From AFL Insider

http://www.aflinsider.net/bulldogs-c...ting-mistakes/


Bulldogs Can't Compete Due To Drafting Mistakes
November 26th 2007 01:12
When it is all working perfectly there is no better team to watch, but for the Bulldogs and their array of short forwards all the kicks do have to be perfect or it all breaks down. They don't have big forward targets and this is due to the philosophy of their recruiting department and their coaches.

1997
Mark Alvey, they obviously weren't watching out at Waverley when Goodes was dominating for Victoria Country, before being injured. Not that Goodes didn't show what he could do later on when he starred in the TAC Cup Grand Final on the MCG. Other players who were bigger, and better, than Alvey and could have been drafted by the Bulldogs include Dean Solomon, Ian Perrie, Andrew Kellaway and Nathan Thompson. The philosophy, that still exists, about trying to win with small forwards was very evident as they traded picks 15, 31 and 38 for small forwards Matthew Robbins and Simon Garlick. Picks 15 and 31 would become premiership players too.

1998
Luke Penny, they actually tried to find some height but it fell apart for Penny and the Bulldogs, and then his knee fell apart at the Saints. Considering they drafted Nicky Winmar, at pick 30, it shows that attitude problems were not an issue with their recruiting. A couple of players dropped in the 1998 AFL draft due to that concern, Danny Jacobs who marked everything and Brendan Fevola who kicked a lot of goals in the TAC Cup. Ken McGregor went very late in that draft too.

1999
They may have made several successful picks, but they were only for the small players. They went big with a couple of Patricks, Wiggins and Bowden, but that didn't work. They could have had Hille or Biglands. The Bulldogs were still trading away picks and players to acquire small forwards, at this time they traded for Eagleton, which helped the Power assemble a bit of their future premiership side. The Bulldogs did try to bring in some bulk, they acquired Trent Bartlett and sent out another draft mistake, Michael Martin who was pick 14 in 1994.

2000
While Carlton really went bad in this draft, with Livingston, Sporn and S Wiggins in the early picks, the Bulldogs also wasted a couple of high picks on McMahon and Birss. Bulldogs fans don't need to be reminded about how great Drew Petrie can be, and he could have been theirs. The Bulldogs did find someone tall who is actually still on their list, Skipper went at pick 70.

2001
What were they doing taking Sam Power at pick 10, Ashley Hansen would have been a much better choice. Matt Maguire, Mark Seaby, even LRT would have been A-OK. Brad Miller and Damon White went late in the draft, and that is also where the Bulldogs found their current full back, when they drafted Harris at 71.

2002
At least they tried to go a bit big in this draft, but without a lot to show for it yet. Minson at pick 20 is something they did well, but they don't play him enough, that is something that needs to change and he should be playing every game in 2008. A few picks earlier they went for their usual running player, this time it was Faulkner. Jared Rivers, Paul Johnson or even Daniel Merrett would have given the Bulldogs more height, Merrett would have also helped in the strength department that the Bulldogs are lacking in. But the Bulldogs struggle to identify the best of the tallest, Walsh at pick 4, ahead of Hamish McIntosh, is not looking good. They did draft Cameron Wight at this time, and while he does measure well when it comes to height he does have a problem with bulk and strength.

2003
They had two picks in the top 4 and added some more midfielders, nothing wrong with taking Cooney but Ray is a disappointment. While there wasn't a great amount of height available in this draft, Ryan Murphy would have been someone who could take marks and kick a lot of goals. They also could have had Hudson a lot sooner, they wasted pick 50 and Hudson went shortly after that to the Crows.

2004
Another bad year brought about more picks in the top 10. Hawthorn had the right idea, loading up on key position players, although it would have been better to pick Franklin and then Roughead. The Bulldogs missed on Franklin. They did take Tom Williams, another phenomenal athlete, and he might become an important tall defender but he may never be strong enough to battle the best forwards of the AFL. Later in the draft they missed out on forwards like Rusling and Newton, and while they did take Tiller he is another player who isn't a real key position player.

2005
Higgins and Addison may have skills, a lot of them when it comes to running and kicking an exciting goal or two, but they are not the types of player that the Bulldogs need. The Bulldogs are way over their quota for midfielder/small forwards. Max Bailey, Robert Warnock and Trent West would have brought them size, even very late in the draft Joel Patfull was still available.

2006
They went for athletes again, and they didn't need players like Stack, Hill and Lynch. They may all be able to play at AFL level but the Bulldogs needed size. In the first round, taking A Everitt was not a bad move but he is not the marking key position player they need. Mitchell Brown or Jack Riewoldt up forward would have given the Bulldogs someone to kick to. There was also size in the back half available with Mackenzie and Renouf.

2007
Coach Eade said he got the best available talent, that doesn't make sense when the team needed players with bulk and height.

Jarrad Grant is not someone that a forward line can be built around, he is more of a complimentary piece. McEvoy would have been a huge body to place at centre half forward and then to add parts around him. The Saints did well, as did the Lions who took big Henderson. If Jarrad Grant was drafted by the Lions, and teamed with Jonathan Brown, he would be a lot more effective than being the number one forward option that some at the Bulldogs think he could be.

The Bulldogs went for another midfielder, but a strong and smart tall defender was available. Adding Pears to the back line would have improved the Bulldogs a lot. Collier and Otten were also there to pick. The biggest of all, Dawson Simpson, was there too. In some of the post-draft reporting, there have been suggestions that the Bulldogs were hoping for Tarrant at pick 19, if this is correct then that means that some at the Bulldogs realized they needed to stock up on key position players.

The Bulldogs could have also added Thompson from Geelong's VFL side with their next pick, instead of yet another midfielder. They just traded away Jordan McMahon, but then drafted someone who plays just like him.

The Bulldogs must have spent plenty of time looking at Dandenong's TAC Cup players, but they didn't identify the one who plays like a real key forward, Scott Simpson. If there was one player in this draft that had more than a few similarities with Chris Grant it was probably Scott Simpson.

While they did take height late, there were other players available who might have been better than Boumann.

Another midfielder/forward went with their next choice, Melbourne were one of the teams who won the draft and after the Bulldogs took G O'Keefe they found a tall defender in McNamara.

Ben McEvoy - Jarrad Grant

Tayte Pears - Callan Ward

Scott Thompson - Sam Reid

Scott Simpson - Easton Wood

Dean Putt - Jarrad Boumann

Tom McNamara - Guy O'Keefe


They do have a preseason pick, which they are expected to use on Scott Welsh, as well as some rookie selections but it will be another season at the Bulldogs when they go into battle undersized, and it looks like it will take someone new at the Bulldogs to change how they recruit and play. The Bulldogs have not made it to a Grand Final during the era of AFL drafts, so that points out how ineffective they have been when selecting players.