Questions about our drafting

[Uhumagoo]

Please note I don't mean this as an attack on our drafting or our players, just a point of discussion prior to the draft. Since the 2000 national draft only 17 of the 46 players selected have come from the TAC, Since 2003 it has dropped off even further with only 8 of those 17 since the 2003 draft. Of those 8, only 5 are from Melbourne. I find it a bit strange and think it raises a few questions.

Do we have a problem with players from the TAC?
Are we stuck in the old ways thinking plucking players from interstate and the bush will bring us success?,
Does collecting so many players from far and wide create a 'go home factor' to manage on top of player development?
Or is this just a case of picking the best available and this is just a coincidence?



2000
Luke Livingston Bendigo U18'
Trent Sporn North Adelaide SA
Simon Wiggins Tasmania U18
Blake Campbell Murray U18
Sean O'Keeffe Murray U18
Callan Beasy Bendigo U18

2001
Justin Davies Murray U18
Jarrad Waite Murray U18
Sam Cranage Carlton

2002
Kade Simpson Eastern U18
Cameron Croad Oakleigh U18
Brad Fisher Eastern U18
Karl Norman Wangaratta Rovers

2003
Andrew Walker Bendigo U18
Ricky Mott Fremantle Rookies
Glen Bowyer Hawthorn
Jordan Bannister Essendon
Adrian Deluca Port Melbourne
Stephen Kenna Box Hill Hawks

2004
Jordan Russell West Adelaide
Adam Hartlett West Adelaide
Luke Blackwell Swan Districts
Chris Bryan Frankston
Anthony Raso Dandenong U18

2005
Marc Murphy Oakleigh U18
Josh J. Kennedy East Fremantle
Paul Bower Peel Thunder
Jake Edwards Western U18

2006
Bryce Gibbs Glenelg
Shaun Hampson Mt Gravatt
Shaun Grigg North Ballarat U18
Mark Austin Glenelg
Clinton Benjamin Claremont
Joe Anderson Darwin

2007
Matthew Kreuzer Northern U18
Steven Browne West Perth
Dennis Armfield Swan Districts

2008
Chris Yarran Swan Districts
Mitch Robinson Tasmania U18
Rhys O'Keeffe North Adelaide
Caleb Tiller Murray U18

2009
Kane Lucas East Fremantle
Marcus Davies North Hobart
Rohan Kerr Dandenong U18
Aaron Joseph (PR) Tasmania U18
Sam Jacobs (PR) Woodville-West Torrens

 

[Blue and Silver]

Ummm, maybe they are drafting the best players?

 

[BlueTouchPaper]

Wayne Hughes, like Jack Elliott and Denis Pagan, are all massive Collingwood supporters, and are all hellbent on bringing the club down from the inside.

 

[Sin City]

Everyone knows Tasmanians are better than Victorians.

 

[BlueTouchPaper]

Everyone knows Tasmanians are better than Victorians.

Uhumagoo, there's definately NO 'go home factor' with Tasmanian recruits.

 

[Sin City]

Uhumagoo, there's definately NO 'go home factor' with Tasmanian recruits.

You bastard

 

[BlueTouchPaper]

It is evident, however, that Hughesy has done pretty damn well with the WA boys.

I know he was at Freo, but was he from that side originally?

 

[40yearBLUE]

What exactly are the "questions" you speak of, and as for go home factor, one player (Jacobs, a rookie) has asked to go home, so again what are the questions you speak of? In 6 of the 10 drafts our first pick was from the TAC and of the 10 drafts undisputed best available Russell, Gibbs, Yarran, Lucas, were selected, are you disputing we should have taken the best TAC over these 4?

Sounds to me like a thread for the sake of it, no logic just a stir??

 

[Uhumagoo]

errr. Maybe I havn't worded this correctly. I'm happy with Russell, Gibbs, Yarran, and Lucas, I have not passed any judgement on them.

"Go home factor" was probably only part of what I was getting at. But does gathering players from all corners create an extra dimension to manage on top of player development?.. relocation, education, home sickness, travel back home for personal reasons... etc.

Flip side is bringing young guys together from different places may be a positive and help bonding and forming friendships... I don't know and Im not having a crack at the club.. seems to be a curious pattern in our drafting. But I guess Im asking if there are reasons outside of 'best available' that we rarely select from the TAC?

If you think this is just a matter of "best available at our pick and this just a coincidence", then that was one of the questions I spoke of.

 

[40yearBLUE]

errr. Maybe I havn't worded this correctly. I'm happy with Russell, Gibbs, Yarran, and Lucas, I have not passed any judgement on them.

