Welcome BigFooty Saints Board Introductions - What's your background in following the Saints?

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Drake GGHuggins

Debutant
May 4, 2018
87
217
AFL Club
St Kilda
You're a brave man identifying yourself as having something to do with recruitment during such a poor recruitment period, but welcome!
I thought the recruiting and trading during 1999 to 2004 was pretty good, Austinnnn. The basis of one of our most dominant periods. After that we were victims of our own success, with very few early picks. Still, we plucked Steven, McEVoy, Lynch, Gilbert amongst others. We couldn't help that the pelican and trout traded the best away and couldn't develop others. Still, considering the picks we had, we did way better than the fresh water fish and Pelican, whose efforts have produced nothing but heartbreak. Didn't you enjoy 2004-11? Proud to say I was part of that. You are a harsh judge, considering our work produced the second best era in the club's history. Puzzling.
 

austinnn

Veteran GOP
Nov 7, 2012
9,462
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France
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I thought the recruiting and trading during 1999 to 2004 was pretty good, Austinnnn. The basis of one of our most dominant periods. After that we were victims of our own success, with very few early picks. Still, we plucked Steven, McEVoy, Lynch, Gilbert amongst others. We couldn't help that the pelican and trout traded the best away and couldn't develop others. Still, considering the picks we had, we did way better than the fresh water fish and Pelican, whose efforts have produced nothing but heartbreak. Didn't you enjoy 2004-11? Proud to say I was part of that. You are a harsh judge, considering our work produced the second best era in the club's history. Puzzling.
I thought you said you were in recruiting in the GT and RL years. 2006 are when the recruitment turned to s**t IMO
 

Drake Huggins

Club Legend
May 2, 2018
2,391
9,697
The ghost of the G.G. Huggins Stand
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Stoke City, Southampton.
I thought you said you were in recruiting in the GT and RL years. 2006 are when the recruitment turned to s**t IMO
A little harsh. We got some good players after 2006. Given our lack do advantageous picks, we certainly did a lot better than the fresh water dud and his Clouseaux. They are the first who should be cleaned out. I had two meetings with troutasaurus and I must say, I've never met a less intelligent dud in my life. Peaky and I had been poached to other clubs at that point, so we were merely handing over to the biggest dud in AFL history. Seriously, it's not the coach or assistants. It's the dud recruiter and list manager and his collected fools and the lack of development, led by the great PETA Searle. The PC appointment who had no qualifications, and yet was given a senior role in player development. How did that work out? Amateur hour at the saints yet again.
 

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Jan 10, 2011
34,367
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Ormond AFC
A little harsh. We got some good players after 2006. Given our lack do advantageous picks, we certainly did a lot better than the fresh water dud and his Clouseaux. They are the first who should be cleaned out. I had two meetings with troutasaurus and I must say, I've never met a less intelligent dud in my life. Peaky and I had been poached to other clubs at that point, so we were merely handing over to the biggest dud in AFL history. Seriously, it's not the coach or assistants. It's the dud recruiter and list manager and his collected fools and the lack of development, led by the great PETA Searle. The PC appointment who had no qualifications, and yet was given a senior role in player development. How did that work out? Amateur hour at the saints yet again.

Peake was a worse dud. What’s your name. Might see what bevo thinks of you. Elshaug isn’t great but compared to Peake he could be the best ever


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austinnn

Veteran GOP
Nov 7, 2012
9,462
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A little harsh. We got some good players after 2006. Given our lack do advantageous picks, we certainly did a lot better than the fresh water dud and his Clouseaux. They are the first who should be cleaned out. I had two meetings with troutasaurus and I must say, I've never met a less intelligent dud in my life. Peaky and I had been poached to other clubs at that point, so we were merely handing over to the biggest dud in AFL history. Seriously, it's not the coach or assistants. It's the dud recruiter and list manager and his collected fools and the lack of development, led by the great PETA Searle. The PC appointment who had no qualifications, and yet was given a senior role in player development. How did that work out? Amateur hour at the saints yet again.
Well it's certainly good to have you here Drake Huggins. You won't get an argument from me about the development at St Kilda, most here would agree with you. Interesting that you say Peta Searle was head of development. What do you think we lacked in our development, from an insider's POV?

