No Aker to Essendon afterall?

[Shedmania]

The AFL website is running a story about the Western Bulldogs being Aker's prefered destination. Not only that, but Dogs Cheif Executive Campbell Rose is stoked about it.

After 24356 posts about Aker coming to Essendon and what we'll have to give up for him and how he is going to fit into our side and where we will finish next year with him in our side, it appears likely that he's be playing for another club.

But then, Sheedy comes out and says last night that the club would get rid of 7-8 players and that the club has never been in a better position to trade.

Whats going on? Is Aker still a chance to play for the Dons? If, like me, you don't think so....who are we looking to get into the club via trade? If we've 'never been in a better psoition to trade', who is going to go and more importantly (if its not going to be Aker) who is coming in????

[ant555]

The AFL website is running a story about the Western Bulldogs being Aker's prefered destination. Not only that, but Dogs Cheif Executive Campbell Rose is stoked about it.

After 24356 posts about Aker coming to Essendon and what we'll have to give up for him and how he is going to fit into our side and where we will finish next year with him in our side, it appears likely that he's be playing for another club.

But then, Sheedy comes out and says last night that the club would get rid of 7-8 players and that the club has never been in a better position to trade.

Whats going on? Is Aker still a chance to play for the Dons? If, like me, you don't think so....who are we looking to get into the club via trade? If we've 'never been in a better psoition to trade', who is going to go and more importantly (if its not going to be Aker) who is coming in????


Every player has their prefered club but at the end of the day it is who works out the best deal wins. The Bulldogs are obviously the clear front runners now but there is a lot more of this saga to go. ;)

[Bender The Offender]

seing as essendon will probaly not get aker do you think we will do anything in trade period. i mean essendon always seem to disapoint me in trade period:mad:

[ant555]

seing as essendon will probaly not get aker do you think we will do anything in trade period. i mean essendon always seem to disapoint me in trade period:mad:


why because we are not stupid enough to give away fists full of draft choices for average players??
I like the fact we usually stay out of the draft FFA lets face it there hasnt been a real lot of quality trades done in trade week recently unless you follow Richmond or Hawthorn.;)

[Merv]

We are certainly not out of the race, but hopefully the doggies will get him.

Will be interested to see the response from this poster if he does become a dog.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262576

[adam1300]

why because we are not stupid enough to give away fists full of draft choices for average players??
I like the fact we usually stay out of the draft FFA lets face it there hasnt been a real lot of quality trades done in trade week recently unless you follow Richmond or Hawthorn.;)


thta one the funniest quotes ive heard all year
your right we do stay away from trade periods so we dont recruid advertage players, aker, a match winner & brownlow medelest

no we just recruit duds in the draft, with our first few picks, so then at least the recruiting officials at least have an excuse

idiot:eek:

[ant555]

thta one the funniest quotes ive heard all year
your right we do stay away from trade periods so we dont recruid advertage players, aker, a match winner & brownlow medelest

no we just recruit duds in the draft, with our first few picks, so then at least the recruiting officials at least have an excuse

idiot:eek:

Wow great spelling , i thought i was bad :eek:
Dont recall anywhere i have said i didnt want Aker ;) I was refering more to the wondefull deals done to get Ottens and Hay.
Oh and yes and all of our draft recruits are duds :rolleyes:

[windyhill]

I still get a chuckle out of Plugger saying collingwood was his choice when he was leaving the Saints.

[go_the_bombers]

I still get a chuckle out of Plugger saying collingwood was his choice when he was leaving the Saints.

LOL :D

[douggie the don]

couldn't be happier!!!!!!
we need someone who's best footy is ahead of them, not behind....

[Darealrath]

Couldn't be more indifferent.

[keepzitreal]

I still get a chuckle out of Plugger saying collingwood was his choice when he was leaving the Saints.

