List Mgmt. Brad Lloyd is no good (also looks like Mark Neeld)

[Bucking Bronco]

Can you distinguish Brad Lloyd from the infamous Mark Neeld? Birds of a feather and that... obviously running clubs into the ground runs in the bloodlines.

From what I can gather, this is the guy who is at the head of the recruiting model that seems to be avoid drafting anyone tall who has any discernible talent, and electing to only shoot for 'bargain basement' type talls seemingly once ever 2 years. It should be noted that the ones that he does shoot for, invariably suck as well (Pearce and Tab excluded), but that's not entirely relevant.

Year after year we have chased high profile KPPs free agents to no avail. Last year it was Rance, the year before James Frawley, the year before that Harry Taylor - to name a few. What it suggests is that Fremantle has recognised a need to add a high quality key defender to their ranks (as well as a key forward). The reason why we chase them is because we haven't had a top 10 pick since 2009 and unfortunately no one is keen to move interstate to join us. All well and good, it makes sense, we'll just have to wait 'til we have the opportunity to"grow our own" as Ross always says when the time comes around and then we'll address it. Right?

Well no - wrong actually. It seems that when the draft comes around we adopt a completely antithetical MO. After chasing A-grade KPD year after year it would seem that the club recognises our needs just like the rest of people who follow footy closely. Flash back to November 27, 2014 - draft night. We hold pick 13 and it is being mooted that not just one A-grade KPP should be available at our pick, but 2 or 3! Great news, finally we are going to be able to add the much coveted KPP that Ross always refers to when he says things like "we will have to grow our own, as it is proving hard to lure ones from interstate".

The night of the draft I think to myself "Lever will be great, he was being touted as the potential no. 1 pick of the draft only 10 months ago before doing his ACL, finally we can start to rebuild a spine." The only problem is that when Fremantle is prompted to make their selection they read out a player who's name does not match the one that I am mouthing. Lachie Weller? A midfielder. Why?

Well it turns out that Lloydy didn't care for any of the KPD that we available. Later on his counterpart, Chris Bond, releases this corker on behalf of him:

General manager of player management Brad Lloyd said Weller had been ranked ahead of the talls at that stage of the draft and the decision was made to not only pick the best player but to focus heavily on midfielders.

"We actually drafted really heavily with talls over the last couple of years – Michael Apeness last year, Alex Pearce, Matt Tabener, Tanner Smith, Jack Hannath," Lloyd told AFL.com.au.

Chasing key defenders for year on year, and yet now you think we are 'good for talls'. It shows how incompetent this man is. Blind Freddy could tell you that Lever will be the pillar of his respective teams defence for the next 10 years, and yet Lloydy doesn't even rate him, despite the fact that we had actively been chasing Rance only a few months earlier and thus signalling our interest in bolstering our KPD stocks.

On top of that, we have Vanderleur stinking it up week after week in the WAFL showing that he is on a slippery dip to nowhere whilst some hulking lothario in Marcus Adams bursts onto the scene with an auspicious debut season where he displays terrific athleticism and power after having sat out the previous two seasons. Several posters on here are talking about him and mentioning him as a worthwhile project player to have on the rookie list. To me it has the makings of Tom Lee all over again, and I hope the recruiters can see it. Athletic tall, slowly building, but destined to be draftable in the next year or two. I know Tom Lee turned out to be a dud, but keep in mind that St Kilda essentially used pick 12 on him, such was his standing come draft time. I knew Adams would have a similar trajectory and we would have to pay a premium if were to get him in future years - but the clubs shows no foresight and elects to re-draft Tanner Smith/ keep the 'treading water personified' Vanderleur instead of freeing up a further rookie spot.