"Go home factor" was probably only part of what I was getting at. But does gathering players from all corners create an extra dimension to manage on top of player development?.. relocation, education, home sickness, travel back home for personal reasons... etc.

Flip side is bringing young guys together from different places may be a positive and help bonding and forming friendships... I don't know and Im not having a crack at the club.. seems to be a curious pattern in our drafting. But I guess Im asking if there are reasons outside of 'best available' that we rarely select from the TAC?

If you think this is just a matter of "best available at our pick and this just a coincidence", then that was one of the questions I spoke of.

OK benefit of the doubt. But many false premises to your question. Firstly we took 6/10 first picks from TAC so your premise that we dont use or avoid using TAC is false. Second, there is no go home factor, 1 in 10 years is not a factor, so again false premise, third there is no pattern other than the best fit for the club at that pick, nothing else so another false premise (that there is a pattern). So based on 3 false premises do you still think there is any "question" you are asking and if so what is it?

 

[thylacine60]

30Year doing what he does good.

 

[IheartCarrots]

The biggest problem with TAC cup drafting is the environment doesn't really give you a great idea of the players capability

Admittedly I haven't played it in a few years, but everytime I watch a match its the same thing, you have 185cm blokes playing key positions, 175cm kids playing as midfielders and marking forwards, a 190ish cm kid with a good vertical leap playing in the ruck.

Not only that, these guys have been playing against 16-18 year olds with questionable fitness and strength. When you generally only take 4 guys and it's pretty close, the one who has been putting the runs on the board against men will get the nod.

I guess my point is, there really isn't a whole lot of kids who meet all the requirements to get drafted, even in the TAC cup. Those that do tend to go in the first few rounds and after that is when it gets close. You have 2 guys similar stats, age, bodies, etc. One has been playing with men, the other with boys. Who do you make a play for?

 

[Gravyman]

WAFL kids over TAC imo.

 

[GhostofPP]

I have been thinking about this,
IMO we need more kids from Mars!
Earth is no good these days,
Kevin Sheedy is with me on this and has set up a permanent recruiter on mars so watch out for GWS guys

 

[Uhumagoo]

I have been thinking about this,
IMO we need more kids from Mars!
Earth is no good these days,
Kevin Sheedy is with me on this and has set up a permanent recruiter on mars so watch out for GWS guys

Fully agree, awesome vertical leap on those Mars kids.

 

[Jeremias]

If anything, it really does prove that we try and go with the best available talent.

If managed wisely, players will probably be less likely to want to go back home.

I have no problem with what the recruiters are doing with regards to recruiting mainly from outside of Victoria.

To say that we need to draft more from the TAC cup, possibly to avoid any chance of the 'go-home' factor, would be severely restricting the talent pool from which our recruiters get to choose.

Then the mindless morons that claim WH isn't doing his job may have a leg to stand on. And that wouldn't be good for anybody...

 

[40yearBLUE]

Fully agree, awesome vertical leap on those Mars kids.

Do they play with moon boots on Mars and are they legal here?

 

[Uhumagoo]

If anything, it really does prove that we try and go with the best available talent.

If managed wisely, players will probably be less likely to want to go back home.

I have no problem with what the recruiters are doing with regards to recruiting mainly from outside of Victoria.

To say that we need to draft more from the TAC cup, possibly to avoid any chance of the 'go-home' factor, would be severely restricting the talent pool from which our recruiters get to choose.

Then the mindless morons that claim WH isn't doing his job may have a leg to stand on. And that wouldn't be good for anybody...

Agree, the 'go home' factor is practically non existent, with us. We are more than happy to select from outside the TAC, which suggests the club has full confidence in managing the players relocation and keeping them happy. I'm not suggesting that we look more towards TAC players. I just found the numbers curious.

IhearCarrots, made some great points regarding the TAC competition and why between two similar players, the one who was playing against men would get the nod.

 

[40yearBLUE]

Agree, the 'go home' factor is practically non existent, with us. We are more than happy to select from outside the TAC, which suggests the club has full confidence in managing the players relocation and keeping them happy. I'm not suggesting that we look more towards TAC players. I just found the numbers curious.

IhearCarrots, made some great points regarding the TAC competition and why between two similar players, the one who was playing against men would get the nod.

Fair enough. I hope my critical analysis of your OP was not so aggressive as to stop you posing such questions, but perhaps be mindful that there are a lot of so called supporters grasping at any reason to question the quality of our management (especially the coach and the recruiters) and perhaps a better question would have been posed around the TAC rather than "Our" drafting.

I for one certainly appreciate the effort you put in to your initial research. If only some of the knockers at least made that much effort we would be able to argue our cases (them and us) rationally.