Expansion Stacking the talent? GWS do it well.

[Matchu]

Whether you are aware of it or not is irrelevant, the fact is that by the end of tonight GWS will have fifteen top 10 draft picks on their list.

1. Rhys Palmer - pick 7 (2007)
2. Phil Davis - pick 10 (2008)
3. Tom Scully - pick 1 (2009)
4. Jonathan Patton - pick 1 (2011)
5. Stephen Coniglio - pick 2 (2011)
6. Will Hoskin-Elliott - pick 4 (2011)
7. Matt Buntine - pick 5 (2011)
8. Nick Haynes - pick 7 (2011)
9. Adam Tomlinson - pick 9 (2011)
10. Liam Sumner - pick 10 (2011)
11. Lachie Whitfield - pick 1 (2012)
12. Jonathan O'Rourke - pick 2 (2012)
13. Lachlan Plowman - pick 3 (2012)
14. Tom Boyd - pick 1 (2013)
15. ??? - pick 2 (2013)

Eight of those fifteen players have gone top 3 in the draft and four at number 1. Add to that an extra five players that have gone between 11-15 in the last three drafts.

1. Toby Greene - pick 11 (2011)
2. Devon Smith - pick 14 (2011)
3. Kristian Jaksch - pick 12 (2012)
4. Aidan Corr - pick 14 (2012)
5. ??? - pick 14 (2013)

That's not even taking into account the underage recruits they were given access to at the end of 2010 which include the likes of Jeremy Cameron and Dylan Shiel. We're also led to believe they still have a considerable amount of space in their cap and could make a play for a big name at the end of 2014. If they can hold on to their players, this is going to be one seriously scary team.

Clearly the AFL went overboard with these concessions but is this going to create the super team the rest of the AFL fear it may? Explain why you think it will/won't.

 

[Hodgepodge]

Very true, the GWS seem prepared to remain down the bottom longer than Gold Coast in order to ensure that they get a lot of high end draft picks all are around the same young age. Their premiership window could be open a while.

 

[Matchu]

Hard to get excited about a club being handed success on a platter by AFL House. I want to see the game grow as well but fair suck of the sav Demetriou. Just wait until they win their first flag. There will be alot of animosity from clubs who do it the hard way.

Probably a good opportunity to compare GWS with Gold Coast and make the distinction between concessions given to either club.

1. David Swallow - pick 1 (2010)
2. Harley Bennell - pick 2 (2010)
3. Sam Day - pick 3 (2010)
4. Dion Prestia - pick 9 (2010)
5. Daniel Gorringe - pick 10 (2010)
6. Jaeger O'Meara - pick 1 (2011 mini draft)
7. Jack Martin - pick 1 (2012 mini draft)
8. ??? - pick 5 (2013)

So virtually half (15 vs 8) the top 10 draft picks at the Gold Coast compared to GWS. Now for the players in the last four drafts between 11-15.

1. Tom Lynch - pick 11 (2010)
2. Seb Tape - pick 13 (2010)
3. Jesse Lonergan - pick 13 (2012)

So once again, considerably less.

 

[IanW]

If they can hold on to their players, this is going to be one seriously scary team.

GWS can keep hold of some of them, but not all of them.

Remember, Cameron needs to get paid, and Franklin has set the market for key forwards, and every team in the league will sign him if he goes into the PSD.

The salary cap means GWS can keep hold of a core of about eight very good players, and about a dozen paid as 'best 22' types.

Mumford's first contract shows how to prise a player who technically doesnt have free agent rights out of a club, and in case anyone needed a refresher, look at how GWS just extracted Lamb from Sydney.

Are other clubs doing this ? Bruce to St Kilda and Adams to Collingwood indicate that yes, they are.

And how could other teams have stopped this happening ? They could have offered decent players in exchange for draft and mini-draft picks, rather than the spuds and list cloggers we were offered.

Specifically, I'd like Matchu, who appears unhappy with the number of first rounders GWS collected, to tell us who Port Adelaide offered to get some of GWS' initial concessions.

 

[Top_4_Tiger]

I know everyone wants to feel like GWS wouldn't deserve success, but I think that view is unfair.

They'll need to build a strong culture to be successful and if they achieve great things I'll give them credit because it's not easy to succeed even if you're spoon fed top 10 picks (look at Melbourne).

I remember when Carlton were hyped up with Murphy/Gibbs/Kruezer, now all are good players but as a trio they're not the unstoppable force many wrongly predicted.

But I do agree with the thread title - GWS have stacked top end talent extremely well. They've done much better than the GC.

 

[Slax]

You can have all the top draft picks you like, but that by itself doesn't guarantee success. Drafting high does not mean a player will be a star, it does not mean that the player development at the club will be satisfactory, it does not mean that the club has a good head coach and it doesn't mean that the player will stay at the club long term. It provides a good framework, but it is not the finished product by any means. Geelong have a had a champion team built around very few top draft picks.

 

[galindez]

They're building up a very fertile poaching ground for clubs like mine

 

[worthy]

They will lose some talented youngsters, it's inevitable, some very good footballers will either be seeking more opportunity or a return home.
Whitfield, O'Rourke and Plowman to the Hawks.

 

[IanW]

They're building up a very fertile poaching ground for clubs like mine

And thats exactly how it works ... we were prepared to let Adams go, because that gives us the chance to keep Shiel and Cogs.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

They did decide to not draft Wingard 6 times! Lets just say they have had already ONE drafting blunder.

