* First Round Draft picks to come in

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

O'Brien looks OK but he reminds me of a Gunston/Grant type in that he will never be the physically imposing, big key forward that so many sides need. For Hawthorn, he'll probably carve out a good career as that third tall. It's not to say we don't need a player like that mind you, but we do have a few "third tall" types - and I would rather Hrovat, much rather.

Like Grey I do have concerns over his soft tissue injuries, but on pure ability/attitude I think Hrovat is right up there. It's disappointing he hasn't yet had a consistent run at it to prove his worth.

I suggest watching last year's match v Essendon. Hrovat was outstanding.

[Greystache]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

O'Brien looks OK but he reminds me of a Gunston/Grant type in that he will never be the physically imposing, big key forward that so many sides need. For Hawthorn, he'll probably carve out a good career as that third tall. It's not to say we don't need a player like that mind you, but we do have a few "third tall" types - and I would rather Hrovat, much rather.

Exactly what I think too TBB. O'Brien looks your classic Scott Clayton KPF. A bit short, very skinny, and is somehow supposed to develop into a physically imposing gorilla forward. I'm not upset we skipped him, he might become a good 3rd tall, but it's the number 1 and 2 tall we've never been able to find. 5 possession in total in his first 2 games btw.

[chef]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Grant - Bad drafting if compared to Dangerfield etc. but if he reproduces his form of late last year, he will be a very handy player moving forward.

Wasn't it Henderson or Grant we were tossing up, Lauchie would be very handy for us now.

[Greystache]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Wasn't it Henderson or Grant we were tossing up, Lauchie would be very handy for us now.

Yeah, if I remember correctly we weren't sure if he could play the role of the number 1 forward, so we chose the short skinny kid instead

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Doesn't the story go something like...

"How do you feel about being the number one target in a forward line?"

LH: I see myself as a contributor (or something along those lines)

JG: I want to be the man.

[chef]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Yeah, if I remember correctly we weren't sure if he could play the role of the number 1 forward, so we chose the short skinny kid instead

Apparently he couldn't kick over a jam tin too

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Our inability to draft good tall talent is quite mind boggling.

Aside from Roughead, Minson and Lake were the only other two worthy of mentioning in the last 10 or so years (Darcy/Grant before that).

[Greystache]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Our inability to draft good tall talent is quite mind boggling.

Aside from Roughead, Minson and Lake were the only other two worthy of mentioning in the last 10 or so years (Darcy/Grant before that).

In the 10 years he was our recruiter Scott Clayton only recruited 2 players over 190cm that played 100 games. And one of those (Lake) was just a lucky toss of a coin selection because he liked his life story. Roughead looks the only certainty to add to that list. Like you said, mind boggling.

[Bornadog]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

In the 10 years he was our recruiter Scott Clayton only recruited 2 players over 190cm that played 100 games. And one of those (Lake) was just a lucky toss of a coin selection because he liked his life story. Roughead looks the only certainty to add to that list. Like you said, mind boggling.

How many 200 plus gamers has Clayton recruited? Probably more than any other recuiter in history.

Talls are very hit and miss, take a look at every other team and we are not that different. Sometimes it is just a matter of luck if they turn out to be any good because they mature much later than other players. Sometimes injury kills their career (Williams), sometimes their body just doesn't grow like it should or they become awkward as they put on weight (Cordy). That is not the recruiters fault. They can only pick best available at the time.

We still have Minson, Roughead, Jones, Cordy and Grant from the Clayton era and add Lake and Clayton could still be a hero with talls.

[chef]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Wasn't he very hit and miss with first round picks?

[Greystache]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

How many 200 plus gamers has Clayton recruited? Probably more than any other recuiter in history.

Talls are very hit and miss, take a look at every other team and we are not that different. Sometimes it is just a matter of luck if they turn out to be any good because they mature much later than other players. Sometimes injury kills their career (Williams), sometimes their body just doesn't grow like it should or they become awkward as they put on weight (Cordy). That is not the recruiters fault. They can only pick best available at the time.

We still have Minson, Roughead, Jones, Cordy and Grant from the Clayton era and add Lake and Clayton could still be a hero with talls.

That's an appalling performance, luck is a rubbish cop out. He picked 3 talls inside the top 6 and only one has the ability to be a half decent (Grant) and he still has big questions over him. A big footy poster could have had as many hits over 10 years just looking at phantom drafts. This guy is a paid professional.

Minson is one of his 2 already counted, Roughead is a good chance be a long term quality player, Cordy needs a miracle to be average, Williams is lucky to still be on the list, and Jones could go either way. He has absolutely no chance of being a hero with the talls we have left from his legacy.

We are still paying the price for an incredibly long period of inept recruiting of tall players, his obsession with skinny athletes should have been stamped out in the mid 2000's when it was obvious he was getting them wrong.

[LostDoggy]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Hrovat - Alright, unpopular opinion time (noting he was an early second round pick wasn't he?) - did we really need to pick him up given what we need on our list? He looks good - but Hawks nabbed O'Brien with the pick we downgraded to, and although talls take longer we are in desperate need for decent developing
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Semantics but yeh he was still a 1st rounder. The first round went pretty deep because of compo picks.

[GVGjr]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Hrovat - Alright, unpopular opinion time (noting he was an early second round pick wasn't he?) - did we really need to pick him up given what we need on our list? He looks good - but Hawks nabbed O'Brien with the pick we downgraded to, and although talls take longer we are in desperate need for decent developing talls

I think Hrovat possess some excellent qualities that we need at the club. At the time I was desperate for us to target a key position player but since his arrival I'm now convinced we did the right thing. I get what you are saying about us really needing talls but I can't fault this selection.

The development of Stringer, Macrae and Hrovat from that draft year is very important for the club especially when you add Hunter to the mix.

Smith showed some great signs last year and he will be a welcome addition in the next week or so

[1eyedog]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

Our inability to draft good tall talent is quite mind boggling.

Aside from Roughead, Minson and Lake were the only other two worthy of mentioning in the last 10 or so years (Darcy/Grant before that).

How many other clubs have more than two really good talls over that time span though? Not many.

[Bornadog]

Re: * First Round Draft picks to come in

, his obsession with skinny athletes should have been stamped out in the mid 2000's when it was obvious he was getting them wrong.

Yep Minson, Roughead and Jones are all skinny athletes