Worst ever no. 1 draft pick??

[tigers_of_old_08]

It’s a toss up b/w McCartin and Patton

If you held a gun to my head I’d choose Patton.
Ability wasn’t his problem it was his off-field behaviour.

 

[g_TRAIN]

It is McCartin and it isn’t close. Barely showed anything pre injuries.

There was never a time pre-injury though. The most games he ever played in a row were about 9-10 and he did show a bit when he got a decent run.

He was consistently injured/concussed

I agree he was probably the worst no. 1 but I think it's unfair to assume he wouldn't have become a good player if he had luck on his side.

 

[Toump Ass]

I think it's unfair to assume he wouldn't have become a good player if he had luck on his side.

Wrong. He'd have been delisted even if he didn't have concussion issues.

 

[SSSSSS]

It’s a toss up b/w McCartin and Patton

If you held a gun to my head I’d choose Patton.
Ability wasn’t his problem it was his off-field behaviour.

He's a tool but I think you are overlooking the biggest factor which is the fact his knees kept exploding.

 

[schmuttt]

There was never a time pre-injury though. The most games he ever played in a row were about 9-10 and he did show a bit when he got a decent run.

He was consistently injured/concussed

I agree he was probably the worst no. 1 but I think it's unfair to assume he wouldn't have become a good player if he had luck on his side.

Mate he was crap. Undersized poor hands low mobility.

 

[Toump Ass]

8 concussions in his AFL career including 3 within 10 games. Put that upon any player and see how they go.

McCartin was so dumb! He chased after the ball like Homer Simpson when he sees a fluffy puppy. No awareness, none whatsoever. I remember thinking "Have a look at this big dumb idiot. He's going to hurt himself he keeps playing like this!". And lo and behold, he did. Constantly.

McCartin was a danger to himself, Richo should never have played him.

 

[Tasmanian saint]

I

Just you guys wait until we pick up Paddy in the mid season draft and he goes onto anchor our forward line for the next 5 years after Buddy calls it quits.

just you wait.

I still believe without all the concussion issues he would have ended up being a reasonable lead up forward he did show some glimpses in games

 

[tigers_of_old_08]

There was never a time pre-injury though. The most games he ever played in a row were about 9-10 and he did show a bit when he got a decent run.

He was consistently injured/concussed

I agree he was probably the worst no. 1 but I think it's unfair to assume he wouldn't have become a good player if he had luck on his side.

There’s a significant body of evidence he wouldn’t become a good player let alone fulfil expectations of a no.1 draft pick.

For a guy his size never once do I recall him crashing a pack or doing anything expected of a key position forward. He showed little-to-no football ability in that area.

McCartin to me was a bust.

 

[Scotland]

Patton nowhere near the worst.

When he actually played full seasons of footy he was at least a serviceable key forward. Kicked 4 in the losing prelim in 2016. Hipwood, McKay, Mihocek, Taberner, Wright etc. have never kicked 40 in a season.

Too many knee recos kept him to 89 games, and as it turns out he's a bit of a dickhead off the field.

 

[pablo668]

Going back a fair ways, some say John Hutton. But I disagree with this, one because he played for Claremont and kicked 100 goals in a WAFL season and won a flag with us.....yes I'm biased.
Two, he went to Brisbane, who weren't much chop at the time, I'm not sure he would have had reliable delivery into the forward line back then, or much support there. He also went to Sydney who weren't setting the world on fire yet either and finally to a forming Freo side.

Perhaps he would have settled in better and performed at a higher level in a more competitive club, maybe he was just one of those mezzanine players, too good for the local level, not quite there for the top level. I don't know.

On song he was awesome to watch though, fantastic leads, marking and a good kick for goal.

 

[Ekomaira]

it's Paddy. it hurts but it's Paddy

Petracca sure would be nice right now

 

[PP34]

Tom Boyd probably worse a mention from recent history considering GWS got 9 games out of him. Before trading him for not alot in the end...

Became a premiership hero at the dogs. But those 52 games would be a pretty desastrious career for a no. 1 pick under any other circumstances...

