Eastern Crow
Cancelled
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
- Posts
- 1,130
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Sydney
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- 36ers, Adel Utd, Redbacks
Good article on afc.com.au
http://www.afc.com.au/tabid/4417/Default.aspx?newsid=69952
Is the most of the preparation done or is there still a lot to be decided?
“Ninety-nine per cent of the preparation is done. It’s just a few dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s in the last week basically. Just trying to find out who is interested in who, who is picking who, and finish your plan for the day.”
What has been the process since the draft camp?
“We had to spend about a month waiting for the DVD to come out, which was a pain in the butt. Then of course we have trade week the week after the draft camp so I’m heavily involved in that. Then probably for about two or three weeks we interview some players from the camp. We check a lot of the physical testing because we get a copy of that the day after they do the draft camp. We go back over our notes from during the year when we interviewed players, organise more interviews after the kids finish their exams, and try and work out a list order. Admittedly with a fair bit of the details from the draft camp. There’s always stuff to do; we go back and watch videos, watch a lot of video and DVD’s again, still cutting players out.”
Is your top 10 or top 20 fairly settled now?
“It is pretty settled. The top ten definitely, top 20 about 99 per cent sure, and the top 30 probably 90 per cent sure.”
How confident are you about knowing who the other clubs will pick in the first round?
“We are reasonably confident from what you hear. Last year we went into draft day knowing exactly who was going to pick who before our pick. So there were no surprises there. That’s stuff that you find out in the last week usually. Clubs are pretty settled on who they want to take. Clubs want to find out so it helps them get organised. I suppose it’s like doing your “what if’s” on game day because you just don’t want surprises on the day, especially when you’re talking about the first round. It’s probably where you spend most of your time in the selection process is on the first round. So you just don’t want any surprises because it gets a bit trickier after that.”
What kind of involvement do the coaches have?
“Not much until this final week. We spend time this week going through the list with the coach, why and what we’re doing, so we’ll do a strategy next week. If we get this particular type of player, do we need another one, so that will all come next week.”
What is draft day like for you?
“Yeah, draft day is no worries for me. There’s not much to worry about, we just try and have a laugh and we know most people there so we have a chat. I’ve just got to make sure I get the right numbers out this year!”
Are you approaching the draft this year any differently to last year?
“No exactly the same. Do your homework, consult, ultimately the buck stops with me I suppose. None of my assistants are going to get bagged if he turns out to be a dud! It very much is a homework job. You have to do a lot of crap to get to the good bits and that’s just the way it is. And as long as you’ve got a good work ethic then you’ll be good in the job. We’ve all got good work ethics but as long as you have a good one then you’ll be able to work it out.”
Have you learnt anything from last year? Are you more relaxed this year?
“I was pretty relaxed this year. I suppose if anything last year I was a bit more rushed because I kept thinking of new things that I had to check. I just had to keep checking stuff all the time but this year I’m certainly a lot more organised in relation to that. I haven’t had to watch as much games and stuff like that, I was more specific on what I did this year. Last year I just tried to do everything. I started with everything you could possibly do and then the next year I could work out what I could get rid of. So a lot more efficient this year about that and I’ll hopefully be more efficient again next year, without cutting corners.”
http://www.afc.com.au/tabid/4417/Default.aspx?newsid=69952
Is the most of the preparation done or is there still a lot to be decided?
“Ninety-nine per cent of the preparation is done. It’s just a few dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s in the last week basically. Just trying to find out who is interested in who, who is picking who, and finish your plan for the day.”
What has been the process since the draft camp?
“We had to spend about a month waiting for the DVD to come out, which was a pain in the butt. Then of course we have trade week the week after the draft camp so I’m heavily involved in that. Then probably for about two or three weeks we interview some players from the camp. We check a lot of the physical testing because we get a copy of that the day after they do the draft camp. We go back over our notes from during the year when we interviewed players, organise more interviews after the kids finish their exams, and try and work out a list order. Admittedly with a fair bit of the details from the draft camp. There’s always stuff to do; we go back and watch videos, watch a lot of video and DVD’s again, still cutting players out.”
Is your top 10 or top 20 fairly settled now?
“It is pretty settled. The top ten definitely, top 20 about 99 per cent sure, and the top 30 probably 90 per cent sure.”
How confident are you about knowing who the other clubs will pick in the first round?
“We are reasonably confident from what you hear. Last year we went into draft day knowing exactly who was going to pick who before our pick. So there were no surprises there. That’s stuff that you find out in the last week usually. Clubs are pretty settled on who they want to take. Clubs want to find out so it helps them get organised. I suppose it’s like doing your “what if’s” on game day because you just don’t want surprises on the day, especially when you’re talking about the first round. It’s probably where you spend most of your time in the selection process is on the first round. So you just don’t want any surprises because it gets a bit trickier after that.”
What kind of involvement do the coaches have?
“Not much until this final week. We spend time this week going through the list with the coach, why and what we’re doing, so we’ll do a strategy next week. If we get this particular type of player, do we need another one, so that will all come next week.”
What is draft day like for you?
“Yeah, draft day is no worries for me. There’s not much to worry about, we just try and have a laugh and we know most people there so we have a chat. I’ve just got to make sure I get the right numbers out this year!”
Are you approaching the draft this year any differently to last year?
“No exactly the same. Do your homework, consult, ultimately the buck stops with me I suppose. None of my assistants are going to get bagged if he turns out to be a dud! It very much is a homework job. You have to do a lot of crap to get to the good bits and that’s just the way it is. And as long as you’ve got a good work ethic then you’ll be good in the job. We’ve all got good work ethics but as long as you have a good one then you’ll be able to work it out.”
Have you learnt anything from last year? Are you more relaxed this year?
“I was pretty relaxed this year. I suppose if anything last year I was a bit more rushed because I kept thinking of new things that I had to check. I just had to keep checking stuff all the time but this year I’m certainly a lot more organised in relation to that. I haven’t had to watch as much games and stuff like that, I was more specific on what I did this year. Last year I just tried to do everything. I started with everything you could possibly do and then the next year I could work out what I could get rid of. So a lot more efficient this year about that and I’ll hopefully be more efficient again next year, without cutting corners.”
