what club culture would that be. oh yeah the culture where we refuse to properly bottom out or tank call it what you will and remain mediocre no matter what.
unlees anyone hasnt noticed failure to maximise the draft has crucified in the past.
this happens every yr we win a couple of totally meaningless games against fellow strugglers and our list is magically good.
lets see failure to stay below 5 wins last yr cost pick 18.
who did we beat now lets see.
nm who finished 13th we also had a draw with them.
melb the spooners who did all they could to guarantee picks 1 and 2. we won that one with a kick after the siren.
fremantle the 14 placed team who we beat by three points.
wce the 11th placed side. another narrow win.
ess by 5 the 8th placed mediocre finals side who managed a whopping 10 wins for the season.
yep the wins against ess and melb did wonders for us going into this yr. sheesh can you clowns hear yourselves. what possible good came from those two wins relatively late in a season that was shot to pieces. absolutely no good at all. it was a time to rest players send good players of to early ops and if need be pick sides that had no structure and little chance to win.
make no mistake those two crap wins cost possibly tapscott or bastinac and likely pick 6 this yr.
please tell me people what did we gain last yr confidence for the following yr sheesh the following yr is just that the following yr and totally irrelevant. yep it was important wasnt it those two wins especially when we had such a good start to the season being 1 and 10 at the half way mark. what flow on effect what benefit did we get.
meaningless wins are just that meaningless and they cost a club dearly.
heres one for you fools what possible good did wce get from winning 4 of their last 5 games last yr. sheesh those late wins cost how much. possibly if they were smart a shot at martin or morabito and two shots at some really good talent around pick 20. what could they be aiming at this yr.
hands up who wants to give back deledio or cotchin or martin that sort of quality only comes from bottom 4 finishes and usually less than 5 wins.
we go into the last 10 games with no chance of making finals with a good chance of losing 6 games. the real worry will be clubs putting the cue in the rack. so do we win two more games and put the cue in the rack for the other two games we are a chance to win or do we do what will help enormously and affects the bottom line more than anything that being recruiting.
imo the answer is very simple and logical we do what we have to that gives us the best chance at the best kids.
Let me play devils advocate for a minute:
Geelongs Premiership players and where they were drafted:
Selwood(7), Mackie(7), Corey(8), Bartel(8), Varcoe(15), Taylor(17), Kelly(17), Wojinski(24), Johnson(24), Chapman(31), Blake(F/S 38), Ling(38), Ablett(F/S 40), Hawkins(F/S 41), Hunt(44), Scarlett(F/S 45), Enright(47), N.Ablett(F/S 48), Stokes(61), Byrnes(rookie 40) & Rooke(rookie 44).
No top 5 picks and no priority picks.
Current Saints players from the GF and where they were drafted:
Riewoldt(1) Goddard(1), Koschitzke(2), R.Clarke(8), Hayes(11), Dal Santo(13), McQualter(17), Baker(27), Gilbert(33), Montagna(37), Fisher(55), Gwilt(63), Jones(rookie 9), Milne(rookie 23) & Dawson(rookie 33).
One PP pick and 3 top 5 picks overall
Now look at our side from the weekend:
Deledio(1) Cotchin(2) Martin(3) Tambling(4), Vickery(8), Riewoldt(13), Griffiths(19), Edwards(26), Astbury(35), McGuane(36) Jackson(53), Newman(55), Connors(58), Nason(71), Collins(73), Tuck(73), White(PSD 5) Moore(rookie 3), Graham(rookie 5), King(rookie 24)
One PP and 4 top 5 picks overall.
Explain to me how the 2 teams that played in last years GF, one of them has played in 3 straight and looks like making another, have been so successful over the last 5-6 years with so little access to top picks and yet we, a side with practically a handful of top 5 picks, apparently need to add another 3 top 5 picks over the next 2 drafts to have any chance of being successful?