Predictions for 2013: our young players

[Greystache]

Pointless article to fill column inches while not much is happening. You know that in a few months when Melbourne are rubbish and Richmond has missed the finals he'll write another article criticising the recruiting of recycled players and lack of faith in the draft and their ability to develop youth.

These type of articles get written on the flavour of the day, forgotten tomorrow, and contradicted next month. Mike Sheehan was a classic for it.

[Remi Moses]

Rohan's usually quite good, but really this is space filling in between seasons stuff.
I'd rather pick up players via F/A or other clubs when we're in finals mode to be honest.
For a Melbourne and Richmond I'll give you a Brisbane.Scattergun recruiting that failed miserably.Following the Geelong template,they didn't recruit anyone from the outside of any significance until Ottens in 04.

[Remi Moses]

Pointless article to fill column inches while not much is happening. You know that in a few months when Melbourne are rubbish and Richmond has missed the finals he'll write another article criticising the recruiting of recycled players and lack of faith in the draft and their ability to develop youth.

These type of articles get written on the flavour of the day, forgotten tomorrow, and contradicted next month. Mike Sheehan was a classic for it.

Spot on. Robert Walls also was a classic in that regard.

[Ghost Dog]

But there remain plenty of raised eyebrows among the Dogs rivals about their relative reluctance to plunder the lists of other AFL clubs.
One official from a club which continues to do well out of rival lists said this week he was "staggered" by the extent to which the Bulldogs had remained content to develop from within. "I can't believe it. It's all well and good to say you're going to rebuild through the draft, but the way their list looks, I reckon that could take them up to six years."

Not a lot of players are going to want to come to us.

[LongWait]

Rohan's usually quite good, but really this is space filling in between seasons stuff.
I'd rather pick up players via F/A or other clubs when we're in finals mode to be honest.
For a Melbourne and Richmond I'll give you a Brisbane.Scattergun recruiting that failed miserably.Following the Geelong template,they didn't recruit anyone from the outside of any significance until Ottens in 04.

I like your citing of the Brisbane example Remi. Examples of poor recruiting abound via the draft and via trading/drafting mature age players.

[Remi Moses]

Not a lot of players are going to want to come to us.

They will if we throw big coin ala Mitch Clark.

[stefoid]

Its true that there is no use being a team of developing youngsters at the same time as GC and GWS who are also teams full of developing youngsters, but with much deeper quality. We absolutely need mature players and a hard-arsed attitude to maintain an edge over those teams, or they will leave us in the dust in two years time.

But that article is off the mark - we only have a few traded-in players on our list right now not because we dont try to get players from other clubs, but because most of the ones we did trade in werent up to scratch and we got rid of them.

[bornadog]

Its true that there is no use being a team of developing youngsters at the same time as GC and GWS who are also teams full of developing youngsters, but with much deeper quality. We absolutely need mature players and a hard-arsed attitude to maintain an edge over those teams, or they will leave us in the dust in two years time.

But that article is off the mark - we only have a few traded-in players on our list right now not because we dont try to get players from other clubs, but because most of the ones we did trade in werent up to scratch and we got rid of them.

Another big plus for us is the rookie upgrades. We tried out players like Dahl, JJ, Campbell, over the past two years and we know what we are getting. They are not raw recruits, they have played against the men in the VFL. I think we did well to get Lower and Stevens to top up as they are at a good age and hopefully they will perform.

Overall, at this stage I am happy with our recruiting and perhaps next year we can go after a bigger name player if we need to.

[jeemak]

Why would you recruit a bunch of players in drafts, and not wait for them to give an indication of how your list might fill out, and what it might need to be topped up with? Why would you not build a list with the benefits of early draft picks?

Recruiting ready made players is OK, but to get them to your club you need to have reasonable players on your list that are sundry to requirements, draft picks or gun players that aren't going to be around for the next tilt to trade for them.

Plus, there needs to be quality players available.

[Remi Moses]

Its true that there is no use being a team of developing youngsters at the same time as GC and GWS who are also teams full of developing youngsters, but with much deeper quality. We absolutely need mature players and a hard-arsed attitude to maintain an edge over those teams, or they will leave us in the dust in two years time.

