I know that's eleven years, but give Rendell a break 
Matthew Rendell has been the Crows' recruiting manager since 07, and was with St. Kilda before that. He just had an interview on 5AA here in Adelaide talking about the U18s. He was pretty scathing about how poor the depth was, but after a while he was asked about GC17 and West Sydney. He launched into a fair rant about how the concessions will see the two sides field entire best 22s of first round draft pick players and that they will totally dominate the competition, having a monopoly over the premiership from 2015-2025.
Is it too big a call? This isn't just some random footy media "expert", Rendell has the runs on the board with regards to juniors and keeps his finger very close to the pulse with all this.
Here's a link to the interview and my summary underneath.
rendell.mp3 - 11.43MB
Most of what he talked about was prompted by questions from Rowe and Cornes, not just his own stream of thought. I didn't realise first time I listened to this (I was doing some other stuff at the same time) just how negative he was about the whole GC17/West Sydney thing.
Was asked about the U18s, said that the whole carnival was "a bit shabby" and that there isn't much depth. When Rowe asked "are you saying there's the top ten and then it drops away?" he said maybe five or six, "probably outside of our pick".
Said the previous two drafts have been "very good". Says that this draft would be alright if the bottom-agers weren't removed from the draft pool, but still not as good as the last two drafts.
Said there's 20 or so kids not eligible from the championships due to the age restriction, and that Gold Coast can pick the best 12. Says normally there's 3-4 kids in the first round from that age group, but this year it's more like 8.
Said clubs are more likely to trade their picks and retain senior players this year, but that clubs almost certainly won't trade early first rounders ("they'll be like a diamond this year"). He said this draft will be "a bit different to the last two" for him and the rest of the recruiting staff.
Indicated that there are more natural footballers than athletes in this year's draft. Listed Scully, Trengove, Martin, Cunnington and Stevens as "five of the best midfielders". Said they were tough, in-and-under, and had some athleticism but that they were primarily footballers. Said Trengove will probably go top 5 and that he had a fantastic carnival, far and a way the best SA player. Listed Panos as a likely SA draftee, but said he wasn't as good today. Said James Craig is a great ruckman but about the only one, siad it was a "very lean year" for ruckmen, said "Craig and then a fair gap". Said Tapscott started off slowly today but finished very well.
Indicated that mature footballers from WAFL, SANFL and VFL are likely to be picked up. Says he went to a VFL match and 12 other recruiters were there. Says he's been watching senior SANFL players, "19, 20, 21, 22 or maybe even a bit older might be a chance this year".
Was asked about GC17, said that the general public won't realise how good the concessions are until 2014 when they are nigh-unbeatable. Said GC17 will "effectively" get 17 first round draft picks. Said West Sydney will get "an unknown number of bottom age kids", and that then West Sydney will get the nine first round picks for two years in a row. He went on to say that "we reckon that, conservatively, West Sydney will get 23 first round picks before they've played a single game". He followed it up with "I don't know how many people realise what's going to happen" to the groans of Cornes.
Cornes tried to say that we'd still have a good team but Rendell said that "I estimate that West Sydney and Gold Coast will probably win ten flags in a row between them from 2015 to 2025, so if we expect to do much we'd better get in early". He said that Champion Data statistics will tell you that there is a massive difference between first round picks and every other pick in the draft, no surprises there.
Rowe asked what it would mean about list management. Cited the signings today (ofa handfull of Crows players) and Rendell said "Oh, okay," in a way that said he wasn't aware of the signings. Rowe asked about the four senior guns (Goodwin, McLeod, Edwards and Burton) Rendell said that they would stagger their departure so they don't lose four players in a year, and said that they've been carefully managing it for a couple of years with players like Massie, Torney, and Ben Hart before them, and McGregor. "One or two a year". Said that all the senior players were playing "great footy at the moment" (even though Burton isn't playing)
Said that the draft is a lot better next year, with a lot more players in it, and that "reliable sources" had told him that SA had their best under 16 group ever, and that they were playing in Sydney next week, and he'd be heading up to watch them next week.
