All grist for the opinion mill, Vdubs. Merely a viewpoint. I do think it's easier to assess the impact of a coach - in isolation - than a recruiter though.
Play on.
Wells Recruiting record
- Thread starter MAHjnr
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Play on.
Hes good at finding the hidden gem but his ability to recruit in the first and second round leaves a bit to be desired, tend to think he takes too many risks with those picks, so many times we dart to a left field option instead of just drafting the best players available at the selection.
Vdubs
Hall of Famer
he is in that 07, 09, 11 group, but not out of left field necessarily.
But no doubting he's an awesome pickup, along with Joel Corey, Chappy, SJ etc.
I was more thinking of players that were a bIt of a gamble but turned out to be GOLD.
I genuinely couldn’t care less about it being out of left field, or “Wells special” for that matter. Just pick the best footballers.
Enright is yet another one that shows high draft picks aren’t the be all and end all.
Vdubs
Hall of Famer
Good for you. But some people have different ways of looking at things.
Clearly, ALL our immortals are super footballers, but when Mackie was selected, you could hear and see the reaction. "Who is this kid?" And Taylor, same deal.Pods...
All these guys have turned out champions, but at the start, there were lots of questions and murmurings.
Do you get points for late picks like Stokes or bargain under appreciated like Pods .... but extra points for me is when you really need to a pick to work.
Think back.. we had found a tennis player, placed him in our VFL , developed him, put time in , placed him round our much vaunted early selections and father sons.. and he elevated to the level of AA ..then on the cusp of our finals oour AA KPD ..is injured ..and never plays again.
All that work and the time.. all the other selections.. are they all to be flushed?
The teams was so good in 07 it won the flag without the AA KPD but that was not sustainable.. we needed a fix and we needed one quickly. There was is no FA, and we only have a late R1 ... so over to you MrWells
With P17 Geelong selects Harry Taylor.
and by the end of his days , at the end of 2020... he had played more afl games than anyone from that draft including Cotchin and Dangerfield
MacStradbroke
Norm Smith Medallist
- Jul 19, 2015
- 6,873
- 20,247
- AFL Club
- Geelong
Mackie and Taylor were clearly rated a lot higher than Enright come draft time just going off where they were actually picked. Enright at 47 was phenomenal. Who knows, if Wells didnt call his name maybe he goes undrafted at the time.
Maybe.
There was a draft doco around that time following three recruits ... and in one bit of vision Enrights name was on the whiteboard of one team... so he ws not completely unknown... but if every draft has a 1000 names ..bound to be the odd player or two thats slips thru and never gets his shot.. so maybe
You do wonder what attributes they look for in 18-year-olds. It would be interesting to see how football ability - which is pretty difficult to measure - rates compared to how fast you run and how high you jump.
Vdubs
Hall of Famer
We selected Mackie very early, but he wasn't on the radar anywhere near that level.
And it is all retrospective.
Very easy to say the most important thing in drafting is FOOTBALL ABILITY, but all these kids have ability.
It is only after they are in a great team and develop that we can appreciate how good they are. Early days for both Coreys were not auspicious.
MacStradbroke
Norm Smith Medallist
- Jul 19, 2015
- 6,873
- 20,247
- AFL Club
- Geelong
Who’s ‘radar’ are you referring to? Obviously not the Wells one.
thejester
Norm Smith Medallist
Veteran
BigFooty Official Draft Tipping Competition
Geelong Cats - Gryan Miers Player Sponsor 2018
Geelong Cats - Sam Simpson Player Sponsor 2017
Geelong Cats - Nakia Cockatoo Player Sponsor 2016
Geelong Cats - Nakia Cockatoo Player Sponsor 2015
Geelong Cats - Travis Varcoe 2014 Player Sponsor
Podcaster
- Apr 22, 2006
- 8,395
- 8,639
- AFL Club
- Geelong
- Other Teams
- Huey & Riley Freeman
This article suggests he was fairly prominent in the lead up to the draft, but he didn't play for SA in the U18s in that year, didn't make the national draft camp and seems to have played most of the year with his school side rather than Glenelg (even then I think he only played reserves). Pretty unusual to have that pedigree and get taken at 7: https://www.afl.com.au/news/88030/mackie-the-cats-best-kept-secret
Vdubs
Hall of Famer
That's the point- everybody but Wells.
worldlylizard19
Debutant
- Sep 23, 2012
- 134
- 229
- AFL Club
- Geelong
When you have later picks there is more freedom to gamble. If Geelong had a top 5 pick they would have the same pressure to take a conservative "top rated kid" pick as the rest of the bottom clubs do. The later picks are more speculative, where recruiters get to see what they want to see. I would judge recruiting teams more based on their round 3+/rookie picks more than their first 2 round picks. I would judge development teams more on round 1/2 picks.
CatToTheFuture
Brownlow Medallist
- Aug 18, 2018
- 25,913
- 41,535
- AFL Club
- Geelong
Dangerfield trade a loss?
How do you have Josh caddy traded out for pick 24 in all caps then have the player we selected at the pick a a win?
Clark neutral?
Listing every pick and judging it implies you expect every pick to be a winner. Very few are at any club
Sttew
Brownlow Medallist
But why is that a fail? Cats wanted to get the deal done quickly and it was. We got our man and he has delivered in spades. We lost a bit player. This cannot be construed as anything other than a win. Just because no club had traded for a RFA before this deal doesn't diminish the deal in any way
It was definitively not a fail. No other club has traded in a Brownlow Medallist, three-time B&F winner, and five-time consecutive All Australian before, either. And it's hard to imagine another one ever getting a deal done which was manifestly so worthwhile in improving their team, for such a middling 'cost' at the trade table.
When you're considering Danger's acquisition a 'fail', you really have completely lost touch with any semblance of objective analysis. His joining the Cats would be worth at least double what we 'paid' for him, if not more.
CatToTheFuture
Brownlow Medallist
- Aug 18, 2018
- 25,913
- 41,535
- AFL Club
- Geelong
How exactly would you have gone about landing Jez? Us being the only one trading for RFAs is more a reflection of the quality of players putting their hands up to come here.
Your attributing control of another side matching a bid to Wells when it's not his decision. Nonsense argument
- Feb 10, 2018
- 540
- 1,077
- AFL Club
- Geelong
Jack Watts had “football ability”...
- Feb 10, 2018
- 540
- 1,077
- AFL Club
- Geelong
There are a heap of failed high draft picks who had “football ability”
Competitiveness, dedication and luck all required equally with “football ability” to he a success..
Last edited by a moderator:
Thats fair enough ... Id say its a risk to not include other factors in the decision. Its the Syd Stack type question. On Football ability he would have been drafted.
Football ability is obvious a high factor. For me defining football talents , the natural engrained talent that will allow a player to cope with the top level.. is part of football ability.
Wells obviously rates combine testing every year we seem to draft someone who has stood at at one of the tests.
