I'm very tempted to do a recap of all of fremantles drafting and trading history but I'll resist the temptation and stick to the facts.Jesse White, Clinton Young, Quinten Lynch, Tony Armstrong. Check mate
We have been great at the draft table and have also maximised our trades for players on our list (ie Dawes for 20, welling ham for 17).
We probably haven't nailed our FA choices, but young had an ok year and lynch was a bit of a bust. I can see the rationale behind it though as we wanted a ruck/forward.
White is still too early to call. We recruited white on the basis he would be a third tall and ruck. For a pick in the 40s he has served good value considering we still got our man in Langdon and also still got marsh.
Armstrong has also served fair value for the price we paid. He was terrific VFL player and also filled a hole late in the year. I think we are getting what we expected from him.
Hine has been pretty clear that he wants to top up youth, but also wanted to bring in a few experienced players to fill holes until the kids develop.
I think our recruiting department has done the job.
The better debate is whether we needed to go down the youth path or stick with the experience and try and top up for one more flag.
But in terms of the strategy we have employed, I reckon we've done well with our recruiting