St Kilda drafting report card

[aussierulesrules]

wright/white/murdoch/saunders/pierce all have huge upside dev wise

Yep, agree with that, especially the last 4.

White, because they have reportedly only just found out about how bad his asthma was, so now that they've discovered that he'll hopefully be able to get a much stronger fitness base under him from now on, which ought to help immeasurably.

Murdoch, because he has only been down from the country for a little over 12 months I think and has had to get used to not only living in the big smoke, but also to playing in completely different positions on the field than he was used to playing in the bush, so if he gets to the same level of performance in those positions when he gets used to playing them, he could improve considerably on what he produced this year (which, lets be honest, was apparently not a whole lot- 12 possies a game or so).

Saunders, because by the sounds of it he hasn't necessarily played a lot of footy, or at least much at the elite junior level, so will hopefully improve considerably on what was good output already, with a bit of time in an AFL club.

And Pierce is the epitome of someone who has upside, because of the fact he has only just turned 18 a week or so ago, so is close to 12 months younger than some who were drafted the other day and because he has reportedly had injuries derail each of his last 3 seasons, apparently due his his huge growth spurt, so hopefully his body will settle down when he stops growing (which may not have happened yet, which means he may also get to fantastic height, if he does grow more) and allow him to get some consistency of games, which could help his performances considerably.

 

[Squizz]

Would like to see the Saints follow this logic though a bit more (with the beanpoles). It seems they thought they couldn't pass on Pierce with a late pick due to their view on his sheer talent, but the logic on Lever (who looks OK but still has a long way to go) and Staley escapes me. Would rather pay up and get developed rucks and tall forwards (whether AFL or state league) than wait years whilst the player struggle to put on weight and avoid injury (before they can even show that their ability is somewhere near AFL standard).

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/151695/default.aspx

The trend for clubs to hold off taking ruckman until later in the draft - unless they are super special - is now well established.

Ameet Bains said it was a difficult job forecasting who would emerge as a quality ruckman.

"The projection you need to have in your own mind with a 17 or 18-year-old is enormous."

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

As for Collingwood, someone on here said that Collingwood's Derek Hine indicated in a post draft interview the other night that they would have taken White with one of their 3 first round picks, had Grundy not slid to them.

FWIW - I'm pretty sure that this was never said. Derek Hine mentioned that we had a tall in mind at pick #20, who we didn't draft due to Grundy, but all of the mail that connected us to ANY players had that tall being Tim O'Brien, not Spencer White.

I'm not sure there was ever any connection between Collingwood and White from any of the more reliable sources.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

FWIW - I'm pretty sure that this was never said. Derek Hine mentioned that we had a tall in mind at pick #20, who we didn't draft due to Grundy, but all of the mail that connected us to ANY players had that tall being Tim O'Brien, not Spencer White.

I'm not sure there was ever any connection between Collingwood and White from any of the more reliable sources.

Wake up it was a draft , there is hardly ever an actual "connection" until they are drafted. The draftees themselves usually talk to a lot of clubs without knowing which ones will actually get them.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

Wake up it was a draft , there is hardly ever an actual "connection" until they are drafted. The draftees themselves usually talk to a lot of clubs without knowing which ones will actually get them.

Yeah, but I was responding to someone who said that Derek Hine said he was intending on drafting White until Grundy fell to us - That never happened.

Hine said he had a tall in mind, and based on everything else that took place, it was probably Tim O'Brien. There is no reason to suggest that Collingwood had any interest in White. That's not to say that we didn't, but I'm not the one who suggested it spuriously.

 

[Persevering Saint]

What I like is that there are now tons of players fighting for the same spots. This will allow for the coaches to not indulge slackness or bad attitude. Everybody in the club can look around and see three or four other players who can and will take their spots if they work that little harder, have that little more talent, give that little bit more. No free rides. No passengers. The only way to get your spot is to work your butt off until you're the best of the best.

That is what will get us up there again faster.