I know it was good that he kept away from Collingwood and all but had he gone there we probably would have made the 1996 grand final! Doubt we would have beat Careys roos without Lloyd but we would have given it a crack! Hell, we still had Wanganeen at that point

[jnash196]

Let us be thanful that whatever happens Adrian Dodoro will do the rite thing....................................................... ..Yeh right

[Legend Lucas]

essendon cant afford to trade away any pics at all as our last few years in the draft have been dreadful especially in terms of our first or second round picks and why does Dodoro get off so easily since he has taken over from judkins we have gone down hill .Surely his time is up! do people remember picks such as james davies /mark bolton /bradley (still raw and young but looks as to having too many flaws) ,winderlich . This year is crucial in terms of rebuilding as we have to be honest our list is poor

History of trades being successful is very poor and the draft is the only way to go

[ant555]

essendon cant afford to trade away any pics at all as our last few years in the draft have been dreadful especially in terms of our first or second round picks and why does Dodoro get off so easily since he has taken over from judkins we have gone down hill .Surely his time is up! do people remember picks such as james davies /mark bolton /bradley (still raw and young but looks as to having too many flaws) ,winderlich . This year is crucial in terms of rebuilding as we have to be honest our list is poor

History of trades being successful is very poor and the draft is the only way to go


If you are going to bag a bloke at least get the facts right. Bolton wasnt one of Dodoro's picks ;)

[wazzabp]

I'm not really disappointed if we don't end up with Aker, while he is a great player with about 4 years left in him, I would much rather see us go after a young bloke with 10 years in him.

[Longy413]

And Judkins is the most over-rated recruiting manager in footy history.

[Pevers-Legend]

Longy, this is not supposed to be a swipe, but do you ever criticise Sheedy or Essendons decisions? It just seems like you are forever defending Sheedy's choices and things such as our drafting of late, and project players who are taking an eternity to come on.

Vent boy, vent.

My two cents - our drafting of late has been good (not great) - early naughties it was anus horribilus.

Simple fact is, we don;t need anymore fcking project players. We have had enough of them, and too many have failed. Let's go for guys who we know will be solid players (who may not have the perceived upside that a project player may have). But then again, ets remember its all speculative anyway, so lets just draft the best talent available.

Will Sheedy do that, probably not.

One other quesiton, who gets the final call, Sheedy or Dordoro? One or both of them have to take some blame in the predicament we're in.

Davies instead of Kerr. Marvellous.
Bolton instead of Power. Superb
McAlister instead of Hudghton or the Blacks or N. Brown. Awesome.
Squib harvey insetad of Maguire. Excellent.
Laycock and Winderdud instead of Schammer or Rivers or Bell. WooHoo.

I reliase drafting is hard, but we have made some aweful decisions with our TOP picks. Top picks who became average players I can accept. Top picks who get delisted cause they're crap....:thumbsd:

[DaSawx]

We've drafted pretty darn well the last 2-3 years, so I wouldn't worry too much about this year.

And when people say we drafted this and that instead of players later in the draft its not always the Bombers f*cking up as much as it is other teams getting lucky, when good players go late in the draft pretty much every team has drafted a player with less quality before that player is taken

[Longy413]

Longy, this is not supposed to be a swipe, but do you ever criticise Sheedy or Essendons decisions? It just seems like you are forever defending Sheedy's choices and things such as our drafting of late, and project players who are taking an eternity to come on.

I actually do think Sheedy does a pretty good job, but I've been critical of our drafting. I've been critical of selection, I've been critical of a number of things. But for the most part I think Sheedy is on the right track.

My two cents - our drafting of late has been good (not great) - early naughties it was anus horribilus.

Agree 100%, and I've said it a number of times.
I do think that given the picks we've had in the last few years our drafting has been pretty damn good.

One other quesiton, who gets the final call, Sheedy or Dordoro? One or both of them have to take some blame in the predicament we're in.

IMO it should be Dodoro. I'm glad they've put a process into place to improve recruiting, who makes the final call however, I'm not sure.

Davies instead of Kerr. Marvellous.
Bolton instead of Power. Superb
McAlister instead of Hudghton or the Blacks or N. Brown. Awesome.
Squib harvey insetad of Maguire. Excellent.
Laycock and Winderdud instead of Schammer or Rivers or Bell. WooHoo.


That's all a bit subjective.
Davies was the wrong pick, but not because we missed Kerr. From what I can gather Kerr was considered by most to be too small.

