Who was/is the best recruiting officer in the AFL (and how do we pinch them)

[DEE fence 4,415]

Mr P is obviously on the nose with many here, and it is a sore subject with many as the likes of Cook et. al. appear destined for the bush, so I want to know, being far away from TAC <18 comps and the like, who has the most respect when it comes to choosing the cattle? I always thought MFC suffered a bit back in the day because we didn't have a zone that had Assumption college or the like in it, but now days how is it done? I would really enjoy some knowledgeable insights into how the clubs that have recruited well have done it? Is there a 'football whisperer'

I personally would pay extra to the club if they said we want bloke 'X' he has the soft skills to identify great kids and we need to pay him X.

Cheers

[whatwhat say what 18,793]

Stephen Wells, the bloke from Geelong.

[DEE fence 4,415]

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/12/22/133121_gfc.html

Seems a top contender from the articles on him, sadly no insight into how he does it, or the relationship between coach and recruiting

[satyricon 267]

WHY?

[Roger Mellie 3,483]

Wells, Hyne and maybe Pelchen.

West Coast is doing pretty well too.

Hard to say with GC and GWS with their embarrassment of riches

[satyricon 267]

Why are there topics like this, ok so Howe, Blease, Tommy Mac, Grimes, Trengove were all mistakes as well were they?, give it a rest, you win some you lose some.....there is no genius out there who has got everything right....

Edited October 9, 2012 by satyricon

[corowa 216]

Why are there topics like this, ok so Howe, Blease, Tommy Mac, Grimes, Trengove were all mistakes as well were they?, give it a rest, you win some you lose some.....there is no genius out there who has got everything right....

It's a shame that you see fit to reply in a negative 'put-down' way to a fellow MFC supporter who is posting a thread that will be of interest to many fellow supporters. Why don't you just ignore it, rather than challenge his choice of topic?Unlike you, I think the topic is highly relevant. How do 'top' teams recruit the 'best' players? I doubt that this would be through good luck.If a recruiter wilth an excellent record of making 'good' draft choices at another club is around, then why not 'bust a gut' to get him to MFC?

[rpfc 27,391]

I thought everyone knew this: we will get the 2nd in charge to Hines at Collingwood from this November on.

Taylor is his name.

[Sir Why You Little 34,418]

Just look at GW$'s picks again in this years draft. What will be in 5 years time?

It is going to be ugly.

[satyricon 267]

It's a shame that you see fit to reply in a negative 'put-down' way to a fellow MFC supporter who is posting a thread that will be of interest to many fellow supporters. Why don't you just ignore it, rather than challenge his choice of topic?Unlike you, I think the topic is highly relevant. How do 'top' teams recruit the 'best' players? I doubt that this would be through good luck.If a recruiter wilth an excellent record of making 'good' draft choices at another club is around, then why not 'bust a gut' to get him to MFC?

Recruting the 'right' players is not reliant on just a good recruiter, it depends on the picks, the depth of the draft talent, club needs, the player not getting injured etc etc......it was not a put down, why are we even looking at it, because a few of the consistent put-downers on this board says that everything that has gone wrong lately rests at the feet of Barry Prendergast

What is your definition of a top team? the last one the won the premiership, consisting of rejects from other clubs that were recruited by supposedly good recruiters...ie Essendon, Hawthorn, Collingwood, Richmond

[dee-luded 2,958]

Mr P is obviously on the nose with many here, and it is a sore subject with many as the likes of Cook et. al. appear destined for the bush, so I want to know, being far away from TAC <18 comps and the like, who has the most respect when it comes to choosing the cattle? I always thought MFC suffered a bit back in the day because we didn't have a zone that had Assumption college or the like in it, but now days how is it done? I would really enjoy some knowledgeable insights into how the clubs that have recruited well have done it? Is there a 'football whisperer'

I personally would pay extra to the club if they said we want bloke 'X' he has the soft skills to identify great kids and we need to pay him X.

Cheers

IMO it's Not the 'recruiting officer', per se', that was the problem.

It the 'recruiting team', & 'footy dept', surely, that 'Set the Agenda', & the 'types' they are looking for.

BP is not our enemy, but our own poor structures & decisions that lead to poor outcomes.

It seems we are learning, & looks like we are improving in this area.

Look, we've all been caught with our pants down over the ways we've gone in recruiting over the last 4 years, seeking all the best of the bunch, but poor culture & no real inclub leadership platform, to keep the kids straight headed.