If you ever have the time, I'd be interested to read your best 22 of the players you and your colleagues brought to the club.

Also, which of the players drafted by those who replaced you were the biggest mistakes, in your opinion?
 

Drake Huggins

Club Legend
May 2, 2018
2,391
9,697
The ghost of the G.G. Huggins Stand
AFL Club
St Kilda
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Stoke City, Southampton.
Well it's certainly good to have you here Drake Huggins. You won't get an argument from me about the development at St Kilda, most here would agree with you. Interesting that you say Peta Searle was head of development. What do you think we lacked in our development, from an insider's POV?

If you ever have the time, I'd be interested to read your best 22 of the players you and your colleagues brought to the club.

Also, which of the players drafted by those who replaced you were the biggest mistakes, in your opinion?
Hi Austinn. First let me qualify my role. I did the psych.testing and interpretation for Bevo. Mine were recommendations. He always had the final call, except when GT overrode him. I started in 1997, by introducing psych. testimg for the first time to the AFL draft. I went on to do psych. work with the group and coaches under Timmy and MM (very briefly ) and then GT. I also worked closely with John Peake, who I felt was very much unfairly maligned for reasons I'll outline later. I also worked closely with Brian Phelan and PHIL Anstey our HR managers and Waldo, who was our best CEO, but fell out with GT over some extra curricular activities, that I believe have been well documented in the public arena. The stories Brian Phelan and I have about Blighty could still become the subject of a book (if the lawyers let us!).

The start of our problems was the total lack of budget for Bevo. Until the end of GT's tenure it was 70K per year, which largely went on Bevo's salary. There was no organised interstate or suburban network, when many other clubs were spending ten times as much on recruiting. THat Beco did as well as a sole operator was a minor miracle. Unfortunately, we also picked players sight unseen, like PHIL Raymond and Justin Sweeney. Ouch!

The biggest blue in my experience was the non selection of Chris Judd. IMHO, and that of just about everybody else, he was by far the best in his draft. The plan was to take Luke Ball at pick 2 (I believe at GT's strong insistence, a Xavier man, you see) and Judd at 5. This theory was based on the Intel that picks three and four would be used by the WA clubs on Sampi and Polak. You can imagine Bevo's horror when WC, smiling and looking straight at our table, read out Judd's name? Done like a dinner! To make matters worse, we took the mercurial but physically fragile, Xavier Clarke at 5 ahead of a Geelong kid called Jimmy Bartel! We clawed back ground by getting Dal at 13, Goose MaGuire in the 20's and Joey at 37. Not bad overall, but overlooking Judd cost us at least one flag.

2002 was a no brainer in Goddard. Raph Clarke in 2003 was a blue in that he was injury prone as a junior and had undiagnosed epilepsy. He was also one of those kids who was physically imposing at junior level, but others caught up to him. McQualter in 2004 was so-so, although RL was a huge fan, 2005 was unlucky in the Fergus Watts had his career ended by one injury. Nepotism was also a factor. Brooks doing his ACL ruined him, as he lost his ability to leap and therefore his confidence.

2006 is where I recommended we go Riewoldt ahead of Armitage. Overruled. No biggie, because Armo was the type we needed, but Jack had leadership qualities we could use. 2007 it was McEvoy over Rioli. There were concerns over Rioli's psych. Profile, which I tried to assuage, but in fairness they needed a ruckman and Ben was a great candidate. That draft was good as we got the Stuv with a pick in the 40's, pinching him from under the filth's nose. Heheh!

