List Mgmt. Most annoying drafting/trading decisions by your club

[brutus76]

Kepler Bradley 03
Scott Gumbleton 06
Elliott Kavanagh 11
Langford and Laverde 14

 

[100action]

Beveridge overrule to select Gowers. One of the reasons Dalrymple left.

 

[Ambrosia]

Beveridge overrule to select Gowers. One of the reasons Dalrymple left.

You’d think a coach really wanting a player in the rookie draft would be a big deal.

 

[coniglio_number1]

I did see some comments when he was drafted that only his size got him marks and goals at under 18 level but he would be ordinary in the AFL. How wrong they were.

Recruiters and list managers trying to outsmart themselves

 

[Costanza_]

Pretty much every one of our highest selected draftees for 20 years. We have a habit of nailing later picks, but have burnt so many top 20 picks. Our highest pick over the last 20 years (although some years we traded out first round pick)...

• 2019 - Dylan Stephens (time will tell)
• 2018 - Nick Blakey (academy)
• 2017 - Matthew Ling (only debuted last round, jury out but won't be a star)
• 2016 - Ollie Florent (decent but no star)
• 2015 - Callum Mills (academy)
• 2014 - Isaac Heeney (academy)
• 2013 - Zac Jones (decent but no star)
• 2012 - Dean Towers (rubbish)
• 2011 - Tom Mitchell (father/son)
• 2010 - Jed Lamb (rubbish)
• 2009 - Gary Rohan (hugely underwhelming for a Pick 6)
• 2008 - Lewis Johnston (rubbish)
• 2007 - Patrick Veszpremi (rubbish)
• 2006 - Daniel O'Keefe (rubbish)
• 2005 - Matthew Laidlaw (rubbish, although tbf our first live pick was 51)
• 2004 - Jarred Moore (rubbish)
• 2003 - Josh Willoughby (rubbish)
• 2002 - Jarrad McVeigh (good pick)
• 2001 - Mark Powell (rubbish)
• 2000 - Luke Ablett (rubbish)

If you exclude the academy picks (and Tom Mitchell as a F/S) where we were gifted a shot at players that would have earlier than our scheduled pick, that is very grim reading.

 

[Turboman1994]

I did see some comments when he was drafted that only his size got him marks and goals at under 18 level but he would be ordinary in the AFL. How wrong they were.

I vividly remembered one game he played for west Perth kicked 6 or seven goals absolutely ragdolled men. I remember thinking at the time gee this guy is good going top 10 defo.

 

[Olian]

Kurt Tippett, on decent money but never performed in the big games. Only good things were he was drafted through the preseason and he retired early.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Regarding trades, there are two that stand out for Richmond.

The Pitura trade. John Pitura was a glamorous, great-looking left-footer (you know the type) who was a good player - nowhere near as good as he looked. For some reason, the Richmond board got fixated on him and decided we wanted him. It took us 2 years to get him - Pitura was having blues with the South Melbourne Board and missed half a season, we threatened to buy 5000 South memberships and force an Extraordinary General meeting to trade him. This was while we were the reigning premiers (1973-74).
Eventually we got him in a 'small' trade - we got Pitura (who was rubbish for us, and lasted 3 seasons for 40 games). South got Graeme Teasdale (who won a Brownlow), Francis Jackson (who played CHB for Victoria) and Brian Roberts (who came 6th in the Brownlow in his only season for South).
It was a terrible trade that set the club back years from its position of strength. We were pretty lucky we found a whole lot of excellent young players in the period 75-78 (Lee, Weightman, Raines, Jess, Cloke, Roach) that formed the core of the 1980 premiership. And then, we f*cked that up as well (you know all about that).........

Best me to it. And I’m glad you did as I don’t think I could’ve articulated it as well as you have. A tragic trade - by far the worst in our clubs history.

By the way, you mentioned two trades. What was the other one?

 

[Wallaby]

Best me to it. And I’m glad you did as I don’t think I could’ve articulated it as well as you have. A tragic trade - by far the worst in our clubs history.

By the way, you mentioned two trades. What was the other one?

I'm referring to the 'trade war' with Collingwood that became a dick-swinging competition between both clubs. Collingwood nearly went completely bust, and we did. Collingwood actually did brilliantly to recover so well from the 'New Magpies' disaster (how, I'm not sure)- we were reduced to tin-rattling and just survived.

 

[Sweet Jesus]

I still don't get how he slid so far. Was about as blue chip as a prospect as you could get proven at WAFL league level good size ect. Shouldn't of been available at pick 20 let alone 26

I wonder if he was deemed "not KPP height".

 

[Turboman1994]

I wonder if he was deemed "not KPP height".

Possibly and some off field stuff. I mean I'm al oong way from an expert but Jack still remains on of the best underage footballers I've seen play even against men

 

[Sweet Jesus]

Possibly and some off field stuff. I mean I'm al oong way from an expert but Jack still remains on of the best underage footballers I've seen play even against men

The off-field stuff seems to have been overblown.

