Tim Harrington's cautious approach to the mini-draft

[Supreme_Demon 3,457]

Well it seems that we have decided to "move on" from the mini-draft seeing as we have now missed out on both O'Meara and Crouch.

Personally, I'm quite disappointed...

But I have faith in Tim Harrington as I'm sure he didn't want to do anything that would mean it would cost the Demons far too much for a young kid.

Here's the link about the topic: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/125016/default.aspx

I hope we can still get at least one or two trades done...although it's not a massive deal if we don't. I just don't want to see any of our players leave for nothing!

[nutbean 8,838]

We offered a compo and pick 12 - are they worth three picks ? who knows

[warren dean 193]

Well it seems that we have decided to "move on" from the mini-draft seeing as we have now missed out on both O'Meara and Crouch.

Personally, I'm quite disappointed...

But I have faith in Tim Harrington as I'm sure he didn't want to do anything that would mean it would cost the Demons far too much for a young kid.

Here's the link about the topic: http://www.melbourne...16/default.aspx

I hope we can still get at least one or two trades done...although it's not a massive deal if we don't. I just don't want to see any of our players leave for nothing!

Blind Freddy could see what Gold Coast were going to offer to get O'Meara. Harrington would have known this well beforehand. If we knew then that we weren't able (or prepared) to better it then we shouldn't have got involved in the first place. This is a poor effort by Melbourne - there is no other way to dress it up!!

[nutbean 8,838]

Blind Freddy could see what Gold Coast were going to offer to get O'Meara. Harrington would have known this well beforehand. If we knew then that we weren't able (or prepared) to better it then we shouldn't have got involved in the first place. This is a poor effort by Melbourne - there is no other way to dress it up!!

yes there is - we were looking at either O'Meara OR Crouch - GC were always in the box seat for O'Meara but we didnt know how Adelaide would play it. If they didnt want to put two draft picks down then we were in. Its not poor at all . We werent prepared to put down three

[Redleg 40,370]

I posted at 7.30 this morning that I felt we were going to be the bridesmaid again. Unfortunately like so many times in the past when we have sought the prize we have missed out again. Hopefully there is something better out there that we can get this year or next.

[Fat Tony 5,183]

I am glad we went into the whole thing with a plan and stuck to it. Overpaying in an auction feels great until you have to pay the mortgage.

Unless we can now attract a genuine star like Goddard we should be happy to be a bit player this year.

[beelzebub 23,242]

This isnt an even playing field and we must be very mindful of not getting sucked in.

[warren dean 193]

yes there is - we were looking at either O'Meara OR Crouch - GC were always in the box seat for O'Meara but we didnt know how Adelaide would play it. If they didnt want to put two draft picks down then we were in. Its not poor at all . We werent prepared to put down three

These guys get paid good money to work out what other clubs are going to do in situations like this. Harrington said we had a bale out point. I think everyone worked out exactly who was in the best position to land the picks, including Adelaide for Crouch. If he hadn't forseen this happening then it is a poor effort. As I said, if we knew what was likely to happen, and had no intention of bettering it, then we shouldn't have got involved - at least not so publicly. This is a very [poor effort.

[old dee 23,528]

Blind Freddy could see what Gold Coast were going to offer to get O'Meara. Harrington would have known this well beforehand. If we knew then that we weren't able (or prepared) to better it then we shouldn't have got involved in the first place. This is a poor effort by Melbourne - there is no other way to dress it up!!

Why, you might think you know.

But what you be saying if we had not made a play and discovered they offered less than we were prepared to offer.

You would calling for his head and quite rightly so.

This is an auction you have a limit and when that is exceeded you walk away.

I have no problem with that.

[warren dean 193]

Why, you might think you know.

But what you be saying if we had not made a play and discovered they offered less than we were prepared to offer.

You would calling for his head and quite rightly so.

This is an auction you have a limit and when that is exceeded you walk away.

I have no problem with that.

Not claiming knowledge of classified info. It was public knowledge a long time out what GC would be offering for him. My point is, if we had a bale out point as Harrington has said today, and I assume he already knew where GC (and others) were prepared to go, why get involved so publicly. Other may applaud his good try - not me.

[nutbean 8,838]

These guys get paid good money to work out what other clubs are going to do in situations like this. Harrington said we had a bale out point. I think everyone worked out exactly who was in the best position to land the picks, including Adelaide for Crouch. If he hadn't forseen this happening then it is a poor effort. As I said, if we knew what was likely to happen, and had no intention of bettering it, then we shouldn't have got involved - at least not so publicly. This is a very [poor effort.

Sorry - if you dont have go you will never know. By your logic next year there will be no bids at all for Jack Viney as he will be coming to us under the F/S law. We went in there with what we wanted to spend. Others had to spend more to get them - so be it

[Jordie_tackles 354]

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Sorry - if you dont have go you will never know. By your logic next year there will be no bids at all for Jack Viney as he will be coming to us under the F/S law. We went in there with what we wanted to spend. Others had to spend more to get them - so be it

exactly if we hadnt bid at all, Adelaide may have got the deal done cheaper than is value

[KingSlayer33 170]

Not claiming knowledge of classified info. It was public knowledge a long time out what GC would be offering for him. My point is, if we had a bale out point as Harrington has said today, and I assume he already knew where GC (and others) were prepared to go, why get involved so publicly. Other may applaud his good try - not me.

The other concerning thing said above "...it was public knowledge..."

Does that mean that GC came out with a binding, non-changeable offer prior to the negotiations starting and stated it publicly and wouldn't be prepared to change their offer if circumstances changed?

