Draft night - what should we look for?

[BeinPurplenGreen]

So, Horde Board, I'll be at the actual draft razzamatazz thingamagubby, along with at least one other Freo poster (Angus McFuttock).

What should we look out for?

What are your last minute draft pick selections?

Does any Freo poster have a mock draft (note to Chris, I want actual selections based on actual watching of live matches, not just random namedropping based on youtube, reads of newspapers and Emma Q's columns).

Anyone want to suggest picks for each of our slots (at least 3 choices per pick please)?

Or am I too much of a footy tragic fr thinking that anyone else thinks the draft is worth two hours of watching, even if there is no booze?

(BTW - Silverscope - sorry, can't seem to fit my 8%< OGTFO sign on the 'plane, so might have to wait until next year for its draft debut...)

Anyway, thanks everyone for keeping me happy over the last two months.

GO FREO!!

 

[silverscope]

BPG: You could always come to Ballarat pre-draft and pick it up haha


Firstly just enjoy it, secondly if you can get talking to Harvey about the strategy in what they were after and how they think they went etc.

That would be awesome!

 

[dominguez]

Does any Freo poster have a mock draft (note to Chris, I want actual selections based on actual watching of live matches, not just random namedropping based on youtube, reads of newspapers and Emma Q's columns).

Burgatron's Phantom draft will be on the AFL website either tomorrow or first thing Thursday and he's usually pretty good.

This is one of the better mock drfts from the Drafting & Trading Board if you want something asap.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=647838

Or am I too much of a footy tragic fr thinking that anyone else thinks the draft is worth two hours of watching, even if there is no booze?

Love the fact that you've researched and found out there's no grog.

 

[Moo]

My advice ...smuggle in a large red rooster to be released at the exact time Lindsay Rohan's name is called.

Don't worry about getting thrown out - I am sure the AFL and security will see the funny side of the prank.

No alcohol rules inside a venue ='s Lots of alcohol inside you

BTW if my posting is erratic - I am finishing off the alcohol left in my house before moving.

Note - I've made a cocktail called 'The Masten' it is Peach Schnapps and Kaluha ...and as a cocktail it aint going to make the grade.

 

[dominguez]

Moo's in form tonight!!

 

[Chris25]

As much as I love the draft, I can't imagine it would be all that great viewing live. It would be good if you got a chance to speak to the recruiters or any of the draftees, but with the amount of media that may be a tad difficult. Otherwise seeing the panic on the faces of the selectors when their target gets drafted the pick before them might be fun....

Also, BigFooty isn't the place to be looking for accurate phantom drafts. I would be surprised if any more than about 10 guys actually watch junior football consistently. And even then they will only see their own state competition. So video packages might be the main source of information, but even then it's not a matter of just randomly dropping names....

 

[smkwd]

As much as I love the draft, I can't imagine it would be all that great viewing live. It would be good if you got a chance to speak to the recruiters or any of the draftees, but with the amount of media that may be a tad difficult. Otherwise seeing the panic on the faces of the selectors when their target gets drafted the pick before them might be fun....

BPG, much like being at an actual game, I'd be looking at the stuff not seen on camera... Chris has a good point about the mad scramble of each club to get their selection right, especially if they've just missed out on a desired player... try and spot any clubs who keep missing out... does anyone know exactly how much time a club has to make their pick when it's their turn, BTW?

See if you can spot anything interesting behind the scenes that would give all of us an insight into the debacl... i mean spectacle... surely it won't be exciting for those in attendance but not actually involved, especially being a dry event...

I'll be at the pub watching it live just for shits and giggles... good enough excuse to finish work early...

 

[dominguez]

try and spot any clubs who keep missing out... does anyone know exactly how much time a club has to make their pick when it's their turn, BTW?

If I recall correctly it's 30 seconds then each club gets one "time out" where they get an extra 60 seconds.

We asked for more time with pick 21 last year which was used on Ballantyne.'

It all goes pretty quickly though, the top 20 probably took 4 minutes last year.

 

[prattsta]

If I recall correctly it's 30 seconds then each club gets one "time out" where they get an extra 60 seconds.

We asked for more time with pick 21 last year which was used on Ballantyne.

Fremantle wanted Swift last year.

 

[Angus McFuttock]

BPG, much like being at an actual game, I'd be looking at the stuff not seen on camera... Chris has a good point about the mad scramble of each club to get their selection right, especially if they've just missed out on a desired player... try and spot any clubs who keep missing out... does anyone know exactly how much time a club has to make their pick when it's their turn, BTW?

