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Tazwegian
Cancelled
So you're saying that you are 100% sure that there are guys (you mention Kritta Pendlebury, Myles Sewell - who has kicking issues that simply cannot be fixed and others) that should be playing AFL? That are better than players on AFL lists? Taking into consideration that these guys are mature and some 18 year olds don't have the physical capabilities yet to be able to reach their full potential and need time to develop. Terribly long poorly worded sentence, but that's literally the only reason that would make your argument correct. You are, almost categorically saying that you know better than AFL list managers. That's a massive statement mate. If you were right then clubs would have already picked these guys up. Surely you agree that each club wants the best players possible on their list right?
Not every player drafted into the AFL reaches their potential, and plenty of players that are overlooked in their draft years improves enough to be AFL quality. We have seen plenty of mature age guys who have been overlooked come through the system as either rookies or through the draft and make an immediate impression. There are reasons why others don't get picked up. It could be concerns over injuries, age, height, fitness, or skills. Not all of these reasons prove legitimate, look at Ian Callinan... To be a mature age recruit, you need to tick a lot of boxes, because potential is valued highly by clubs.
If you think I am saying that I know more than AFL list managers, then what you are saying is that AFL list managers are infallible, which is even less likely. Of course squibs are recruited by list managers, they make mistakes and potential isn't always reached, and very good players do occasionally get overlooked for a variety of reasons (Barlow, Callinan, Podsiadly, Zorko).
To think that 100% of the best players in the country are on an AFL lists is ludicrous. There are always going to be guys that are AFL quality, but for whatever reason they are not an AFL list. Just like there are quite a number of guys that are not or never will be AFL quality who are on an AFL list.