Adams had kicked a bag of 5, a bag of 4 and two bags of 3 that year in 19 games, despite oftentimes playing in defence. It wasn't just his ability to put some form into practice, it was more so the athleticism and on extension, the ceiling that he displayed. He runs a 2.90 20 metre sprint time and had equally impressive results with the standing and running vertical jump. Impressive enough that if he had have attended the draft combine he would have finished 1st in the standing vertical jump, 4th in the running vertical jump and 5th in the 20 metre sprint. It is just alarming that the club could let someone with those physical capabilities slip from their grasp when he fit the description of what we had so haplessly been coveting.

I saw him play last night against St. Kilda and he was probably BOG to be honest. 24 disposals: many intercept marks and a couple of bone crunching tackles that would instil fear into the opposition forwards. He may become an A-grader, he may not. He may turn out just like Tom Lee. What matters is that he should have been on our list when we were the most desperate club in the competition for KPPs and we should have been doing everything possible to manufacture them, not just playing it safe and going "next year if he forces us to pick him". By the time he breaks out their are another 17 clubs that are keen to add him to their list and it becomes a shootout which we invariably lose due to holding low draft picks each round as a result of finishing high up on the ladder.

Both these guys (Lever and Adams) were the two guys that I was hanging out for the club to draft in 2014 (you can check my posting history - 2nd post here was about Adams) and yet disappointingly they were ignored. Then you have Ross Lyon bemoaning the fact that we have no talls and having the gall to say that we will have to "grow our own".

Equally disquieting is the fact that we have been indifferent to the concept of acquiring unused forwards from other clubs by using the medium of trading. When Adelaide suspected that Tippett was a year away from walking they loaded up on Josh Jenkins, Tom Lynch and Lewis Johnston. Yeah, they got lucky with two of them ending up being good players, but we have barely even fired a shot in this regard. Brisbane got Josh Walker last year. Just a stopgap, but he was essentially free and the club is at least trying to facilitate their fans with a team that actually is competent in all areas and doesn't exude the vibe that they are careless, lazy and arrogant. At least try and manufacture something. Show that you care and that you are trying.

Someone's head needs to be staring down the barrel of the gun, and quite frankly I think that in isolation Lloyd's resemblance to Neeld is disconcerting enough to have him as the prime target, let alone the fact that his profile on the Fremantle website states him as being the 'head of recruiting'.

What do you guys reckon?

 

[PurpleWizard]

Here we go

 

[Randomizor]

Perhaps if we put the players on the juice like Marcus then we'd see similar output

 

[PurpleWizard]

On your points.

Adams I have no doubt would have been picked with our second pick (3 picks after Bullies). Really unlucky on this pick.

Lever vs Weller will always be an interesting one. I wanted Lever at the time and still do but there were major injury concerns about him. Weller does give us speed and class that we need though just as much.

It would have been nice to land a Bruce, Lynch or Jenkins. But bringing them to Perth will always be a hard sell.

 

[Bucking Bronco]

On your points.

Adams I have no doubt would have been picked with our second pick (3 picks after Bullies). Really unlucky on this pick.

Lever vs Weller will always be an interesting one. I wanted Lever at the time and still do but there were major injury concerns about him. Weller does give us speed and class that we need though just as much.

It would have been nice to land a Bruce, Lynch or Jenkins. But bringing them to Perth will always be a hard sell.

Adams should have been picked in the rookie draft in 2014, not last year in the national draft (2015). You will pretty much always miss out on them if you play it safe and leave it in the hands of the other clubs. He had shown enough to be worth a rookie pick as a project player in 2014 considering how desperately we needed KPPs.

 

[meima]

Adams should have been picked in the rookie draft in 2014, not last year in the national draft (2015). You will pretty much always miss out on them if you play it safe and leave it in the hands of the other clubs. He had shown enough to be worth a rookie pick as a project player in 2014 considering how desperately we needed KPPs.

The problem is will he get delisted with our no youth policy.

 

[rodney hoo]

He's following instructions from those above IMO, bondy and Ross would have a fair say on what players they want. The recruiting team would look for those sort of players, high running midfielders. The sub rotation have changed the game.

 

[Grape Bear]

Oh for ****'s sake.