 

[RodneyMaynard]

Will lose some talent along the way through homsickness/salary cap pressure, but they're tracking nicely for a solid period of finals appearances. Not sure I agree with the silver platter remark. It's not like success will be instantaneous. Ther will have been 2 (possibly 3) years of the worst seasons in AFL/VFL history that GWS fans will have had to endure. Fans of other clubs that have suffered for longer may roll their eyes and bitterly mutter "they don't know what suffering is", but the fact remains that it's been a sh!te 2 years for GWS, and when success does come it will be all the sweeter for it.

 

[Tulip]

Top 10 draft picks ≠ success.

 

[bigpapagman]

Top 10 draft picks ≠ success.

The overwhelming amount that they have probably will. I like the people clinging onto the rationale above. We. Are. F***ed.

 

[IanW]

The overwhelming amount that they have probably will. I like the people clinging onto the rationale above. We. Are. F***ed.

Look at the below list.

Now, figure who'd look good in your club's colours, and figure how much cap room your club has to lever them out of GWS in the same way Mumford was levered out of Geelong and Lamb was levered out of Sydney.

If the various clubs go 'No, we wont overpay for GWS players', the same way they went 'No, we wont overpay for minidraft or draft picks', then we'll keep most of em for about 250k a year, and a monster is indeed in the making.

But if other teams are prepared to offer the talent enough money, then it'll even out fairly fast.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/gws-players-contract-status.1008964/

3 Stephen Coniglio - 2015
4 Toby Greene - 2015
5 Dylan Shiel - 2015
7 Rhys Palmer - 2015
10 Devon Smith - 2015
12 Jonathan Patton - 2015
14 Tomas Bugg - 2015
15 Tim Golds - 2015
16 Nathan Wilson - 2015
17 Adam Treloar - 2015
18 Jeremy Cameron - 2015
19 Nick Haynes - 2015
20 Adam Tomlinson - 2015
21 Matthew Buntine - 2015
26 Jonathan Giles - 2015
27 Andrew Phillips - 2015
31 Jacob Townsend - 2015
33 Will Hoskin-Elliott - 2015
39 Tim Mohr - 2015
40 Adam Kennedy - 2015
48 Sam Frost - 2015

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Draft picks they've received so far

Pick 1 - Jonathon Patton
Pick 1 - Lachie Whitfield
Pick 1 - Tom Scully
Pick 1 - Tom Boyd
Pick 2 - Josh Kelly
Pick 2 - Steven Coniglio
Pick 2 - Jonathon O'Rourke
Pick 3 - Lachlan Plowman
Pick 3 - Dom Tyson on-traded with pick 9 for pick 2 and 20
Pick 4 - Will Hoskin-Elliott
Pick 5 - Matthew Buntine
Pick 7 - Rhys Palmer
Pick 7 - Nick Haynes
Pick 9 - Adam Tomlinson
Pick 9 - On traded with Dom Tyson for picks 2 and 20
Pick 10 - Phil Davis
Pick 10 - Liam Sumner
Pick 11 - Toby Greene
Pick 12 - Kristian Jaksch
Pick 13 - Taylor Adams Heath Shaw
Pick 14 - Devon Smith
Pick 14 - Aiden Corr
Pick 19 - Callan Ward
Jeremy Cameron - was tipped to go number 1
Dylan Shiel - was considered a top 5 draft pick
Adam Treloar - was considered a top 10 pick
Thomas Bugg - was considered a top 10-15 pick
Curtley Hampton - was considered a top 20 pick


They've received 17 top 10 picks in the space of 3 years. To put that into perspective Richmond (the most unsuccessful team of the last 30 years) have received 17 top 10 picks since 1992. You have to go all the way back to 1992 to come up with a similar number of picks. And that's not even including guys like Jeremy Cameron, Dylan Shiel and Adam Treloar who were all considered top 10 picks.

But they still have to draft well
They still have to develop their players well

 

[worthy]

They did decide to not draft Whitfield 6 times! Lets just say they have had already ONE drafting blunder.

I don't quite understand, are you saying Whitfield:
- is no good
- Going to leave at first opp
- There are 6 Whitfields
- None of the above.

 

[Selective Retention]

So once again, considerably less.

So GC have had half the concessions and done twice as good as them.

 

[IanW]

So GC have had half the concessions and done twice as good as them.

I'll trade any four GWS players not named Jeremy Cameron for Gary Ablett Junior.

 

[Selective Retention]

I'll trade any four GWS players not named Jeremy Cameron for Gary Ablett Junior.

I'm not even speaking about results, GC drafted a shitload better than GWS.

GWS got a much better run with their pre-selections but haven't capitalised on it at the draft.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I don't quite understand, are you saying Whitfield:
- is no good
- Going to leave at first opp
- There are 6 Whitfields
- None of the above.

Wingard, honest mistake.

 

[IanW]

Wingard, honest mistake.

The view with Wingard was the go-home factor was too high.

 

[Masto]

#AFLDraft Fact: After tonight's draft, the @GWS_Giants will have 21 first round draft picks on their list, including 4x pick #1 & 3x #2.

With those kind of draft picks even an amateur draftnik could 'stack talent'.

 

[WWSD]

Adam Treloar is going to be an A-Grade midfielder and then there's Smith, Coniglio, Whitfield, Hampton, Greene, Ward, Scully, Bugg, Tomlinson, Cameron, Patton, Boyd. A talented young list the Giants have at their disposal. The question is, can they keep them all in 3-4 years time?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Not to worried about it. All these guys they have drafted and nothing more than potential at this stage. The chances are that only 3-4 of them will become genuine high level AFL players.
A very high percentage of young kids drafted don't make it. Clubs would be much better off looking to draft 20-23 year old players that have 2-3 years of mens football under them at second tier level in my opinion.

 

[worthy]

Wingard, honest mistake.

Aaaargh, that's disappointing, I thought for a moment you had some inside knowledge that Whitfield wanted to come home, wishful thinking I suppose