23-27 age bracket

[Jetau]

Looking at our list ranked by age on Footywire, I am struck by how poor this bracket is for us. Bolded players are keepers.

Thornton, Scott 26yr 8mth
Sandilands, Aaron 26yr 6mth
Gilmore, Daniel 26yr 3mth
Dodd, Steven 25yr 11mth
Head, Joshua 25yr 11mth
Peake, Brett 25yr 11mth
Crowley, Ryan 25yr 3mth
Browne, Andrew 25yr
Johnson, Michael 24yr 7mth
Campbell, Adam 24yr 4mth
Duffield, Paul 24yr 4mth
Murphy, Ryan 24yr
Schammer, Byron 23yr 11mth
Mundy, David 23yr 10mth
Foster, Andrew 23yr 9mth
Bradley, Kepler 23yr 6mth

16 players in this age bracket and I would only keep 6 of them if there were players to replace them with. I'm being a bit harsh on Peake, but his disposal by foot is and remains woeful. He can't tackle either. Campbell and Foster could make something of themselves, but currently they've played 17 games between them. The rest are crabs.

Surely this is an indictment on the list managers over the Connolly years. I don't blame Harvey for us being 14th on the ladder at the moment. I blame Connolly and co for trading away draft picks and recruiting hacks like Murphy and Gilmore. Let's not forget the crabs already delisted in this age bracket, for instance Dunn.

It seems to me that our under 23s are far superior to the 23-27 bracket. Given this, I think Harvey should get an extension on his contract after 2010 even if we don't make the finals. Thoughts?

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

Looking at our list ranked by age on Footywire, I am stuck by how poor this bracket is for us.

Thornton, Scott 26yr 8mth
Sandilands, Aaron 26yr 6mth
Gilmore, Daniel 26yr 3mth
Dodd, Steven 25yr 11mth
Head, Joshua 25yr 11mth
Peake, Brett 25yr 11mth
Crowley, Ryan 25yr 3mth
Browne, Andrew 25yr
Johnson, Michael 24yr 7mth
Campbell, Adam 24yr 4mth
Duffield, Paul 24yr 4mth
Murphy, Ryan 24yr
Schammer, Byron 23yr 11mth
Mundy, David 23yr 10mth
Foster, Andrew 23yr 9mth
Bradley, Kepler 23yr 6mth

16 players in this age bracket and I would only keep 6 of them if there were players to replace them with. I'm being a bit harsh on Peake, but his disposal by foot is and remains woeful. He can't tackle either. Campbell and Foster could make something of themselves, but currently they've played 17 games between them. The rest are crabs.

Surely this is an indictment on the list managers over the Connolly years. I don't blame Harvey for us being 14th on the ladder at the moment. I blame Connolly and co for trading away draft picks and recruiting hacks like Murphy and Head. Let's not forget the crabs already delisted in this age bracket, for instance Dunn.

It seems to me that our under 23s are far superior to the 23-27 bracket. Given this, I think Harvey should get an extension on his contract after 2010 even if we don't make the finals. Thoughts?

yep, i would suggest that every one of those players were recruited during the connolly bad old days. i think foster and campbell can maybe make the grade, peake has been good this year, but i understand what your saying with him......

no doubt our mid tier players are the ones letting us down

 

[Jetau]

I should have said that I think Kepler is a special case. Obviously he wasn't there in the Connolly years and we got him cheap. He's a trier but he's still a crab. Can't blame his failings on Connolly though. I think we traded him up for around pick 50-60 in the draft? At least we didn't waste a first round pick on him, unlike Essendon.

 

[Split Personality]

I'd add Foster to the keep list, even if only on 1 year contracts. He's shown a bit in the last 2 games, he just needs to keep fit.

The difference between the good and bad Peake is horrifying. So no multi year deals for you either!

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

I'd add Foster to the keep list, even if only on 1 year contracts. He's shown a bit in the last 2 games, he just needs to keep fit.

The difference between the good and bad Peake is horrifying. So no multi year deals for you either!

i agree, i like foster. he just needs a clear run at it. it finally looks like he is going to get it

 

[Scham]

Jetau, what's your definition of keeper? Are you saying that all the non bolded players won't be with the club in 2010 or by 2011 or what?

 

[Jetau]

Jetau, what's your definition of keeper? Are you saying that all the non bolded players won't be with the club in 2010 or by 2011 or what?

Obviously we can't delist them all, max 6-8 and it depends whether there are any retirements this year. I'm not sure about Solomon and maybe even Headland could be on the way out. Hayden isn't getting any younger either. I am saying that ideally I would move most or all of these players on, but of course it will take at least 2-3 years to move them all on.

I agree that Foster may prove to be a good player after all. Injuries have cruelled his career thus far, but it may be that there was a good player in Ryley Dunn too.

The point is that we are going nowhere with most of these players, and they are the primary reason why the team is losing 65% of the time under Harvey. Compare this to the same age bracket for Hawthorn, who have players like Mitchell, Sewell, Hodge, Ladson, Young and Lewis, plus about another 5 guys who'd be in our top 22 easy.

 

[Scham]

Obviously we can't delist them all, max 6-8 and it depends whether there are any retirements this year. I'm not sure about Solomon and maybe even Headland could be on the way out. Hayden isn't getting any younger either. I am saying that ideally I would move most or all of these players on, but of course it will take at least 2-3 years to move them all on.