We went tall the year before (or was it two years?) with Apeness, A Pearce, and co. Apeness, who had knee injuries as a junior, we took a punt on, and see what's been happening with his knee for the last year. The last thing we needed was another player with a knee injury risk on the LTI, let alone another first rounder. With a pacy and skilled Weller still on the table, it was easy to see why we took him instead.

Last year, we were unlucky that our picks were after the Bulldogs, who are also looking at sticking up in talks. We took Tucker at our first pick because we need a classy user off halfback who makes good decisions as much as we need a KPD. If you've been watching the last few games, you'd realise that.

 

[electricfeel]

"also looks like Mark Neeld" lol

 

[E Shed]

I think its a valid post. Equally mystified we missed McGovern right under our noses.
Our drafting has been at times puzzling at best.

 

[nurries]

They seem to look too Hard in vic where 10 clubs are looking and not concentrating on local talent - McGovern, Adams etc

 

[wild side]

Bond is the problem. Freo is his super fund.
He's shizenhousen

 

[Banker]

They seem to look too Hard in vic where 10 clubs are looking and not concentrating on local talent - McGovern, Adams etc

McGovern and Yeo is a total joke to over looked.

Both of these players were Freo fans as well, how often do we get that?

 

[TheLoris]

I think its a valid post. Equally mystified we missed McGovern right under our noses.
Our drafting has been at times puzzling at best.

Two McGoverns....the Adelaide one also looks like a great prospect. We just don't seem to have a clue when it comes to drafting talls.

Bond should be in the gun as much as Lloyd.

 

[Carnthedockers]

I know not many on here rate his opinion, but Paul Haselby was scathing of our drafting on abc radio last night. I think a fit bennel, Apeness and morra in our side will make a substantial difference. We also need some tough calls in some senior players to be made. I think Pav will retire during the season if this trend continues.

 

[Scham]

Drafting is hit and miss and we've had as many hits and misses as every other club IMO.

Where I do think we've failed is in our trading. I might be wrong but if you look at the two teams that Ross has coached they've been very inactive in the trade periods. One of Ross's great strengths as a person is one of his failings as a coach as he is so loyal to his players that he just can't bare to have them traded. Unfortunately the reality these days is that AFL at this level is a business and again unfortunately there's no room for sentiment. The hard calls need to be made and now we're stuck with Mayne, Suban, Barlow, Clancee, De Boer, Mzungu clogging up our list and have barely any, if at all, trade value but once did if we had've been ruthless in chasing the right player or a desired draft pick. The example on rookie listing Smith is another example of this when as the OP states we could've got Adams.

 

[Freo Shark]

...Paul Haselby was scathing of our drafting on abc radio last night...

Haseby is not a Freo supporter anymore since he was deadwooded. He continually looks to malign or whinge about the club.
He's espousing some of the things that he was a victim of when he was playing.

 

[Scham]

I know not many on here rate his opinion, but Paul Haselby was scathing of our drafting on abc radio last night. I think a fit bennel, Apeness and morra in our side will make a substantial difference. We also need some tough calls in some senior players to be made. I think Pav will retire during the season if this trend continues.

Haselby is a close mate of Phil Smart so his judgement is clouded IMO.

 

[wild side]

Two McGoverns....the Adelaide one also looks like a great prospect. We just don't seem to have a clue when it comes to drafting talls.

Bond should be in the gun as much as Lloyd.

Bond has been there the longest, he knifed Harvey, and now its time he got knifed.

 

[Jezzitizle]

The only problem with our drafting is we have crap picks. If we finished at the bottom of the ladder our draft team would look great. Also if apeness looked like performing at the level of a first round draft pick we would all be a lot less worried.

 

[se17enteen]

What also pisses me off is his brother on TV and radio always bagging our list and lack of talls. Oh the irony.

 

[ydraw]

Oh for ****'s sake.

