BulldogBelle
09-04-2016, 06:53 AM
April 8, 2016 8:00pm
JAY CLARK
Herald Sun
GERARD Healy dubbed it the most successful four-year recruiting block he has seen.
When the Western Bulldogs take on Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Luke Beveridge’s men have the chance to go from a seriously-exciting young footy team, to legitimate premiership contender.
But there is perhaps something even more remarkable than their warp-speed ball movement.
In recruiting terms, the Dogs have punched well above their weight.
The club has netted some of the most talented under-23 players in the competition, led by young stars Jackson Macrae, Jake Stringer, Luke Dahlhaus and Marcus Bontempelli, with a recruiting budget that ranks in the bottom four.
The league has brought in a footy department tax, believing the extra cash puts the rich clubs at an advantage on the field.
Yet the Dogs are getting the job done, as one rival talent scout recently observed, on the smell of an oily rag. They have only four full-time recruiting staff, or roughly half the total staff of some of their more cashed-up rivals.
Healy heaped praise on the Dogs’ scouts this week, as the club attempts to break the AFL’s longest premiership drought.
“They are the best in the business at recruitment, they haven’t made a mistake,” Healy said.
“I haven’t seen any club do a better job in a four-year block than them.”
Neville Stibbard, who was previously the main man at North Melbourne and helped find Jeremy Cameron in his brief stint at Greater Western Sydney, consults at the Dogs on a part-time basis.
The Dogs’ team of four full-timers includes list chief Jason McCartney, recruiting boss Simon Dalrymple and his assistants Dan Fisher and Wayne McCraw. That is it.
Bulldogs’ 2014 rising star nominees (from left) Nathan Hrovat, Jake Stringer and Marcus Bontempelli. Picture: Colleen Petch.
But not only are the Dogs bucking the trend from a footy budget perspective.
When it comes to unearthing nuggets on draft night, the Bulldogs have a happy knack of finding some diamonds in the rough at either the back end of the order, or later still, in the rookie draft.
While the coaching staff, including development chief Chris Maple and VFL coach Ashley Hansen must also take credit for helping the youngsters blossom, players such as Caleb Daniel (No.46), Tory Dickson (No.57), Easton Wood (No.43) and rookie finds Jason Johanissen, Dahlhaus, Lin Jong, Tom Campbell have been great late finds, to name a few.
But their access to the top-end talent has been limited, compared to some rivals.
For all the fanfare about the Bulldogs’ list over the past 12 months, the club has only seven top-20 draft picks on its books. That ranks third last of all clubs, according to Champion Data.
That’s dwarfed by Greater Western Sydney, which has 23 top-20 picks and Richmond, with 18.
When the Dogs have had the early selections, they have hit the nail on the head. As one talent expert said this week, “it is one thing to have the early picks, but you still have to make sure you get them right. They have hit those early picks out of the ball park.”
TOP-20 DRAFT PICKS
Club (1-10, 11-20, Top-20)
GWS Giants (16, 7, 23)
Richmond (8, 10, 18)
Carlton (10, 6, 16)
Melbourne (9, 4, 13)
Gold Coast Suns (7, 6, 13)
Essendon (9, 4, 13)
North Melbourne (5, 8, 13)
Port Adelaide (8, 5, 13)
West Coast Eagles (6, 7, 13)
Geelong Cats (8, 5, 13)
Collingwood (7, 5, 12)
Hawthorn (5, 7, 12)
Fremantle (3, 6, 9)
Adelaide Crows (0, 9, 9)
St Kilda (6, 3, 9)
Western Bulldogs (4, 3, 7)
Sydney Swans (4, 2, 6)
Brisbane Lions (3, 1, 4)
AFL Average (6.9, 5.4, 12.0)
WESTERN BULLDOGS TOP-20 PICKS
Tom Boyd (No.1, 2013) Ex-GWS Giants
Marcus Bontempelli (No.4, 2013)
Jake Stringer (No.5, 2012)
Jackson Macrae (No.6, 2012)
Clay Smith (No.17, 2011)
Will Minson (No.20, 2002)
Robert Murphy (No.13, 1999)
RICHMOND’S TOP-20 PICKS
Daniel Rioli (No. 17, 2015)
Corey Ellis (No.12, 2014)
Ben Lennon (No.12, 2013)
Nick Vlastuin (No.9, 2012)
Brandon Ellis (No.15, 2011)
Reece Conca (No.6, 2010)
Dustin Martin (No.3, 2009)
Andrew Moore (No.9, 2009) Ex-Port Adelaide
Ben Griffiths (No.19, 2009)
Chris Yarran (No.6, 2008) Ex-Carlton
Ty Vickery (No.8, 2008)
Trent Cotchin (No.2, 2007)
Alex Rance (No.18, 2007)
Jack Riewoldt (No.13, 2006)
Shaun Hampson (No.17, 2006) Ex-Carlton
Shaun Grigg (No.19, 2006)
Brett Deledio (No.1, 2004)
Troy Chaplin (No.15, 2003) Ex-Port Adelaide
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/western-bulldogs/western-bulldogs-success-based-on-recruiting-staff-kicking-goals-at-the-draft-table/news-story/26b04537ea9c69fbed1c4da317ecbe57#load-story-comments
JAY CLARK
Herald Sun
GERARD Healy dubbed it the most successful four-year recruiting block he has seen.