Matthew Rendell has been the Crows' recruiting manager since 07, and was with St. Kilda before that. He just had an interview on 5AA here in Adelaide talking about the U18s. He was pretty scathing about how poor the depth was, but after a while he was asked about GC17 and West Sydney. He launched into a fair rant about how the concessions will see the two sides field entire best 22s of first round draft pick players and that they will totally dominate the competition, having a monopoly over the premiership from 2015-2025.
Is it too big a call? This isn't just some random footy media "expert", Rendell has the runs on the board with regards to juniors and keeps his finger very close to the pulse with all this.
Here's a link to the interview and my summary underneath.
rendell.mp3 - 11.43MB
Most of what he talked about was prompted by questions from Rowe and Cornes, not just his own stream of thought. I didn't realise first time I listened to this (I was doing some other stuff at the same time) just how negative he was about the whole GC17/West Sydney thing.
Was asked about the U18s, said that the whole carnival was "a bit shabby" and that there isn't much depth. When Rowe asked "are you saying there's the top ten and then it drops away?" he said maybe five or six, "probably outside of our pick".
Said the previous two drafts have been "very good". Says that this draft would be alright if the bottom-agers weren't removed from the draft pool, but still not as good as the last two drafts.
Said there's 20 or so kids not eligible from the championships due to the age restriction, and that Gold Coast can pick the best 12. Says normally there's 3-4 kids in the first round from that age group, but this year it's more like 8.
Said clubs are more likely to trade their picks and retain senior players this year, but that clubs almost certainly won't trade early first rounders ("they'll be like a diamond this year"). He said this draft will be "a bit different to the last two" for him and the rest of the recruiting staff.
Indicated that there are more natural footballers than athletes in this year's draft. Listed Scully, Trengove, Martin, Cunnington and Stevens as "five of the best midfielders". Said they were tough, in-and-under, and had some athleticism but that they were primarily footballers. Said Trengove will probably go top 5 and that he had a fantastic carnival, far and a way the best SA player. Listed Panos as a likely SA draftee, but said he wasn't as good today. Said James Craig is a great ruckman but about the only one, siad it was a "very lean year" for ruckmen, said "Craig and then a fair gap". Said Tapscott started off slowly today but finished very well.
Indicated that mature footballers from WAFL, SANFL and VFL are likely to be picked up. Says he went to a VFL match and 12 other recruiters were there. Says he's been watching senior SANFL players, "19, 20, 21, 22 or maybe even a bit older might be a chance this year".
Was asked about GC17, said that the general public won't realise how good the concessions are until 2014 when they are nigh-unbeatable. Said GC17 will "effectively" get 17 first round draft picks. Said West Sydney will get "an unknown number of bottom age kids", and that then West Sydney will get the nine first round picks for two years in a row. He went on to say that "we reckon that, conservatively, West Sydney will get 23 first round picks before they've played a single game". He followed it up with "I don't know how many people realise what's going to happen" to the groans of Cornes.
Cornes tried to say that we'd still have a good team but Rendell said that "I estimate that West Sydney and Gold Coast will probably win ten flags in a row between them from 2015 to 2025, so if we expect to do much we'd better get in early". He said that Champion Data statistics will tell you that there is a massive difference between first round picks and every other pick in the draft, no surprises there.
Rowe asked what it would mean about list management. Cited the signings today (ofa handfull of Crows players) and Rendell said "Oh, okay," in a way that said he wasn't aware of the signings. Rowe asked about the four senior guns (Goodwin, McLeod, Edwards and Burton) Rendell said that they would stagger their departure so they don't lose four players in a year, and said that they've been carefully managing it for a couple of years with players like Massie, Torney, and Ben Hart before them, and McGregor. "One or two a year". Said that all the senior players were playing "great footy at the moment" (even though Burton isn't playing
)Said that the draft is a lot better next year, with a lot more players in it, and that "reliable sources" had told him that SA had their best under 16 group ever, and that they were playing in Sydney next week, and he'd be heading up to watch them next week.
