2006 NAB Draft - Success or Failure?

[one_twelve112]

I am still not too sure how I feel about our selections in the NAB draft (apart from Gibbs of course). It may be because some of the big names that had been thrown around by the media and on BF (Hislop, Jetta, Houli, Petterd, O'Brien, Collard) seemed to slip through our hands at the expense of some 'lesser known' types. I have read some great things on Grigg, Benjamin, Anderson, Austin and Hampson - but what does everyone think about our selections?

 

[deluxeman]

We'll know in about 5 years.

 

[one_twelve112]

We'll know in about 5 years.

You must have had a 'gut feeling' at the end of it all, surely?

 

[deluxeman]

You must have had a 'gut feeling' at the end of it all, surely?

I have no feeling personally as I have only seen Gibbs play at of all of our recruits. Frankly, history will tell you that some people that are rated highly come draft day, don't make it in the AFL. I'm sure that one of the Top 5 picks or a couple of the Top 10 picks won't make it. But theres many more factors like how they are developed, attitude, how some of them cope in a new city etc. Its simply too early to judge at this point and we will only have a clear indication in a few years time.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

So the only positive reactions are 'fantastic - best possible players' which may not be the case since we had to pull the trigger on Hampson a couple of picks early, or 'ok could have done better' or indifferent which means you have no thoughts, basically care factor?

Where is the option for 'reasonably happy - fairly hopeful'? Seems it is set up to fail this poll.

 

[blues4flag]

Like deluxeman, I'll reserve judgement until I actually see the guys play. In a few years time we'll be able to tell but not now.

That said, I am pretty happy with the positions recruited. A ruckman, key defender, classy midfielder/forward and a couple of pacy HBBs, as well as a versatile player in Griggs sounds good to me.

 

[BlueFeaver]

When its all said and done we got we at BF asked for:
Mids, Key Def, Ruck, HBF.
What seems to be the only problem thus far is some of us just aren't real sure of the personnel.
Sure enough there were some names thrown around leading up to the draft and we all had our fav's, but just watching them play isn't enough. The interview and the physcological profile would have revealed all, remember we weren't the only team to pass on some of those bigger names!

 

[one_twelve112]

So the only positive reactions are 'fantastic - best possible players' which may not be the case since we had to pull the trigger on Hampson a couple of picks early, or 'ok could have done better' or indifferent which means you have no thoughts, basically care factor?

Where is the option for 'reasonably happy - fairly hopeful'? Seems it is set up to fail this poll.

Option 1 is 100 % positive
Option 2 - 75% happy (perhaps not very clearly stated)
Option 3 - 50/50
Option 4 - 25% Happy
Option 5 - 0% Happy
Thank god I am not involed in the State election or I would be done for Electoral Fraud for 'fixing the polls'...The Electoral watch-dog (The Old Dark Navy's) would have field day.
P.S I selected option 2 as I am indeed, reasonably happy.

 

[ClayBlue87]

Just remember that there were not too many ruckman in this draft, we had to take a ruckman, and to get a quality one, it had to be early. Im pretty happy with the result.

 

[Blues_Man]

You must have had a 'gut feeling' at the end of it all, surely?

how can you have a gut feeling about all of them ?...they have never played a single game of AFL football ....and most of us here know nothing about them ..only what we are told ....Deluxman was right ..give us 5 years and then ask

 

[one_twelve112]

So we'll have to wait another 4 years before we can say drafting Murphy was a success?

 

[mediumsizered]

I think it is fairly obvious why we overlooked the likes of Jetta, Houli & Collard. We already have on our list 3 players under 180cm (Murphy, Blackwell, Betts) & 3 who are 182cm (Stevens, Scotland & Simpson). 5 of these 6 are midfielders. The way the game is developing you can only afford to carry a handful of smaller players because AFL teams are stocking their midfields & flanks with players who are 184cm +. If we are to be competitive we have to have our own supply of taller, mobile mids & flankers. Players of the size of Murphy & Blackwell have to have special qualities to make it in today's AFL. Fortunately they do.

 

[one_twelve112]

I think it is fairly obvious why we overlooked the likes of Jetta, Houli & Collard. We already have on our list 3 players under 180cm (Murphy, Blackwell, Betts) & 3 who are 182cm (Stevens, Scotland & Simpson). 5 of these 6 are midfielders. The way the game is developing you can only afford to carry a handful of smaller players because AFL teams are stocking their midfields & flanks with players who are 184cm +. If we are to be competitive we have to have our own supply of taller, mobile mids & flankers. Players of the size of Murphy & Blackwell have to have special qualities to make it in today's AFL. Fortunately they do.

