The last four rounds average 56.

Exit this week. Use the cash on something with a role lock and positive cash gen. The $320k floor is not a floor when the cash gen is still bleeding -$4,641 per week.

Updated: 15 May 2026. Data sourced from RookieBible intel registry.

Weddle's full verdict history is live on his player profile page. Pre-briefed. Opinionated. The more you challenge it, the sharper it gets.