I would have thought GWS would need more established players, not high draft picks.

Which is exactly what Praha was getting at!

The issue with talent is correct. It has also been skewed in the last few drafts because of GWS, GC grabbing most of the best talent into two clubs. Hence the we (non new clubs) haven't got the quality in the young players selected after the first round that would normally be there.

Other issues is competing sports, notably Basketball which tend to grab all the big blokes that used to come into the VFL system. If you think back to the 80's and earlier their were a lot more talented big blokes running around in teams each Saturday.

Can always on-trade picks 3 and 4 to get some great senior players from other clubs though. About 4 teams are in the process of major rebuilds this draft period and will be desperate for high draft picks. Could net themselves some established senior players from Carlton, Richmond, Saints or even Brisbane.

GWS are finding themselves in a cycle whereas their leverage during trade period is really only dictated by some of their better players wanting out. The greater majority of senior players they attract are guys at the ends of their careers. Shaw and Mumford were good pick ups but Hunt is hardly a long term player for them. For those three senior players, they lost Taylor Adams (Collingwood), Kurt Aylett (Essendon), Josh Bruce (St Kilda), Sam Darley (Western Bulldogs), Shaun Edwards (Essendon), Dom Tyson (Melbourne), picks No.9 (Melbourne), No.21 (Port Adelaide), No.22 (received from Melbourne, then on-traded to the Brisbane Lions), and No.39 (Sydney Swans).

The really valuable senior players such as Buddy want to chase flags so no amount of money will get these players to GWS until they start getting some momentum. We might indeed trade our two early picks but all it will do is take the Giants back to where they started again by drafting in another couple of promising youngsters.

The issue with talent is correct. It has also been skewed in the last few drafts because of GWS, GC grabbing most of the best talent into two clubs. Hence the we (non new clubs) haven't got the quality in the young players selected after the first round that would normally be there.

Other issues is competing sports, notably Basketball which tend to grab all the big blokes that used to come into the VFL system. If you think back to the 80's and earlier their were a lot more talented big blokes running around in teams each Saturday.

I must have missed the recent landslide of popularity that basketball is getting. They getting 290,000 a week to games are they?

I find the part about Jeremy Cameron interesting, Roosy has not denied the club has made contact, just says he has no idea about it, which I find strange,

if a club was going to make what would presumably be a multi million dollar pitch to a player to join the club I would have thought the Senior coach would have a huge amount of say in it.

I'm not really sure how it works with the recruiting staff if they are just given a brief of what attributes the club needs and they go and get the best players around to fill those roles, but I would have thought no player was coming through the doors unless Roosy wanted them

Posted Yesterday, 05:29 PM

So you can say with 100% certainty that Roosy doesn't have exactly the same view behind closed doors as he does in the public,

Ha thats great. The guy that says Roos wouldn't say anything different in public to what he would privately!!

As if Roos would telegraph to the world what our trading and drafting strategy would be. Sheesh.

Priceless.

I must have missed the recent landslide of popularity that basketball is getting. They getting 290,000 a week to games are they?

What do audience numbers matter?

You just have to look at guys like Aron Baynes, Cam Bairstow, Patty Mills, Dante Exum, Ben Simmons and Andrew Bogut - all guys who could be excelling at footy, but instead are world class basketball players.

Go ahead Jmac prove he has a different opinion on Jack watts behind closed doors and I will admit I am wrong?

You claimed you can say that with 100% certainty.

I simply stated he could have worded his comments differently on Cameron because he would know exactly who we are chasing

What do audience numbers matter?

You just have to look at guys like Aron Baynes, Cam Bairstow, Patty Mills, Dante Exum, Ben Simmons and Andrew Bogut - all guys who could be excelling at footy, but instead are world class basketball players.

are you serious? What better indicator of a sport's popularity do you want? We are talking about the fact that having 3 extra sides should in no way relate to a dilution of talent given we now have 4.5 million people

soccer, rugby, cricket, basketball.. these were all in existence 20 years ago and none of them have gained any ground or taken anything away from the AFL in the time since

you can't just name six basketballers and rest your case FFS

jesus christ people will argue if the world is round in here

Go ahead Jmac prove he has a different opinion on Jack watts behind closed doors and I will admit I am wrong?