See if you can spot anything interesting behind the scenes that would give all of us an insight into the debacl... i mean spectacle... surely it won't be exciting for those in attendance but not actually involved, especially being a dry event...

I'll be at the pub watching it live just for shits and giggles... good enough excuse to finish work early...

I'll be bringing a pair of binoculars so powerful we can see the recruiters changing their minds.
There won't be too many surprises with the top 10 (welcome aboard Mora) but after that it'll be interesting - I'll set my face to stunned when pick 20 rolls around!
I can also watch to see if Harvs and Bondy are on speaking terms.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

So, I’m back from the draft…

Having had the chance to thoroughly review the during draft and post draft threads on here, and the Freo-related media coverage, I thought some of you might be interested in a few observations from the actual draft room.

1. Appalling event organisation by the AFL. I’m not talking about the reverse top 10 shenanigans. Rather, I mean the basics of the event.

• The tickets didn’t get sent out until the Monday night before the draft. That meant you had at best three days to arrange attendance. Why couldn’t they make the tickets available say two or three weeks before hand?? I mean, FFS, everyone knew by about the last week in October when the draft was scheduled for!!
• On arrival at the Convention Centre, there was no signage, directions or staff to tell people where to go. The MCC is a fairly big place, and given that many were from interstate (think draft kids families etc) I wouldn’t have thought it was too much to ask to have a few signs up to say where to go, which door will open for what ticket holders, and where draft nominees and their families needed to go. Instead, it was just a mad milling around in front of one set of doors, of which only 1 door was opened, and then, as people started to stream in, 1 “security bloke” (who looked like a 55 year old version of Pee Wee Herman) attempted to look at people‘s tickets. At that stage, it suddenly became apparent that some tickets had “first floor” in small writing on the bottom. People who were unlucky enough to have these tickets were sent upstairs to a different entry (we had “ground level” entry tickets so we got through OK). The mixture of people trying to go in two different directions created a real crowd crush, and it wouldn’t have taken much for someone to have been hurt. Seriously, how hard would it have been to put up a sign saying “check your tickets, if it says first floor go to gate X up the stairs.”. Would have thought it was basic for “world class event gurus” like legend Andy Demmi and Andy Ando.
• Similarly, the spectators didn’t get given anything as a draft guide – not even a list of which teams had what picks (let alone a “profiles Footy Record” or whatever). I had brought some cutouts from the Age with a list of picks per club and also Emma Q’s top 25 – surely the AFL could have arranged something similar for everyone else??
• We got in pretty quick, and managed to slide into the same row of seats as some of the Freo staff. It turned out the guy next to me was Neil Ross (Western Recruiting Manager), and Simon Lloyd and a couple of others were there as well.
• Mora and a couple of the guys he was with were in the row behind us. Just before the draft started though (and in another sign of the poor organisation), al of the draftees who were scattered around the ground floor level were suddenly pulled out (turns out that the draft kids were supposed to go down to the lower level to be with the families and the team draft tables – unfortunate that no-one from the AFL thought to tell them this beforehand!!).
• Just as the draft announcements started, a chap in a suit climbed into the same row (we had to shift up to let him sit next to the Freo team). At first I thought it was Steve Reilly from the Australian, but then worked out it was Steve Rosich. Man he has gone grey since his photos on the FFC website were taken!! He had the top 10 picks written down on a form, and when we got to pick 6 and he had 6/6 right, I made the mistake of saying “You must be happy, you’ve got 100% so far!” To which he said “Yep, that’s 'cause I was there when they did the picks.” (Yes, I am a dufus). Kind of destroyed whatever credibility I have as a draft follower…
• Rosich left after the first round (presumably to go off and do the CEO type things) – for the rest of the draft, the other Freo guys were watching and chatting – really approachable, and by far the biggest cluster of team personnel in the “public seating”. Really good to see I reckon – and Neil even answered a couple of my dumb-arse questions!!
• The draft floor was set out as a group of 16 tables arranged in a U shape – most tables had the head coach, assistants and top two recruiting staff, but a few had less coaches and more recruiters. Each table had a footy at the end, but the nametags were really small – took me nearly 10 minutes to work out where the Adelaide table was (given Andy Demi was reading the first 10 picks out, you couldn’t follow the microphone). I tried to take a couple of photos but they haven’t come out too well.
• The walk to the stage element for the top ten picks was way overdone – though the bit at the end where all ten came out on stage was nice. The blonde walking around with the mike just distracted from proceedings – and she asked some ultra dumb questions too (“You must be really excited?” I mean, WTF, were the kids going to say - “Nah, rather be at home with me dog Bluey, me X-box and a cask of goon. Can I have your number?”!!?!??)
• On the Freo table, there wasn’t too much discussion between our picks – the two guys at the front of the table each had a list of players, and as each pick was called out they would cross names off/mark other names up or down, so obviously we had the usual multiple lists of preferred picks at each of our selections. As we got close to a Freo pick, they would turn to the main table and discussion would ensue, usually for a minute or so (in many cases, they were almost finished as soon as the pick before ours was read out). The choices at 48 and 49 took some time, and it was aparent that they noticed when Gawn was picked just before our pick 36, but there was never too much debate or toing and froing. I can’t say for sure, but this suggests to me that we had a fairly clear list of priorities at each pick.
• By contrast, the Hawthorn, Brisbane and Adelaide tables had some quite lively discussions about a number of picks, and over on the Richmond table pick 67 (who turned out to be Jeromey Webberley) caused such debate that two of the table stood up and moved in closer to the other coaches!!! (OMFG!! How exciting!! How wonderful!!). For me, the most interesting dynamic was the Sydney table – very little debate, and clear deference to the views of one person.