I agree that Foster may prove to be a good player after all. Injuries have cruelled his career thus far, but it may be that there was a good player in Ryley Dunn too.

Fair enough. In that case I agree with you with the possible exception of Crowley. The jury's still out on him being a long term player with us IMO, especially with DE Boer looking ok in the tagging role. One of them may have to re-invent themselves and I'm not sure Crowley will be able to.

Also, It wouldn't surprise me if Peake hangs in there for a few years yet and becomes a FP specialist, a bit like his old man late in his career?

 

[Jetau]

Fair enough. In that case I agree with you with the possible exception of Crowley. The jury's still out on him being a long term player with us IMO, especially with DE Boer looking ok in the tagging role. One of them may have to re-invent themselves and I'm not sure Crowley will be able to.

Also, It wouldn't surprise me if Peake hangs in there for a few years yet and becomes a FP specialist, a bit like his old man late in his career?

Possible. I tend to think that Crowley has less weak areas of his game compared to Peake, but neither have been A grade players. Both were instrumental in that 9 game streak in 2006, of course. I get the feeling that when Peake loses his pace he simply won't be AFL quality any more. We'll see.

 

[Rob]

We're missing all those players we should have drafted with the picks we traded for Bell, Headland, Carr and Croad.
Can't really blame the recruiters for not picking up gems with pick 64.

 

[Scham]

We're missing all those players we should have drafted with the picks we traded for Bell, Headland, Carr and Croad.
Can't really blame the recruiters for not picking up gems with pick 64.

Good point. Most of those players came via the rookie list, with only 4 being top 30 draft picks.

 

[believe_it]

Out of those 16 players only Sandi , Johnno and Duffield are successful picks. thats the cause of our current plight.

Crowley is a stock player nothing more . Mundy has age on his side but too often he looks like a kleenex blowing in the wind to me. Needs to be harder in contests. Peake gets bagged more than he should but I think thats from disappointment at what could have been . Bradley got drop kicked from Essendon for a reason and from what I have seen cant say they got it wrong. I'd look the other way if somebody put steroids in Thorntons gatorade . There was a close up of him the other day and his arms have absolutely no tone . Geez I mean he gets a free gym to use !!!

The trouble is some these players are too young for me. Wish they were over 30.

 

[sabre_ac]

Mundy would be a star with a strong side around him, while we struggle he will never be as good as we expect.

So that leaves us with a player that is too good to delist, trade value is significantly lower than it should and an eastern stater to boot.

Do we persist and wait for the side to catch up? While being patient with him in the side.
Trade get a middle draft pick only too see him go on and star?.

Delist isn't an option.

Murphy will be traded for nothing, may go on to have a career..But I am begining to doubt that now.

Dodd is a honest defender expected to play a finishing role he can never play, I think he is definitely worth persisting with.

Bradley is a depth player and Duffield has been the revelation of the season (For me ).

Peake has earn't his spot, his game and attitude have improved out of sight.

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

Some very harsh assessments on Phil Smart. Murphy was rated a gun when he was drafted and many on here were calling for his inclusion when he kicked 70 goals for South's in the WAFL. Then, apart from 11 games in 2006, he's been diabolical. There is something wrong with his head, and that's why we haven't been able to trade him away.

For pick 66, Thornton has been an absolute bargain.

And at 23 Bradley is probably a season or two away from his prime from his prime. He is a very handy list player with 200 cm, a decent mark, and a huge tank. At 23, some on here were calling Sandialnds carp, and look how he turned out.

As to this bracket being lean, blame Schwab. I reckon those 3 picks we traded for Josh Carr has cruelled us at this point. Plus Medhurst and an extra pick would have been handy.

 

[Jetau]

What were those 3 picks for Carr? He was a good player for us for 4 years and certainly helped us get to the prelim final, but now we're screwed again and no better off than in 1995.

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

What were those 3 picks for Carr? He was a good player for us for 4 years and certainly helped us get to the prelim final, but now we're screwed again and no better off than in 1995.

Looked it up -- picks 11, 27 and 45 in 2004. so 3 18 years olds would be 23 now.

It wasn't a real flash draft but some useful WA boys -- Nathan Van Berlo Mark Le Cras. Others who have proved useful from pick 11 on: Tom Williams, Mathew Bate, Lynden Dunn, Justin Sherman to name some.

 

[Jetau]

Just had a look at the '04 draft - a whole lot of nobodies there, especially in the first 20 picks. Buddy Franklin is there at 5 of course. Our best bets would have been Van Berlo and Lecras from West Perth, as you said.

We still traded three picks for a guy who played 4 years at our club, i.e. less than half of one career. We should really stop doing that.

I think the Tarrant trade was a big blunder too. Him turning into a defender really was the only option given that he still has another 1.5 years on his contract. I want Medhusrt and pick 8 back.

 

[Jetau]

It was 2003 that killed us, looking back.

Pick 10 - Ryley Dunn - dud
Pick 12 - Ryan Murphy - dud
Pick 19 - David Mundy - win. Not perfect, but we traded Stephen Koops for this pick.
Pick 27 - Adam Campbell - borderline dud
Pick 43 - Brett Peake (f/s) - win given the low pick.

Out of those five picks we have one soft flanker with silky skills and one speedster with shonky foot skills.

Jed Adcock was pick 33 and Daniel Jackson pick 53 that year. I'd like to trade Murphy and Campbell for those two, thanks.

 

[Latro]

Although not in this age bracket the guy taken the pick after Collard kicked 7 goals today.