Part 4: Jason Taylor - Visionary or Over-rated - 2016

[Deespicable 2,886]

Part 4 of the series that looks at each of Jason Taylor's draft years and trades and swaps that influence his hand. 

2016

Draft 2/10 Trades: 8/10

Finally Goody takes over from Roosy and after finishing 11^th, our era of top-end high draft picks appears over. Goody first task is to lure Michael Hibberd over from a disjointed Essendon, where he served as an assistant. There’s a lot of pre-draft talk about them wanting a first rounder for him (which we don’t have, after offloading it to the Suns the year before) but eventually the Bombers agree to a second-rounder (pick 29) for him.

Hibberd was so sensational in his first season that even after missing the first five games he made the All-Australian team. His opening-game goal against the Tigers on Anzac Eve is rated among our finest under Goody and he continued to be a strong attacking defender for us for 113 games and the next seven seasons

We also get Jordan Lewis from the Hawks for a steal – a shuffle of third rounders – who brought with him toughness and smarts. The only downside being that his 30-year plus lack of pace could be exploited. And we also punted on promising Giant Pat McKenna, who ended up spending more time in the rehab room than on the field before being delisted.

Having made our big plays in 2015, we basically had late-order picks, so could Tubby unearth a jewel. Sadly no, although Mitch Hannan provided the highlight in 2018 with his memorable goal against Geelong in the elimination final.

Did giving up our first-rounder (pick 9 Will Brodie) the previous year hurt us? Probably not. Aside from the fact that we would not have taken a midfield extractor like Brodie, there were very few superstars unearthed in the 2016 draft, just a lot of good ordinary footballers as Jack Dyer would say. Hugh McCluggage (pick 3) is probably the closest to warranting the star label while Shai Bolton (pick 29) can go to that level on his day and Tim English (19) is a super mark and kick. Tom Stewart (pick 40) is the most celebrated player from that draft and only Matty Scarlett wanted him taken that high after seeing what he could do for their VFL team. Nick Larkey (pick 73) is another coup for North who also took Jy Simpkin (pick 12) that year. Coburg’s Luke Ryan (pick 66) was an inspired choice by Fremantle and Mitch Lewis (pick 76) has had some great moments at Hawthorn, when not in rehab. 

Then if you look at the rookie draft, we erred big time with again trying to find another back-up for Maxy – read on to see what we did. 

46 Mitch Hannan – Goody had watched the then 22-year-old shine in the Dogs 2016 VFL Grand Final win over Casey and wanted the classy lead-up player. He often had knee issues for us, before eventually being sent back to the Dogs five seasons later. But when fit he had a great leap and a thumping left -foot and he was quick enough to run away from Jake Kolodashnij and take three bounces down the wing before nailing the sealer in our memorable finals win over Geelong in 2018. 

64 Dion Johnstone – Taylor’s liking for small forwards was becoming an obsession. Dion was a huge stab from Oakleigh Chargers and was mega courageous but lacked polish and never really pressed for selection before being delisted. Given Luke Ryan and Nick Larkey came soon after, you have to wonder about our priorities, although clearly hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The rookie draft was a horror show for Tubby that year. Four potential ruckman went in the first 10 picks and a fifth Oscar McInerny was stolen by Brisbane from our Casey outfit. Imagine if we’d taken any of Sam Draper (pick 1 of rookie draft), Rowan Marshall (pick 10) and McInerny (pick 37) on our list back then – not to mention Larkey. Instead we took Lachie Filipovic at pick 8, a mate of a mate of Gawny’s apparently. Aside from missing the quality rucks, it also meant we missed a shot at taking Cam Zurhaar or even Jack Henry. We also elevated two Casey regulars – Tim Smith and Declan Keilty. I am not against us elevating Casey players, you’d like to think that our scouts would be right across them and both did play for us and Smith in particular was unlucky with injury. But the Filipovic choice was mind-boggling and given the other bigs taken around him, has had an impact on us to this day.

 

 

 

 

[DeeZone 10,129]

Agree Deespicable 2016 draft is probably our worst since JT took over, didn’t realise that Draper and Marshall both Rookies and Oscar McInerny went pick 37 as well is quite mind numbing in hindsight.

[Demonstone 22,820]

I'm enjoying this series, @Deespicable.  Thanks for making the effort and doing the research.

I have a minor question:  Is Jason Taylor's nickname actually "Tubby" or is that just what you call him?

[Demon Jack 6,930]

Wowzas, haven't heard the names McKenna, Johnstone and Filipovic for a long while. It's interesting looking back and seeing that we missed out on some serious ruck talent in that rookie draft.

Hannan played some great footy for us in 17-18 (epic finals goal against the Cats included) before injuries took their toll alongside Jayden Hunt taking his spot in the forward line. He always struck me as a good solid clubman so I was happy to see that he played some good games at the Dogs before injury sadly ended his career. I remember him absolutely tearing Port Adelaide apart in the '21 prelim.

[Deespicable 2,886]

Yes Tubby is what I call most Taylor’s I come across out of habit and I suspect it is now totally inappropriate to do so. Apologies I will try and remove that nickname from next parts of series.

[Little Goffy 14,643]

Was bitterly disappointed when we didn't take Oscar Bert'n'Ernie. I had banners already planned which showed those three muppets standing on each others shoulders while secretly operating their ruckman disguise.

In the end, I think we would have lost him Darren Jolly style anyway, as he is strictly a ruckman.

[Demonstone 22,820]

10 hours ago, Deespicable said:

Yes Tubby is what I call most Taylor’s I come across out of habit and I suspect it is now totally inappropriate to do so. Apologies I will try and remove that nickname from next parts of series.

No need to apologise mate, I couldn't care either way.  I was just curious as I always associated the nickname with former Australian cricketer Mark Taylor and had never heard Jason given that sobriquet.

[whatwhat say what 22,948]

14 hours ago, Deespicable said:

Taylor’s liking for small forwards was becoming an obsession

this bit is symptomatic of the change of football that has happened in the time since - pressure forwards have become one of the key components of every good side, so it makes sense to target them

less obsession, more being ahead of the curve

this was very much a 'trades' year rather than a 'draft' one, and ended up being pretty important for our success 2018 to 2023, with hibberd such an important part of our side going forward

with the best players coming late or in the rookie draft, it really seems like the choice cuts were relatively uncertain in this year

[Deespicable 2,886]

I

3 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

this bit is symptomatic of the change of football that has happened in the time since - pressure forwards have become one of the key components of every good side, so it makes sense to target them

less obsession, more being ahead of the curve

this was very much a 'trades' year rather than a 'draft' one, and ended up being pretty important for our success 2018 to 2023, with hibberd such an important part of our side going forward

with the best players coming late or in the rookie draft, it really seems like the choice cuts were relatively uncertain in this year

I agree that small forwards are more in vogue these days - I mean the Hawks used pick 5 on 170cm Nick Watson, whereas 10 years earlier Caleb Daniels, whose highlights from the carnival eclipsed Watson's, went through to pick 46 for fear that he would be exposed in match-ups.
I suspect Taylor also learnt the value of smalls from his short stint at the Pies, who back then had pressure smalls such as Blair and Fasolo on top of Didak.
But I just reckon our overall list balance has become too heavily weighted with smalls - that's a godsend when it rains like last Saturday, but in April and May or on a dry day in September it can hurt.