2. The beginning of the draft was one of the weirdest moments I’ve seen at a reasonably big public event. The room just went spontaneously quiet. I mean, really, really quiet. You could have heard a pin drop on Mars, it was that quiet. There was no announcement or dimming of the lights or anything, people just simultaneously shut up. Eventually the big screen started playing some of the lead in footage from the Fox coverage, but it was a really weird period of hushed silence – two or three minutes, more like a funeral or an ANZAC day service than the draft.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

3. Almost as soon as the draft started, the little FoxSports booth statrted a round robin of various “commentators/special guests” – both Dunstall and Lynch hardly shut up, all of the panellists had their backs to the draft stage and the draft screen, and I reckon none of them had a clue what team’s pick we were up to after about pick 25. At one stage, when Rhan Hooper was picked and the crowd let out an “ooh”, the comments gang actually stopped and turned around – I mean, FFS, how obvious was it that they didn’t care about the actual draft??!?

4. The atmosphere between the diferent groups of fans was really good – no sledging (though I did try to yell out “Get off the stage Bailey you tanking scum” a couple of times, the words stuck in my throat), and lots of good natured questioning about different “unknown” picks. Also great to see a genuine cross-section of the community there – some old, some young, some families with kids, some blokes fresh from the building site, and even a few people dressed in pirate outfits (WTF??).

5. Funniest part of the draft was watching Mark Williams and the Port coaching table twiddle their thumbs for an hour and a half – they were done so early that by about pick 48 it was clear they didn’t give a stuff what else happened – they just wanted to vamoose. You’d have thought they’d have a professional interest in proceedings, even if only to see who was left as prospects for the rookie draft and PSD, but obviously not. Those new Port jumpers do look very good though.

6. Second funniest part of the draft was the “wrong Carlisle” moment – had to happen, and can’t have been two kids that were less alike. Would have been classic if they had stuck to the rules and forced them to take Ant!!

7. Ball’s pick got the most crowd reaction, and then everything was pretty quiet again until Hooper was selected. And then right at the end there was quite a big roar as Maguire was picked – while most people had him in the backs of their minds as the draft got into the 30s and 40s, once Carlton didn’t take him and the draft got into th late 50s I think most kind of assumed he was done, or just plain forgot about him. From the reaction, it was obvious most people were pleased he’ll get another shot. Jesse Smith got a similar reaction.

8. Harvey seemed geuninely pleased to be there with Mora – big grin, and as relaxed as I’ve seen him at a public function. Kept holding Mora there for a few extra photos!! Oh, and Harvs and Bond are most definitely on speaking terms!!

9. The draft screen really could have had a few more details on it – eg defender/mid/fwd; ht/wt/age etc. The rough positions of each pick were only flashed up at the end of each round, for about 1 second for a list of 9 or so players – so if you weren’t watching, or the player you were interested in was at the bottom of the list, you had no hope. Given the technology available, there must be a better info set.

