Our First Round History

[Mincho]

Maybe I'm a bit punch drunk from the last two seasons but I'm getting a little tired of watching us either lose our first rounders, or not seeing them flourish.

I don't believe in coincidence and somewhere along the line, something is broken.

Is it our medical staff, our recruiting team - the development coaches, or a combination of all three.

For the purpose of review here are our first round picks for the last 10 years.

- Rhys Palmer
- Stephen Hill
- Anthony Morabito
- Jayden Pitt
- Tom Sheridan
- Josh Simpson
- Michael Apeness
- Lachie Weller
- Griffin Logue

We cannot seem to get this most critical piece of list management correct, coincidence, bad luck or something else. Weller a bolt out of the blue, might be over-analysing.

 

[mike91]

Palmer was good, got injured and was on the outer with Harvey. Got us #20, used on Crozier, was obviously didn't work. We did ok, he left to GWS, no stopping that
Hill - tick
Mora - we can all agree he was destined to be a star, but injuries, extremely unlucky
Pitt - wrong choice in my view, but heart problems was unlucky, no ones fault it didn't work
Sheridan - legit wtf were we thinking
Simpson - hes fault for spitting the dummy
Apeness - unknown, injuries, wait and see
Weller - tick. Couldn't of predicted he'd go to GC
Logue - too early, wait and see.

 

[Mincho]

Palmer was good, got injured and was on the outer with Harvey. Got us #20, used on Crozier, was obviously didn't work. We did ok, he left to GWS, no stopping that
Hill - tick
Mora - we can all agree he was destined to be a star, but injuries, extremely unlucky
Pitt - wrong choice in my view, but heart problems was unlucky, no ones fault it didn't work
Sheridan - legit wtf were we thinking
Simpson - hes fault for spitting the dummy
Apeness - unknown, injuries, wait and see
Weller - tick. Couldn't of predicted he'd go to GC
Logue - too early, wait and see.

Agree with Mora, Pitt was a WTF for me.

Simpson had baggage before the draft, it's the reason why Geelong baulked at picking him up. Apeness had an ACL/PCL issues prior to being drafted - those issues have continued. Sheridan & Weller - I just dont think we can throw our hands up and claim it's not our fault when this happens so often.

 

[Scham]

Maybe I'm a bit punch drunk from the last two seasons but I'm getting a little tired of watching us either lose our first rounders, or not seeing them flourish.

I don't believe in coincidence and somewhere along the line, something is broken.

Is it our medical staff, our recruiting team - the development coaches, or a combination of all three.

For the purpose of review here are our first round picks for the last 10 years.

- Rhys Palmer
- Stephen Hill
- Anthony Morabito
- Jayden Pitt
- Tom Sheridan
- Josh Simpson
- Michael Apeness
- Lachie Weller
- Griffin Logue

We cannot seem to get this most critical piece of list management correct, coincidence, bad luck or something else. Weller a bolt out of the blue, might be over-analysing.

Here's my take on it.

Rhys Palmer - was the right decision. Was sensational in his first year and then did his knee. Was never the same again. I'll put that down to bad luck.
- Stephen Hill - again the correct choice, a good player but no star.
- Anthony Morabito - see Palmer, although I don't think he was managed very well through his ops and recovery. A bit of bad luck but some bad management too.
- Jayden Pitt - should've taken Darling. Poor choice.
- Tom Sheridan - Seb Ross would've been nice. Have we developed him thoroughly???
- Josh Simpson - thought it was a risk worth taking but I reckon if we had've done the amount of research we do these days we wouldn't have picked him.
- Michael Apeness - looked like we put needs too far in front of best available with this choice. He lacked agility, footy nouse and leap when we got him and hasn't improved. Mishandled his PCL but his shoulder was unlucky. Poor choice.
- Lachie Weller - correct choice imo. No doubt about it. Could've been given opportunities in 2015 and in hindsight playing him in defence for the whole of 2017 was possibly the wrong choice.
- Griffin Logue - I was surprised we took him and thought that we reached but was willing to back Lloyd in. Was comfortable with this until late in the season where he was disappointing. Hoping it was just a case of a young bloke getting tired after a long hard season. Jury is very much still out on this pick. I'll be keeping a close eye on Florent and Simpkin.

 

[Mincho]

Who is responsible then?

 

[TheMcManusNose]

Can't be angry about Morabito. Or Pitt really even though he was the wrong choice.

Simpson meh, you can say we should have done more background but these things happen. Apeness was a reach, sure. In hindsight probably a bad choice but damn we needed KPPs.