I reckon clubs looked at a mature-bodied 18-year-old who was 190-91cm and thought, "yeah he's been able to monster people his own age because he's readymade physically but not sure if he'll be tall enough to hold down a KP at senior level". Clubs want a key forward who's 195cm and taller. Guys like Darling are getting developed as midfielders these days.

 

[Turboman1994]

The off-field stuff seems to have been overblown.

I reckon clubs looked at a mature-bodied 18-year-old who was 190-91cm and thought, "yeah he's been able to monster people his own age because he's readymade physically but not sure if he'll be tall enough to hold down a KP at senior level". Clubs want a key forward who's 195cm and taller. Guys like Darling are getting developed as midfielders these days.

Agreed but he also proved to be effective against WAFL league players over site on recruiters imo

 

[Sweet Jesus]

Agreed but he also proved to be effective against WAFL league players over site on recruiters imo

Not the same thing as playing at senior level, surely.

 

[Turboman1994]

Not the same thing as playing at senior level, surely.

No but you can't bully senior bodies like under 18's so

 

[Sweet Jesus]

No but you can't bully senior bodies like under 18's so

I guess people weren't convinved by WAFL form.

 

[citizen-erased]

2009. Trading in Williams instead of asking for JPK and McGlynn
2010. Steinberg over Parker
2014. Trading pick 37 for Cooney
2015. Alex Morgan. WTF. though we do have Hibberd, who i wanted
2016. Begley over Battle.

Parker & JPK would have been good during peak Jobe years.

 

[blackers]

Yeah Lions first round draft picks seem to stack up well from the top of my head. Only issue is for a few years there they all left to play well at other clubs. This has stopped for the time being which is good.

Schache.

 

[RUNVS]

Pretty much every one of our highest selected draftees for 20 years. We have a habit of nailing later picks, but have burnt so many top 20 picks. Our highest pick over the last 20 years (although some years we traded out first round pick)...

• 2019 - Dylan Stephens (time will tell)
• 2018 - Nick Blakey (academy)
• 2017 - Matthew Ling (only debuted last round, jury out but won't be a star)
• 2016 - Ollie Florent (decent but no star)
• 2015 - Callum Mills (academy)
• 2014 - Isaac Heeney (academy)
• 2013 - Zac Jones (decent but no star)
• 2012 - Dean Towers (rubbish)
• 2011 - Tom Mitchell (father/son)
• 2010 - Jed Lamb (rubbish)
• 2009 - Gary Rohan (hugely underwhelming for a Pick 6)
• 2008 - Lewis Johnston (rubbish)
• 2007 - Patrick Veszpremi (rubbish)
• 2006 - Daniel O'Keefe (rubbish)
• 2005 - Matthew Laidlaw (rubbish, although tbf our first live pick was 51)
• 2004 - Jarred Moore (rubbish)
• 2003 - Josh Willoughby (rubbish)
• 2002 - Jarrad McVeigh (good pick)
• 2001 - Mark Powell (rubbish)
• 2000 - Luke Ablett (rubbish)

If you exclude the academy picks (and Tom Mitchell as a F/S) where we were gifted a shot at players that would have earlier than our scheduled pick, that is very grim reading.

Problem with the Swans and our first round draft picks is that we try and be to cute. We try and be too smart and instead of going for the guy everyone recognises as good we go for the player we think everyone else has missed.

 

[TassieSaint]

The ones that get me are the decisions that are obviously highly questionable even at the time, not the ones that are only obviously wrong in hindsight.

I will never get over St Kilda not drafting Brodie Grundy in 2012. We had pick 12 and 13 in the draft but traded them for Tom Lee and Tom Hickey plus change. Other clubs passed on Grundy multiple times but it was because they didn't need a ruck. The Saints having traded for Hickey obviously did. But why were we so short sighted as to trade for Hickey rather than go for Grundy? We were in full rebuild mode so there was no reason to go for a more mature ruckman. Even then Hickey was only 3 years older than Grundy and I would argue Grundy was already a better player in his first year, given Hickey had only played 11 games and shown nothing.

As a reminder Grundy, when drafted, was:
- back to back U18 All Australian as a bottom ager and then again in 2012
- playing senior footy for Sturt
- widely touted as a top 10 or even top 5 pick pre draft
- 202cm and 100 kg i.e. the exact same playing weight he's at today, and physically ready for AFL footy

The fact that he slid to 18 should weigh on every club, but none moreso than the Saints. The decision to prioritise Hickey was transparently terrible at the time, and has only got worse since.

 

[Jcpdragonx]

Gallucci. Losing the bid on Perryman right before, and not going Berry who a lot of Adelaide suporteres wanted. Berry and Perryman would be leading our BnF (provided we didnt mess their development) and play 200+ games comfortably. Meanwhile Gallucci will be delisted.