Originally posted by The Doctor
I still cannot comprehend this.
We have a fantastic chance to pick up one of the very best tall kids in the country. It defies all logic to pick a midfield player unless he is an absolute freak. Wells is the only midfielder you could classify as freakish and he'll be gone before our first pick.
Can you explain again? I've clearly missed something.
My preference for the first pick would be for the club to take the best player available with that pick small or tall etc.
I rate a couple of the midfielders higher than I do the tall players.
If you take the best tall player regardless then you may not get the best overall player.
In the 1999 draft Clayton took a 184cm skinny kid with his first pick (Murphy) and overlooked a tall 195cm, mobile key position type in Travis Gaspar. I believe that was the right move for the club but there would have been pressure for him to take Gaspar however, the coaching staff allowed him to do his job and select the best player available.
In 96 it was Brown over Grgic, Steinfort and O'Farrell.
Last year most would have had us select Brooks over Power and nothing against Brooks he was a hell of a junior footballer and would have been a great addition to the club but the selection of Power was the right one.
If two players are rated equally on ability then picking the one that fills your needs better is the right way to go however, height for heights sake does not solve our problems rather it possibly creates another.
If the best player when it is our turn is tall then that will be OK however, it is too valuable of a pick to make an error.