Yep. Boyd was incredibly mediocre. He was shocking for most of 2016. Soft, played with zero hunger and just seemed to go through the motions. Wasn’t doing much as a forward so Bevo put him in the ruck because let’s face it they hardly could drop such a big acquisition and there wasn’t much else.

Obviously played a great grand final and was serviceable in the prelim but as a number 1 pick he was incredibly disappointing. Anyone pretending otherwise because he played one great game are kidding themselves.

Still not the worst number 1 though.

 

[Jcpdragonx]

McCartin, had heath issues coming in making it too hard to maintain good playing weight. Petracca was consensus 1st. Clearly the worst on the list

If you take out the GF then 2nd is Boyd, 5 seasons of next to no improvement, unlikely to ever make it. Probably should have been developed less in the ruck but it was a need.

Patton played some OK footy but 3 ACLs is almost impossible to come back from.

Watts played some reasonable footy when we went down back. 80% of his career was rubbish though

 

[Scotland]

80s and early 90s drafts are a gag. Hutton, Hooper, Banik, Lounder, who? It had nowhere near as much emphasis as it does today. We got pick 1 in 1992 for Scott Watters who was on the fringe of our 22. Not even Collingwood would do that now.

 

[jesterwester]

IIRC, there were genuine concerns on Petracca at the time whether he had the drive to make the most out of his talent.

He was the clear #1 though all year, I think the saints just basically spent too much time overthinking it.

KPF’s take time though- you draft them for the 70-200 game player they become and not the first few years. Concussions ruined that for McCartin sadly. He was tracking fairly similarly stats wise to Josh Kennedy in those first few years.

 

[00Stinger]

IIRC, there were genuine concerns on Petracca at the time whether he had the drive to make the most out of his talent.

He was the clear #1 though all year, I think the saints just basically spent too much time overthinking it.

KPF’s take time though- you draft them for the 70-200 game player they become and not the first few years. Concussions ruined that for McCartin sadly. He was tracking fairly similarly stats wise to Josh Kennedy in those first few years.

See this is absolute bullshit

In his under-age year he was a forward with no tank, kicked 8 or 10 in a game on a player who went on to be drafted that year. The issue was whether he would be a mid sized forward who couldn't go through the middle

Then in his next year of TAC cup he got fit and went into the middle and blew the comp apart

Was always expected to take a few years to get a AFL midfield tank

Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

 

[jesterwester]

See this is absolute bullshit

In his under-age year he was a forward with no tank, kicked 8 or 10 in a game on a player who went on to be drafted that year. The issue was whether he would be a mid sized forward who couldn't go through the middle

Then in his next year of TAC cup he got fit and went into the middle and blew the comp apart

Was always expected to take a few years to get a AFL midfield tank

Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

There was a psychological profile that recruiters had access to at the time which was enough to warrant some concerns. Whereas Tom had other concerns but character wise he was seen to be ready to handle the #1 pick.

That was another issue, for sure; would he become fit enough to be a fully fledged midfielder. Clearly proven the Saints wrong- you guys were a great beneficiary.

So it came down to whether a power forward or a midfielder, Saints went for needs over best talent. I think that high a pick you should always go best available.

 

[00Stinger]

There was a psychological profile that recruiters had access to at the time which was enough to warrant some concerns. Whereas Tom had other concerns but character wise he was seen to be ready to handle the #1 pick.

That was another issue, for sure; would he become fit enough to be a fully fledged midfielder. Clearly proven the Saints wrong- you guys were a great beneficiary.

So it came down to whether a power forward or a midfielder, Saints went for needs over best talent. I think that high a pick you should always go best available.

Bulldogs offered Boyd a $7m 7 year deal and it spooked St Kilda into rushing to replace Reiwoldt through the draft rather than having to potentially cough up huge dough later on for a KFP

I remember listening to a Darren Bewick interview as he was Petraccas TAC coach and he could not be of higher praise for Petracca. Said he was the best talent he had seen come through the system and anyone whjo over looked him would be foolish. But really it doesn't matter now

That is all it was, thank you Bulldogs

 

[Schauermann]

When he actually played full seasons of footy he was at least a serviceable key forward. Kicked 4 in the losing prelim in 2016. Hipwood, McKay, Mihocek, Taberner, Wright etc. have never kicked 40 in a season.