We went tall the year before (or was it two years?) with Apeness, A Pearce, and co. Apeness, who had knee injuries as a junior, we took a punt on, and see what's been happening with his knee for the last year. The last thing we needed was another player with a knee injury risk on the LTI, let alone another first rounder. With a pacy and skilled Weller still on the table, it was easy to see why we took him instead.

Last year, we were unlucky that our picks were after the Bulldogs, who are also looking at sticking up in talks. We took Tucker at our first pick because we need a classy user off halfback who makes good decisions as much as we need a KPD. If you've been watching the last few games, you'd realise that.

Our drafting hasn't been unlucky, it's been shit.

Of all of our first round picks since 2009, only Sheridan has played more than a handful of games. Not even going to bother checking but that's obviously the worst return of anyone in the AFL.

 

[E Shed]

The only problem with our drafting is we have crap picks. If we finished at the bottom of the ladder our draft team would look great. Also if apeness looked like performing at the level of a first round draft pick we would all be a lot less worried.

Not really true.
Just a few off the top of my head. Darling, McGovern, Fasolo, Brad Hill, Adams. All available at picks which we burned on players already gone.

 

[Bucking Bronco]

The only problem with our drafting is we have crap picks. If we finished at the bottom of the ladder our draft team would look great. Also if apeness looked like performing at the level of a first round draft pick we would all be a lot less worried.

That's the point of the thread, of course every club misses players, but when you finally get the opportunity to fill the need that you have seemingly been trying to fill for years and it's staring you right in the face but you don't do it, you only have yourselves to blame. And in this case it is B. Lloyd.

Lever/ Goddard were available at pick 13 and we passed on them despite everyone expecting that we would take one of them; Adams was available all rookie draft but we ignored him despite him being under our noses for a year in the WAFL where he managed to catch the eye of multiple posters on here, but evidently not the eye of the one guy that wielded the power. Those two instances are inexplicable considering our dire need for talls.

What you have premised is pathetic. You think that you have to be a loser to be a winner? Look at the Crows as a perfect example of a team that never bottomed out yet always managed to restock their KPPs. Case in point is picking Lever at 14 - along with Jenkins and Lynch for 3rd round picks - after we stupidly overlooked him one pick before at 13.

 

[Grape Bear]

Hindsight is always 20/20. I'm
not saying our drafting has been outstanding, far from it, but to say that there is no luck involved is disingenuous. The only thing that potentially increases the chance of recruiting players that will make it is having top picks, and even then it's still pot luck - see Carlton and Melbourne.


As for our first rounders since 2009:

2009 - Morabito - no injury issues until he did his knee and has been injured ever since. Recruiters should have predicted that he would be deadwood for 5 years.

2010 - Pitt - retired for health issues. This I'll give you was a bit of a ****-up when Darling (area of need) was still available - but it's hard to say whether Pitt would have been a serviceable soldier for us when his body was not AFL ready initially and then retired before he could be played in the senior team.

2011 - Sheridan - who despite his vanilla monicker and scapegoat status is developing nicely.

2012 - Josh Simpson - had talent to burn, skilland had leg speed (area of need), but not the required attitude to be an AFL player. Local boy, too. No one was complaining when we picked him up, only when he played up and subsequently delisted. Could this have been a prevented wasted pick? Perhaps we shouldn't have been overconfident in the culture of the playing group to turn him around? Again, hindsight.

2013 - Apeness - tall ruck forward, finally. Calculated risk due to knee issues but certainly addressing an area of need. We played the odds and lost on his injury, and now his development is lagging behind wherein should now be. But club should've known he'd be injured again and passed on him. That would have gone down well.

2014 - Weller - a slider at our pick. Classy, skilled, and fast mid. Again an area of need. Now playing as part of the 22 as a second year. Jury's still out, but surely you can't complain.

2015 - Tucker - Skilled hbf with footy nous - something we're desperate for. Sure we could've reached for Adams, but they clearly rate AP enough that they chose to address a different area of need. Good call or bad call - too early to say.