bornadog
05-05-2015, 12:24 PM
LINK (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bulldogs-bold-calls-at-the-draft-table-start-to-pay-off-20150504-ggtzkl.html)
http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/u/0/d/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.ggtzkl.png/1430734023790.jpg
It didn't take long for Simon Dalrymple to get people talking. That's what happens when you are the Western Bulldogs' brand-new recruiting manager and you use your first draft pick on a kid with a nice left-foot kick and some pace, but not nearly as much exposed form as the players chosen around him.
There are reasons Christian Howard didn't make it, delisted at the end of last year after playing 20 games in five seasons. It was a selection made with a certain amount of optimism, by a man who had come to the club from a development competition, the TAC Cup, and was not yet doing the job full-time. Howard had talent, but talent is only the start for any kid chosen in the draft. Did he arrive at the club at a bad time, given the Dogs had played in a preliminary final that year, still saw themselves as being in contention and weren't looking to fast track the kids? Did he need so much work that the coaches simply didn't have the time, patience or even inclination to strip him right back and start over? Was he ready to cope with how hard it would be? Any way you look at it, it was a left-field decision that didn't work out.
That's what makes what has happened since admirable, and so interesting. Howard's fate might have spooked some recruiters, scared them into being a bit more conservative next time around. Muck up enough early picks, after all, and your club is in trouble. But a lot of what the Dogs are doing right now has been made possible because of some bold decisions made by Dalrymple at the draft table, with picks placed a lot higher than the No. 15 selection Howard's name was called at.
Before choosing Jake Stringer, Jackson Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli, the Bulldogs tried to be adventurous in other ways. They did a lot of work on Brad Crouch the year he went to Adelaide in the first 17-year-old mini-draft, and might have got him had the Bulldogs not won their final-round game, moving their first pick from 12 to 17 in a draft dominated by GWS. They were much better placed when Jack Martin was available 12 months later, ultimately (and rightfully) deciding they couldn't justify using both picks five and six to get him.
The players they chose instead were not the left-field selections Howard was. Stringer had been in many clubs' thoughts months out from the first mini-draft, before breaking his leg in dramatic fashion at the start of his bottom-age season. Macrae starred for Oakleigh in the TAC Cup grand final, at the end of an excellent season. Bontempelli was an AFL Academy player who would have been on many or even most clubs' board; it was just a matter of where.
All three players were picked at points in the draft where it would have been easy to make "safer" selections. Stringer's leg break was horrific, and he struggled to run in his final under-18 season. He was always going to need some time to regain the power he is playing with now. Macrae hadn't made the Oakleigh squad 12 months earlier, and was a reasonably late improver, chosen when Ollie Wines, Sam Mayes and Brodie Grundy were still available. Bontempelli would have been quite a way down some of those rival boards, his midfield form limited to a handful of games at the end of the 2013 season after he returned to the Northern Knights from his school side.
The Bulldogs picked him based on what they believed he could and would become, not necessarily what he had already done. They did so when the likes of James Aish, Matthew Scharenberg, Christian Salem and others (who should all have strong, long careers) had more runs on the board. All three of their selections had one quality in common, if expressed in very different ways: resilience.
The Bulldogs have fleshed out their team through some genuinely hard work. Since Dalrymple started and was joined by list manager Jason McCartney, the club have found Lin Jong, Jason Johannisen and Luke Dahlhaus in the rookie draft and made room to trade Tom Boyd and Stewart Crameri in. Jordan Roughead and Easton Wood were already there, they let Brian Lake go early and some of their mid-range picks, like Michael Talia, are coming through.
There is risk taking, and then there is backing yourself to make bold calls based on thorough work and well-defined plans. It is easy to judge clubs based on the players they didn't pick in any given draft, but the only thing that really matters is what the players they do choose, no matter at which pick, do. It's already clear that the Bulldogs have made some very "right" calls.
http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/u/0/d/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.ggtzkl.png/1430734023790.jpg
It didn't take long for Simon Dalrymple to get people talking. That's what happens when you are the Western Bulldogs' brand-new recruiting manager and you use your first draft pick on a kid with a nice left-foot kick and some pace, but not nearly as much exposed form as the players chosen around him.
There are reasons Christian Howard didn't make it, delisted at the end of last year after playing 20 games in five seasons. It was a selection made with a certain amount of optimism, by a man who had come to the club from a development competition, the TAC Cup, and was not yet doing the job full-time. Howard had talent, but talent is only the start for any kid chosen in the draft. Did he arrive at the club at a bad time, given the Dogs had played in a preliminary final that year, still saw themselves as being in contention and weren't looking to fast track the kids? Did he need so much work that the coaches simply didn't have the time, patience or even inclination to strip him right back and start over? Was he ready to cope with how hard it would be? Any way you look at it, it was a left-field decision that didn't work out.
That's what makes what has happened since admirable, and so interesting. Howard's fate might have spooked some recruiters, scared them into being a bit more conservative next time around. Muck up enough early picks, after all, and your club is in trouble. But a lot of what the Dogs are doing right now has been made possible because of some bold decisions made by Dalrymple at the draft table, with picks placed a lot higher than the No. 15 selection Howard's name was called at.
Before choosing Jake Stringer, Jackson Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli, the Bulldogs tried to be adventurous in other ways. They did a lot of work on Brad Crouch the year he went to Adelaide in the first 17-year-old mini-draft, and might have got him had the Bulldogs not won their final-round game, moving their first pick from 12 to 17 in a draft dominated by GWS. They were much better placed when Jack Martin was available 12 months later, ultimately (and rightfully) deciding they couldn't justify using both picks five and six to get him.
The players they chose instead were not the left-field selections Howard was. Stringer had been in many clubs' thoughts months out from the first mini-draft, before breaking his leg in dramatic fashion at the start of his bottom-age season. Macrae starred for Oakleigh in the TAC Cup grand final, at the end of an excellent season. Bontempelli was an AFL Academy player who would have been on many or even most clubs' board; it was just a matter of where.
All three players were picked at points in the draft where it would have been easy to make "safer" selections. Stringer's leg break was horrific, and he struggled to run in his final under-18 season. He was always going to need some time to regain the power he is playing with now. Macrae hadn't made the Oakleigh squad 12 months earlier, and was a reasonably late improver, chosen when Ollie Wines, Sam Mayes and Brodie Grundy were still available. Bontempelli would have been quite a way down some of those rival boards, his midfield form limited to a handful of games at the end of the 2013 season after he returned to the Northern Knights from his school side.
The Bulldogs picked him based on what they believed he could and would become, not necessarily what he had already done. They did so when the likes of James Aish, Matthew Scharenberg, Christian Salem and others (who should all have strong, long careers) had more runs on the board. All three of their selections had one quality in common, if expressed in very different ways: resilience.
The Bulldogs have fleshed out their team through some genuinely hard work. Since Dalrymple started and was joined by list manager Jason McCartney, the club have found Lin Jong, Jason Johannisen and Luke Dahlhaus in the rookie draft and made room to trade Tom Boyd and Stewart Crameri in. Jordan Roughead and Easton Wood were already there, they let Brian Lake go early and some of their mid-range picks, like Michael Talia, are coming through.
There is risk taking, and then there is backing yourself to make bold calls based on thorough work and well-defined plans. It is easy to judge clubs based on the players they didn't pick in any given draft, but the only thing that really matters is what the players they do choose, no matter at which pick, do. It's already clear that the Bulldogs have made some very "right" calls.