Bolton was Sheedy, Dodoro hadn't started then. But yep, terrible.

Harvey was the right pick, I'll stand by that. He had all the ability in the world, who takes the blame for him being a weak minded individual and how can you judge that prior to the draft?

Daniel Bell? Please.

How much of that is purely hindsight though and how much of it is bad drafting? D-Mac was a pretty special footballer at Under 18 level. Laycock IMO was the best tall in the draft and we needed a ruckman, I thought the Dogs would have taken him at pick 4.

We've made some horrible recruiting calls, no doubt about that. We've also made some good ones. I think Dodoro's first pick was Dean Rioli and I do think he's starting to get it right.

[Crave]

If I recall, Davies was a champion captain of his school football team...came with big wraps also. Correct me if Im wrong...Xavier it is! So, despite the result, the target was right!

[Longy413]

Xavier is correct, but selecting a kid that hadn't play TAC Cup was a risk. He hadn't been exposed to the premier level for his age group.

He was the type of player we needed, height, speed. He just wasn't a very good one and probably not worth of the pick we took him at.

[Pevers-Legend]

I actually do think Sheedy does a pretty good job, but I've been critical of our drafting. I've been critical of selection, I've been critical of a number of things. But for the most part I think Sheedy is on the right track.

Debateable as to whether he was on the right track one or even two years ago. In some respects his hand was forced this year. I put a lot of blame on him as to where we are now. But yes playing the kids was a good move this year.

Agree 100%, and I've said it a number of times.
I do think that given the picks we've had in the last few years our drafting has been pretty damn good.

I agree with the first bit. Our drafting looks ok, still have doubts on quite a few players though of recent drafts, next year will tell us a lot more.

IMO it should be Dodoro. I'm glad they've put a process into place to improve recruiting, who makes the final call however, I'm not sure.

Agreed. If he is the recruiting manager, he should make the calls. Sheedy should have input as he has to live with it, but Dordoro spends more time looking at talent and should utimately be responsible and accountable.

That's all a bit subjective.
Davies was the wrong pick, but not because we missed Kerr. From what I can gather Kerr was considered by most to be too small.

Bolton was Sheedy, Dodoro hadn't started then. But yep, terrible.

Harvey was the right pick, I'll stand by that. He had all the ability in the world, who takes the blame for him being a weak minded individual and how can you judge that prior to the draft?

Daniel Bell? Please.

How much of that is purely hindsight though and how much of it is bad drafting? D-Mac was a pretty special footballer at Under 18 level. Laycock IMO was the best tall in the draft and we needed a ruckman, I thought the Dogs would have taken him at pick 4.

We've made some horrible recruiting calls, no doubt about that. We've also made some good ones. I think Dodoro's first pick was Dean Rioli and I do think he's starting to get it right.
Harvey - surely his head would have been looked at. His old man said he was better than brent, yet brent was already a star - you would have to question how big his head was with crap like that.
I think Bell is a solid player. Can't see whats wrong with mentioning him.
Laycock one year, Ryder a few years later. We are drafting a lot of ruckman with high picks. And one could argue Bradley was predominantly a ruck when drafted.

I agree Dordoro is getting better, but then he would want to our we will become Carlton and thats an untenable thought.

[Pevers-Legend]

Xavier is correct, but selecting a kid that hadn't play TAC Cup was a risk. He hadn't been exposed to the premier level for his age group.

He was the type of player we needed, height, speed. He just wasn't a very good one and probably not worth of the pick we took him at.
He hid from TAC cup which cost him at least one years development. Was a project player. We also were investigated for draft tampering with him. Thats the funniest part of it all. Who the hell would want him now. Ha.

[Longy413]

Harvey - surely his head would have been looked at. His old man said he was better than brent, yet brent was already a star - you would have to question how big his head was with crap like that.

I'm not sure you can gain a grasp of that. You can interview all you like, but at the end of the day if the kid says he's committed and wants to play at the club, you can only take it on face value.

I think Bell is a solid player. Can't see whats wrong with mentioning him.

I don't rate him at all. I think he's average and certainly not any better than Winderlich.

Laycock one year, Ryder a few years later. We are drafting a lot of ruckman with high picks. And one could argue Bradley was predominantly a ruck when drafted.

