Strategy Are we seeing a change in strategy?

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I think it makes sense that if you have an option between two players that are fairly similar if one is local and one is from interstate there is a benefit to go with the local player, it reduces the probability that the player will leave. It would have to be a fairly close call though.
 

Grenville

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I think it makes sense that if you have an option between two players that are fairly similar if one is local and one is from interstate there is a benefit to go with the local player, it reduces the probability that the player will leave. It would have to be a fairly close call though.

Yep, and along with retention in general I expect there's salary cap implications. Shame we dont have player salary data - would be curious to see what that looks like over time, but guessing maybe 10% on market value?
 

mistylake

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Have we made a conscious decision as a club to lean local with some of our draft picks and trades?

Just seeing us bring in Hately plus draft Thilthorpe and Pedlar this off season.

Has the procession of Gunston, Dangerfield, Lever, Cameron, McGovern... out the door over the journey worn us down and steered us in another direction as a club?

Two questions

1) Do you think this is a change in strategy or just a coincidence that the players we rate at those picks happen to be South Australian?

2) If it is a change in strategy, do you think the club is right to veer in this direction?
As long as they are good players. I think it’s pretty clear Richmond have a better “band of brothers” thing going on. Anything that gives the players a feeling of belonging and maybe a higher cause “if that’s still possible” can’t be bad. The constant will he stay or will he go now, is destabilising.

 

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Jun 7, 2011
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Given that we picked a Vic Metro kid with pick 6 last year, and pushed Brad out the door, I doubt it's a strategy change.

I think we just really rated these guys

I'm sure they score each player across a range of metrics. They've always said they'll only go local if they can't split a couple of players. Which seems stupid to me. I'd apply a little more value to a local kid than that, not a lot, but enough to push an SA kid past a few players rated similarly on talent.
 

hey shorty

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Have we made a conscious decision as a club to lean local with some of our draft picks and trades?

Just seeing us bring in Hately plus draft Thilthorpe and Pedlar this off season.

Has the procession of Gunston, Dangerfield, Lever, Cameron, McGovern... out the door over the journey worn us down and steered us in another direction as a club?

Two questions

1) Do you think this is a change in strategy or just a coincidence that the players we rate at those picks happen to be South Australian?

2) If it is a change in strategy, do you think the club is right to veer in this direction?
It's a very interesting theory.

Personally I think this year just fell that way, and I'm not bothered by that in the slightest. I reckon cherry picking the best SA talent is always the go.... And we've done that in the last 3 drafts + Hately.

If we take 4 SA kids in every draft I'm not sure how well that works.
 

goyoucrows

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We have 17 SA locals and 18 VICs.

13 of our 17 are under 23 (compared to ports 14 SA players and only 5 are under 23).

I'm loving it.

West Coast have about 25 on their list that are from WAFL and go local while Freo are lower and look to take Vics more often.

Any strategy that resembles the Eagles I am all for.
 
We have 17 SA locals and 18 VICs.

13 of our 17 are under 23 (compared to ports 14 SA players and only 5 are under 23).

I'm loving it.

West Coast have about 25 on their list that are from WAFL and go local while Freo are lower and look to take Vics more often.

Any strategy that resembles the Eagles I am all for.

Freo loaded up on WA lads last night too.
 
Might have put slightly more emphasis on SA but I think it’s mostly coincidental.
Powell has been rated highly longer than Pedlar, so we could taken him as the safe choice. I think just really rated Pedlar. Poulter looked like an obvious option at 28 but we went Victorian anyway.

As for trades, it’s usually easier to bring local talent back.
 

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CharlieCrow

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In his press statement Hamish suggested that Pedlar " .... got injured and missed later in the year which wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened, because he was probably a little bit under the radar for a few but not for us." This sounds to me like a Hamish special. And I am happy to go with it.
Despite sounding like a SA-phobe I would also rather he chose Poulter over Berry, but what do I know?
 

ltdamn

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Honestly, if we're going to have that many picks in the top 30 and be bringing in 9-10 new players overall, I'm OK with it prioritising SA kids so we don't have to worry about the annual churn of will he / won't he.

We never have access to the top SA kids in the draft and the bulk of the good Victorian ones we pick up in the middle inevitably leave, so you have to factor in the added benefit of stability on our list between that 18-22 age group if they can all crack it over the next few years.
 

kulak

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Having almost a quarter of the draft come from SA this year helps.

On the back of Luko, Rankine, Rozee etc from a few years ago - looking forward to State of Origin making a comeback in about 2023!
Unlikely the SA kids were extra talented this year

More likely the lack of exposure for Vic kids meant some SA kids were drafted who would normally be ignored for more talented Vic kids
 
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A little bit of change in strategy but ALOT to do with no footy in Vic this year so rather than taking players on trust we took players we knew well with exposed form this year

also there was some good local talent which helped , even more if we took Poulter instead of Berry but you can’t win them all !

I think we have the tall inside mid covered by O'Connor and possibly Gollant who has filled out nicely. I liked reading about Berry's take no prisoners attitude. Pedlar is a bull as well. I expect good things out of our mids this year.

They won't be guns but should show a bit.
 

rocket18

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The last twenty years have been ordinary for SA talent identification/development (thanks SANFL) just look at the SA State of Origin sides. Shocking quality.

It's only been the last couple of years it's improved, the amount of players coming through now has enabled us to lean more towards SA youngsters.

Where we determine two players are similar talent/ability we can actually go the local lad, previously quality SA lads have been like hens teeth.
 

mattymac

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I suspect this is definitely a change in strategy. We're moving to the West Coast model.

8 Victorians delisted. 7 SA kids brought in.

On top of adding an extra layer of something to play for (local pride) I think we might have looked at how successful West Coast are in attracting locals home.

With some serious SA talent coming into the league in the last few years after a fair dry spell, hopefully this will translate for us into becoming a real player in attracting SA guns back home.
 

Lawrst

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Is this a sign of the club's commitment to a rebuild?
Go the SA talent that is less likely to leave in 2-3 years while we replenish the list?
 
Jun 7, 2011
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We have 17 SA locals and 18 VICs.

13 of our 17 are under 23 (compared to ports 14 SA players and only 5 are under 23).

I'm loving it.

West Coast have about 25 on their list that are from WAFL and go local while Freo are lower and look to take Vics more often.

Any strategy that resembles the Eagles I am all for.

West Coast don't have a border region where loads of kids have no affinity with the capital city. We don't need to gear as heavily toward local but we do need to be more careful with Melbourne kids. Western country Vic kids I doubt we've had much, if any, return home factor.
 

Cleric

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Its not just the issue of retention.
Getting a group of kids who grew up playing with and against each other for their Jr careers builds a culture.
They were all Crows supporters other than Borlase, which again means more to the kids playing for the team they support and love.

And let's be real here, Pedler and Cook wernt stretches at their picks.
Go and watch the highlights put up by South's of Cook, and you see the way he moves in traffic, the way he kicks goals, his marking ability and positioning.
He reminds me of a taller version of Robbie Gray.

While Pedler was also a bolter, just look at the way he attacks the ball.
There were also reasons why other clubs were looking to pounce early as well.

I can understand not going with Poulter as we have Hatley coming in and they are pretty similar in my eyes.
 
1997 Non-South Australians

Peter Caven
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