But that article is off the mark - we only have a few traded-in players on our list right now not because we dont try to get players from other clubs, but because most of the ones we did trade in werent up to scratch and we got rid of them.

Not sure if GC have picked up the right types though.
Seems to be a lot of Skinny types( sounds familiar)

[FrediKanoute]

You don't think we chased Bazza in 2009? We tried but he was contracted and the Swans wanted to keep him.

In todays footy it could take 6 years but then again it could take another couple of seasons, you just don't know how players are going to develop. Harbrow and Ward in the team and the drafting looks much better as the whole team does and we wouldn't be talking about how badly we drafted in the last couple of years..

My point was that we were unwilling to sell the farm for him. Most here would have screamed murder if we had given away a first rounder or a young kid, yet I think Bazza in 2009 would have been the difference. It would have been a win win trade.

[GVGjr]

The players I think we can see some improvement in are Johannisen, Smith, Talia and Dahlhaus.

Johannisen - should be able to play 12 senior games providing he stays injury free. He provides us with some pace that we lack and some poise and kicking skills that we also need.
I think I'm keeping my expectations realistic because I'm sure his form will fluctuate and that we will try a few different options through the season.

Smith - will benefit for another preseason but he will also need some breaks through the year.
Competition will be huge for midfield spots so Smith needs to become a factor as a forward. His kicking skills still concern me but he is a hard worker and should get a lot better.

Talia - will get games by default given we are looking to fast track him. He is a competitive type and hopefully the reports that he has improved his mobility are spot on. I think he could get 10 to 14 games this year.

Dahlhaus - has been used mainly as a forward and we all love his work ethic but I think his pace is now required to spend a lot more time in the midfield.

Some of the players I'm concerned about include Liberatore, Cordy, Howard and Tutt

Liberatore - is coming back off a highly distracted season and while there is no doubting his football ability, I don't think fixing the issues he experienced last season is as easy as some people might believe. At his best he gets picked every week but if he hasn't committed himself then he could once again be a distraction.

Cordy - every thing is ready for Cordy to make a big step forward because he has had a nice injury free preseason. He needs to be able to hold his marks up forward and provide 5 minutes in the ruck each quarter to become a regular player. I'm not sure he is ready but excuses are running out for him and its a crunch season.

Howard - is a player I like and I know I will sound like a broken record but while his good games are more than acceptable his bad ones are fairly ugly. He was another youngster who had some distractions last year and if can get focused he can be a valuable player for us.

Tutt - provides some attributes that we really need in our side with his pace and kicking skills but he hasn't really established a spot in the side. He needs a close look at Dahlhaus and see what else he can add to his game. It's easy to say he won't make it because of his height but there are a number of guys around his size in the AFL who have no problems getting a game.

I don't have high expectations on Wallis taking another step forward this year because last efforts last year were impressive. I'd be delighted if he did but I think we need to wait a couple of more years before we see him at his best.
Jones and Roughead have big years ahead of them.

[Ghost Dog]

Ok, thanks for that. How do you feel about the Roughy experiment down back?
I actually feel more confident with him than Cordy as a forward.....

[DragzLS1]

Ok, thanks for that. How do you feel about the Roughy experiment down back?
I actually feel more confident with him than Cordy as a forward.....

I'm really looking forward to roughy down back and like you am more confident in him making it there then Cordy up forward. Think jones will do marginally better this season with the big improvers being jj and talia.

Top goal scoters will be higgens and Gia with grant coming in 3rd or 4th. I just have a feeling

[Ghost Dog]

I'm really looking forward to roughy down back and like you am more confident in him making it there then Cordy up forward. Think jones will do marginally better this season with the big improvers being jj and talia.

Top goal scoters will be higgens and Gia with grant coming in 3rd or 4th. I just have a feeling

Could be on the money with that prediction DGLS1

How good was Gia in the first few minutes V Collingwood? I love watching him play on O'Brien as he regularly out foxes him, despite giving up a height, weight and speed advantage. I reckon he might just rise to the occasion, his last year with us. Going to enjoy watching him this season.