One could argue that about Bradley, but I'm not sure they would be proven correct. Played the majority of his footy on the wing. It's only my opinion obviously, but I rated Laycock as the fourth best player in the draft, I was wrapped when we got him and I definately think he's got some special skills. I just hope he gets his body right.

I'm not sure I would have gone for Ryder, mind you I was hoping Dowler would slip to us. I do like what I've seen of Ryder though.

I agree Dordoro is getting better, but then he would want to our we will become Carlton and thats an untenable thought.

I'd imagine, like any job, you improve as you go along. He needs to get this draft right.

[Pevers-Legend]

I'm not sure you can gain a grasp of that. You can interview all you like, but at the end of the day if the kid says he's committed and wants to play at the club, you can only take it on face value.

Didn't he sook when told he was drafted by us cause he wanted to play with his borther. surely you can spot that?

I don't rate him at all. I think he's average and certainly not any better than Winderlich.

Playing finals footy. must be doing something right.

One could argue that about Bradley, but I'm not sure they would be proven correct. Played the majority of his footy on the wing. It's only my opinion obviously, but I rated Laycock as the fourth best player in the draft, I was wrapped when we got him and I definately think he's got some special skills. I just hope he gets his body right.

I look at Bradely like Longmuir. Not a genuine ruck, not a genuine forward/back, but so agile you don;t know what to do with them. Bradelys skills are what worry me.
And I think Laycock has talent, but he hasn;t done much so far and that worries me. Would hope for a bug year next year.

I'm not sure I would have gone for Ryder, mind you I was hoping Dowler would slip to us. I do like what I've seen of Ryder though.

Would Ryder have got through to our next pick, probably not. but it means carts has to go (provided laycock stays). Doesn't sya much for Carts anyway. Despite reading on here countless times how good he was going to be.

I'd imagine, like any job, you improve as you go along. He needs to get this draft right.
Agreed on both.

[Longy413]

Didn't he sook when told he was drafted by us cause he wanted to play with his borther. surely you can spot that?


Yeah, but that was after we drafted him.
Damage was done then.

Playing finals footy. must be doing something right.


He is, I still don't think he's that good.
Played less games than Winderlich, I'd rather Jason on the list.

I look at Bradely like Longmuir. Not a genuine ruck, not a genuine forward/back, but so agile you don;t know what to do with them. Bradelys skills are what worry me.

I reckon Kep is okay when he kicks long, a bit like Stanton in that regard.
It's when he kicks short or trys to run with the ball that he gets into trouble. I reckon Lloydy was spot on when he said Kep will come good once he learns to play within his limitations.

Would Ryder have got through to our next pick, probably not. but it means carts has to go (provided laycock stays). Doesn't sya much for Carts anyway. Despite reading on here countless times how good he was going to be.

No chance Ryder would have lasted to 19.
The only player taken between Ryder and Dempsey that I think we should have perhaps taken is Higgins. Perhaps Varcoe or Jones, but I'm not sure I'd swap any of them for Ryder.

I'm a massive wrap for Dempsey and Lonergan and I think when you throw Ryder in there it's a pretty good mix. A strong midfielder, a quick midfielder and an impressive tall.

[Crave]

[QUOTE=

Harvey - surely his head would have been looked at. His old man said he was better than brent, yet brent was already a star - you would have to question how big his head was with crap like that.


I was very disappointed with the way the Harvey boy went for us, and the Kangas for that matter. My very first year in the hospitality industry, I worked with a gentleman who was very close to the Harveys and even back in 98/99 stated that Shane was much better 'skillfully' than Brent. Pity he couldnt keep up the commitment to training and applying himself to the sacrifices modern day football asks of its players

[kelvin_sheedy]

Harvey - surely his head would have been looked at. His old man said he was better than brent, yet brent was already a star - you would have to question how big his head was with crap like that.


I was very disappointed with the way the Harvey boy went for us, and the Kangas for that matter. My very first year in the hospitality industry, I worked with a gentleman who was very close to the Harveys and even back in 98/99 stated that Shane was much better 'skillfully' than Brent. Pity he couldnt keep up the commitment to training and applying himself to the sacrifices modern day football asks of its players

Did he miss training sessions? I doubt it?