10. On the whole, a genuinely decent process – I found it really interesting, despite the crapola organising by the AFL, and Dimmis poor manners and shite presentational ability. Sadly, from what I’ve seen of the TV coverage, you missed most of the good bits – and certainly got none of the atmosphere of being there. Be interesting to see what they do next year – hopefully they get the TV coverage AND the basic event organising better.

I’ve tried to focus mostly on things that I thought were unlikely to be picked up in the TV coverage – but a few general points in closing:

Best draft 2009: either North Melbourne or Adelaide – both did very, very well considering the number of picks they had and where the picks are. Can’t wait to see how Cunnington goes alongside Zeibell and Anthony…

Worst draft 2009 – Port Adelaide. Just my view – but I do think they will look back on this one wondering why they let a number of players slide by – especially if Butcher doesn’t work out…

Most speculative draft 2009 – Western Bulldogs – IMHO, a gutsy draft by Rocket – but if Howard doesn’t work out, and half of Menzel/ Fyfe/ Tapscott/ Griffiths /Bastinac/ Black/ JasperM-P turn out to be 150+ game players, it will be seen as a draft with sub-optimal results for the Bullies.

A few recycled players too, but not sure what to draw from that – if the next two or three years continue to have the same level of “second/third chance” player movements, then I think we can say 2009 was a groundbreaking change in draft approach. For now, I’m more interested in seeing how widely the mature age rookie rule is used, as I think that is the rule which will have the greater impact over the long term...

Any others who were there, feel free to add your thoughts/disagree with what I’ve said.

PS- good work by the mods to keep the Freo board relatively free of post draft trolls.

BpG

 

[E Shed]

Top report BIPG! Very interesting. I'd love to have asked how guys if they were tempted by Black when he was still there or if Fyfe was locked in all the way no matter who was left. That's the one nagging question for me. Black sounds like he could be Tippet mark 2 but I suppose if Fyfe turns out to be Steve Johnson mark 2 it would still be hard to split them.

 

[silverscope]

Nice little write up BPG.

But can you remember what some of the questions you asked to the Freo blokes and the answers the gave?

 

[dockers_bengals]

Thanx for that BPG
Would you recomend it as an must see event at least once(if they do it better)?
Good to see all the Freo coaches etc... on the same page,I still don't understand why clubs would have to have big chats on the night when they've had so much time to prepare a list of preferred players.
I'm still stunned how crap they made the whole event when NBA,NFL and NHL to name a few have been on for years to get ideas from.It's not hard to come up with a format like pick 1,announce it show pick with stats and chat briefly about who they think pick 2 will be while waiting for pick 2 then do the same again.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Top report BIPG! Very interesting. I'd love to have asked how guys if they were tempted by Black when he was still there or if Fyfe was locked in all the way no matter who was left. That's the one nagging question for me. Black sounds like he could be Tippet mark 2 but I suppose if Fyfe turns out to be Steve Johnson mark 2 it would still be hard to split them.

Thanks E -

I must admit I was puzzled by the pick of both Fyfe and Weedon - but (while I didn't ask Neil or anyone else specifically) the Freo staff up with us didn't show any adverse reaction when any of the Freo picks were called in the first two or three rounds. Crichton was the only pick that seemed to get any reaction, and that was more of a raised eyebrow & smile rather than a negative reaction.

I did specifically ask about Weedon (given I'd not heard of him being in the top 40 picks), and was told he was clearly a worthy pick at that level (22-28). I did try to ask a question about why we took Fyfe, but got a fairly clear (but polite) signal that the Freo guys with us wouldn't talk Freo picks (which is appropriate I think - for all they know I could have been a WeGirls spy wearing a Freo tie and cufflinks).

I also think that the real discussions were being had down at the table - only those guys would really know why we picked Fyfe, or Roberton over Panos. Not that I'm complaining about any of our picks.

Also, it was clear that all of the AFL club staff on our level (not just the Freo chaps) were surprised by Howard's selection, and that Talia slid to where he did. Other than that, not much to report I'm afraid. Next year we need to send someone with more people skills than me I think.

Nice little write up BPG.

But can you remember what some of the questions you asked to the Freo blokes and the answers the gave?

Apart from embarrassing myself in front of Rosich, most of the other questions were general ones - not specific to Freo kids (see above) It was interesting to hear that the recruiters have no system of accreditation or skill qualification recognition - at least in theory anyone off the street can claim to be an "AFL recruiter". You'd hope that a more formal training, accreditation and career structure would be introduced soon.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Thanx for that BPG
Would you recomend it as an must see event at least once(if they do it better)?

