- Aug 7, 2013
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- AFL Club
- Gold Coast
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Nothing wrong with Swallow's development, nor Bennell's until injured and you really need to watch more of Rory Thompson.That viewpoint to me that Gold Coast's drafting hasn't been the problem can be confirmed through the promise a lot of Gold Coast's players showed early days. Trent McKenzie, Zac Smith, Harley Bennell, David Swallow, Peter Wright, Rory Thompson, Matt Shaw, Brandon Matera, Maverick Weller, Luke Russell. None of those guys play anywhere near like how they projected initially. With that noted, it is clear that Gold Coast's problem has been in player development. And as I also note, injuries and loosing players to other clubs have been further issues which in combination with lacking player development has led to Gold Coast's list being in the state it presently is in.
As for McKenzie, Smith, Weller, Shaw all moved to other clubs and never improved one bit. You can add first round picks Gorringe, Kolodjashnij, Schade, Garlett to those as well. They never developed because they simply weren't up to it. Other first round picks Lonergan, Tape, Leslie simply delisted.
A lack of player development never affected the good footballers that were drafted to the club.
We now have world class training facilities & have brought in highly assistant coaches like Josh Drummond and Francou. A senior on field general would be great, but it's not the be all and end all to developing the talent we are now bringing in.