The most interesting thing about Roos / Watts is that he has quietly gone back to the forward line despite assurances from Roos earlier in the season that he would mainly play as a mid.

Sure, he pushes up a bit as a high half forward, but he's not playing as a 'mid' in the way Roos initially indicated, or played him in the first couple of games.

Funny that no journo has asked Roos about this (or at least not to my knowledge).

The most interesting thing about Roos / Watts is that he has quietly gone back to the forward line despite assurances from Roos earlier in the season that he would mainly play as a mid.

Sure, he pushes up a bit as a high half forward, but he's not playing as a 'mid' in the way Roos initially indicated, or played him in the first couple of games.

Funny that no journo has asked Roos about this (or at least not to my knowledge).

The extent of his midfield role was really only on the wing. Watts should take a note of Barlows contested game to understand how a similarly built player goes about it on the ball.

GWS are finding themselves in a cycle whereas their leverage during trade period is really only dictated by some of their better players wanting out. The greater majority of senior players they attract are guys at the ends of their careers. Shaw and Mumford were good pick ups but Hunt is hardly a long term player for them. For those three senior players, they lost Taylor Adams (Collingwood), Kurt Aylett (Essendon), Josh Bruce (St Kilda), Sam Darley (Western Bulldogs), Shaun Edwards (Essendon), Dom Tyson (Melbourne), picks No.9 (Melbourne), No.21 (Port Adelaide), No.22 (received from Melbourne, then on-traded to the Brisbane Lions), and No.39 (Sydney Swans).

The really valuable senior players such as Buddy want to chase flags so no amount of money will get these players to GWS until they start getting some momentum. We might indeed trade our two early picks but all it will do is take the Giants back to where they started again by drafting in another couple of promising youngsters.

They did have to reduce the size of their list. But they also have a deliberate strategy to trade out selected first round picks for first rounders to spread the age of their list over time.

Their is not much quality in the players you list as leaving apart from Tyson and possibly Adams.

They did have to reduce the size of their list. But they also have a deliberate strategy to trade out selected first round picks for first rounders to spread the age of their list over time.

Their is not much quality in the players you list as leaving apart from Tyson and possibly Adams.

I agree but my point was more about the lack of quality senior players that they can't attract.

The most interesting thing about Roos / Watts is that he has quietly gone back to the forward line despite assurances from Roos earlier in the season that he would mainly play as a mid.

Sure, he pushes up a bit as a high half forward, but he's not playing as a 'mid' in the way Roos initially indicated, or played him in the first couple of games.

Funny that no journo has asked Roos about this (or at least not to my knowledge).

I don't find it funny Grapeviney when you consider the chief football writer at the HUN is Robbo.

One thing that I think MM has got correct.

He treats him with distain.

are you serious? What better indicator of a sport's popularity do you want? We are talking about the fact that having 3 extra sides should in no way relate to a dilution of talent given we now have 4.5 million people

soccer, rugby, cricket, basketball.. these were all in existence 20 years ago and none of them have gained any ground or taken anything away from the AFL in the time since

you can't just name six basketballers and rest your case FFS

jesus christ people will argue if the world is round in here

with all due respect c&b I don't think you get it. Its not about how popular a sport is as measured by television audience and attendance. Its about how many people play the sport.

are you serious? What better indicator of a sport's popularity do you want? We are talking about the fact that having 3 extra sides should in no way relate to a dilution of talent given we now have 4.5 million people

soccer, rugby, cricket, basketball.. these were all in existence 20 years ago and none of them have gained any ground or taken anything away from the AFL in the time since

you can't just name six basketballers and rest your case FFS

jesus christ people will argue if the world is round in here

Soccer is making huge inroads now; it makes me sad to see old grounds I used to play on now with no goal posts ( the real ones ) in sight replaced by 2 posts with another one across the top and a basket attached.