Lynch and Stanley were good picks we couldn't develop and hang on to. So Sainters. Lovett? Say no more. Fiora? Not great, but not our worst in a time we were topping up. My last draft, and Peakey's was 2011. Ross, Newnes and Webster. Given our late picks, not the worst way to go out, but I knew we were handing over to clueless gees. I predicted then the rebuild under Pelchen and TFWF would fail. A couple of pud pullers claim I'm bitter because I was given the arse. Yes, I was given the dcm, but I was off to work for another club and was relocating to Canberra for a four year contract with the APS. I was on the way out the door .

I posted it many times on SS in case you think I'm using 20/20 hindsight. A pair of clowns who had no idea and have proved their incompetence since. They tried to rebuild a list, beginning with three compromised drafts where the GC and GWS got all the cream. What did the smart clubs do? They topped up, used the rookie draft and chose the best available from the leagues. Just look at 2012 and 2014. Two critical drafts for our rebuild that are now complete write offs. Even 2013 is looking wobbly. They stuffed it and JP and I could see it coming a mile away. Bevo's been there all the way as an advisor because he's been there for 35 years and is in semi retirement. What else would he do?

So that's about it , Austinnnn. I took a bit of time to explain and there is more to this, but I wanted the people on the forum to have the real story, not just the slings and arrows of the know nothing, so called itk's. If you have any questions, PM me. I hope I haven't posted anything libellous. Like the rest of us, I love the saints, have dedicated my life to them and even though I was paid for my services, I gave them a pretty heavy discount. Like the rest of us, I just want to see one friggin' premiership!
 

Drake Huggins

Club Legend
May 2, 2018
2,391
9,697
The ghost of the G.G. Huggins Stand
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Stoke City, Southampton.
Sorry, Austinnn, PETA Searle was not head of development, but was a significant player in the development area. I take it that was due to her teaching experience. As for the best 22 brought to the club in my time, here goes. Do you mind the inclusion of traded players as well as draftees? I think that's relevant as drafting is only half the story.

Voss, Penny, Powell, Riewoldt, Kozitschke, Gehrig, Hamill, Guerra, Ball, X.Clarke, Dal Santo, MaGuire, Montagna, Goddard, Armitage, McEvoy, Steven, S. Fisher, Lynch, Ross, Milne, Geary.

I should have added that I developed a psych. test for exclusive use for the saints in 2004. The best success was Jack Darling, who everyone had rejected because of his so called social and behavioural problems. My test showed he was more than solid on that front. My interview showed he came from a great family, even if they were a little "alternative". Begged the boys to take him, but they chose Jamie Cripps instead. Oh well.
 

austinnn

Veteran GOP
Nov 7, 2012
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Sorry, Austinnn, PETA Searle was not head of development, but was a significant player in the development area. I take it that was due to her teaching experience. As for the best 22 brought to the club in my time, here goes. Do you mind the inclusion of traded players as well as draftees? I think that's relevant as drafting is only half the story.

Voss, Penny, Powell, Riewoldt, Kozitschke, Gehrig, Hamill, Guerra, Ball, X.Clarke, Dal Santo, MaGuire, Montagna, Goddard, Armitage, McEvoy, Steven, S. Fisher, Lynch, Ross, Milne, Geary.

I should have added that I developed a psych. test for exclusive use for the saints in 2004. The best success was Jack Darling, who everyone had rejected because of his so called social and behavioural problems. My test showed he was more than solid on that front. My interview showed he came from a great family, even if they were a little "alternative". Begged the boys to take him, but they chose Jamie Cripps instead. Oh well.
So let me get this straight.

You told the club to take Cyril, not Big Boy, and Jack Riewoldt instead of "Friends Call Me" Dave Armitage. You told the club to take Darling, not Cripps.

Maybe if your bosses had listened to you, we'd have had a couple of premierships in that time.

By the way that is indeed a very handy firsts team. Did Milne arrive during your time at the club? I bet your bosses dined off that for a while!