Sheridan was effectively like pick 25-30 when you factor in all the GWS/GC concessions so it's not surprising he is where he is (Crozier too).

Weller a good choice. Palmer a good choice. Hill a good choice. Logue too early to tell.

The problem with analysing stuff in this manner is where's the control? We think, great, 1st round pick - should be a gun. But Apeness and Simpson were pick 17s. By the time you get down to 17 it's 50% you'll get a good player, 50% you'll get an absolute potato. Yeah it's unlucky to come up with nothing from those picks but it's not improbable enough that you have to think 'something else is wrong here'. Surprise surprise it is the higher picks where we've done better.

That said I think we did go through a bit of a drafting lul from 2010-2013.

 

[Mincho]

Can't be angry about Morabito. Or Pitt really even though he was the wrong choice.

Simpson meh, you can say we should have done more background but these things happen. Apeness was a reach, sure. In hindsight probably a bad choice but damn we needed KPPs.

Sheridan was effectively like pick 25-30 when you factor in all the GWS/GC concessions so it's not surprising he is where he is (Crozier too).

Weller a good choice. Palmer a good choice. Hill a good choice. Logue too early to tell.

The problem with analysing stuff in this manner is where's the control? We think, great, 1st round pick - should be a gun. But Apeness and Simpson were pick 17s. By the time you get down to 17 it's 50% you'll get a good player, 50% you'll get an absolute potato. Yeah it's unlucky to come up with nothing from those picks but it's not improbable enough that you have to think 'something else is wrong here'. Surprise surprise it is the higher picks where we've done better.

That said I think we did go through a bit of a drafting lul from 2010-2013.

Sheridan was pick 16.

As a club, our development of our top tier draft choices, leaves alot to be desired. It's too easy just to make excuses, there is an observable trend here - we simply do not get enough out of these picks.

 

[Scham]

Who is responsible then?

Mistakes have been made by Sports Science, Coaches, Recruiters and a couple of the players themselves.

 

[TheMcManusNose]

Sheridan was pick 16.

As a club, our development of our top tier draft choices, leaves alot to be desired. It's too easy just to make excuses, there is an observable trend here - we simply do not get enough out of these picks.

No. Sheridan was pick 16 after this:

Greater Western Sydney was permitted to recruit the following players directly, without the need for any draft:

• At the end of 2010, up to twelve 17-year-old players (born between 1 January – 30 April 1993), who were too young to enter the 2010 AFL draft. These players were not eligible to play senior AFL football in 2011, and would continue to undergo junior development, either in Sydney or their home state.

Those players included guys like Shiel, Treloar and Cameron, as well as other guys who didn't quite make those heights like Bugg and Hampton.

All those players would have been eligible for the 2011 draft.

As to your second point, yeah nah, don't agree there's a trend to be worried about. A lull in that period, sure, but one adequately explained by some shitty luck, a couple of mistakes and the picks being end of first round.

 

[Frigate]

It looks worse than it is. It is easy to isolate one component, but at the end of the day, unless you factor in strength of the draft, concessions to other teams. In a strong draft year the teens can be solid picks, in a weak year you will struggle to find a player from 11.

Even last year, people were screaming at us to take English - jury still out, but we perhaps wanted SPS and he went, then there were all the teams that missed Pepper, as an example. I think you would find a similar trend with most teams in the last 7 years.

 

[mightymouse75]

Maybe I'm a bit punch drunk from the last two seasons but I'm getting a little tired of watching us either lose our first rounders, or not seeing them flourish.

I don't believe in coincidence and somewhere along the line, something is broken.

Is it our medical staff, our recruiting team - the development coaches, or a combination of all three.

For the purpose of review here are our first round picks for the last 10 years.

- Rhys Palmer
- Stephen Hill
- Anthony Morabito
- Jayden Pitt
- Tom Sheridan
- Josh Simpson
- Michael Apeness
- Lachie Weller
- Griffin Logue

We cannot seem to get this most critical piece of list management correct, coincidence, bad luck or something else. Weller a bolt out of the blue, might be over-analysing.

Nope. That is shit

 

[mightymouse75]

First round is no guarantee for a star. But gee that record is terrible.

 

[Nolo180]

Why stop there! The more you look at it the more depressing it gets...

Graham Polak
Byron Schammer
Ryan Murphy & Riley Dunn
Marcus Drum

Where we didn't draft we traded and generally managed to stuff that up as well.
We have a terrible record when it comes to first rounders!

 

[Mincho]

From what I have heard, and it is absolutely hearsay - there is a tendency at Freo to push development resources toward mid to lower picks thinking the top tier are further up to speed.

