Western Bulldogs success based on recruiting staff kicking goals at the draft table

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/af...story-comments

Certainly they should add the development of the player also is a huge plus, JJ and Wood have been at the club a while and the way we have nurtured and planned their growth isn't luck.

Interesting analysis, and we have done well over the past 4 years.

The number of top 20 picks on the list doesn't really demonstrate much in my opinion, considering we have a couple of F/S selections who surely would have been taken in that range on ability, whilst we down-graded our pick last year and get two players just outside the top 20 in an even draft.

Still, will be a good talking point baiting mates who support other clubs.

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Originally Posted by ledge

Certainly they should add the development of the player also is a huge plus, JJ and Wood have been at the club a while and the way we have nurtured and planned their growth isn't luck.

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JJ was a huge get. If I remember correctly at the time he was drafted he couldn't get a game for the WA colts team.

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Originally Posted by Bulldog4life

JJ was a huge get. If I remember correctly at the time he was drafted he couldn't get a game for the WA colts team.

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I went to a function a couple of years ago and Dalrymple and J-Mac talked a bit about recruitment and list management and even fielded a few questions from the audience. A couple of questions of course focused on the likes of Howard but one question came up about which was the favourite pick by Dalrymple. I don't think he really wanted to answer that in fairness to all the players but he did mention JJ. I got the impression he was particularly chuffed with the JJ pick. With JJ's form now I'm sure he is just a bit more pleased with the player he has become.

I'm pleased to see Dalrymple getting the recognition he deserves. Amongst the doom and gloom of 1.5 to 5 years ago, it was clear that we were drafting exceptionally well.

My best mate's brother in law is a senior recruiter with one of the more powerful and successful clubs. He's long said that, amongst the recruiters' clique, Dalrymple is considered the main man. He's the one every young recruiter wants to sit next to on the plane.

We are very, very lucky to have him.

I was at the Carlton v footscray VFL game last year and had a few Carlton people commenting how great our VFL side was , they were asking about individual players , Honeychurch was one i think, thought they were just supporters until they started conversing and discussing drafting, etc , obviously looking at our recruiting and development blueprint.

When you consider Clay's injury and the fact we've not got a first round selection from 2005 through to 2009 (three of who are still playing at other clubs) on our list it's been a remarkable turnaround.

Sharper analysis would of course suggest we've not knocked every selection out of the park - that's just commentator hyperbole. I wonder what ratio of success to failure those in the media would consider a pass mark?

How did Dalrymple end up at the Bulldogs? Does anyone know.

I'm guessing Santa.

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Originally Posted by Twodogs

How did Dalrymple end up at the Bulldogs? Does anyone know.

I'm guessing Santa.

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Hope he is locked in.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Twodogs

How did Dalrymple end up at the Bulldogs? Does anyone know.

I'm guessing Santa.

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I thought he was working under Clayton after spending time working in development at the junior elite level.

According to "On the Couch" last week he was with Hawthorn at one stage.

An old teacher of mine works at the swans in recruiting, and I've spoken to him at 2 of our VFL practice matches.
I've seen a few in the outer with the binoculars on, it's obvious we're doing things right .
Great article by Jay Clark, and a wonderful job by Simon and his team .
We need to invest in one or two more in recruiting, and not rest on our laurels .

At an East-West Club 'Legends and Young Guns Dinner' a few years ago, Dalrymple was not able to make it as a guest and sent Dan Fisher instead (he is referred to in the article). At that time I marvelled at that young man's comments on the night as he looked quite an unobtrusive type. Having good people in a small recruiting team must also play a part in SD's success.

Size matters....but quality matters more. Sometimes keeping it simple leads to better/sharper decisions