Our greatest Moneyball selections

[GVGjr]

Liam Picken.
2009 Dal's first draft.
6th round selection.
Pick-86.
Off the rookie list.
127 games.
Outstanding.

And as I understand it we got him primarily because Williamstown paid his rookie salary.

[Webby]

In the pure ungainly, under appreciated, minor-leaguer who "gets on base" premise of Moneyball, it simply has to be Tony Liberatore.

Morrish Medal, 2 x Gardiner Medal winner who didn't look the part, but "gets the footy."

250+ games, b&f's, Brownlow Medal and Team of the Century later. The textbook Moneyball footballer.

[w3design]

In my understanding of a moneyball selection Hamling stands out as the almost perfect candidate.

One could almost view 2014s entire draft crop as excellent moneyball selections but on output Dickson and Dahlhaus are our greatest.

[Ghost Dog]

In the pure ungainly, under appreciated, minor-leaguer who "gets on base" premise of Moneyball, it simply has to be Tony Liberatore.

Morrish Medal, 2 x Gardiner Medal winner who didn't look the part, but "gets the footy."

250+ games, b&f's, Brownlow Medal and Team of the Century later. The textbook Moneyball footballer.

How about your best SD selection?

[bornadog]

How about your best SD selection?

The Bont and Stringer

[F'scary]

The moneyball concept revolves around the notion that by using cold, hard logic ("analytics") and clear thinking you can select better than the competition who, with little self-insight, rely on conventional wisdom and consensus opinion. A key element of the moneyball concept, as implied by the name, is that by employing sound methods, you can get the same or better value on the park for less money.

Dahlhaus fits the bill because we were persuaded to take him on (albeit as a low risk rookie pick) on the strength of what many regard as secondary indicators: tackling and chasing. On primary indicators such as disposal skills and accumulation of possessions, no-one saw enough in him to beat us to the punch.

Tory Dickson fits the bill. On primary indicators, including age, no-one would have recruited him. McCartney and Dalrymple placed a higher value on his sustained goal kicking returns in the lower leagues.

Geelong's JPod is likewise a classic moneyball case.

The Dicko/JPod examples indicate there is probably a whole raft of AFL standard players out there playing in the lower comps. You just have to work out a way of identifying their likely chance of success.

Essendon have a unique opportunity to play moneyball this year. But my observation is that they are just picking whoever the last person they spoke to tells them to pick.

[GVGjr]

We are spending a lot of time defining Moneyball principles and I think most of them are based on the movie which was very different to the book. I don't believe that is the intention of the opening post so lets try and focus on the value selections SD has made.

[GVGjr]

The moneyball concept revolves around the notion that by using cold, hard logic ("analytics") and clear thinking you can select better than the competition who, with little self-insight, rely on conventional wisdom and consensus opinion. A key element of the moneyball concept, as implied by the name, is that by employing sound methods, you can get the same or better value on the park for less money.

I think that is a very fair assessment of the Moneyball concept.

[Mofra]

Essendon have a unique opportunity to play moneyball this year. But my observation is that they are just picking whoever the last person they spoke to tells them to pick.

They were actually poised to pick both Dickson and Tom Campbell in the ND but we got in first.

[F'scary]

They were actually poised to pick both Dickson and Tom Campbell in the ND but we got in first.

Exactly! We were prepared to rate them higher.

[Twodogs]

Exactly! We were prepared to rate them higher.

And we had the right picks.

[Ghost Dog]

They were actually poised to pick both Dickson and Tom Campbell in the ND but we got in first.

I knew about Tory, but didn't know about Tommy. They also made a huge play ( reported ) for JJ before he signed for us for another 3 years.

[Scraggers]

Koby Stevens for mine ... Wasn't a 'required' player at WCE, but what he does for us in incredible. Tough as guts and straightens our spine. He will be a big inclusion this year.

[LostDoggy]

They were actually poised to pick both Dickson and Tom Campbell in the ND but we got in first.

From memory I think they had their evil eyes on The Bont as well until their draft picks were taken away?!?!

HEH HEH

[Greystache]

And we had the right picks.

They did have the right picks, they just didn't rate him highly enough to choose him. They used pick 19 on Elliott Kavanagh and 31 on Jackson Merrett. We read the play correctly and they're Essendon. It's one of the reasons they haven't finished above 7th in 15 years