Crook knee fells Thorne

[Grantysghost]

Crook knee fells Thorne

GREY MORRIS

October 13th, 2010

A CRIPPLING knee injury has brought a premature end to Territorian Shane Thorne's AFL career at the Western Bulldogs.

Thorne dislocated his left knee in his first VFL game for the Bulldogs and never played again.

"I had my opportunity but it didn't go well from the start," a disappointed Thorne said last night.

"I remember my knee cap getting knocked off and all the rehab that followed, it hasn't been a lot of fun.

"The club wants to go deep into the draft and with their father-son picks (Tom Liberatore and Mitchell Wallis) already there wasn't much room left on the list for me I'm afraid."

Thorne was told last week his first stint at the Bulldogs was up, though football manager James Fanastia last night said the door to an AFL career was still open for the player they call "Mr Magic".

Link

[Swoop]

I was under the impression that all draftees sign a 2 year minimum contract, does this mean we would have to pay Thorne out his remaining year?

[Mofra]

If he's drafted as a mature age player we can offer him a single year contract I believe

[comrade]

Crook knee or crook attitude?

[Axe Man]

It's hard to know for sure without having full details of the injury but it sounds like excuses to me.

I have dislocated my knee cap a few times and even the first time (which is always the worst), I was playing footy within 6 weeks. It is possible that he suffered additional structural and/or ligament damage, but an 8 or so month layoff sounds like he wasn't working on his rehab hard enough.

[Swoop]

How much responsibility should Dalrymple accept for this failed selection? Obviously there is a fair amount of risk vs reward that needs be assesed and you could argue all players taken in that range of the draft were speculative however my question is how much due diligence was done & how confident were they that Thorne could make the transition to Melbourne city life taking into account the other factors which were well known beforehand i.e. Wife & kids.

Did we jump at shadows knowing that other clubs were also keen to draft him? Was it a case of new recruiter trying to make a name of himself, indentifying Thorne's talent and than being too stubborn and not wanting to be trumped by another club when perhaps we should have looked elsewhere at that point in the draft.

I understand hindsight is a beautiful thing however it seems it was clear to most from very early on that Thorne was very raw when he came to the club and was always going to struggle to make the grade. I can't help but to think that if the homework was done thoroughly this would have been obvious to asses just as it was when he arrived at the club.

It seems to me that he was an ideal rookie selection who we overpaid for as was Markovic. Basic things such as the height of a player & speed appear to be obvious attributes which weren't carefully analysed until after they were drafted and were already at the club. Markovic for example was clearly always going to struggle at AFL level to play genuine key position and neither has the speed to play the position. These things were obvious from the outset of him arriving at the club and you can't help to question why this wasn't identified in recruitment process prior to drafting.

I thought 12 months on with Thorne now officially delisted & Markovic struggling to have any impact it is important that these questions are asked & more importantly answered. I certainly hope Eade has asked these questions behind closed doors as it is important people are held accountable for these important decisions.

[comrade]

It's simple - we need a list manager but apparently can't afford it.

Until we invest in one, we'll continue to make bad list decisions and lag behind the top clubs.

[Mantis]

It's simple - we need a list manager but apparently can't afford it.

Until we invest in one, we'll continue to make bad list decisions and lag behind the top clubs.

I don't see how a list manager would help us not make a poor decision at the draft table.

It was a shit draft, Dalrymple took a punt with a late pick and it hasn't paid off, so we dump him and we all move on... Perhaps further 'due diligence' should have occured to ensure we were drafting a player who had the necessary dedication to succeed, but I don't believe a list manager would help with this particular decision... but no doubt it could help with others.

[Desipura]

Cmon Guys, he was a late pick, no List Manager would have made a difference.
FWIW Collingwood were also eyeing Thorne at the time.

[Greystache]

We've dumped him and moved on. It was obvious very early in the piece he was a poor choice, but on the positive side at least it only cost a very late pick and a minimal salary, plus we didn't waste 2-3 years before we realised it wasn't going to work.

[anfo27]

I have to agree with swoop on this one. It just doesn't look good to me that you recruit a mature age player, he plays one game and then delisted.
I'm a bit worried with how things are going down there regarding drafting and trades. It is early to pass judgement on Dalrymple or Fantasia or whoever else is involved in this area. Thorne & Markovic are clear stuff ups, Tutt sounds like he could of been picked up later in the draft and for second year running at the trade table the swans change the original draft pick on us.
Maybe someone who has more knowledge can enlighten me on how we can cave in to the swans after the deal has been done. I'm just worried we have some people in there who are too inexperienced to make the best decisions for our footy club.

[comrade]

I have to agree with swoop on this one. It just doesn't look good to me that you recruit a mature age player, he plays 30 seconds of one game and then delisted.

Edited for accuracy