Negative Thread

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Negative Thread

Leaving everything else aside, the form and statements being made by the elite kids we've got, especially now with Hrovat, Jake, Bonts and Macrae on the weekend, I'm seriously going back to watching West, Smith, Grant & Johnson break out as a core group. I don't think we've seen a breakout since then and being the age I am I'm not sure if there was another period where a core group of young players just bitch slapped us in the face and said send us off in 300 games time as heroes of this club. It's appearing to me that the aforementioned group of 300+ games, and like Neo and the Matrix, they are starting to believe and we need to strap ourselves in Bonts goaling, setting up, Jake's couple of goals and workrate, Hrovat ripping the game to shreds in other week would be 'the story', but it's Jack being the youngest to get 40 or over with a couple of goals. And that's not mentioning sons of father's who were a part of the last core group Libba, Hunter, Wallis and maybe more names come draft time etc, etc. It's crystalised in my mind now, this core has the potential to emulate possibly the best ever core group in the history of the club.

[whythelongface]

Re: Negative Thread

Well said BT. Certainly some exciting times ahead for the club - add the likes of Smith; Honeychurch; Darly; JJ and we have about a dozen outstanding youngsters who can really take this club forward over the next few years.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Negative Thread

Well said BT. Certainly some exciting times ahead for the club - add the likes of Smith; Honeychurch; Darly; JJ and we have about a dozen outstanding youngsters who can really take this club forward over the next few years.

What is also exciting is the recruiting getting better, to now a gold standard. On the weekend we were without picks - Pick 1, Pick 3, Pick 5, Pick 12, Pick 14, Pick 14, Pick 15.

If we can get those first rounders back in the side, and get the next few years of first rounders like the last few, then giddy up. Add in culling the list correctly and looking at good trades and free agency particularly over the next 2 years and then it's all the more to look forward to.

[F'scary]

Re: Negative Thread

What is also exciting is the recruiting getting better, to now a gold standard. On the weekend we were without picks - Pick 1, Pick 3, Pick 5, Pick 12, Pick 14, Pick 14, Pick 15.

If we can get those first rounders back in the side, and get the next few years of first rounders like the last few, then giddy up. Add in culling the list correctly and looking at good trades and free agency particularly over the next 2 years and then it's all the more to look forward to.

Let me see if I can read this: Pick 1 Cooney; 3 Griffen; 5 Grant...Hang on a mo', are you including Howard and Cordy?

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Negative Thread

Let me see if I can read this: Pick 1 Cooney; 3 Griffen; 5 Grant...Hang on a mo', are you including Howard and Cordy?

Yep, Smith, Higgins, Howard and Cordy are the others - lucky guess!

Smith and Higgins in form are best 22 players, so there's that on top of the team that played with the boys you named. As for Howard and Ayce, that's kind of the point, if we can eliminate the Howard type mistakes and keep winning at the drafts, we have the kids from the weekend with a group of first round talents present and a bunch of first round talents in the future. Get the future picks 100% in the first 2 rounds at least and the list is choc full of top end, elite talent and we keep riding the roller coaster.

[F'scary]

Re: Negative Thread

That is the key - recruiting. It is tricky. There is a lottery element. I don't think the club will ever again make the Howard type mistake. That was one out of the box.

[always right]

Re: Negative Thread

That is the key - recruiting. It is tricky. There is a lottery element. I don't think the club will ever again make the Howard type mistake. That was one out of the box.

A mistake made by a recruiter who was part time at that stage. Staggering really.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Negative Thread

That is the key - recruiting. It is tricky. There is a lottery element. I don't think the club will ever again make the Howard type mistake. That was one out of the box.

Not too sure I agree on the lottery element, there's risk like Rhode selling our club for magic beans and then there is a recruiting team that has delivered outside of the first year when they were PT. So there's risk and then there's risk if you know what I mean.

