Gourdis to Richmond. Did we miss something?

[Mofra]

The issue seems to be his attitude and kicking.

Yup, a few comments about his kicking, and Clayton's higher picks (with the exception of Williams, a work in progress at the time) all have exceptional kicking skills.

Happy enough with Grant, although we wont know how the kids go for a few years yet.

[FrediKanoute]

Thats exactly right, AND hes now had a bit of a wakeup call, where hes realised that maybe his talent alone wont get him to the AFL. Admittedly he has made a list now, but for 3 weeks everybody would have been asking him what happened? why didn't you get picked up etc etc etc?

I personally would have been inclined to take him with our last pick in the national draft, but I dont know anything about the issues

I tend to agree. At pick 60+ in a weak draft getting a guy who many pundits including guys like Matt Burgan rated considerably higher would ahve been worth a gamble. No disrespect to O'Keefe and I hope he proves to be a gun player, but he is the type of guy that would have lasted until the Rookie draft. No doubt there were some off field queries about this guy, because its rare that a tall gets overlooked by all 16 clubs when he is highly regarded, especially in a shallow draft, but a guy who performed as well as he did in the champs deserves a chance and I just hope that we haven't made a HUGE blunder on this one. I guess time will tell.

[LostDoggy]

i don't understand, what did richmond gain by picking him in the ps draft rather than the National draft?

[GVGjr]

i don't understand, what did richmond gain by picking him in the ps draft rather than the National draft?

The ability to have him train with their squad and extra chance to test his commitment.

[westdog54]

Why signal out Clayton here Westdog?

If he makes it, then there's sixteen recruiting managers who would all be as equally culpable including Richmond's as they all overlooked him in the National Draft.

Certainly no intention of singling out Clayton, perhaps I worded it badly. More to emphasise the fact that Clayton's on our payroll. I'm a big fan of Clayton's but I also respect MJP's judgement.

[Sockeye Salmon]

There was no chance that we were ever going to draft Gourdis. Clayton didn't rate him at all.

[mjp]

With respect, I think the 16 AFL recruiters have a bit more knowledge than MJP. They watch these kids for years.

With respect?

[GVGjr]

There was no chance that we were ever going to draft Gourdis. Clayton didn't rate him at all.

A mate of mine in the west kept mentioning that he is a good footballer on a good day but disinterested when the ball isn't delivered too him on a platter. He reckons he did well in the carnival because the WA team was so dominate not because he is a great player.

[FrediKanoute]

Time will tell whether Richmond have unearthed a diamond or whether the Rookie risk was a small price to pay for a failure.

[hujsh]

A mate of mine in the west kept mentioning that he is a good footballer on a good day but disinterested when the ball isn't delivered too him on a platter. He reckons he did well in the carnival because the WA team was so dominate not because he is a great player.

Then he should have a chat with Richo about how they deliver the ball at Tigerland

[bornadog]

A mate of mine in the west kept mentioning that he is a good footballer on a good day but disinterested when the ball isn't delivered too him on a platter. He reckons he did well in the carnival because the WA team was so dominate not because he is a great player.

Lets not forget he is only 18 and things may change in the future as he matures and grows up. Who knows what his attitude and dedication to football will be, but for now, the club didn't think it was right and didn't want to take a chance.

[LostDoggy]

Gourdis has been delisted today by the Tiges.

I suppose that makes Clayton a genius

Is it just because he cant play footy is is it to do with attitude/off field behavoir?

[LostDoggy]

Is it just because he cant play footy is is it to do with attitude/off field behavoir?

Let's be honest, at his age (19) you'd keep a kid who had problems if you knew he was worth it as a footballer - you'd gamble you could sort them out in the next few years as they mature. In saying that, I have no idea why he was delisted.

[FrediKanoute]

Looks like we dodged a bullet then huh!

[wb_age]

Word floating around the Richmond boards is that Gourdis suffered/suffers from depression.

I guess that could be considered worse then recruiting a player with a bad attitude. If true, good luck to the guy with recovery.