I think we've already got one earmarked to come across at the end of this trade/drafting season.

[corowa 216]

Recruting the 'right' players is not reliant on just a good recruiter, it depends on the picks, the depth of the draft talent, club needs, the player not getting injured etc etc......it was not a put down, why are we even looking at it, because a few of the consistent put-downers on this board says that everything that has gone wrong lately rests at the feet of Barry Prendergast

What is your definition of a top team? the last one the won the premiership, consisting of rejects from other clubs that were recruited by supposedly good recruiters...ie Essendon, Hawthorn, Collingwood, Richmond

I agree that getting the 'right' players involves more than the chief recruiter at a club. But he has a big part in it. I believe that a 'good' recruiter can recruit talent irrespective of the pick, particularly in the first and second rounds. I also agree that our woes are not the sole responsibility of Prendergast. Not having two or three older players who are champion players and great role models is one factor. Given his time again, would Prendergast make the same selections?What is my definition of a top team? One that their supporters can go to watch each week knowing they will give their all and they (the spectators) can expect a heap more wins than losses. One that consistently makes the finals. One that has a great off-field team that does well when issues and controversies arise. One that attracts free agents among the players because it is said to have a 'good culture'. As for your examples of clubs that have good recruiters, I couldn't agree with Richmond over the past 30 years and I'm not all that convinced about Essendon.I agree that Sydney has benefitted enormously by its wonderful ability to convert marginal players at other clubs into good, regular players with them. They have the great 'culture' that I mentioned above. But good draft selection has also helped, for example Goodes & Roberts-Thompson amongst others.

Edited October 10, 2012 by corowa

[McQueen 17,862]

Just look at GW$'s picks again in this years draft. What will be in 5 years time?

It is going to be ugly.

They will be on the same playing field as everyone else from next year onwards.

In reply to the OP,

It's all about having the right environment that fosters the type of behaviours which in turn creates a culture of success. Identifying the individuals at trade and draft time that are the most susceptible to this on top of their footy smarts and skills is where the really good recruiters leave their mark IMO.

Developing players is key to effective drafting. It's really as simple as that; having a great FD in place, the facilities at hand, the vision etc will get the most out of your drafted players.

Saying all that, you will still get quite a few that will not make it. Cook seems to be the first to come to mind but I would still like to be wrong in his situation.

[King Kunta 97]

Derek Hine is the best, getting his 2nd in charge is a good result

[Hardnut 327]

The opening question to this thread asks 'Who was/is the best recruiting officer in the AFL (and how do we pinch them)'. I presume both AFL and VFL recruiters are allowable. In which case my answer is Jim Cardwell - who could forget the simple question put by this great man in many out of the way places - 'Do you want to come and play on the MCG, son?' Sadly, we can't 'pinch him', but I hope some people enjoy the memory.

[DEE fence 4,415]

To be clear, I have no knowledge of Mr. Barry Prendergast and how good or bad he is, just that there has been more than a few disparaging comments here about him, which was why I posted the forward looking thread. Thanks also for bringing up Jim Cardwell, he stands out in history, how do you say no to 'Do you want to come and play on the MCG, son?'. I also fully agree that good recruiting is a trifecta of the coach, the FD and the recruiter seeing eye to eye about who, what and how obviously the more functional the back office the better the front office is going to look. The more I looked into Wells the more I could see that he really does have an extraordinary level of empathy to understand how a kid will turn out, but it was also pretty clear from 6 different articles on the Geelong board that it has been an integrated FD that made his selections work.

and thanks RPFC, didn't have a clue that Taylor was coming on board-my fingers are firmly crossed.

I do my own recruiting, i.e. employing officers to work for me managing the security of UN staff in some terrible places (and looking after UN staff is like herding cats) and I find that the typical ex afghanistan/iraq SF type is usually pretty crap at doing the communicating/encouraging (soft skills) as against the hard skills that most of these very sorted blokes(and some women) have. Its why I posted, its a bloody hard job, lots of investment in time that you don't see for ages and if it goes pear shaped you eat the consequences for a long time.

[skills32 229]

JIm Cardwell was the best in the business.

Sorry Hardnut.

Did not see your post and yes you may infer that I just glanced thru the first time; however great minds think alike.

Edited October 10, 2012 by skills32

[rodney_g 62]

Between this and the Billy Stretch thread I feel like I've gone back in time.

Please don't make me go through 2012 all over again!

Edited October 10, 2012 by rodney_g