I just don't think he was cut out for AFL level. Simply not good enough.

[Crave]

Did he miss training sessions? I doubt it?

I just don't think he was cut out for AFL level. Simply not good enough.

Who's to know how his demise transpired, but Id be willing to bet missing several sessions was one ingredient to not being 'cut out for AFL level' He did put in a handful of cameos for us and the Kangas from memory.

[kelvin_sheedy]

Who's to know how his demise transpired, but Id be willing to bet missing several sessions was one ingredient to not being 'cut out for AFL level' He did put in a handful of cameos for us and the Kangas from memory.

Bottom line is he did not have the ability. You can show great skills and be a star at junior level but when you need to step up against the best of the best a lot of people are found wanting. He was one.

[fletcher_rules]

why because we are not stupid enough to give away fists full of draft choices for average players??
I like the fact we usually stay out of the draft FFA lets face it there hasnt been a real lot of quality trades done in trade week recently unless you follow Richmond or Hawthorn.;)

Yeh.... but we still end up picking up duds like Matthew Allan, Richard Cole, Ty Zantuck, Paul Salmon (A while ago i admit), John Barnes....

We could have developed a quality young ruckman similar to Hille, wen we first picked up Barnes and Allan instead of 'patching up the cracks' in the ruck department in a team that slowly decayed by the time both Barnes and Allan retired... just pitching in my 2 cents worth.. I may be wrong but thats how i see it.

[Merv]

Yeh.... but we still end up picking up duds like Matthew Allan, Richard Cole, Ty Zantuck, Paul Salmon (A while ago i admit), John Barnes....

We could have developed a quality young ruckman similar to Hille, wen we first picked up Barnes and Allan instead of 'patching up the cracks' in the ruck department in a team that slowly decayed by the time both Barnes and Allan retired... just pitching in my 2 cents worth.. I may be wrong but thats how i see it.

Barnsey was a big contributor to us winning the 2000 GF.
Salmon was fantastic on his comeback with us.
Allens prolly a fair call, although he was servicable, but with his injuries was always a risk.
Zantuck, poor call no doubt.

Cole will be a good player imo and its too early to write him off, although he needs to work very hard

[koc#41]

i dont see brisbane doing any favours for aker. so we still are a chance of getting him, becuase we can offer them decent matur players.

Just becuase he says he wants to play there doesnt mean he will be

[Sam the RAMA fan]

We are certainly not out of the race, but hopefully the doggies will get him.

Will be interested to see the response from this poster if he does become a dog.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262576

Solly signed on for a year anyway didnt he?!

:cool:

[Merv]

Solly signed on for a year anyway didnt he?!

:cool:

Not that i'm aware of Sam

[ant555]

Yeh.... but we still end up picking up duds like Matthew Allan, Richard Cole, Ty Zantuck, Paul Salmon (A while ago i admit), John Barnes....

We could have developed a quality young ruckman similar to Hille, wen we first picked up Barnes and Allan instead of 'patching up the cracks' in the ruck department in a team that slowly decayed by the time both Barnes and Allan retired... just pitching in my 2 cents worth.. I may be wrong but thats how i see it.

A bit harsh. For a start we got into two Grand Finals with Barnes so it was not like we where rebuilding our list at that stage. He was a great player for us when he came back. Cant possibly see how you can put him in the dud list :confused:
Salmon was used while Hille was developing. He served his purpose.
Allan didnt turn out to be a great pick up mainly because of injury. He was simply used as the second ruckman while Laycock and Cartledge where being groomed. The problem with the ruck department is not the fact we used Salmon and Allan and didnt develop young ruckman. The problem is Cartledge didnt live up to expectations and Laycock has had a string of injuries.

As for the others mentioned, i agree that we never should have picked up Zantuck. Was a stuff up and i thought it was at the time as well. I wasnt all that excited about Cole either but given the fact he came to us in poor condition and has had a string of injuries i am prepared to cut him some slack given the amount of effort he has put in to get back to some sort of fitness in the latter part of the year.