Realistically I think it was expected that they would offer pick 4 but never a fact until negotiations started. If our offer forced the crows to up their initial plan for pick 2 then we have had a very very small win with compo picks still able to be used or traded.

[Deeoldfart 7,999]

The way we played it was exactly the way we should have played it. It's the ONLY way of getting what you regard as value for money and / or not getting burned

[nutbean 8,838]

The other concerning thing said above "...it was public knowledge..."

The Gunston trade is public knowledge and I still have no idea how that one works. To suggest that everyone knows what everyone is bidding and what the other club will accept is a nonsense.

Edit - make no mistake - trading is a poker game - cards played close to the chest. Everyone can see the flop but the bidding is an unknown. We may have got Crouch for what we wanted to pay but it didnt play out that way. It took a bigger bid from Adelaide to get there.

So far Warnock is going to Hawthorn, Carlton and now GC - does that sound like everyone knows what everyone else is doing ?

Edited October 12, 2011 by nutbean

[Angelus BTVS 31]

oh well for every club to be so caught up in the dealings of this mini draft it would suggest the 17yr olds on the table were very highly regarded as everyone would know next years draft is supposedly a bumper one and O'meara & crouch expected to be heading that list if were available along with J. Viney (thanking you FS pick) also considered a top 5 player. So it would seem there was a great opportunity this year to get access to one of these kids but Adelaide were prepared to go that 1 step further than the demons and looks like we wait and see what demons have planned... hopefully not wasting time with middle of the road mature bodied players at expense of securing elite talent either young or mature.

This will all begin again as another WA kid Jack Martin from Claremont (born 29/1/95 mini draft eligible this time next year) will take centre stage amongst couple of other late runners and maybe we are then the ones with the most amount of ammo left to fire the best shot.

[Triple Jack 13]

I think we made the right call, their is something called a winner's curse and if we went any harder i believe we would have caught it. The fact is that the two boys are very talented, but they can't play next year so their development may not be much more advanced then next years group who are supposed to be very handy. With some early picks next year we may do better. We would have had to give a lot for an unproven 17 year old

[Arrow 1,257]

We put two first round picks on the line for a player who is younger than Jack Viney. That is far from cautious.

We were beaten by a team who the 2nd earliest pick and a heap of compo picks they can throw away knowing that if they screw up the AFL will guide them out of it. I'm disappointed we didn't get him, but Tim Harrington aint to blame.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

If O'Meara turns out as good as say Judd then an offer of our first round pick this year plus our two compensation picks would have been probably worth it. We will look back on this year and either kick ourselves for not going in for the kill or thank our lucky stars if he wants a transfer back to WA.

We are already getting Viney so any other star pick up would have been a bonus of monumental proportions and may have given us the edge over the other teams in the race for the flag; we will never know now but I guess that's life. The selections we get for our compensation picks had better be good because if we pick up a couple of "handy players" with them there will be a revolt amongst the troops.

Time will tell but I guess it would have been a brave decision to offer the farm for him.

I reckon I would have gone the guts and done the deal, how good would it be to have Viney an O'Meara in the first game of 2013, wow.

[beelzebub 23,242]

With all of this we need to keep in mind were dealing with two clubs who hve been here all of 5 mins between them. Theyre both desperate to get off the deck as soon as they can and will in all likelyhood pay or create a cost way above any real appreciationfor many players in order to accomplish their goal. This has knock on. Clever clubs wont get sucked in and wil lstick to a plan. This is how I see the MFC playing it.

Who knows what other deals this year and next the club is eying.

[Nasher 33,607]

These guys get paid good money to work out what other clubs are going to do in situations like this. Harrington said we had a bale out point. I think everyone worked out exactly who was in the best position to land the picks, including Adelaide for Crouch. If he hadn't forseen this happening then it is a poor effort. As I said, if we knew what was likely to happen, and had no intention of bettering it, then we shouldn't have got involved - at least not so publicly. This is a very [poor effort.

Weird post. What, in your eyes, would've been a good effort then? The only alternatives I see are paying above what we thought was reasonable, or just not bothering at all - who's to say Adelaide/GC would've put in the offers they did unless there was some pressure coming from us? I'm really battling to see where Harrington and team went wrong here.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

With all of this we need to keep in mind were dealing with two clubs who hve been here all of 5 mins between them. Theyre both desperate to get off the deck as soon as they can and will in all likelyhood pay or create a cost way above any real appreciationfor many players in order to accomplish their goal. This has knock on. Clever clubs wont get sucked in and wil lstick to a plan. This is how I see the MFC playing it.

Who knows what other deals this year and next the club is eying.

That's right we still have Lisle and O'Failpin to fall back on.

[Nasher 33,607]

The way we played it was exactly the way we should have played it. It's the ONLY way of getting what you regard as value for money and / or not getting burned

Exactly

[Axis of Bob 11,285]

Imagine if we actually got one of those picks. RobbieF's response is either:

a- we overpaid (after getting O'Meara)

b- we got the dud one (after getting Crouch).

You're stuck in the 70s when we sucked, RF. And you want to be there.

[w00dy 146]

Firstly, you'd think the decision on this one would be made by Barry Predergast, not Harrington. He's the one that judges the young talent, would've assessed how good O'Meara and Crouch are, assessed how much our draft picks and compensation picks are worth, and decided what he'd prefer to draft in terms of all these... He obviously thought in this circumstance, that the price we would've had to pay was too much, and Harrington would've acted accordingly...

Would've been nice to land one of these players, but I'm glad the club made the decision it did, especially the compensation pick. If we opt not to use it next season, not many of those would exist, and could become worth quite a lot at the trade table...