Taberner is excused being only pick 11 (in the rookie draft). And is on track atm. And was on track last season (20 full length games would have gotten him there (perhaps)).

 

[Toump Ass]

IIRC, there were genuine concerns on Petracca at the time whether he had the drive to make the most out of his talent.

There was an article that said Saints viewed Petracca as a little arrogant, and they noted he mentioned to recruiters he was injured during time trials which also counted against him in the psyche testing. Hardly “genuine” concerns though as literally every other club except Saint Kildas had him as the clear#1. McCartin wasn’t even the consensus pick 2. If the Saints had picked Petracca (and thank you Jesus for not picking him), we would have taken Lever at three.

 

[Scotland]

Taberner is excused being only pick 11 (in the rookie draft). And is on track atm. And was on track last season (20 full length games would have gotten him there (perhaps)).

Taberner is fine, just highlighting a bunch of forwards who play regular footy that haven't kicked 40 in a season. Most teams most years don't have two key forwards kicking 40+. Some don't have one.

 

[jesterwester]

There was an article that said Saints viewed Petracca as a little arrogant, and they noted he mentioned to recruiters he was injured during time trials which also counted against him in the psyche testing. Hardly “genuine” concerns though as literally every other club except Saint Kildas had him as the clear#1. McCartin wasn’t even the consensus pick 2. If the Saints had picked Petracca (and thank you Jesus for not picking him), we would have taken Lever at three.

I went back to find the articles I remember reading at the time. I don’t think it was as clear cut amongst all recruiters as you might have expected. Seems quite a few brought up his psychologists profile as a potential negative. But then again, i suspect the split might have been different had more work gone into these guys as it was so evident early they would be gone early. I’m sure the clubs at picks 10-18 didn’t spend much time as Melbourne and st Kilda did.

McCartin or Petracca: St Kilda spoilt for choice

St Kilda's moment of truth. Toss a coin? The decision for which there is no right answer or no wrong answer, depending on how you look at it.

www.google.com

You would have gone either Brayshaw or Lever iirc at 2 had Petracca been gone. So to end up with all three in the end is an amazing result.

Back to my original point- i think the saints got in their own heads and spent more times looking at potential negatives as to why they shouldn’t pick up Petracca rather than looking at him being the most talented from the draft. Also, like 00Stinger mentioned, they didn’t want to have to spend a million a year to recruit a Riewoldt replacement. So there’s that too, I guess.

 

[Toump Ass]

You would have gone either Brayshaw or Lever iirc at 2 had Petracca been gone. So to end up with all three in the end is an amazing result.

We had picks 2 and 3. We'd already chosen Brayshaw over Lever.

Here's a great article on why St. Kilda chose McCartin.

Inside St Kilda: Why the Saints drafted Paddy McCartin

Emma Quayle sat in on St Kilda's recruiting meetings throughout 2014 for her book The Draftees.

www.theage.com.au

There's a similar article on the HS site but it's paywalled.

Stinger is right by the way, the Doggies spending big on Boyd absolutely spooked the Sainters.

 

[Toump Ass]

Anyway who cares.

Saints don't have Petracca and I thank them for it every single day of my life.

 

[pablo668]

80s and early 90s drafts are a gag. Hutton, Hooper, Banik, Lounder, who? It had nowhere near as much emphasis as it does today. We got pick 1 in 1992 for Scott Watters who was on the fringe of our 22. Not even Collingwood would do that now.

I think it was nowhere near as systematic as it is now. Back then I thnk we were looking at the last years of picking up developed players who were guns in their league as a quick and easy way of getting good players in.
These days a good young player usually gets spotted pretty early and ends up in a colts side (league club) or training with them in some capacity and there'l be a bunch of talent scouts around too keeping an eye on who is who from that level onwards. As far as I know anyway.

Still ends up a bit of a crap shoot at times though.