Do you know if your psych test is still in use at Moorabbin? Who would you be going for in the trade period and who would you be getting out of the club?
 
Last edited:
Jan 10, 2011
34,367
57,683
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Ormond AFC
Sorry, Austinnn, PETA Searle was not head of development, but was a significant player in the development area. I take it that was due to her teaching experience. As for the best 22 brought to the club in my time, here goes. Do you mind the inclusion of traded players as well as draftees? I think that's relevant as drafting is only half the story.

Voss, Penny, Powell, Riewoldt, Kozitschke, Gehrig, Hamill, Guerra, Ball, X.Clarke, Dal Santo, MaGuire, Montagna, Goddard, Armitage, McEvoy, Steven, S. Fisher, Lynch, Ross, Milne, Geary.

I should have added that I developed a psych. test for exclusive use for the saints in 2004. The best success was Jack Darling, who everyone had rejected because of his so called social and behavioural problems. My test showed he was more than solid on that front. My interview showed he came from a great family, even if they were a little "alternative". Begged the boys to take him, but they chose Jamie Cripps instead. Oh well.

Amazing stuff. Send me your name by pm. I’m seeing bevo this weekend


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Drake Huggins

Club Legend
May 2, 2018
2,391
9,697
The ghost of the G.G. Huggins Stand
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Stoke City, Southampton.
So let me get this straight.

You told the club to take Cyril, not Big Boy, and Jack Riewoldt instead of "Friends Call Me" Dave Armitage. You told the club to take Darling, not Cripps.

Maybe if your bosses had listened to you, we'd have had a couple of premierships in that time.

By the way that is indeed a very handy firsts team. Did Milne arrive during your time at the club? I bet your bosses dined off that for a while!
Amazing stuff. Send me your name by pm. I’m seeing bevo this weekend


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Bevo knows me, plugs.
 

Drake Huggins

Club Legend
May 2, 2018
2,391
9,697
The ghost of the G.G. Huggins Stand
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Stoke City, Southampton.
So let me get this straight.

You told the club to take Cyril, not Big Boy, and Jack Riewoldt instead of "Friends Call Me" Dave Armitage. You told the club to take Darling, not Cripps.

Maybe if your bosses had listened to you, we'd have had a couple of premierships in that time.

By the way that is indeed a very handy firsts team. Did Milne arrive during your time at the club? I bet your bosses dined off that for a while!
Bevo snatched the tiprat from the doper's list. No one else wanted him. Bevo's best pinch IMHO. Along with Jack Steven. My three "wins" are balanced by a number of misses, Austinnn. That's the nature of the business. It's fraught with danger and a game of chance in many instances. I can see why they took Armo and big boy. Cripps over Darling and Ball over Judd are the two that leave me bewildered. Still, that's the way it goes in the recruiting game. It's a game of millimetres, even more than the footy itself. Every club has its sliding doors stories. Ours are no different.
 

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Drake Huggins

Club Legend
May 2, 2018
2,391
9,697
The ghost of the G.G. Huggins Stand
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Stoke City, Southampton.
They
So let me get this straight.

You told the club to take Cyril, not Big Boy, and Jack Riewoldt instead of "Friends Call Me" Dave Armitage. You told the club to take Darling, not Cripps.

Maybe if your bosses had listened to you, we'd have had a couple of premierships in that time.

By the way that is indeed a very handy firsts team. Did Milne arrive during your time at the club? I bet your bosses dined off that for a while!

Do you know if your psych test is still in use at Moorabbin? Who would you be going for in the trade period and who would you be getting out of the club?
They don't use my test anymore. It is used by a number of organisations now, but not in the AFL. It is called the ethogram and measures the constructs of integrity. Doing ok. TFWF has his own people in who use their own tests. Going well, isn't he?
 