Spot on - I know that 'the best available talent' line was thrown around, but I'm sure team balance was always in the back of Hughes and Co's mind. The average player must be 5-10cm's taller than 10 years ago and I'd rather have a 190cm player who can match up on a tall (5cm taller) or small (5cm - 10cm shorter) opponent eg. Walker, than one that can only much up on the smaller types.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

Essendon called our bluff - beautifully with Hampson.

But still, Im not complaining

 

[WorthTheWaite]

Option 1 is 100 % positive
Option 2 - 75% happy (perhaps not very clearly stated)
Option 3 - 50/50
Option 4 - 25% Happy
Option 5 - 0% Happy
Thank god I am not involed in the State election or I would be done for Electoral Fraud for 'fixing the polls'...The Electoral watch-dog (The Old Dark Navy's) would have field day.
P.S I selected option 2 as I am indeed, reasonably happy.

How is "ok - should have done better" reasonably happy, or '75% happy'? It's alot more like 50/50 and there's not much difference between 2 and 3 - what is "could have done better or worse" meant to mean? I'm guessing you were under the impression it was a commonly used phrase but it isn't...

I'm happy. Initially I was disappointed we didn't pick up one (or more) of Jetta/Proud/Hislop with our later picks when they were available, but there are attitudinal issues with all 3. Quite frankly, we don't need players with big heads at Carlton, and we've drafted some great kids. We're building a very team-oriented, mature, professional culture and this is only going to improve with the likes of Gibbs & Murphy, both who are potential future captains.

 

[marcmurphy3]

I think it is fairly obvious why we overlooked the likes of Jetta, Houli & Collard. We already have on our list 3 players under 180cm (Murphy, Blackwell, Betts) & 3 who are 182cm (Stevens, Scotland & Simpson). 5 of these 6 are midfielders. The way the game is developing you can only afford to carry a handful of smaller players because AFL teams are stocking their midfields & flanks with players who are 184cm +. If we are to be competitive we have to have our own supply of taller, mobile mids & flankers. Players of the size of Murphy & Blackwell have to have special qualities to make it in today's AFL. Fortunately they do.

I agree taller players are important. What is more vital though is to have good users of the footy. I would have liked to have gotten a few more natural footballers oppossed to Athletes. A bit dissaointed that we kept overlooking Connors when we were reportadly interested in him. We also should have taken an inside mid at one point rather than just loading up on HBF's.

 

[Jimthegreat]

So we'll have to wait another 4 years before we can say drafting Murphy was a success?

We did with Simmo, as have many clubs. Using one player from a large player pool is not a great measure of success rate.

 

[pauld]

Back from the local NT footy.
Spoke to Joe Andersons granddad.
Family are very happy he was picked up. He has several Blues fans amongst his old temamates. Joe himself was a Port fan. His grandad was/is a Collingwood fan (but does not like Malthouse much), but will have to follow the Blues now.
His grandad said Joe was very level headed and prepared for the AFL, has a very clear idea of what he has to do, has been working towards this goal forever.
At halftime on the footy they interviewed Joe, said he was waiting for a call from the Carlton managers Sunday 26th re: plane ticket to Melbourne. Said he wanted to thank the NTIS (sport institute here) for their guidance, advice and conditioning work.
He said he was glad to be picked up and not concerned where he went, Was looking forward to learning from Kouta and Whitnall. He also said he expects to play mostly Bullants games to learn but wished for a couple of league games to.
From what I know of Joe Anderson he is exactly a player we can develop and be proud of. He is very tough and skilled, will uphold the Territory reputation for producing good players (his grandad said he wanted this, for Joe to be proud and to do well for other kids to look up to)
I am sure it was a good decision to bring Joe to Carlton and that we have a real gem here.
I have seen him play local footy and he is aggressive, skilled and knows what to do, and will be ready for senior games in '07.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

Back from the local NT footy.
Spoke to Joe Andersons granddad.
Family are very happy he was picked up. He has several Blues fans amongst his old temamates. Joe himself was a Port fan. His grandad was/is a Collingwood fan (but does not like Malthouse much), but will have to follow the Blues now.
His grandad said Joe was very level headed and prepared for the AFL, has a very clear idea of what he has to do, has been working towards this goal forever.
At halftime on the footy they interviewed Joe, said he was waiting for a call from the Carlton managers Sunday 26th re: plane ticket to Melbourne. Said he wanted to thank the NTIS (sport institute here) for their guidance, advice and conditioning work.
He said he was glad to be picked up and not concerned where he went, Was looking forward to learning from Kouta and Whitnall. He also said he expects to play mostly Bullants games to learn but wished for a couple of league games to.
From what I know of Joe Anderson he is exactly a player we can develop and be proud of. He is very tough and skilled, will uphold the Territory reputation for producing good players (his grandad said he wanted this, for Joe to be proud and to do well for other kids to look up to)
I am sure it was a good decision to bring Joe to Carlton and that we have a real gem here.
I have seen him play local footy and he is aggressive, skilled and knows what to do, and will be ready for senior games in '07.

hey thanks for the update

can you compare him to any current AFL players ?

in terms of his style of play ?

