- Jun 19, 2006
- 10,466
- 19,693
- AFL Club
- Geelong
You've completely misinterpreted what I'm saying. My argument that Grundy wouldn't go that high has nothing to do with his quality as a player but about what a team needs. There are just a lot of clubs at that point who didn't need a ruck so weren't going to pick him with an early pick regardless.
If you did the draft with each club knowing how the players would turn out I'd say there would still be plenty of clubs who wouldn't pick Grundy. I'd see it going something like this:
Picks 1,2 and 3 GWS: They'd consider Grundy since they didn't have a good ruck at that stage. But I reckon they'd go Stringer, Wines and Whitfield as the top 3.
4. Melbourne. Didn't really need a ruck due to having Jamar as #1 (AA a couple of years prior) and 3 developing rucks in their early 20s (Gawn, Fitzpatrick and Spencer). Would've probably gone a mid since they got Hogan in the mini draft. Probably Macrae.
5 and 6. Western Bulldogs. Minson had just announced himself as a very good ruck and they had Roughead and Cordy as developing young rucks so they didn't need a ruckman much. They'd likely have gone a key forward in Daniher and then there's about 5-6 players who would be options who have showed a fair bit since draft day but unlikely to get Grundy.
7. PA. Might've picked Grundy but also had Lobbe as an early pick who was becoming physically ready.
8. Brisbane. No way they would've got Grundy with Luenberger matur and Billy Longer the pick 8 from the year before.
You get the point. He's probably one of the best 5 players in the draft. But there's a reason he slid on draft day. It's because a heap of teams had absolutely no reason to pick a ruckman who would likely be stuck in the VFL for a good chunk of their career instead of a lower quality but more versatile player who would walk straight into the starting lineup.
