Boyd was in our sights all season

[always right]

Interesting article from Jay Clark. Like the way our raid on GWS was not just opportunistic but calculated.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tom-boyds-signing-to-the-western-bulldogs-comes-as-no-surprise-as-club-scouted-him-all-season/story-fnp04d70-1227094217997

WHEREVER Tom Boyd played this season, the Western Bulldogs followed.

As much as the mega deal seemed like a swift reaction to Ryan Griffen’s shock departure, the truth is the 201cm key forward’s name had topped the Dogs’ whiteboard all year.

They knew Boyd never settled at Greater Western Sydney.

The big man was invested, but never really happy up there.

Perhaps part of the on-field problem was that last year’s No. 1 draft pick got too bulky this season.

For reasons that are still a little unclear, Boyd arrived at western Sydney at 104kg and ballooned out to closer to 110kg, costing the marking forward much-needed mobility in his debut season.

He will present a more streamlined figure at the kennel in 2015.

The Dogs, and indeed Carlton, had been crafting a plan all year to nab Boyd at the end of next season. That’s when his contract expired.

The Dogs knew they badly needed a strong-bodied forward to be the spearhead to an emerging midfield brigade.

Cleverly, the club had already taken a good look at the next two draft pools and were not sure there was a guaranteed goal kicking option there. Not one that they were convinced on yet, anyway.

The Dogs had pick No. 6 in next month’s draft, but by the time it was their turn to call out a name, the 193cm Patrick McCartin and 201cm Peter Wright could both be gone.............

[GVGjr]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

A good article and I think an accurate one.

[KT31]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Nice read and great to get in before the Blue's.

[chef]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Good read.

[azabob]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Thanks for posting AW.

I mentioned in the media musings thread that posters had posted the negative slanted article, but didn't post this positive one.

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Very interesting that we were not interested in Patton but just let the media run with it.

Here is the rest of the article if you can not get to it on herald Sun

So, when captain Griffen dropped his shock trade request this week, the Dogs were perfectly placed to pull the trigger on their man, one full year early.

No one wanted to lose Griffen from the kennel, but the silver lining had the list management team jumping out of bed the next morning, confident they would get their big man.

The whole strategy was simply brought forward 12 months.

It is understood the club had a scout at almost every one of Boyd’s NEAFL games this season, closely tracking his every move, good and bad.

Carlton was doing the same as the Dogs. After all, Boyd was a lifelong Carlton supporter.

But when Griffen quit and went pig shooting, Boyd’s manager, Liam Pickering executed a big-money move for the second year in a row, creating similar shock waves to his other big secret that sent Lance Franklin to Sydney.

News did break late in the season that the Dogs were into Boyd’s teammate Jon Patton, but the club denies that was ever the case. If anything, the Dogs’ chiefs were happy the attention was on the wrong Giant.

The Dogs know football fans will want to see Boyd play well immediately, given his $1 million a season pay packet over six or seven years is one of the richest in the game. Huge coin for any player, let alone a 19-year-old.

But the Dogs had a critical problem and had to be bold.

They only won seven games last season and it will be a surprise if they win too many more than that next year. They’ve lost Griffen, Adam Cooney, Liam Jones, Daniel Giansiracusa and probably Jason Tutt.

The club, headed by a new coach, will preach patience and the potential of a gun young midfield over summer.

They have Marcus Bontempelli and Boyd. And renewed belief at the Bulldogs.

[wimberga]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Thanks for posting.

I went back and revisited the interview on AFL360 where robbo asked tom Boyd who he supported. It was this interview that got all the blues fans salivating about Boyd wanting to go to them after saying he was a blues fan.

What seems to have been lost since then is that tom actually said he grew up a Carlton supporter, but after playing and watching so much football in the elite talent pathway, you start to simply be a fan of the game.

Its an interesting point as players really would start to lose themselves as fans and develop into players, where the allegiance switches to you teammates

[Bornadog]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Great thing is we had a plan at the start of the year and we followed it right through 2014. For once the cards fell our way, although we never expected to lose the captain.

[The Doctor]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

I wonder if this is why we let Jones go to Carlton. To throw them off the scent?

[Twodogs]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Thanks AR. Good article.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Collingwood are going to hate us more. We were after Boyd so much we committed our trade pick bait on Moore... We either came late or shafted Collingwood by bidding...

[divvydan]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Seems like we were in the ear of Boyd (as were Carlton) to get him to come to us at the end of next year and when Griff decided to leave we took a gamble and moved it forward as the only club with something to offer this year.

One thing I find interesting is that several Vic clubs were chasing Boyd and the fact that he seemed unsettled was common knowledge. Added to that is the fact that those who watched the U-18s were not surprised that he didn't settle in Western Sydney. Seems to me that GWS knew he was a big risk when selecting him and had basically been planning to auction him off at the end of 2015 until we gave them an offer that was too good to refuse.

There was a lot of talk about GWS looking at trading out the #1 pick last year and given this it's not hard to see why. Boyd was the clear #1 choice but he was also a known risk in terms of homesickness.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Was going to comment on Tom looking a bit to heavy .
Needs to get a bit leaner in the modern game, and sounds like he got pretty lost up there.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

Seems like we were in the ear of Boyd (as were Carlton) to get him to come to us at the end of next year and when Griff decided to leave we took a gamble and moved it forward as the only club with something to offer this year.

One thing I find interesting is that several Vic clubs were chasing Boyd and the fact that he seemed unsettled was common knowledge. Added to that is the fact that those who watched the U-18s were not surprised that he didn't settle in Western Sydney. Seems to me that GWS knew he was a big risk when selecting him and had basically been planning to auction him off at the end of 2015 until we gave them an offer that was too good to refuse.

There was a lot of talk about GWS looking at trading out the #1 pick last year and given this it's not hard to see why. Boyd was the clear #1 choice but he was also a known risk in terms of homesickness.

I think they figured they'd get more for Tom Boyd in two years' time than they would've received for the #1 pick, so they drafted him knowing he'd never see past the first contract. And they were almost right: except it only took a year. They got a star player for a "one-year-delayed" 5 pick downgrade and a cool million bucks.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Boyd was in our sights all season

I guess the cat was out of the bag with all the key forwards they picked up.
Bit risky using the pick on 1, and then trading him as next years spooner could pink him up on a freebie.
They tried to re-sign as soon as he got up there, so I don't think that was their initial intention to unload him.
We've paid overs, but it's high risk / high reward.