Dalrymples first draft.

[Mofra]

I'm hoping that Dalrymple is given a few drafts to adjudge his performance on, not just one.
This was regarded as a shallow draft, and a few guys seem to be more depth picks than out and out montys to make the grade.

Time will tell, he's joined at a poor time to be judged as a talent scout, given our f/s picks and the GC17 & WS18 concessions over the next few years. If we get one each of our 2009 draftees & rookies who make an impact in coming seasons, that'd be close enough to a pass for me.

[LostDoggy]

Time will tell, he's joined at a poor time to be judged as a talent scout.

Isn't it when pickings are slim that the best scouts will stand out? It's no skill to pick a gun from a strong draft, any of us could do it by shutting our eyes and throwing a dart at a bunch of names, it's when the talent pool is supposedly lean that a good scout (and development coach/team) can really build a reputation by accurately judging a players' growth potential and overall fit into a team's culture and succession planning.

I think the 'lean draft' excuse is precisely that -- an excuse -- after all, every club (bar GC17) has access to the same talent pool so it's not as if anyone is getting a leg up (so to speak) -- it's all relative, and is a real opportunity for someone to jump ahead by identifying that one or two star potentials later in the draft (which is when a scout earns their bread). Of course, there's the matter of timing, but clubs that have played outside the spirit of the system by tanking and trying to 'time the cycle' or being shit deserve all the crap luck that they get.

The coaching and recruiting team at the Dogs has shown that you can build a good team by developing a deep list and adding to it with quality players from everywhere in the draft (including the rookie list) -- the core of our team, apart from the veterans, aren't first rounders from our crap years (other than Coons and Griff, our other early picks -- Williams, Walsh, Grant, Everitt -- haven't come on all that much) but are picks from the '99 draft when we were still a good team (Murph, Gia, Gilbs, Hargrave etc.), astutely recycled players (Huddo, Aker, previously Welsh, now Hall), and a bunch of late picks or great rookie pick-ups (Cross, Lake, Morris, Boyd, Harbrow, Picken).

[Mofra]

Isn't it when pickings are slim that the best scouts will stand out? It's no skill to pick a gun from a strong draft, any of us could do it by shutting our eyes and throwing a dart at a bunch of names, it's when the talent pool is supposedly lean that a good scout (and development coach/team) can really build a reputation by accurately judging a players' growth potential and overall fit into a team's culture and succession planning.

You've raised some good points, but I think you've misinterpreted my intent slightly. With 2-3 f/s selections over the next few years, his results will be based solely on the leftover selections which will be late round picks in a compromised draft.

If he manages 1 player per year (outside of f/s selections) who make the grade over the next few years, his strike rate will be well down on his contempories however he would have arguably done a better job.

[Cyberdoggie]

Due to salary cap pressures we appear to have added a lot of mature type players on the cheap which has added a lot to our depth.
I think it was a bonus to land Panos and we can slot him into a key forward role in the Williamstown 2nds and have a good look at him.

Peter German has a critical role now of managing a number of players between the seniors and the reserves. This will create a lot of competition which, if managed well, can only be good for us.

Very good points there.

It's always been difficult to manage the younger and more senior players outside of the Bulldogs side. The rookies we have selected seem to be bigger stronger and also more mature in Rose and Moles, so German will find it even more of a challenge to balance the Williamstown players, the Bulldogs primary list players and the rookies.

It should all make for a good viewing none the less.

[Mantis]

I was pretty sure that this rule only came into effect when you played against a stand alone side such as Frankston.

Can someone clarify this rule?

It has been confirmed that we can play as many of our listed (senior & rookie) players as we like (or as many as Williamstown let us) against all teams other than the stand alone ones.

[LostDoggy]

You've raised some good points, but I think you've misinterpreted my intent slightly. With 2-3 f/s selections over the next few years, his results will be based solely on the leftover selections which will be late round picks in a compromised draft.

If he manages 1 player per year (outside of f/s selections) who make the grade over the next few years, his strike rate will be well down on his contempories however he would have arguably done a better job.

Ah. Yes, and I for one wouldn't be judging him based on comparisons with his contemporaries -- apples with apples and all that.

[mighty_west]

As Sockeye alerted me, the problem now is with so many rookies, a number of them and other listed players will be at Williamstown 2nds due to the stupid 12 AFL player list rule.

Well, if those players are good enough, they will be made to work their collective asses off to get promoted and not recieve a free ticket into the senior side, having to bust a gut and get yourself promoted into the Willy ones can only be a healthy thing for young up & comers, Boumann did it, Roughead did it, generally players that make it do it, and the players that don't, well........................goodbye.

[comrade]

It has been confirmed that we can play as many of our listed (senior & rookie) players as we like (or as many as Williamstown let us) against all teams other than the stand alone ones.

I think the bolded part is the key.

[Cyberdoggie]

It will be interesting to see what they do with the Williamstown selection, as we have picked up a few hbf running types in Howard and Tutt, a couple of midfielders in Moles and Hooper. If i was Dylan Addison i would be worried for my position. He needs to impress this year or he might end up like Cameron Wight.

[Mofra]

As an aside, Dalrymple seemed a bit more inclined to draft for needs rather than purely on a best available basis. Even if only a few of his picks kick on, we may see a more balanced list in coming years.

[mighty_west]

It will be interesting to see what they do with the Williamstown selection, as we have picked up a few hbf running types in Howard and Tutt, a couple of midfielders in Moles and Hooper. If i was Dylan Addison i would be worried for my position. He needs to impress this year or he might end up like Cameron Wight.

Which can only be a great thing for the club, Addison won't want some 18 year old come in and take his spot, so he better work his ass off to make sure that doesn't happen, the competition for spots seems greater than most years, the main side has a settled defence with the likes of Boumann & Marko, Addison & Callan knocking on the door, same with the mids with Wood & Reid able to come in at any stage.

Something we haven't had was alot of developing forwards, now we do, and Grant won't want an 18 year old Panos coming in & taking his spot in the Willy ones, so he better bloody work his ass off to keep that spot! Jones would also be knocking on the door to play Willy seniors in 2010, then we have Rough & Cordy as well.

I don't subscribe to the "Willy will only let us play so many Bulldogs listed players" etc etc because basically, if you're good enough, you will get promoted, i don't remember seeing many players that didn't get promoted make the grade!

Good times.

[mighty_west]

As an aside, Dalrymple seemed a bit more inclined to draft for needs rather than purely on a best available basis. Even if only a few of his picks kick on, we may see a more balanced list in coming years.

It's probably a smart move on two fronts:

1. where we are as a team right now, no longer just in a development phase but pressing for a Premiership

2. a shallow draft.

[chef]

He is also seems to be filling the holes that retirements are going to cause over the next 1-3 years.

[LostDoggy]

He is also seems to be filling the holes that retirements are going to cause over the next 1-3 years.

Succession planning.

[Mantis]

Succession planning.

Which is great.

There was a concern early last year that we didn't have players on our list capable of filling the shoes of the likes of Gilbee and Eagleton when they finish up. One would think that with the drafting of Howard and Tutt we are at the very least attempting to achieve this.