How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
I'm interested in MJP's take on this:
How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
The final straw for one club came when Sydney Stack failed to show up for work.
Stack had last year started a bank traineeship in Perth, but his sudden no-show was enough for this club’s recruiting team.
“You’re just thinking, ‘Gee whiz mate, footy is a grind. You can’t just not turn up whenever you feel like it’,” the recruiting chief said.
“You obviously start asking: ‘How will he go meeting the requirements and punctuality at AFL level?”
In a year in which Stack was turfed from the AFL Academy, kicked out of the WA State Academy, stood down for the first game of the under 18 championships and lost his licence, AFL clubs assessing his draft worth didn’t need Sherlock Holmes to discover his wayward nature.
Despite possessing an on-field talent many clubs rated as first-round worthy, they were outweighed by the off-field problems.
It goes some way to explaining the now inconceivable — how Richmond’s four-game, 18-year-old cult-hero could be ignored in last year’s national and rookie drafts.
The Tigers themselves didn’t take him with any of their four national draft picks and then overlooked him with their five rookie draft picks before choosing the ‘try before you buy’ approach in the new supplemental selection period.
Rival recruiters contacted by the Herald Sun praised Richmond for taking the risk they were never going to.
“I still remember when he left our interview thinking, ‘S. t i’d love to take a punt on this kid’. You realised footy could change his life, but we didn’t have the foundations set up enough to support him off-field,” one talent spotter said.
“It’s not a cheap exercise relocating a kid and you’re trying to evaluate where will they live and who will they mix with. There’s a lot that goes into it.
“Full credit to Richmond … but keep in mind they’ve got 100,000 members so budget isn’t such a big deal. For other clubs you’re weighing up risk versus reward.
“You hope it does all hold together because if it’s not footy there is no future for this kid. He’s not going to become a builder or something like that because he lacks the discipline.”
One club’s list manager said: “He’s at the lower end in terms of his IQ off-field, but there was never any doubting his IQ on-field.
“You have to be able to sit back and ask, ‘Does the talent stack up and is the off-field stuff going to affect the on-field?
“You then have to assess your own club. Have we got the resources to give this a chance?
“This is where Richmond have done really well. They’ve clearly put things in place to minimise that risk.”
Incredibly, Damien Hardwick took Stack under his roof in December and for a week in January. He now lives with former Saint and Lion and development coach Xavier Clarke.
“It was massive for ‘Dimma’ to take him in,” one recruiter said.
“Daniel Rioli was completely different. He’s got a good sense of humour and is quite cheeky, whereas Sydney was a bit of a hard-arse … and didn’t trust many people and you can’t blame him for that because that’s what he’d grown up with.”
One recruiter who had followed Stack’s journey said idle time had been the danger.
“He comes from a really tough background, but during the footy season he always had focus. When there was no footy was the big worry,” he said.
“But perhaps the only way he was going to make it was how Richmond did it.”
WA State Academy
Dumped, then reinstated
National Draft
Ignored
Rookie Draft
Overlooked
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Everything about this story is ace.
Richmond must be thrilled to date, but they deserve real admiration for essentially undertaking to help rehabilitate someone in the process. I still hate their guts but I hope he kicks on.
List-wise, Stack's everything we're completely devoid of at the moment.
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rocket Science
Everything about this story is ace.
Richmond must be thrilled to date, but they deserve real admiration for essentially undertaking to help rehabilitate someone in the process. I still hate their guts but I hope he kicks on.
List-wise, Stack's everything we're completely devoid of at the moment.
Well done to Richmond for taking the punt , investment and care for this young man
This is a good story regardless how much I dislike them succeeding ahead of us( healthy rivalry)
But it shows how much risk there is to take on certain players . Off field welfare and development is so important .
After reading some other comments I like to add : well done to Syd for achieving this and proving he can play at AFL despite all the challenges he has faced in his life. He should be extremely proud and I hope he makes a good life out of it regardless of how many games he ends up playing .
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
RSN has some interesting things to say why no clubs were that interested.
It essentially came down to Stack apparently missing sessions without a good reason why and being disruptive with others.
Even Richmond overlooked him for the main draft but he boarded with the Hardwick family prior to the Rookie draft and apparently impressed the club with his attitude.
It was never about talent it was about if he could display the professional attitude.
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
One day the truth will be written.
Today is not going to be that day.
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mjp
One day the truth will be written.
Today is not going to be that day.
You don't need to elaborate but I gather from your response and previous posts that you do not agree with this version of events?
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Axe Man
You don't need to elaborate but I gather from your response and previous posts that you do not agree with this version of events?
Perhaps the actual reason he didn't turn up for his traineeship might help clarify?
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
hujsh
Perhaps the actual reason he didn't turn up for his traineeship might help clarify?