 

[pauld]

To compare Joe Anderson to current AFL players is a bit difficult, because each has their own style.
Closest I can come to is Andrew McLeod (and Joe played for McLeods old NT team). Think they are related as well.
I guess Joe is a tough defender with plenty of pace, not afraid to tackle hard, is intelligent in his play, has good hands and knows where he is at and what he needs to do. Knows he has to learn and will work very hard to get there.
If you want comparisons, then A.McLeod is the closest, with a touch of the Buckley about him as well.
All those who questioned this pick will learn in 07 and beyond that it was indeed a wise choice, we have a hard working, intelligent player we can be happy with. Another positive for the Blues. Oh, and Joe comes from a famous footballing family in Darwin that were famed for their tough, no nonsense approach to footy.

 

[OZBomb]

To compare Joe Anderson to current AFL players is a bit difficult, because each has their own style.
Closest I can come to is Andrew McLeod (and Joe played for McLeods old NT team). Think they are related as well.
I guess Joe is a tough defender with plenty of pace, not afraid to tackle hard, is intelligent in his play, has good hands and knows where he is at and what he needs to do. Knows he has to learn and will work very hard to get there.
If you want comparisons, then A.McLeod is the closest, with a touch of the Buckley about him as well.
All those who questioned this pick will learn in 07 and beyond that it was indeed a wise choice, we have a hard working, intelligent player we can be happy with. Another positive for the Blues. Oh, and Joe comes from a famous footballing family in Darwin that were famed for their tough, no nonsense approach to footy.

Totally concur with everything you said. The kid was totally undervalued in the draft and I was thrilled to see him come to Carlton after championing his cause for so long. A big steal and we'll be talking about this one in years to come.

 

[OZBomb]

I agree taller players are important. What is more vital though is to have good users of the footy. I would have liked to have gotten a few more natural footballers oppossed to Athletes. A bit dissaointed that we kept overlooking Connors when we were reportadly interested in him. We also should have taken an inside mid at one point rather than just loading up on HBF's.

Just because you're 188-90cms doesn't automatically make you an outside player or 'flanker' in this day and age. I'd be happy to throw a ball out, and send out Benjamin or Anderson to get it and bring it back more often than not, against most in the league.

Hampson could be called an athlete before a footballer, but certainly not the other two.

As for their use... well how they use the ball at club level and how they use it in the championships are two different things. I wouldn't be concerned about what you hear on that front either.

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

To compare Joe Anderson to current AFL players is a bit difficult, because each has their own style.
Closest I can come to is Andrew McLeod (and Joe played for McLeods old NT team). Think they are related as well.
I guess Joe is a tough defender with plenty of pace, not afraid to tackle hard, is intelligent in his play, has good hands and knows where he is at and what he needs to do. Knows he has to learn and will work very hard to get there.
If you want comparisons, then A.McLeod is the closest, with a touch of the Buckley about him as well.
All those who questioned this pick will learn in 07 and beyond that it was indeed a wise choice, we have a hard working, intelligent player we can be happy with. Another positive for the Blues. Oh, and Joe comes from a famous footballing family in Darwin that were famed for their tough, no nonsense approach to footy.

Sounds more like Wirrpunda which would be fine by me.

 

[blueboys1]

well done Blues
some very good picks

A long term ruckman who is big enough to have a run this year

Joe Anderson sounds great havn't seen him at all

Also great work in getting Gibbs friend over from SA as well

The Future looks good GO BLUES

 

[HBF]

I think it is fairly obvious why we overlooked the likes of Jetta, Houli & Collard. We already have on our list 3 players under 180cm (Murphy, Blackwell, Betts) & 3 who are 182cm (Stevens, Scotland & Simpson). 5 of these 6 are midfielders. The way the game is developing you can only afford to carry a handful of smaller players because AFL teams are stocking their midfields & flanks with players who are 184cm +. If we are to be competitive we have to have our own supply of taller, mobile mids & flankers. Players of the size of Murphy & Blackwell have to have special qualities to make it in today's AFL. Fortunately they do.

Very well summed up MS (Again!!)
Without looking at the stats, I think the smallest player we drafted is around the 187cm mark, which would either be Gibbs or Anderson.