I'd definitely suggest going, at least if you get the chance - and it is most definitely better to be there than trying to follow the garbage coverage on TV.

Not quite as must see as ACcaDAcca live, or the Waifs live accoustic, but close.

Good to see all the Freo coaches etc... on the same page,I still don't understand why clubs would have to have big chats on the night when they've had so much time to prepare a list of preferred players.

I can't guarantee that there hadn't been some serious discussion beforehand - in fact I'd be disappointed if there wasn't. But our chaps were professional, and kept the public face very calm, collected and positive.

I'm still stunned how crap they made the whole event when NBA,NFL and NHL to name a few have been on for years to get ideas from.It's not hard to come up with a format like pick 1,announce it show pick with stats and chat briefly about who they think pick 2 will be while waiting for pick 2 then do the same again.

Indeed - and with such world leading firms as Champion Data and some of the other data gurus here in Australia, and a whole year to plan it, you'd have thought they could've got the basic right. Very very poor - suggests to me that Andy D is focused on getting ALP preselection soonish - rather than continuing to deliver quality product for AFL fans.

 

[Bradesmaen]

I don't think people get it. In the NHL etc etc they have 5 mins between picks because trades can be made between tables. They don't have that chance to chat. 2 mins is usually the maximum time between picks, unless the AFL changes it but I doubt they will. The draft doesn't need to go on forever. Why people would want to even attend a draft is just strange.

 

[DockerLand1]

I don't think people get it. In the NHL etc etc they have 5 mins between picks because trades can be made between tables. They don't have that chance to chat. 2 mins is usually the maximum time between picks, unless the AFL changes it but I doubt they will. The draft doesn't need to go on forever. Why people would want to even attend a draft is just strange.

Perhaps you needs to look past yourself Brades. Perhaps family and friends want to support a young player who wants more than anything to be a player in the AFL. Perhaps a supporter is hoping that his team drafts a particular player so that his team can improve.

Perhaps a true AFL enthusiast who loves the game and is keen to observe all aspects on teams strategy for the future. Brades, if there was no interest why would they have it in Fox (even though the coverage was awful) and SEN at the same time.

You seem to know a lot about the American sports, you would know then how popular and important that it is over there. The only thing that is strange is your comments.

 

[samseenee]

Cheers for the write up BpG, much appreciated.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Perhaps you needs to look past yourself Brades. Perhaps family and friends want to support a young player who wants more than anything to be a player in the AFL. Perhaps a supporter is hoping that his team drafts a particular player so that his team can improve.

Perhaps a true AFL enthusiast who loves the game and is keen to observe all aspects on teams strategy for the future. Brades, if there was no interest why would they have it in Fox (even though the coverage was awful) and SEN at the same time.

You seem to know a lot about the American sports, you would know then how popular and important that it is over there. The only thing that is strange is your comments.

The first is a given, of course family and friends would. But it is sad to want to attend a draft, it is a bunch of kids who you know nothing about being given a chance of a life time and thats it. There is interest, thats why there was TV coverage, but to actually want to go to the event is just sad.

I know a lot about American sports, I watch a lot of them. It is popular in the US, but then again the US is made up of a lot of strange people.

 

[4n20]

Different strokes for different folks. He attended the event and he enjoyed himself..there is nothing sad about that.

 

[dockers_bengals]

The first is a given, of course family and friends would. But it is sad to want to attend a draft, it is a bunch of kids who you know nothing about being given a chance of a life time and thats it. There is interest, thats why there was TV coverage, but to actually want to go to the event is just sad.

I know a lot about American sports, I watch a lot of them. It is popular in the US, but then again the US is made up of a lot of strange people.

Yep so true,you would think some one would of told them but apparently not
If you watch American sports then you should know the trades of picks are pre-organised before the draft then confirmed or completed on the night.

 

[E Shed]

The first is a given, of course family and friends would. But it is sad to want to attend a draft, it is a bunch of kids who you know nothing about being given a chance of a life time and thats it. There is interest, thats why there was TV coverage, but to actually want to go to the event is just sad.

I know a lot about American sports, I watch a lot of them. It is popular in the US, but then again the US is made up of a lot of strange people.

But not to watch it on TV like you did? That's different huh? You care enough to disagree with everyone and tell us how great the TV coverage was but someone who goes along, enjoys a night out as a cultural/sporting spectacle and takes the time to do a great write up for the rest of us is sad?

Dude you are an Internet sociopath

 

[Stronzo]

Great write up!