Well, maybe ask yourself what might have happened to explain this:
1/. He simply decided after 4-months and successfully completing probation that he didn't want to go to work anymore (to a job that he really liked).
2/. He really had nowhere to live and zero transport once the family he had been staying with had their new baby arrive. So he was jumping from house to house and couch to couch and getting to work wasn't exactly a matter of asking his mum or dad to take him to the station.
Articles like this are so B.S.
"we wanted to take him...".
"full credit to Richmond..."
It's called arse covering.
As for the stories about being kicked out of the academy and working back in and all of that, yep, well...that skirts around the truth.
How about everyone stop and do one thing - give full credit to Syd for everything he did as a junior despite some incredible adversity. Zero credit to the AFL and its clubs for the support they gave him over the past 18-months.
Zero credit for the AFL and its clubs for not drafting him when everyone in the world knew he was a top 20 pick...
Saying you want to make a middle class kid from Williamstown show that he 'really wants it' is one thing. Saying the same to a dirt poor kid from Northam? That's something else entirely.
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Heard him on radio the other night saying he had to get out of WA
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Remi Moses
Heard him on radio the other night saying he had to get out of WA
Did he sound like he had a 'low off-field IQ'?
What a load of crap.
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mjp
Well, maybe ask yourself what might have happened to explain this:
1/. He simply decided after 4-months and successfully completing probation that he didn't want to go to work anymore (to a job that he really liked).
2/. He really had nowhere to live and zero transport once the family he had been staying with had their new baby arrive. So he was jumping from house to house and couch to couch and getting to work wasn't exactly a matter of asking his mum or dad to take him to the station.
Articles like this are so B.S.
"we wanted to take him...".
"full credit to Richmond..."
It's called arse covering.
As for the stories about being kicked out of the academy and working back in and all of that, yep, well...that skirts around the truth.
How about everyone stop and do one thing - give full credit to Syd for everything he did as a junior despite some incredible adversity. Zero credit to the AFL and its clubs for the support they gave him over the past 18-months.
Zero credit for the AFL and its clubs for not drafting him when everyone in the world knew he was a top 20 pick...
Saying you want to make a middle class kid from Williamstown show that he 'really wants it' is one thing. Saying the same to a dirt poor kid from Northam? That's something else entirely.
Yeah I thought as much.
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
I wonder how long it will last, if he can make a career out if it or will it just be a one season thing?
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ledge
I wonder how long it will last, if he can make a career out if it or will it just be a one season thing?
Now you sound like a recruiter.
Let the chips fall where they may. He has already played more games than Porter (and I am not trying to throw him under a bus) and has been in the system for 1 year less. As for this years picks, I refuse to accept that we couldnt have picked Syd in the Hayes spot (or the Cavarra spot) and grabbed one of those two as a rookie. Sweet? He should be a VFL only player who we are 'keeping an eye on' because there is no way his pre-draft performances in any area apart from 'height' said 'SHOULD BE ON AN AFL LIST'.
You talk to people. You get to know them. You ignore white noise and back your club and your environment. You work out if they are 'driven' to succeed...
With Syd (and with his cousin Bobby who fell down draft boards to GWS in the late 20's) they have come from a LONG way back (Syd especially) and have ALWAYS succeeded on field. They are super fit (meaning they train hard), lean and mean (low skinnies = look after themselves), skilful and get the ball. Do they have some less than ideal social habits a bit representative of those from a pretty low socio-economic background? Well, yeah. Because they are from a LOW SOCIO-Economic background and so are all their friends. But given they are fit, skilful and lean as whippets, those habits cannot be THAT bad can they.
I said Tim Kelly and Liam Ryan should have been top 10 picks and feel more comfortable talking about those two than I do Syd and Bobby but the AFL clubs let them slide through for a few years each as well...Marlion Pickett STILL can't get a go. Gordy Narrier got overlooked, then was given one year by North on a rookie list and shipped home.
You want talented players at your club who can run like lightening, kick through the eye of a needle and have genuinely overcome 'obstacles' to play footy? Well, it's pretty easy. DRAFT THEM!!!
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ledge
I wonder how long it will last, if he can make a career out if it or will it just be a one season thing?
Being that he was a supplementary signing (am I right in saying that would make him a rookie?), I wonder if he is worth pursuing should his outstanding form continue. He walks into most teams on current form and ours is one that lacks this type of player more than most.
If nothing else, it would force Richmond to spend more than they would like on his next contract.
Re: How Sydney Stack went from being ignored in two drafts last year to cult hero status in four games
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Adelaide Connection
Being that he was a supplementary signing (am I right in saying that would make him a rookie?), I wonder if he is worth pursuing should his outstanding form continue. He walks into most teams on current form and ours is one that lacks this type of player more than most.
If nothing else, it would force Richmond to spend more than they would like on his next contract.
He's a rookie/on the rookie list.