 

[eastfreo75]

Maybe I'm a bit punch drunk from the last two seasons but I'm getting a little tired of watching us either lose our first rounders, or not seeing them flourish.

I don't believe in coincidence and somewhere along the line, something is broken.

Is it our medical staff, our recruiting team - the development coaches, or a combination of all three.

For the purpose of review here are our first round picks for the last 10 years.

- Rhys Palmer
- Stephen Hill
- Anthony Morabito
- Jayden Pitt
- Tom Sheridan
- Josh Simpson
- Michael Apeness
- Lachie Weller
- Griffin Logue

We cannot seem to get this most critical piece of list management correct, coincidence, bad luck or something else. Weller a bolt out of the blue, might be over-analysing.

People need to understand what picks they were and the impact of the new teams coming in.

Almost half them failed due to injury or illness.

 

[Nolo180]

People need to understand what picks they were and the impact of the new teams coming in.

Almost half them failed due to injury or illness.

Yeah the fitness staff get a regular bake too. But the seasons over and the blowtorch is on the recruiting team!

 

[Yeti]

I'll never forgive Rhys Palmer for costing Micky a Brownlow. He can GAGF, and we can record him as an abject failure.

 

[Tonga Bob]

Our first rounders from South Australia tho:

1) Clive
2) Pav

Ergo, load up like a fiend for next year's draft.

 

[go_the_dockers]

No. Sheridan was pick 16 after this:

Greater Western Sydney was permitted to recruit the following players directly, without the need for any draft:

• At the end of 2010, up to twelve 17-year-old players (born between 1 January – 30 April 1993), who were too young to enter the 2010 AFL draft. These players were not eligible to play senior AFL football in 2011, and would continue to undergo junior development, either in Sydney or their home state.

Those players included guys like Shiel, Treloar and Cameron, as well as other guys who didn't quite make those heights like Bugg and Hampton.

All those players would have been eligible for the 2011 draft.

As to your second point, yeah nah, don't agree there's a trend to be worried about. A lull in that period, sure, but one adequately explained by some shitty luck, a couple of mistakes and the picks being end of first round.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_AFL_draft


Bradley Hill was the big miss. Other than that it was a shit draft after 16.

 

[Scham]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_AFL_draft


Bradley Hill was the big miss. Other than that it was a shit draft after 16.

Seb Ross?

 

[eastfreo75]

Yeah the fitness staff get a regular bake too. But the seasons over and the blowtorch is on the recruiting team!

Pitt had a heart condition.
Palmer did a knee
Morabito did both knees twice each
Apeness did a shoulder.

Soft tissue injuries are the responsibility of the medical team not accidents.

 

[Scham]

Pitt had a heart condition.
Palmer did a knee
Morabito did both knees twice each
Apeness did a shoulder.

Soft tissue injuries are the responsibility of the medical team not accidents.

No one would argue with that but doing kness multiple times like Ape and Mora suggests a possibility of mismanagement of the injuries. Also the fact that Moras knees were done at training maybe? Apeness spent over 12 months out of the game with a PCL due to constant set backs.

Who knows really these may just be genetic problems with the individuals but it seems to happen a lot at our club, AP, Bennell etc, etc. where there's smoke there's fire.

 

[youmewe]

No one would argue with that but doing kness multiple times like Ape and Mora suggests a possibility of mismanagement of the injuries. Also the fact that Moras knees were done at training maybe? Apeness spent over 12 months out of the game with a PCL due to constant set backs.

Who knows really these may just be genetic problems with the individuals but it seems to happen a lot at our club, AP, Bennell etc, etc. where there's smoke there's fire.

Sending Blakely back on the field after his first shoulder injury in a meaningless game wasn't too clever either.

 

[Belnakor]

Maybe I'm a bit punch drunk from the last two seasons but I'm getting a little tired of watching us either lose our first rounders, or not seeing them flourish.

We cannot seem to get this most critical piece of list management correct, coincidence, bad luck or something else. Weller a bolt out of the blue, might be over-analysing.

need to be careful when you look at "1st round" picks since history will tell you anything outside the top 10 its a 50/50 shot at best.

Our top 10 picks have been Palmer, Hill, Morabito and Logue. I'd say the only one the jury is out for is Logue but it was only his first year. I think we have done as well as could be expected.

 

[Belnakor]

Pitt had a heart condition.

Pitt never looked that good even before his heart condition flared up. Was really skinny, didn't have footy nouse and looked like even the WAFL was tough for him. One of the real "huh?" picks from us of recent years.