When the Western Bulldogs take on Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Luke Beveridge’s men have the chance to go from a seriously-exciting young footy team, to legitimate premiership contender.
But there is perhaps something even more remarkable than their warp-speed ball movement.
In recruiting terms, the Dogs have punched well above their weight.
The club has netted some of the most talented under-23 players in the competition, led by young stars Jackson Macrae, Jake Stringer, Luke Dahlhaus and Marcus Bontempelli, with a recruiting budget that ranks in the bottom four.
The league has brought in a footy department tax, believing the extra cash puts the rich clubs at an advantage on the field.
Yet the Dogs are getting the job done, as one rival talent scout recently observed, on the smell of an oily rag. They have only four full-time recruiting staff, or roughly half the total staff of some of their more cashed-up rivals.
Healy heaped praise on the Dogs’ scouts this week, as the club attempts to break the AFL’s longest premiership drought.
“They are the best in the business at recruitment, they haven’t made a mistake,” Healy said.
“I haven’t seen any club do a better job in a four-year block than them.”
Neville Stibbard, who was previously the main man at North Melbourne and helped find Jeremy Cameron in his brief stint at Greater Western Sydney, consults at the Dogs on a part-time basis.
The Dogs’ team of four full-timers includes list chief Jason McCartney, recruiting boss Simon Dalrymple and his assistants Dan Fisher and Wayne McCraw. That is it.
Bulldogs’ 2014 rising star nominees (from left) Nathan Hrovat, Jake Stringer and Marcus Bontempelli. Picture: Colleen Petch.
But not only are the Dogs bucking the trend from a footy budget perspective.
When it comes to unearthing nuggets on draft night, the Bulldogs have a happy knack of finding some diamonds in the rough at either the back end of the order, or later still, in the rookie draft.
While the coaching staff, including development chief Chris Maple and VFL coach Ashley Hansen must also take credit for helping the youngsters blossom, players such as Caleb Daniel (No.46), Tory Dickson (No.57), Easton Wood (No.43) and rookie finds Jason Johanissen, Dahlhaus, Lin Jong, Tom Campbell have been great late finds, to name a few.
But their access to the top-end talent has been limited, compared to some rivals.
For all the fanfare about the Bulldogs’ list over the past 12 months, the club has only seven top-20 draft picks on its books. That ranks third last of all clubs, according to Champion Data.
That’s dwarfed by Greater Western Sydney, which has 23 top-20 picks and Richmond, with 18.
When the Dogs have had the early selections, they have hit the nail on the head. As one talent expert said this week, “it is one thing to have the early picks, but you still have to make sure you get them right. They have hit those early picks out of the ball park.”
TOP-20 DRAFT PICKS
Club (1-10, 11-20, Top-20)
GWS Giants (16, 7, 23)
Richmond (8, 10, 18)
Carlton (10, 6, 16)
Melbourne (9, 4, 13)
Gold Coast Suns (7, 6, 13)
Essendon (9, 4, 13)
North Melbourne (5, 8, 13)
Port Adelaide (8, 5, 13)
West Coast Eagles (6, 7, 13)
Geelong Cats (8, 5, 13)
Collingwood (7, 5, 12)
Hawthorn (5, 7, 12)
Fremantle (3, 6, 9)
Adelaide Crows (0, 9, 9)
St Kilda (6, 3, 9)
Western Bulldogs (4, 3, 7)
Sydney Swans (4, 2, 6)
Brisbane Lions (3, 1, 4)
AFL Average (6.9, 5.4, 12.0)
WESTERN BULLDOGS TOP-20 PICKS
Tom Boyd (No.1, 2013) Ex-GWS Giants
Marcus Bontempelli (No.4, 2013)
Jake Stringer (No.5, 2012)
Jackson Macrae (No.6, 2012)
Clay Smith (No.17, 2011)
Will Minson (No.20, 2002)
Robert Murphy (No.13, 1999)
RICHMOND’S TOP-20 PICKS
Daniel Rioli (No. 17, 2015)
Corey Ellis (No.12, 2014)
Ben Lennon (No.12, 2013)
Nick Vlastuin (No.9, 2012)
Brandon Ellis (No.15, 2011)
Reece Conca (No.6, 2010)
Dustin Martin (No.3, 2009)
Andrew Moore (No.9, 2009) Ex-Port Adelaide
Ben Griffiths (No.19, 2009)
Chris Yarran (No.6, 2008) Ex-Carlton
Ty Vickery (No.8, 2008)
Trent Cotchin (No.2, 2007)
Alex Rance (No.18, 2007)
Jack Riewoldt (No.13, 2006)
Shaun Hampson (No.17, 2006) Ex-Carlton
Shaun Grigg (No.19, 2006)
Brett Deledio (No.1, 2004)
Troy Chaplin (No.15, 2003) Ex-Port Adelaide
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/western-bulldogs/western-bulldogs-success-based-on-recruiting-staff-kicking-goals-at-the-draft-table/news-story/26b04537ea9c69fbed1c4da317ecbe57#load-story-comments