Quote Originally Posted by PeanutsPeanuts View Post
I don't think it's quite fair to say fair value or par for a Hrovat (for example) is what you paid for him initially (pick 21). That's a bit like buying a car, getting 3 years of use out of it and expecting the same price to sell it. If you pick a player at 21 or so and get 10 places or so lower 3 years down the track, that is a pretty fair reflecton that the player has held good value.
I'm not convinced that Hrovat would land us a pick in the 30s, should he have another yo-yo season with us. Therefore, using 21 on Hrovat and then losing him for a low pick (40+) is a poor outcome. The criticisms of our persistence in drafting similar players are warranted and it is a myth that we can just trade them out for needs. If we are able to hold onto them and maintain our depth it's fantastic, and I think a player like Hrovat can be good value, but it's generally unrealistic even for sides like Hawthorn and Sydney who have lost good players for basically nothing over the years (Kennedy, McGlynn, Dempster, Schneider and to lesser degrees Biggs, Everitt, Hallahan in recent years).