Draft Review 2014 - Redo the 2014 AFL Draft

[Smooth Banana]

Petracca is a beast. Big mistake it seems, time will tell. Paddy has huge potential, but an unknown cause poor fella can't string games together. You know what you were gonna get with Petracca. Just watching his footage at under age level you can see he was going to be a player.

 

[Kano]

And GC wouldn't trade Lynch for any mid in the comp.

Clubs don't pass up potential gun forwards at pick 1. Good mids, dime a dozen. Good key forwards, rare as hens teeth !!

Yeah, that would explain why every draft has had a promising key-forward at pick 1... wait

Josh Kennedy?
Josh Schache?
Cam McCarthy?
Sam Weideman?
Jack Riewoldt?

All were rated potential gun key forwards in their respective draft year, that must mean they all went at pick 1, right?

 

[Brutalitops]

Until McCartin actually plays its hard to say how good he is.

For mine, the concussion is a massive worry. Tends to never go away. Ask Dean Kemp and a few others.

Saints couldn't predict that.

Shame.

They need only go so far as Kosi. Had all the makings but never even got close to it after that knock. By the end he couldnt even high 5 a teammate without whacking them in the face.

 

[HarryZLA]

Anybody saying it was a "mistake" has no idea what they are talking about. Period.

I'm not saying McCartin is better than Petracca. I've said for a long time that Petracca is going to be a beast and I wish we were able to have him, but if you look at the situation we were in at the time of that draft, please enlighten me as to why we would pick a very promising midfielder over a promising key forward.

No Membrey yet, Bruce hadn't shown anything yet, and Roo on the way out.

I struggle to see how this topic keeps coming up.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

Yeah, that would explain why every draft has had a promising key-forward at pick 1... wait

Josh Kennedy?
Josh Schache?
Cam McCarthy?
Sam Weideman?
Jack Riewoldt?

All were rated potential gun key forwards in their respective draft year, that must mean they all went at pick 1, right?

Schache and Weitering were the two standout kpp of their draft year by a long way and so went 1 and 2.

Sam Weiderman wasn't a standout kpf in his draft year but had a lot of upside and still went at 6.

Same as Riewoldt but he wasn't even a big forward. Wasn't dominant but still went pretty high.

Same as Kennedy. Yet went at 4.

Cam McCartney is a shit example. No one knew who he was until he turned it on for GWS.

Recent potential gun forwards that clearly dominated their draft year..

Patton
Boyd
McCartin

All went number 1

We're talking about potential gun forwards that dominated their draft year. Not potential gun forwards that didn't dominate their draft year.....so

 

[Bald]

I am not sure if this has been mentioned before but I had read that St Kilda were heavily interested in Tom Boyd, but when it became clear he was coming to the Bulldogs they picked McCartin, I believe they had every intention of picking Petracca at 1.

 

[LeverPuller]

Using both Jack Watts' treatment from fans and development as a player as an example of anything other than what not to do is uncalled for.

Eternal patience is not afforded in this league from criticism. At some point, you have to perform.

Year 3 now. McCartin should be in the side regularly and starting to stand out. Instead he's having 'hamstring awareness' that causes him to go to Sandringham? Hmm.

 

[Struggle]

Yeah, that would explain why every draft has had a promising key-forward at pick 1... wait

Josh Kennedy?
Josh Schache?
Cam McCarthy?
Sam Weideman?
Jack Riewoldt?

All were rated potential gun key forwards in their respective draft year, that must mean they all went at pick 1, right?

Why would you mention McCarthy? A highly rated key forward went at 1 in that draft

 

[Big Fresh]

Just can't help yourself. Almost as embarrassing as giving up pick 26 for Crameri and us selecting Zach Merrett. See how hindsight works.

Petracca > McCartin isn't hindsight. Petracca was hugely hyped pre-draft.

Not convinced it was a massive blunder however. McCartin will probably be a very good player even though I'm quite sure he won't be as good as Petracca, and it's better to pay with pick one than what the Bulldogs (heaps of salary cap space, pick 6, experienced gun) or Sydney (also heaps of cap space over a very extended - well beyond when Franklin will in all probability be performing at a high standard - period) did for a talented KPF. There's might be one top notch one per draft and you need a high pick to get it.

Would've chosen Petracca then and now but it's not an extremely embarrassing decision.

 

[SSSSSS]

Petracca is by far the better player of the two and will be but McCartin is no mug. He will be a gun key forward and that's something every club needs.

Neither team should be unhappy with who they selected.

 

[Trav 20]

Sam Weiderman wasn't a standout kpf in his draft year but had a lot of upside and still went at 6.

9

 

[Dez!]

Eternal patience is not afforded in this league from criticism. At some point, you have to perform.

Year 3 now. McCartin should be in the side regularly and starting to stand out. Instead he's having 'hamstring awareness' that causes him to go to Sandringham? Hmm.

He missed a lot of time with head knocks, just because Watts got harsh treatment doesn't mean that McCartin should get the same treatment.

He showed promising signs last year but was hampered with concussion issues.

 

[Kappa]

Billings and McCartin certainly look bloody average so far

 

[theprospect]

Stupid thread. It's the start of his 3rd season, ffs.