Sorry, Austinnn, PETA Searle was not head of development, but was a significant player in the development area. I take it that was due to her teaching experience. As for the best 22 brought to the club in my time, here goes. Do you mind the inclusion of traded players as well as draftees? I think that's relevant as drafting is only half the story.

Voss, Penny, Powell, Riewoldt, Kozitschke, Gehrig, Hamill, Guerra, Ball, X.Clarke, Dal Santo, MaGuire, Montagna, Goddard, Armitage, McEvoy, Steven, S. Fisher, Lynch, Ross, Milne, Geary.

I should have added that I developed a psych. test for exclusive use for the saints in 2004. The best success was Jack Darling, who everyone had rejected because of his so called social and behavioural problems. My test showed he was more than solid on that front. My interview showed he came from a great family, even if they were a little "alternative". Begged the boys to take him, but they chose Jamie Cripps instead. Oh well.


My mate worked with Andrew Thompson's dad, he said old man Thompson claimed that Luke Penny would have been a superstar if he could have got the body right. Apparently trained like a mad man and was rated very highly by team mates in an era where we had some ridiculous talent.
 
35 years old on Sunday. Elwood boy moved to Lal Lal in March 2014 to tend to ever increasing flock of Saints supporters (June 2011, August 2013 and due in two weeks). Wears 2 on his StKFC jumper, once was an exciting youngster, now a Alan Morrow/Danny Frawley/Aaron Hamill homage if anyone asks. Favourite game at the footy 97 Prelim. Worst 2010 replay. Other teams include Liverpool, Phoenix Suns, Oakland Raiders.
Hi Punter , i left you a message , did you see it
 

One Eyed Saint

Draftee
Jun 15, 2018
4
10
AFL Club
St Kilda
* 42 and supporter since 10
* My 10yo daughter supports Richmond - loved the Saints until Nick retired
* Member in 90s and early 00’s but not anymore
* Attended 09 and 10 GF’s - great games and sometimes things don’t go your way
* Been to a couple of games this year but normally go watch the tigers with my daughter
* Favourite saints players - Plugger, Nicky, Harves and Roo but Lenny is my absolute favourite
* reckon it will take the saints 5-10 years to sort their s**t out and become competitive on and off the field
* Love my Saints but bigger things to worry about in life apart from the Roller Coaster called St Kilda
 

FinBar19

Team Captain
Melbourne Bolts Player - BFFCL
Aug 31, 2018
502
1,000
GC
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspur, Winnipeg Jets
Been watching the Saints for most of my life, it was actually a cousin who got me hooked after dad tried and failed with rugby league. I'm from the Gold Coast, currently studying politics and economics at uni (yeah I don't know why either), and thought I'd sign up here to give me another opportunity to waste time when I should be writing assignments. I look forward to watching the Saints and Tottenham Hotspur every weekend - as you can tell I like supporting teams that continuously disappoint, but at least Spurs are looking good. Disappointing season for sure from the Saints but the only way is up :)
 
Been watching the Saints for most of my life, it was actually a cousin who got me hooked after dad tried and failed with rugby league. I'm from the Gold Coast, currently studying politics and economics at uni (yeah I don't know why either), and thought I'd sign up here to give me another opportunity to waste time when I should be writing assignments. I look forward to watching the Saints and Tottenham Hotspur every weekend - as you can tell I like supporting teams that continuously disappoint, but at least Spurs are looking good. Disappointing season for sure from the Saints but the only way is up :)
Great choice of team(s) and Finbar is a great St Kilda name.
 

St Muir

All Australian
Oct 18, 2018
796
3,118
AFL Club
St Kilda
Been following the saints for decades. Missed the flag unfortunately, as we arrived in Oz a few years too late. Mate of mine tried to convince me to follow the pies, so I listened to a game they played against the saints & I was hooked - on the saints that is. Some great players like Big Carl, Cowboy Neale & Barry Lawrence around then. From memory the saints came back to win that one.
 

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