But the positivity lies in 7 first rounders not playing on the weekend. Griffen walks in, Grant & Smith too, Coons and Higgins will when fit and in form unless traded and everyone, Ayce we're all hoping for. That's 5 first round talents on top of the team yesterday. Add in another pick 5 or so, and pick 25 and potentially an upgrade if Coons hunts a premiership or pick 26 if Higgins goes as a FA. Get these right, get the next year right, add a FA and we are talking about 6 or 7 elite players, first round picks, on top of yesterday spanning the the entire age scale, but predominately still quite young. That's a lot of top end talent to fit into the 22 man squad from yesterday.

[azabob]

Re: Negative Thread

A mistake made by a recruiter who was part time at that stage. Staggering really.

Yep. It's the old story and every company falls for it. Lets save money and not replace the employee who has left. What old go wrong?!?

[Greystache]

Re: Negative Thread

Yep. It's the old story and every company falls for it. Lets save money and not replace the employee who has left. What old go wrong?!?

Which makes the ridiculous decision to take a player from left field with minimal exposed form even more obsurd. If we were limited in our time we could invest in watching under 18 players then you would expect us to invest it in watching the elite players from the traditional pathway. Not spending every second week watching some South Australian school games because you like the kicking action of some average player (which what we have said we did)

I don't buy the part time thing for the Howard disaster, it was bang in the middle of the worst recruiting period in our history, nearly every player was a reach and almost none of them any good. We had 2 different recruiters producing the same results, it's only since BMac has stamped himself on the process that we got our act together.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Negative Thread

Interesting that I'm apparently negative, yet I start (yet another) positive thread and the thing that keeps being commented on is a negative past decision and not the positive future. Just a casual observation, nothing against anyone in the slightest.

[always right]

Re: Negative Thread

Which makes the ridiculous decision to take a player from left field with minimal exposed form even more obsurd. If we were limited in our time we could invest in watching under 18 players then you would expect us to invest it in watching the elite players from the traditional pathway. Not spending every second week watching some South Australian school games because you like the kicking action of some average player (which what we have said we did)

I don't buy the part time thing for the Howard disaster, it was bang in the middle of the worst recruiting period in our history, nearly every player was a reach and almost none of them any good. We had 2 different recruiters producing the same results, it's only since BMac has stamped himself on the process that we got our act together.

The point is the environment that resulted in us "reaching" for players in the draft is reflected in the fact that we only employed our chief recruiter part time. We made big mistakes back then...which we are still paying for. No question that our recent drafting combined with some fortuitous father son selections have improved our position substantially.

[Greystache]

Re: Negative Thread

The point is the environment that resulted in us "reaching" for players in the draft is reflected in the fact that we only employed our chief recruiter part time. We made big mistakes back then...which we are still paying for. No question that our recent drafting combined with some fortuitous father son selections have improved our position substantially.

Scott Clayton was full time and oversaw the 2006-2008 drafts so that's irrelevant. Dalrymple took over in 2009 and in fact I'm sure was made full time when he did. So this whole debate is moot because our head recruiter has never been part time. Our footy department was just dysfunctional.

[westdog54]

Re: Negative Thread

What is also exciting is the recruiting getting better, to now a gold standard. On the weekend we were without picks - Pick 1, Pick 3, Pick 5, Pick 12, Pick 14, Pick 14, Pick 15.

If we can get those first rounders back in the side, and get the next few years of first rounders like the last few, then giddy up. Add in culling the list correctly and looking at good trades and free agency particularly over the next 2 years and then it's all the more to look forward to.

Its weird, but a thought struck me about 5 minutes ago.

Jordan McMahon: the gift that keeps on giving. From that trade the end result of it has been we get to watch Jack Macrae play 250 games for us, whereas Alex Rance has 5, maybe 6 years left in him?

[always right]

Re: Negative Thread

Scott Clayton was full time and oversaw the 2006-2008 drafts so that's irrelevant. Dalrymple took over in 2009 and in fact I'm sure was made full time when he did. So this whole debate is moot because our had recruiter has never been part time. Our footy department was just dysfunctional.

No-one said that it was the primary reason for drafting mistakes.......but I'll let Simon know that he was mistaken when he stated at the east west dinner a couple of weeks back that he was appointed as part time chief recruiter back in 2009.