I would think within the next 20 years it will be the major code in this country, may be sooner if Gillan doesn't sort things out.

with all due respect c&b I don't think you get it. Its not about how popular a sport is as measured by television audience and attendance. Its about how many people play the sport.

how could those two not go completely hand in hand

what you are saying is that nobody watches soccer but heaps are playing it, surely that can't be the case

Soccer is making huge inroads now; it makes me sad to see old grounds I used to play on now with no goal posts ( the real ones ) in sight replaced by 2 posts with another one across the top and a basket attached.

I would think within the next 20 years it will be the major code in this country, may be sooner if Gillan doesn't sort things out.

again, what are the national weekly attendances compared to AFL's 290,000

Soccer is making huge inroads now; it makes me sad to see old grounds I used to play on now with no goal posts ( the real ones ) in sight replaced by 2 posts with another one across the top and a basket attached.

I would think within the next 20 years it will be the major code in this country, may be sooner if Gillan doesn't sort things out.

Theres a fair degree of participation yes ant younger levels with soccer but it all but evaporates once you get past the teens. Funnily enough its very similar to what happens with league in NSW..lots of kids...but then it all goes to the ether later. no one goes to the big boy games. even with soccer atetndances arent that flash

Soccer wil NEVER be the major footy code in this country NEVER

Theres a fair degree of participation yes ant younger levels with soccer but it all but evaporates once you get past the teens. Funnily enough its very similar to what happens with league in NSW..lots of kids...but then it all goes to the ether later. no one goes to the big boy games. even with soccer atetndances arent that flash

Soccer wil NEVER be the major footy code in this country NEVER

Hope you are right but I doubt it.

how could those two not go completely hand in hand

what you are saying is that nobody watches soccer but heaps are playing it, surely that can't be the case

there is a correlation but only in so far as a game that is watched by a lot of people has a good chance of being a game kids might be inspired to play. Hearts and minds. But not a direct correlation. The afl wish there was. If your hypothesis was correct then the opposite would be true ie sports that no one watches would struggle to get particapants. But there are a number of examples that disprove that. More kids play basketball than Aussie rules despite it not being on free to air and no one going to NBL games. That is why there are Aussies playing NBA. What about golf? The PGA can barely operate a tour here. No one watches it on TV and apart from the masters few go to see it live. Yet Australia have the worlds number 1, 2 in the top 10 and probably 8 in the top 100. Why? Because somamy people play golf in Australia. Of course participation is influenced by free to air coverage but look at soccer. It is thriving in terms of participation despite not having free to air coverage until last year. Another example? Take tennis. Ratings of the oz open is huge. Wimbledon gets great coverage. Hundreds of thousands attend the open. Yet over 20 years participation has been falling away. The result? Were we once ruled tennis we are now also rans.

again, what are the national weekly attendances compared to AFL's 290,000

What were the world cup viewing figures compared to AFL. I don't know and the figure is just as useless as comparing weekly AFL attendances which are dropping and the level of the drop is being artificially held up by a bump in Adelaide attendances.

Like it or not soccer is on the move, I didn't say it was here now but also don't agree with your statement that they have made no inroads. They are now making significant inroads.

Getting 45,000 to a domestic soccer fixture would've been laughed at 20 years ago.

You'd have to have serious blinkers on to not be aware of the inroads soccer has made and continues to make.

The inroads soccer is making is part of the reason the AFL created GWS and the Gold Coast.

The inroads soccer is making is part of the reason the AFL created GWS and the Gold Coast.

So why didn't they target a Soccer player in the way they did with K Hunt and Izzy F?

So why didn't they target a Soccer player in the way they did with K Hunt and Izzy F?

1. Maybe they tried and just couldn't get it to work?

2. I don't reckon soccer has as many relatable traits/skills as rugby does when comparing to AFL, but I stand to be corrected on that one.

3. Tapping into the rugby players doesn't necessarily mean there won't be an influence on soccer players. The general idea is to have AFL become a dominant sport in those states, where currently it is not thought of as much as we'd like it to be. Promoting it via known rugby players is still promotion.