Billings and McCartin certainly look bloody average so far

Give it a rest, man. Yeah Billings hasn't lived up to the hype of a number 3 pick as of yet, and the constant/ridiculous comparisons to Bontempelli don't help his cause at all but the kid is a gun and will be a very good player for a long time, and McCartin hasn't even had a decent go at it yet so I'm not sure what makes you think he looks 'bloody average'. Billings is 21 and McCartin 20.

 

[Ricmel]

I think Saints have been poor with their low picks. I thought Petracca was the one absolute monty in that draft. I think McCartin will be ok but I think Petracca will be great. It is hard to blame them for Billings. He was nearly every experts number 3 but again it is looking like a poor selection given what else was available.

Lee for 13, Dunstable at 17, Acres at 18. None of these players have justified their first round status. The one they do look to have gotten right is Gresham but even he is not going to be a midfield beast.

 

[JVseven]

If his footy career doesn't work out he could always appear at Comic Cons as a real life Alfred E Neuman.

 

[the dog's kennel]

When you get past all the chest-beating and abuse there is a fairly obvious answer to this, isn't there?

Yes, Petracca is looking like a sure thing, and McCartin has fitness issues. McCartin was a sensible pick at the time, but in hindsight - after Bruce and Membrey came along - if they were to do the draft again St Kilda might pick differently. But McCartin could still very easily vindicate his Number 1 selection, so this thread is stupidly premature. At least let the guy get some consistent time on the park, before we start the hindsight rubbish. And who knows what these players will be like when St Kilda get to the pointy end of the Finals.

Also don't forget Petracca will always look better than he might have in other teams because Melbourne's midfield is filled with quality. Other teams will have about 4 mids to nullify when they play Melbourne.

 

[_Mike_]

Looks like people are quick to forget that Paddy has suffered some serious bouts of concussion. Perhaps some may need to consider that when giving the kid a hard time

 

[Trav 20]

Also don't forget Petracca will always look better than he might have in other teams because Melbourne's midfield is filled with quality. Other teams will have about 4 mids to nullify when they play Melbourne.

Petracca is playing as a forward.

I agree about the prematurity of the thread.

 

[HarryZLA]

So much clueless dribble in this thread.

There is no point comparing the 2. At the time of the draft St.Kilda needed a promising young KPF to eventually replace Riewoldt, not an average sized forward that can play mid, even if Petracca was the more talented option.

Does that not make sense? Or do people just like to ignore it so the debate can continue?

St.Kilda had no Membrey, Bruce hadn't shown anything at this stage as a forward, and a potentially soon to be retiring Riewoldt.

In what world do we pick Petracca even if he was obviously more talented?

 

[JeffDunne]

Why are people so precious about these sort of discussions? Trying too hard to be virtuous?

Of course Paddy might tip the scales on this discussion as the years go by, and there's no reason at this stage to think he'll be a bust, but currently Petracca is showing he's going to be elite and he probably fills a need we need now more than a KPF.

Paddy's a good kid and I love the way he attacks the game but currently he's a long way off the output what his draft position warrants. Whose to say he'll even still be on our list when & if he does become an elite talent?

 

[Ozil]

I can't fault the Saints' decision making. They identified the gap in their list that would be more difficult to fill and drafted a blue chip talent.

Although, there's nobody that stands out in their midfield as a potential game breaker like Trac.

Has a bit of Oden-Durant about it if it continues down this path, but Paddy has plenty of time on his side.

 

[Cadillac]

Petracca is playing as a forward.

I agree about the prematurity of the thread.

Did you call up SEN the other week? Think I may have heard you.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Thread has been completely dreadful so far and has almost entirely failed to address the question.

I cannot imagine there is too many St Kilda supporters who are ecstatic by McCartin's progress thus far. In 2016, he averaged 7.0 disposals and 1.3 goals per game (though to be fair he did leave a few games early due to injury).

Obviously those aren't great numbers and they are even a bit weaker than you might expect from a KPF of his age. A lack of continuity certainly hasn't helped and the concussions do raise some question marks (though this obviously couldn't be considered prior to the draft).

According to him in an interview/article on him last year, he also only did about 40% of the work in his first preseason and 80% in his 2nd, due to his diabetes, so that has to be taken into account when comparing him to others who play a similar role, at a similar age, who may have done so off two relatively full preseasons.

As does their endurance levels, with the game these days involving so much more running than it did when the likes of Dunstall and Fevola rarely left the goalsquare/forward 50. Paddy's endurance was very average when he started out, whereas the likes of Hogan, Schache and Peter Wright all tested "elite" for endurance for someone their height prior to being drafted. As such, it's no surprise that they got off to a faster start to their career than Paddy did- especially when combined with Paddy only doing 40% and 80% of the two preseasons.

Paddy apparently took a whopping 1.5 mins off his 3km time trial results this offseason though, so hopefully we'll see the results of that this year. We certainly did in our 2nd JLT game, when he took 12 marks, had 18 disposals and 8 inside-50's, playing the lead-up-to-the-wings role, while Bruce stayed mostly inside 50.

 

[Trav 20]

Did you call up SEN the other week? Think I may have heard you.

What ? The flog carrying on about how good Oliver was ?