Pick Ups

[Twodogs]

We certainly showed North Melbourne with our lost preliminary finals while they were busy making grand finals and winning premierships!

Paul Hudson was an excellent get for us, 214 goals from 108 games was a solid return.........irrespective of his hungry behaviour that cost us a goal in the last quarter of the 97 prelim!

Just get out of his way Huddo. That last quarter was like watching car accident after car accident. Of all the times that Paul Hudson decides he's going to make a contest for the ball it had to be then and with his own teammate. But you know what? It only took 19 years and four more prelim losses to get our redemption.

Calm blue ocean.

Hudson was a plan B as well. We were all ready to announce Shannon Grant and on the morning we were going to do it there was a story on the back page of the H/S with quotes from Libba saying he hadn't been paid and when Grant read that he decided he's going to North instead. A coulple of phone calls (I think we'd already done our due diligence because we had already been talking with him) later and Paul Hudson was our big name recruit for 1997! Our luck was in that day. Not many players come to us from another club and get AA selection. Paul Hudson was traded to Richmond for pick 49 and we traded that pick to Brisbane for Marcus Picken.

[merantau]

Thanks RD. I didn't know the background to Paul Hudson's arrival. He was certainly a good pick up.
And now for something completely different!
ALAN JAKOVICH!!

[Twodogs]

Some trades are good for the soul. Leon Cameron to Richmomd for draft picks 37 and 66turned into Mitch Hahn and Ryan Hargrave. Cameron played 84 games of quality football for Richmond but we got Mitch and Shaggy.

[merantau]

I was sad to see Leon go but we ended up with two excellent players as a result. It doesn't always end that way.
One that comes to mind is Jayde - I can't bring myself to mention his name. I can't re-call what the deal was but he turned out to be a big disappointment. Kicked 7 goals in an early game and then racked it. His appalling kicking cost us games.

[Twodogs]

It was his first game for us that he kicked seven! We said we were going to play him at full forward and they said we were mad. And it turned out we were mad after all.

[Mofra]

It was his first game for us that he kicked seven! We said we were going to play him at full forward and they said we were mad. And it turned out we were mad after all.

Didn't help that he really wanted to get to North and we screwed him.
We spent a solid 20 years looking for a white-knight tall forward and never nailed it, save for Barry Hall for one final year just as defensive pressure started to become really important for KPFs.

If we're talking pick ups this one I both love and hate - Ben Hudson.

Love - great ruckman, made the mids better as he blocked space so when, competitive, great bloke off field, had his own fanclub.
Bad - he was under our nose at VFL level and our idiot coach at the time didn't want him so he went to the Crows first and we had to trade for him.

[merantau]

Gordon Casey was a great pick up for us. He played 1 game at Carlton in '68. Came to us in '69. We turned him into a back pocket and he played 125 games for us. A really solid player. We have had some great back pocket players. Wally Donald, Charlie Evans, Ray Walker, Casey, Micky Egan, Wheels.

[Twodogs]

Didn't help that he really wanted to get to North and we screwed him.
We spent a solid 20 years looking for a white-knight tall forward and never nailed it, save for Barry Hall for one final year just as defensive pressure started to become really important for KPFs.

If we're talking pick ups this one I both love and hate - Ben Hudson.

Love - great ruckman, made the mids better as he blocked space so when, competitive, great bloke off field, had his own fanclub.
Bad - he was under our nose at VFL level and our idiot coach at the time didn't want him so he went to the Crows first and we had to trade for him.

I can't have this "poor bugger Jayde, he wanted to go to North" business. If he wanted to go to North then he shouldn't have signed with us before the draft. If he had been willing to sign a lesser contract with North then we would have been snookered. He was distracted by the amount of money we offered him, that's all. Then he had a two and a half year tantrum on our coin.

[Bulldog4life]

Gordon Casey was a great pick up for us. He played 1 game at Carlton in '68. Came to us in '69. We turned him into a back pocket and he played 125 games for us. A really solid player. We have had some great back pocket players. Wally Donald, Charlie Evans, Ray Walker, Casey, Micky Egan, Wheels.

Ian Bryant also played back pocket as well as wing. A number of them represented Victoria too.

[Twodogs]

Gordon Casey was a great pick up for us. He played 1 game at Carlton in '68. Came to us in '69. We turned him into a back pocket and he played 125 games for us. A really solid player. We have had some great back pocket players. Wally Donald, Charlie Evans, Ray Walker, Casey, Micky Egan, Wheels.

I saw Gordon Casey on Saturday at Merv Hughes oval. Phil O Leefe and the great Zino Tzatzaris were there too.

[GVGjr]

Glenn Coleman was a fantastic addition to our side. He came to us when we had drafted Chris Grant and I think Coleman played a key role in Grants excellent debut season. He played 69 games for us in 4 seasons and 3 of those seasons he produced his highest disposal averages in his 13 years as an AFL footballer. I think Coleman is still the only player who played 50 games or more for 3 AFL clubs

Deserves to be mentioned as a great pick up

[merantau]

Ian Bryant also played back pocket as well as wing. A number of them represented Victoria too.

Ian Bryant - a great exponent of the drop kick. Terrific player.

[merantau]

Glenn Coleman was a fantastic addition to our side. He came to us when we had drafted Chris Grant and I think Coleman played a key role in Grants excellent debut season. He played 69 games for us in 4 seasons and 3 of those seasons he produced his highest disposal averages in his 13 years as an AFL footballer. I think Coleman is still the only player who played 50 games or more for 3 AFL clubs

Deserves to be mentioned as a great pick up

You are dead right about Galaxy. Fitzroy, Swans and us. He was really good value and supporters loved him.

[bornadog]

You are dead right about Galaxy. Fitzroy, Swans and us. He was really good value and supporters loved him.

As GVGjr Said, he was also good for Grant in his first year as a 17 year old.

Remember when he broke the point post. Not a word in the media, but when Leigh Thug Matthews did it, what a big deal it was.

[Twodogs]

Glenn Coleman was a fantastic addition to our side. He came to us when we had drafted Chris Grant and I think Coleman played a key role in Grants excellent debut season. He played 69 games for us in 4 seasons and 3 of those seasons he produced his highest disposal averages in his 13 years as an AFL footballer. I think Coleman is still the only player who played 50 games or more for 3 AFL clubs

Deserves to be mentioned as a great pick up

Nobody cut up rough around Chris Grant when Galaxy was about. If they even looked at Chris the wrong way then Glen would kick their arse. The best protecter we ever had.

Ian Bryant - a great exponent of the drop kick. Terrific player.

He worked with my dad at the old council depot in Southampton st. He came home one day and said to me " always watch out for the rat around the loose ball" and I said "sorry, what are you going on about now?" "We were playing kick to kick at work at lunchtime and I thought I was clear through with it. I still don't know where Ian Bryant came from but gee he cleaned me up, he apologised after and said he'd just forgotten where he was"

As GVGjr Said, he was also good for Grant in his first year as a 17 year old.

Remember when he broke the point post. Not a word in the media, but when Leigh Thug Matthews did it, what a big deal it was.

Bloody Lou Richards going on about what a he-man Matthews was. Yeah, that point post must have had its back turned to Mathews and it wasn't expecting him to make contact is the only comment I will make.